Fender Hot Rod DeVille Repairs

Pete

The Fender Hot Rod DeVille is the most repaired amp at On Stage Services. We have repaired eight in the last year which simply means these are by far some of the most popular amps out there. This doesn’t include the Hot Rod Deluxe or Blues DeVille series but we tend to see many of those as well. The average repair bill is around $100 which includes one hour of repair* and a couple dollars in parts.

The Problems

The problems, while slightly different, are common issues found with most tube amps. Here they are:

  • Several older amps (5+ years) had bad solder joints at pots and tube sockets. $85-115
    This is usually a result of pots being impacted by something or bumped. Otherwise, PCB’s will develop solder joint fractures after 5 years or longer. The tube sockets may suffer as a result of many tubes being swapped in and out.
  • A couple needed replacement power supply capacitors, which we stock. $100-125
    After about ten years of normal use (2000 hours) power supply capacitors should be changed. If the amp is used at higher volumes expect to change them sooner as heat is the determining factor in capacitor life.
  • One had the speaker cable plugged into the extension speaker output which means the main output jack is then shorted to ground causing low output or none at all. $75
    Make sure to read the owner’s manual, this can help avoid being charged for operator error. We read the manual if we have never used a piece of equipment, even just to service it.
  • The others had power tube failure and carbon build up around a power tube socket from an arcing power tube. We stock many tubes, $45.90 for a duet of JJ 6L6 power tubes*. $120
    Tube failure can be the issue when an amp is humming, power tubes are glowing bright red, or the sound is distorted or just sounds strange.

The other most repaired models include:

Model Number Repaired Last Year Average Bill
Ampeg SVT 4 Pro 6 $119
Mackie SRM450 5 $102
Fender Deluxe Reverb 4 $121
Fender Super Reverb 4 $122

*prices subject to change

Do you need equipment repaired?