The Fender Hotrod Deluxe is a fine tube amplifier, but a neighbors nightmare, here is a nice and easy way to tame the beast and lower its volume so you can play at home. The fix requires a volume pedal.
I use the *Dunlop GCB-80, but you can use whatever volume pedal you like. I connect the volume pedal to the amplifier as follows:
Connect two short PL cables in the AMP, one goes in the PREAMP OUT and one goes in the POWER AMP IN. Connect the PREAMP OUT cable to the Instrument side of the volume pedal (IN). Connect the Amplifier out of the pedal (out) to the POWER AMP IN. See the illustration.
Or in other words, the IN side of the volume pedal (where you would plug your guitar) should be connected to the AMP’s PREAMP OUT, and the OUT side of the pedal, connects to the AMP’s POWER AMP IN.
* The Dunlop pedal is a sturdy product but has one “tiny” problem – it does not allow NO volume at all, but rather the pedal starts from some volume. Here is a DIY fix that I wrote.
