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The OD side is the standard HRD channel of old, not the improved one - shame. But, it sounds ok. Oh, and you may not like the livery but just don't look at the signature association of this and think it's just jazzer's amp. I do think that Fender got their marketing wrong on this, or there was a lack of it. It can do so much more than it purports to.
They can come up used at that price.
It probably sounds better than the Mesa but in terms of construction quality you definitely used the right word with downgraded.
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/115505/most-awkward-amps-to-repair-2#latest
As a former owner of both the Classic 30 and the HRD I will add my voice to the chorus saying HRD.
What I would say is that the HRD needs a better speaker to get the best out of it. I had a Weber 12F150 in mine and it was really good. The main reason I sold it was because it was far too loud for my needs. In terms of sound quality, with the Weber in, it was better than amps that were 2 or 3 times the price.
Also, it's a much better built amp than the C30. The three sided circuit board in the C30 is an abomination. If anything goes wrong out of warranty you are looking at a much nastier bill because of the way it is built.
Even if nothing goes wrong, you will also find the HRD much cheaper to run long term. You can't bias the C30 properly which won't help with the lifespan of the power valves. Whether it was that or mechanical vibration I used to find that I had replace the power valves inside a year because they developed rattles. The 6L6 power valve is much more robust than the EL84, and the HRD doesn't run it hot either. I had the last set in there for years by the time I sold the amp. You also only need 2 of them versus the 4 EL84s in the Peavey so even though they are more expensive individually they work out cheaper overall. Given the difference in life span they will be a lot cheaper.
Feedback
For what it's worth I don't think the MkIII HRD is an upgrade, either - they did improve the volume pot taper, but that's the only thing… although it's more controllable at low volume, you have to turn it up further before it starts to sound good, so if anything it's worse. I just don't think it sounds quite as good at higher volume either.
So I would buy a second hand MkII over a MkIII any day, and it will probably be slightly cheaper. And just learn to turn the volume controls very carefully .
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Im not buying yet, just asking...and I am really impressed by Ibanez TSA15H really.
Chris