Tone master fender twin amp

[Deleted]

Been looking at the Fender Tone master twin AMP.

 Almost all pf the videos I have seen on it and the so called demos are people talking about the  amp for over an half hour. When the get around to the sound demo it's all about distortion and pedals.

 I found maybe 3 videos that I liked One was a guy using one of these with no pedals in a live band in a night club. He sounded really good! One of the other videos was Fender. That was all about the amp. But I was unsure if they had doctored up the video.

Then I found my favorite left handed guy. I think so far he did the best video.

So, I am thinking of getting me the Fender tone mast blond amp. I talked to Sweetwater and they will let me have it for $1050. Plus tax. Yes I want the blond. LOL!

 After all blond are more fun!

  Has Anyone on here tried one out? There is no music store close to me that I can try one out. So, I am stuck with videos other people to help me out with this.

 I looked for a used one. But they are going for only $100 less. For the blond one. Then that is through a privet party so that means no guarantee of what I would be getting then I would be stuck with it.

 If I get one I think I'll get it for Sweetwater. They also give you like a 2 year Guarantee with it.

I am thinking of this amp for one, It is tubeless. But I wonder how dependable it will be over time. I had a Rolland I bought back in the 80s. It was still working in 2018. I sold the amp to move to FL. Never had an issue out of it.

 The wife says If I get this amp I will have to sell my 2 tube amps. I will hate to see them go.

The other reason I was thinking of buying the Blond twin is it only weighs 33 pounds. Out of all the amps I have owned the Fender Twin Is my top favorite. I only sold it because it was so heavy for me to move around.

 If this amp come even close to it's tube version I think it would be worth it. The last Twin amp I bought new was $1200.00 and as heavy as a anvil.

Well let me know what you all think!

EB  

[Deleted]

Well, I did it. I bought the Fender blond twin amp. It should be here by Friday.
I can’t wait to get it, but I guess I’ll have to. lol
I’ll do a video on it at some point.
I bought it from Sweet water They gave me a pretty good deal on it.
EB

[GuitarAttack Forum]

Eddie -- Quick question: does the Tone Master have onboard effects?

John

[Deleted]

Mar 22, 2022 8:02:42 GMT -6 GuitarAttack Forum said:

Eddie -- Quick question: does the Tone Master have onboard effects?

John

it has all the same effect that the Deluxe and Twin amps (tube) have. The nice thing about them is it has a switch on the back so you can dial in the sound you want. Like on the blond twin I can go from 85 watt down to 1 watt. To me this makes it a little bit better then the tube amp twin. It also has XLR and 3 setting for recording and an off switch to the speakers for quite stage or recording.

 You can get that distorted over driven sound without making your ears bleed. Ever try and get that with the tube amp twin? I have. LOL! The cops have been known to show up once or twice. HA!

 So, you have Reverb, Tremolo, and a presents on board. The twin also has a bright switch. The deluxe does not. But Like I said you can dial it back to get that over driven sound. It's enough amp for me. Plus it's only 33 pounds! That is a big plus for me. I hope it holds up to the hype. Sweetwater said they would take it back if I do not like the amp. Of course I have to pay for the return shipping of around $85. Said I can get a refund or would let me trade it in for something else. So, I thought I'll take a chance on it.

 I found another video today of a guy that took you through a good demo of the blond twin. If I can get mine to sound half as good as he had his sounding I'll be super happy.

I don't expect it to sound as good as any of the tube amps I have or have owned. But, I do think it will be close enough for me and the way I play today. If I ever find somewhere to play again, it will be nice not to yank my arm/s off trying to lift it.

 I also found 2 videos of the amp being played in night clubs. It can hold it's own. The one guy said he was really impressed with it in a live band. I don't know If I'll ever get to play in a band again. But it's nice to know that the amp will hold up. I have owned a few tube amps that I was disappointed  in, in a live band kind of thing. This amp will be going in the living room of our new house. It will be nice to able to move it around and not worry about how heavy it is or damaging tubes.

These amps are also getting some great reviews on how well they take pedals.

Some day I would like to find me a really good delay pedal. I would not mind finding a good distortion/ overdrive pedal as well.

One thing I like about my Peavey Delta Blues amp is I can set up the on board overdrive on it so it has that nice bluesy crunch when I push on it and then go back to a clean sound when I play softer, without the need of stepping on a pedal. I hoe I can get things set up this way on this amp.

 LOL! This is my quick answer to your quick question. HA!

EB

[Deleted]

here is the amp being played in a band setting. You may have to fast forward some to get to the part where he is playing in  band setting.

EB

[dnic]

I'm traveling Eddie. Ill check it at some point.

[Deleted]

Well it came in today!

I love the blond look! WOW!

Nothing like a 71 LP custom to go with the amp.

OK, You all know I am an old school kind of guy. I did have some doubts (just a little) on buying this amp. But that all went away when I plugged in and turned on the amp. WOW!!! I am so impressed with this amp. If you have not played through one yet you might want to. I have never had a solid state amp do things like this amp does. Even a single note will keep fading away for ever. My Rolland would cut a note off if you let it ring off to long. But this amp will fade all the way and then some. I have to stop the sustain.

  So, yes I am sold on this amp. It holds up to the hype to me. I have it set on 12 watts right now and I love being able to get that full Fender Twin sound without braking my ears drums.

 After the move, I'll do one of my sound videos on this amp. Oh my wife even says she likes the New sound of the amp.

 I feel that this amp is one of them things where people that know that there are no tubes it, it can't be any good. I say stop hearing with your eyes. Like so many do when taking about guitars. They hear with their eyes and not their ears. 

 This amp makes no sounds what so ever, until I begin to play. There is no line noise at all coming out of the speakers. All you get is nice "Clean" sound that comes out of the amp.

 This is my third Fender twin I have owned. This one is top of the list for me. It has that Chime in it that most long for. It really does sound like a twin tube amp. I may be putting up my Peavy Delta Blues amp up for sale soon, and you all know how much I love that amp!

 Well, anyways, I do like the amp a lot! It takes a lot to impress me, and this amp did just that. Going to set up in the living room for now until it gets closer for the move. Sweet Water did give me a good deal on it. I did not pay what they were asking. Again you know me, I like to wheel and deal.

EB

[dnic]

Sweet Eddie! I'm glad you like it. Looking forward to the demo.

[antares]

You're correct about "hearing with the eyes" as opposed to listening with the ears Eddie. You don't need to sell me on solid state. It's all down to the electronic engineering (and to a large extent the audio output transformer in a valve amp is the secret sauce IMO.) I have that 80 watts Session Amps' "Sessionette" made in the 1980s, and Stewart Ward knew right well what he was doing with the fastest fuses on three legs! His more recent creation is the "BluesBaby" based on the similar sounding name Fender amplifier of note. Honest folk admit that the difference between the inspiration and the solid state homage is not worth discussing, although the weight discrepancy cannot be ignored. Too, I have two Yamaha G100-112 combos and they were Yamaha's eloquent answer to the Roland JCs and were designed by Mike Soldano (I think- citation required!) I also have a Tech21 10 watts combo intended really for recording but it's just great. Have you heard what Tech21 does with transistors, mosFETs and op amps? The thing is we all know of folk that say or indeed have said "nothing beats tubes" and I'll admit that there is just that slightly rusty buzz saw edge patina of the note on a good tube amp, but I have to fall back on quoting the audio transformer and importantly efficient loudspeakers. This new amp of yours definitely ticks the visuals and how cool that it delivers on the sound and dynamics to seal the deal. Like Dane I'm looking forward to a video from you because it's the raw Fender Twin sound emulation that I'm interested in, and most of these YouTube videos just seem to step through all the digital ear candy at the expense of what really matters.

I hope your move goes off without any dramas Eddie.

でつ e&oe ...

[Deleted]

Yep, a lot of the UT videos have been doctored up. I only found  a few that I don't think have been. Only because of how my amp sounds is why I think some of the videos are on the up and up.

 I'll be recording with my new iPhone 13 pro. So far it has not let me down in sound guilty. So what you all will get is the raw sound. Plus I doubt if I will be putting any pedals in front of the amp. My video will be the real deal. Like all my videos are. What you see and hear is what one will get.

 I can't tell you how many times I turn off a video because the first thing I hear is over the top distortion. It doesn't sound good at all. Then you get the ones that can buy anything they want and have some really nice stuff and can't play all to well, and they end up making the great stuff they have sound like something that would make you not want to buy anything. Even on some of the videos I have seen from manufactures will have someone doing a demo of amps and guitars and that person is playing an out of tune guitar. WOW!

 The only reason I could get this is because of good credit. I have worked hard on restoring my credit. For me I wanted to buy me a brand new amp. Not something used and not knowing what the used amp has been through. I did find a few of these used. But I find it funny when in the ad it says something like " only less than an hour of play time on it" WOW! who do they think they are kidding? For me I already have at least 3 hours of play time on mine.

Well, I am not trying to sell anyone on this amp. All I can do is report on my findings. It is a great amp. It will serve me well for what I need it to do. I had a Roland JC 120 that was as heavy as the Fender Twin tube amp. I owned the two at the same time. The Roland may have been a pound or two liter but that is it. This one is 33 pounds and I get the some cool sounds of a twin with tubes. Hum... I would like to put the two side by side and blind fold someone and let them play through them to see if they really could hear the difference between the two. I don't think there would be to many that could. There may be a few but not to many. Just like I did when I did a test on Squire and USA Fender guitars. 5 guys all chose the Squire as the USA guitar. LOL! Again hearing with the ears and not their eyes.

 I know if I took off that little badge on the bottom corner not to many would know that my amp is not a tube amp. Bottom line is I like it. To me that is all that matters. Again if you know me at all, you know I am always telling people buy what "You" like. Other wise we all would be playing the same stuff. That would be boring.

 Time will tell on the reliability of the amp. They have been out for a while now, and I have not heard too many bad things on them. Some out there say they will not trust it because of the many processors that are in the amp. But if you own a newer car you trust processors to run your car every day. Do they fail? sure do! Are they expensive to have fixed? Yep! But even tube amps fail. Not just the tubes go bad but the tube amp can fail in a lot of other ways. Ever see one burn up form over heating? I have. Ever have to have a other thing or another replaced in  a tube amp other then a bad tube. I have. None of it is cheap to have repaired or replaced. Now that people are being greedy and raising the price of tubes because of the resent things going on tubes are no longer cheap. I doubt if the price of tubes will ever come back down to where they once were before all this stuff started.

 I looked on line the other day and tubes for one of my amps is now like $400.00 for a set. I was going on on when they went to $150.00 for the set. WOW! Many suppliers are only selling in sets. There are some saying to snatch up old organs that have tubes in them. How many people out there want the job of getting one pulling the tubes and then have to get rid of what is left over? Not to many.

 So, like so many things we have to embrace the new. We all can't be driving a 1955 Chevy. Yes I still like the old cars and old school ways of music. But things are changing and if there is one thing in life that happens every day is change. And some of us fight it. But change will happen no mater how much we fight it.

EB      

[Deleted]

another update on this amp;

 I took this all the way down to one watt. WOW! I am still impressed at how good this amp sounds even at one watt. I love the brake up it has at this point. I can get that thing I like to where if I play lite there is no brake up. But when I get on it, it has that cool bluesy sound. At a volume that is nice on the ears. Still fairly loud.

 It is nice to get that sweet spot of an amp and not have to peal the paint off the walls. I was also playing to backing tracks, everything sounded really good.

 I can hardly wait to get moved. I want to make a good video of this amp, from my side of things. The sound/tone of this amp to me is amazing. If you get a chance to try one out, I would see if you could try it out in a room somewhere. That way you can really hear this amp. I do that with all the amps I try out. When there is a lot of other noise going on you really can't hear things as clear as you should.

 In a lot of ways I think this amp sounds better than it tube brother. Remember I have owned two other Twin tube amps. I feel the Tone master has a slight edge on the tube amps. But that is the way I see it or hear it.

 I could not stop playing music yesterday. My wife thinks that is a good thing. I have not been this excited over anything in a long while. For the first time in a really long time I closed my eyes and got lost in the music. WOW! It felt so good... To me the amp is worth the money. This amp has caused me to feel the music again in a way that reminded me about why I love music. Anything that can do that is worth the money. Fender has done a good thing. The amp is simple to use and it sound awesome!

 I hope my videos of it will do it justice.

EB 

[GuitarAttack Forum]

That is a great looking amp...look forward to trying one myself.

Speaking of "hearing with the eyes", I played a benefit gig on Saturday night. It was good to get back together with my Pink Floyd tribute bandmates and the approx. one hour set was pretty good even without the obligatory rehearsals.

I wound up using my "Little Rig" - the Line6 Board, the Seymour Duncan solid state amp, and my 1x12 Port City/Eminence cab. I also used my Line6 Variax guitar for a wide array of electric and acoustic sounds. I had a backup Strat that I didn't get out of the case. I sat the cabinet next to an Orange half-stack, which looked pretty imposing, and we started with "Have a Cigar".

After the gig a young guy approached me and said, "Dude, your lead tone was killer. That Orange sounds awesome!". My reply? "It does, doesn't it?" Didn't want to start a discussion.

I shook his hand and started loading up.

John

[antares]

Walk softly, carry a big stick!

でつ e&oe ...

[Deleted]

Mar 28, 2022 8:21:01 GMT -6 GuitarAttack Forum said:

That is a great looking amp...look forward to trying one myself.

Speaking of "hearing with the eyes", I played a benefit gig on Saturday night. It was good to get back together with my Pink Floyd tribute bandmates and the approx. one hour set was pretty good even without the obligatory rehearsals.

I wound up using my "Little Rig" - the Line6 Board, the Seymour Duncan solid state amp, and my 1x12 Port City/Eminence cab. I also used my Line6 Variax guitar for a wide array of electric and acoustic sounds. I had a backup Strat that I didn't get out of the case. I sat the cabinet next to an Orange half-stack, which looked pretty imposing, and we started with "Have a Cigar".

After the gig a young guy approached me and said, "Dude, your lead tone was killer. That Orange sounds awesome!". My reply? "It does, doesn't it?" Didn't want to start a discussion.

I shook his hand and started loading up.

John

LOL To cool!

I remember now what my new amp reminds me of. Back in 1983, when I bought my Roland Jazz 120. They had an amp there that was a proto type and not for sale to the public. It was made or had fiber optics in it. I don't remember the manufacture of it. But at that time it was the clearest sounding amp I had ever payed. It had no amp noise at all. There was a questionnaire next to it asking for what you thought. I really liked that amp and even tried to buy it. But no mater what they would not sell it. It never did make it to production. I have never been able to find out what happened to the idea. I can only guess why it never did make it to production.

 My new amp reminds of that amp.

 Has anyone ever seen the one I am talking about? It didn't stay around to long in that music store. Was there one week and gone the fallowing. I bought a lot of gear form that music store back then. Spent thousands of dollars there.

 That was in Pomona CA. Next to it was a huge pawn shop that I also spent some money in. LOL!I miss them days.

EB  

[GuitarAttack Forum]

Eddie -- I saw this today. Even Mike McCready from Pearl Jam likes the Fender digital amps.

www.guitarworld.com/news/pearl-jam-mike-mccready-switch-to-fender-digital-tone-master-amps

John