[Benjamos86]

Anyone on here seen these yet? I’m very intrigued by these. A twin that only weighs 33 lbs in a solid pine cabinet with attenuation? Seems like both could potentially be decent options for people looking to get close to Jerry tones with an amp that they could use both at home and on stage. I’ve read some user reviews on other forums and everyone who has tried one seems to be quite impressed. Anyone on here tried one yet?

People seem to have mixed feelings about the price, but I’m of the opinion that if they sound just as good as the originals and weigh half, plus have all the other features that they’ve added, the price doesn’t seem to be to far off.

Curious what people on here think about these.

For some perspective on weight, my 68 Princeton weighs 34 lbs...

https://shop.fender.com/en-US/guitar-am ... 00000.html

[Staemius]

Yeah, very intrigued by the twin in particular. Any reviewers chime in. Curious how both of these would respond to speaker swap to a JBLs.

[lbpesq]

"Curious how both of these would respond to speaker swap to a JBLs."

Probably sound great ... and the weight would almost double!

Bill, tgo

[Benjamos86]

No doubt adding the JBLs would take away from the light weight appeal of these amps. It might be that these wont be the most attractive amps for people chasing his exact tone. But for someone just looking to get into the ballpark by having the blackface twin sound at their fingertips (especially at all different types of playing volumes) and also not wanting to deal with the weight of a twin, it could be a viable option. That’s why I wanted to start this thread here and see if anyone has perhaps played through one yet.

I find these quite appealing and I’m strongly considering trying to obtain one of these. It seems fender has done a decent amount of R&D to come up with these models and they aren’t just your run of the mill SS amp. They utilize Digital signal processing. Apparently they have quad core processors in them. And two of the cores alone are used to power the reverb.

Interesting stuff.

[tntawney]

I think the speakers can't be switched out.

[Benjamos86]

I actually think this might be true. I read something that hinted at that somewhere else, though I’m struggling to find that now.

[PurpleTrails]

The DSP has been tailored to those speakers, so it could conceivably sound like garbage with a speaker swap.

A computer guy on another forum who is quite knowledgeable about such things (worked for line6 for quite a while) said that the fender approach of focusing on just one type of sound would maximize the performance of the amp. Turns out that using different types of amp models in the same platform limits the processing power that can be applied to any one. I don't remember the technical reason, but his opinion was that fender could significantly increase the fidelity to the tube amp sound versus things like a kemper or Ax that can do multiple amp profiles.

[Benjamos86]

This is why I think these amps might surprise people. Rather than tying to model multiple amps, they’ve stuck with just doing one thing really well. I love that the amps look the same as the originals, and there is no deep menu diving needed either to get to the sound you want. It seems like when people talk about the Kemper or Axe FX boxes, I see most of them make the comment that they generally go to one or two amp sounds they are looking for and mostly stick with them rather than constantly pulling up different emulations.

Hopefully I will get myself to a GC soon and I can try the twin out. The more I think about it, the more I can see this being all most would ever need in terms of an amp, if they are going for that particular sound. All the demos I’ve heard so far sound great. I never thought I’d consider letting go of my Princeton but this has me seriously considering it!

[ChinaCatMatt]

I should have looked here I posted about this in the amp forum earlier. Yeah as a twin owner already I was still considering getting one of these for the weight and attenuation. That twin is a real hog. I’ve been looking or a lightweight amp for multi purpose uses. I’ve looked at the katana head the quilter micro and then I just saw this and without having to change my sound drastically I could just cut the weight in half, and also be able to practice with cranked up tone. Thing seems too good to be true.

Wait and see what happens and see how the prices look for used ones on reverb. But for 1k brand new it sounds pretty legit. I’m gonna be watching them closely.

[joshq]

It definitely sounds intriguing and, if it's a one trick pony, sounds like it's supposed to be pretty good at what it's intended to do.

I would like be hesitant to drop $1k though on something whose speakers you can't change. Like tires on a car, the ability to change speakers is one of the easiest and most powerful mods one can do to an amp. I'd feel a little boxed in by that.

[strumminsix]

Watched a video yesterday of TM vs real tube amp. When I went back to look for it, it was gone. But I suspect the A/B was tone master vs re-issue. But interestingly enough, in each example, I preferred the tone master.

Think it's really unique that it has a DI out with 2 different IR choices that are voiced to the speaker.

I see this amp as groundbreaking in the thought of showing up to a gig, DI'ing out directly to FOH, keeping a low stage volume.

And I applaud Fender for going for 1 great amp model per device rather than trying to model every amp they've ever done.

[Benjamos86]

It’s funny, in basically every video I’ve watched that compares them to the tube version counterparts, I preferred the tone master sound (for both the twin and the deluxe). I want to try one though, because mic placement and stuff like that definitely can have an impact on how the perceived audio comes out once you watch the video. I checked inventory at my local GC the other week and they didn’t show that they had any yet but I’m keeping my eyes on it. Would love to be able to spend some time with one in a closed room and see how they sound attenuated and on full wattage. I don’t necessarily care how close they sound compared to the tube versions either. To me, if it sounds great and feels great, that’s enough for me to consider it. There is a long thread on TGP about these and I’ve read through a lot of it. Plenty of actual user reviews and most are all very very positive. There are for sure a couple guys who are showing resistance and holding on to the notion that the tube versions can’t be replaced. But in my opinion, at gigging volume in a band mix, NOBODY in the audience is going to tell the difference. I think fender is on to something for sure.

[pula58]

If you can't change speakers doesn't that also mean it will be difficult to replace them if/when they blow?

[sugarinthegourd]

If you can't change speakers doesn't that also mean it will be difficult to replace them if/when they blow?

I’m pretty certain that whoever said you can’t change the speaker was mistaken.

[jmal]

The speakers are definitely changeable however the amp emulations are specifically tuned to the included speaker. If you were to swap out the included speaker for a JBL, for example, you wouldn’t get the desired sound.