Fender Tone Master Princeton Reverb
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Raiyn
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I haven't looked at prices, but that's a winner in my book
Rather than reproduce a SS version of a smaller fairly lightweight amp I'm curious why Fendern chose to go in the direction as opposed to say doing an SS version of a '59 Bassman. All are also pretty pricey for SS versions of classic Fender amps.
I can understand their reasoning behind the Tonemaster Twin and Super Reverbs due to the weight of the former. The Deluxe made a little less sense from that perspective alone and now they've produced a 20lb version of a 34lb tube amp.
Does anyone actually have that much problem toting a 34lb amp?
I can understand their reasoning behind the Tonemaster Twin and Super Reverbs due to the weight of the former. The Deluxe made a little less sense from that perspective alone and now they've produced a 20lb version of a 34lb tube amp.
Does anyone actually have that much problem toting a 34lb amp?
I don't think they do it for the weight saving ...
Probably not. Knowing Fender it gives them not four but eight shots at selling someone an amp. And I do admit the features on the SS are also a boon to certain players.
Still, IMHO they could have gone the other way and have done a SS clone of a '59 Bassman before deciding to do a Princeton. Of all of the Tonemaster Series that one seems to me to the weakest excuse for producing it.
Pencil pushers. They will probably eventually come out with a Bassman.
Noodling Guitars
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Featherlight Bassman seems so wrong but so cool
Mike M
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These amps have their own separate processing power just for the Reverb, which I think Fender is proud of, and not sure they would waste time on amps, like tweeds and bassman, that don't have reverb or tremolo.
Raiyn
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They'll make a Bassman, then the V2's will come out with an effects loop - probably under a "Vintage-Modified", or "Modern Player" tag.
The lack of a loop pushed me off the TM Deluxe Reverb and seems to be a common gripe among the reviews I've seen.
Edit: Yeah, I know the originals didn't have a loop - they also weren't Solid State.
Speaking of the Deluxe vs the Princeton, the Deluxe is only $50 more.
The lack of a loop pushed me off the TM Deluxe Reverb and seems to be a common gripe among the reviews I've seen.
Edit: Yeah, I know the originals didn't have a loop - they also weren't Solid State.
Speaking of the Deluxe vs the Princeton, the Deluxe is only $50 more.
The '59 Bassman is one of the most respected and sought after guitar amps of all time. It's lack of an onboard reverb should have nothing to do with Fender producing a ToneMaster version of the amp. Design it with an effects loop so the owner can add whatever reverb he chooses.
I think it would make more sense than the Princeton of which there is no shortage of available models but try to find a '59 Bassman. That's an amp I believe if sold in the $1000 price range buyers would flock to.
Space1999
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Just curious about what the general consensus is about the sound of the original vs the Tone Master versions of these amps in the Fender line,
Not really a Fender amp guy because I don’t think a lot of them play well with humbuckers from my experience. But a Fender guitar through a Fender amp is definitely magic,
Raiyn and I both use Boss Nextone series amps and the tube sound is created by 4 separate power sections for 4 different tube sounds and the results are very good.
As I understand it, the Fender series are using DSP to achieve the tube sound.
So just want to know how well that method worked for these amplifiers.
If anyone has compared them to the originals or just have an opinion if they have a tube like sound, I would be interested to hear from you.
Pat
Not really a Fender amp guy because I don’t think a lot of them play well with humbuckers from my experience. But a Fender guitar through a Fender amp is definitely magic,
Raiyn and I both use Boss Nextone series amps and the tube sound is created by 4 separate power sections for 4 different tube sounds and the results are very good.
As I understand it, the Fender series are using DSP to achieve the tube sound.
So just want to know how well that method worked for these amplifiers.
If anyone has compared them to the originals or just have an opinion if they have a tube like sound, I would be interested to hear from you.
Pat
3bolt79
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It’s weird that they are selling so well., in a short time the TM’s will become Obsolete, just like that when Fender decides to stop servicing the software side to these amps. In 20years you will have a piece of junk. In 20 years a tube amp version of these will still be serviceable.
I don’t mind SS amps. I have had some good ones. I had a couple of Orange amps. And I recently got a bog net Ecstacy Mini. That thing sounds exactly like a tube amp, with a low price of 250 bucks brand new, and no software component And ruined me for the zoranges that I sold.
I won’t buy any amp that requires me to go online and upgrade anything.
I don’t mind SS amps. I have had some good ones. I had a couple of Orange amps. And I recently got a bog net Ecstacy Mini. That thing sounds exactly like a tube amp, with a low price of 250 bucks brand new, and no software component And ruined me for the zoranges that I sold.
I won’t buy any amp that requires me to go online and upgrade anything.
I have two Super Champ XD that date from 2008 I think. They are played daily and still going strong.
Raiyn
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A lightweight version of a popular amp from a venerated brand that doesn't require the maintenance of a tube amp?
Then you either run with whatever settings you dialed into the amp, or you keep a laptop (or whatever) with the software installed.
It's not as though you can't run old software, look at all the WinXP / 7 boxes still in use.
After 20 years, I'd have either moved on to a newer model or decided I was good with the amp as is. I'd have dialed in the final basic settings I wanted 19 years earlier. Sort of like what I'm doing with my Nextone Special.
Perhaps, if you can find tubes and if you can find someone with the knowledge to repair it that's still working / alive in twenty years.
Not meaning to be harsh, but nobody here is getting younger. The really good repair guys aren't young guys anymore.
Tubes are made on Cold War era equipment in places you wouldn't want to go on vacation and have been for decades. Sure that U.S. audiophile company said they were going to possibly start making tubes for the guitar market - but they won't be cheap. Even though they're "simpler" than the ones they make for the HiFi crowd you're gonna pay a premium. Part of it will be tooling costs, most of it will be hanging the "made in USA" tag on it.
I've got a well used pawn shop find teal stripe Peavey Envoy 110 from the early 90's that still works fine. If I ever crack it open, I'll be the first human in there in decades - probably since it left the line.
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3bolt79
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I buy Mesa Tubes. They are pricey. Made in Germany by Siemens From what I’ve read. Those tubes are just as good as their ventilators. It’s a good thing my amps are 30 watts, as one matched pair will do. Their 12ax7’s aren’t to bad price wise, until you compare prices with the other manufacturers.
Space1999
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Well my complete sound is my pedal board, like so many other guitarists nowadays.
So my pedalboard and a good SS amp like my JC-120 and I am set.
And all of this has become possible because the quality of guitar pedals has just skyrocketed in the last 5-10 years.
So a good SS amp is in more demand now than ever. It’s up to amp companies now to keep up.
Pat
So my pedalboard and a good SS amp like my JC-120 and I am set.
And all of this has become possible because the quality of guitar pedals has just skyrocketed in the last 5-10 years.
So a good SS amp is in more demand now than ever. It’s up to amp companies now to keep up.
Pat
Raiyn
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Except that Siemens doesn't make vacuum tubes and hasn't for years if not decades and dang sure not in Germany. There are some NOS ones out there, but the on!y places making new ones are China (though supposedly they lost a factory in a flood) and Russia.
The Russians make the vast majority of new tubes on the market. EHX owns a factory over there that badge-engineers several brands, and as you can imagine given that "special action"
things have been "challenging".Just because a company says they source the best tubes from around the world it doesn't mean they have a
load of options.These aren't your old "My First Amp" solid state amps. Heck even that category is miles above where it had been.
