Shoutbox

sysmalakian: Birthday month starts now!
362 days ago

diceophonic: Vampiro Classics 2024 reissue
343 days ago

SabedLeepski: Sunburn Surf Fest for some scorching hot surf music: https://sunb...
300 days ago

skeeter: I know a Polish sound guy.
228 days ago

skeeter: I know a Czech one too!
228 days ago

PatGall: Surfybear metal settings
148 days ago

Pyronauts: Happy Tanks-Kicking!
126 days ago

midwestsurfguy: Merry Christmas!
95 days ago

sysmalakian: HAPPY NEW YEAR!
88 days ago

SabedLeepski: Surfin‘ Europe, for surf (related) gigs and events in Europe Big Razz https://sunb...
49 days ago

Please login or register to shout.

Current Polls

No polls at this time. Check out our past polls.

Current Contests

No contests at this time. Check out our past contests.

Donations

Help us meet our monthly goal:

100%

100%

Donate Now

Cake March Birthdays Cake
SG101 Banner

SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

Permalink Fender Tone Master Deluxe Reverb

New Topic
Page 1 of 1

These Tone Master versions of classic Fender blackface amps look pretty legit. I've yet to play one, but John Bohlinger's video below sounds pretty darn good. Hoping a local store has one of these to try out soon.

Sean

Last edited: Oct 07, 2019 10:27:57

It does sound very good. Seems especially useful for the gigging musician (lightweight, low maintenance, loud, IR with line etc.)
The FX sound great also. Top of the line as far as digital emulations go. The reverb seems to kick in a little late, but it's hard to judge.
Caveats: 1. as with all digital modeling until now, the way it sounds to the listener doesn't necessarily translate to the way it interacts with the player in real time. Even with minimal latency, the liveliness and dynamics of tubes are a hard thing to replicate. Getting there, though.
2. It will likely be obsolete in a couple of years, when a newer better digital solution will come, as has been before with previous digital lines. It always does. Even with firmware updates there's a limit to the chips, as opposed to tube amps which still maintain value.
3. No headphone output?
I like that they kept the 'programming' part to a minimum this time( no stupid menus), control is done by classic knobs.

Last edited: Oct 07, 2019 12:52:33

It's almost the same price as the tube model. Whatever

Did you notice that most of these demo video's of Reverb pedals the guitarist is always picking? Not using a pick. Different sound when using a pick.

'Surf Music Lasts Forever'

It sounds beautiful in the video. If priced like the tube versions, it's going to be a tough sell - maybe at half or 2/3 the price they could get people to buy in.

edwardsand wrote:

It sounds beautiful in the video. If priced like the tube versions, it's going to be a tough sell - maybe at half or 2/3 the price they could get people to buy in.

The Tone Master Twin is $450 cheaper than its tube counterpart. So roughly a third cheaper. But it’s got extra bennies that the tube amp doesn’t, like built-in attenuation and an XLR line out.

Sean

I hadn't seen all the other added features before posting, as I had watched about half the video to hear how it sounded. Those additional things do add a lot of value, especially the attenuation. Plus it's dual voltage. So I'll have to change my assessment and say it's more reasonably priced (though the Deluxe Reverb version is only $200 cheaper at Sweetwater) and that maybe more guitarists will give it a try.

FWIW, I based my comment on the Fender online shop listings. They list a '68 Custom Deluxe at $1049; they list the Tone Master Deluxe at $899. So, yeah, the TM's a $150 less, but for my money those prices are too close for modeling amp vs. tube amp.

Last edited: Oct 08, 2019 13:00:50

I gigged with my Tonemaster Deluxe Reverb this weekend (twice). It was pretty dang cool.

Lightweight as all get out, the tone was great (Fred Rilla said, "Your tone is always so great....wait, is that the NEW amp?")

I miss some of the harmonic richness of my PRRI and DRRI but nobody but me notices it.

The XLR confused sound guy #1 who ended up just mic'ing it anyway (I'm not going to argue with a sound guy) and sound guy #2 had no problem plugging direct in. I used the Cab Sim #2 (SM57) and it sounded good. More experimenting required here.

Ultimately, I've got to tweak the treble and bass some more, because the frequency response is so even across the range it's changed how my pedals and overall sound are working. (Not a bad thing)

Bottom line, it's equivalent to my tube amps, in a different way. In the studio I would probably still go with my tube amps (more harmonic richness) but this thing rocks bananas when gigging!

image

Bango Rilla!


DiPintos, Fenders and Reverb (oh, my!)

The GO-GO Rillas
Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok | Threads: thegogorillas

Last edited: Oct 13, 2019 20:09:13

Is this Tone Master Deluxe Reverb fine for playing live? I was all set to shop around for one but then realised that the Twin Reverb version isn't much more money (about 130 GBP), so with that you'd have enough headroom you'd ever need, and could step down the power of required

Yeah, for sure, I've gigged with it a bunch now. A Twin is far more volume than I would ever need (even with the step down available) but the case is good to go for the Twin and have even MORE volume available for not much more cash. In most situations I have the sound guy run direct XLR and so really all I need is stage volume, which the DR handles just fine.

Bango Rilla!


DiPintos, Fenders and Reverb (oh, my!)

The GO-GO Rillas
Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok | Threads: thegogorillas

  • to be fair, I have also played it plenty of times where we didn't have a sound guy/PA and it was fine. If I was playing a Twin, I'd have to turn waydown, as it is my other guitar player is playing a Princeton Reverb so more often than not I notch my DR down to 12w so that I'm not blowing him out.

Bango Rilla!


DiPintos, Fenders and Reverb (oh, my!)

The GO-GO Rillas
Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok | Threads: thegogorillas

I got one, and I’m sold! I’ve never been very traditional in my gear choices (I like new stuff that works) so there was no glitch there. I’ve always been a believer that our gear is really for our benefit as performers. When you feel like you sound good, you’ll most certainly play better. From an audience perspective though I don’t really think that they care if your setup is “vintage correct.” Yes... there are obvious aesthetic connections between genres of music and instrument selection. And I think we are drawn to this music because of the whole package! The sound, the look, and the connection to the lifestyle it represents. Sorry if I got a little off track... the gear minutiae gets to me sometimes. So... I’ll get to the point!
This amp is Awesome!!!
Punchy. Loud and clear. I’ve never had it above the 12 watt setting and I’ve never had a problem being heard over our drummer. And trust me Gary is like a force of nature!
Here’s the big thing... It’s an inspiration to play.! It makes me want to play more and better. And that my friends is the bottom line.

www.instagram.com/_the.outer.limits_
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX7iIpcAvL8In2HY9I7QoPw
www.theouterlimits.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/vertigogo.surf

I just got one of these, and while I've never played a full on tube Fender other than BJ, I've had a few X2s through the years, and this one sounds a lot better. As far as DSP goes, they soundmodeled a Deluxe reverb and then figured out how much processing power it would take to make it do that, rather than the other way around that a lot of modeling amps go, with a limit to DSP and then the sound models tweaked to fit within those parameters.

I don't see this TMDR becoming obsolete in the coming years like a lot of modelers because it doesn't carry any onboard effects, pedals, setting, whatever, other than reverb and trem. A DR is a DR- they arnen't going to sound much different now or 20 yrs from now other than some tube swapping and speaker changes or something like that.

I think Fender took the right route here.

Page 1 of 1
Top