Fender Tone Master Twin Reverb

For anything to do with Fender, Burns and other guitars; also amps, effects units inc eTap plus any other music making accessories

Moderators: David Martin, dave robinson, Iain Purdon, George Geddes

Re: Fender Tone Master Twin Reverb

Postby cockroach » Fri Oct 25, 2019 3:37 pm

Glad it works for you Dave...but I must say the retail prices of both the Twin and Deluxe models seem disappointingly expensive to me for a transistor amp- even a very good tranny amp!...and certainly beyond my budget as I'm an OAP...either would be very useful for me for live gigs, which is mostly what i do these days, playing wise, having great sounds and being far lighter in weight than their even more expensive original valve counterpart reissue models.

The other thing is that there are a number of good quality name brand tranny amps available these days for far less money...even Fender itself has such models available...and such models secondhand are very affordable...I found an as new Boss Katana 50 1x12 combo in a Cash Converters shop for about $300AUS..which is about 130 UK pounds..OK, it's not a Fender Tonemaster Deluxe, but it ain't a bad amp either..
cockroach
 
Posts: 1459
Joined: Sun Sep 20, 2009 11:33 am
Location: Australia
Full Real Name: john cochrane

Re: Fender Tone Master Twin Reverb

Postby JimN » Fri Oct 25, 2019 5:38 pm

Irrespective of anything complimentary that can or may be said about these new versions of The Twin and the Deluxe, I predict that their market penetration will mirror that of other Fender (and Vox) modelling amplifiers of the last couple of decades.

They'll by stuck up at around the £925 mark for a year or so, then one day, Fender Europe will remainder out the stocks (the range having been discontinued as is no doubt planned anyway) and after that, UK dealers will be offering them for 50% - 60% of that price. It's what's happened with all the predecessor ranges, including the Mustangs, the Vintage Modified, etc.
User avatar
JimN
 
Posts: 4782
Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2009 11:39 pm
Full Real Name: Jim Nugent

Re: Fender Tone Master Twin Reverb

Postby dave robinson » Sat Oct 26, 2019 1:15 am

The retail price isn't cheap granted, but these are not bog standard solid state amplifiers. The technology and design have contributed to cloning a legend of an amplifier that costs a third more and weighs twice as much. The Mustangs and cheaper amps are nowhere near the same quality, nor is the attention to detail in the sonic footprint anywhere near as good on the Mustang's model of the Twin Reverb. I have tried the cheaper Fender modelling amps and they fall short.
When I bought my Rumble 100 V3 bass amp, I thought at the time that it would be great if Fender brought out a similar lightweight Twin Reverb clone and they did.
I work in a band that earns good money on theatre stages and we have a reputation to keep up so to me this is a drop in the ocean. Put it this way, I'd sooner embrace this technology and have very manageable gear than throw good money away on vintage amps, guitars and pedals that many people pay ten times their original cost for - also I want it now whilst we're gigging, rather than hoping it comes down in price in a couple of years time. If it does then tough, but I'll buy a spare. :lol:
Dave Robinson
User avatar
dave robinson
 
Posts: 5937
Joined: Wed Sep 09, 2009 2:34 pm
Location: Sheffield
Full Real Name: David Robinson

Re: Fender Tone Master Twin Reverb

Postby dave robinson » Sat Oct 26, 2019 11:39 am

For those interested, I'm going to make a video of this amp with the various echo boxes I own, just to let people hear that it does indeed have the tones that we like.
It always disappoints me when I see the demos on You tube that our genre of music is often ignored and all they seem to bother about is 'crunch' & 'distortion'.

I had a discussion with someone on Thursday about Vox doing something similar with the AC30, which would be a God send to us for obvious reasons, but they have kind of done it in half measures with the AC30 VR range, one of which I had for a while. If only they had taken more care with the modelling as Fender have done with this, as well as using neodymium speakers, it would have been a winner, but although they are OK, they sound very
thin' and do not sound like the AC30 as we know it which is why I moved it on.
Dave Robinson
User avatar
dave robinson
 
Posts: 5937
Joined: Wed Sep 09, 2009 2:34 pm
Location: Sheffield
Full Real Name: David Robinson

Re: Fender Tone Master Twin Reverb

Postby roger bayliss » Sat Oct 26, 2019 1:07 pm

There is no doubt that modelling amps have come a long way in recent years and with good speakers (50;% of the sound) they can sound great. There are good ones and bad ones as we know. Never got on with the Fender Mustang myself, but my main amp I use these days at home is a small Vox VX2 made of plastic with a 8 inch speaker and it does a great job. I have owned a Vox AC30 heritage and I compare these two favourably. Nice and inexpensive too. The Boss Mustang is another one I use that again is relatively inexpensive and dies a great job. For professional player the new Fender range will probably score highly I suspect. I look forward to your video Dave.
American Pro Series Strat 2017, G&L S500 Natural Ash
User avatar
roger bayliss
 
Posts: 1814
Joined: Tue Sep 15, 2009 12:15 am
Full Real Name: Roger Bayliss

Re: Fender Tone Master Twin Reverb

Postby John Brown » Sun Oct 27, 2019 4:00 pm

These amps are seriously over priced for most of us here, we have had revues of vox amps from £90 - £200 which give according to Robbo and the likes which can reproduce that sound, I have had Mesa Boogie, Vox Ac !5 Heritage Hand wired amps and Selmer Thunder Bird amps and it goes on but I have sold everyone for an an amp I bought from Dave Martin, the Acetone Session which is light and does that sound with no messing around. So I think there are far to many revues as the goal post never changes there have been amps out for along time in everybody's budget that will give that sound.
Best Regards
John
User avatar
John Brown
 
Posts: 132
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2009 1:08 pm
Full Real Name: John Brown

Re: Fender Tone Master Twin Reverb

Postby Iain Purdon » Sun Oct 27, 2019 4:55 pm

John Brown wrote:These amps are seriously over priced for most of us here.

I don't think that's the point, John. This is not a thread about the cheapest amp that will give you "that sound". As you rightly point out there is plenty of advice on that elsewhere on this site.

The Fender Twin Reverb, like the Vox AC30, is a classic amp from the days when most of us were growing up. Both amps are seriously heavy for those of us who are therefore a lot older now! Anyone who is wedded to gigging with the Twin Reverb, and I know one or two people who are, will find this an exciting new way to continue without breaking one's back!

Yes, it will make "that sound" as well but that's not the sole reason for reviewing it. :)
Iain Purdon
site admin group
User avatar
Iain Purdon
Site Admin
 
Posts: 3327
Joined: Sat Sep 12, 2009 3:21 pm
Location: Axmouth, Devon
Full Real Name: Iain Purdon

Re: Fender Tone Master Twin Reverb

Postby dave robinson » Mon Oct 28, 2019 12:54 am

The point of my mentioning this amp is that as Iain pointed out, the Fender Twin is as iconic as the Vox AC30 and thousands of guitarists used them over the years.
It isn't something that bedroom players need, nor would I think that guys who go to the Shads clubs would need one, but there are quite a few serious players around like myself who would probably appreciate someone letting them know that it can be used for our kind of music.
I was one of those thousands who used a Fender Twin and eventually it became too heavy to deal with and I had to let it go. I bought one of those dreadful Session amps after seventeen years of using the Twin and it didn't last five minutes on the road and didn't sound very good either. So in 1990 I traded it in against a 1 x 12 Mesa Boogie which wasn't as heavy as a Twin and lived with that until I realised it too was heavy and opted for the head and speaker version.
Back doing the music of The Shadows I bought another Vox AC 30 then the AC15 Heritage but realised I could get the sound from lighter options such as the Boss Katana amongst quite a few and fast forward to today and Fender introduce the Tone Master which is a very light version of an amp that I love.
I saw the demos on YouTube and was very impressed, prompting me to order one and try it for myself. Had Vox done something similar with their amplifiers I would have gone the same way and tried one, but their effort with their AC30 VR isn't in the same class as the Fender Tone Master range, as I found out as The Tone Master contains very high spec parts in order to do the job of reproducing all of The Twin's nuances.
They use a quad core processor and 200 watt class 'b' amplifier to achieve their goal, as well as the excellent Jensen K12 Neodymium speakers which come in at around £100 each. The R & D is far more intense on this project, hence the price.
So no, it isn't another cheap 'tranny' amp, which is is what people are assuming and I'm more than happy to pay £927 to own one and have a great looking and sounding amp behind me on our theatre shows. I still have a Boogie, Vox AC30, Peavey Delta Blues - all valve amps, as well as the Katana set up and they are all great, but I like the Fender Twin aesthetics and I'll enjoy using it, as well as demonstrating what it can do when added to various echo boxes and other lovely toys. :)

Since writing this I have found out that the Jensen Neodymium speakers are £159 each. :|
Dave Robinson
User avatar
dave robinson
 
Posts: 5937
Joined: Wed Sep 09, 2009 2:34 pm
Location: Sheffield
Full Real Name: David Robinson

Re: Fender Tone Master Twin Reverb

Postby dave robinson » Mon Oct 28, 2019 12:59 am

cockroach wrote:Glad it works for you Dave...but I must say the retail prices of both the Twin and Deluxe models seem disappointingly expensive to me for a transistor amp- even a very good tranny amp!...and certainly beyond my budget as I'm an OAP...either would be very useful for me for live gigs, which is mostly what i do these days, playing wise, having great sounds and being far lighter in weight than their even more expensive original valve counterpart reissue models.

The other thing is that there are a number of good quality name brand tranny amps available these days for far less money...even Fender itself has such models available...and such models secondhand are very affordable...I found an as new Boss Katana 50 1x12 combo in a Cash Converters shop for about $300AUS..which is about 130 UK pounds..OK, it's not a Fender Tonemaster Deluxe, but it ain't a bad amp either..


The Katana is a great amp 'roach, I have the 100w head and use it a lot. :)
Dave Robinson
User avatar
dave robinson
 
Posts: 5937
Joined: Wed Sep 09, 2009 2:34 pm
Location: Sheffield
Full Real Name: David Robinson

Re: Fender Tone Master Twin Reverb

Postby cockroach » Mon Oct 28, 2019 8:04 am

dave robinson wrote:
cockroach wrote:Glad it works for you Dave...but I must say the retail prices of both the Twin and Deluxe models seem disappointingly expensive to me for a transistor amp- even a very good tranny amp!...and certainly beyond my budget as I'm an OAP...either would be very useful for me for live gigs, which is mostly what i do these days, playing wise, having great sounds and being far lighter in weight than their even more expensive original valve counterpart reissue models.

The other thing is that there are a number of good quality name brand tranny amps available these days for far less money...even Fender itself has such models available...and such models secondhand are very affordable...I found an as new Boss Katana 50 1x12 combo in a Cash Converters shop for about $300AUS..which is about 130 UK pounds..OK, it's not a Fender Tonemaster Deluxe, but it ain't a bad amp either..


The Katana is a great amp 'roach, I have the 100w head and use it a lot. :)


Thanks Dave...I didn't try the Katana, but it certainly seemed good value...however, I'll stick with me trusty old Marshall MG50DFX, which does all I need it for..and it's paid for itself a few times over from gig money since I got it secondhand in a pawnshop about 10 years ago. It's not a modelling amp, but has built-in effects, including a nice echo/delay which is quick and easy to adjust and apply when needed for many songs we play on gigs (e.g. for Cliff and/or Shadows type sounds, or for '50's rockabilly slap back echo).
cockroach
 
Posts: 1459
Joined: Sun Sep 20, 2009 11:33 am
Location: Australia
Full Real Name: john cochrane

Previous

Return to Gear

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: RogerCook and 28 guests

Ads by Google
These advertisements are selected and placed by Google to assist with the cost of site maintenance.
ShadowMusic is not responsible for the content of external advertisements.