Took the Tone Master Plunge

[Ron Shalita]

You know I keep hearing what is good about one amp and what is not about the other.. well i feel like this needs to be said.. it really does NOT matter what speaker or what amp you use ... It is ALL in your hands... if you keep those hands busy you wont be spending so much time LOOKING for that sound... none of us will ever sound like PF OR BE .. but if we stop wasting our money and start playing more You will sound great.. after years and years of chasing that sound (TONE ) I have come to the conclusion that i sound the same through everything... and I just hope that my addiction the the marketing scheme will finally end!

[Ken Metcalf]

I am test driving a Tonemaster twin and own a 1967 twin.
Typically I play my Telecaster through a 74 Deluxe reverb.
1st gig on 6 string with the tonemaster twin was in a doctor's office at 6am for a cowboy breakfast thing.
Three piece classic country at extremely low volume.
I set the attenuator at the lowest setting and immediately all were impressed with my ability to play a such a low volume.
After a few songs I was told that I needed to turn up, so I turned the volume knob between 5-6. The result was a somewhat beefier tone that sounded and worked well.
2nd gig was in a giant tin barn at a stockyard show.
I set the attenuator mid level and connected the line out.
After a sound check the sound was a little mushy for my taste and I clicked the attenuator up a click or two.
The result was more clarity and sparkle in the tone.
The amp in my opinion has more clarity and depth than a stock tube fender amp. Touch sensitivity is very good.
Pine cabinet and speaker break in, both should improve with age.
I recently refurbished my old Stratocaster and the amp really brings out the percussive and strat quack sound.
The amp has a noticeably improved sound for my playing situation. Clean loud agressive lead style.
Pushing my tubes a little bit harder than some leads to having to replace tubes on a every year or two rotation.
All the controls on the amp are simple and easy to use.
I use a Barber Tonepress parallel compressor & deley.
I will take it out to a steel gig in the next week and report after that. I will be surprised if the amp disappoints. 33 Lbs. !!!

[Mark McCornack]

I’m curious if anyone on Forum has any input on the Deluxe Reverb version of the Tonemaster. I realize that it’s placed at rather an odd price point with the Twin at $1000 and the Deluxe at $900, only $100 cheaper.
The two amplifiers I own are a Twin and a Deluxe, both tube amps. For most everything I do with the steel, I end up on the Deluxe. If I played large raucous venues, the Twin would no doubt have an edge on available decibels, but overall, I generally prefer my Deluxe for its tone, size, and obviously, weight. The way Fender has priced these new amps though, I think most perspective buyers would jump at the Twin when it came to deciding between them, now more than ever with the tenable weight of the Tonemaster version. Just curious if anyone has any input on the DR version.

[Tim Whitlock]

Just curious if anyone has any input on the DR version.

Yeah I'm curious about the Deluxe as well. I no longer play big stages where a high power, twin speaker amp shines. The Deluxe's smaller footprint would be favorable to smaller stages and 100 watts, even though they are solid state watts, would be plenty. I'm on the verge of taking a lap steel down to Guitar Center to try one out. I just hate going there.

[Mark McCornack]

If you do brave the Guitar Center and try one of these amps, please post your findings!

My 55 year old Deluxe Reverb is rated at 22 Watts and I believe the new Tonemaster DR ClassD output amp is rated at 100. That seems sufficient headroom to dispel the “solid state versus tube Watts” argument.
I still find that all puzzling, as a Watt is a Watt (per “Ohm’s Law”, as opposed to “Ohm’s Suggestion”). I suppose it has to do with the perception of sound level when a tube amp is driven into breakup. Don’t know, but I do hear that term used a lot.

[George Macdonald]

Mark,
I have the Tone Master Twin, and the 22 watt setting has plenty of volume for here at home, but when I play at a Church luncheon for about 100 people next month I'm planning to use the 40 watt setting. You would think that 100 solid state watts in the TM Deluxe would be at least as loud as a Nashville 112, but I don't know.

[Ken Metcalf]

I have the tone master twin and they start to break up turned up over 5-6 on the volume sort of like a twin.
The line out works well so I would think the Deluxe would be fine with the need for occasional monitor boost.
I personally don't like monitor in front of me playing steel. For $100 I went for the Twin.
The only thing I really noticed playing my steel through it at home was the treble was a hair edgy and I was fiddling with the tone knob at first.
Like any new amp takes some getting settled in.
My Telonics amp was difficult at first and I ended up with a black box in front of it. Edgy

[Dean Holman]

My take is this, no amp is perfect. I got to play through a Little Walter recently. I thought it sounded find, but, at 3500 dollars, nope, I didn’t think there was anything that special about it that would make me spend that kind of money. As one person posted, I sound like me regardless of what I’m playing through. I played through a TM recently and my expectation was that it was not going to sound exactly like a tube twin amp. I was pleasantly surprised, I felt like it captured enough of the tube twin sound and was able to tweak in a tone to my liking. You guys that get on here wanting to know a good setting , is really irrelevant. You need to mess with the EQ on your own and get a sound that you like. My suggestion is set everything on 5 and tweak from there. As far as the sound clips go, I felt like with more tweaking that amp B could’ve sounded closer to amp A. My suggestion on the speakers, if you think a different speaker sounds better, switch them out. I will say, I had no problem getting a tone that I really liked. The only thing I had to really compare a TM to is my old Evans, my old LTD 400, a Fender Steel King, and 3 Nashville 400’s I’ve had over the years. But, I heard something from the TM that I just wasn’t hearing from all of my other amps. Plus, I just really love the features on the TM amp, especially the switch that cuts off the speakers and you can just use the preamp when your using ear monitors. I really believe that you can make this amp sound like anything you want it to.

[Larry Dering]

Dean, thanks for your unbiased professional review of the TM. We all have tried the latest and greatest fad of tone, and then we're soon looking at something else. The TM checks all the boxes for weight vs tone vs features. Seems like a must have addition to any amp arsenal. I like the dual purpose aspects since I play 6 string guitars as well. It's on my soon to be purchase list.

[Matt Waldrum]

Is there a way to mute the speaker output and just use the direct out for silent recording or practicing?

[Matt Waldrum]

Is there a way to mute the speaker output and just use the direct out for silent recording or practicing?

Never mind, I figured it out. Just keep the amp in standby and the direct out still works.

[Dean Holman]

Honestly, I don’t get too excited about music gear much these days. If I find something that works and I’m satisfied with, I’m a if it’s not broke don’t fix it kind of guy. Every long once in awhile, I’ll run across something that will peak my interest. My best buddy Dino Strunk and I test drove the TM twice and instantly found favor with that amp. Does it sound exactly like a tube twin? No, it didn’t and I didn’t expect it to. But with some tweaking, we did get it to sound to a point that we couldn’t really tell a difference. You have to work with stuff and give it a chance or modify it to your liking. I’ll admit, I have a certain tone that I like to hear. I get that tone with the amps I already have. But now because of my health, I’m in the market for something lighter and something that sounds as good or better than what I have without having to spend two or three thousand dollars. I love the sound of a good twin and the tone master was plenty close enough to the sound of a tube twin with added features and at only 33 pounds, you can’t deny what a great amp this is. My buddy Dino has purchased one of these amps and I will be purchasing one of these amps very soon.