The Steel Guitar Forum

Hi folks, I'm Rick Heins the product development manager for Fender amplifiers, pedal steel player and avid Steel Guitar Forum reader. I just wanted to share something that's hitting the stores now that I think a lot of steel players will dig.

The new Tone Master Twin Reverb (and Deluxe Reverb) amps combine the look, sound and feel that players love from these amps but we've done it in the digital realm and by doing so we've added some great features, including the weight at 33lbs!

The info will be on our site shortly but in essence we've used a ton of processing power (quad core processing, more than most high end modelers) to replicate every nuance of the originals, including the lush reverb and tremolo. It's class D power (200 watts) to replicate the 85 tube watts. It's also got a solid pine cab and Jensen Neo 12Ns that help with the weight.

The cool part about doing this in the digital realm is that it has a five way attenuator that goes from 85 watts all the way down to 1 watt so you can get it in the sweet spot but dial down the volume to fit the venue. It also has an XLR out with two cabinet IRs (Shure 57 and Royer 121) so you can record easily or go directly out to the board. You can also put it in standby for silent recording or silent stages.

I've been using it at home for recording my PP Emmons and it sounds great! I know that Twins are the amp of choice for some steelers but the weight is always a factor so these give you the best of all worlds. Do yourself a favor and try one out at your local shop that carries Fender amps.

Please let me know if you have any questions and I look forward to other steel players trying them out in the wild and getting their feedback.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zDxQcEIqiY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBtDgaccbMk&t=3s

Rick, good to hear you play pedal steel guitar.

RICK HEINS,
JUST WANTED TO COMMENT, I SAW IT, AND PREORDERED IT, IT CAME LAST THURSDAY. USED IT ON A LIVE SHOW IN VA. FRIDAY NITE. REALLY LIKE IT, SOUNDS GREAT. CAN'T WAIT TO SPEND MORE TIME PLAYING IT AND FINE TUNING IT TO MY SET UP....THANKS FOR A PRODUCT THAT I THINK STEEL PLAYERS WILL LOVE. I STARTED OUT PLAYING STEEL 40+ YEARS AGO WITH A CLASSIC MSA AND A FENDER TWIN AMP. I PLAYED THE AMP TILL I WORE IT OUT ON THE ROAD. STILL PLAY MY MSA, NOW I CAN PICK UP THIS TONE MASTER TWIN, BECAUSE OF THE LITE WEIGHT. IT IS NICE TO HAVE A TWIN AGAIN... EVEN THE LEAD GUITAR PLAYERS IN OUR GROUP HAD TO PLUG THEIR GUITAR INTO THE TWIN AND TEST IT OUT, THEY LOVED IT...

Great idea and marketing genius. Even more than it, it's not just marketing. Some of the hardest core old timer Twin Reverb tube owners on the guitar forums are praising this amp for its authentic tone, reverb, tremolo and of course the weight. It's also like owning a Jeep Wrangler in that you can't beat the genuine Fender mojo and appearance on stage.

Hey Rick, for guys like me, small budget, how about some info on Champion 100xl. Maybe a video with one used with a pedal?
Thx Dennis

Thanks for the feedback guys! Honestly, I've been extremely happy that players are trying it out and loving it. There's a lot going on under the hood to do what we accomplished but it really all comes down to how it sounds.

I knew it sounded really good but I also knew that folks were going to be skeptical a digital amp capturing the tube sound and, more importantly, feel. I'm happy to say I think we succeeded.

Stay tuned for more videos coming and they are hitting the stores now so keep an eye out!

Dennis, there will be videos of the new Champion 100XLs soon. These amps are a lot of fun and easy to use. I think they sound great at their price point and you could get some pretty good tones for steel with it as well. I mean, I use a Mustang GT 100 and Mustang LT for steel when practicing and was able to dial in some nice tones!

How about a 1 12 or 1 15 inch combo?

These are out there and available? What's RRP?

Roger Rettig wrote:These are out there and available? What's RRP?

Roger,

These are shipping now and have arrived in many stores. The official launch date is next week but I've been hearing a lot of people finding them. I'd suggest calling your local dealer to see if and when they are in stock.

The Twin's advertised price is $999.99 but talk with your dealer.

Jerry Malvern wrote:How about a 1 12 or 1 15 inch combo?

Jerry,

We're also doing the Deluxe Reverb which is 1X12. It's only 22 watts and may not be the right volume for every gig but it does sound great with the steel at a moderate volume.

No talk of doing this as a single 15 but you never know.

Thanks. I will see if I can try one - it sounds like what Fender should have been doing for a long time, given today's technology.

That traditional 'look' is a big plus.

So, didn't Fender used to have an amp called the "Tonemaster"? How is this similar/different and, if different, why the same name?

Jim Cohen wrote:So, didn't Fender used to have an amp called the "Tonemaster"? How is this similar/different and, if different, why the same name?

There was a Tone Master in the 90s but it was a very different amp. It was designed by Bruce Zinky and was a 100 watt head that was know for more classic rock tones. In fact, Dave Grohl uses them still.

We reused the name for two reasons 1) It's not easy to come up with a brand new name that hasn't been used for amps before and 2) they really are very toneful amps, despite the fact that they have no tubes. We felt the name made sense for these amps.

Hi Rick,

One thing perhaps Fender might consider is to offer these amps without speakers so that a player could load whatever they wanted into it at a bit of a savings, whatever the stock speakers cost. They might sell more that way to both standard guitar players as well as steel guys. Just a thought to run up the flag pole.

Thanks!

Skeeter

Rick, what does IR stand for? I keep seeing it in descriptions of effects and amps, but it's a NATM (new acronym to me)!

I also don't know what RRP is, Roger Rettig asked about that. Did he mean RDR (Reissue Deluxe Reverb)?

John - mine was an old fashioned one (Recommended Retail Price). Sorry.

'IR'? No idea.

I'm seriously considering this amp. 33 pounds is a nice weight although the size of the unit would make it a little unwieldy. I'm certain that it would out-perform my Roland 80XLs, though and, at around $1,000, it's very reasonable.

I may reach out to me Sweetwater rep and see what's what.

John, from here:

https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/ ... _Responses


"Technically, an Impulse Response, or IR for short, refers to a system's output when presented with a very short input signal called an impulse. Basically, you can send any device or chain of devices a specially crafted audio signal and the system will spit out a digital picture of its linear characteristics. For speaker cabs, that means frequency and phase response, phase cancellation between multiple speakers, edge reflections, and other audible signatures wrapped up in the gnarly, old pieces of wood, paper, and glue that guitarists find so endearing. IRs will not capture non-linear stuff like distortion and compression."

For example the Fractal Axe III uses modeling technology (it models the actual circuit components) to mimic amp sounds and IR technology to model the speakers and
cabinets.

Rick, It would be a good idea to get us Nashville players using them. That's why the Peavey's became so popular for steelers.

Also, is it able to get the modeled sound of the Steel King amp?

Being that we either go with one 15" or 12" speaker, any possibilities there? Speakers have come a long way since just 20 years ago and many of us are using 12" single speakers.

Ron Hogan Nashville, TN

John McClung wrote:Rick, what does IR stand for? I keep seeing it in descriptions of effects and amps, but it's a NATM (new acronym to me)!

I also don't know what RRP is, Roger Rettig asked about that. Did he mean RDR (Reissue Deluxe Reverb)?

John,

As others have stated, they are impulse responses for the amp and in essence they are created by recording the amp and speaker response in a room with certain microphones and digitally modelling them so that the line out sounds great. In this case, we used a Shure SM57 and a Royer 121 mic to capture two different sounds of the amp and then added it to the amp for playing live and recording. The sound guy doesn't even need to mic up your amp and the sound is very good. Hope this helps.

forrest klott wrote:Hi Rick,

One thing perhaps Fender might consider is to offer these amps without speakers so that a player could load whatever they wanted into it at a bit of a savings, whatever the stock speakers cost. They might sell more that way to both standard guitar players as well as steel guys. Just a thought to run up the flag pole.

Thanks!

Skeeter

We don't historically do this as most players want combos with speakers and offering an amp without speakers would probably not pass our safety standards. However, the amp isn't dependent on the Jensens to sound good and I'm sure some will (and I'm not advocating this) swap speakers to their favorites.

Ron Hogan wrote:Rick, It would be a good idea to get us Nashville players using them. That's why the Peavey's became so popular for steelers.

Also, is it able to get the modeled sound of the Steel King amp?

Being that we either go with one 15" or 12" speaker, any possibilities there? Speakers have come a long way since just 20 years ago and many of us are using 12" single speakers.

Ron Hogan Nashville, TN

Ron, We'd love for Nashville steelers to play these and we've started having some great local players try them out to get feedback. So far, they've been blown away. Right now, the goal is to offer the most authentic Twin sound in digital form and there are no plans to add a steel king to the list but who knows what the future holds. I will say that if you love the sound of a Twin Reverb you won't be disappointed.

Rick, please tell the powers to be that Ron and I want it in a 12 inch version.

Rick:

Just a thought: do these have provision for castors on the bottom of the cabinet or have you dropped that idea with the significant weight reduction?

Roger Rettig wrote:Rick:

Just a thought: do these have provision for castors on the bottom of the cabinet or have to you dropped that idea with the significant weight reduction?

These don't have holes for castors but honestly they are very easy to carry around due to the weight. It actually weighs less than the Chris Stapleton brown Princeton amps!