NAD: Fender Tonemaster Deluxe Reverb

Ok, I won't be a ninny about this any more going forward, but these are not solid state amplifiers.

 

Are these made in China? If so, there is probably at least a 20% tariff on them right now. And some of that additional cost may
have been passed onto us, the consumer.

 

if the katana can be sold for a couple hundred the tmdr can sell for $500

 

Cool. We'll be sure to let Fender know.

By your "logic" as the Katana sells for $360 can Fender then sell the tmdr for $780? (Incidentally, that's pretty close to what I got mine for.)

 

I'm glad to hear these newfangled things are working well for people who have had the real McCoy. YouTube reviews don't exactly have the audio quality
to discern the more subtle aspects of tone.

I think Fender is really onto something here. There's a chunk of the market that wants extreme versatility and is willing
to learn a complicated interface complete with menu diving in order to get every sound on the planet out of an amp. But there's a chunk of the market with people
like me who want things to be pretty darn simple.

There is probably a happy medium somewhere-- similar to the original POD. I wouldn't mind it if these amps had
a simple knob that allowed me to toggle among a few classics-- perhaps AC30, JCM800 or Plexi, and Mesa Boogie Rectifier, in addition to classic Fender. That could be the best of both worlds
in terms of simplicity of interface while allowing more versatility. The goal would be for the Fender sound to be spot on but for the other sounds to be as good or better that you could get
by using a stomp box into the amp to try and get close to that sound. (For example, all those CatalinBread and Wampler pedals that are trying to give you a classic Marshall or Vox sound when you plug them
into a Fender tube amp).

 

Prices are much different today than they were in the 80's and 90's.

IMO... these amps are about 25% cheaper... which is about the cost of the transformers and tubes so the price seems about right to me.

I think a bigger question is "why do the '65 reissues" cost so much? R&D was done 50+ years ago.. and it really only uses a handful of parts in a rudimentary layout I can build in my own basement.

 

The devil in the details, so to speak, is the knob/input/speaker layout. If the knobs and tone stack don't line up exactly, it gets complicated fast.

 

The Kemp, Line 6 and AxeFX all cost over $1500, right?
Or you can get a budget amp for $3-400 that will do all the things you guys are saying you want - multiple models, etc. But maybe not as easy to use nor quite as good a copy of a single classic amp. I have two amps that are "turn a knob and get a different amp" - Katana and Yamaha THR10. That market has got quite a bit of competition, and Fender competes there too with the Mustang series.

I guess they saw a hole in the market, and it sounds like I'm not the only one who wants a simple amp with WYSIWYG controls and some key advantages like power scaling, light weight, and line out. Last I heard they are not discontinuing any of the OTHER Fender amp you aren't buying either. They still sell a RI Twin, a handwired 5f6a, and so on.

 

I play mostly clean so a nice-sounding non-tube amp appeals to me. The Roland Blues Cube has already proven they can fit my needs.

The only thing keeping me from getting more interested in these is they are too new to have reliability reports yet. If I don't start reading stories of them breaking down and getting warranty fixes over the next year, I may be in.

 

the Acid Test?

Wait till the Tone Masters hit the used marked... Let's see what second hand amps fetch..

 

Great review, now I want to wait for 6 moneys or a year and read a follow up.

 

I think it's a mental thing. If you buy one of their Champion modelling amps for $140, you see it as more of a practice/beginners toy.

But slap a $900 price tag on it and all of a sudden you've got a whole new segment of guitar guys who are interested. I feel the same way about any high-end modelling amp (Kemper, etc).

I think the point is that modelling technology is awesome, but nostalgia is very strong, so manufacturers have to find a way to get us to buy into it.

I'd you're Kemper, you don't say "Modelling," you call it a "Profiling" amp, price it at almost $2,000 and watch them fly off the shelves. People see that higher price tag and tell themselves that there be something different about it.

To be very clear, I'm all about modelling, and don't think that anyone who bought a Tonemaster wasted their money. I think this is the next phase in marketing for Fender, and they're doing a great job.

 

This. Above someone complained that they bought used amps DECADES AGO for less. Makes no sense.

 

Correct. But in fairness he acknowledged that himself.

 

Maybe it's just me... I don't judge an amp by it's resale value, I judge it's "hype" by it's resale value. I'm not investing in amps... I'm using them!

EG: My old Peavey Special 130 can hold it's own on any stage... tone and volume. They might sell for $150 (CAD) on a good day. I couldn't care less!

 

I tried the modeling amp thing for a while - the lower cost stuff like Vox and Katana and I was OK with the sound, but I always found myself finding the model and settings I liked and pretty much stayed there. So most of what a multi-model modelling amp brings to the table was lost on me.

To me a HUGE advantage of these amps over the original tube versions (which I used to play and love) is the power scaling. Being able to play at bedroom volumes and have it sound great (not FEEL great - you're never gonna feel it rumble through your bones at those volumes) is massively important. I'm a 99% home player these days. I live in a small place with my wife. I have a converted bedroom that's a man-cave and a portion of that is my guitar playing area. I just can't play all that loud, both out of consideration for my wife and because I have neighbors on the other side of the wall. Also, size is a major consideration - don't have a lot of space. I have a Roland Blues Cube Hot that does everything I want. I have the Marshall voiced version - there are three of 'em around although the VOX version was never officially sold in the US. I liked some of the old Fender tube amps enough that if they come out with one of these in a Princeton form, I'd be willing to check it out. Anything else is too big.

I guarantee I'm not the only space and volume limited player out here. There are other old guys and probably plenty of young kids playing in their bedrooms as well. These amps, or amps LIKE this, serve a real purpose and it wouldn't surprise me if there's a pretty big market for them...

-Ray

 

"It sounds like a real good amp with some advantages in weight, loudness abilities. I hope that they´re using good parts so the amp will work for a long time."

I'm going to hold off and wait a couple years before I buy one of these and see how reliable and trouble free these are in the long run. It will be interesting to see how well these amps will do on the used market after a few years. I guess time will tell.

 

That would be me!

I'm literally behind the times, when it comes to gear prices as
A- I just haven't bought ( needed) anything substantial in many years

B- I happened to luck out on getting 3 very good Fender tube amps, for very cheap, even for when I bought them

C - $900 is a LOT of money in my universe ( for any musical Items, just an ex , I consistently gig professionally with one particular guitar/amp/ OD pedal combination whose total cost to me was $400) so just my perspective

 

who's judging?

I judge an amp quality by its sound & build

I judge its value by dollars

that's how it is - not mixing the two. So if these are good amps (the tonemasters) which will behave like your typical digital gear which loses a lot of it value with time, maybe it's a win win situation