wb4h
TDPRI Member
Put a 100pf cap across the 470 resistor in the drive channel and the frontman sounds great on drive channel.
Oh, my lowly Frontman 25R... why oh why
- Thread starter tap4154
- Start date
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J Hog
Tele-Holic
Back in 2005, I sold a !@#$load of Frontman 25Rs. I worked for a chain that was a Fender dealer. I thought they sounded much bigger that they were, kind of like a mini-Twin Reverb...they had nailed that Blackface vibe. I was my favorite amp to pitch to someone who was looking for something inexpensive that sounded halfway good. Bang for the buck, they were one of the best!!!
Ira7
Doctor of Teleocity
I put a Jensen C10N vintage reissue (yeah, right) in my Champion 110, predecessor to the FM 25. Difference was night and day. (Most people put the C10R in there, but I'm "special.")
I also replaced the Reverb tank with a MOD, a cheap, easy fix.
But I wasn't done yet:
Delivered just yesterday was my Fender SuperChamp cab, with a 12" Celestion. Speaker any good? We'll see, but with a closed back, this thing will give me (hopefully) some real bottom. But here's the thing:
I'm going to wire it in series with the Champion so I'll be going through both the amp's 10 and the cab's 12 speakers. Now, MF had this as a Stupid Deal of the Day for $149, when it normally goes for $199.
I did the math on how more versatile it would make the amp...calculated that against the level of my wife's wrath...and pulled the trigger. It matches/sizes up perfectly with the amp, and I know I could always use (or God forbid sell), a Fender cab.
I haven't wired and played with it yet, because my wife doesn't know I got it and I'm still doing final calculations on that wrath level.
old guitar player
Tele-Afflicted
I have 1986 non reverb Fender Sidekick 15 and I believe it has an 8" speaker. I plan on trying a Celestion in it. I picked it up used for $30 and it's a great little amp for home use. I once tried a HOF reverb pedal through it and it sounded even better. I'd even gig with it with a small comb if the drummer used brushes. It can get quite loud.
The Frontman series is great too. Nothing wrong with a good sounding reliable SS amp. Fender make some of the best. Peavey too. They can also be found for very little money.
brbadg
Tele-Afflicted
do you sound so good, when my tube amps sit in the closet, saying "but it's solid state!" "it's just cheap Indonesian crap!"?
Why oh why do people try to mod you, to make you sound "perfect" with all EQ pots at 5, when God knows you were meant to be played with treble at 1, mid at 10, and bass at 3?
Yes, some of us got that the speaker was a joke, and fixed that with a Ragin Cagin... or another...
But why did they replace your nice internal Ruby reverb unit? Because they didn't know it was meant to be played only from 1-3?
Knobs... those evil knobs... Choices
Yes, Frontman 25R: You knew you'd confuse folks by having knobs they could adjust from 1-10. You KNEW they'd put them all at 5, didn't ya? Yep, the fools.
Frontman 25R... you evil clown!
There's something wrong with your ears,or your tube amps need some dolling up!
tap4154
Doctor of Teleocity
I still love my tube amps. Have my Excelsior in the living room right now. Point was how great the 25R does sound, when dialed in right. I'm always amazed when I drag the 25R back out to play again. It's also a great recording amp, direct from the headphone jack to digital recorder.
Years ago I did a side-by-side with my 69 Champ and frankly, playing clean, they were almost identical. It's also plenty loud for small gigs, or living room jams with larger tube amps. Just a great little portable amp. Haven't checked lately, but you could buy them for $50 all day long, in great shape used.
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wayloncash
Tele-Afflicted
do you sound so good, when my tube amps sit in the closet, saying "but it's solid state!" "it's just cheap Indonesian crap!"?
Why oh why do people try to mod you, to make you sound "perfect" with all EQ pots at 5, when God knows you were meant to be played with treble at 1, mid at 10, and bass at 3?
Yes, some of us got that the speaker was a joke, and fixed that with a Ragin Cagin... or another...
But why did they replace your nice internal Ruby reverb unit? Because they didn't know it was meant to be played only from 1-3?
Knobs... those evil knobs... Choices
Yes, Frontman 25R: You knew you'd confuse folks by having knobs they could adjust from 1-10. You KNEW they'd put them all at 5, didn't ya? Yep, the fools.
Frontman 25R... you evil clown!
This posts makes me feel like a real imbecile, makes me wish I hadn't got rid of mine for peavey vypyr, sounds like you got her all laced up.
Guitandanza
Tele-Meister
My first amp. Didn't realize turning down T and B while boosting M was the trick. Great w Joyo ac tone. Swapped speaker for Ragin Cajun and now have speaker cloth buzz at high volume. I use this amp primarily with a gated fuzz I own(French Toast). No buzzing when I use this pedal, but it's a crazy octave fuzz. It is an under appreciated amp. I even like the tiny spring Reverb attached to the circuit board.
brbadg
Tele-Afflicted
syrynx
Tele-Afflicted
Makes me smile to see this thread come around again. Just about a year ago, and just a couple of weeks after my previous post above, I was finally able to acquire a 25R. I love it every bit as much as I expected I would. I've yet to have a reason to change the stock speaker.
3-Chord-Genius
Poster Extraordinaire
I had a red one - great little amp. And I actually loved the LED overdrive circuit as well.
Mr. Lumbergh
Poster Extraordinaire
LEDs are pretty cool for that. They sound good, and light up when they hit heavy clipping.
3-Chord-Genius
Poster Extraordinaire
Can I let you in on a little secret? I mentioned this in a forum a few years ago and nobody believed me so I'll do it again. I had a red Frontman 25R, and I had an ADA MP-1 dual 12AX7 preamp, the same high-dollar preamp that all the 80's dudes used. I plugged my guitar straight into the overdrive channel of the Frontman and played a few chords, scales, etc., then I ran the MP-1 through the clean channel of the Frontman. I honestly could not hear the difference, or at least not enough of a difference to know that one was an LED distortion and the other was a fancy tube distortion. Was the Frontman's distortion all that great? Was the MP-1's distortion all that not great? I don't know, but that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.
Tdel10
Tele-Meister
Am I the only one who DOESN'T like the frontman? I have a 25r that I bought second hand for $85 and it had its speaker replaced to a Carvin model. I can't seem to find any setting that makes me truly happy.
tap4154
Doctor of Teleocity
No, many folks didn't like them, which is why other folks could buy them cheap used, then dial them in
Mechanic
Friend of Leo's
Glad I still have mine. Glad for this thread. I use my 25R with a MIM Tele. When I play with other people in a quick jam I pull out my Super Champ XD. They both sound great.
Ira7
Doctor of Teleocity
1, 10, 3 on clean channel.
Telecentric
Tele-Holic
That looks nice. I have been toying with the idea of re tolexing mine in tweed with the brown grill cloth ala vintage Tweed deluxe. Any pointers on re doing the tolex? Did you remove the old or just cover it up?
Ira7
Doctor of Teleocity
Guess who has cream mini chicken knobs arriving for his amp next week!?
Ira7
Doctor of Teleocity
"Gee, Grandma...
"What strange KNOBS you have!"
And this gets even more ridiculous, because they're not cream enough for me, and I ordered an extra one to test-soak in tea or coffee to darken/age them a hair more.
