Bassbreaker 18/30

ThePrettyDamned

professorben said:

ThePrettyDamned said:

professorben said:

english_bob said:

professorben said:

It is quite nice. 
Despite a few glaring omissions. 

Like?

They market it as a pedal platform but don't include an fx loop!!!? Wtf? 
Its not 1956 Fender!!!
reverb would be nice too. 

I agree with reverb but as it's a pedal platform, surely the amp is clean so no FX loop necessary? 

Yeah but that 18w ain't gonna stay pristine at gig levels, which means mushy delays and crunchy reverbs......

Isn't that what the 30 watt channel/mode is for? It's based on a blackface deluxe but with 30 watts of headroom.  That won't break up until ear splitting, especially with a half way efficient 2x12. 

professorben

ThePrettyDamned said:

professorben said:

ThePrettyDamned said:

professorben said:

english_bob said:

professorben said:

It is quite nice. 
Despite a few glaring omissions. 

Like?

They market it as a pedal platform but don't include an fx loop!!!? Wtf? 
Its not 1956 Fender!!!
reverb would be nice too. 

I agree with reverb but as it's a pedal platform, surely the amp is clean so no FX loop necessary? 

Yeah but that 18w ain't gonna stay pristine at gig levels, which means mushy delays and crunchy reverbs......

Isn't that what the 30 watt channel/mode is for? It's based on a blackface deluxe but with 30 watts of headroom.  That won't break up until ear splitting, especially with a half way efficient 2x12. 

I dunno, I've always struggled with volume..... I'd really only be confidant gigging a 50w amp. 
Otherwise im worried about not having the headroom. 
i found lower wattage amps run out of steam pretty early on in the scale. 

MattFGBI

It's all about the power valves so there is no real benefit in having a loop in the 18/30 or 45. It's going to get driven like going in the front end anyway. 

The 15 has a loop as the drive comes from the preamp. It's also got the emulated line out etc for home recording as it's more of a practice amp. 

The 007 is a stripped down practice / small gig and rehearsal amp and again, all about the power stage.

markslade07

@mattfgbi Is there a particular reason (and I'm probably being a bit dim here) that there is no head version of the 18/30?

Interesting the 15 is classed as more of a practice amp...I think this definitely rules it out for me if it's not really designed to be used in a live environment

professorben

MattFGBI said:

It's all about the power valves so there is no real benefit in having a loop in the 18/30 or 45. It's going to get driven like going in the front end anyway. 

The 15 has a loop as the drive comes from the preamp. It's also got the emulated line out etc for home recording as it's more of a practice amp. 

The 007 is a stripped down practice / small gig and rehearsal amp and again, all about the power stage.

I think I'm missing the point here. 
It's master volume on the 18/30??

MattFGBI

the 18/30 does not have a master volume.  channel one has volume, treble, bass, middle and channel 2 has volume and tone. You have two channels with different voicing / breakup point with great touch sensitivity.  Just plug and play or use this to build up tones using pedals.

The 15 is great for gigs, and as it's got the line out you can put it straight into a PA and get the same result every time - no mic placement lottery from moody engineers. 

I probably should have said it's better for practice than the 18/30 or 45. It's not specifically a practice amp. 

professorben

MattFGBI said:

the 18/30 does not have a master volume.  channel one has volume, treble, bass, middle and channel 2 has volume and tone. You have two channels with different voicing / breakup point with great touch sensitivity.  Just plug and play or use this to build up tones using pedals.

The 15 is great for gigs, and as it's got the line out you can put it straight into a PA and get the same result every time - no mic placement lottery from moody engineers. 

I probably should have said it's better for practice than the 18/30 or 45. It's not specifically a practice amp. 

The 15 line out has speaker sims?
Ok I thought the 18/30 had MV, it does seem a shame then that it's reliant on pure stage volume to get the tone you want, but I think I'm a different type of player than the guy fender builds amps for, I want a preamp I can set, then MV to suit the volume for the room, I'd hate to be stuck with a crap tone because my amp was too loud to drive or conversely too quiet to clean up for my time based pedals.

MattFGBI

Yeah, the 18/30 probably isn't for you if you get most of your tone from the preamp. 

professorben

Ah well. 

MattFGBI

Try the 15 instead.  It's loud enough to gig with, especially if you go for the head version as you can run it through the 112 cab or a bigger cab, and you've got the emulated line out. 

That's more about the preamp so you can set that to get your drive and then use the master volume to get it where you need.  Plus it's got the effects loop for timed effects if you like it set up that way. 

It's got 3 distinct gain settings to chose from, each of which are sensitive to dynamics so you can still get a clean tone from the dirtiest setting by backing off the guitar volume etc. 

professorben

MattFGBI said:

Try the 15 instead.  It's loud enough to gig with, especially if you go for the head version as you can run it through the 112 cab or a bigger cab, and you've got the emulated line out. 

That's more about the preamp so you can set that to get your drive and then use the master volume to get it where you need.  Plus it's got the effects loop for timed effects if you like it set up that way. 

It's got 3 distinct gain settings to chose from, each of which are sensitive to dynamics so you can still get a clean tone from the dirtiest setting by backing off the guitar volume etc. 

Yes, but the gain selections are not switchable......
i can't go from crystal clean to filth with one stomp, I just saw the feature set of the 15 and assumed you could switch it, and that the same features would be across the range. 
Also 15w is not anywhere near loud enough. 

It's not your fault, I think I misread what the Amps where about, and was then disappointed to find out the reality, this is quite normal for me, my mistake this time was trying one out and really liking the tone lol. 

freakboy1610

MattFGBI said:

It's all about the power valves so there is no real benefit in having a loop in the 18/30 or 45. It's going to get driven like going in the front end anyway. 

The 15 has a loop as the drive comes from the preamp. It's also got the emulated line out etc for home recording as it's more of a practice amp. 

The 007 is a stripped down practice / small gig and rehearsal amp and again, all about the power stage.

Good choice @Richardj. I've got the 007 and it's the absolute nuts for my requirements. Thanks Fender.

MrBump

OK  @Richardj ; - it's been 6 months or so.  Honeymoon period is most definitely over.

How are you finding the amp now?

Telejester

On yt Phillip McKnight was saying the volume control was typical fender, off to aaaaagggghhhhh in the merest turn, do you find this ?

jonnygreentrees

Tried the 18/30 in PMT and it sounded good, might consider changing my Red Knob twin for one this year. It's ugly as sin though!

Richardj

MrBump said:

OK  @Richardj ;; - it's been 6 months or so.  Honeymoon period is most definitely over.

How are you finding the amp now?

Well, in all honesty there was a bit of a wobble a month or so ago when I just couldn't seem to get a tone I liked from it.  I did however step back and re EQ it and re found it's sweet spot.

 It's taken a while for the speakers to break in, but I don't play as much as I should at the mo. so that hasn't helped. I was also pointlessly messing around with my pedalboard.

Now I am settled again it is back to sounding fairly epic.  The thirty watt side with a decent reverb pedal, I'm using the spring setting on a Supernatural, could be a mini Twin.  It seems to have a big chimey 3D sound with tons of headroom and more volume than I need. Maybe it's because of the 2x12" speakers but I swear it's capable of being louder than my old HRDX.

I was hoping that the eighteen watt side was going to be like a 2x12 Pro Junior, but it is a bit more compressed and gritty than I was expecting, still useable though.  I would be interested to see if there was a way of opening it up a bit more so you could have the same dynamic clean to mean tone you can get from the little Pro.  Fender might have missed a trick with that, given the love for the Pro Junior.

Disagree about the volume control, well on the thirty watt side anyway. It has a decent taper and sounds just as nice at lower settings.  Obviously it gets more dynamic at higher settings. The eighteen watt side is really at it's best juiced up so that could well be too loud for some.  Also I don't notice any difference in volume between the two sides at equivalent settings, it's all about how hard the valves are being worked.

I do have to add that I'm lucky enough to have a large space to play in and volume isn't a big issue.  Of course YMMV.

MrBump

^ awesome - thanks for that.