Tone Masters on big stages...

shaunm

Bonamassa put a post up on his instagram the other night. He was testing one as one of his amps at a gig. Looked like a high powered tweed Tonemaster

pt22

…but are they regulatory compliant?

richardhomer

pt22 said:

…but are they regulatory compliant?

No - but they do accurately model the characteristics of regulatory compliance…

stickyfiddle

It's real! 

Danny1969

One of the reasons that Fender and other amp builders use Hypex, Icepower and other self contained SMPS & class D amp modules is a lot of the regulatory work is done and certified for them. 

All they need to do in the Tonemaster is connect the live and neutral wires to the Icepower module via a switch and the earth to the chassis. The module powers it's self and the Fender DSP 

You could put one in a Lazy J ... might not sound the same though

TimmyO

Danny1969 said:

One of the reasons that Fender and other amp builders use Hypex, Icepower and other self contained SMPS & class D amp modules is a lot of the regulatory work is done and certified for them. 

All they need to do in the Tonemaster is connect the live and neutral wires to the Icepower module via a switch and the earth to the chassis. The module powers it's self and the Fender DSP 

You could put one in a Lazy J ... might not sound the same though

So you’re saying it might?

 

chrisj1602

Just seen this on Facebook…

monquixote

I'm wondering if Fender are doing a big push to artists to convince people they are pro level. 

StefB

monquixote said:

I'm wondering if Fender are doing a big push to artists to convince people they are pro level. 

I’ll still never buy one until they release a model with an effects loop. 

I know the Bassman has one, so the seed is there, but that model doesn’t appeal to me. 

It’s like Apple with USB. 

Danny1969

You can add a loop easy enough because the power amp input is on a common header connector. You only need to add 2 switched jacks between the output of the DSP board and the that power amp input header. 

The trouble is you would be hitting any pedals in the loop with quite a strong line level signal with the louder Tonemaster amps. You could attenuate that down easy enough but then you would need gain recovery on the effects return before it hit the power amp. 
Adding in a +4dBu effects unit would be easier but most people would want to use their pedals. Plus I guess Fender want to keep these amps as basic as the originals.

monquixote

StefB said:

monquixote said:

I'm wondering if Fender are doing a big push to artists to convince people they are pro level. 

I’ll still never buy one until they release a model with an effects loop. 

I know the Bassman has one, so the seed is there, but that model doesn’t appeal to me. 

It’s like Apple with USB. 

Given they are amps without significant preamp drive it would seem a bit weird although they could put the loop post power amp emulation which would be inaccurate but useful.

TimmyO

It’ll be interesting to see if the Bassman was the first in ‘any more after this will have loops’ or whether it was more ‘people often use Bassmans dirty so a loop would be good’ thought specific to that model 

dc77

I do agree they would benefit from a loop. 

I have both a deluxe and super TM and they both do the same sitar type sound with delay pedals after any drives or boots pushing an ‘edge of break up’ sound 

Fiddlesticks_

I can see why they're popping up on big stages. I love my 65 RI Princeton but if I ever find myself playing out with an amp regularly again then a TMPR or DR would be tempting. Don't get me wrong, a TM would never replace the PRRI at home - but the ones I've played sound almost as good, weigh so much less and aren't as valuable, so it would make a lot of sense to have one for playing out with

thecolourbox

Off topic bit - can I just say how nice it is to have stickyfiddle and fiddlesticks in the same discussion.

On topic bit - presumably having a loop would also be useful for using a different modelling preamp into the power amp and speaker. That seems useful but I guess against the spirit of what they are trying to sell

Danny1969

thecolourbox said:

Off topic bit - can I just say how nice it is to have stickyfiddle and fiddlesticks in the same discussion.

On topic bit - presumably having a loop would also be useful for using a different modelling preamp into the power amp and speaker. That seems useful but I guess against the spirit of what they are trying to sell

That bit is easy to do as modellers generally  have enough output audio voltage for line level, so can be connected in the manner I described above bypassing the Fender DSP and hitting the power amp and speaker directly. 

26.2

Any TM DeLuxe Reverb users - what’s your experience with drive pedals (low to mid gain) - does it handle them well at band volumes? How’s  the headroom? 

stickyfiddle

26.2 said:

Any TM DeLuxe Reverb users - what’s your experience with drive pedals (low to mid gain) - does it handle them well at band volumes? How’s  the headroom? 

This is my gigging board right now (a couple of iterations ago, but same concept). It's phenomenal

Fiddlesticks_

26.2 said:

Any TM DeLuxe Reverb users - what’s your experience with drive pedals (low to mid gain) - does it handle them well at band volumes? How’s  the headroom? 

I don’t use one but I’m in a band with a guitarist who uses a Blonde TMDR with a Blues Driver and it sounds fine

26.2

stickyfiddle said:

26.2 said:

Any TM DeLuxe Reverb users - what’s your experience with drive pedals (low to mid gain) - does it handle them well at band volumes? How’s  the headroom? 

This is my gigging board right now (a couple of iterations ago, but same concept). It's phenomenal

Very nice!! Do you gig with that and the TMDR?