Fender Tone Master Pro Leaked

roberty · October 2023

guitarmangler said:

GoFish said:

It looks like the robot 's face from Short Circuit.

That's all I got.

They probably got him to write the warranty terms too, "no disassemble"

Lewy · October 2023

It's a compelling prospect to have a box full of amps modelled as well as the Tonemaster amps are - i.e. not just snapshots of what the amps do but the whole range of behaviour that they exhibit when you dial them in or change your guitar controls etc. Do any of the competition (Fractal, Helix etc) do this really well already?

TimmyO · October 2023

I think it's odd to brand this the same as the very different proposition of the TM combos

fretmeister · October 2023

Lewy said:

It's a compelling prospect to have a box full of amps modelled as well as the Tonemaster amps are - i.e. not just snapshots of what the amps do but the whole range of behaviour that they exhibit when you dial them in or change your guitar controls etc. Do any of the competition (Fractal, Helix etc) do this really well already?

All of them do.

They sound different because they have used different reference amps. No 2 plexis sound the same etc. and some sweeten the sounds a bit to make them more user friendly for those who have never used the real thing, and others leave them pure.

As always though, 50% of the achievable tone from a modeller depends on what it’s plugged into. A £200 powered PA cab won’t show it at its best.

EricTheWeary · October 2023

fretmeister said:

Lebarque said:

chrisj1602 said:

They've got the signal chain round the wrong way. Should be right to left.

All modellers are left to right.

Pedals were only right to left because of where the output jack on a right handed guitar was. It's far more logical to have it in standard left to right reading order.

IIRC on the Plethora you can choose so maybe you can on this, I watched a bit if the RJ demo and there seem to be a lot of options so maybe it’s on there somewhere.

Kultschar · October 2023

All hotting up again in the modeller world.

Neural dropped the price of the QC today which no doubt is a response to this, desktop editor due next week etc

Fractal quiet but no doubt something cooking - all good stuff!!!

fretmeister · October 2023

The competition is ace! Loads of great products to choose from.

Brio · October 2023

So many video's out there!!! Mary Spender actually manages to be the most ott.

axisus · October 2023

Way too expensive for me. I'd be interested in a lite version for under £500 though for my home noodlings

Musicman20 · October 2023

Be interesting to see what Line 6’s next move is.

The Fender FRFR looks decent, nice that it has EQ, but it’ll just be a Headrush style £300 FRFR cab repackaged.

EricTheWeary · October 2023

axisus said:

Way too expensive for me. I'd be interested in a lite version for under £500 though for my home noodlings

Just put the Andertons vid on and certainly Lee suggesting that the technology will 'trickle down' and the chap from Fender not denying it.

As someone else already said you do have to wack that touch screen a bit but maybe you need something tougher near your boots. But you aren't playing Angry Birds on it and the fine tuning can be done with the knobs.

monquixote · October 2023

I have a slight suspicion that this will be like the Waza amp that led to the Katana and we will see something much cheaper in a few months.

Grumpyrocker · October 2023

Watched quite a videos of this today. Odd that they sent so many of these very expensive devices to YouTubers without final firmwar. So many "feature coming soon" moments.

Was interesting in TheGuitarGeek video that he thought while the Fender owned amps sounded great (including 5150) the other stuff like Marshall sounded less good.

HT986M2 · October 2023

Coincidental that Neural have reduced the price of the QC by £150 today?

The Tone Master takes over that £1649 price point, making it £150 more expensive than the previously most expensive modeller in the UK.

I hope Fender got their pricing correct, as that price point feels like suicide for an unknown entity.

LionAquaLooper · October 2023

EricTheWeary said:

fretmeister said:

Lebarque said:

chrisj1602 said:

They've got the signal chain round the wrong way. Should be right to left.

All modellers are left to right.

Pedals were only right to left because of where the output jack on a right handed guitar was. It's far more logical to have it in standard left to right reading order.

IIRC on the Plethora you can choose so maybe you can on this, I watched a bit if the RJ demo and there seem to be a lot of options so maybe it’s on there somewhere.

You can do this on the original Zoom G and B series as well, and they've been around for about 10 years or so now!

barnstorm · October 2023

I think it must have been tricky for them to work out where to pitch this, price-wise, because they'll have had to consider the implications for the lines of standalone amps and pedals. Not something the competition really has to worry about.

fretmeister · October 2023

Grumpyrocker said:

Watched quite a videos of this today. Odd that they sent so many of these very expensive devices to YouTubers without final firmwar. So many "feature coming soon" moments.

Was interesting in TheGuitarGeek video that he thought while the Fender owned amps sounded great (including 5150) the other stuff like Marshall sounded less good.

There's no such thing as "Final Firmware"

All the big modellers have had regular updates with new features that weren't there at launch, but were planned.
These products would never get released at all if they were waiting for a final firmware version!

Lewy · October 2023

fretmeister said:

Lewy said:

It's a compelling prospect to have a box full of amps modelled as well as the Tonemaster amps are - i.e. not just snapshots of what the amps do but the whole range of behaviour that they exhibit when you dial them in or change your guitar controls etc. Do any of the competition (Fractal, Helix etc) do this really well already?

All of them do.

Do they? That's cool. My experience of digital stuff (which has mostly been software and the Waza/Katana Air range) is that you can get the amps to sound like a real amp pretty well but things like cleaning up from the guitar behave absolutely nothing like a real amp. Rolling back the volume usually takes you straight into sock mode. Good to hear it's not the case on the higher end stuff.

Lewy · October 2023

TimmyO said:

I think it's odd to brand this the same as the very different proposition of the TM combos

I thought the same. They seem to be pivoting the brand to ToneMaster meaning the modelling process above anything else. But someone firing up the Deluxe Reverb model on this new unit and plugging it into the FRFR cab is going to have a very different experience to someone playing the TMDR, unless they're using the DI on the TM DR into a PA I guess.

Blaendulais · October 2023

Unlike Kemper and Quad Cortex no capturing ability though....I suppose helix cant either

NickB · October 2023

Is it me or do the demos on Youtube sound quite harsh treble wise? Are the effects modelled in the unit better than the HX eco-system?

fretmeister · October 2023

NickB said:

Is it me or do the demos on Youtube sound quite harsh treble wise? Are the effects modelled in the unit better than the HX eco-system?

Real plexis are really harsh - so that could be accurate.

As for the fx - I don't think anyone can answer that yet.

NickB · October 2023

fretmeister said:

NickB said:

Is it me or do the demos on Youtube sound quite harsh treble wise? Are the effects modelled in the unit better than the HX eco-system?

Real plexis are really harsh - so that could be accurate.

As for the fx - I don't think anyone can answer that yet.

I'm looking forward to the comparison videos!

Dan_Halen · October 2023

Christ, the demos sound crap. Sounds like some cheap and nasty modelling amp and that's from the 2 demos I've just watched by guys who can usually make anything sound good.

No idea what they're thinking - they're not really bringing anything to the table in an area of the market already well catered for by Kemper, Fractal, Neural, Boss, Amplifire and a slew of plug-in makers all whom have this stuff nailed.

The whole appeal of the Tonemaster surely wasn't how well it modelled the amp (even if they bang on about how powerful the processor is and how it was all dedicated to a single model) was it? For me it was that fact that it was built into a proper cab with a proper speaker, attenuation available, digital connectivity and was light as well as single grab and go, gig ready package. A way to give you the benefits of modelling but in a 'real' amp.

CaseOfAce · October 2023

Dan_Halen said:

Christ, the demos sound crap. Sounds like some cheap and nasty modelling amp and that's from the 2 demos I've just watched by guys who can usually make anything sound good.

No idea what they're thinking - they're not really bringing anything to the table in an area of the market already well catered for by Kemper, Fractal, Neural, Boss, Amplifire and a slew of plug-in makers all whom have this stuff nailed.

The whole appeal of the Tonemaster surely wasn't how well it modelled the amp (even if they bang on about how powerful the processor is and how it was all dedicated to a single model) was it? For me it was that fact that it was built into a proper cab with a proper speaker, attenuation available, digital connectivity and was light as well as single grab and go, gig ready package. A way to give you the benefits of modelling but in a 'real' amp.

Ah ... but the whole mission for Tonemaster was that Fender defined and was the authority on what a Fender amp properly sounded like in the digital domain. And they are now bringing that Tonemaster quality to multi effects. ;-)

Nerine · October 2023

OK.

A lot of the time I listen to YouTube reviews in the car whilst I'm driving etc to help pass the time. I check mixes in the car when I'm working on clients' music. I know the stereo well.

i listened to the Leon Todd review on the way to the office this morning, and the guitar sounds all sounded very mix ready to me. I.e. whatever he played, kinda sounded like it was already EQ's and was part of a record etc.

Usually this means they are going to be pretty bright.

Perhaps this is why people's initial reactions are that the tones are bright/"brittle"/"harsh". Perhaps the presets are designed to pretty much sit in a mix straight away. I actually thought it sounded pretty good.

NickB · October 2023

Nerine said:

OK.

A lot of the time I listen to YouTube reviews in the car whilst I'm driving etc to help pass the time. I check mixes in the car when I'm working on clients' music. I know the stereo well.

i listened to the Leon Todd review on the way to the office this morning, and the guitar sounds all sounded very mix ready to me. I.e. whatever he played, kinda sounded like it was already EQ's and was part of a record etc.

Usually this means they are going to be pretty bright.

Perhaps this is why people's initial reactions are that the tones are bright/"brittle"/"harsh". Perhaps the presets are designed to pretty much sit in a mix straight away. I actually thought it sounded pretty good.

I listened to the Mary Spender video and it really sounded harsh but maybe that's the sound she was going for? I keep coming back to the modeller vs real amp debate and I have found that modelled amps when compared to real world analogue valve amps sound a little one dimensional. Well, they do to my ears, so it will be interesting to see how the TM Pro stacks up.

JohnCordy · October 2023

I got one today. I don't think any owners of Fractal, Line 6 or Neural gear are going to be knocked out of their socks.
UI is nice though

Wazmeister · October 2023

Dan_Halen said:

Christ, the demos sound crap. Sounds like some cheap and nasty modelling amp and that's from the 2 demos I've just watched by guys who can usually make anything sound good.

No idea what they're thinking - they're not really bringing anything to the table in an area of the market already well catered for by Kemper, Fractal, Neural, Boss, Amplifire and a slew of plug-in makers all whom have this stuff nailed.

The whole appeal of the Tonemaster surely wasn't how well it modelled the amp (even if they bang on about how powerful the processor is and how it was all dedicated to a single model) was it? For me it was that fact that it was built into a proper cab with a proper speaker, attenuation available, digital connectivity and was light as well as single grab and go, gig ready package. A way to give you the benefits of modelling but in a 'real' amp.

From the little ive heard on YT, I agree 100% with this.

PFAllen2 · October 2023

JohnCordy said:

I got one today. I don't think any owners of Fractal, Line 6 or Neural gear are going to be knocked out of their socks.
UI is nice though

Looking forward to your video.

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Fender Tone Master Pro Leaked

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