Fender FR-10/FR-12 noise reduction mod

[fazer]

I am rumored to be "someone with technical expertise." FYI, some of the noisier speakers I've tested are popular in Europe and Britain. Honestly, you've got to stretch the concept of "consumer protection" well beyond the breaking point to claim that the broadband noise ('hiss") that is present to some degree in literally every piece of audio electronics ever made is causing harm to a consumer.

If similarly priced units are equally noisy then that would harm the chance of success, without a doubt.

 

[Stratzrus]

If the part was malfunctioning I could see how it could be a warranty claim but if it's functioning properly and the amp works as designed it's hard to see the justification for expecting an upgrade under warranty.

 

[Lysander]

I used sub-$100 Behringer PA speakers which were virtually noiseless, and guitar FRFRs (Powercab 112) which were dead silent without input. The FR-12 is... neither. You really have to go out of your way to build a noisy amp in these days of IC amplifiers and class-D modules.

In any case, this entire discussion is academic - you're never going to get a repair/refund based on an amp being too hissy (well, maybe in Australia!). The only alternatives i see are a) Fender coming out and admitting they're silently modding new units, or b) we get confirmation, and someone complains about Fender silently selling two version of the same hardware, without any way to tell them apart.

 

[Stratzrus]

...you're never going to get a repair/refund based on an amp being too hissy...

Yeah, sadly that's what I was thinking.

But thanks to you us early buyers now have a way to address the issue if we choose . Fender seems to have caught wind of it and hopefully future buyers will benefit from your work identifying the source of the problem and showing us the way to correct it.

We're all better off for your work on this problem.

 

[fazer]

If the part was malfunctioning I could see how it could be a warranty claim but if it's functioning properly and the amp works as designed it's hard to see the justification for expecting an upgrade under warranty.

I have never tried one of these units but I may do later on now the noise issue has been fixed. (Just the reports of excessive noise were enough to steer me away, previously.)

 

[CrazyD]

I just ordered mine at Thomann GER, but as they are sold out I need to wait another couple of weeks till I get it.
Hope mine will have the "mod" right in the box already. :-)
I'll give feedback as soon as I know more...

 

[dronerstone]

If I ever intend to buy one, I'd probably get into a fistfight with store employees for not allowing me to "inspect the PCB to check if it has the revision that's based on the findings of Lysander and a Fractal Audio forum member and was implemented by Fender without announcement".



We outnerded the nerds.

That said, I think it's brilliant!!!!!

 

[laxu]

If I ever intend to buy one, I'd probably get into a fistfight with store employees for not allowing me to "inspect the PCB to check if it has the revision that's based on the findings of Lysander and a Fractal Audio forum member and was implemented by Fender without announcement".

I wonder if there's a difference in model or serial number that you can look up to see if you are getting the upgraded model.

I expect that atm stores that have the FR-12 in stock will have the original model and until those sell out, it's a gamble whether you get the new or the old.

 

[Lysander]

I wonder if there's a difference in model or serial number that you can look up to see if you are getting the upgraded model.

None that i can tell, from what @Famous_Snack has (graciously) shared with us so far. The PCB revision code is identical to my stock FR-12, so my guess is they just started using the new ICs mid-production.

I expect that atm stores that have the FR-12 in stock will have the original model and until those sell out, it's a gamble whether you get the new or the old.

Exactly. This is why Fender being opaque about the issue is a real problem for consumers.

 

[lolainnb]

So how will Fender prevent people with noisy ones from buying one to swap the boards and return them? Goop?

 

[JiveTurkey]

 

[adam]

So how will Fender prevent people with noisy ones from buying one to swap the boards and return them? Goop?

 

[Vic Winters]

Mine is supposed to arrive tomorrow after waiting for 2 months. Can't wait to see which version I get.

 

[deadpool_25]

Can't wait to see which version I get.

Neither can we lol

 

[Famous_Snack]

Neither can we lol

Yeah, I super curious to see if I'm the only one with the updated chipset that's willing to take it apart for a picture.

 

[Famous_Snack]

I wonder if there's a difference in model or serial number that you can look up to see if you are getting the upgraded model.

I expect that atm stores that have the FR-12 in stock will have the original model and until those sell out, it's a gamble whether you get the new or the old.

Absent any real data, I don't think there's any product in the distribution pipeline with the old chips. When I bought mine 2nd week of December, no place had any stock except for Fender's direct channel. I would assume that the Fender DC got the revised product in first, shipped to direct customers immediately and have been filling the retail channel from the new stock. I'd be really surprised if anyplace selling in any kind of volume has any product in stock that was shipped before my unit.

Also, to answer the question that no one has asked (surprisingly!), yes, mine hisses.

 

[deadpool_25]

Absent any real data, I don't think there's any product in the distribution pipeline with the old chips. When I bought mine 2nd week of December, no place had any stock except for Fender's direct channel. I would assume that the Fender DC got the revised product in first, shipped to direct customers immediately and have been filling the retail channel from the new stock. I'd be really surprised if anyplace selling in any kind of volume has any product in stock that was shipped before my unit.

That would be my assumption as well.

Also, to answer the question that no one has asked (surprisingly!), yes, mine hisses.

Hopefully it's suuuuuper quiet though? I believe even @Lysander still has a tiny bit but basically unremarkable now? Also Fender only replaced 2/3 of the opamps so likely those units will have significantly less hiss than the original units, and people doing the mods DIY may have even less that the updated ones (varying depending on which opamps are selected).

Educated guesses there.

 

[Lysander]

Hopefully it's suuuuuper quiet though? I believe even @Lysander still has a tiny bit but basically unremarkable now?

Hiss is negligible post-mod on my FR-12. You cannot hear it if you take two steps away from the speaker.

 

[Stratzrus]

I wonder if there's a difference in model or serial number that you can look up to see if you are getting the upgraded model.

I would assume that the Fender DC got the revised product in first, shipped to direct customers immediately and have been filling the retail channel from the new stock.

We are assuming that there's an upgraded model that began at some point and continued thereafter.

To my knowledge there's no evidence of that unless someone with inside knowledge has verified it.

It is possible that some units were shipped with upgraded parts during a supply shortage and then when the next shipment of original parts came in they returned to the original manufacturing process. Or any of a number of other possibilities other than Fender upgrading the chips on all units after a certain date.

Do we know for a fact that all FR-12s shipping from Fender now have the upgraded parts?

 

[Famous_Snack]

That would be my assumption as well.


Hopefully it's suuuuuper quiet though? I believe even @Lysander still has a tiny bit but basically unremarkable now? Also Fender only replaced 2/3 of the opamps so likely those units will have significantly less hiss than the original units, and people doing the mods DIY may have even less that the updated ones (varying depending on which opamps are selected).

Educated guesses there.

It's absolutely not bothersome to me, and if I had not learned of the controvery online, I would never have given it a second thought. I can only assume that the noise that people are irritated by is much more significant, because it's really not much on my unit.

I thought about trying to measure it just now, but for some reason, there's a garbage truck convention happening right out site and the noise is overwhelming anything that's happening in the room right now. Plus I am on the last frayed ends of my sanity. 25 minutes of at least two trucks beeping and running the compactors right in front of my house.