Fender FR-10/FR-12 noise reduction mod

Lysander said:
Don't bother. Both OPA* opamps will take rail-to-rail inputs, and OPA1656 is also rated for higher supply voltages than either OPA2134 and RC4558 (40V). It will work as a straight drop-in replacement, without any other part changes.

I didn't need any gain adjustments on my amp using that IC.
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What about the OPA1642?

-Aaron
 
I think it's great that Lysander has figured this stuff out and shared his results with us. This is unprecedented in my experience where a forum member comes up with a fix for an inherent design flaw within weeks of an amps release.

if all goes well I'll unbox the FR12 next week and will report back on whether it's noisy or not. If so, I'm a likely candidate for the mod. Apparently not all FR12s have enough noise to warrant making these changes. So if my FR12 has a noise problem I'll give doing the mod serious consideration but I'm not going to automatically make changes that will void the warranty unless they are absolutely needed.

I hope to use the FR12 both for gigging, where the noise issue is generally believed to not be a problem, and for practice at home where noise would definitely be an issue. We'll see if mine is noisy enough that modification is warranted.
 
laxu said:
The inevitable end result is probably that someone starts selling a replacement preamp board for these things. Or ideally Fender goes back to the drawing board and makes a better preamp board.
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They did that with the Hot Rod series, tho it took them a couple of decades.
 
Stratzrus said:
This is unprecedented in my experience where a forum member comes up with a fix for an inherent design flaw within weeks of an amps release.
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What's surprising to me is the apparently widespread interest in this kind of product. Even with its "design flaw" (noisy EQ section) fixed, there's no way it can be well-behaved. It shares its format with the Line 6 Powercab, Atomic FR, and any number of other untreated-guitar-cab-with-added tweeter products. I realize that this is not widely understood, but it is a fact that this format causes acoustic misbehaviors that cannot be fixed. It is also a fact that a 1x10 or 1x12 guitar cab with a directivity modifier installed would handily outperform any cab with this format. Are this cab's attributes - it says "Fender" (not made by them BTW), is Tolexed and has Fender kickstands - really a priority over all else?
 
jay mitchell said:
What's surprising to me is the apparently widespread interest in this kind of product.
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I don't think it's that surprising. Modelers are extremely popular these days, and a "FRFR" solution from a major player in the amp world was bound to generate interest. In my particular case, i found a lot appealing about the FR-12 - available power (hmm...), form factor, weight, tone-shaping controls and, yes, how it looks. So, i took a plunge on launch day.

Coming from a Powercab 112, which is a great "FRFR" on its own right, i think there's a lot to like about the FR-12. It's compact, lightweight, very well built, can get extremely loud, and i found the EQ stack to be super useful to quickly dial tones. But, above all... it sounds really, really good. I can't quantify exactly why, but there's a fullness to it that i haven't experienced on similar products. Running a modeler with a 1x12" cab sim through these amps is extremely convincing.

My guess is that it's mostly related to the fact that the FR-12 is built as a (good) combo cabinet. And i'm 99% certain that Fender spent time tweaking the preamp & EQ sections around the cab+speaker selection; the controls feel and react a lot like a "real" combo amp.

Hiss issues aside, it's hands down the best "FRFR" i've played. I wouldn't have bothered trying to fix it otherwise.
 
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jay mitchell said:
What's surprising to me is the apparently widespread interest in this kind of product. Even with its "design flaw" (noisy EQ section) fixed, there's no way it can be well-behaved. It shares its format with the Line 6 Powercab, Atomic FR, and any number of other untreated-guitar-cab-with-added tweeter products. I realize that this is not widely understood, but it is a fact that this format causes acoustic misbehaviors that cannot be fixed. It is also a fact that a 1x10 or 1x12 guitar cab with a directivity modifier installed would handily outperform any cab with this format. Are this cab's attributes - it says "Fender" (not made by them BTW), is Tolexed and has Fender kickstands - really a priority over all else?
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I think the main appeal for this particular cabinet is the way it sounds. The way it looks is just a bonus for people that want something that looks like a traditional guitar amp. I’d still like my FR-12 if it looked like a giant potato with grasshopper legs coming out of it.

-Aaron
 
aflynt said:
I think the main appeal for this particular cabinet is the way it sounds. The way it looks is just a bonus for people that want something that looks like a traditional guitar amp.
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Never underestimate marketing "values".

Apart from us geeks, a great-sounding but not well-branded powered cab would still perform much worse on the market than an oversized hunk potato that sounded like crap, but sports a Fender badge, for instance.

Humans gonna human.
 
dronerstone said:
Never underestimate marketing "values".

Apart from us geeks, a great-sounding but not well-branded powered cab would still perform much worse on the market than an oversized hunk potato that sounded like crap, but sports a Fender badge, for instance.

Humans gonna human.
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Agreed about humans humaning. Speaking for myself there about the way it looks. I do think the way it sounds is the differentiator though for this particular product.

-Aaron
 
aflynt said:
I do think the way it sounds is the differentiator though for this particular product.
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Anything new you try in the way of monitor speakers - what this is - is going to sound different than whatever you were using previously. That's a fact. It's also a fact that quite a few of the folks I see extolling the virtues of the product have years-long histories of "discovering" new products, raving about their virtues online, then unceremoniously moving on to the next "new" product. To some people, "different" means "better," at least for a minute. My money says that, by this time next year, these same folks will have found yet another "new" monitoring solution.
 
jay mitchell said:
Anything new you try in the way of monitor speakers - what this is - is going to sound different than whatever you were using previously. That's a fact. It's also a fact that quite a few of the folks I see extolling the virtues of the product have years-long histories of "discovering" new products, raving about their virtues online, then unceremoniously moving on to the next "new" product. To some people, "different" means "better," at least for a minute. My money says that, by this time next year, these same folks will have found yet another "new" monitoring solution.
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Maybe. This one feels different though. I know it. Lol.

-Aaron
 
My uninformed opinion is there’s something about the traditional cabinet platform, and the very distinctive EQ curve coming out of the amp/x-over/cabinet mix, that seems to resonate well with guitar players. I can speculate on any number of reasons.

Might be technically all fucked up… But it’s something they like. Dunno.
 
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