Fender Tone Master Pro: Episode IV - A New Hope

[riffy]

Does the job with a bunch of amps and cabs. Boosts are pretty limited but there’s a tubescreamer, sd1 and other basics.

For me it’s on par or a nudge ahead with current helix. They do the job and sound good, just doesn’t feel fractal (and I’m sure stadium) next level.

Ola and Rob Arnold from chimaera have both used them live and praised them.

I’ve had friends who feel intimidated by fractal UIs and the fact they can knock up a full chug pedalboard with good sound alongside assigned foot switches and scenes very easily on the TMP is really where it shines.

Nathan,
Your videos are always KILLER. This one is awesome too!

 

[[Nathan]]

Nathan,
Your videos are always KILLER. This one is awesome too!

Thanks man. I realised I’ve massively underused the TMP for videos, got a few more cooking!

 

[Jarick]

Another weekend with the TMP and I'm still thoroughly enjoying it. I have an A/B switch setup to go between the Fender and Axe FX 3 and most of the time I prefer the Fender. The amps sound a lot more like what's in my head and the effects go toe to toe.

It's interesting, most of the time I used the Fractal I would go to the 1959SLP Plexi because there's so many models. On the Fender I pulled up the one Plexi model and it sounds really damn good, nails the AC/DC thing. The Fractal is super gained out and bright in comparison. I changed out to the 1987X and it was significantly closer, much more bass and much lower gain. Adjusted the knobs so it's pretty similar to the Fender (lower the bass a lot, bump the mids, drop normal volume down, raise treble volume up) and now they are insanely close. Running the same Ownhammer IR on both, the difference is a little bit in the midrange and overall the Fractal sounds smoother while the Fender sounds more raw and punchy. Both react really well to the volume knob.

I keep reading that the Fractal is on another level but to me it just sounds slightly different. The Fender doesn't have nearly the amount of amps and effects but the ones it has are very high quality (outside of maybe some of the non-convolution reverbs).

 

[Mongillo19]

Glad you are enjoying it! Hopefully it continues

 

[ChordInversion]

Glad you're loving it. After a year, I find mine to not sound as good to me as my FM9, particularly in pure amp and cabinet sounds. And the limited selection of sounds available keeps the TMP relegated to practice duty, with the FM9 being my primary writing and sound creation tool. If they ever open the selection up a bit, I may be able to do an apples to apples comparison in terms of my own use case. That said, I think having multiple modelers is a good idea anyway.

 

[Jarick]

Glad you're loving it. After a year, I find mine to not sound as good to me as my FM9, particularly in pure amp and cabinet sounds. And the limited selection of sounds available keeps the TMP relegated to practice duty, with the FM9 being my primary writing and sound creation tool. If they ever open the selection up a bit, I may be able to do an apples to apples comparison in terms of my own use case. That said, I think having multiple modelers is a good idea anyway.

Which amps are you missing in the TMP?

I'm about 99% sure I'll sell my Axe 3 but I'll probably end up with an FM3 or FM9 at some point, unless they release a new unit next year. Every time I sell a Fractal unit I miss it and buy another one.

 

[JiveTurkey]

From my own POV (from a year or so ago when I had one for a minute); the Mark and the Rectifier all sounded like slightly higher fidelity versions of the same amps from the GTX. No JVMs either.

 

[ChordInversion]

Which amps are you missing in the TMP?

Several. It's a pretty large number, as the TMP selection is still pretty spare (and not growing particularly quickly). EL-84 amps that aren't an AC30, a Vibrolux, and the Dr Z, among others.

I'm about 99% sure I'll sell my Axe 3 but I'll probably end up with an FM3 or FM9 at some point, unless they release a new unit next year. Every time I sell a Fractal unit I miss it and buy another one.

My attitude is that trying to declare a 'best' is a fool's errand. They all do something well. Get the one or ones that do the things well that you value.

 

[metropolis_4]

I liked several of the Fender amps in the TMP better than the Fractal models. Particularly the Deluxe Reverb.

 

[Jarick]

Several. It's a pretty large number, as the TMP selection is still pretty spare (and not growing particularly quickly). EL-84 amps that aren't an AC30, a Vibrolux, and the Dr Z, among others.


My attitude is that trying to declare a 'best' is a fool's errand. They all do something well. Get the one or ones that do the things well that you value.

I would love to see a Matchless DC-30 added. I've always loved the sound of the amp, although most digital versions I don't like as much. Honestly though I have a hard time telling apart the EL84 amps once they're running through the same IR.

 

[ChordInversion]

I would love to see a Matchless DC-30 added. I've always loved the sound of the amp, although most digital versions I don't like as much. Honestly though I have a hard time telling apart the EL84 amps once they're running through the same IR.

I do not, but that and a couple of bucks will get you a cup of coffee.

Anyway, I'm content with the TMP as a practice device while they work to (as I see it) catch up. We'll see whether or not they do. It feels like each update contains lots of small moves on multiple fronts and a few splashy effects that I don't use. But that's just a matter of me not having the same priorities they have.

 

[Jarick]

I do not, but that and a couple of bucks will get you a cup of coffee.

Anyway, I'm content with the TMP as a practice device while they work to (as I see it) catch up. We'll see whether or not they do. It feels like each update contains lots of small moved on multiple fronts and a few splashy effects that I don't use. But that's just a matter of me not having the same priorities they have.

I've been A-B comparing the AC30 in the TMP against the DC-30 in the Axe 3 and I just can't tell too much apart. I could very well not have the best ears to hear these things though. The one thing that I heard is as I turn the gain up on the Fender there's a lot of low end where the DC-30 stays much leaner. Turning the bass control down though they're really close.

Maybe I'll update my amp comparison clips...

 

[Tritium3H]

I liked several of the Fender amps in the TMP better than the Fractal models. Particularly the Deluxe Reverb.

Same here, including the Soldano SLO-100.

 

[Jarick]

Spent the day reamping my DI dry tracks through the Axe FX 3 and Fender TMP. Soundcloud normalizes the volumes but curious what people think about the results.

 

[ian_dissonance]

Spent the day reamping my DI dry tracks through the Axe FX 3 and Fender TMP. Soundcloud normalizes the volumes but curious what people think about the results.

For me everything up through the AC-30 was neck and neck. I think I liked the Fender plexi a little better and the AFX for the Soldano and HBE, but the AFX also sounded louder on both of those.

 

[ChordInversion]

I've been A-B comparing the AC30 in the TMP against the DC-30 in the Axe 3 and I just can't tell too much apart. I could very well not have the best ears to hear these things though. The one thing that I heard is as I turn the gain up on the Fender there's a lot of low end where the DC-30 stays much leaner. Turning the bass control down though they're really close.

Maybe I'll update my amp comparison clips...

I'm sure it comes down to a combination of the specific person's ears and the guitars they're plugging in. I have a Lace Alumitone-equipped guitar that can really bring out the differences in amps, for instance. Same with the humbuckers in my EBMM St. Vincent.

 

[Mongillo19]

Both sound good imo.

However, lets say that amp models are 1:1, outside UI, I can't say I'd choose the Fender. You get more amps, more effects, more updates (if that's your thing) with fractal. Yeah the III is considerably more expensive but id guess you'd be able to build the same preset you heard here on the FM3 or FM9.

I should clarify I'm talking USD. I understand it isn't the same elsewhere for fractal

 

[Jarick]

I think I'm going to try and re-bounce these without normalization because the output levels are too different between the two.

Some observations in making these:

• Reamping in Tone Master was really easy, you enable re-amping mode and select it in the DAW and you're done. However the stock preset volume is 53% across the board for some reason so you have to manually boost that up to 100% to get reasonable recording levels.
  
  
• Reamping in the Fractal is slightly more annoying, you change two of the audio settings in the menu and in the DAW you have to set the DI track output to -6. I didn't realize that before so my previously reamps were done too hot.
  
  
• I loaded and ran the same IR's in each device with no cuts using the default speaker impedance curve. Fender defaults to 4x12 Brit GB which is a bit scooped sounding where Fractal defaults to a curve that generally matches the amp. Fractal's curve changes are really subtle to me where the Fender curve changes are much more audible. So I left at default and tweaked EQ to match.
  
  
• Some amps the Fender had much lower gain than the Fractal. The Plexi for instance I had to run a +10 dB boost with the gain cranked up on the Fender where the Fractal I wasn't even running the gain on full. On the Tweed Deluxe I ran all knobs on full with both units but I had to turn the Fractal input trim way down to match the gain levels. And that's after reducing the output of the DI in the DAW.

I'll save any tonal observations for now as I'd be curious to get more feedback.

 

[Jarick]

Both sound good imo.

However, lets say that amp models are 1:1, outside UI, I can't say I'd choose the Fender. You get more amps, more effects, more updates (if that's your thing) with fractal. Yeah the III is considerably more expensive but id guess you'd be able to build the same preset you heard here on the FM3 or FM9.

I should clarify I'm talking USD. I understand it isn't the same elsewhere for fractal

I could see that. On the flip side, if the amps and effects are pretty evenly matched sonically, the Fender has a much better UI without a computer and is more compact physically.

 

[Mongillo19]

I could see that. On the flip side, if the amps and effects are pretty evenly matched sonically, the Fender has a much better UI without a computer and is more compact physically.

For sure. All depends on your unit priorities!