Fender Tone Master Pro: Episode IV - A New Hope

[DrewJD82]

Maybe it's just me but when I read many of these posts by guys loving the TMP I check the post count and have consistently found them to be in the very low double digits.

What does that mean? I have no idea but it's an observable phenomenon.

Not sure if you’re referring to the two guys that just popped up here, but they popped up after I reached out for some perspective from people actually gigging them.

 

[DrewJD82]

Hey now....I'm totally mild mannered! That was the old Cocaine Bear Flinto2002, this new dad mode McShred is chill.... Nah, I just threw up a little in my mouth when I typed that.

Tell you what, I'm going out on the 80's Cruise next month with When in Rome and the Fender is coming with. Its form factor, ease of programming without a computer, and quality tones mean that I'll be able to travel with my sounds and then dial them up during soundcheck in the theater regardless of what kind of backline I get. I'll be able to tweak things in the ships cabin as well, without trying to sync up to a laptop or other high maintenance nonsense.

I find the TMP and the FM9 pretty much interchangeable. There are things I like better about the TMP (ease of programming, auditioning changes, speaker sims, complete inability to overload the CPU....can't be done, I dare you) and things I like better about FM9 (currently has more amp models, scene mode, in depth tweaking of some parameters) but I suspect Fender will up the amp model count and roll out some equivalent of scene mode in the future.

I've gigged with both, recorded with both, and can get the goods with either.

If I was in market for a new unit and new to modeling the TMP would be it. You can't fuck things up, it works how you'd expect it to work, like iOS. You buy a fractal and you better have Leon Todd's videos saved to your favorites cause nothing about that unit is intuitive.

Thanks for popping in, brother!

You know Flukather is going to be on that cruise watching you with his arms folded!! Boat gigs are his territory!

 

[ian_dissonance]

I haven’t got to try one yet, but none of the professional or amateur tones I’ve heard are anything I would use and if they are, they’re not good (see Ron Arnold videos). Glad people are liking it, competition is a good thing for everyone. Tones aside, my biggest issue with a lot of the recent high end floor modelers is still the “pedalboard friendly” design that omits an expression pedal. If it can’t replace my entire rig, it’s a bad design for me.

 

[Stratzrus]

Not sure if you’re referring to the two guys that just popped up here, but they popped up after I reached out for some perspective from people actually gigging them.

It was a statement made in general about a phenomenon I've observed over time both here and at TOP.

Whenever I read a post and think "That glowing report or that harsh criticism doesn't reflect the multitude of posts I've read by members who I'm familiar with I immediately check the post count and the number of times it's in the low double digits is remarkable.

 

[mbenigni]

QC all over again?

 

[Stone]

 

[Orvillain]

<laughs in dotted delay>

 

[jdzialak]

How many people in this 26 page thread actually plugged into a TMP? Just curious.

 

[Flinto2002]

Maybe it's just me but when I read many of these posts by guys loving the TMP I check the post count and have consistently found them to be in the very low double digits.

What does that mean? I have no idea but it's an observable phenomenon.

I'm definitely a shill, probably a bot. Look I've known Drew for almost 20 years, since the HRI forum days, he's been to my house and we've been to gigs together, well... it was my gig, but who's counting. Joe Dzialak and I talk every day, so when I heard there was a TMP thread that could use some perspective from guys who've actually used this thing, I hopped over to see what was cracking.

Anyways, here is a clip of the TMP recorded direct with the factory cab blocks(which I prefer to 3rd party IR's) It took about 15 minutes to dial in the 4-5 presets I used for this.


Joe has some Marshall style clips he sent me A/B with the FM9 and I picked the TMP in the blind test (TO MY SURPRISE)

 

[Stratzrus]

It's not surprising that some people like the TMP and that some people don't. Isn't it that way with every modeler?

I haven't used one and don't intend to, I'm very happy with the FM9 and Axe FX III. But there's no denying that some people who have used the TMP found it lacking, even in comparison to the much cheaper Tone Master combos.

Ultimately, as we all know, good playing can make almost any piece of gear sound good on a clip. The real test is how it performs in the hands of the player. For many here it came up short. That doesn't mean that no one will like it but as they say...caveat emptor.

 

[mbenigni]

I'm definitely a shill, probably a bot. Look I've known Drew for almost 20 years, since the HRI forum days, he's been to my house and we've been to gigs together, well... it was my gig, but who's counting. Joe Dzialak and I talk every day, so when I heard there was a TMP thread that could use some perspective from guys who've actually used this thing, I hopped over to see what was cracking.

Anyways, here is a clip of the TMP recorded direct with the factory cab blocks(which I prefer to 3rd party IR's) It took about 15 minutes to dial in the 4-5 presets I used for this.


Joe has some Marshall style clips he sent me A/B with the FM9 and I picked the TMP in the blind test (TO MY SURPRISE)

That is quite a collection of guitars in the video. :O

 

[Orvillain]

How many people in this 26 page thread actually plugged into a TMP? Just curious.

I haven't. But my ears work.

 

[Orvillain]

when I heard there was a TMP thread that could use some perspective from guys who've actually used this thing

Maybe we should do the same for the Quad Cortex!

 

[eggpl@nt]

I don't know what kinds of tones our new Certified TMP User friends typically employ, but I'd be interested in more high gain demos from folks who are genuinely liking the TMP. The clean demo from the previous page is good, but I've read like 0 criticisms of the clean tones, so it didn't really move any needles in my view.

 

[dronerstone]

I haven't. But my ears work.

Dunno about feel, but if what I hear on YouTube is what I'll hear playing a TMP through headphones, I'm not a big fan.

Cleans and verge-of-breakup sounds are pretty legit, but the higher gain sounds kinda make me cringe. Sounds like something ordered from Wish.com, as much as a want Fender to succeed, and as much as I do give them credit, factoring in their brand history and influence on music and popular culture in general.

 

[Flinto2002]

I haven't. But my ears work.

Respectfully, those first few salvos of influencer YT clips weren't that great. Even guys I normally love, like Leon Todd, delivered some pretty poor sounding videos. Most of the influencers didn't update to to the latest firmware, and many of them just opened the box and recorded their videos in a single pass, apparently not even taking an hour to fiddle around before hitting record.

 

[JiveTurkey]

I owned one for two weeks-ish? As a fan of the Mustang combo and the Floor. I wanted the TMP to be awesome. Form factor and build are great. Rotary encoders are great. Everything else needs work compared to the competition.

 

[metropolis_4]

I’m also baffled how a modeler released in 2023 doesn’t have block channels.

Really? I’m pretty sure Fractal is the only company that does that aren’t they?

It’s not a common feature in the industry

 

[Orvillain]

I'm definitely a shill, probably a bot. Look I've known Drew for almost 20 years, since the HRI forum days, he's been to my house and we've been to gigs together, well... it was my gig, but who's counting. Joe Dzialak and I talk every day, so when I heard there was a TMP thread that could use some perspective from guys who've actually used this thing, I hopped over to see what was cracking.

Anyways, here is a clip of the TMP recorded direct with the factory cab blocks(which I prefer to 3rd party IR's) It took about 15 minutes to dial in the 4-5 presets I used for this.


Joe has some Marshall style clips he sent me A/B with the FM9 and I picked the TMP in the blind test (TO MY SURPRISE)

I will try to be polite, but honestly.... that changes nothing for me. Sounds really poor actually. Nice guitars.

 

[Orvillain]

Respectfully, those first few salvos of influencer YT clips weren't that great. Even guys I normally love, like Leon Todd, delivered some pretty poor sounding videos. Most of the influencers didn't update to to the latest firmware, and many of them just opened the box and recorded their videos in a single pass, apparently not even taking an hour to fiddle around before hitting record.

How come for guys like Leon and Jon, even though I don't own any other specific gear they use, I end up liking their tones whatever they tend to use.... except for the TMP?

I'll tell you why - because the TMP uses last gen amp modelling technology, and it doesn't compete with QC, Helix, nor the Axe FX III.

I could open up any of those 3 units, and within 10 minutes get killer tones.