Fender Tone Master Pro: Episode IV - A New Hope

[DrewJD82]

Yop. I come here looking for information on TMP and the least I can say is that I was well served (lol).
I own this animal. Very satisfied with some low gain (all Fender, Marshall not modded are fine / in contrary the Boogie is bad, nothing to say about 5150ish as they are not my things ) and the sense it was developed. It suits me well. But I'm half deaf, I have no experience at all and... it's my first post here (I likely have an agenda).
Keep to be critical as long as it's not silly or aggressive. It makes things moving forward.

Welcome!

We’re a goofy bunch and welcome your input, despite the way that may seem!

 

[alexone]

Thank you for your welcome.
Well, I don't have much to share at the moment.

Sound is always a mystery to me. Honestly, there are amps in the TMP that are excellent and others that I find pitiful. I've struggled with the boogie mark IIc+ (supposedly) and, knowing the mark family fairly well, I find the TMP version just awfull. Other amps I know well work well (Deluxe, blues junior, Plexi, ...) and others I don't own or know (Vox, Uberschall) I have still no opinion about.

Great workflow. I like the screen, "rotary" switches, the way to set up quickly a preset. Don't like the too small spaces between switches. Compared to Fractal, complex routing is less easy to achieve but I don't care, I'm a simple guy (OD - amp - verb).

I overall think the cab block is the weak point (for me).

I think Fender had a great idea with the analog loops, but they should have placed one of them on both sides of the chain and pushed the analog controls further that a dummy electric relay (adding a mixer after the loop, so a preamp, and why not tone controls: I love the analog-digital sound of Eventide's Rose, I love the tone control of the TM cab). In my opinion, this would have given them apart from an already crowded market.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Thank you for your welcome.
Well, I don't have much to share at the moment.

Sound is always a mystery to me. Honestly, there are amps in the TMP that are excellent and others that I find pitiful. I've struggled with the boogie mark IIc+ (supposedly) and, knowing the mark family fairly well, I find the TMP version just awfull. Other amps I know well work well (Deluxe, blues junior, Plexi, ...) and others I don't own or know (Vox, Uberschall) I have still no opinion about.

Great workflow. I like the screen, "rotary" switches, the way to set up quickly a preset. Don't like the too small spaces between switches. Compared to Fractal, complex routing is less easy to achieve but I don't care, I'm a simple guy (OD - amp - verb).

I overall think the cab block is the weak point (for me).

I think Fender had a great idea with the analog loops, but they should have placed one of them on both sides of the chain and pushed the analog controls further that a dummy electric relay (adding a mixer after the loop, so a preamp, and why not tone controls: I love the analog-digital sound of Eventide's Rose, I love the tone control of the TM cab). In my opinion, this would have given them apart from an already crowded market.

Agree completely on the cab block. Considering it's a touch screen and I expected to be blown away by that particular bit of functionality; dots representing fixed amount of mics and positions was really like a big step back in time. Much in the same way choosing a signal chain type feels. You shouldn't have to backtrack to a previous submenu; you should just be able to change it up in the moment.

I got some good sounds out of it but all this felt dated and just wrong for a new flagship using tech that is supposed to make things easy and "natural".

 

[timbuck3]

Thank you for your welcome.
Well, I don't have much to share at the moment.

Sound is always a mystery to me. Honestly, there are amps in the TMP that are excellent and others that I find pitiful. I've struggled with the boogie mark IIc+ (supposedly) and, knowing the mark family fairly well, I find the TMP version just awfull. Other amps I know well work well (Deluxe, blues junior, Plexi, ...) and others I don't own or know (Vox, Uberschall) I have still no opinion about.

Great workflow. I like the screen, "rotary" switches, the way to set up quickly a preset. Don't like the too small spaces between switches. Compared to Fractal, complex routing is less easy to achieve but I don't care, I'm a simple guy (OD - amp - verb).

I overall think the cab block is the weak point (for me).

I think Fender had a great idea with the analog loops, but they should have placed one of them on both sides of the chain and pushed the analog controls further that a dummy electric relay (adding a mixer after the loop, so a preamp, and why not tone controls: I love the analog-digital sound of Eventide's Rose, I love the tone control of the TM cab). In my opinion, this would have given them apart from an already crowded market.

Sad no killer update at NAMM..

 

[alexone]

I've seen here and there that a lot of people doubt that Fender are going to give their product a lot of love. Personally, I'm pretty confident that they'll fix at least the most obvious flaws. Yes, the TMP looks more like a cruise ship than an outboard. But maybe it will go further. Who knows?

 

[Frodebro]

I've seen here and there that a lot of people doubt that Fender are going to give their product a lot of love. Personally, I'm pretty confident that they'll fix at least the most obvious flaws. Yes, the TMP looks more like a cruise ship than an outboard. But maybe it will go further. Who knows?

Most of that concern stems from the way they just walked away from the CyberTwin and Mustang line. This is their chance to redeem themselves, but a bit of skepticism is expected.

 

[spikey]

Most of that concern stems from the way they just walked away from the CyberTwin and Mustang line. This is their chance to redeem themselves, but a bit of skepticism is expected.

Most companies do move on at some point. I know Line-6 did that with the Vetta Combo, Firehawk, Dream Rig, etc. I hope that does not happen with the TMP before its time.

 

[spikey]

I don't believe that is true. I feel like things like the Dyna-Cabs, reverb updates etc are direct responses to what competitors were doing, namely QC with movable mics, TMP with its reverbs that got a lot of hype initially. Similarly Line6 came out with upgraded cab sims with movable mics as a response to the QC.

OTOH, updating the firmware over at Fractal is a common thing with good results and is done much faster than in a 6-month time frame...

 

[spikey]

By now i would have expected fender to have released way more updates to this thing then they have. I mean its fender right? HUGE COMPANY compared to say fractal . The only good thing about the tmp is that it lit a small fire under cliffs butt

If that happened, then it's a good thing. The only one oblivious to all of these other updates it seems is Boss. They only move when they want to it seems. That said, there were some recent updates to the GT and SY 1000s.

 

[duzie]

OTOH, updating the firmware over at Fractal is a common thing with good results and is done much faster than in a 6-month time frame...

Fractals ability to read and react is an asset that makes them stand out .
A 6 month time frame of corporate bureaucracy may be a hindrance

 

[mikah912]

I've seen here and there that a lot of people doubt that Fender are going to give their product a lot of love. Personally, I'm pretty confident that they'll fix at least the most obvious flaws. Yes, the TMP looks more like a cruise ship than an outboard. But maybe it will go further. Who knows?

I highly doubt a magical update is arriving to address most folks' concerns. Even if they add 3-4 new ones that sound and react more realistic, there's still a lot of "meh" to account for. The only one they've even indicated they're going back to fix is the 5150 III red channel, which......how do you screw that one up?!?!

It's a decent concept at a terrible price point. I'm not going to ding them - yet - on update frequency as most products are molasses-paced in the early months of launch (Helix, Kemper and FM3 were too).

Now if it gets to be like Quad Cortex where we're still waiting for significant things 2-3 years after the fact, well......

 

[PBGas]

I'm going to give this one a whirl and see how it goes. My singer has had his since it was released and it sounds great live and at rehearsals. When I set it up for him there were a lot of things that I really liked about the unit. I have an opportunity to try one for a few weeks so we will see how I like it.

 

[alexone]

I highly doubt a magical update is arriving to address most folks' concerns. Even if they add 3-4 new ones that sound and react more realistic, there's still a lot of "meh" to account for. The only one they've even indicated they're going back to fix is the 5150 III red channel, which......how do you screw that one up?!?!

The red channel was fixed in mid-December. It hasn't been release yet, but a comparative sample (EVH/TMP) was disseminate on 14 December and it's pretty convincing. But it's true that they're not speeding up the rate of public releases just to feed the fanboys fever. As a customer, it's a pain, but as a producer, I totally understand.
So no, the most obvious flaws have already been fixed.

 

[mikah912]

The red channel was fixed in mid-December. It hasn't been release yet, but a comparative sample (EVH/TMP) was disseminate on 14 December and it's pretty convincing. But it's true that they're not speeding up the rate of public releases just to feed the fanboys fever. As a customer, it's a pain, but as a producer, I totally understand.
So no, the most obvious flaws have already been fixed.

Seems like pretty much every non-EVH/Fender mid-to-high gain amp is getting hammered for inaccuracy, so...wouldn't say the most obvious flaws are already fixed.

Not to mention....the Red channel update is nowhere to be seen. And again....I'm not roasting them on timing or lack of urgency, but just saying that's quite some hill they have to climb for "pro/semi-pro/bedroom virtuoso" users.

I'm actually rooting for them, but....yeah. Given that competitors' pricing are receding on way more mature products that are way more widespread....I don't see how they make believers out of the skeptics in the foreseeable future.

 

[alexone]

Seems like pretty much every non-EVH/Fender mid-to-high gain amp is getting hammered for inaccuracy,

Dual Rectifier and Uberschall?

 

[mikah912]

Dual Rectifier and Uberschall?

Friedman and Mark IIC+ as well.

 

[JiveTurkey]

The Recto is fine as is the Uber. Uber is definitely bloated but I liked it.

 

[mikah912]

The Recto is fine as is the Uber. Uber is definitely bloated but I liked it.

High praise from you especially since you already moved on. That being said, I think they're still on that stuck-in-the-high-gain-mud trajectory for the foreseeable future. Which is fine....the product seems to be doing ok with lower-to-mid-gain players.

 

[JiveTurkey]

High praise from you especially since you already moved on. That being said, I think they're still on that stuck-in-the-high-gain-mud trajectory for the foreseeable future. Which is fine....the product seems to be doing ok with lower-to-mid-gain players.

I try to give some credit if due Nothing at all moving the needle though.

 

[timbuck3]

Most companies do move on at some point. I know Line-6 did that with the Vetta Combo, Firehawk, Dream Rig, etc. I hope that does not happen with the TMP before its time.

Line6 8 year support of helix going on 9 with no replacement is pretty amazing as they designed with this as a goal so even today gui has not only set standards but hangs with new models 9 yrs later. Quite a feat!!! And fractal seems to release hardware sooner but beefs up everything in updates often which is great