Fender Tonemaster Amps with Drive pedals?

[Achilles]

Who's got experience playing one of these with some dirt pedals up front?
Every print or video review mentions how the amps are very picky about which pedals they work really well with.

Anyone?

 

[Jarick]

No experience but from what I’ve heard the deluxe sounds better with the update that removed the bright cap. Should help with pedals.

 

[FuzzyAce]

No experience but from what I’ve heard the deluxe sounds better with the update that removed the bright cap. Should help with pedals.

Removes it? That would kind of take away from the character of the vibrato channel though.
But yeah, bright caps can be finicky with drive especially if you're not cranking the volume much. TS pedals tend to work well though.
Unless it has something also to do with the Neo speaker? Never used the Jensen neo but I know some can be a little bright natured.

 

[holoholo]

I had a TM twin reverb and it did sound different from a tube twin with pedals. It’s a little more muffled and compressed sounding when driven. The TPS show on this is an exaggerated example of this with pedals. I think someone here said they said they do better with brighter drive pedals and I agree.

This was before any of the TMP Cliff info came out. I wish I knew better at the time.

 

[Achilles]

The TM Princeton version is pretty bright also. I'm not use to having to have a treble knob under 5.

 

[jellodog]

The TM Princeton version is pretty bright also. I'm not use to having to have a treble knob under 5.

Funnily enough, that's exactly what the tube reissue is like. Way brighter than the original vintage '64 amps.

I never had the treble knob higher than that on the PRRI either.

The thin, bright and harsh Jensen C10R speaker makes it worse. Horrible speakers!

The Alessandro GA10-SC64 however... well that's wonderful and really improves the PRRI. And also the Fat Jimmy C1025 for a vintage vibe.

Both of those would probably improve TM Princeton too and make the treble more bearable.

 

[ucnick]

I used various dirt pedals in front of my TMTR, worked just fine without the treble cap removal. As I recall, a J. Rockett The Dude, a Hotone Blues, and a JHS Morning Glory clone were among them.

 

[Jarick]

Removes it? That would kind of take away from the character of the vibrato channel though.
But yeah, bright caps can be finicky with drive especially if you're not cranking the volume much. TS pedals tend to work well though.
Unless it has something also to do with the Neo speaker? Never used the Jensen neo but I know some can be a little bright natured.

I don't know exactly the change, but the blonde version of the Deluxe not only swapped out the Jensen Neo (really bright) for a Celestion Creamback (much warmer), but they also either removed or changed the bright cap value in the vibrato channel to smooth it out.

I believe you can swap the firmware for either version of the amp but not sure.

 

[Sidler72]

Yeah I have the blonde deluxe with the creambacks but don’t use regular pedals through it. I just setup some patches in my fm3 like a pedalboard and use the overdrives and effects in there. I use it mainly for clean,EOB or light distortion and it works really well. I never tried any cranked Marshall or high gain sounds through it mostly because I prefer a closed back cab for that application.

 

[jellodog]

I don't know exactly the change, but the blonde version of the Deluxe not only swapped out the Jensen Neo (really bright) for a Celestion Creamback (much warmer), but they also either removed or changed the bright cap value in the vibrato channel to smooth it out.

I believe you can swap the firmware for either version of the amp but not sure.

That's correct. I made my OG TMDR "blonde" when I had it, by adding the creamback and installing the blonde firmware; the only difference being the removal of the virtual bright cap in that firmware. Definitely improved it.

 

[Achilles]

Both of those would probably improve TM Princeton too and make the treble more bearable.

Going with a Greenback. Dug the one in the small Boogie cab I had a while back.

 

[jellodog]

Going with a Greenback. Dug the one in the small Boogie cab I had a while back.

Great choice!

 

[Mincer]

I don't find them picky at all. They sound fantastic with any drive pedal I've tried.

 

[metropolis_4]

I think a lot of it is perception, not what people are actually hearing. Some people expect anything that isn’t tube to sound terrible with drive pedals for some reason.

They sound fine with drive pedals. A little smoother and more compressed than their tube counterparts. Pedals with more character and depth sound better

 

[Jarick]

I think a lot of it is perception, not what people are actually hearing. Some people expect anything that isn’t tube to sound terrible with drive pedals for some reason.

They sound fine with drive pedals. A little smoother and more compressed than their tube counterparts. Pedals with more character and depth sound better

I was running my QC in front of my Orange Rocker 15 tube amp, and found that the drive pedals sounded kind of harsh. Then I swapped out the QC for analog drive pedals and found those also sounded harsh. Turns out it was the tube amp that sounded harsh, not the modeler.

 

[jellodog]

Yeah it’s funny how so many people say that tube amps are all warm and never harsh.

The reality of a spanky strat into a cleanish blackface amp with the treble turned up is rather different

 

[Jarick]

Yeah it’s funny how so many people say that tube amps are all warm and never harsh.

The reality of a spanky strat into a cleanish blackface amp with the treble turned up is rather different

I spent $500 on a used Orange Rocker 15 amp and honestly I prefer my solid state Blackstar Amped 1

 

[SillyOctpuss]

I think a lot of it is perception, not what people are actually hearing. Some people expect anything that isn’t tube to sound terrible with drive pedals for some reason.

They sound fine with drive pedals. A little smoother and more compressed than their tube counterparts. Pedals with more character and depth sound better

For me it's fuzz pedals that don't work well run into modelers yet, most drive pedals sound fine. Big muffs work too but vintage style fuzz faces and tone benders do sound very harsh into any modeller I've tried so far.

 

[FuzzyAce]

The reality of a spanky strat into a cleanish blackface amp with the treble turned up is rather different

Sparkly

 

[FuzzyAce]

For me it's fuzz pedals that don't work well run into modelers yet, most drive pedals sound fine. Big muffs work too but vintage style fuzz faces and tone benders do sound very harsh into any modeller I've tried so far.

I've had success with a FF into Helix, especially in Native. Running into the dripman model.