Ok, time to solve this problem

[pipelineaudio]

Where can I find info about what serial numbers to look for?

Also what is this preamp you speak of?

There's nothing magic about an "FRFR" just because it says "fender" on it. Its like the salseman at bestbuy telling you Marshall headphones make rock sound better because they say "Marshall" on them. Or that somehow slapping the name "Neve" on a standard TheSycon.de audio interface somehow makes it magic.

In fact that usually puts them BEHIND the curve...See Apogee's first forays into interfaces for instance.

We've already seen that in at least the noise parameter Fender is not better but worse than most of the cheapies

 

[AFKAEjay]

I’m not saying I long for the simplicity of a tube rig. Mostly I need to figure out a way to make a digital rig “sit” better with acoustic instruments and minimize the difference between the rehearsal and performance as much as possible (which I realize isn’t much)

Whats keeping you from adding a guitarspeaker?
For reference…I got a superchamp x2 modded with a poweramp input, nice alnico speaker in it. Sounds great (if you don’t need chugga/big low end), small, offends no one

 

[metropolis_4]

There's nothing magic about an ""FRFR"" just because it says "fender" on it. Its like the salseman at bestbuy telling you Marshall headphones make rock sound better because they say "Marshall" on them. Or that somehow slapping the name "Neve" on a standard TheSycon.de audio interface somehow makes it magic.

In fact that usually puts them BEHIND the curve...See Apogee's first forays into interfaces for instance.

We've already seen that in at least the noise parameter Fender is not better but worse than most of the cheapies

I know, but there are differences in how all of them sound. And mine’s not working for me and someone who’s opinion I trust says this one is working for them so it might be worth trying it out and see if it works better for me than the one I have now

Whats keeping you from adding a guitarspeaker?
For reference…I got a superchamp x2 modded with a poweramp input, nice alnico speaker in it. Sounds great (if you don’t need chugga/big low end), small, offends no one

Nothing keeping me from it, that might be a good way to go!

 

[sashimi]

There's nothing magic about an ""FRFR"" just because it says "fender" on it. Its like the salseman at bestbuy telling you Marshall headphones make rock sound better because they say "Marshall" on them. Or that somehow slapping the name "Neve" on a standard TheSycon.de audio interface somehow makes it magic.

In fact that usually puts them BEHIND the curve...See Apogee's first forays into interfaces for instance.

We've already seen that in at least the noise parameter Fender is not better but worse than most of the cheapies

I don’t think people like how the fender FRs sound because they say fender on them. I think they like how they sound because they are constructed like a guitar speaker cabinet, and they respond more like one than a plastic PA speaker.

 

[likitlikeyoulikeit]

Umm....Maybe

 

[AFKAEjay]

Nothing keeping me from it, that might be a good way to go!

I swear by it
This day and age you need to be ready to go 100% direct offcourse.
Not sure what modeler you use…but in my mind they are all capable to have a separate feed ready for the return of an amp…350,- used amp with a loop…and you have added a lot of value/pleasure.
Price you pay is the use of different IRs to foh complicates stuff too much…sound A maybe dark amp and bright IR, sound B the opposite…still both great at the desk…but resulting in your sounds through a cab being all over the place..

 

[pipelineaudio]

I don’t think people like how the fender FRs sound because they say fender on them. I think they like how they sound because they are constructed like a guitar speaker cabinet, and they respond more like one than a plastic PA speaker.

This would be really easy to show on a graph, but also would completely wreck the point of it being an "FRFR", also Jim Lil's video on the subject shows that really, no, it won't have much effect anyway, had it actually been true

 

[pipelineaudio]

I know, but there are differences in how all of them sound. And mine’s not working for me and someone who’s opinion I trust says this one is working for them so it might be worth trying it out and see if it works better for me then the one I have now

As someone else stated above, you might be way happier with a coax style, not sure if the Fender one is, but the Turbosound and the Celestion "FRFR" speakers are made this way. Its WAY better to me...If I'm far enough away, a traditional wedge is ok, but when you are up close (and especially off axis) the coax speaker just "feels" (uh oh) way way way more like a single guitar speaker to me

 

[JiveTurkey]

As someone else stated above, you might be way happier with a coax style, not sure if the Fender one is, but the Turbosound and the Celestion ""FRFR"" speakers are made this way. Its WAY better to me...If I'm far enough away, a traditional wedge is ok, but when you are up close (and especially off axis) the coax speaker just "feels" (uh oh) way way way more like a single guitar speaker to me

Fender is not coax. It does a much better job than some monitors where the separation is extremely apparent.

 

[Frankencat]

The cool thing about the Fender is the cut knob.

 

[deadpool_25]

The Fender FR-12 was awesome right out of the box. I didn't notice the hiss until people started bitching about it because I was standing like 10 feet away from it. Then I did hear it and once I did I wanted it gone. Still, it wasn't that bad imo. And mine was an original before they "fixed" it. Regardless, I got Liam's Archangel V2 preamp and the FR-12 went from fucking excellent to fucking amazing IMO.

 

[sashimi]

This would be really easy to show on a graph, but also would completely wreck the point of it being an ""FRFR"", also Jim Lil's video on the subject shows that really, no, it won't have much effect anyway, had it actually been true

Maybe it’s not the cabinet then, idk. I think it helps. But it’s already not much of a ‘"FRFR"’, it’s clearly designed specifically for guitar. Nobody seems to think it will be able to handle a bass guitar, there is no aux input, and the frequency response is far from flat on a graph. Nobody is running a whole band mix through it. It’s not really an "FRFR" or a PA speaker. It’s designed for use with electric guitar modelers. All I know is it sounds great with a modeler plugged into it, and very amp-like for a supposed pa speaker.

The Fender FR-12 was awesome right out of the box. I didn't notice the hiss until people started bitching about it because I was standing like 10 feet away from it. Then I did hear it and once I did I wanted it gone. Still, it wasn't that bad imo. And mine was an original before they "fixed" it. Regardless, I got Liam's Archangel V2 preamp and the FR-12 went from fucking excellent to fucking amazing IMO.

Mine had the hiss. Either it got worse over time, or I got more sensitive to it. Either way I returned it, but I will be buying another now that they fixed the hiss.

 

[pipelineaudio]

That sounds awful. I don’t want my cabinet changing the sound of the IRs I spend so much time picking. And what happens if you want a dead flat acoustic sound? What about the keyboards when you are doing guitar synth? May as well just have a basic 1x12 traditional speaker if that’s what you are after.

 

[sashimi]

Actually, it didn’t sound awful at all, it sounded great with every IR I ran into it, and can be made to be relatively flat via the tone knobs. Plenty of people agree, overwhelmingly positive reviews.

 

[northern_fox]

Use a power amp + cab for rehearsal and just turn off IRs and use EQ to make it sound good enough for rehearsal. More important that it works well enough to practice efficiently - however it sounds at practice isn't going to reflect how it sounds for FOH even if you're using "FRFR". But why not just also use IEMs at practice?

 

[Stone]

If I didn't have my beloved Powercabs and id be looking at something for my Modeler it def would be the Fender FR
its right in my price range as well, the only negative thing i find is that its not Coaxial

 

[JiveTurkey]

That sounds awful. I don’t want my cabinet changing the sound of the IRs I spend so much time picking. And what happens if you want a dead flat acoustic sound? What about the keyboards when you are doing guitar synth? May as well just have a basic 1x12 traditional speaker if that’s what you are after.

I play guitar synth through mine every time I gig it. It sounds great.

 

[sleewell]

I barely ever go direct but I still have my main preset setup to send a signal to FOH that splits at the end and adds a speaker sim thats only for my XLR output.

I have 2 quilter tone block 200s that are good, small, and loud but I still prefer a tube power section. When the main goal is to be stupid loud and get people to mosh a tube power section just adds that extra bit of oomph or magic or whatever you want to call it. Also speakers... lots of speakers. 4 is minimum, 8 is always better.

 

[Piing]

Keyboard players have that issue solved since about half a century ago. Why guitarists moan so much?

 

[deadpool_25]

Although the FR-12 isn't flat with the EQ knobs at noon, it does sound great that way. But if you want it to be flatter you can set the knobs for that.

Stock FR-12 settings for flat-ish.

Liam's V2 with settings for flat-ish.