While fans are nonetheless fussing over tube amps and drooling over results pedal collections, gigging musicians are within the midst of a digital revolution. Offerings from manufacturers like Kemper, Line 6, Fractal Audio, and Neural DSP all permit musicians to mannequin tube amps digitally, with outcomes that come astonishingly near the actual deal.
These new digital modeling amps are straightforward to arrange, dependable, and far lighter and extra compact than earlier rigs. These days, the sounds are additionally exceptional. Unless they’re within the studio, many trendy musicians are utilizing digital choices for his or her sounds, and plenty of of these choices are making their approach onto hit tracks.
Fender has competed within the digital amp area for many years, however its new $1,700 Tone Master Pro, which launched late final 12 months, is the primary actually pro-tier choice that we’ve seen from the model in latest reminiscence. It’s additionally one of the crucial intuitive I’ve ever laid eyes on. With traditional fashions of iconic amps and results, a touchscreen, glorious onboard controls, and a stunning quantity of digital processing energy, it’s basically a conveyable guitar studio. It additionally has a four-channel audio interface and a whole lot of microphone modeling and cupboard modeling choices that simply compete with the actual deal—even within the studio. It’s even fairly superior for karaoke.
If I have been looking for an all-in-one guitar answer that works each in my bed room and on stage, particularly if I didn’t need to fuss round in menu screens endlessly, that is the one I’d choose.
Photograph: Parker Hall
The New Black Box
The Tone Master Pro appears practically similar to a lot of the different all-in-one amp/pedalboard options I’ve seen. Essentially, it’s a black slab that’s supposed to take a seat in entrance of you when you play, both on the ground or on a desk. A 7-inch touchscreen sits between two silver knobs on the highest of the system, flanked on the backside by 10 pedal switches and related LED screens. It’s all very clear and trendy, straightforward to cover when you play on stage.
One quirky and acquainted factor I really like is that Fender included its traditional pink energy gentle on the again of the system, so you’ll be able to simply inform it’s on like a “normal” Fender amp. The remainder of the rear of the Tone Master is a smorgasbord of inputs and outputs the likes of which I’ve by no means seen on a guitar amp.
There are stereo outputs in each quarter inch and XLR; 4 separate results sends and returns (two stereo) for utilizing outboard pedals and results with the system; two expression pedal shops; a mic/line and instrument enter; in addition to a foot change management, 3.5-mm aux in, headphone output, MIDI out and in, USB-C, and MicroSD. And additionally, Bluetooth. If you want extra, you most likely want a mixing board or a patch bay.
Photograph: Parker Hall