NAD: Fender Tone Master Deluxe Reverb
Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2019 7:59 pm
I bit the bullet and picked up the TMDR. Some background on my experience with Fender amps: I've had everything from a Super Champ X2 to a '65 DRRI, a 68 Custom Vibrolux Reverb and a '68 Custom Prince Reverb - so all modern amps, nothing vintage. I am by no means an expert and don't consider myself a tube-snob, but I certainly have preferred tubes over SS/Digital.
I've mainly been through amps because I've tried to find the perfect amp for my home situation (I live in a condo and have been relegated to the garage). With all the amps I've had, even the Vibrolux, I've been able to make them usable at home in my garage, but it's been rare that I've been able to push any of my amps to the sweet spot. I considered attenuators, but alas, never went that route. I usually could only get to 2-3 on the volume dial.
I just recently sold my 68 Custom Prince Reverb to be able to purchase the TMDR. I liked my CPR, but I still couldn't push that amp to where I wanted without irritating my wife and waking up my 4-year-old. The reason I chose the TMDR is for the attenuation and the fact that (from videos) it sounded like a DRRI. Having the XLR out with the IRs was a huge bonus, too.
Keep in mind, I've had the amp all of 6 hours now but I love it -- I, like many other people writing about their experience with the amp, was listening for things to dislike. I was looking to be let down by the playing experience. I expected it to not "feel" like my tube amps, but this has not my experience. I can honestly say it feels totally natural to me. Again, I'm no expert--I don't own any vintage tube amps, but it really sounds fantastic.
I'm a teacher, working on my masters and my wife teaches and is working on her masters as well so I have had very little time to go try out amps. I had to rely on videos and the feedback from folks on forums and I can say that if you go watch Andy from reverb's video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeDr7u_hwGA) -- this video feels very accurate to me. I've seen some videos where the amp sounds dark, which I was expecting to be my experience, but I was happy to find it to be very versatile; I could get some heavy bass if I wanted, but I could also dial the amp in to be pretty bright if I wanted. The pots feel very responsive, more so than the fender tube amps I've had, to be honest. When I adjust the bass and treble, small changes seem to make a big difference.
The reverb and vibrato sound great. I felt like the reverb dialed up to 10 seemed a bit much--didn't seem to sound great to me, but I never put reverb on 10, anyway so I'm ok with that. What I enjoyed was that the amp is dead silent no matter if the reverb was at 10 or 2 (my Princeton had terrible reverb hum above 3 on the dial). There was no ticking from the vibrato when engaged like on my old DRRI. The amp doesn't have loud hissing when turned up to 5 or 6, the only noise is from my single-coil pickups on my Classic Player 50s Telecaster. Unplug the guitar and the amp is dead quiet.
I didn't play around too much with the IRs but I did quickly try it out and it was pretty awesome being able to load up a bunch of great effects in Logic X and play the amp muted through my headphones and studio monitors I have it sound solid. I'll report back on that as I start to do some recording, but was impressed with the IR on initial impressions.
So, the too long; didn't read verdict is that it's an awesome amp! I mean really, to me, it sounds like my DRRI but with the added benefit of an attenuator and XLR out + IRs. I'm always reading about folks looking for a bedroom amp, deciding between a Princeton or a Deluxe Reverb is a common theme -- my money is on the TMDR. I played all the attenuator levels and was really impressed with how well they work. I may get flamed for a glowing review of the amp, but I'm just trying to give my honest feedback. I'm a work-a-day guy who likes to play at home and record, I don't gig and I have no delusions of making it big, I just want to be inspired by nice tone and this amp does that easily. It sounds like the 65 DRRI, to be honest - but now I can attenuate it down to marriage-saving levels and still love how it sounds. A big win for me and I would recommend giving it a shot.
Finally, I got mine for $800 on Reverb, I literally messaged about 10 different retailers on Reverb asking what the best they could do is and got multiple shops offering 800 to 850, so definitely don't pay the 899 unless you have to.
I've mainly been through amps because I've tried to find the perfect amp for my home situation (I live in a condo and have been relegated to the garage). With all the amps I've had, even the Vibrolux, I've been able to make them usable at home in my garage, but it's been rare that I've been able to push any of my amps to the sweet spot. I considered attenuators, but alas, never went that route. I usually could only get to 2-3 on the volume dial.
I just recently sold my 68 Custom Prince Reverb to be able to purchase the TMDR. I liked my CPR, but I still couldn't push that amp to where I wanted without irritating my wife and waking up my 4-year-old. The reason I chose the TMDR is for the attenuation and the fact that (from videos) it sounded like a DRRI. Having the XLR out with the IRs was a huge bonus, too.
Keep in mind, I've had the amp all of 6 hours now but I love it -- I, like many other people writing about their experience with the amp, was listening for things to dislike. I was looking to be let down by the playing experience. I expected it to not "feel" like my tube amps, but this has not my experience. I can honestly say it feels totally natural to me. Again, I'm no expert--I don't own any vintage tube amps, but it really sounds fantastic.
I'm a teacher, working on my masters and my wife teaches and is working on her masters as well so I have had very little time to go try out amps. I had to rely on videos and the feedback from folks on forums and I can say that if you go watch Andy from reverb's video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeDr7u_hwGA) -- this video feels very accurate to me. I've seen some videos where the amp sounds dark, which I was expecting to be my experience, but I was happy to find it to be very versatile; I could get some heavy bass if I wanted, but I could also dial the amp in to be pretty bright if I wanted. The pots feel very responsive, more so than the fender tube amps I've had, to be honest. When I adjust the bass and treble, small changes seem to make a big difference.
The reverb and vibrato sound great. I felt like the reverb dialed up to 10 seemed a bit much--didn't seem to sound great to me, but I never put reverb on 10, anyway so I'm ok with that. What I enjoyed was that the amp is dead silent no matter if the reverb was at 10 or 2 (my Princeton had terrible reverb hum above 3 on the dial). There was no ticking from the vibrato when engaged like on my old DRRI. The amp doesn't have loud hissing when turned up to 5 or 6, the only noise is from my single-coil pickups on my Classic Player 50s Telecaster. Unplug the guitar and the amp is dead quiet.
I didn't play around too much with the IRs but I did quickly try it out and it was pretty awesome being able to load up a bunch of great effects in Logic X and play the amp muted through my headphones and studio monitors I have it sound solid. I'll report back on that as I start to do some recording, but was impressed with the IR on initial impressions.
So, the too long; didn't read verdict is that it's an awesome amp! I mean really, to me, it sounds like my DRRI but with the added benefit of an attenuator and XLR out + IRs. I'm always reading about folks looking for a bedroom amp, deciding between a Princeton or a Deluxe Reverb is a common theme -- my money is on the TMDR. I played all the attenuator levels and was really impressed with how well they work. I may get flamed for a glowing review of the amp, but I'm just trying to give my honest feedback. I'm a work-a-day guy who likes to play at home and record, I don't gig and I have no delusions of making it big, I just want to be inspired by nice tone and this amp does that easily. It sounds like the 65 DRRI, to be honest - but now I can attenuate it down to marriage-saving levels and still love how it sounds. A big win for me and I would recommend giving it a shot.
Finally, I got mine for $800 on Reverb, I literally messaged about 10 different retailers on Reverb asking what the best they could do is and got multiple shops offering 800 to 850, so definitely don't pay the 899 unless you have to.