Whereas lovers are nonetheless fussing over tube amps and drooling over results pedal collections, gigging musicians are within the midst of a digital revolution. Choices 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 true deal.
These new digital modeling amps are straightforward to arrange, dependable, and far lighter and extra compact than earlier rigs. Today, the sounds are additionally exceptional. Except they’re within the studio, many modern musicians are using digital options for his or her sounds, and plenty of of these choices are making their means onto hit tracks.
Fender has competed within the digital amp area for many years, however its new $1,700 Tone Grasp Professional, which launched late final 12 months, is the primary really pro-tier possibility that we’ve seen from the model in latest reminiscence. It’s additionally some of the intuitive I’ve ever laid eyes on. With basic fashions of iconic amps and results, a touchscreen, glorious onboard controls, and a stunning quantity of digital processing energy, it’s primarily a conveyable guitar studio. It additionally has a four-channel audio interface and tons of of microphone modeling and cupboard modeling choices that simply compete with the true deal—even within the studio. It’s even fairly superior for karaoke.
If I had been looking for an all-in-one guitar answer that works each in my bed room and on stage, particularly if I didn’t wish to fuss round in menu screens eternally, that is the one I’d choose.
{Photograph}: Parker Corridor
The New Black Field
The Tone Grasp Professional appears to be like almost similar to many of the different all-in-one amp/pedalboard options I’ve seen. Basically, 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 machine, 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 like is that Fender included its basic pink energy gentle on the again of the machine, so you possibly can simply inform it’s on like a “regular” Fender amp. The remainder of the rear of the Tone Grasp 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 machine; two expression pedal retailers; 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 in addition, Bluetooth. In the event you want extra, you most likely want a mixing board or a patch bay.
{Photograph}: Parker Corridor
