Tweet
Hi all,
So recently I purchased one of those little Fender Mini Tonemaster amps so I could check my wiring at the kitchen table without having to get a real amp.
Of course, the thing is a toy that doesn't sound all that great (but better than a Marshall MS2!). But it at least verifies the pickups are working.
This got me thinking. Back in the day (99-00) when I was a student at GIT we used what I think were Fender Pro-Sonics in the P-100 theater. The high gain tones were actually not that bad. I have some cassette recordings from that time and we did early Iron Maiden and 90s Metallica no problem (Load/Reload because it was easier for me as I was a beginner at the time).
Back then I think Musicians Institute had a deal with Fender to outfit all the rooms in the building with amps (Carvin might have had the mixers/live sound equipment contract at the time).
Most of the Fender amps were solid state because students had a tendency to leave amps on overnight and burn up tubes. Solid state amps were much more reliable and could take abuse and/or even theft (they were chained to the floor) without much loss.
The solid state amps (I think they were Fender Princeton Choruses with black knobs) needed a boost in the front to sound decent. The Princeton's clean tones weren't bad, but, like my friend's old Fender Stage Lead II from 1981 or so, they sounded better as clean power amps or even as bass amps than as a distortion head.
But the Pro-Sonic left an impression on me. I don't even know what the settings were (I was 18 or 19 at the time and had only started playing at 15). RIT students would set up live sound and tone, so we basically let everyone from the various schools do their thing and it would come together at each weekend's live playing workshop (LPW) in the P-100.
The pace at the school was brutal but it was a lot of fun and the most I have ever learned in just one year.
Years later in 2014 when I did a Judas Priest cover I wanted something that sounded vintage (mid-late 70s "Stained Class" era) but could do high gain tones well--power amp and speaker distortion instead of preamp distortion, I suppose.
I think one side of the mix got a Marshall JTM-45. I couldn't find a Pro-Sonic plugin, but I did find the Super Sonic, which I think is a continuation of the Pro-Sonic, in Amplitube 4 or so. This was when Amplitube had the official Fender license. And the Super-Sonics didn't sound bad either.
As a kid, prior to the EVH III head, I hated Fender amps. I knew the Mesa Mark I was derived from a Fender, but I didn't think Fender themselves knew how to do distortion. I thought their amps were old-fashioned. I didn't think they could do anything but clean tones, and even those were sterile. I even hated the combo amp format they were usually packaged in because I didn't like the idea of loud speakers potentially rattling and damaging tubes.
The Pro and Super Sonics stood out to me in that they were separate heads and cabs, and, again, prior to the EVH III, I'd say they were the best distorted sound Fender had.
Have any of you guys tried a Pro and/or Super-Sonic, and if you have, what were your impressions?
Thanks.
So recently I purchased one of those little Fender Mini Tonemaster amps so I could check my wiring at the kitchen table without having to get a real amp.
Of course, the thing is a toy that doesn't sound all that great (but better than a Marshall MS2!). But it at least verifies the pickups are working.
This got me thinking. Back in the day (99-00) when I was a student at GIT we used what I think were Fender Pro-Sonics in the P-100 theater. The high gain tones were actually not that bad. I have some cassette recordings from that time and we did early Iron Maiden and 90s Metallica no problem (Load/Reload because it was easier for me as I was a beginner at the time).
Back then I think Musicians Institute had a deal with Fender to outfit all the rooms in the building with amps (Carvin might have had the mixers/live sound equipment contract at the time).
Most of the Fender amps were solid state because students had a tendency to leave amps on overnight and burn up tubes. Solid state amps were much more reliable and could take abuse and/or even theft (they were chained to the floor) without much loss.
The solid state amps (I think they were Fender Princeton Choruses with black knobs) needed a boost in the front to sound decent. The Princeton's clean tones weren't bad, but, like my friend's old Fender Stage Lead II from 1981 or so, they sounded better as clean power amps or even as bass amps than as a distortion head.
But the Pro-Sonic left an impression on me. I don't even know what the settings were (I was 18 or 19 at the time and had only started playing at 15). RIT students would set up live sound and tone, so we basically let everyone from the various schools do their thing and it would come together at each weekend's live playing workshop (LPW) in the P-100.
The pace at the school was brutal but it was a lot of fun and the most I have ever learned in just one year.
Years later in 2014 when I did a Judas Priest cover I wanted something that sounded vintage (mid-late 70s "Stained Class" era) but could do high gain tones well--power amp and speaker distortion instead of preamp distortion, I suppose.
I think one side of the mix got a Marshall JTM-45. I couldn't find a Pro-Sonic plugin, but I did find the Super Sonic, which I think is a continuation of the Pro-Sonic, in Amplitube 4 or so. This was when Amplitube had the official Fender license. And the Super-Sonics didn't sound bad either.
As a kid, prior to the EVH III head, I hated Fender amps. I knew the Mesa Mark I was derived from a Fender, but I didn't think Fender themselves knew how to do distortion. I thought their amps were old-fashioned. I didn't think they could do anything but clean tones, and even those were sterile. I even hated the combo amp format they were usually packaged in because I didn't like the idea of loud speakers potentially rattling and damaging tubes.
The Pro and Super Sonics stood out to me in that they were separate heads and cabs, and, again, prior to the EVH III, I'd say they were the best distorted sound Fender had.
Have any of you guys tried a Pro and/or Super-Sonic, and if you have, what were your impressions?
Thanks.
Comment