Bought myself a 'proper' (as opposed to a 'practice') amp the other week.
It's a second hand Fender 112 Deluxe. I part exchanged my Frontman 15R and got it for £99.
I am very pleased with it, but then I guess anything is going to sound great when played after using a 15R!
Problem is, I cannot find any info on it, nor any opinions about its strengths and weaknesses.
Does anybody have any experience with this amp? I would be grateful for any you can offer.
Also, can somebody tell me what the contour control does to the signal? I love the way it affects the sound, but am curious as to what it actually does to alter the sound the way it does.
harmony-central.com........supposedly has awesome cleans
Thank you my friend - that was very useful.
A broad spectrum of opinions though!
:)
If that is what I think it is, you have a GREAT amp. The Fender Deluxe is famous. They are 40 watts. They are one of the most awesome Blues amps ever.
You should be able to find out all about this amp on the Fender Forum.
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
It can't possibly be a Fender Deluxe for that price, but it probably still sounds pretty nice.
I don't know what Deluxes are going for, but I just saw a beautiful blackface Princeton for $900US and a Silverface Princeton that's been through the ringer for $600. Deluxes must be over a grand unless it's a yard sale find.
I'll try and get round to posting a pic of it on here.
One of the things about the link that ElPelotero sent me was that in all the comments posted about the amp, there seemed to be two or three different amps being discussed, some cheap, some really expensive.
It was used, and the price tag was originally £138 (ish), but with the Frontman 15R it came to £99.
I am well chuffed with it. I have absolutely nothing I can blame my cr*pness on except myself now (I bought a US Strat a couple of months ago).
No, I was mistaken. The Deluxe 112 is a solid-state amp. I did go to Harmony Central and read some reviews. Most were very positive. When it comes to reading reviews I try to consider several things, such as the experience of the reviewer and the type of music they play. Someone into blues might say a particular amp is great and then someone into metal might say it's terrible. That kind of gives me an idea of what the amp sounds like. And I would tend to listen to someone with many years experience over a rookie (but not always!). And I also consider personalities. Some people never say anything nice about anything. These are the overly picky types. I don't listen to them at all.
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
We had one of these in some rehearsal rooms that were for rent here. It's clean is very nice, a bit roland-ish. Not really your typical Fender clean, a bit more sterile. With some reverb added it is very usefull for jazzy playing. It can be used for blues with the internal 'distortion', but anything more distorted will probably require a proper pedal.
Quite a step forward from a Frontman!
I have owned the Fender Deluxe for a couple of years now. I think it would be a great amp for small venues. I only used it at home and find it over kill. I also had an authorized Fender Tech wire in an 8 OHM extention speaker jack in the back. I also purchased the Fender DT 112 Cabinet and found it to run all the sounds and volume I could "Never" use. Again I only play at home and bother my neighbours! I think you have a great amp and although some don't like the digital overdrive I find it to be very versatile. Try cranking the overdrive and the treble up and shut down the mid and bass for what I think gives a great effect in distortion. Have fun.
Thanks guys.
It is a bit of a step up from a frontman. I felt a bit stupid buying it, as my playing standard does not warrant the money I have spent on a decent guitar and amp, but then I figured that I was at the stage where I knew I wasn't going to give up playing, so what the hell?
As far as how it sounds though, I don't know any more than it sounds better than the frontman - I read all of these postings on here about different sounds and 'bluesy' and 'metal' and 'rock' tones, and really it all goes above my head. I listen to all of that kind of music (well, not too much blues I'm afraid), but to translate that into adjusting settings on an amp just loses me completely. There are just too many knobs and dials on the amp (and the guitar itself, and the fact that the amp has two input ports, which have different sounds), and the number of different combinations just overwhelms me - I don't know where to start. For example, when I bought it from the shop, it sounded great. When I took it back to the hall where I practise and cranked it up, it sounded even better. I let some kids I know who play in a band use it for their practise, and obviously the guitarist fiddled with the settings to suit his own style and guitar. When I plugged it in the other day, it sounded absolute cr*p! I get either 'thick and creamy', where all of the notes seem to have no definition, or 'thin and watery' where everything is really tinny and nasty. I am sure that there are expressions for each of these types of sound, but like I said.....
:oops:
Maybe one of you experienced guys on here could write an article on setting up and using an amp for the complete novice? Explaining what each knob does and what combinations to use to acheive certain sounds, along with differences between different common brands and models. Maybe with a few mp3's to show what constitutes a 'metal' sound, or a good 'blues twang'?
Any volunteers?
......please!?
Oh, yeah - thanks Tango, I will give that setting a try.
