NAD: Tone Master Deluxe Reverb

[Wairarapajack]

This actually arrived on Monday, but my partner has been working nights so I haven't had a chance to really test it until today. In fact she's still on nights but went to work at 7. Plenty time to mess around and be noisy.

I already have a "68 Custom" Deluxe - with the modified tweed-style custom channel and bright cap clipped vintage channel. It sounds good but I'm a bit worried that the nearest amp tech is 100km away. Tone Masters are meant to be basically the same as the originals but half the weight, no tubes to go wrong and a fair bit cheaper. There are a couple of extra features as well - a line out and a built in power scaling switch at the back. It is light too - not quite the unsettling lightness of the Rumble bass amps but definitely not hard to carry.

So this evening I AB'd the pair of them. Same settings, same guitar, and no pedals. They sound basically the same. The Tone Master is a bit brighter, but there is a firmware update available to give it the sound of a clipped bright cap. The speaker in the Tone Master probably needs some time to break in as well. But Fender have done a good job here, as it does capture the essence of a DR. It has the flaws too (can be a bit ice-picky unless you clip the bright cap, etc).

With the built in power scaling you can definitely crank it up all the way and get TV-level volume. But the best sounds from it tend to be either the clean or edge-of-breakup, so I don't see myself going to 0.5w or 0.2w often.

If I can load the firmware update this weekend and it tames the brightness then the tube version is gone.

[clubhouse]

Nice rig, sir! Are you tempted to go wet L+R with dry centre at all?

[Wairarapajack]

Nice rig, sir! Are you tempted to go wet L+R with dry centre at all?

Thanks! I did think about stereo a while back with a Deluxe Reverb and either an AC15 or something Marshall-y, but hadn't thought about a 3-amp setup! I need to downsize a bit, so I think the silverface amp is going.

[clubhouse]

Can I tempt you to try it before you downsize and report your findings? Would be very interesting.

[StratMatt]

Another win for digital modelling

They sound great from the demos I've heard. There was a really nice blonde one on Facebook the other day. HNAD.

[AiRdAd]

How come it needs power scaling when it's a solid state amp? I thought the idea of power scaling was to get the power amp tubes cooking at lower volumes?

[Slowy]

How come it needs power scaling when it's a solid state amp? I thought the idea of power scaling was to get the power amp tubes cooking at lower volumes?

Bandmate's just bought one. If we're ever released from home detention, I'll let you know.

[jeremyb]

I must say I was surprised by the $1899 price tag, given you could get a secondhand tube one for that, I realise you have your reasons to move away from tube amps but it seems like about $900 too much?!?!?

[GrantB]

Nice to hear about the tone = to tubes.

Re bright, and I'm not trying to be funny, but turn down the treble knob until it sounds good? Not suggesting you have this issue also, but many people I know want the amp to sound perfect with all knobs at midday. As in, it's some sort of disorder they have about deviating from dead center. My knobs are all over place (!). I keep tweaking until it sounds good, and then that's it. On my TC15 that means the treble is down, and the cut up - and that would send some OCD folk over the top..

[robthemac]

Nice to hear about the tone = to tubes.

Re bright, and I'm not trying to be funny, but turn down the treble knob until it sounds good? Not suggesting you have this issue also, but many people I know want the amp to sound perfect with all knobs at midday. As in, it's some sort of disorder they have about deviating from dead center. My knobs are all over place (!). I keep tweaking until it sounds good, and then that's it. On my TC15 that means the treble is down, and the cut up - and that would send some OCD folk over the top..

The treble controls on Blackface amps are frustrating, for me. The help to take out the ice-pick frequencies in the middle of the treble band, but they also take out those super high treble frequencies that give Blackface amps the sparkle that I love them for. So by the time you get the treble control to a point where it isn't shredding ears on a Strat bridge, you've lost what is special (to me) about a Blackface.

But to be fair, I've only owned one, so not the most informed of opinions.

[Slowy]

Nice to hear about the tone = to tubes.

Re bright, and I'm not trying to be funny, but turn down the treble knob until it sounds good? Not suggesting you have this issue also, but many people I know want the amp to sound perfect with all knobs at midday. As in, it's some sort of disorder they have about deviating from dead center. My knobs are all over place (!). I keep tweaking until it sounds good, and then that's it. On my TC15 that means the treble is down, and the cut up - and that would send some OCD folk over the top..

The treble controls on Blackface amps are frustrating, for me. The help to take out the ice-pick frequencies in the middle of the treble band, but they also take out those super high treble frequencies that give Blackface amps the sparkle that I love them for. So by the time you get the treble control to a point where it isn't shredding ears on a Strat bridge, you've lost what is special (to me) about a Blackface.

But to be fair, I've only owned one, so not the most informed of opinions.

Boss GE7.

[robthemac]

Nice to hear about the tone = to tubes.

Re bright, and I'm not trying to be funny, but turn down the treble knob until it sounds good? Not suggesting you have this issue also, but many people I know want the amp to sound perfect with all knobs at midday. As in, it's some sort of disorder they have about deviating from dead center. My knobs are all over place (!). I keep tweaking until it sounds good, and then that's it. On my TC15 that means the treble is down, and the cut up - and that would send some OCD folk over the top..

The treble controls on Blackface amps are frustrating, for me. The help to take out the ice-pick frequencies in the middle of the treble band, but they also take out those super high treble frequencies that give Blackface amps the sparkle that I love them for. So by the time you get the treble control to a point where it isn't shredding ears on a Strat bridge, you've lost what is special (to me) about a Blackface.

But to be fair, I've only owned one, so not the most informed of opinions.

Boss GE7.

Agree.

[jeremyb]

My knobs are all over place (!).

Interested to hear more.

[Mattallica]

Nice to hear about the tone = to tubes.

Re bright, and I'm not trying to be funny, but turn down the treble knob until it sounds good? Not suggesting you have this issue also, but many people I know want the amp to sound perfect with all knobs at midday. As in, it's some sort of disorder they have about deviating from dead center. My knobs are all over place (!). I keep tweaking until it sounds good, and then that's it. On my TC15 that means the treble is down, and the cut up - and that would send some OCD folk over the top..

I think there is a chicken and egg situation regarding whether designers instigated having the intended amp sound at "noon" to give users perceived additional range on a passive reductory eq, or if this was requested by the users for more control. Not all amps do this mind.
People would do better to understand basic tone control functions and there effect depending on where they are placed in the circuit order.
Typically in blackface circuits, the bright cap comes after the tone stack (across the gain/vol pot). So the treble control will have more effect than the bright cap. The treble control feeds treble into the bright switch (high pass filter). So Grant's suggestion is good for this amp. If the treble is turned down, switching the bright switch won't do much.

[Wairarapajack]

On the "bright" vs treble knob issue - the Tone Master was brighter than the other Deluxe Reverb at the same settings. I found the "classic" bass at 4, treble at 6 settings for Fender Blackface amps to work well on the tube amp.

The Tone Master could be adjusted to a more useable, less bright tone pretty easily. I was more checking how closely they were able to model the original amp.

The "Power scaling" on the back panel is because all the other controls are identical to the tube original. It ends up being more or less a Master Volume, but with set increments instead of continuous variation. Again - this amp is trying to closely model the original DR, so I guess it makes sense to make-believe you're using an attenuator!