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We got together with our special guest drummer this afternoon.  I was able to get it about halfway up on the dial.  Strymon Sunset, junky MXR chorus, some verb, Van Halen.  It held up well, I was very happy as was our drummer bud. We played loud for an hour, hour and a half, it was a hoot.  Gosh, it was refreshing to be almost at a gig.

Bass player bought some gizmo, lets him record straight off the mixer into his phone.  We probably recorded 6 or 7 that way, everybody in the board and headphones on.  I used the Tonemaster DI, Cab Sim #2, sounded great.  Not the same mind you, but sounded great and really quiet.  It was a success.

rct

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  • 5 months later...

Ok well, It's been a year and a good summer of gigging the black ToneMaster Deluxe.  For the bigger joints and some outside stuff I've been putting it on top of an Orange 1 12 cabinet.  Righteous amount of more me.

So I bought another one, the Blonde.  Different speaker.  Pick it up next weekend.

rct

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4 hours ago, rct said:

Ok well, It's been a year and a good summer of gigging the black ToneMaster Deluxe.  For the bigger joints and some outside stuff I've been putting it on top of an Orange 1 12 cabinet.  Righteous amount of more me.

So I bought another one, the Blonde.  Different speaker.  Pick it up next weekend.

rct

Good to know someone is playing out again. I wish I was. Good to hear more positives about the TMD. Good luck with that next one. 

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I really wish you guys were out again too.  Everybody.  It has sucked, gotten a little better, now we are going backwards into suckage again and it's possible the bars will have to curtail hours and stuff.

rct

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10 hours ago, rct said:

Ok well, It's been a year and a good summer of gigging the black ToneMaster Deluxe.  For the bigger joints and some outside stuff I've been putting it on top of an Orange 1 12 cabinet.  Righteous amount of more me.

So I bought another one, the Blonde.  Different speaker.  Pick it up next weekend.

rct

Hey man!

As you may recall, I have the blonde one.  I'm interested in hearing your take on the "Bright" mod.    unless you updated your firmware to use the version that enables it for the "non-blonde" models.

Off topic:

No gigging here, (save for a few acoustic things now and then)  We're about to start recording (for real) 4 new tunes.  I'll use my Marshall JVM head/cab for a lot of it, but I'm also planning to use the TMDR.

 

 

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5 hours ago, rct said:

I've lusted after that Blonde since you got one.  I do think my Black one is fully updated with everything.  The reverb got way better after that update.

Good luck with the record!

rct

Thanks man . It should be interesting, it always is.

so with the amp..  I think your black one is probably "=" in sound and response to the blonde.  depending on what firmware option you loaded.  (Cept for the different speaker)

The blonde one tamed the brightness of the amp, and fixed the "verb" which makes it a bit more friendly and adaptable to using Overdrive pedals.

I heard the reverb on the black ones was like being marooned on Planet Surf up past 3 or 4. 

 

Edited by kidblast
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The firmware update made the reverb quite a bit softer, and not so wooshy if you turn it up.  I'm at 3 -4 on the dial 100% of the time, so the higher up stuff didn't bother me.  It is definitely better, I don't even have a Reverb pedal these days.

rct

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12 hours ago, rct said:

The firmware update made the reverb quite a bit softer, and not so wooshy if you turn it up.  I'm at 3 -4 on the dial 100% of the time, so the higher up stuff didn't bother me.  It is definitely better, I don't even have a Reverb pedal these days.

rct

that's about right ( around 4) on the grease....

I know you said you haven't tried the attenuator much, but I gotta say, for me; that is one of the coolest things on this amp.

turn the watts rating down, turn the volume up, it gets the classic Deluxe sound at moderate / low volumes.   right around 6ish at 1 watt most of the time in my cave.. jyup! I totally dig it..   a winner, especially when the red light is on.

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I walked out of the building hoping I'd never doinker around with computers again.  Well, that didn't happen, so I'll futz with this new fangled attenuationizing thingy these kids have these days.  In my day an attenuator was home made and certain death for your Marshall, so you only did it once.

rct

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11 minutes ago, GuitarsAnn said:

I'm heading to a good local shop to test out amps this week. I will be trying out '68 and '65 Fenders along side the new TMs. Leaning towards the TMDR if it sounds right to me. Might even pop for the Twin TMDR. We'll see.

check the Super Reverb  TM if they have it too.  A bit heavier than the others   

That said the TMDR is a breeze to move at 24 lbs

 

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They have the Super, Twin, and Deluxe versions. Were you guys serious about the color making a difference in sound? Or was that a joke? 

Can the balanced line out XLR be plugged into a PA like a Bose or others. I'm looking to play it at smaller venues with electric guitars, vocal mics, and mic-ing an acoustic guitar.

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11 minutes ago, GuitarsAnn said:

They have the Super, Twin, and Deluxe versions. Were you guys serious about the color making a difference in sound? Or was that a joke? 

Can the balanced line out XLR be plugged into a PA like a Bose or others. I'm looking to play it at smaller venues with electric guitars, vocal mics, and mic-ing an acoustic guitar.

Later models may have more recent updated software..

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16 hours ago, GuitarsAnn said:

They have the Super, Twin, and Deluxe versions. Were you guys serious about the color making a difference in sound? Or was that a joke? 

Can the balanced line out XLR be plugged into a PA like a Bose or others. I'm looking to play it at smaller venues with electric guitars, vocal mics, and mic-ing an acoustic guitar.

No it was not a joke.  

The initial release was the "Black" tolex covered one.  The reverb was said to have been unusable if you turned the reverb dial any where past 3.  Just too wet.  The blonde version corrected that, making it more authentic to the tube amp counter part.

Another change was the bright setting in the Black variant.  It was said to have been a bit too much top end, and that didn't mix well when people would try to use over drive pedals.  The Blonde version addressed this.

The good news with these amps, is there is a way to easily address firmware updates, which in both cases described above, fixed the short comings of the initial release.  so the Black one could be made just like the Blonde one in regards to brightness and reverb.

Another aspect is the speaker itself in the Deluxe Black vs Blonde,    Black version is loaded with a Jensen N12K Neo, the Blonde has a Celestion NEO Creamback

The third, and not so critical different is the blonde version includes an amp cover.  The black ones did not.

you can see the full specs of each here:

Fender Tone Master Deluxe Reverb 1x12" 100-watt Combo Amp - Blonde | Sweetwater

Fender Tone Master Deluxe Reverb 1x12" 100-watt Combo Amp | Sweetwater

 

Edited by kidblast
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Thanks for the info, Kidblast! I guess I misunderstood the comments and further researching I discovered the different speakers. I am leaning on the Blonde Deluxe. Heading out today to give them a test using my SG12. I have a Les Paul Access Bengal Burst coming soon. Can't wait to give it a go on whatever I decide on.

Edited by GuitarsAnn
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Cool Ann,  Be sure to take a look at the back panel and test out the different Wattage settings with the attenuator.

As I've said 100x, that is a really one of  the nicest feature on these amps.   You can get the "deluxe" spank, with out the volume that you'd normal be pushing.  Try the 5 or 1 watt setting and set the volume on 5 or 6, and you're there.  (5 is still pretty loud...)

it goes even lower than 1 watt too.  check it out.. it's nice.

The tremolo is really cool too.  

I am really happy with the one I have.

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I  went with the Blonde Deluxe Reverb. Sounded great and comes with the cover and two button footswitch. Still exploring it. Some clown in the store was abusing an amp, guitar, and my ears while I was there, but was able to determine it would work for me. Can't wait to plug in my Les Paul Access Bengal Burst when the Custom Shop sends it. Should be pretty soon. They said it went to "press" on July 6th.

New Amp 3.jpg

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