Fender FM212R How is this SS amp?

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bball_1523

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http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=guitar/s=amps/search/detail/base_pid/480723/

Above is the link to the 300 dollar 100-watt Fender amp. I was wondering if any of you have any experience using this amp. How are the cleans/distortion? How is the effects loop and does it work well with big pedals like Boss gt-6/8 or Vox Tonelab, etc? How does the amp sound at low and high volumes?

I'm just looking to use an amp for practice and definitely with effects, most likely a boss gt-8. So what do you guys think? This amp is perfectly in my price range, $300-500.
 
I guarantee that you'll despise that amp in 2-5 years. Plus $300 is a little much for a solid state practice amp.

In your price range $300-$500 and for small gigs, I recommend:

Solid state- Tech21 trademark 60 or trademark 120
Roland JC-120 + a tech21 or line6 amp modeler

Tube- Traynor YCV20 or YCV40
Fender HotRod Deluxe
 
Actually, those two pedals you mentioned would probably sound great with a Roland JC-120(about $350 used).
 
Lomo said:
I guarantee that you'll despise that amp in 2-5 years. Plus $300 is a little much for a solid state practice amp.

In your price range $300-$500 and for small gigs, I recommend:

Solid state- Tech21 trademark 60 or trademark 120
Roland JC-120 + a tech21 or line6 amp modeler

Tube- Traynor YCV20 or YCV40
Fender HotRod Deluxe
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well I'm sure I'll get a new amp by then, and I'll probably be gigging then so I'd get a tube or whatever works for that. I'm not gonna use this SS for 10 years here, that'd be ridiculous.

And I'd really like to know more about the fender fm212 first than these other amps you mentioned. I want to know how good the effects loop works, how reliable it is, etc. Then I'll check out other amp specifications and other details.
 
I was trying out some guitars at a local music store and the tester amp was a Fender FM212R. This may be the loudest 2x12 amp in the history of mankind. I put the thing at a quarter of the way to 1 on the volume and it was LOUD, too loud for a "practice" amp. You could definitely gig with this thing.

The tones were decent. I played an ES-137, ES-335, LP Studio, and a Fender HH set neck tele through it. This is not a boutique amp by any stretch but it will do what you need.
I played it with a little reverb and tried it both clean and distorted. Clean was decent. You didn't get those shimmery highs like you will with a nice tube amp but it sounded ok to me. The distortion was your typical solid state metal-type distortion, lacking real warmth and harmonics. You'll probably want to stick with your favorite overdrive or distortion pedals.

This amp will do what you need it to. Amplify your sound, A LOT. For $299 it seemed like a pretty good deal to me.



Good luck!
 
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Lomo said:
Actually, those two pedals you mentioned would probably sound great with a Roland JC-120(about $350 used).
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I used to own a JC-120 and that was not really suited for heavy Rock guitar. It was fantastic as a clean blues or jazz guitar amp, and was great as an acoustic guitar amp but it just lacked the balls and bite of a good rock amp. Especially for todays big bottomed guitar tones.

If heavy is what he is looking for, he will be better served by the FM212.
 
I tried the FM65 (I think that's what it's called, 65 watts); the cleans were good, but the distortion was mediocre. Fine with me though if 212 is similar, because all I want is power, reliability, and multi-effects capabilities (effects loop).

I read reviews at harmony-central, and musiciansfriend.com, and most of them were pretty decent and always mentioned how the amp was good for effects. But I'd like to hear more specifics with the amp effects loop, such as if anybody has used the boss gt-6/gt-8 or vox tonelab on that amp?
 
Newbie-Doo said:
I used to own a JC-120 and that was not really suited for heavy Rock guitar. It was fantastic as a clean blues or jazz guitar amp, and was great as an acoustic guitar amp but it just lacked the balls and bite of a good rock amp. Especially for todays big bottomed guitar tones.

If heavy is what he is looking for, he will be better served by the FM212.
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If he's using an amp modeler like that Vox tonelab he mentioned, I'm sure it would sound better through a JC-120 than it would through that fender.
 
Lomo said:
If he's using an amp modeler like that Vox tonelab he mentioned, I'm sure it would sound better through a JC-120 than it would through that fender.
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the only problem is that the JC-120 is beyond my price range.
 
Outlaws said:
New it is. Used they are $300-$400.
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where can I find a used roland for 300-400? I checked ebay, but I don't like the return policies on the sellers.
 
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