Tested out some Fender amps...what happened?

[Outlaws]

yeah, I was just on the FDP trying to get some info. on which Blues Jr to buy?

Fender is Holy, thoushant complain about Fender there!!geez.

My take on Fenders customer responses: just kidding....kind of.

on Quality complaints:
QUESTION: My amp is fairly new and it started crackling. I got a second one too, the same thing?? I'm wondering has Fender lowered its quality controls?
F- RESPONSE: "oh so you got a bad piece!!
and thats supposed to mean everything we make is bad!!
well let me tell you, WE ARE FENDER!!!WE ARE HUGE!!!
...your problem is the rarity!!"

on Factory location questions
QUESTION: Are all the amps made in Mexico now?
F- RESPONSE: "why do you ask where your amp is made at? does it matter to your sound? where the wood is cut shouldn't matter at all, it has nothing to do with anything. are you having trouble getting a sound? maybe we can help or you can go to GDGDFGG forum/link."

thats my take on the bs. YMMV, IMO, TRY IT BEFORE YOU BUY IT should be emphasized. I'm going pawn shop hunting for a US made "Tweed/Jensen" Blues Jr.

You can add- Wharfedale/Quad on the outsource list too. 100% China made. AIG- a huge building with 10 other speaker companys under the same roof. One gigantic speaker factory. Home Theater mag Nov. 2005.

Are you tryihng to get somewhere with this or are you just here to bash Fender and see who bites?

 

[c7sus]

This thread and other stuff I found on the web really turned me off Fender.

I found a used Rivera Quiana 212 55w locally for $1250. I'm gonna go check it out tomorrow.

 

[CoolCat]

Outlaws, I'm not sure myself anymore why it pissed me off so?
It started out as being let down by the shoddy work my friend and I saw on the amps.
But as I read more & more, about all the outsourcing, problems, and tennis shoe's, keychains, Fender is selling out kinda. It was like whooa "SELL OUT".

I don't give a shit anymore, that was yesterday. I was just wondering if anyone had some info to share like "What happened to Fenders QC division or What happened is...

My impression, of Fender, has changed too, these last few days of reading and learning. like C7sus said.
To me, they seem more like Behringer than say, Mesa Boogie who have resisted the "mass production" outsource everything mentality..geez... Maybe this will be called "The corporate greed year" or "budget gear years" in the Fender History book.
or "you thought the CBS years were bad!!"

Fenders very similar to Behringer now, imo. obvious Mass production mentality, lowest budget gear in the store-
total opposite as when I grew up. Fender was that Pro piece on the wall everyone lusted for but couldn't afford, the "real" "well built" "standard of excellence" Fender.

My payoff from this thread?? nothing, just gearhead talk. Am I going to sell my US standard stratocaster..NO. Will I buy the MIM Blues Jr. ...NO.

all I can say is positive from this post is re-emphasizing
" don't judge the equipment by the emblem"....

 

[DogFood]

I played a little 5 watt toob Crate and it didn't suck, as a matter of fact it would make a nice practice amp! Suprised the hell outta me. Like all manufactured goods these days it was prolly built in southeast asia.

 

[easychair]

Huh, Fender always seemed like slapped-together mass-produced stuff to me, after I saw one up close.

Extreme letdown.

 

[CoolCat]

Formula for crap equipment:

1) increase mfg. shipment numbers to astronomical quantitys.
2) use cheap parts and unskilled labor to get low sale prices.
3) add Tennis shoes and keychains and underwear to your companys focus.

 

[Codmate]

I stopped in the store today to possibly buy a Blues Jr. But was blown away by how crappy the amp was? I'd heard so many good things about it.

They had 2.
The first had sloppy grille cloth, loose and drooping. A friend had mentioned seeing this across the other side of the city at a different store. He said be cautious of the Fender amps and quality, many have manufacturing defects.

As I played thru the Blues Jr. I soon noticed the speaker rattled on the low notes. I thought what the hell???
I unplugged the guitar.

Testing the 2nd amp, it sounded totally different than the first!? Inconsistent builds? same settings?
The grille cloth was ok.
Then as I turned the treble knob the sound cut-out, as i reduced the treble the amplifier kicked in again???!!!

I left. With my money.

Is this common of Fender these days?

Are they trying to follow Behringers lead, which is sell as much crap as they can to anyone they can as cheap as possible?

After what I saw today, their gonna give Behringer a run for their money.

Fender amp quality can be sketchy these days IME.
Also, IME their after sales service (especially in the UK) is non-existant.
Maybe they want us to buy Marshalls?
Considering how much you pay for Fender products it's disgraceful.

However - when you get a good one, it's well worth it.

I have one of the new CVRs (http://tinyurl.com/deq47), and if it died I'd get another straight away.
I recently A/Bd it against a vintage AC30 type amp (one of the ones with a diamond-patterned leather covering) from the early 60s that is meant to be the dog's danglies. I preferred the CVR - it had far more warmth, whilst retaining that classic Fender bite.

It sounds like the first BJ you tried had a slightly microphonic valve - this can often result in 'rattle' sounds. It's a common problem with valve amps and usually easily fixed by fitting a new valve.

The second one was certainly defective.

Trust me - the Blues Junior is a great amp when it works as it should!

Maybe the ones you tried were badly 'shop soiled'?

 

[KEVIN1600]

I've got a fender hot rod deville with 4-10's that I take out twice a month to gig with. So far so good. great tube sound . I also use a 70's fender twin on the other side of the stage that's been good too. Those little amps ( Blues Jr. ,etc.) seem to cost to much for what you get.

 

[CoolCat]

I played a little 5 watt toob Crate and it didn't suck, as a matter of fact it would make a nice practice amp! Suprised the hell outta me. Like all manufactured goods these days it was prolly built in southeast asia.

I came across a friend at work who has built a few Tube amps.
I asked him if he could build a real basic, basic pure simple Guitar amp.
Then he drew a schematic from memory!!
just the tube power section. 1 qty Tube.
He said he'd be glad to help me build one.
It too is 5watts, single tube. (he said i'd soon want a premp, then a T-filter, then a ....)

I asked was 5watts very loud??
and he turned up his radio and said thats about 1 watt.
Then he started cranking it up fairly loud and said thats about 3 watts...I said OK! I get the picture..that'll do! damn. He played GUitar in the 60's and worked at Texas Instruments and everyone knew how to build a Tube amp and Tube radios and ....everything was Tube!

I hope we get it done. Work gets in the way of course....

 

[Outlaws]

I came across a friend at work who has built a few Tube amps.
I asked him if he could build a real basic, basic pure simple Guitar amp.
Then he drew a schematic from memory!!
just the tube power section. 1 qty Tube.
He said he'd be glad to help me build one.
It too is 5watts, single tube. (he said i'd soon want a premp, then a T-filter, then a ....)

Ya, you'll want a preamp pretty soon considering you can't have a power amp section without a preamp section. You see, if you knew anything about amps, you would know that all guitar amps have a preamp to make the intruments signal into a line level, and then the power amp amplifies that. But then since this amp he is gonna build is gonna be so great sounding since you haven't even heard it yet, but then why does that matter, any home made amp must sound good. They never built any crap back in the 60's.

PS
Cheerleading is more fun than Trolling.

 

[Outlaws]

I see you deleted your post saying how you don't need a preamp for the power amp. Guess you realized you are a dumbass? Fuck your 'freedom of speech' you fucking troll. Leave all the negative feedback you want.

 

[CoolCat]

I was trying to dumb this post down.
Its a Tube Power Amp only. The pre-amp is seperate.
A guitar pedal or outboard tube rack preamp can accomplish this.

No one said the amp was "going to be so great". its a 5watt, bare bones..power amp. pretty cool really, even just learning. Tube 101.
DIY.

I was just calling it as I see it with the Fender QC and Tennis shoes...freedom of speech thing.
nothing personal, there Outlaw the Pissr Offr.
I just see alot of companys going this route these days,
changing of times I guess.

this thread is dead.... and I cleaned it up.
you are the pissr offr alright. damn. you had me going. but i get it now.

 

[lesterpaul]

i have a Fender Pro Jr. and a brand new Blues Deluxe RI tweed and I have no complaints whatsoeverthe PJ was bought new and it really kicks some good overdrive past 6 ( amp stays clean, gets louder up to 6 then no real vol change just more dirt) it has EL 84's, the BDRI has 6l6's and to me is exactly what I like about the Fender tone... sorry you had a bad experience, maybe the send all the crap your way... ....i think they make all the Squire stuff in China, but my amp was built in Mexico, a good deal of what they make is US parts sent to Mexico, then assembled there so they have to put made in Mexico on it....

 

[ggunn]

i have a Fender Pro Jr. and a brand new Blues Deluxe RI tweed and I have no complaints whatsoeverthe PJ was bought new and it really kicks some good overdrive past 6 ( amp stays clean, gets louder up to 6 then no real vol change just more dirt) it has EL 84's, the BDRI has 6l6's and to me is exactly what I like about the Fender tone... sorry you had a bad experience, maybe the send all the crap your way... ....i think they make all the Squire stuff in China, but my amp was built in Mexico, a good deal of what they make is US parts sent to Mexico, then assembled there so they have to put made in Mexico on it....

I've got a Blues Jr., and it is the most commonly borrowed amp I have (nobody gets my '65 Deluxe Reverb); everyone I play with really likes it. It's a great little amp, IMO. I'm not sure how old it is; I got it used.

 

[homestudioguy]

Check out the review and sound clip on the Nomad

Check out the review and sound clip on the Nomad
http://www.carvin.com/products/group.php?CID=VINT
BG/HSG