Fender American Professional Stratocaster- Have I done the right thing?

[Fishermike]

Take a look at the Yamaha THR amps, too. I have a THR-10 that I love.

[PetesaHut]

Originally Posted by Fishermike

Take a look at the Yamaha THR amps, too. I have a THR-10 that I love.

Yep, thanks, have seen that one but thanks for the pointer

[PetesaHut]

Originally Posted by PetesaHut

I have just ordered the Fender American Professional Stratocaster - Sienna Sunburst with Maple Fingerboard. Not from Sweetwater, however, their following link details the guitar very well.


https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...le-fingerboard

1. I have not played one and am purchasing online based on spec and reviews. Have I done the right thing? I hope so

2. I am now looking for a small amp for this Fender and my Epi Casino Coupe to play at home. Obviously I don't need or want a high powered amp. Looking for clean not dirty tones. I am primarily a 66y young acoustic player wanting to play electric again after a long absence from electric. I get that electric and acoustic are two different beasts.

I have the Blackstar Fly 3 Bluetooth as a contender.

Any helpful guidance and comments would be much appreciated.

The Fender Champion 40 1x12" 40-watt Combo Amp seems to get good press. Does anyone have one of these and would like to comment?

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by PetesaHut

The Fender Champion 40 1x12" 40-watt Combo Amp seems to get good press. Does anyone have one of these and would like to comment?

They're fine amps, but 40 watts is a LOT of power for a home amp. You shouldn't even be talking about the Fender Champ and the Blackstar Fly on the same internet, let alone the same forum, let alone the same thread! My Blues Cube is a 35 watt amp, but it's solid state and has an attenuator with settings for 35, 15, 5, and 0.5 watts. I play it mostly at the half watt setting, occasionally at the 5 watt setting. And only above that if I'm playing out with friends, which I basically don't do anymore, or haven't in a while.

The beauty part of these kinds of solid state amps (including Fender's two "Tonemaster" amps that model the Deluxe and Twin reverbs) is that they sound incredibly good at any volume. Even at half a watt at volumes that won't disturb my wife in the same relatively small combo, it sounds freaking incredible. It obviously doesn't move air and you don't feel the rumble in your body like if you were really cranking it at 15 or 35 watts, but it SOUNDS great. And jeez, my little Blackstar tube amp, the HT1R, is only 1 watt, and it sounds really good too - not as good as the solid state Blues Cube, but very good...

Generally speaking, my experience is that tube amps don't attenuate to lower power nearly as well as solid state. If you start low enough, they can sound good. I had a Bugera for a while and it's a 5 watt amp with settings for 0.5 and 1 watt and it sounds OK there, but I think the Blackstart HT1R, which only has 1 watt to begin with, sounds better at low volume. But with solid state or digital amps, that's much less of an issue. There are tube purists who will tell you a solid state amp will never sound as good as a tube amp, and at high volumes in gigging or jam session situations, it's at least a debatable point. But for a low volume home amp, I think they're just completely wrong...

-Ray

[rmp]

I wasn't going to mention this and I know a lot of ppl don't agree, for low wattage stuff, it's really hard to beat a good modeling amp.

I have a V1 Fender Mustang III and a Marshall Code 50 that are capable of some great sounds and all the FX are just built in..

The Marshall has an added COOLNESS factor of being able to run the amp with a smart phone->Bluetooth->Marshall Gateway app.

The mustang can use a USB cable and Fender Fuse on a Windows PC which is also cool...

I used these almost exclusive for just practicing, or an informal jam session.

When the band gigs, I use one of my Tube combos with a pedal board.

The Modelers have their "place" in line, but in a live setting, live drummer/bass etc IMHO they just don't cut through the mix for me like a good valve amp will.

if that's not in the cards, I would saw a Mustang or Code may do the trick.

[Chickee]

A true bang for the buck amp is the fender super champ x2. You can get them on reverb.com all day long for not much of an investment.

You have 2 channel tube, solid state and 16 digital modeling sims, effects, all in one platform.
It light, easy to move around the house, or toss in the car for a jam at a friends place.

Can you tell I’m a big fan?

[FrankHudson]

I'll agree with those here the Fly is not enough amp to fully appreciate your existing and arriving electrics.

You have two paths as you introduce yourself to electric playing.

One is to simply enjoy playing your guitar with a traditional amp which will have a relatively narrow range of sound. Traditional guitar amps have fairly different "voices" and responses, and their voices and playing response change at different volumes. And of course the player and their technique impact what sound comes out over and above the notes they play. I (and others here) can recommend smaller amps that we think sound good, but the fact of the matter is that there are a lot of valid sounds out there and they aren't the same.

Path two is to go and discover an electric amp timbre (often in combination with a chain of effects) that matches your desires. When budget is limited or your desires are really uninformed by playing experience, a modeling amp is a "tasting menu" for a wide variety of electric guitar sounds to explore.

I feel both paths are valid, and either will work or fail depending on things that are hard for me determine from afar.

I love the sound of a Princeton or similar voiced amps myself. As I like to play them they are not someone trying to sleep in the next room quiet, but they are great in the "not annoy the neighbors" volume. I've never owned a Fender Deluxe Reverb, but I love the sound many musicians get out of them. But other players will think they lack bottom end punch or enough built in crunchy compression/overdrive feel and sound or other things that make for "good sound" that is their (different) ideal.

Of the amps mentioned already in the thread, the Fender Super Champ may be a good, down the middle choice. It has an uber-simple "Champ" channel with a tube power amp and a simple to use modeling channel with a knob that selects different amp voices as simply as changing channels on an old TV set. I have one of the older Super Champ X2 models, and I've not actually played the current model which re-jiggered some of the modeling features.

[Guildman]

Originally Posted by PetesaHut

The Fender Champion 40 1x12" 40-watt Combo Amp seems to get good press. Does anyone have one of these and would like to comment?

I've got the 100XL and even though its more amp then I'll ever need, for the price you get a beautiful tone thru those 2 x 12's.

On the Guitar side, I purchased the AM Pro when it first came out. Tobacco Burst maple neck. Very fine guitar. If your not a trem user then the following is what really put this guitar in fine play mode. I hard tailed the trem. Didn't deck it but put tapped quarters on either side of the floating trem. 4 sets of 2 each. 2 on each side. It brings the action in real nice. I did sell it a while back after getting a Music Man Cutlass. I really didn't want to but someone made me a decent offer. He plays out with it and for days would message me how much he was loving it. You'll have a great time playing that guitar.

[bsman]

Start with the Fly 3. It's less than $100, and will do just fine until you determine what you want for a larger amp, plus after you do decide, you'll have the fly as a great go-along (battery or AC). It's not at all a bad amp - I have a half-dozen amps, and have the fly as my computer speaker (I have the extension cab for stereo) and to plug into when I just want to play a bit. Actually, it's cleans are better than they have any right to be, and the delay is quite nice.

[RoyBoy]

My first amp (in modern times) was a Fender Champion 40 watt. It was OK but I graduated to a tube amp very quickly. BTW, 40 watts solid state is probably about equal to 12-15 watts in tubes in terms of the amount of sound you get. The Strat you have coming is NOT a mediocre guitar and I would get a nice amp for it. A great guitar through a crummy amp is still going to sound crummy. Being a tube snob and die hard blackface fan, I would look real hard at a Princeton Reverb for a home amp. Deluxe Reverb amps are great too (I have both of these) but you'll barely get the volume past "2". Sticker shock stops a lot of buyers. The Fender Reissue Series are made in America, the Princeton Reverb Reissue (PRRI) go for $1000. But then, you own an American Fender Strat, congratulations. If you want hear from A LOT of other players on small amps, you'll find lot's of threads on other forums that are oriented toward electrics.

[Dru Edwards]

As long as you're familiar with Strats and like the overall feel and tone then you made the right decision. The Professional is a fantastic guitar.

[PetesaHut]

Originally Posted by PetesaHut

I have just ordered the Fender American Professional Stratocaster - Sienna Sunburst with Maple Fingerboard. Not from Sweetwater, however, their following link details the guitar very well.


https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...le-fingerboard

1. I have not played one and am purchasing online based on spec and reviews. Have I done the right thing? I hope so

2. I am now looking for a small amp for this Fender and my Epi Casino Coupe to play at home. Obviously I don't need or want a high powered amp. Looking for clean not dirty tones. I am primarily a 66y young acoustic player wanting to play electric again after a long absence from electric. I get that electric and acoustic are two different beasts.

I have the Blackstar Fly 3 Bluetooth as a contender.

Any helpful guidance and comments would be much appreciated.

I didn't know a lot about electric amps before starting this thread, I am starting to see the picture thanks to everyone who contributed. I remember I had an Ibanez Strat copy and a Roland cube back in the 80's, both were dogs in my estimation. Obviously a lot has changed since then, perhaps I will use my Loudmouth mini in the short term until I get my head around all this new information and have a chance to try some amps at a few GCs. Problem is I live in a rural area with no GC to speak of there. Sounds like a road trip or two might be required.

[ataylor]

The Fender Champion 20 is a nice little amp for not a lot of money. The Fender clean and reverb tones are really pretty nice. You're not going to mistake it for a Princeton or Deluxe Reverb, but it sounds a lot better than I expected at the price point.

[3notes]

Originally Posted by PetesaHut

The Fender Champion 40 1x12" 40-watt Combo Amp seems to get good press. Does anyone have one of these and would like to comment?

I've owned a Champion 40 and 20. I think both are very good. That 40 will blast you into next week. Both are affordable and with a Gretsch they both will 'rumble.'

Built in effects are pretty good too. Not a great reverb but I loved the tremolo and delay. The Tap Tempo takes time to get it just right. I have a Yamaha Strat copy and the 20 loves that guitar.

[PetesaHut]

Originally Posted by raysachs

They're fine amps, but 40 watts is a LOT of power for a home amp. You shouldn't even be talking about the Fender Champ and the Blackstar Fly on the same internet, let alone the same forum, let alone the same thread! My Blues Cube is a 35 watt amp, but it's solid state and has an attenuator with settings for 35, 15, 5, and 0.5 watts. I play it mostly at the half watt setting, occasionally at the 5 watt setting. And only above that if I'm playing out with friends, which I basically don't do anymore, or haven't in a while.

The beauty part of these kinds of solid state amps (including Fender's two "Tonemaster" amps that model the Deluxe and Twin reverbs) is that they sound incredibly good at any volume. Even at half a watt at volumes that won't disturb my wife in the same relatively small combo, it sounds freaking incredible. It obviously doesn't move air and you don't feel the rumble in your body like if you were really cranking it at 15 or 35 watts, but it SOUNDS great. And jeez, my little Blackstar tube amp, the HT1R, is only 1 watt, and it sounds really good too - not as good as the solid state Blues Cube, but very good...

Generally speaking, my experience is that tube amps don't attenuate to lower power nearly as well as solid state. If you start low enough, they can sound good. I had a Bugera for a while and it's a 5 watt amp with settings for 0.5 and 1 watt and it sounds OK there, but I think the Blackstart HT1R, which only has 1 watt to begin with, sounds better at low volume. But with solid state or digital amps, that's much less of an issue. There are tube purists who will tell you a solid state amp will never sound as good as a tube amp, and at high volumes in gigging or jam session situations, it's at least a debatable point. But for a low volume home amp, I think they're just completely wrong...

-Ray

You make some great points, I will certainly take them into account.