Fender amp recommendations?

[MoshJosh]

So I'm looking for a Fender combo amp (would consider other brands) with good cleans and rock/pop rock/post rock tones. Mostly will be used as bedroom practice amp but something that could get loud enough to play with drums would be awesome. So far I've looked at the Hot Rod deluxe 112 seems like it might be a good fit and at like 350-400 used seems like a good deal . . . also interested in maybe a Fender Front man??? I heard a good thing about one once I think but could use more info so hit me up

Edit: I'm also looking into the orange CR60?

 

[incinerated_guitar]

Exactly how clean of an amp are you looking for? My two cents on the frontman is that they just do not stay clean once you turn them up loud enough for a band. A buddy of mine had one and it was absolutely horrid. The hot rods have a tendency to break up pretty early from what I hear, but I have no personal experience on very many fender's along side the frontman 212, and my buddy's original '69 twin reverb and blues deville. The twin is the absolute definition of clean. You really cannot make that thing breakup without a pedal out front. The Blues Deville had a nice breakup to it that wasn't over the top, but I didn't get to mess with that one as much as I did the twin.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I find the Frontmans, for cleans, are really damn good. Anything else and they're terrible.

They're a bit expensive, but for straight-up cleans, Silverfaces are hard to beat.

 

[Choop]

I think the hot rods are a good all-around amp as far as fender tube amps go, for the value at least. They're pretty darn clean, though do breakup more than say a twin. They also have a fair bit of drive with all the extra gain stuff active, like not a lot, but more than you'd probably imagine since fenders are basically renowned for their cleans.

Also the 112 hotrod deluxe can still get really freaking loud. 40w tube is pretty ridiculous, even only coming from one speaker.

 

[wakjob]

I have very little good to say about the modern Fender amp line. I'm more into the vintage stuff. IMO there's just no comparison.

That said, one needs to learn how to play a Fender circuit... you basically crank it up into full saturation for your dirty tone needs, then roll the guitars volume back for the most amazing clean sound in the amp world.

This hold true for the modern line too.

FWIW, I own a '57 Tweed Deluxe & a '76 Bassman master volume. And I play these amps more than most.

If I had to rock a brand new Fender, it would be the Vintage Reissue '65 Deluxe Reverb.

 

[Henry Terry]

I recommend that you try the Frontman 212. I was in Guitar Center a couple of years ago, and I heard the most beautiful clean sound while someone was playing rhythm 'n blues. When I went to investigate, I discovered that the guy was playing through a Frontman 212. I cannot vouch for how it would sound turned up to be really loud, but at moderate volume it was beautiful. I have owned several "traditional" Fenders over the years - two Twin Reverbs, a Dual Showman Reverb and a Deluxe Reverb, and the Frontman 212's clean sound was very close.

I once owned one of the early Blues Juniors and found the clean sound to be boxy. I also recently had a small Frontman with an 8-inch speaker and found its clean sound to be boxy. I have no experience with the DeVilles.

 

[MoshJosh]

Bump before I throw away some cash

 

[tedtan]

I have to agree with wakjob on this. The old tweed, blonde and blackface Fenders are the ones people think of when they think of Fender amps, and the reissues of these older amps can be pretty good, too. But you'll need to get your hands on one to see how loud it gets as you will need to crank it to get the output tubes distorting and then work your volume knob and picking dynamics to change the tone. Or get an overdrive/distortion/fuzz pedal, too, if you want more modern distortion sounds on tap. And I agree about the Deluxe Reverb Reissue as well; this (or a tweed bassman reissue) would be my choice of amp from the modern Fender line.

 

[broj15]

I'm loving my hot rod deville 410. A used one is just barely above your budget if you search the used market long enough and if your looking to get into post rock I can say that the built in reverb is pretty good and it takes delay pedals really well imo.

 

[Albionic]

This may not be the most popular suggestion but I spend a bit of time on telecaster forums where if it don't say fender they aren't interested and they are all raving about the fender mustang modelling amps. From what you say they will be just what you are looking for. If it's still gotta have tubes perhaps the superchamp x2 will fit the bill

 

[InfinityCollision]

I'll throw out a slightly left-field suggestion in the old Pro Tube Twin. It's basically a Model T reissue in a combo format with some minor circuit tweaks. Biggest differences are more headroom and slightly less quack on the clean channel of the Twin if you compare both straight out of the box, plus it's somewhat brighter. More than loud enough to keep up with a full band, but also has a 25W switch.

 

[MoshJosh]

What do those ^ usually run on the used market

 

[InfinityCollision]

$600-800? That's what I see from a quick look on Ebay and GC anyway. I run a head/cab setup so the Model T RI head is more my thing.

 

[MoshJosh]

Maybe a vox ac30vr

 

[shanejohnson02]

Egnater Rebel 20 or 30 would check all of your boxes, but it would be a bit expensive.

The Tweaker 15 would also do it (I love mine!), but it's limited to one channel and shared EQ.

As far as fender amps, you can't go wrong with the Hot Rod series.

Also, check out Carvin. Their vintage series might be just what you're looking for.

 

[metalmonster]

I find the Frontmans, for cleans, are really damn good. Anything else and they're terrible.

actually you can find some OK blues/rock tones out of it, but don't expect much more out of it.

The cleans are really interesting, the amount of headroom is insane, which allows a kind-of-transparent amplification for my mesa studio pre (for lack of a better/more expensive solution). It does not add much of a sexy color to the tone (makes it less warm and a bit less beautiful) but yes, it does work a lot better than you'd expect.

Other than that, these cleans are almost unusable for playing guitar, they have *too much* headroom, it's just like plugging straight into a poweramp.

A good mod on these is to find a pair of cheapo used speakers, and it helps the combo to sound a bit better. And the best way to use them (as an amp, not as a solution to amplify vintage/good tone on the cheap preamps) is to play on the orange channel, gain on 2, so there's a little more compression on the clean-ish sound that comes from the amp. It also accepts pedals decently this way.

 

[Shimme]

How much are you looking at spending? A used Supersonic 22 runs about $800 and would be spot-on for those styles.

Edit: quick check shows that these are running cheaper than I thought, several on guitar center can be had for 650

 

[flexkill]

Super Sonic!!!

 

[MoshJosh]

650 is more than I can really afford I'm looking at 500 tops but it does seem to check all the boxes

 

[Runander]

I don't know about the availability of Harley Benton where you live, but the VT30 really seems like a nice piece of gear. This video had me so intrigued I will try to see if I can get a jam session with one someday