It's actually surprising fender would send it to Mr. Scott, who is a vintage purist. Then again, I suppose if you can convince him, you can convince others?

If anyone is interested; you can change the amp settings or pedal settings using the physical knobs on the board rather than the touch screen.

Thank you Scott for this honest review... Very pleasant to hear a guy like you demoing that gear, with no commercial pressure and going straight to the point !

Dear Fender, if you reading this. I really appreciate you don't push youtubers to say how you new gear is so awesome and you can't tell the difference, etc. Just wanted to say - i absolutely adore that clean Fender sound and this box you've come up with is doing it so good, and it's one of the most beautiful things in the world. And as i still can't get enough of my Mustang V2, i'll definitely get myself a ToneMaster when i'll have a chance. Love you, guys. And absolutely love your beautiful playing, Matthew.

I have a fractal and there’s a serious learning curve and it’s crazy expensive. This looks a lot more user friendly which is really nice.

What I like about it is the vast number of different amps & effects you can use. Plus bringing that to a gig is a lot easier than toting all the amp heads & speaker cabs. Especially the older vintage high dollar ones.

So glad your releasing an album. Just bought a copy. Really looking forward to giving it a listen.

Great to see you laugh and have fun Matthew. Congrats on the album, can't wait to hear the tunes. ✌️❤️

I'm looking forward to your album release. Yup, the modeling world is a whole new animal. It usually takes some tweaking to get close to the real amp sounds. Hundreds of rigs and portability at your fingertips for few dollars has its appeal. Thank you, Matthew.

Absolutely the best most well put opinion about digital stuff I have ever heard. Well done Matthew. Great review and great video as always. Thank you.

I'm impressed that they managed to faithfully capture the sound of a rubbing voice coil with the speaker sim.

This guy's playing gets better every video. You can really see his practice routine come through in this one 🤟. Tip for the players: don't start your guitar life off with pure practice routines; learn enough to play and create an ear and feel for what you love (this will help you develop your own style of playing and integrate your influences as a player as well) fact: you will get lovesick and wont be able to put your guitar down instead your guitar turing into a frustration punching bag. only then you'll know exactly what you need to practice to become the player. I know I sound like I'm fantasizing but its true. Let's see if Scott agrees

I just saw this thing the other day. I was wondering about it . Thank you for doing a review. The riffs are awesome too.

I wish you would have hooked it up to the matching powered speaker and just loaded an amp with no effects to dial in, more similar to the real thing and move some air

Great balance in your review. Thank you, Matthew.

Hey Matthew - got the album today. What a brilliant debut. I don't listen to much contemporary but this has had two plays all the way through already. You and the band smashed it with some great song writing. Reminded me a bit of Marc Ford era Crowes but has your own unique sound. Hope it sells as well as it deserves. all the best Al

Matthew I've been listening to your record non-stop since it came out, thanks for rocking out!

I have the Super Reverb Tone Master amp and it surprisingly holds up to my tube amp pretty good, but I agree there is just a little extra something you get from a tube amp. Can't wait for the record!

I was a long time denigrator of digital amplification (digital effects were okay). But about a year ago I decided to explore amp modelling. Here’s what I did: First I went the cheapest route, because I was sceptical of why most of the popular modellers are so expensive. People crap on the Zoom products, but I’ve done extensive comparisons, and believe me, $1500 amp modellers *really* don’t sound much better than the Zoom MS50. They all sound digital (fizzy/sizzley on top). They all have that sound of a miked or recorded amp that you’re listening to on a monitor rather than an amp in the room with you. So, given that, it’s ridiculous that people will go for the most expensive options out there. The key thing I have found is that you have to forget about the presets. They are all going for a fully produced sound, like on a recording. Instead go straight to a basic amp with No effects, and start building a sound from there. Next, keep the gain down. What I’ve found is that most of the amp models can sound decent to quite good, at clean to edge of breakup tone. The more dirty you try to get them, the more they sound fizzy and digital in the treble, and the more you have to struggle with EQing to try to get them sounding decent. My current digital model of choice lately is a Brownface Vibroverb in the Zoom. Again, set to edge of breakup, with a bit of subtle room reverb behind it, is a great base tone. Adding a moderate spring reverb in front and/or a very subtle slapback (with a dark repeat) thickens the sound nicely. A mild clean boost adds a nice articulate bite without it sounding fizzy. I think why the sound of most of these modellers fails, is user error. You got all these options built into a unit, and the temptation is to push it over the top, but subtlety is the key. Btw, I never use the overdrive or distortion pedals in the unit. Those are totally the weakest link. Alternatively, and surprisingly, some of the best effects in it are some of the ones most pedal companies fail at doing well - the Rotary speaker effect and Univibe are remarkably good, especially when you consider that each effect in the unit works out to cost about $1, and there are really bad Rotary and Univibe pedals out there that cost hundreds. Also, the Tape echos are quite good. Another thing I think people don’t think about is that if you have some issues with some tones of some effects, you can stack graphic or parametric EQs and/or compressors before or after in the chain, and tweak 90% of issues away, easily.

nothing makes up for the glorious smell of ozone from tubes in their glory but that being said, i have a super reverb tonemaster that i like very much, especially every time i have to pick it up

always a pleasure to listen to you man

Beautiful Said... 68yrs young & still playing, back in the day I used a Y-cord & pluged into both 100w ch. ,,, a waa-waa pedal , reverb and were good to-go....

Loved how you used the metronome! Every great guitarist uses one! Music, life and the universe is based on time!

Souls were crushed in this video. You forever stay true to yourself Matthew. Thats why we come to your channel.

It would be cool to see a follow up plugged into that powered speaker, an interesting product 👍

I've gotten into modelers over the last year and a half or so (HX family) and they're really fun for getting lots of tones if you don't have a 'base sound' from your rig. They sound great and I've gotten rid of some pedals and a few amps, but when I switch back to my 2 Fenders, I think "oh yeah, there it is." Modelers are great if you're using a backline - go for a clean tone at acceptable stage volume and just use the modeler as the preamp. Tube amps will always have their place imho

Fascinating. Thank you Matthew.

Cool demo! I have been watching videos of this for days. I was thinking of all kinds of $1000+ amps. Now, I think that will do it all! Much appreciated.

The pedal buttons are also enabled as knobs for the amps and effects. Maybe try running through the amp cab they sent along with the modeler box. Is this thing the equivalent of a tube amp? YMMV...

Bro the album is dope AF ! “Rest them old bones” is an incredible tune mate! You killed the vocal and guitar was screaming yet not over powering and HTAF can someone so young sing with such an old soul ! And to think you almost didn’t have a crack at putting your music out in to the world. One thing the record has already done is prove your career is settled mate your a musician for the rest of your days You should be really proud mate

Living in the real gigging world, where stage volumes are getting progressively more quiet, something like this is a nice-to-have. Fender will continue to support it... I hope... so there should be a lot of things added and optimized over time.

yo Matthew, to your point about moving air through speakers- every modeler sounds & feels better (and closer to what we're used to) when you plug it into a power amp and through your traditional cabinet that you're already used to playing (not FRFR, that's wack). then you're moving air and have whatever flexibility the modeler gives you. it's best of both worlds i highly recommend playing it that way

Honest;ly one of the best reviews of any product I've seen. Outstanding.

Thanks for reviewing the Fender ToneMaster pro. Greatly appreciated!!

Knowing your dedication for old Fender amps and instruments, this was always going to be an interesting perspective. I will now watch the vid.

Really enjoyed watching matthew sorta step out of his comfort zone and have some fun with this thing! Really cool to see something like this coming from fender as well

The youngest old soul with a strat... great review.

Hi! Thank you for doing this! It seems like a lot of fun fiddling around with that. The quality of modeling has really come a long way these last few years. It sounds good and in a mix with other instruments it sounds like the real thing(s) and it's easy and portable too. BUT for me, like you, I feel that the lack of feeling makes it so difficult to play these things. It's so dry and it feels like I'm playing barb wires or something. I have to work really hard to play good on these things while on a real tube amp it happens almost by itself...

Your a young man who is not dazzled by todays tech You prefer old vintage stuff over new which I think is awesome But it is a tool and I hope that you find things on it bring a new nuance to your sound

It would be interesting you try disabling the CAB emulation then connect it into some power amp and then into real guitar cabs.

It’s the future! So why ignore it? Good review and a short introduction into this digital universe from an analog vintage gear specialist! Best playing btw. Thank you Matthew

Huge fan watched your channel for years! Thanks

It'll be a miracle if their quality assurance teams can make sure these are flawless before they leave.

Agree completely. I just love my old ampegs and orange heads and old 70’s peavey stuff to be fully on board with all these new modellers. 100% have some great practical uses depending on context but you can’t replace a proper amp you just can’t.

Love your honesty, I feel the same way, as cool as some of these modelers are once you plug into a tube amp and feel the punch in your chest nothing will every compare.🤘😎🎸🏍

Fender really wants this bad boy to win out. Send it to the arch Fender enthusiast. Glad to see you could give the most objective possible review.

Great demo Matthew 👍🏻

FYI, the foot switches are also rotary knobs so that you don’t have to poke at knobs on the touchscreen.

That looks like days of fun!!

I think one of the best recommendations for the Tonemaster may be Matthew’s surprised, pleased look when he first hits a lick on it.

It may not replicate a tube Fender amp, but it sounds excellent. I’m pretty picky and a bit of a tube snob too. This modeler is top notch. Side note, your The Edge playing, while obvious that your not a player of his music, sounded actually pretty cool. You added some 60s vibe along with open string playing, something Edge could build off for a song.

I think it's a really good entry to that genre. I think for ease and versatility in many scenarios it is probably the way to go.

These modelers are always deep rabbit holes, but also a lot of fun. You can chase tones forever with these things. I think for all intensive purposes, a vintage guitar pairs up better with vintage amps. Modelers are great for convenience and saving valuable vintage equipment from wear and theft. You won't see guys like Greg Koch, Eric Gales, or Kingfish carrying around vintage gear, but they still sound awesome. Not that they're using modelers, It's just safer that way for them - endorsements help too. That fear of theft is always looming with vintage gear. Good quality new gear can take a load off your mind on the road, I'm sure.

I'd like to see the Super Reverb played through the supplied 1x12 cab Just to see how realistic it is when pushing air at volume Playing direct into a desk is always a bit lacking for me

I think it's pretty cool that Fender is entering into the modeling mix. I too love and prefer my vintage amps but at my age moving around a twin reverb breaks my back. Also I think modeling is pretty good these days but capturing is where it's at. In comparison to the real thing it's really hard to tell the difference even an isolation. Sure I'm not getting that awesome room sound but since I do control room recording anyway that doesn't matter much for me these days so the whole room tone thing is not really an issue for me.

Just about the response I expected from you, lol, I mean I love your playing, gear demos, guitar repairs, etc, and I don't think any vintage gear heads will ever really be converted over into the digital world, but its honestly some of the most amazing and accessible tones for brokies like me, being able to get tones out of Helix Native, or Neural DSP for $150 that otherwise would cost me $5500 and require me to have a whole house/studio dedicated to playing loud ass amps which is just not possible, hearing the tones out of this thing made me excited and happy about the future of modelers the tones sounded beautiful same as your playing, and I assume most of what you have a problem with is that feeling of playing loud with goosebumps and feedback, but I would challenge you to play this modeler as a preamp into the power section of one of you favorite amps and cabinet, then use only effects from it on the front end, overdrive etc, and crank it just like you would a normal head. I bet you'd be surprised. also, the stomp switches are all knobs so you don't have to drag on the touch screen. much love man, keep on creating!

Great playing-- really good 👍

Thanks for sharing your input on this product Matt. Your opinion goes a long way with me.

Nailed it. Dry is a great adjective. I’d use sterile, a bit like a lot of music nowadays. As you said, it suits the times.

Really honest review. Thanks Matt!

Really good run through. I am also a vintage Fender amp guy, so you have the point of view I share/need to get a good idea as to whether or not I need to go try one of these in person. My buddy owns a good studio in Southern CA and they got the guys in after hours with all their guitars and basses to run through this. Immediately everyone hated the pre-sets. But they did find some very, very usable sounds when they made their own presets. The complaint from the vintage guys, as reported to me was "something wrong/harsh" in the very top end frequencies coming back through the studio monitors. They had to run it through the old board, and additional Neve cards I think.. (or similar) to start getting close. It got better when it went through some hardware vintage compressors etc. Seeing as you do that for vintage gear as well, this could safe a lot of time for the overdub guitars. Always keep the main track all real with lots of tubes and transformers in the studio chain, right? But overdubs... really good sounds could be there. Live on tour, this thing could save a lot of money in luggage weight fees. I'm not touring with my 50s tweed amps ever again. but I will with 60s and 70s .. so I can have a tweed capture ready to blend in for the monitors and FOH. If there was an option to capture MY OWN collection of amps I would be sold. thanks for this video, MS

Hi Matthew, thanks for taking the time to check this out! I was wondering what a person as yourself (who plays vintage and actual amps) would say of this. Personally I would never pay a near 2K USD for something that I can get better with a Helix for half the price. Thanks for your review and keep up the excellent work! May God bless you!

That ToneMaster Pro is cool that it has so many different settings.

Love your channel Matt! Would love to see a follow up with your opinion using it throu the speaker cab if it gets anywhere closer to the feel and sound of tube vintage amps. You’re playing is inspiring!

Haha the enthusiasm is on another level in this video 😂

I’m not a guitarist but a great review Matthew! I agree that there is nothing like the sound of a real tube amp.

Enjoyed this video, well articulated and honest opinion.

I just love watching you play Matthew, brilliant fluidity that I can only dream of. Excellent and honest review of the product too. But for now I must make do with my roland micro cube. Keep up the good work dude 🎸🤠👍 PEACE

This is something that really intrigued me im very interested in this especially if it does bass guitar stuff

Just had one come in the shop, gonna put it through its paces this morning. Watching eating Breakfast. It's just another Modeler at the moment. Go on Matt me me want to go to work.

Great video... 👍

Thanks Matt. Cool product. Keep on Rocking ✌️

This is cool I think it's more useful for touring players since you can control everything to a very high degree and it's so portable

"It's a new world." You pretty much said it all there.

I’ve been watching your channel for years. I never thought I’d see the day you did tapping on your 59’ Strat. Great demo though. 👍

Your amps A+++ this is a C+. Lacks dynamics, dimension, silk, warmth, and inspiration

He said all the true at the end, digital and tubes will never be the same, are just different, both great

First thing you really want to do with ANY MODLER,,,GO THRU ALL OF THE FACTORY PRESETS,,,THIS TELLS YOU EVERYTHING,,, I did this on the FM3 ,,,,it takes a while to go thru all of them . Its worth it.

Haven't watched for a while Matthew - youv'e been practicing... Sounds good man.

Loved the video - nice job. The Mission Engineering co branded and custom painted expression pedal is an obvious add on. The built in toe switch can be used to switch between volume and wah for example or switch one or more effects on/off. Will open up the control and creative power of the Tone Master Pro. The Mission SP1-TMP has a mono wired toe switch, that is needed

Thank you for your honest opinion Matthew.

Best compromise of practicality, flexibility and tone I've found is using the UAD ox box cab sim in combination with proper tube amps

Um yeaaah, ya make it sound stylish w/ your riffs that slay so I gotta get one!

I really want one of the cabinets to slave out from my Princeton Tone Master. I tried it at the music store and it sounded HUGE.

I admire your honesty.

I think there are fewer and fewer living situations where you can crank a tube amp loud enough to hit its sweet spot. I think that is also true of stages and studios. Modeling amps are here to stay and more and more manufacturers will need to offer them (just like every car company needs to build EV's) I think Fender is smart in ONE offering the Tone Master Amp series which offers simplicity, and familiarity and quality. And TWO offering this new pro level modeler which has thousands of options. Fender is selling whatever you think you need, real tube amps, tone master copies of those (I have a Tone Master Twin Reverb blonde), and a new pro comprehensive modeler. The tone is out there. Matthew, I love your new album!

What you said at the end there is something that more people need to understand....if it makes you inspired to pick up the instrument more then it has done everything that it is supposed to do.

I jammed a few months ago with a guy who was using a Fractel and he got a really nice Allman Brothers tone ( not exactly the same but really close. ) we did Melissa and 7 turns. It came out really good on the video.

You playing the evh amp is the first time I’ve seen you make guitar faces haha could tell you were having fun stepping out of your zone on that one.

Your strat sounds amazing.

It's cool to hear someone, who knows the amps so well, talk about this pedal board. I'm intrigued by the interface, the kryptonite of all things Line6. If Mr Scott was able to manipulate it so fluidly on first impression, maybe this will replace my Helix, which I've never been able to get a satisfactory sound out of...

Appreciate the candid review. You're a very organic player (I think of Chris Buck too) where what you're playing seems to be directly connected to your fingers. This review leaves little room for anything to hide and I feel like I can see it in your playing, like there's a hair of latency or something holding you back a touch. I wonder if you went through the FRFR with it that it would feel a lot better and more amp-like. Further, a 4x10 FRFR would probably be pretty cool. Thanks for being transparent and clear about the pros and cons.

Sounds great, looks cool. Obviously it won't be exactly the same as real amps but I bet through a roaring PA in a band setting it would be incredible. Through headphones or a mobile phone speaker it's a different experience but probably comparable to a vintage amp listened to in the same way. Good job fender

I thought that sounded amazing, thank you!

Fender has given the chosen one a blessed blade!

I live in both worlds digital and tube, you be surprised at what the digital can do once you fully understand the capabilities of digital. Still tubes are my favorite but my helix is a hell of a piece of gear!

Maybe if you put your green pedal in the front you get much closer??? would enhance dynamics and non linearities

Fender sends you all sorts of cool shit lol

Honest thoughts were nice, in both directions.

I'm glad you did this review as you are very acquainted with that vintage Fender sound of a tube amp. I think Fender did a great job and concentrated on their own brands for the most part. The tone straight out of the box sounds believable. I have owned several classic Fender tube amps over the last 50+ years and just did a deep dive into a couple HeadRush pedalboard and gigboard for travel. I still plug them into my 62 or 65 Fender Deluxe, LOL! I like the tone of a tube amp. Crazy but you get it. As you explain in your video, "There's something that happens between the guitar the tube and the speaker. I think the Fender pedal sounds like the Tone Master series amps. Great video Matt!