SeriesFender Sidekick

Fender's SideKick 15 is a practice or low level recording guitar amplifier. It's really just got the bare bones in terms of features, with a single 1/4" input for your instrument on the front panel and a 1/4" headphone jack as well. This is a solid state amplifier with 15 watts of power. UTILIZATION The make up of the Fender SideKick 15 is about as simple as you'll see a guitar amplifier. The parameters will absolutely be familiar to those who have experience with guitar amps, as this is definitely a standard configuration. The parameters that are here for manipulation include knobs for volume, gain, master, treble, middle, and bass. There is another amp with built in reverb, which has the same make up as this one with the added reverb parameter. I haven't seen the manual for the SideKick 15, but I don't believe one is necessary either way. SOUNDS The overall tone quality of the Fender SideKick 15 is defintely pretty impressive for a 15 watt, single speaker amplifier. It certainly doesn't compare to bigger solid state or tube amps with more power, but for practicing, low level recording, or even a live show in a really small venue, it has a nice sound. If you're going to be gigging even semi regularly I'd recommend going with something bigger, but if you're looking for a home practice amp, you can't go wrong here. There is enough control over your sound to get a good amount of variation, or at least as much as you might need with something like this. OVERALL OPINION As a practice amp to use at home, I've got no qualms at all with the Fender SideKick 15. It's definitely more versatile than just practicing, but I wouldn't recommend it if you're going to be using it consistently for anything other than practicing. You should be able to find these used for a pretty small amount. There are definitely a lot of options out there for amps in this price range and size, so while you should be sure to do your homework before choosing an amp, you can't really go wrong with a Fender...

I got this amp off ebay for about $130 used. I needed an amp for small gigs, and I thought this would fit the bill. I like the fact that this amp has an FX loop, a 2nd channel that mixes the 2 channels it has, and that it has some very nice reverb. 65 watts is what I was looking for and this has it. It has been loud enough for my gigs I've been doing (mostly playin in a big church). Can't say to much here... The sound!! I don't like the sound! Pro: VERY clear Con: VERY trebly!! Nothing you can do can take away the amount of treble this has. I tried forever to get this to sound good, and it took a long time to get some decent sounds. Only a 2 band EQ on the clean channel, and it has no gain whatsoever...I'm dead serious. You can hardly tell the difference between the clean and "overdrive" channels. I put my metal zone pedal in front of the amp, and it sounded terrible. Through the FX loop it still sounded bad, but better (gotta have the reverb off or it will go on forever...). With my metal zone on, in the many combinations I tried it, it still lacks deffinition. It was made by Fender, bt doesn't look like it can handle how I (and anyone else) carries it around. All I can say is it BETTER hold up for at least a year or I'm gonna be pretty upset, and by looking at it, it makes me worry. I don't like this amp, at least for what I wanted to use it for. If you like a lot of clearity and treble, this might be your cup of tea. It does however have enough volume for smallish gigs and can handle a drummer. It's an old amp, so good luck finding it new, but if you find it cheap and used, it's not really a waste of money. But if you are getting one... good luck... you'll need it... This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com