Fender Ultimate Chorus

I bought this amp about 3 years ago for $350.0o. It was a guitar teacher's studio amp. The tags were still on it.

I've played for 35 years. In the early years I had, at various times, a Showman, Bandmaster and Twin. Eventually, I settled in with an Ampeg VT-22.

This amp, clean, has that beautiful, sweet, clear tone that my old Fenders had, and the reverb is beautiful (at reasonable levels). The chorus is very full and sweet.

This amp is used every day, by myself and my son. It has never had a problem.
I don't think my tube amps would stand up well under the abuse of being turned on and off 3 or 4 times a day.


I usually play a stock '82 strat through the amp. I have never really produced any sounds I especially liked through the "drive" channel.
It has enough controls, but I guess it doesn't seem to "cut" the mix like good old tubes.


The amp is extremely solid.

The chassis mounting screws loosened, once.

I broke a treble pot off by hitting it on a doorway. I ordered a new one online, and it was easy to solder in.

This amp perfectly fits my needs, which include lots of playing at home, and playing for church services several times a year.

The clean sound, reverb, and chorus allow my strat to sound perfect for accompanying vocals, and finger-picking.

I'd rate it a 5, if the drive channel was a little more tube-like. (Hey -- maybe I'm just lousy with the controls.)

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

RECENTLY BOUGHT A USED FENDER DELUXE TELE 1996 LOVE IT AND PLAYING THROUGH A CRATE AMP
SOUNDED GOOD BUT... WELL I FELT IT DESERVED A FENDER AMP AND WAS I EVER RIGHT!
THE REASONS I PICKED THE ULTIMATE CHORUS
AFFORDABLE/ GREAT TONE /AND TRULEY GREAT CHORUS PAID $400 LOCAL STORE LAST YEARS MODEL AND WITHOUT THE DSP (WHICH IS ON ALL NEW ULTIMATE CHORUS AMPS) I THINK THE DSP SUCKS AND IT'S A MISTAKE NOT KEEPING THE OPTION TO PURCHASE WITHOUT DSP THOUGH IT ONLY ADDS ABOUT $100 TO THE COST I CAN SPEND THAT MONEY AND GET A SHURE SM-57 MIC AND BE HAPPY.

AS I MENTIONED TONE .I DID NOT MENTION VOLUME BUT THIS CAN BE A L O U D AMP IF THAT'S YOUR THING .
2 X 12" SPEAKERS 2 CHANELS 65 WATTS EACH
OR 130 WATTS IN STEREO.
GREAT RECORDING AMP CLEAN SOUND CLASSIC
AND DIRTY ADD GAIN AND EVEN AT LOW VOLUME
LONG SUSTAIN AND JUST THE RIGHT SOUND.
ROCK/BLUES/COUNTRY COVERED AND UNBELIEVABLE SOUND FROM ALL SOLID STATE WITH A 5 YR WARRANTEE

AS SOME HAVE MENTIONED ON OTHER MODELS IN DYNA TOUCH SERIES THE REVERB GETS CHEAP SOUNDING ANY HIGHER THAN 3.5 SETTING
BUT SOUNDS FINE UP TO THAT AND I'M FINE WITH THAT.

STRONG CLASSIC FENDER LOOK AND QUALITY / FRIENDS HAVE SIMILAR AMPS WITHOUT PROBLEMS AND THEY ARE BRUTAL ON ALL THEIR STUFF.

I CONSIDER IT THE POOR MAN'S TWIN REVERB
THOUGH THE STAGE 160 MAY BETTER DESERVE THAT TITLE THE RICH CHORUS MADE THIS MY CHOICE. MUSICIAN'S FRIEND HAD A GREAT DEAL ON THESE AMPS ABOUT A YEAR AGO I MISSED OUT ON IT AND WAS LUCKY TO FIND THE ONLY ONE
IN THIS AREA. I WOULD RECCOMEND IT TO ANYONE
WANTING FENDER SOUND AND ON A LIMITED BUDGET
EXPECT IT'S H U G H SOUND TO LAST

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

The Fender Ulimate Chorus is a bit of a departure from the traditional ideas that many guitar players have of Fender amps. This is definitely solid-state, since it's got a few effects, Chorus and Reverb, built in. It has a three-way EQ and a volume, gain, master volume, as well as the aforementioned effects. There's a 1/4" input.

UTILIZATION

I personally have a difficult time getting good sounds out of solid-state amps with my gear anyway, but that's because I am madly in love with tube amps and I forget what I'm dealing with sometimes. One of the benefits of solid state amps is the effects, and if you'd rather leave an effect dialed in then mess with pedals on the floor, I think that's sometimes the good way to go. The manual will explain the amp well, and give you good safety and reliability pointers, but other than that it's mostly useless as this amp is intuitive enough.

SOUNDS

This is a pretty solid-sounding amp (pardon the pun). The solid-state world is a tough one to navigate, and thus a really exceptional amp is hard to come by. I don't know if this amp really leaps out above the rest of the pack, but for solid-state at a reasonable price, it's pretty much a good buy. I don't know if I like the clean sound but there's definitely some distortion on it that's really cool. The Chorus effect, which is the main selling point, is certainly better than the older built-in solid state choruses on many of these amps, but I still don't think it's anything better than what you can find on a really good chorus pedal. The reverb is also just ok, nothing to write home about. Reverb is mostly more important for recording anyway, and in which case an outboard reverb of some type or even a plug-in is preferable.

OVERALL OPINION

I don't know if I'm in love with this amp, but I'm sure some people will be satisfied. People who just like to play and aren't completely anal about their tone will find much to like. Again, it's reasonable for solid-state, and good enough. I would recommend it to amateurs and hobbyists, not pros or serious musicians.

The Fender Ultimate Chorus is an electric guitar combo amplifier with a few built in effects including chorus and reverb/delay.<span> </span>The amp has the general look of a Twin Reverb, but has a lot more parameters and sections.<span> </span>I’m not sure what size the speakers are, but I would guess that there are two 12” speakers in here.<span> </span>The amp has two ¼ inch inputs in the front where you plug your instrument into.


UTILIZATION

<p class="MsoNormal">In terms of parameters, the Ultimate Chorus has a lot to work with.<span> </span>The amp is split up into a few different sections, as there is a normal channel, a drive channel, a knob for reverb/delay, and a section for chorus/modulation.<span> </span>Both the normal and drive channels has its own EQ as well as parameters to control the volume/gain and overall tone of the channels.<span> </span>The chorus section has three parameters including for level, type, and rate.<span> </span>Beyond this there isn’t all that much to the amp, and I think that most users will find that it is an easy amp to use.

SOUNDS

<p class="MsoNormal">For the most part, the Fender Ultimate Chorus sounds pretty good.<span> </span>I’ve used the amp for recording with a Fender Strat, as Fender on Fender is usually the way that I go.<span> </span>While it definitely doesn’t match the sound of a tube amp or any of the vintage Fender or reissue amps, it has a good clean tone which is complimented with a number of other types of sounds that are possible.<span> </span>However, the clean sound is probably the best tone that this has to offer, as the drive isn’t my favorite.<span> </span>Since this is called the Ultimate Chorus, it does have a pretty good chorus song to match, and is one that is versatile as well.<span> </span>The reverb will get the job done, but doesn’t offer up much versatility…

OVERALL OPINION

<p class="MsoNormal">If you’re looking for a reasonably priced Fender amp that has a few built in effects, Fender Ultimate Chorus is definitely worth looking into.<span> </span>While it isn’t my favorite Fender amp by a long shot, it is still a Fender and does have the ‘Fender’ sound.<span> </span>It is easy to use, and offers up more versatility than most Fender amps do and most amps in general.<span> </span>I’ll always recommend a vintage or tube Fender amp over an amp like this one, but if you’re most concerned with your budget, this amp is definitely one that it worth checking out…