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Published on 04/29/11 at 18:18The Fender Bandmaster VM is part of Fender's recent line of "Vintage Modified" amplifiers, which take classic sounding amps like the Bandmaster (head and 2x12) and Deluxe (1x12 combo) and add a whole slew of great features including a second channel (overdrive) and onboard effects. The full list of specs is:
Model Name: Band-Master® VM Head
Series: Vintage Modified Amps
Amplifier Type: Hybrid Tube/Solid State Amplifier
Effects Loop: Effects Loop With Send & Return
Inputs: One
Auxiliary Input: 1/4" Footswitch Jack
Extension Speaker Jack: External Speaker Jack
Channels: Two Selectable Channels (Clean and Drive)
Power Handling: 40 Watts
Rectifier: Solid State Rectifier
Controls: Clean Channel: Volume, Treble, Bass. Drive Channel: Drive Switch, Gain, Volume, Treble, Middle, Bass, Reverb, Effects Adjust Switch, Time/Rate, Delay, Mix, Chorus, Depth
Cabinet Material: 3/4" 7-Ply Birch/Maple Plywood w/ Black Textured Vinyl Covering
Pilot Light Jewel: Red Amp Jewel
Handle: Molded Black Handle
Front Panel: "Blackface"™ Style Control Panel
Input Impedance: 1 M Input Impedance
Amplifier Length: 10" (25.4 cm)
Amplifier Width: 24" (61 cm)
Amplifier Height: 10" (25.4 cm)
Amplifier Weight: 26 lbs. (11.8 kg)
Effects: Reverb, Delay, Chorus
Speaker Impedance: 4 or 8 Ohms
Preamp Tubes: 2 x 12AX7
Power Tubes: 2 x 6L6
Unique Features: Real Tube Amp Performance Combined with a Complement of Essential Effects, All new DSP Platform, Effects Loop with Send & Return, Two Speaker Output Jacks, Standby Switch, 3/4" Birch/Maple Plywood Cabinet
Definitely a cool sounding amp that combines Fender clean with a unique overdrive channel and some nifty built in effects as well.
UTILIZATION
Dialing in this amp was very simple to do. I first tried it without reading through the manual or knowing how the controls interacted with one another and I was still able to get a very good variety of sounds with both channels. The effects too were very intuitive and easy to dial in as well, which I felt was great for a modelling type amp.
The clean channel has a very typical Fender layout of volume, treble and bass controls. The tones are very classic Fender blackface clean to my ears. Sure it isn't the real deal vintage head, but for an $800 recreation, the Fender type clean that I expected was there and enjoyable.
The dirty channel was my favourite part of the amp by all means. Historically, blackface Fender amps have been one thing... loud and CLEAN for the most part. However, with their Vintage Modified series Fender has added a great drive channel into the equation. It's very thick and has a nice raunch to it that reminds me of a classic tweed Fender or a Marshall with a good fuzz pedal. It's not a modern metal distortion, but rather more of a vintage toned quasi-fuzz drive, perfect for '60s-70s hard rock tones.
I'm not normally an effects guy but the onboard chorus, delay and reverb were great. The chorus goes from classic shimmer to more of an extreme sound reminiscent of a Leslie speaker. The delay has a nice analog quality that still managed to sound clear and cut through even on the dirty channel. The reverb was very nice too. It had that classic dripping Fender vibe, perfect for surf or ambient textures, or perhaps country licks when mixed with the delay.
SOUNDS
I've tried this amp with various Fender guitars (Strats, Teles, Jazzmasters, etc) as well as some Gibson Les Pauls (2008 Standard and Traditional Plus).
The amp's overall vibe to me is classic, but with a bit of extra horsepower hidden inside, like a modified vintage amp. The clean channel is like a blackface Fender amp, but it has a little bit more thickness and punch that makes your guitar sound a little bit bolder and more upfront. Using single coil pickups provided a really great overwound sort of '60s-'70s style clean tone. Think a late '60s Strat or Tele with those slightly hotter pickups of the time into a cranked tube amp and you'll get the idea. Working in conjunction with the onboard effects gives you a bunch of cool textures to add to the tonal palate as well. The dirty channel as stated is like a fuzzed out tube amp turned to the hills. Though it sounds great at all volume levels, this channel really felt and sounded like (in the words of Greg Koch) "an old tweed Deluxe that sounds like it's about to explode." Very thick, very viscous and very cool. Turning up the gain and reverb and turning down the midrange a bit brought it a little more into a classic hard rock territory ala Van Halen, which I thought was really interesting.
OVERALL OPINION
All in all I feel the Bandmaster VM is a winner as far as a versatile, reasonably priced, medium wattage tube amplifier head. It has the classic Fender clean, a killer classic drive sound, and some really cool effects that, though they're not the same as analog pedals, sound cool and are very convenient to have built right in.
At the $800 price point that this amp sells for new, I don't think you can go wrong with this amp, or its 1x12 combo version, the Deluxe Vintage Modified. Definitely check one out!
Model Name: Band-Master® VM Head
Series: Vintage Modified Amps
Amplifier Type: Hybrid Tube/Solid State Amplifier
Effects Loop: Effects Loop With Send & Return
Inputs: One
Auxiliary Input: 1/4" Footswitch Jack
Extension Speaker Jack: External Speaker Jack
Channels: Two Selectable Channels (Clean and Drive)
Power Handling: 40 Watts
Rectifier: Solid State Rectifier
Controls: Clean Channel: Volume, Treble, Bass. Drive Channel: Drive Switch, Gain, Volume, Treble, Middle, Bass, Reverb, Effects Adjust Switch, Time/Rate, Delay, Mix, Chorus, Depth
Cabinet Material: 3/4" 7-Ply Birch/Maple Plywood w/ Black Textured Vinyl Covering
Pilot Light Jewel: Red Amp Jewel
Handle: Molded Black Handle
Front Panel: "Blackface"™ Style Control Panel
Input Impedance: 1 M Input Impedance
Amplifier Length: 10" (25.4 cm)
Amplifier Width: 24" (61 cm)
Amplifier Height: 10" (25.4 cm)
Amplifier Weight: 26 lbs. (11.8 kg)
Effects: Reverb, Delay, Chorus
Speaker Impedance: 4 or 8 Ohms
Preamp Tubes: 2 x 12AX7
Power Tubes: 2 x 6L6
Unique Features: Real Tube Amp Performance Combined with a Complement of Essential Effects, All new DSP Platform, Effects Loop with Send & Return, Two Speaker Output Jacks, Standby Switch, 3/4" Birch/Maple Plywood Cabinet
Definitely a cool sounding amp that combines Fender clean with a unique overdrive channel and some nifty built in effects as well.
UTILIZATION
Dialing in this amp was very simple to do. I first tried it without reading through the manual or knowing how the controls interacted with one another and I was still able to get a very good variety of sounds with both channels. The effects too were very intuitive and easy to dial in as well, which I felt was great for a modelling type amp.
The clean channel has a very typical Fender layout of volume, treble and bass controls. The tones are very classic Fender blackface clean to my ears. Sure it isn't the real deal vintage head, but for an $800 recreation, the Fender type clean that I expected was there and enjoyable.
The dirty channel was my favourite part of the amp by all means. Historically, blackface Fender amps have been one thing... loud and CLEAN for the most part. However, with their Vintage Modified series Fender has added a great drive channel into the equation. It's very thick and has a nice raunch to it that reminds me of a classic tweed Fender or a Marshall with a good fuzz pedal. It's not a modern metal distortion, but rather more of a vintage toned quasi-fuzz drive, perfect for '60s-70s hard rock tones.
I'm not normally an effects guy but the onboard chorus, delay and reverb were great. The chorus goes from classic shimmer to more of an extreme sound reminiscent of a Leslie speaker. The delay has a nice analog quality that still managed to sound clear and cut through even on the dirty channel. The reverb was very nice too. It had that classic dripping Fender vibe, perfect for surf or ambient textures, or perhaps country licks when mixed with the delay.
SOUNDS
I've tried this amp with various Fender guitars (Strats, Teles, Jazzmasters, etc) as well as some Gibson Les Pauls (2008 Standard and Traditional Plus).
The amp's overall vibe to me is classic, but with a bit of extra horsepower hidden inside, like a modified vintage amp. The clean channel is like a blackface Fender amp, but it has a little bit more thickness and punch that makes your guitar sound a little bit bolder and more upfront. Using single coil pickups provided a really great overwound sort of '60s-'70s style clean tone. Think a late '60s Strat or Tele with those slightly hotter pickups of the time into a cranked tube amp and you'll get the idea. Working in conjunction with the onboard effects gives you a bunch of cool textures to add to the tonal palate as well. The dirty channel as stated is like a fuzzed out tube amp turned to the hills. Though it sounds great at all volume levels, this channel really felt and sounded like (in the words of Greg Koch) "an old tweed Deluxe that sounds like it's about to explode." Very thick, very viscous and very cool. Turning up the gain and reverb and turning down the midrange a bit brought it a little more into a classic hard rock territory ala Van Halen, which I thought was really interesting.
OVERALL OPINION
All in all I feel the Bandmaster VM is a winner as far as a versatile, reasonably priced, medium wattage tube amplifier head. It has the classic Fender clean, a killer classic drive sound, and some really cool effects that, though they're not the same as analog pedals, sound cool and are very convenient to have built right in.
At the $800 price point that this amp sells for new, I don't think you can go wrong with this amp, or its 1x12 combo version, the Deluxe Vintage Modified. Definitely check one out!