Fender's amazin' midi guitar amp
Written: Jun 25 '07 (Updated Dec 06 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: most versatile amp around for a beginning guitarist
Cons: not loud enough for band situations, so-so speaker
The Bottom Line: The Fender G-dec has become a runaway success for Fender. The amp is definitely worth checking out.
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| cheetah1's Full Review: Fender G Dec Junior |
I purchased this Fender G-dec amp just last year but I have had an interest in this particular amp since it was first released a few years back.
When the Fender G-dec was first introduced it seemed like a gimmicky amp to me but after reading some positive reviews in the guitar magazines I had to take a trip to a guitar center to check out the amp in person and was impressed by this small practice amp. I knew I would have to buy one sometime in the future.
I had heard of rumors of a larger, more powerful G-dec for awhile and as I waited for shipment of my new 15 watt Fender G-dec amp I discovered the larger version of the G-dec had just been released. I could have stopped shipment of the amp and sent it back but I already had a couple 30 watt modeling amps and did not need another modeling amp with the same power output as those.
I currently have 5 modeling amps, everything from the Roland microcube to a large Line6 flextone 3 modeling amp. At times in the past when I've decided to buy an amp I've debated if I should spend the cash on a modeling amp or a tube amp, however the modeling amps have won out every time in my purchase decision.
What I don't like about modeling amps is they seem a bit schizophrenic trying to copy so many different amps and not getting the actual tone 100% of the amp they are trying to copy. On the other hand I think of tube amps as having obsolete vacuum tube technology that is only used in audio applications nowadays.
The Fender G-dec is about average size and weight for a 15 watt amp. It has a carry strap but no handle like a typical amp. The amp is built with low grade particle board that is typically used in economy amps.
The G-decs main feature is the built in midi synthesizer that provides band backup as you play. There are 50 different tracks to play along with that cover many different styles of music. These tracks are just easy, basic play along stuff. Nothing technical, hard or complex with the exception of the few speed metal tracks. You can write over these tracks to save your own personal presets.
There are 70 different drum tracks that can be used, 20 more than the backing band tracks. Most of the back up midi tracks use a bass and drum beat but there are a few other tracks with different instruments used.
The amp has 29 effects to work while playing guitar with each effect having 4 adjustable parameters. The G-dec has 17 guitar amp settings each with adjustable gain, volume, compressor, timbre and noise gate settings. There is also an amp tone control that uses the traditional bass, treble and middle controls of a guitar amp. There are 10 different reverb functions that are all adjustable in depth. The G-dec amp is totally tweakable, just about every sound can be altered to suit your own tastes.
The drum and bass midi back up tracks all have tempo and volume adjustments. Also each back up track can have the musical key changed, this is my favorite feature of the amp.
There is a 14 second phrase sampler on the G-dec. I already had a Sabine phrase sampler so I was familiar with this feature. The music sample can be played at regular speed or half speed on the G-dec. The audio quality of your music sample suffers when it's played back at half speed. It's strange listening to garbled music played at half speed. I think playing a phrase sampler at regular speed while trying to learn new music is more fun because it retains the energy of the music.
There is a chromatic tuner that works fine and a second instrument input in back of the amp. For those that are into midi, which I'm not, there are input and output ports to play midi files and do a few other things as well.
When I first got the Fender G-dec I thought the tone sounded processed. The amp sounded o.k. but I knew the stock speaker would have to go if I was going to keep the amp. The low cost Jensen mod speaker is a perfect replacement for the Fender G-dec. These are the lowest priced speaker in the Jensen line but also the most versatile. These Jensen speakers are made in Italy and offer superior performance to the stock Fender speaker. I must note however that the stock Fender speaker has an odd sized negative speaker terminal. I cut the metal tab off the stock Fender speaker and soldered it on to the Jensen speakers negative terminal tab using an alligator clip to secure it while I soldered it on. This amp comes with a 5 year warranty and the stock speaker should be in the amplifer if the amp needs service along with the amps back cover so I voided the warranty cutting that tab off. There is probably a better way to connect a new speaker to the G-dec without cutting off the tab of the old speaker.
I did another modification with my G-dec which involved leaving the back cover of the amp off after the speaker swap. This seemed to open the amp up a bit more soundwise so it has less of that toy amp feel to it while I play my guitar.
This amp is very impressive. The people at Fender did a good job matching most of the different guitar tones to each individual midi play along track although most of the set guitar tones will need to be tweaked a bit to suit your own personal preferences.
The Fender G-dec is the best amp around for an absolute beginner who has no band to play along with. Players of all levels have become fond of it's nice tone and unmatched versatility as a practice amp.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
cheetah1
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Member: Bruce
Location: Morongo Valley,California
Reviews written: 21
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
China's products may be taking over the world but their environment is paying the price
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