review
AmpliTube Fender
IK Multimedia continues to expand its AmpliTube line of guitar software with it latest offering AmpliTube Fender, a collection of Fender amplifier models and effects. The collection focuses mainly on vintage Fender tube amps with a few newer models thrown in. You also get two bass amp models (three if you count the '59 Bassman model.) This set is obviously geared towards clean and crunch tones as they are almost all single channel tube amps.
In The Box
AmpliTube Fender comes with both a stand-alone application and plug-in versions in common Mac (AU, VST, RTAS) and Windows (VST, RTAS) formats. It includes 12 amp models and 12 cabinet models, plus 6 stomp box effects models. You also get 9 microphone models, a tuner, and 6 rack effects. In addition you get a “SpeedTrainer” that allows you to play and loop audio files. The SpeedTrainer allows you to change the tempo or pitch of the audio files, making it a great practice and learning tool.
Signal Routing
Like all other AmpliTube software, AmpliTube Fender’s audio signal is routed in the traditional order (stomp box, amp, cab, rack) and uses a two-rig setup with eight possible routing configurations giving you plenty of options. You could run two complete rigs simultaneously, have two effects setups run into the same amp, one amp with two cabinets into two rack setups, etc…
The Interface
AmpliTube Fender’s interface is modular (or screen based.) There are five different screens that can be called up using buttons. There is the Tuner module, which is self-explanatory. The Stomp module allows you to select and control up to six effects (in each signal chain). The Amp module lets you select the amp model. And of course, the amp specific controls are here. The Cab module allows you to choose your cab and microphone model. Finally, the Rack module lets you choose among common studio rack effects.
At the top left of the interface is a Preset Manager where you can select from the included presets (from a pop-up menu) or create your own. The SpeedTrainer is also located at the top. With it you can load audio files to play along with.
The interface is basically the same as other AmpliTube collections, so if you already own one, you will have almost zero learning curve. My quibbles are the same as always. The interface works well, but is very mouse dependent. You have to turn knobs using the mouse and cannot type in any values (such as tempo.) Plus you can’t see your whole rig at once, only one module at a time.
Tested WIth Fender
I thought it would be appropriate to test the included models using a Fender Stratocaster (made in Japan, upgraded with Kinman pickups) — the most popular Fender guitar model. My comments are based on using this guitar. Obviously other guitars are going to affect the tone of the amp models differently.
The Amp Models
The twelve included Fender amp models cover a wide era of Fender amp history. Most are familiar vintage amp models, and some are similar tone-wise, but a few newer models add wider tonal variety. AmpliTube modeling is quite realistic and all the amp models were dynamic and behaved like real tube amps. Slightly overdriven tones cleaned up nicely with a lighter attack or rolling off the guitar volume.
’57 Fender Deluxe
This is a basic small amp with only tone and volume controls. It has a warmer, “vintage” tone. It stays clean up about 5 where it starts to break up. The distortion is nice and crunchy until you get to the higher volume settings where it gets a little harsh for my tastes.
'59 Bassman
This amp was originally designed as a bass amp, but guitarist quickly adopted it as their own thanks to its fat, bass heavy tone, and nice crunch. It can be bright or warm, and it is easy to dial up fat “clean” tones, perfect for emulating that “Hendrix” clean rhythm tone. The last quarter of the volume knob takes you from “edge of distortion” to a nice smooth crunch. A classic.
’64 Vibroverb Custom
This model is based on Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Vibroverb that was modded by amp tech Cesar Diaz. The “Mod” switch boosts the Vibroverb distortion taking it directly to Texas blues territory. It also includes Fender’s “Vibrato”, which is really more of a combination of chorus, vibrato, and tremolo. Plus it has reverb.
’65 Deluxe Reverb
Classic clean Fender tone with reverb and vibrato, or that somewhat crispy Fender crunch when cranked.
’65 Twin Reverb
A two speaker amp with a bright switch. It is hard to describe subtle differences in tone, but the Twin Reverb provides more of that classic mid-60's Fender sound.
Champion 600
A low wattage, tube practice amp model with more gain than the original Fender Champion. It is not too bright and only has a volume control, but you can dial up quite a bit of tasty crunch.
Pro Jr.
Another small tube amp. To my ears, this one sounds similar to the Champion 600 with the addition of a tone control, which gives it more tonal options.
MH-500 Metal Head
This modern sounding solid state amp is geared for tuned-down metal tones. Its clean channel is pretty sterile sounding, as expected, but it also does a credible crunch tone in addition to high gain mayhem.
Super-Sonic
Based on the “Burn” channel of the Fender Super-Sonic amp, this model has cascading gain stages that give you a more “edgy” or “aggressive” distortion tone. To me is sounds more like a distortion stomp box than overdriven tube amp. All the tones seems a little harsh to me. Best suited for punk, perhaps.
Vibro-King Custom
This amp has a darker tone and the ’63 reverb circuitry for a more “rootsy” flavor. Keep it clean for country or surf. Crank it up for some cool 60’s style crunch. A fat switch lets you get a bit crunchier, but still with that early rock sound.
The Bass Models
You also get a TP1 bass tube preamp model and a Bassman 300 Pro bass amp model. Not being a real bass player. I don’t feel qualified to comment on these. But they are a nice addition for those who play bass.
Comparing Fenders To Fenders
I compared the AmpliTube Fender models with the AmpliTube 2 Fender models. Although the specific amp models weren’t exactly the same, with the exception of the Bassman, I still compared amps using clean and crunch settings. Using the exact same settings (switching amp models using X-Gear - more on it later) I found that the AmpliTube Fender models seemed to have more bite and presence (in your face) than the AmpliTube 2 amp models (especially the Bassman.) Plus more “shimmer” on the clean settings. IK Multimedia says the reason is they are continually improving their modeling technologies. Since these are all brand new models, duplication is not really an issue.
The Stomp Box Models
AmpliTube Fender includes Fender 6 stomp box models. This is not a huge collection but Fender is known for guitars and amps, not effects. Here is what you get.
Fender Blender
A four knob fuzz pedal capable of subtle grind up to serious fuzz. A tone control allows you to be bright or muffled. When all the controls are cranked, it can push some amps to the edge of feedback.
Fender Phaser
This phaser pedal provides warm analog phasing with a very cool light display that shows the intensity of the effect. Subtle swoosh to machine gun vibrato are available.
Fuzz Wah
This is a combination fuzz and wah pedal. The fuzz is milder than the Fender Blender and only has a single control. The wah sounds good, but you need a controller like the StompIO to really use it. It doesn’t do auto-wah. There is a switch that lets you run the wah into the fuzz or the fuzz into the wah for more tonal options.
Fender ’63 Reverb Pedal
This is a tube, spring reverb pedal which allows you to control the amount of reverb effect, the tone, and the mix of reverb and dry signal. Warm and sproingy.
Tape Echo
This is a warm tape echo emulation with delay times from 35ms to 1450ms. You can adjust the amount of wow and flutter. It also has BPM sync.
Volume
This is a basic volume pedal that does have a cool minimum volume control so you could set your rhythm volume as the minimum volume and then crank it for solos
In Use
I tested AmpliTube Fender using an Apple MacBook Pro with a 2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 4 GB of RAM. With everything set to the highest resolution and the buffer at its lowest setting (64), my cpu usage ran between 31% and 69% depending on the patch. I switched to the 128 buffer setting and latency was still very acceptable (like using a long guitar cable.) I turned off high resolution on the Stomp and Pre without any noticeable (or very subtle) degrading of the tone and saved about 20% in cpu usage. Of course, slower computers may not fare as well. The modeling technology AmpliTube Fender uses is computational heavy so the faster your computer processor and the more RAM you have the better. Be sure to check the system requirements (or download the demo) before purchasing.
Extras
AmpliTube Fender comes with “X-Gear” shell-host software that allows you to use all of your IK Multimedia guitar and bass software together under one interface. This allows you to use other AmpliTube collection effects and cabs with AmpliTube Fender.
Final Thoughts
AmpliTube Fender is designed for guitar players who are Fender amp fans or are looking for more “clean” tones to add to their AmpliTube collection. In which case it won’t disappoint. It also provides that vintage Fender crunch so many love. AmpliTube Fender covers most of the classic amps and adds a few newer models for variety. Of course, some may long for a specific model left out like the Princeton or Showman (there is a Dual Showman in AmpliTube Jimi Hendrix), but most popular models are represented.
There is enough difference between these and the other AmpliTube collection’s Fender models to justify the new collection. The stomp effects are few but they all sound good, and you also get reverb and tremolo/vibrato on many amps. And if you want digital sounding effects, rack effects are provided also. If you always wanted a room full of Fender amps, this is the next best thing. Give it a try.
Reader Comments
Better Guitar encourages your input. Agree with this review? Think I’m crazy? If you have used AmpliTube Fender, email me your comments and I’ll post them below. The more opinions we have available, the better our buying decisions will be.
stats
- • 5 separate modules: tuner, configurable stomp pedal board, amp head, cabinet + mic, rack effects
- • 12 of the most influential guitar amps of all time
- • 12 original matching cabinets
- • 9 microphones models
- • 6 signature classic stomp effects
- • 6 rack effects
- • 2 fully configurable rigs
- • Digital tuner
- • Stand-alone and VST/AU/RTAS plug-in for all popular DAWs
- • Includes SpeedTrainer for playing along with your favorite recordings
- • Includes AmpliTube X-GEAR for seamless integration with all the other “Powered by AmpliTube” products, MIDI control and StompIO integration
Positives
- Plenty of great sounding Fender amp models; flexible audio signal routing; excellent phrase trainer; includes X-Gear.
Negatives
- Interface is mouse dpendant; can't see entire signal chain at one time; small number of stomp effects included.
Rating
- Features: 8
- Performance: 10
- Sound Quality: 10
- User Interface: 8
- Overall: 9
Ratings Key
- 0 = Worthless
- 10 = Excellent
Approximate Street Price
- $199
Available At Guitar Center
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IK Multimedia AmpliTube Fender Software Amp & FX Suite Standard
Company
- IK Multimedia
Audio Examples
- At IK Multimedia
Demo Download
- At IK Multimedia
System Requirements
- Intel Based Macintosh
- Minimal: 1.5 GHz Intel processor, 1 GB of RAM, Mac OS X 10.4.4 or later.
- Suggested: 2.3 GHz Intel Core Duo processor, 2 GB of RAM, Mac OS X 10.4.4 or later.
- Supported Plug-in formats: AU, VST, RTAS.
- PowerPC Based Macintosh
- Minimal: Dual 1 GHz G4 processor, 1GB of RAM, Mac OS X 10.4 or later.
- Suggested: Dual 2 GHz G5 processor, 2 GB of RAM, Mac OS X 10.4 or later.
- Supported Plug-in formats: AU, VST, RTAS.
- Windows Based PC
- Minimal: Pentium 4 / Athlon XP processor, 1 GB of RAM, Windows XP / Vista or later.
- Suggested: 2.33 GHz Intel Core Duo processor, 2 GB of RAM, Windows XP / Vista or later.
- Supported Plug-in formats: VST, RTAS.