Fender Modeling Amps

The basic difference between solid-state and tubes is that solid-state amps boost the incoming signal without using vacuum tubes. Instead, circuits with semi-conductors enhance the electrical current of your guitar.

Modeling amps go one step further, adding in additional processors to faithfully recreate the sounds of a variety of different amplifiers and effects that players have grown to love.

And while there are certainly tube purists around the world, there is no doubt that modeling amps are better than they’ve ever been, bringing a bevy of benefits to guitarists at any level.

First, consider the portability of a modeling amp. Because they are based on computers and chips, they are quite light, and therefore, easy to carry. For a gigging musician — especially someone in a Top 40 band who needs to cycle through several tones over the course of a set — a modeling amp can be a great way to achieve that in a single amplifier without lugging several amps and a massive pedal board to the venue.

Second, modeling amps are reliable, which is, again, a function of their circuitry. Glass tubes use filaments similar to light bulbs, and they can be fragile, causing noise or signal loss and the need for replacement.

What’s more, tubes can wear out, even if that happens to occur at a barely perceptible rate. Over time, it is inevitable — remember, vacuum tubes are a decades-old technology — whereas a digital amp will recreate your dialed-in settings time and time again, barring any major issues.

Modeling amps are also much more manageable at lower volumes. Even with the volume knob turned down, you’ll still sound great at lower levels or through headphones if you want to practice without waking the neighbors.

And perhaps the most important and player-friendly feature of a modeling amp is the boundless potential for inspiration.

When creativity strikes and you want to work your way toward a new sound or experiment with the arrangement of your pedal board, having to re-route an entire chain can be so time-consuming and involved — depending on your setup — that it could wind up as the death of that initial mental spark.

But the ease of re-routing a signal path is only one creatively freeing aspect of the GT series. Another is the ability to run through a range of classic amplifier tones and effects at the flip of a switch and even layer them on top of one another to explore previously unheard-of sonic landscapes. Want to know what three phasers sound like stacked on a Twin Reverb? Just add three phasers to your amp setting, and then move them around in the chain to see how the sound changes.

Amps are evolving at incredible rates, and Fender has been at the forefront of modeling amp excellence with Mustang GT Series and Rumble Series. With a Fender modeling amplifier, you too can take your playing to the next level. The possibilities are endless.