Fender FR-12 compared to PXM-12. My experience so far.

Oh, and I play chugs. It chugs just fine. Tried several different IRs and it sounded great. Definitely worth checking out if you are looking for something new/different.
 
REDD said:
Ok, mine hiss pretty loud. It's like taking an old 100 watt tube amp off of standby. It has lower lows and higher highs than my Atomic CLRs. They kind of remind me of the friedmans. I got ear fatigue pretty quick at stage volume. Must be those tweeters. It does sound pretty good but I just love my CLRs the best. I love the looks and angle with the kickback stands and the handle is great for carrying and also the controls are nice on top. I might send them back but I'm going to give them another chance tomorrow.
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Try adjusting the cut knob ?
 
Deadpool_25 said:
I am now noticing a little more hiss with the FR-12 than the PXMs. It's still slight but it's definitely noticeable. The cut knob does reduce it. But I have to be pretty close to the speaker to hear it. From about 8' away I can't hear it
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REDD said:
Ok, mine hiss pretty loud. It's like taking an old 100 watt tube amp off of standby. It has lower lows and higher highs than my Atomic CLRs. They kind of remind me of the friedmans. I got ear fatigue pretty quick at stage volume. Must be those tweeters. It does sound pretty good but I just love my CLRs the best. I love the looks and angle with the kickback stands and the handle is great for carrying and also the controls are nice on top. I might send them back but I'm going to give them another chance tomorrow.
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Redd.. how close to the FR12 do you have to be to hear the hiss?
 
So why do some have bad hiss and others not so bad? I’ll probably get one on 30 day return and see how it goes. I’m used to a bit of hiss from my setup so let’s see.
 
Gary Wooten said:
Is there any hiss at all or is it so low that you don't have an issue with it?

My FR-12 just arrived yesterday and there is a slight hiss but it doesn't bother me. I am also using the high cut at around 10:00 which reduces the hiss even more. I'm been following this hiss discussion and it appears everyone is experiencing some level of hiss, I just need to make a decision on if there is a "bad batch" out there or if @WKSmith 's design findings are the real reason for the hiss. At this point the hiss is minimum for me and I will not be sending mine back to see if the next one is even better.

And yes this unit sounds really good.
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The hiss is really low in my office/man cave. Slightly more than the EV. It will not be noticeable at rehearsal or at gigs.
 
Got two of them today to try out. First impressions (I played it for a few hours today).
  1. The hiss is there but no worse than my tube amps had when I was using those for shows, so not much of an actual issue I don't think.
  2. It does sound more like an actual amp in the room to me than my EV-PXM's when the sound is kept fairly dry. But when heavy modulated and delayed effects are used the PXM's seem clearer, tighter and cut through better.
  3. Tone shaping works great! Lots of control.
  4. Love the looks of them :)
 
Got my FR-10 and sadly the hiss is very noticeable. I think it sounds very cab like and I’m overall very happy with it. I’m going to try the 12” version soon. Even at home I play with more than bedroom volume so the hiss is tolerable to me but disappointing for sure. Other than that the unit is literal a dream come true for me since I got into modeling. I finally hear the FM3 in a way that makes me feel like I’m playing an amp. I mostly use the Princeton Reverb fyi.
 
WKSmith said:
There isn't a bad batch 🙂 .
I believe there will be a lot of returns turned into Bstock at a discount from the returns and refunds at big box stores. Mostly because the hiss is minimal and is not an issue for most folks, but some people will return them or exchange them chasing that myth.

There is a slight chance that there is a
jfet / bias current issue or part failure... But that is looking like a very long shot after getting deep into her hissy places 😉

I would seriously buy another FR-12 today, hiss and all... if I wasn't buying another BadCat head in about a week. But that's another story for another day.
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I wonder if this could be nothing more than a component tolerance issue in the EQ section? Mine are relatively quiet while others say it is objectionable.
 
200man said:
I wonder if this could be nothing more than a component tolerance issue in the EQ section? Mine are relatively quiet while others say it is objectionable.
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There is a jfet at the end of the eq chain into a voltage follower . If it is a faulty component, I would look at that.
 
Hey all. This is what Fender say:

We understand your concern and in this instance, the level of hiss you refer to is to be expected. The amplifier creates 1000 Watts of audio output. At “idle”, the level of the background sonic output is much greater than guitarists typically hear from any conventional amplifier. The FR amplifiers also have a 1-inch, wide dispersion, high-frequency driver, something the majority of guitarists are not at all familiar with having in their amplifiers. This driver handles only the highest of frequencies, so at idle it is obviously emitting a level of pure, high frequencies.

A direct correlation is that the sound of a high-performance automobile at idle is considerably greater than the sound of a family car at idle. The same concept applies here, in that the Tone Master FR amplifiers are hugely capable and purposely designed for stage use. They will easily out-perform any challenger and to do so requires a great deal of “muscle”, which is what you hear at idle.

Not sure what to even think of this….😄
 
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wesjon said:
Hey all. This is what Fender say:

We understand your concern and in this instance, the level of hiss you refer to is to be expected. The amplifier creates 1000 Watts of audio output. At “idle”, the level of the background sonic output is much greater than guitarists typically hear from any conventional amplifier. The FR amplifiers also have a 1-inch, wide dispersion, high-frequency driver, something the majority of guitarists are not at all familiar with having in their amplifiers. This driver handles only the highest of frequencies, so at idle it is obviously emitting a level of pure, high frequencies.

A direct correlation is that the sound of a high-performance automobile at idle is considerably greater than the sound of a family car at idle. The same concept applies here, in that the Tone Master FR amplifiers are hugely capable and purposely designed for stage use. They will easily out-perform any challenger and to do so requires a great deal of “muscle”, which is what you hear at idle.
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It's getting enough complaints to have an "official" response.
 
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