Fender Tonemaster Pro for PSG

[Joseph Rowland]

Hey y'all! After years of visiting the form, I finally figured it was in my best interest to join! Which brings me to my first post and question: Is anybody using the new(ish) Fender Tonemaster Pro for steel? I acquired one over the winter and have since been using it as my main rig. I mostly use it with my Telecaster, but as of late, I've taken greater interest in steel. I've been playing for a few years now, but have yet to ever really find a tone that satisfies, aside of playing others' setups. I'm playing a GFI Expo with the George L GFI-II. Before the acquisition of the Tonemaster Pro, I played with a Nashville 400, but still was never able to really find a tone I liked. I'm shooting for an earlier sound, as most of my bigger influences come from that 60's-70's era. I understand that with anything, technique is the most important part. That said, since I've been using the Tonemaster Pro, I've gotten close to a sound I dig using a Twin for the amp, and the Travis Toy "Double T 15" impulse response from Eminence as a speaker. I've also tried using a 7 band EQ as kind of a preamp to scoop the mids a little bit. Lot's of trial and error! To get to the point, I was wondering if anybody else is using the Tonemaster Pro for steel. If so, are there any pointers or advice somebody would be willing to give? Thank you in advance! Cheers, everybody!

[Rick Heins]

Hey y'all! After years of visiting the form, I finally figured it was in my best interest to join! Which brings me to my first post and question: Is anybody using the new(ish) Fender Tonemaster Pro for steel? I acquired one over the winter and have since been using it as my main rig. I mostly use it with my Telecaster, but as of late, I've taken greater interest in steel. I've been playing for a few years now, but have yet to ever really find a tone that satisfies, aside of playing others' setups. I'm playing a GFI Expo with the George L GFI-II. Before the acquisition of the Tonemaster Pro, I played with a Nashville 400, but still was never able to really find a tone I liked. I'm shooting for an earlier sound, as most of my bigger influences come from that 60's-70's era. I understand that with anything, technique is the most important part. That said, since I've been using the Tonemaster Pro, I've gotten close to a sound I dig using a Twin for the amp, and the Travis Toy "Double T 15" impulse response from Eminence as a speaker. I've also tried using a 7 band EQ as kind of a preamp to scoop the mids a little bit. Lot's of trial and error! To get to the point, I was wondering if anybody else is using the Tonemaster Pro for steel. If so, are there any pointers or advice somebody would be willing to give? Thank you in advance! Cheers, everybody!

I use it all the time with great results!! Gig with it often.

[Larry Dering]

Joseph. Not knowing what you feel is a great tone is a tough call. I have a GFI Ultra SD10 4x5 that came with the GFI III pickup and no amount of amp tweaking or EQ was giving me the tone I wanted. I replaced that pickup with the 705 Bill Lawrence and finally found my tone. It's not a direct swap because the mounting has to be trimmed to fit. Also a different hole drilled to allow the wire to go through the body. But it was worth the efforts. I have a variety of amps but my Fender Tonemaster Twin sounds awesome with this rig.

[Rick Heins]

Joseph,

After reading your post again I realized that you wanted some direction. I'm not sure what tones you're looking for (traditionally bright and reverb drenched or Modern flat EQ with minimal effects) but I created a preset that kind of combines both and has various effects for different applications.

I have used other companies IRs to get more vintage tones (York has great JBLD120 IRs) but I find the the EV cab and the Twin with creambacks give me a nice smooth sound. NOTE: I used the mic input for the steel (as I use the other input for playing guitar) so make sure you use input 2.

Do you have the ability to go on the app and download presets? If so, I created a preset called "Steel Twin Supreme" that you can download and use. If you don't know how to do this, hit me up via DM and i can walk you through it. Also, I HIGHLY suggest that you update your TM Pro if you haven't already.

Happy to help you find the sound you're looking for.

[Rick Heins]

Joseph,

If you want a more modern sound that doesn't break up higher on the volume pedal, my preset on the cloud "Steel Boogie Supreme" has a more modern, mellow tone.

[Larry Dering]

Rick, I think it's great to have your contribution to the forum. It means a lot to the players. Thank you.

[Rick Heins]

Rick, I think it's great to have your contribution to the forum. It means a lot to the players. Thank you.

Happy to do it! I love being a part of the steel community and sharing things that Fender makes that work for us too.

[Michael Lester]

FWIW - I use a Tonemaster Twin through Channel 1 with a Black Box and a NuX Atlantic for reverb and delay.

Works well across all of the attenuator settings.

BL710s

[Joseph Rowland]

Larry, thank you for that! I will definitely look into that! I've been thinking about doing a pickup swap for a while, but with so much out there it's hard to find just one!
Rick, I appreciate it a bunch! I do have the control app, and will try it out! Thank you for your advice, it is greatly appreciated!

[Joseph Rowland]

[quote="Michael Lester"]FWIW - I use a Tonemaster Twin through Channel 1 with a Black Box and a NuX Atlantic for reverb and delay.

Works well across all of the attenuator settings.

BL710s


That's great! I did borrow a Black Box once before an ran it into the Nashville 400, and found it made a world of difference!