AmpliTube Fender Review

AmpliTube Fender by IK Multimedia Review

By Pappy

Fender is a unique company in that I haven’t met anyone that can say they don’t like SOMETHING about them.  They’ve been around for so long and released so many guitars and amplifiers that people have picked up and played and made famous music and inspired fans with, that really, there’s no area that Fender hasn’t touched and made better in the guitar world. 

And while it would be easy to sit back and rest on all this history and all the guitar and amp models that a ton of people want to buy and coast for the rest of eternity, you have to give Fender credit for trying new things out.  They have always been experimenting with their guitars and amps and releasing new things to a market that may or may not be ready for them.  When the seven string boom hit, Fender released one of the most affordable seven strings available, for instance.  When modeling amps from Line 6 began to gain favor, Fender was there with a tube/modeling hybrid known as the Cyber Twin (and then the Cyber Twin SE).  When people began to use Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) on their personal computers to record music, going amp-less and relying on purely digital software to convey the same emotion and quality they’re used to, sometimes to mixed results, Fender threw their hat into the ring, but they did it in a very smart way.

For one thing, they combined forces with IK Multimedia, makers of AmpliTube.  IK Multimedia had already garnered a great reputation and was continually evolving their processes and software, resulting in better and better guitar sounds, soFender allying with IK makes sense.

Personally, when I heard about Fender offering a package for $229.00 that contained twelve of their amps (’59 Bassman LTD, ’65 Twin Reverb, ’57 Deluxe, ’65 Deluxe Reverb, ’64 Vibroverb Custom, Vibro-King Custom, Champion 600,Super-Sonic, MH-500 Metalhead, Pro Junior, Bassman 300 and the TBP-1 Bass Preamp) I thought it might be a bit…self-cannibalizing.  If IK and Fender are offering a viable alternative to physical amplifiers with a quality sound for less money than any one of these amps (with the probably exception of the Champion 600), then why would anyone buy thephysical amps?

Of course, given some thought, it makes more sense.  Take me, for instance.  I love Fender amps.  I like Champs, Deluxes (especially Deluxes), Pro Juniors, Super Reverbs, Deluxe Reverbs, Twins, etc. etc.  There are a LOT of Fender amps that I like and want.  But they’re a bit pricey and they’re usually big in size.  Even if my wallet was overflowing, I only have so much physical space that can be taken up by amps before the other occupants in my house begin to complain.

There’s also the fact that there are a lot of companies offering Fender circuits for less money than Fender.

So this is kind of a guaranteed win for them.  I want Fender amps, but I want more amps than I can realistically buy.  Fender and IK Multimedia offer me most of these amps and more for a price far lower than any competitor would offer it for.  I walk away happy knowing I have a ton of tonal options, Fender’s happy because they made a sale that may very well have not happened if this wasn’t available and IK Multimedia walks away happy because, well, because I assume they’re always happy.  IK Multimedia is one of the leaders in the amp sim industry.  Why WOULDN’T they be happy?

Take a look at the features for Fender AmpliTube:

12 amps

12 matching cabinets

9 microphones

9 signature stomp effects

7 rack effects

2 fully-configurable rigs with up to 32 simultaneous effects

400 presets included with more that can be downloaded online

And more

Four HUNDRED presets.  That is nuts.  I found that there were so many presets that once I had a general idea of what amp I wanted, there was probably a preset with the exact tone I was after.  And like always you can tweak the amp settings if you don’t find a preset to your liking and save it for future recall. 

Of course, all the presets and amp names in the world wouldn’t matter if they didn’t have great tone, so how does Fender AmpliTube sound?  In a word: Awesome.  All of the amps sound like Fender amps and you can tell a ton of care and work went into the product.  There was respect for the source material and the sounds from the sim are, if not spot-on, certainly close enough to scratch that Fender itch.  I especially liked the ’57 Deluxe.  It was everything I liked in a real deluxe, but delivered in a package with significantly more volume control and packed right alongside ELEVEN other amps, all great-sounding, all just as easy to use as the real things and all taking up an infinitesimal amount of space in the physical world.  The hoarder in me rejoiced at the amount of cool new amps I have available, the neat freak in my wife rejoiced in how transparent these amps are and my kids rejoiced in the fact that, since it’s on my computer, I can use headphones or turn down my computer’s speaker volume and not keep them up through all hours of the night.

Fender AmpliTube is packed with great features and amazing-sounding amplifiers and pedals.  The tremolo pedal sounds amazing in particular.  You can buy it directly from IK Multimedia for $229.00 and while that may seem a bit steep for something you never actually touch or hold (unless you buy the version with a CD, and even then $229.00 for a CD is pretty steep too), but when you put it in the amplifier perspective, it’s a lot more fair.  $229.00 won’t get you too much of an amp, but with this it gets you twelve rock-solid and time-tested amps, ready for you to use as you see fit, whenever and wherever you want to.

If you like Fender amps at all, this is definitely worth looking at.  I know I’m glad I have it.

For more information about AmpliTube Fender, you can go HERE.


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