John Bohlinger has a blast taking an extensive tour of Fender's ambitious, expansive, and intuitive Tone Master Pro modeler.
This amp modeling workstation is designed to allow players to harness endless tonal possibilities, all contained in a powerfully intuitive and easy-to-use interface. The award-winning Tone Master amplifier series, originally debuted in 2019 with the introduction of the Tone Master Twin Reverb and Tone Master Deluxe Reverb, marked a new frontier in digital amplification. The tone, feel, responsiveness and character of the Tone Master Series amplifiers are intended to be virtually indistinguishable from their original tube counterparts, featuring the exceptional tonal qualities of their legendary predecessors with modern capabilities for todayās musician.
The compact multi-effect system features accurate analog sounds, an 8-Core CPU, and USB connectivity.
This amp modeling workstation is designed to allow players to harness endless tonal possibilities, all contained in a powerfully intuitive and easy-to-use interface. The award-winning Tone Master amplifier series, originally debuted in 2019 with the introduction of the Tone Master Twin Reverb and Tone Master Deluxe Reverb, marked a new frontier in digital amplification. The tone, feel, responsiveness and character of the Tone Master Series amplifiers are intended to be virtually indistinguishable from their original tube counterparts, featuring the exceptional tonal qualities of their legendary predecessors with modern capabilities for todayās musician.
Features
- Authentic Tones: Featuring over 100 of the worldās most popular amps and effects, weāve included all of the classic Tone Master Fender models, the first officially licensed EVH 5150 III Stealth model, and other canāt-live without classics that have all been perfectly replicated using our proprietary Tone Master modeling process. Additionally, Tone Master Pro is loaded with a huge collection of presets covering multiple genres that sound amazing right out of the box.
- Intuitive Interface: With a large 7" full-color touchscreen, dual-function footswitch/encoders with LCD scribble strips and its instantly familiar graphics, Tone Master Pro makes tone creation easy so you can spend more time playing than programming.
- Unprecedented Power: Tone Master Pro is powered by a massive 8-core processor, enabling you to load up large multi-amp and effects signal chains with ease. Tone Master Proās powerful architecture allows for seamless, latency-free preset changes, allowing your delay and reverb trails to spill over naturally.
- Total Control: Built to integrate intuitively into your existing setup and inspire sonic exploration right out of the box. Tone Master Pro can be paired with your favorite external effects pedals and amps, or function as the centerpiece of your recording studio. Expand its power and flexibility with the Tone Master Pro Control App on Mac and PC, to edit, store, and share your favorite creations with Fenderās community of players and artists.
Exploring the Tone Master Pro | Fender
Import steals to custom-ordered Fenders plus Fractal Audio modelers keep these post-grunge heroes sounding modern and rocking harder than ever.
Bush had an unbelievable debut with 1994ās Sixteen Stone that eventually surpassed 6x platinum status. The post-grunge juggernaut continued making moody, mercurial, and sometimes menacing music has continuing mutating while keeping them modern with a total of nine full-length releases with 2022ās The Art of Survival as their most recent chapter.
The bandās headlining Ryman tour stop was furthering their support for the October 2022 release where the camp invited PGās Chris Kies onstage to catalog their compact setups. Guitarist Chris Traynor starts the chat covering his instruments that run the gamut from import steals to one-off custom baritones with and without frets. The baton gets passed to Gavin Rossdale tech Trace Davis who covers the frontmanās arsenal of Strats, SGs, and Jazzmasters before breaking down Rossdaleās core patches living within his Fractal Audio FM9.
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Blacktop Bargain
Longtime Bush guitarist Chris Traynor is no sticker snob. Heāll play anything if it serves the song or sounds goodābias be damned. Case in point, is this 2010s Fender Blacktop Baritone Telecaster that he scooped off Reverb for just $400. He tunes it B to B and lows its rumbly character. Traynor is a big glass of water and so he also appreciates the extended scale length (27") and bigger strings make the instrument not feel like a toy.
Dealing in D
This 2017 Gibson Custom Shop 1968 Les Paul Custom Reissue that does the heavy lifting for any Bush songs in D. Traynor notes in the Rundown that if he could duplicate this beauty he wouldnāt need to tour with many other guitars to cover the bandās deep catalog and growing tuning list. He supercharged its sounds with a new set of Fishman Fluence Javier Reyes pickups. He made the move during COVID when the band was doing livestreams and playing in front of massive light walls that were making his traditional humbuckers nosier than normal. This one takes a custom set of Ernie Ball strings (.010ā.054).
Standard Paul
Bushās earliest work typically was written in standard tuning so this 2014 Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul Standard sees the spotlight for those jams. It too shares the Fishman Fluence Javier Reyes pickups and Traynor remarks that he really loves voice 3 that brings his beefy Paul into a chimey, single-coil land.
Mimicking Micawber
Traynor enjoyed his experience with the Blacktop Baritone he commissioned the Fender Custom Shop to build him an extended-range copy of Keith Richards iconic 1950s butterscotch blonde Tele. The single-coil-looking bridge pickup is a stacked humbucker but he claims it still retains a single-coil charm. He tunes it C to C for āHeavy Is the Oceanā off 2022ās The Art of Survival.
Set It And Forget It
āSteve Fryette of VHT told me once that āif you got something you love, donāt mess with,ā so havenāt touched this guitar since getting it. He bought the above 1990s USA Gibson SG from a neighbor in the hopes his daughter would connect with it, but the magnetism never took. Traynor gave it a go and loved it. He doesnāt question things when lightning strikes.
The Sizzler
Yet again proving that he lets his ears lead the way, Traynor rocks this Squier Vintage Modified Baritone Jazzmaster onstage every night with Bush.
To Fret, or Not to Fret
For the song āMore Than Machinesā off The Art of Survival Traynor recorded overdubs with a fretless guitar. To bring that single to the stage, he created this Frankenstein with various Fender partsāplus a Lollar Imperial humbuckerāincluding a 3-fret baritone neck that helps him ballpark the pitch as he goes down the neck into murky, undefined territory. Like his Blacktop Baritone, itās tuned B to B.
The Same Is Sublime
Same big rock tone, every single night, regardless of the venue,ā states Traynor. Consistency keeps Chris calm knowing that every performance will sound the same thanks to the Fractal Audio Axe-Fx III. He has one core sound thatās actually available to download and one other for āThe Kingdomā that incorporates a pitch-shifter. He prefers to let the guitars change the mood rather than building a complex choreography inside the Axe-Fx III. A Matrix Amplification GT1000FX powers the Fractal and he runs his signal through a pair of arctic Mesa/Boogie 4x12s.
Heavy Chevy
This American Professional II Stratocaster HSS looks as fast as a fastback 1970 Camaro. Gavin Rossdale tech Trace Davis comments that this stock Strat has an oddly dense, weighty alder body that gives the silverburst a heavy and husky tone. All of Gavinās guitars take Ernie Ball Beefy Slinks (.011ā.054).
Custom Cat
Recent years has seen Rossdale gravitate towards single-humbucker, āsuper-stratā guitars for their no-frills firepower. This custom Shabat Lynx intensified its roar when they removed a P.A.F.-style ābucker for a hotter handwound Undertow humbucker from Piedmont Pickups that carries a toasty 16.8k rating.
The Dark Knight
When itās time to lower down to drop-C tuning for songs from The Kingdom or The Art of Survival, Rossdale brandishes this sleek Gibson Custom SG thatās entirely stock aside for upgraded ground wiring handled by tech Trace Davis.
Sweet Sixteen
For classic cuts āGlycerineā and āComedownā off 1994 mega-hit Sixteen Stone, Rossdale will perform with this Fender Custom Shop Jazzmaster. Itās been enhanced with a set of Lollar P-90 Jazzmaster pickups.
Rocky Mountain Way
While this sunburst Jazzmaster rides backup to the previous black model, itās worth sharing because the neck on this one is taken from a ā66 Fender Jazzmaster Rossdale acquired years ago that actually once belonged to Joe Walsh and was said to be used on rhythm parts for Hotel California.
Gavin Rossdaleās Rack
The longer the band has been around and continued to tour the world, Rossdale has reduced his sonic footprint. His condensed setup currently includes a Shure AD4D-US Axient Digital Two-Channel Wireless unit, a pair of Matrix GT1000FX Power Amps, an Interstellar Audio Machines Octonaut Hyperdrive that chases down the Klon Centaur, a MXR M135 Smart Gate Noise Gate keeps things silent, a Trace Davis-implemented Analog Man Beano Boost for any extra oomph on solos, he hits the strings with Steve Clayton Acetal Rounded Triangle .80 mm picks, and a Fractal Audio Systems FM9 Amp Modeler that builds out Bushās set with 4-5 key scenes that range from mild to wild.