Fender Acoustasonic Junior DSP

This lil Amp has all the features I'll ever need for my asouctic performances. I have a lot of fun switching the FX. I do however wish it had a CD in to do a lil canned stuff, and a headphone jack for practices.

Sound quality is everything I was looking for and more. While I dont claim to be an amp expert, I'm just another dime a dozen guitar picker :^)... I know what I like! I listened to lot's of different, more expensive units down at my local GC before I decided on this one. There was NO close second... It was the DSP hands down!

I use it with a several different guitars a D-28, with an LR Baggs Active I beam, and an 1970 Eppy Texan with a Lawrence sound hole model.

Only had it a couple months... Hasnt failed me yet!

No experience in this area.

I've been playing acoustic guitars for over 35 years. (man thats a long time!) I got too much gear!
I'd buy another if it were lost or stolen, sure.
I dont hate anything about it.
I chose it over all the other popular/similar items... ALL!
Like I said earlier I with is had RCA jacks for CD in, and Headphone jack,

Love the features... that's why I bought it. The direct out works fantastic, as do the effects.

The amp has an intermittent problem (see below) that affects the sound. When the amp works it sounds great.

I have owned this amp, purchased new, for almost three years. It is in the shop now for it's fourth visit. The amp has intermittent static and a 60 cycle hum that gets louder with time. The repair shop has had a hard time finding the problem(s) and has yet to repair this amp. I gig 5-8 times per week and rely heavily on my equipment.

This amp is unreliable for professional use.

I have spoken with Fender and emailed several times (each time the amp goes in the shop). They always, always, give me the run-around about their replacement policy. This amp is obviously a lemon, but they don't want to do anything about it. It has cost them more money in warranty repair (?!?) than a new one would have cost.

UPDATE-12/27/07: FINALLY.... Fender listened to my pleas and replaced the amp I previously complained about... the tech NEVER found the problem(s) with the original amp. The new one has no problems whatsoever (so far) and sounds much better than the first one did. Fender took their time in replacing the amp (over 2 years) but they finally did.

The amp sounds great when it works...

it is unreliable for professional use!

New amp from Ebay from some music store in Ohio. Came with warranty and new cardboard junk from the store. I believe it was a display model. I play a lot of classic Neil Young/Paul Westerberg-style covers & originals at several local bars in Central TX. Did not get the optional footswitch, and may or may not later.

Play an early '70's Ovation Balladeer, with an unknown piezo (no pre-amp or adjustments). Excellent tone, especially for the bars I play, whether I play it solo, or run the XLR out to the house PA or my own. The vocal channel is cleaner than many of the PA's I use. Get occasional feedback depending on placement of the amp to the mic and guitar. Set the guitar channel volume at 5, bass at 9, mid at 2, treble at 8, and usually use the plate or hall settings. No need for the chorus or delay. Use the tilt-back all the way.

So far, so good. Survive shipping and lugging around to several gigs. Weighs about 40lbs, much lighter than my mid 70's Fender Super-Twin, which is a monster.

Haven't even filled out the warranty, I need to. Haven't had to deal with Fender yet. The service center is nearby in San Antonio. The owner's manual was somewhat lacking in details to make room for the many "foreign" languages in it. By the way, the amp was "Hecho en Mexico", which is a drawback, subtract 5 points just for that, although some 3rd world nations are getting better at QC, as long as an English speaking corporate entity is watching them.

Been playing on and off (more off than on) for several decades. Besides the Ovation Balladeer, electrically I have an '87 Amer. Std. Strat, a new Gibson LP Melody-Maker (P-90 heaven), and an early '80's Gibson Sonex. Mid 70's Super-Twin reverb, a mid 80's Super Champ, a Marshall Guv'nor, DOD Stereo Chorus, and a reissue Tube Screamer. Cheap 400W PA system (due for an upgrade). If lost or stolen, I'd get another, if I could get a good deal, but would rather have a Fishman. Checked the Behringers, Crates, and Marshalls. Just liked this one. Wish it had more wattage.

(Nuke the Whales......)

Made in 2004. Enjoy the solid-state DSP effects, but I see myself adding a delay pedal and possibly a more lush chorus down the road. For playing with a band in an imperfect musical environment, the built-in DSP will work fine. I like the fact that I have the capability to turn DSP effects on and off via footswitch, which I have tried and it works well. I bought the amp because of the deparate DSP on the vocal/line 2 channel and am looking forward to playing with that. Amp has plenty of cut-through power in a band environment, which I felt I did not get with an Ultrasound AG50-DS2 (which had a more lush sound, but was too 'warm' for my tastes when playing with band - and it did not have effects on vocal channel). Tried the XLR out directly to the board last night and it was perfect - and the amp has it's own line out level adjustment on the back - sweet!

Playing with Fishman Prefix-equipped Tacoma and Taylor and eventually an Anderson Crowdster (when funds allow!) Playing praise & worship at church and home in addition to some acoustic rock/alternative as time allows - it's worked well for all styles. Not a lot of hum or hiss until cranking the DSP effects. I played in front of a loud drummer last night, XLR'd to the board for the mains and used the amp essentially as a monitor last night and I could not turn it up past two without blowing the vocalists next to me out of the water - the thing has guts. I've not turned it up past 5, so I cannot speak to cranking it up and distortion.

Just bought the amp used last week - it was pretty much dead mint. No problems in using it 3 nights for practice at home and then last night band practice.

Not applicable yet - I hope to not have to deal with any technical issues. :^)

Been playing for 8 years - seriously for five or so. I've owned another acoustic amp (Ultrasound AG50-DS2), but I did not cut through as I'd hoped. This Fender Amp was exactly what I was looking for. Built-in DSP is fine for live environment with a band, but if playing on my own somewhere, I'd probably add in chorus and delay pedals for richer effects. Because of my role in the band, I typically look for a higher-end trebly sound, and this amp has definitely delivered. Playing with the mids and bass, it will deliver a lush, richer sound as well. So far, a week in, if damaged, stolen or lost, I'd definitely try and seek another out to replace it.

Previous post covers this. Two channels, one acoustic intrument, the other a "PA" channel with XLR and high impedance 1/4" TRS jack. Good DI out in the back with a ground lift.

DSP effects for each channel, with an effect selector and adjustment knob. A quick note about the DSP effects... these aren't the cheeseball canned effects you get on a lot of amps these days so they can jack the prices up. Fender did an excellent job of voiceing these, and they are nearly at par with my Alesis Midiverb rack effects unit. The adjustment knob is also "intelligent" not just a "MIX" button.

Although they are not microadjustable, the DSP effects meet my picky standards. If you're a real chorus nut, or need tap delay, look elsewhere or use the FX loop, however

This amp made me fall in love with my guitars again. Period. First, I have a Larrive Dreadnaught from the old British Columbia plant. These guitars rival Martin / Taylor in quality, and many use better woods (especially the spruce, wow!) It's fitted with a Fishman Blender piezio / condensor pickup.

With the settings on the pickup flat, and about 30% mic pickup, I use the amp's controls to mitigate the sound.

Wow, the string dynamics are ultra crisp (adjust the String D. knob) and you can easily switch from picking / strumming to solo work, and get great thick response.

With proper feedback control settings on the amp, you can get a full, booming, but also crystal clear sound. Anyone who tells you that they can't get big bottom on this: 1) Has a lousy guitar with no bottom 2) A lousy pickup or 3) Doesn't know how to take advantage of the amp's controls

There's no hiding the quality of your instrument... this amp brings out the tonal characteristics of your guitar. Leading to...

Martin 00028-EC (Clapton edition) - Now, I recently took all the electronics from this bad boy. I played it through the Fender with a condensor mic. Woah! The amp can handle the lush, complex sound of this guitar.

Beware, feedbacks a bi+ch at high volume, but controllable.

Never had a problem.

Had no need.

I've been playing for about 12 years now, and have an extremely critical ear. Many many instruments and amps / effects have made the "where are they now" pile for me.

This is a versitile amp for the modern troubadour. so to speak,and will work well in traditional, rock, folk, and other applications (vocals sound great, other acoustic instuments, also).

I could use finer effects control, and it loses some of it's richness at low volumes (if you want low volume, play the acoustic as it was built... unplugged!)

BUT

Overall, this baby will be in my arsenal for a long time!

Made in 2004. Can I be the first to review this?

Went in with cash in hand to buy an ASJR when Jerry and Manny asked if I wanted the newer model with DSP ?!?!?! After an evening of research and for $10 more, and assuming the sound components between this and its predecessor were the same but with only different features, I figured what the heck and had them order me one never having heard one before. Been playing it now for a week?

Funny how Fender can provide more features for only $10 more. I think by bring the DSP features to the ASJR model, they can probably reduce the number of part numbers that have to maintain at their factory. Just guessing. Anyway, the DSP circuit replaces the prior Chorus/Reverb adjustments (which made its predecessor a really attractive unit) with the DSP from its SFX model. You don?t get the same adjustment control but you get more canned effects available. If detailed adjustments to the parameter effects is what you need, you?ll have to either get another unit or insert some pedals into the effects loop. This is about the only short coming I?ve been able to come up with.

The ASJR DSP is a dual amp, with one voiced for acoustic instruments and the other for mic/line. However, the mic/line side (lacks String Dynamic, lacks Feedback Notching, and has a couple tailored selectable effects) still handles acoustic instruments very very well. Selectable DSP effects and mix amounts are available on both channels like the SFX.

I like this amp because the XLR mic inputs provides 15V phantom power meaning you can use not only your trusty SM57 but also flatter response condenser mics ? Very useful for instruments such as Mandolins, violins, banjos, etc. Heads up, the Phantom Power is not switchable so do take care when plugging in. Okay? J

The direct out on this amp is also XLR plus it has a liftable ground and an output level knob from 1 to 10. Ever been to a place where the facility outlets are on different grounds? The liftable ground is going to be handy, I know now. The 1 to 10 output level can probably cause one a lot of setup confusion between you and the sound board operator and I haven?t had to go into battle with this yet but during some quick checkouts of this at the house, setting the DI output level to 10 and playing at volume got me pretty close to the standard ?10db (or 0db unity on the mixer) at full volume. Hope that makes sense. Anyway, I can now leave behind my DI box or loan it out.

The tilt back feature is nice. With my other amps, I?ve been always playing to my kneecaps & shins while putting up with bellyachers complaining about their ears bleeding. Wimps? :-)

I give this a 9 because for it to be better, the individual effects would have to have adjustable parameters and nothing gets a 10. Otherwise, very versatile...

Originally, we bought this amp just to go along with my Seagull S12+. Go light with the chorus/delay with a 12 string directly lined in. The Seagull is plenty rich enough and the sound can get downright complicated and mushy with too much treatment. Here?s where we wish we had the older ASJR as it allowed better control on the chorus parameters. However, plain reverb with this particular 12 string sounds okay. For even better sound, skip lining in and hook up a condenser mic. An Oktava MC-012 produced tingling sound reinforcement with the Seagull and should do just as well with violins, mandolins, banjos, etc. Be sure and turn the volumes down when plugging in and watch your mic placements to avoid feedback! :-)

Whereas using effects with a 12 string required lots of adjustments, all of my six string guitars simply plugged in and sound great on nearly any setting. (Ibanez strat clone, Washburn HB 30, and Samick Artist Series 6 string either mic?d or with a cheapo Dean Markley Promag pickup). At a recent show, we connected another player and his Martin (D-15) through the mic/line channel using a Shure SM-57 and he sounded good also. We had a lot of fun plugging in a Korg AX-100G into the effects loop. This weekend, we?ve got a show and will be using this amp to smooth out a Mandolin. Getting good sound with this amp on any setting while playing 6 stringers is about as easy as falling off a log.

One area we had slight trouble with was playing acoustic instruments and distinguishing the sounds coming from this amp?After awhile, the ears start getting confused between the two. No doubt, the setup arrangement had a part and you may need to ask for another set of ears when setting up. Either that or simply trust yourself and your memory when making the setting adjustments. Dunno?

Good volume dynamics and excellent note accents can be produced by setting the amp throttles wide open and controlling the volume by playing the instrument from soft to loud. This produces very nice music. By the same token, this will definitely let you know when your finger/picking technique needs polish!

The notion of an acoustic amp being a tone monster never came to mind until now. We bought this amp to fill out a sound that we couldn?t get with my Hot Rod Deluxe or Marshal MG50DFX ? We will be using this amp a lot.

I give this a respectable 9 because while this is a very very very nice sounding amp, you can still hear that it's solid state...

Being a solid state, the ASJR-DPS should not need as much attention as would a valve amp but being of PCB construction may be a bugger to get repaired should that become necessary. Dunno? One thing that sort of bugged us was that we plugged the amp into a power-strip sharing some fluorescents on the strip. When we turned off the fluorescents, it produced a nasty pop on the line, the kind that kills electronics.

At only a week old, I need to refrain from scoring this.

We bought this amp at the neighborhood Mom & Pop Music Shop, ?Danny D?s?, located formerly in Webster, Texas. They?ve just recently relocated to their new location in League City and even though it?s a few miles further, we?ll continue going their new store in the years to come.

They?re staffed by seasoned performing musicians who appreciate the finer nuances of making music, offer competitive prices, and are good honest folks to do business with. Support your local Mom & Pop Music Shop!

I score this a 10 because I'm biased... :-)

Started playing at the age of 37 years old, a strummer and fingerpicker with both electric and acoustic -- Not really into shredding. Very weak at lead licks probably because of the late start and amount of time available to work at it. Been at it for seven years.

If this were to get lost or stolen, We'd probably replace this with an SFX model under the idiom that one must simply move onwards and upwards.

We compared the older ASJR to the Marshall, Crate & Ibanez equivalents. Also played the Strawberry and some other brand. Because the ASJR DPS is a new model and we bought it without have heard one, we did not really compare this with other products but relied on other user comments on the older ASJR and the Acoustasonic SFX reviews found here on Harmony Central. Not dissappointed one bit!