Fender FM-212R

100W Solid-State, a clean and a drive channel, the latter with a boost. 2 12" speakers, so it's plenty loud. Pre out, power in, and a spring reverb

First of all, the clean channel is very nice. I have heard better, but from much more expensive amps - for the price, the clean is great. I mostly play clean, so I was happy with this amp when I first got it. The drive channel is not so good. When I played around at practice volumes I thought it was ok, bluesy at low drive settings and warm at high ones, not good enough for metal by any means but ok for more alternative stuff. The drive boost, however, is pretty much horrible and useless. However, I cranked it up during jamming and notices the following:
- The drive channel sounds shit - digital, harsh, and horrible. You'll need a pedal. It makes the fender sound like a toy amp.
- The thing is loud. The drive channel can go extremely loud, but that doesn't really matter now because it'll sound like ass anyway. The clean is fine up to about 4, and it starts rattling your eardrums at about 4-5, but pushing it up further will crack it up with no real gain in power. 100W solid state though, what'd you expect?
The reverb is also quite nice, if subtle. I've heard of others having lots of problems with it though.
I've gigged with it once, miked, and it did the job. No complaints there. However, I do have one big complaint, and that's as below.

OK, this is where it goes to shit. After owning it for a bit more than a year, it developed a strange buzz. Whenever I would play notes on the low E, most noticably an A or an E on the 12th fret (the problem was by far the worst there) it'd rattle, like something is loose inside the amp. It's quite noticeble and bad on those 2 notes, and somewhat noticable on a few others - the bassier the tone, the worse it is.
I took it in to a local guitar tech, who told me it looked like shit inside, really badly built and all loose. He replaced the transistor and some other parts and did his hooby-dooby (I'm no tech), but basically said he did all he could and made it a bit better, but that he can't fix it completely. It was sort of OK for 2 weeks after (the buzz was only present on the 12th fret and somewhat quiet at that) and then went back to how it was before. I'm saving for a tube amp now anyway.

Never dealt with Fender

Overall, you're getting what you pay for. It's a 100W solid state amp that will sound like shit if cranked but would do it's job mic'ed at a gig, if it doesnt fall apart first. The build quality is shit, but the clean is great and it sounds alright. Personally, I'd save up for something a bit better that won't fall apart on you after a year.

Basic solid state amp, 2 footswitchable channels, 1 with footswitchable a boost. 3 band eq for each channel, reverb.
Comes with 2 button footswitch
effects loop/direct out kinda thing.
100watts
2x12" speakers
LOUD!

The clean is great, flexible eq too. It's good for playing your pedals and multi effects through too.
But it's a tad sterile, but i'm sure thats beacuse it's a soild state, i played a hot rod deluxe (thast a tube amp of course) clean once and that sounded beautifull.
The distortion is not so great. It's unresponsive and lacks that special drive charm that a marshall has. And at high volumes it's theres way to much treble, and the eq becomes less responsive. Also there is a "more gain" setting, this adds a tad more drive but it's only just audiable. Works best with high gain settings. There is also a mid contour. This makes heavy distorted settings sound a bit better.
I only use this for a touch of clean drive/Blusey crunch. I never have the gain past 3.5. It's the only driven sound thast it comparable to the good clean sound. Though the contour high gain sounds are average.
This thing is WAY LOUD. I've never had it past 4, and my band has officialy the loudest drummer ever.
Also this thing looks kinda weedy on stage, so stack it up on some chairs or boxes or somthing. My friend has got a marshall jcm2000 half stack that blows this thing away. But hey, whos got #800 to waste?
verstile amp, but not the best performance.

This is my first gigging amp. Which is a good choice for others looking for their firest gigging amps. So i do depend on it alot for mose of my band rehershal and perfomances.
It's built like a brick, it feels soild, it's heavy, ugly, never broken down or lost signal. Perfect.

When i first got it, it came with a US power cable, whereas i live in the UK!
I went back to the shop and they new exactly what the problem was straight away. Gave me an exchange there and then.
But i have never dealt with fender directly

This is not a bad amp, if you are buyying your first gigging amp.
It;s loud and takes pedals easily. The sound of my guitar and my big muff shines through!
Though the sound qaulity isn;t nearly the greatest, for its VERY cheap price this has lots of values and bang for your buck.
If you need your first big amp get this, if you got a bit more dough though, take a look at somthing with somthing abit more special.

not a bad amp, especially for the price. this thing is fucking LOUD, in normal situations you wont even need to think about going above 4 or 5. it claims 3 channels, but i'd put it at only 2 cause that boost isnt really independant enough to count. the clean is amazing, and theres this cruch that comes through when you crank it, its a pretty good sound. that mid contour button is an interesting thing to play with, it just releases the distortion and gives it a cool tone, i try to use it as much as i can, but with only 2 channels its hard to really bring it into songs, it'd be great if you could use that along with a modern distortion....like as the clean channel.

100 watts going through two 12" is fucking crazy, theres such an over kill of power for these speakers, there should be a powered output jack so you can run another set of speakers, maybe even a cab, but there is a line out to go to a mixing bord, or to use as an FX loop

your definately gonna need an fx pedal. i have the RP 100 digi-fx, works great with this amp, you can make it sound like anything. and the amp itself has such a clean sound, and the distortion is really something you have to play with a lot, but you can get some pretty good sounds. and the contour button is really an interesting feature i havnt encountered in other amps.

i mainly run it with a fender highway-one tele, the single coils sound amazing with the clean, but the distortion sometimes is dissapointing with the single's, but thats why you have to play with the settings. but i also use it with a gretsch jr-jet, the humbuckers sound pretty damn good going through this amp's distortion, and the clean channel doesnt sound as good as the single's but it can definately hold its own against other amps.

you really can rely on this amp, ive had this thing fall off the top of a half-stack and it worked perfectly afterwards. i would easily use this without backup, but as said before, it does look really pussy-ish having this little thing behind you....but you definately could run a show without having a backup.

never had any problems with the amp, so theres no point in calling up the company just for a chat

ive been playing for a bit over 3 years and this amp is more then i need right now, and prolly for a long while. Ive tried a few other effects pedals and shit, but all you need is a versatile pedal that you can dial through a chorus, or maybe another distortion. and the reverb on this is pretty basic, but i just keep it at 5 or so and it gives a great sound.
this amp is all you need until you go pro, and even then you could use it as a backup. i have considered the option of getting a half stack and a basic head to hook up to the line-out just to be able to push more sound out and look a bit tougher, but it really isnt necessary, as ive said before, this this is fucking loud.
but it is basic, really basic, but i think its one of the best deals going, fender really got it right with this amp.

2004 i think. this amp is amazing i am astonished of the power that this beast shoots out of its 2x12" fender special design speakers. I have a band and am a lead guitarist we play from aerosmith to greenday. the spring reverb adds the final touch to this subliminal amplifier. I play at school and will be playing at pubs soon. i can dround my drummer out with the volume on just 3 the great power of this amp is unbelievable !!!. this is a solidstate amp and WEIGHT: 48 lbs (21.7 kg) DIMENSIONS: Height: 19.5" (49.5 cm) Width: 26" (66 cm) Depth: 9.5" (24.1cm).

I have a bc rich ironbird and a squire strat. the amp is perfect for my guitars you cant ask for more from this versitile monster. It suits our music fine. its a non-feedback amp great for giggen with. Basically these are your amp settings ? CONTROLS: Normal Channel:
Volume,
Treble,
Bass,
Drive Channel:
Drive,
Volume,
Channel Select Switch,
Treble,
Mid,
Mid Contour Switch,
Bass,
Reverb,
Footswitch Jack
Effects Loop:
Preamp Out,
Power Amp In,
very easy to use and a wide variety of sounds. I cant describe to you how clean the fender amps are believe me its beyond this earth.Then we have the overdrive very very brutal!!.And then MORE OVERDRIVE which is so so so crunchy words cant describe it.!!!!!.

I would definatly gig with this amp i would travel into space and back and that would be fine it is a reliable amp and dont worry about it you will always be garenteed a warrenty of up to 5 year. this has never failed on me and never will !!! .

i bought my amp from newcastle from soundslive. they are one of the most friendliest staff i have ever met. they are very carefull with your ordered product and make sure you have the correct gear before you leave !!!.i have a garenteed 5 year warrenty

i have been playin for 6 year.I also own a fender frontman 15watt amp. And this beasty of corse. If this amp was stolen i would definetly buy a new one. I love everything about this amp and dont dislike anything.I compared this with a marshall avt 100 and funny enough i believe this has a fatter and heavier overdrive than marshall and definetly a cleaner channel. I like this amp the way it is as it is simple and not complicated. This amp is reliable, not that heavy with a open back and is loud. it also has a few velcro straps on the back in the open hatch for leads and effect pedal !!!. this amp is a 100% perfect and cheap its perfect.

I've been playing guitar for about 3 years now so I'm only recently starting to really hone in on types of tones that I like. I play mostly retro-rock styles with a bit of a punk type influence (well that's how I would class it anyway).
I've been playing with this amp for about two months now and whilst I do like it a lot, I wouldn't advise anyone buy it if you're after a variety of good features. In my opinion, the reverb does little to nothing to the sound and the 'Mid-Contour' does open up tonal options, they just aren't that great (well not for my tastes).
Having 'Drive' and 'More Drive' is nice, especially having them foot-switchable...however I use the 'Clean' channel 99% of the time with an effects pedal to supply the OD/Distortion.
This is a cheap amp and its great to have the footswitch included in the already low price.

I play a Epiphone Les Paul with stock humbuckers and an Epiphone copy of a Gibson 335.
I have found getting a good clean sound on either of these guitars to be a breeze with this amp. The clean sound of this amp is its real strength and its all I ever use (combined with a DigiTec RP80 multi effects unit).
I've given up trying to get a satisfactory tone from the amps drive channels and I'm sure that with better quality pedals, I can use the clean channel to get some really great tones.
I haven't had either channel much above 4 as it is REALLY LOUD but to my ears, the sound quality (clean channel with effects pedal) held up great.

I've only had it two months but it certainly seems pretty rugged!

Haven't had any dealings with Fender as no problems so far. Hope this continues!

Overall I am very impressed with this amp. When you remember the price tag, I think that it becomes very hard to fault it.
If you are looking for an amp that will give you all the tones you desire then this won't do it (unless you don't desire much of course), however if you're light on cash but you need the volume to compete with a heavy handed drummer then this is a great choice. Especially if you love your stomp boxes, the clean channel holds good integrity with the sound so you can use other means to tweak your sound.
Overall, this amp is a good, solid, and cheap way to amplify rather than shape your sound. If this is all you can afford right now then I'd definately recommend it until the world of tube amps is within reach (which sadly it isn't for me yet *sigh*).
If it were stolen and I had the same budget, I'd definately buy another one.

Straight foward Amp. 2 Channels (clean/gain). The gain channel has a boost the can be accessed by the footshitch. The gain side also has a switch to scoop the mids if you like. Basic EQ on both channels which is nice. Has reverb which is not controlable by the footswitch. This would be a nice feature to add. The effects loop is on the front pannel. The amp has 100 watts pushed through 2 fender 12" speakers. The back of the cabinent is open. There is no ext speaker jack which would be nice to have. 100 watts could easily drive an extension cab. What do you expect for 300.00 dollars.

I am sure if you have hundreds of dollars to spend or dont care how high your credit debt is, You could find a much better combo amp. This is by no means comparible to any high end tube amp. But for 300.00 dollars this thing does not sound to bad. The clean side is very nice. The eq is responsive to change. The volume works very well also. This amp will get as load as you want it. 3-4 is quite sufficient for most situations. The gain side is ok. I have found a few useful settings, with the gain at 2 or 3. Any higher things get a little muttled. I would suggest using a good pedal on the clean side for OD or Distortion. With the pedal od/dist sound good. I use a Charvel Preditor with Seymor Duncan AlincoII Pro pickups = Teese Picture Wah =analogman ts-808/vintage mod tubescreamer into the amp. This setup sounds very nice through this amp for classic rock and blues type music. The amp also sounds good with the LINE 6 POD into the clean side.

Solid State Fender amp. For 300.00 if it breaks I buy another. I have owned several Fender amps through the years and have always had a great experience. It comes with a 5 year warranty

Never have had a problem with Fender

I have been playing guitar about 30 years both pro and as a hobbiest. I have a bad habit of buying and selling gear so I have owned and sold several guitars and amps over the years. As I said before this is not comparable to any high end tube amp, You won't find that here or anywhere for that matter. If that's what you want, save your 300.00 and add 10 times that to the price. If you want an Amp thats inexpensive and still sounds pretty good this is a good choice. It has plenty of volume to play in most situations. Hope this is helpful

This a 2004 amp made in China. I play a lot of rock and metal, every once in a while some jazz and latin. I do some studio work and I've been playing for 35+ years. It is not a cyber amp with a million different sounds so don't expect it, not for + or - $300. But it does deliver in some other ways. It does have send and return jacks, channel switching, the basics. Some of the other reviews bash on the distortion sound. The distortion is ok. You just have to tweak it. This a bassy sounding amp, which is the modern trend, and it's ok at that. Clean trebly setups will have a lot of body to it. Iin that sense it does differ a bit from the traditional Twins and Supers from the 70s and 80s. The really good thing is that is as loud or louder than any thousand bucks 5150 combo. It's ideal for loud metal band, if you need to cut through, you've found yourself the right tool for it.

This is a bassy amp. You'll have to cut the bass a bit on the eq. It has a couple of gain stages so be prepared to deal with some hum and feedback if you really drive it. You will need a volume pedal if you need to clean up the anarchy. The mid contour button will take you to very scooped sounds. I rather not use it and have warm mids through out. The clean channel is always clean no matter how loud. The distortion can be tweaked for light blues all the way to anarchistic feedback land.

It is sturdy and I would trust it without a backup. I'm even thinking of buying a second one since they are give so much value for so little money.

I have lots of guitars: Gibson LP Custom, Strats, Yamahas, Dimes, BC Richs. It works great with a POD PRO or a Boss GT 3 pedal. My only gripe is the hum when you really drive it, but this is inevitable with any amp. My estimation is that experienced players will find it to be a usefull workhorse.

I bought this amp about a year ago, and in the heat of the momment i wasted my money. I sounds shit in bassicaly any style i try to play. It needs a better distortion, im pretty sure its only got a overdrive which aint chunky enought for me

I got a Epi sg with a dimarzio eveloutin and a EMG81 in the neck, and a silvertone blues king.

This things is only good for one thing.
being the speakers for a effects chain.

yeah it sure is reliable. thats the best thing of it

fender rock
but its never broke

its cheap
its loud
but it sounds bad by itself, if your after guitar lead amp setup this is not what your after.
try the marshall mg50 those things rock

Based on the other reviews this is a 2004 amp. I play stuff with mostly clean and light overdrive, like Pink Floyd and A Perfect Circle, and this amp seems to work out pretty well. But this amp is very bare-bone, not good drive or reverb. Basically a box with speakers that sound good only on clean.

I play a standard strat with seymour duncan hot rails in the bridge and middle pickup, and usually use the setting which engages the neck and middle pickup. On clean with this setup, the amp sounds GREAT. It has better clean than them Mesa F50's even. The reverb is a slight dissapointment since it hums noisily and isn't good anyway. The drive channels are not even worth the effort of them being made. There is a drive and a more drive channel, but they both sound equally muddy and death. They are extremely bottom heavy and make your guitar sound like you turned the tone nob to -100. Not to mention the hum. But stick to the clean. It has a beautiful crisp sound, not a warm tube sound but a, well, clean sound. It is also very responsive to your dynamics (not the distortion). I like to think of this amp as a hi-fi amp: it doesn't change your tone, just amplifies it. If you already have the tone your looking for, i.e. effects pedals, then this amp is great. I use all Boss pedals: an overdrive/dist, a chorus, a dig. delay, and a metal zone. If you use chorus and delay you don't even need reverb. Oh yeah, its quite LOUD. I've never turned it past five, even at an open-air gig.

This amp is quite touchy, but is fine if you leave it alone. You won't have to worry about it imploding at a gig or something - as long as you leave it alone. If you move it or bump into it while it's on, you'll get this sound as if a piano fell down a nine-story building (literally). When I take it in the car, I can hear something rattling, and it also rattles if you play loud enough. But don't worry, you can't hear over all the music, it's just that knowing that something is rattling in the back of your head makes you feel a bit dodgy. I haven't fixed it yet since I've been so busy sitting but it hasn't broken yet, and it's lasted a bunch of high volume gigs.

N/A

For the price range this amp is amazing. It's also amazing if you only stick to the clean channel. Just use a bunch of effects pedals and it sounds proffesional. I guess this is analogous to a souped up Mitsubishi, where as a Mesa Stack would be a Ferrari. Both go at the same speed in the end of course.

I bought this amp in 2004 because I thought it was great value for money at 250 quid. I play a range of music from System of a Down to AFI, this amp seems to be versatile to match the very different guitar sounds. I play in a goth rock band this amp gives me the best sound for our music bassy and powerful. This amp has three channels clean, light drive and overdrive. I never really use the light drive unless i'm playing classic tunes or solos. The reverb is not that great but it does it's job reasonably. Also it doesnt have a headfone socket, which pissed my dad off but oh well! If you think this amp may not be loud enogh for you, you are probably wrong! This amp is a stereo and i personally have never had it above 5 at a practise!

I use humbuckers in my aria les paul which makes the clean channel very mellow sounding. really nice! There is a button on it which scoops the mid range heavily to get a sharp and extreme metal sound which is fun sometimes! This thing is very loud although when its turned down the clean channel is a bit fuzzy and the distortion a bit weak, but who plays quietly anyway!?

Never had any problems with it altogh i would suggest buying a decent reverb pedal with it, or some other effects. I have used this at a gig in my local town hall without a backup although the size of it looks a bit pussy.

I have a two year warrenty I think. never had to have it repaired.

I have been playing for about three years and I love its variety of sounds it looks nice and is great value for money. depending on budget i may replace it if it was stolen or lost although I might get a marshall. very nice for begginers or people o a tight budget.