Fender FM-212R

I got my Fender FM212R in 2004. My band plays mostly classic rock, like Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, AC/DC, Clapton, SRV, Van Halen and Aerosmith. I had only been playing for six months when I first got the amp, and at the time it seemed to get the style down OKAY. But the more I used it, the more imperfections I noticed. The amp has three channels, which is good. The Clean sounds the best out of all of them. The Drive channel is great for some stuff, but when you want a more overdriven sound like Hendrix, you can use the Overdrive, which is the worst channel. There are PRE OUT and PWR IN jacks in the front, but I don't ever use them. The reverb sucks too, it hardly works. There are 2 seperate EQs, one for Clean and one for the Drive/Overdrive Channel. The 2 Inputs suck since there only one volume knob to control both, and it always seems like one guitar is louder than the other. I use this for practicing in my bedroom and at band practices. It's defintely loud enough. I've never had it over 3 in my room, but I've had it at 10 at band practice just to see how loud it could get, and we could barely hear the drummer, and we couldn't hear our singer. The amp is a solid state, and it's quite obvious from listening to it.

I use my Epiphone Les Paul with the stock humbuckers with the bridge humbucker cover removed. I also use my 50th Anniversary American Deluxe Fender Stratocaster. I can't be within 10 feet of my amp with my Les Paul because it gets so much feedback. And when I use my strat, the Drive and Overdrive channels muddy up the sound. But when I use the Drive and Overdrive with my Les Paul, it doesn't sound as bad. As far as classic rock sounds, its a decent amp, but far from a really good classic rock sound. The clean channel stays pretty decent at high volumes but it does get a bit fuzzy at 9 and 10. When I use the Drive, it seems to sound fine but not at high volumes. The distortion doesn't seem as strong when I turn it up louder for some reason. And the Overdrive sounds horrible. It makes my Strat sound like junk.

I certainly cannot always depend on my amp. That's why I plan on getting a Marshall as soon as possible. About a month after I had it, the reverb began to buzz really loud, whenever I turned it up. After checking out the back of the amp, I noticed that the input jack for the reverb was loose and the wire had come out. After I took off the reverb, I found that the circuitboard thing for the input jack was broken in two and one of the reverb springs had come out at one end. Then, the following week, while turning the bass knob on the Drive EQ, it snapped completely off. And the only way to get it fixed, is to send it somewhere to get it taken apart and get a new pot for the knob. And finally, today as a matter of fact, the mid contour button stopped working. It seems to be stuck between being on and off and there is hardly any sound coming from my amp, even at 10.

I've only been playing for about a year and a half, but I do know what I'm doing and talking about when it comes to guitars and amps. If this were stolen or lost, I would be glad so my parents could buy me a Marshall. I would never replace this amp ever. But don't let this discourage you from purchasing a Fender amp, just don't get this one in particular. I've tried the higher end Fenders and they are 100 times better than this. The price is the most I would ever pay for this amp, but it's a decent amp for a beginner.

very versatile extremely can reach any distortion setting good i'd say three channels two distrtion one clean

extreme distortion this thing can so heavey it has better distortion then my friends 700 dollar line 6! but it can get a little too much so you have to control it. great awesome clean tone good amp for the money. it does get kinda unclear and muddy when you play with distortion high. but i use a jackson rr3 and they are very metal toghther. great everything i really like that mid button it's like sounding great old metal to new metal just like that

uh from my experinces it is a simple beast that is pretty tuff. it hasen't broken even though i've thrown it around more than a couple of times moving it around. it is durable and fun and simple

5 year warrenty

a good amp for a good price with clear and able gigging ablilties. I really enjoy this amp and it's awesome distortion great sound and espeacilly how loud it is. not a really good small practise amp for jaming with a band. good sound but the reverb is a little weak and ya basic.

I Own a Fender '65 Twin Custom 15 so I know how a real nice Fender sounds.

The sound quality is quite bad compared to a "real" fender amp. The FM 212 has a very good clean channel though! the problem is the drive-channel. It's just a disaster. Also the reverb, Im sorry guys but it is really bad, Just dont use it. I guess a first-time amp owner playing blues/hard-rock will digg the sound. The amp sounds very clear adn punchy. When using any kind of distortion, you will notice a "trompet-like sound" which is typically for cheap amps.

If you experienced Marchall and MESA don't want to hear the FM 212. BUT WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH THIS LOW PRICE!!! I think the price-quality is so good! When you buy a FM 212 you have the best value for your money.

My advise is to buy this amp for gigs. Its cheap so if some punker throuws beer at it you can play on without any fear. Use the clean channel. Make shure you have effect-pedals (I use a "Boss GT6") but a "Fox Tone-lab" works also very good. And then the best feature of this amp...IT'S LOUD. Yes, it's louder then anything in this priceclass. It's louder than a Roland JC120, louder than most mid-dised Marchalls. It's so nice to have a gig with this amp.

I use the FM 212 for gigs. And only for that.

i OWN 1968 Fender Twin suped!
The speakers are so unique!
I will never sell this beast!!!

I just bought this AMP and maybe not fare to judge but very loud!
The overdrive is overpowering, but like everything in life, you have to learn to control the power!
Can't blame FENDER for that moment!
The best amps just trickle off the line!
Overall, for $500,00 canadian, I am impressed!
I will never write Fender out of the riding!

Marshalls are great but who needs to carry 150 lbs to a gig!
Give this Amp a try for the average Joe, okay!!!

N/A

Too new to tell, but I am still pouring the notes through the speakers
When I get bored, I'll let you know!
Bottom line, but an AMPEG!
Best Amp in the world!
Unfortunately, the rest of the band can't stay with you!!!

Don't know the year, but these haven't been around that long, have they? Bought it about a year ago from musicians friend. I play rock and rock alone, so I don't need metal or blues tones. 3 channels, and as the case seems to be even with better Fenders, stick to the clean. The drive channel can give you some moderately good distortion with the gain turned low. Im not sure what good the more drive channel would be--you get loud with it, but its just soup. In other words, dont do what I did and buy this thing with an eye on a 3 channel w/ foot switch and think youre going to get away without buying some overdrive pedals. Play through the clean and use pedals for your tone. (note: the reverb is not accessed through the footswtich--you either dial it on or dial it down to 0. the footswitch simply takes you through the 3 channels. the reverb dial applies to all 3 channels).

My electric is a 1965 harmony rocket--you hear people call the old hollow body harmonies a "poor mans gretsch". i bought my guitar for the retro tone, and the clean channel lets me have it. The clean channel suits the hollow body twang and when my tubescreamer (sold separately) is on, I get lots and lots of feedback. Id say the clean channel is roughly comparable to your fender twin reverb, and it becomes that much better when you look at the price.

The distortion is negligible on the clean channel. Although I can't say I've turned it up to 10, I'm also not sure why anybody would want to. (this is a very, very loud amp).

The reverb is ok. You should probably ask somebody else, cause I don't have much use for it, but to my ear it sounds like the reverb goes from 0 to soup at around 7 or 8.

The mid contour button confuses me. I suspect it has something to do with the "nu-metal". I prefer my mids uncontoured, I suppose? Why are you on the drive channel anyway? Get back to the clean.

The 8 is for the clean channel; one channel is enough at this price and this wattage. 5 for the drive channel and ? for the more drive.

Maybe mine is a lemon? Reverb stopped working completely 2 weeks after I bought it. Had a warranty, brought it in, two weeks later I got it back and the reverb was fine. No major problems since then, but after carting it somewhere and taking it off the hand truck, I noticed that 2 of the screws holding the left speaker in place had popped out. Huh? Make sure you get that warranty. A backup amp for gigs sounds like a nice fantasy.

When the reverb broke, I called in and they told me where to take it. 2 authorized repairpeople on manhattan, only one of which was able to take her in. But they fixed it, free of charge, since it was very much under warranty. Get that warranty!

Been playing at least a little for about 5 years but Ive only been playing electric for about one. If you need a 100 watt amp and have 300 dollars to spend, this is it. Such were my circumstances when I picked it out--not playing anything else--and I cant say ive been disappointed. A good clean channel at a true 100 watts for 300 bucks is what you get, and nothing more, which doesnt mean its not a great deal. I have a feeling the reviews here would be more positive if this amp didnt act like it had a worthwhile couple of distortion channels. Pretend they arent there; a lot of kids will buy this amp and have fun with them.

The sum is greater than the parts; this amp only cost 300 bucks.

This amp is pretty simple but i really like it, it doesn't have any features i don't like, altough i don't really use the "Mid Contour" or the "more drive" feature. It comes with a footswitch for channels(two buttons, 1: Clean/drive 2: drive/more drive". It has inputs for a pre-amp and a? power-amp on the front. Plus, IT IS LOUD, love it.

The amp it self isn't noisy, but my pickups are so yeah. I really like the clean channel og the reverb but the dist. isn't my style, i use a md-2 with a little bit of dist + no gain boost and the neck pickup and that's my sound. Sounds bright and a little bit piercing but that's just my guitar ;)
The dist. can be pretty brutal when using the "more gain", but as i said the dist isn't really that great.

The clean channel is awesome, what else to expect from a fender amp??

Only rating it 6 here because of the dist.

would gig without a backup. Never broken down on me.

Have yet to try it live and it's just sitting in my bedroom for now so yeah i don't give it a rating here.

Bought it in a local store here in Iceland, never had troubles with them.

If it were stolen i would probably get another one. Wisk it had a better dist but hey, can't beat the price

not too shabby here, simple but effective. The datails have already been written.

Im using a Fender USA highway. Sounds reasonable, loud as u need. Drive channels arnet amazing, but if u can play well they can sing the notes. If your like me, just need a box of noise to get over the drummer, and can play a half decent guitar, this amp is for you.

This thing is a tank, like most fender products. No worries here.

I would say this is a good buy. I needed a cheap, loud amp, and this is perfect. Considering at most gigs the acuostics are horrid, and the crowd is drunk, the 'subtleties' of your own 'sound' are as pointless as a chocolate teapot. I would highly recommend this amp to a half decent guitarist on a budjet. If ure still learning this amp might be a bit of a handfull, as it doesnt excactley compliment a poor hand.

nothing to add to the previous reviews...

8, because there's no headphone jack and the eq possibilities are rather limited.

i use a strat like guitar with 3 singlecoils which make the amp hum when you're using "more drive".
i play rock and grunge-ish punk rock.
this amp suits me very well since it's loud as hell...
the distorted channel (drive + more drive) doesn't sound like most other amps...in my opinion it's somehow more lively and less shallow than other (good) amps i've tried.
if you're playing stuff like metal or hardrock, you might find it not very useful. but i love it.

everything ok till today

the warranty is three months, which is pretty little time. but that depends on the dealer

i think i'd buy this amp again. it sounds great and it's quite cheap too.

Amp was made in 2004. It is quite a basic amp with three channels but was bought specifically being aware of the limits of the amps features. I play Blues and Rock music and use this amp for some of my gigs. It has more than enough power for my gigs.

I use this amp with a humbucker equipped BC Rich Exclusive. It is not noisy at all although the third channel (2nd overdrive) can be quite harsh at louder volumes.

Have used it for almost 12 months without any problems. I have always had a backup amp regardless of what I use. Amp has never broken down.

12 months warranty, never had to bring it to a Fender dealer for repairs.

I have been playing for 20 years and own a variety of Fender guitars and amps. I would certainly consider buying another one if the need arose. I love the portability but sometimes wish that it had a little bit more tube-like characteristics.

made in 2004, china
solid state, mono, two 12' speakers
amp can do especially blues, jazz, rock no metal or anything like that but i dont' really play that stuff so i don't really care.
it has 3 channels, clean, drive, and more drive, effects loop, no headphone jack, footswitch, spring reverb, mid contour switch.
really wish it had a headphone jack, i don't really ever use the effects loop. use this amp at home, which 100 watts is more than enough power for me, i don't really ever go over 2 on the volume.

play with oscar schmidt oe30 with humbuckers, and first act strat copy 3 with single coils. dialing the right settings you can go from blues to jazz on clean channels and with overdrive can classic rock.
it is very loud, don't think i'll ever go past 4 on volume in my house. amp can be very bluesy and very warm and it can also be really bright sounding. the clean channel always stays clean even on vol 10. the distortion as much but is more than enough for me, and it sounds really cool on with mid contour

yes it seams reliable, i would not gig with out a backup.

haven't needed repairs or to call customer support but it comes with a 5 year warranty.

i've been playing for a year and i own a 10 watt first act amp, and digitech RP200A. if it were stolen or lost i would definately but another one because it was so cheap and good. i love that it is really loud and if i ever start giging i would be able to use it.
wish it had headphone jack