Fender G-DEC JUNIOR

My model was a 2008 version. It was recommended as an amplifier for playing at home. The most compelling features were: the backing tracks, the ability to plug in a CD or MP3 player, and the ability to plug in headphones. These are all excellent features in a home amp.

I sold the amp because of poor sound quality. I play blues, which uses a lot of slides-- a phrasing technique where you play a chord, hold it, and slide your fingers to another position on the fretboard. These often were inaudible or of very poor quality when compared to the same notes played on a different amp. This quality issue also affected some chords.

I also did not like the cheap-sounding digital effects, and usually supplied my own backing tracks via the CD/MP3 interface.

I considered buying one of the more expensive G-DEC models, but my dealer suggested the new Line6 Spider Jam. I bought it, although it costs more than I wanted to spend, and I am glad I did. That is a wonderful amp that I will never part with.

No failures. The amp seemed to be very well built and very sturdy, with fine componentry visible.

No experience with it, but service center is nearby.

I love the concept, just not the execution. I believe that for the right person, perhaps someone who is learning guitar with songs that don't require a lot of chords, this is probably a good choice.

I would be interested to know whether the other, more expensive, models of G-DEC improve the sound quality.

I hope Fender continues to develop this concept because it's such a great idea.

This is the problem...The amps is not bads but... i have a Digitech rp250 and i connected with the g-dec and now i'm happy.

I give 5 for the g-dec lone but i give 9 when the rp 250 in conjunction whit the g-dec

This is the 'simplified' knobs on top version. Lots of built in effects as previously mentioned by others.

It has a hum that is a deal killer. If you buy a tiny bedroom amp to be played at bedroom volumes you don't want to hear hum because it's very noticeable at those low volume levels... :-(

The only decent thing about this amp is the ambient effects (reverb, delay, etc.)

Can't say haven't had it long.

Not needed yet.

Great idea, sorry implementation. In addition to the hum, there are two other major problems. First, there only two or three useful 'backing tracks.' Since that is the selling point you think they would have done better. On rock track? One blues track? Gimme a break. The other problem is the lack of decent modeling amp presets. I could only get one useful one with any volume - the setting right between 'tweed' and 'blackface.' It's a shame Fender couldn't get this little thing right, because the idea of tempo/key adjustable backing tracks with built in effects is a great one.

If I can rewire the thing to eliminate the hum, then it'll be worth the $25 I paid. Otherwise, worthless.

Made in 2007. It comes with some built in fx (delay, chorus, reverb, tremolo, flanger). Just the one channel, comes with a headphone jack that uses a 1/8 inch input.

Quite a few of the amp models are kinda useless. More explained in sound quality. I mainly use this amp in a room, it seems kinda loud compared to some other 15w amps. Has inbuilt backing tracks which i don't really use that much.

Solid State.

Using it in conjunction with Squier Affinity Fat Strat. It has a fairly good clean sound, and I think the delay sounds pretty good too, but i don't really have much to compare with as far as fx go. I don't really like the reverb, sounds a bit too fake. The flanger, chorus and tremolo settings are pretty good.

Like I mentioned earlier, I think most of the amp models are pretty useless. The acoustic setting is really really quiet, to be able to hear it at all you have to turn it up to about 12 o'clock, and even then it doesn't sound too similar to an acoustic anyway. The only settings I use at all really is just the british, 1st hot rod and clean. The main genres I play are metal and rock. The British settings sound kinda muddy, aren't very heavy either (not that that's a bad thing necessarily). The 1st hot rod setting sounds great with the neck pickup on my squier fat strat, really clear and singing. The metal setting sounds really transparent unless you keep the tone knob around 12 o'clock, and neither of them are really that good anyway and are hardly much meatier than the british settings. Not really suitable for metal music. Blackface sounds way too muddy for me to be of any use, and the jazz setting sounds almost exactly the same as the acoustic setting, only slightly louder.

While it doesn't sound like the best amp in the world, it's still pretty cheap so I think it deserves a 7.

It's never broken down on me, but it hasn't really been out of my bedroom all that much after 2 years of use. I wouldn't give it a ten because i don't know how well it would stand up to regular abuse, but like i said, it still works perfectly for me.

Never had to deal with them.

I've been using this amp for as long as i've been playing guitar, about 2 years. If it were stolen I probably wouldn't care that much as I already have another amp that sounds better, but it doesn't have any fx so I guess I would miss them the most out of anything. If I absolutely HAD to have a similar budget amp I would probably look for something better around the same price point, maybe a Roland Cube 30x.

This is a cheap little single channel amp. It's got a bunch of decent effects loops, nothing special, but that's the main reason I bought it. It's also got a crappy little bass/drum loop that is of absolutely no use to me. I use it just in my house, and it's definitely powerful enough to hear throughout the whole house at high volume. There's no low/mid/high knobs, just a single master volume knob.

I've got a HSS strat and a Kramer semi-hollowbody that I play through it. It's decent and can be adapted to many styles, but doesn't really fit any perfectly. There's a loud hum when the gain is up, even when I'm not playing. The effects loops are decent quality, nothing special, but good enough.

It's very sturdy, well built, and encased in tortex type material. I wouldn't say I could drop it and it would be fine, but it's survived numerous collisions with walls and other things. It's never broken down, but then again, I've only played it irregularly for under a year.

Never had to deal with customer support

I've played through a lot of amps, and I wouldn't exactly consider this top-tier, but it's good enough for a beginner. Lately, I've seen quite a few ads for the Peavy Vypyr, which comes in a 15 what combo model that's even cheaper than this amp, and has even more features. I feel like it was a bit of a waste of money to pay for the bass/drum loop. No low/mid/high is DEFINITELY a minus.

Amp modelling, rhythm tracks, reverb

I play fairly clean blues using an MIJ Strat with US pickups, and usually jam through a small tube amp. Quite honestly this practice amp is a disappointment (though perhaps I shouldn't have expected more for its size). The clean volume is low on all simulations, and if the gain is turned up a it's often noisy and buzzy and not at all pleasant to my ear. I have a Roland Cube 30 which is in a different league, but costs little more. In fact I now only use the G-Dec as a source of backing tracks, and play through the Cube. The latter has much better amp modelling, sound, ambience...in fact everything except the rhythm tracks. I really don't understand where all these high scores come from on sound quality for the G-Dec. IMHO it's barely acceptable as a samll practice amp. Try jamming with others (even at low volume or acoustic guitars) and it just doesn't cut through. A 30W version with a large speaker might be a different proposition, but not this one I'm afraid...sorry guys.

I wouldn't expect any problems

12 months warranty. After that I'd fix it myself or junk it.

I like the immediacy of backing tracks vs. other alternatives...being able to set the style, key and bpm with rotary knobs is so easy! The amp sounds and simulations leave a LOT to be desired...and I no longer use it for this purpose. My rating is based on the usefulness of the rhythm tracks (8) vs. the amp modelling and general tone (3)

Its been said but basic digital effects and amp modeling for 150 bucks with a decent drum machine. Much better than the one on my dod multi effects. Even Pros would enjoy this little budle of joy IMO. If your buying this to gig with you probably wont be happy go and get the real blues Jr. I own that too! Very nice and probably the least
expensive fender tube amp that sounds real gooooood.

Some pretty decent tones that really sound good to practice to. The acoustic patch needs to be turned up to max to be heard. Main thing is this is a fun little amp. You get enough basic drum patterns to play many styles of music and believe me this makes practice way more fun. Not a gigging amp but for what it is its hard to beat. The other fender series like the champ with amp modeling sound better but they dont have the drum machine and this sounds pretty cool at low levels. I love it

so far so good. Im tempted to put the guts of this in a slighly larger cabinet and put a 10 inch speaker in it.

never had problems with fender gear yet

listened to the more expensive g-dec products and like the small size with the ease of use. All knobs no data scrolling. When will engineers realize people are analog not digital. If you want a fun practice amp that you could even use for some intimate jam sessions this is the bomb. The drum machine sold me. Also has a 1/8 inch aux jack so you could use as a monitor and send drums and guitar signal into a PA. I'm going to try that next week.

Small, light and easy to use. The knobs are a lot simpler than menu-driven selectors. has a basic range of effects, a reasonable drum beat section and a pretty useless and cheesy bass loop.

Boxy, but in a nice way, like an original Champ. The effects aren't individually adjustable and go from minimum -> to much -> over the top and aren't particularly useful if you wanted to record with it. The amp sims are a mix - the Hot Rod 1 and 2 can be tweaked to closely mimic my Hot Rod Deluxe and the Tweed 1 with Gain 7, Vol 7, Tone 7 has the great breakup and boxiness of a real Champ. The rest of the sims - including the Blackface - are only so-so. I bought this for night practice and I play blues, swing and jazz with a US Strat and a Parker Mojo. It sits under my desk and on the Hot Rod and Tweed settings with Reverb 1 it is absolutely lovely, to the extent that I often use it instead of the tube amps during "normal" time as well. Good sound and good playing response. The loop side I find pretty ordinary but the drums can be adjusted to match just about anything and that is handy if you are practicing phrasing for riffs etc. The only useful bass line is the Chicago one as it does chord changes, but again, it is rudimentary. A 30 sec loop recorder would have been more useful. The sound levels of the various sims vary a lot and the Tweed and Blackface ones are not very loud at all unless the gain is maxed, which sort of misses the point of "clean".

The tolex on mine was lifting from new and it has glue spills and messy joins. Had it not been the last one in the city for sale I would have passed it up. I popped the back off and had a look at the innards and they are as well made as any other name-brand cheapie amp and Fender gear is generally very reliable.

12 months in Australia, but so far I've never used Fender warranty.

Playing 40 years, sole source of income for a decade at one stage. I have used lots of gear and amps and tend to buy gear for specific purposes rather than general useage. For what I bought this for it is perfect. Tiny, light, good sound and fun to use. The only other small non-tube amp I've ever liked was the Vox Pathfinder 15R, and this one is just as nice. Not as sweet or as loud (the little Bulldog speaker in the Vox is a gem), but it does have a sort-of-tubey sound and a sort-of-tubey feel - or as much as you could expect for such a small and basic amp. For a purely riff practising amp it is excellent but I'd be wary of suggesting anyone buy one to use as their sole amp.

i got the amp in a fender starter pack and in the first 3 days the amp broke, so i got another one and it broke again in the next 30min. im wondering if the ones that come in the pack are deffective. if not of happened would of put higher rating

OK, this amp is AWESOME!! Its practically versatile for ANY guitarist out there!! The amp has the basics; gain, volume, tone, etc, but ALSO comes with special guitar distortions! Such as giving the guitar a "metal" tone or a "Hot-Rod" sound, along with built in effects such as tremolo and reverb!! Not only that, it has special loop tunes that include a bass and drum playing, and along with that, there are several different loop TYPES such as rock, metal, swing, latin, A BUILT IN METRONOME, AND you can select what tempo it plays at AND what key its in! Your possibilities are ENDLESS!! The only real flaw is that is does not have two input jacks for two guitars, though I have a special attachment I latch on to it so I can jam with a friend.

This amp sounds very clear, and can get VERY loud. With this amp, you can play in any style you want, quite literally. The only problem I have with it is that the acoustic setting is like, dead or something, I have to turn it to max volume to even think I'm hearing something. Seeing as how its a smaller amp, it'll be slightly noisy, naturally, but not as bad as some small amps. I only have a crybaby distortion pedal, and this amp registers it very loud and clear, which is nice! The built in effects to experiment with a very interesting. In other words, Tom Morello would love this thing.

This is just a practice amp and I don't gig (yet), but if I were to play in my Church's praise band, I would have this little amp by my side the whole time. The only problem there really is, is the imput jack has a plastic nut and can kind of break easy. Replacing it with a metal nut gets the problem fixed and you never have to worry about it again. Although you kind of have to count off a point for that weak plastic nut. Otherwise the amp can probably stand up to a heck load of everything (if that makes sense).

I have no idea where this amp came from, it was more of a birthday present from my father than anything. Although I DO know how much it cost.

I've been playing for a few months, and this isn't a tube amp or anything, but I may just stick with this little practice amp for a long, long time. It sounds great, clean, the effects and distortions are nice, what more could you ask for? The ONLY problem, like I mentioned earlier, is that it lacks a second jack for another cable for another guitar, but an attachment that has two jacks of its own fixes everything. If this amp were stolen or lost, I would DEFENATELY buy another, without a doubt, hands DOWN!!