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!!

I bought this amp one week ago. so I cold play it for a few days. I bought it, because I was looking for an amp to take with me for vacation or something like that. I think that I will use this amp for practising and for playing along when someone comes along to play with me some somgs. The only thing I am missing is a footswitch to change the different amp-models.

I'm totally satisfied with the sound of an amp of this measures. The sound has very much of a tube amp.

Of course I can't use it on stage (but just never tried). It is a practising amp and an amp to take along.

I own this amp for a week. So I had no problems with this. I bought it from a local dealer in Aachen/Germany. If tehr should be any trouble, I'd take the amp back to the dealer.The warranty is two years

I would buy this amp again. I normaly play a Fender "The Twin" (red knob) with different effect boxes(Morley-volume-pedal, T.C.-Chorus, T.C.-Booster, T.C.-Phaser, Marshall-Guv'nor II. Sometimes I use a VOX-Tonelab SE. I love the light weight of the Fender G-DEC Junior and it's versatility. As I wrote above, the only thing I am missing is a foot switch to change betwenn the amp-types.

It is a brand new amp... made in 07, I'm guessing....I play a little bit of everything, and so far this is great.... All features covered in previous posts...

I'm quite impressed with the sound.... I have a Vox DA5 and a Traynor YCV20WR with JJ Tubes and a Weber Extension speaker, and this compares favorably with both... I just got it, and I've only used it so far, with an Ibanez Sa-160, which has had the pickups upgraded with Tom Anderson pickups. In fairness, I don't think I've played the Vox since I got the new pickups, so a comparison would not be fair.

Too soon to tell, just got it yesterday...

Have not dealt with them...

I have been taking lessons and playing for about 7 years... I suck, but I get a lot of enjoyment out of playing.... I'm getting a good handle on scales and modes, so this amp gives me a great opportunity to jam and develop some of my own licks, and also explore lots of different styles, and learn what scales fit with what keys.... I believe this amp will really help me improve my playing....I would buy it again... I like the simplicity... it has fewer parameters than the other g-dec's and for me, that's good... I have some effects pedals and I always only use the presets... I never tweak anything... (hey, I'm alone in my basement)... have a hard time figuring them out, and don't need them for my uses. One of my pedals a Zoom G1 has a drum machine which is great for timing, but having a bass player that I can change the keys, will really help me to learn to transpose as well....(also, I've plugged the headphone jack to my Traynor Tube Amp, and that sounded great.... if anyone can refer me to a good site, that would teach me how to use midi with this amp, it would be appreciated.... note what I'm wondering is whether the amp's tempo setting would allow me to slow down or speed up midi files from my computer. My email is richard.chartrand@mac.com

Loads of features - a near perfect practice amp. The loops are indispensible for jamming along. The seperate volume controls for the loops and the guitar are a major improvement over the original G-dec. So are the analog type controls (just knobs) - they make operating the amp very simple. Being able to change the key and tempo of the loop playback is a big plus.

Quiet operation is a plus. The sound is very good overall - I prefer the blackface options with some delay. Sounds fantastic for clean and slightly driven blues with my Epi Casino - I mostly play the neck P-90. Sweet sounding with the middile pickup on my Strat.

Tweaking the sound can be a little work, but be patient. There appears to be a sweet spot with each amp emulation.

Unknown - just broke it out on Christmas day

Unknown - just broke it out on Christmas day

Everybody should own one - great trainer with excellent sounds.

This has a ton of features as listed in the first post. This is a great amp for practice and or small jam sessions (not full blown performance gigs). Very portable (no stomp boxes needed) very small. I would give it a higher raing but it is not powerfull for stage or gigs.

I went to the GS intending to get a Fender Champion 600 tube practice amp. However the Champion 600 sound did not impress me. After trying this amp in all its modes I found it to be better sounding than the Champion 600. First, the sound at low and high volumes are a lot better than the more expensive Champion 600 tube amp. second, I realy like the sound of the reverb on this little amp, along with the different modeling amps (i.e., tweed and Hot Rod) it sounds great at comfortable and high volumes. I am impressed by this amp's tone even though it is a digital processed tone. In my opinion, this is more versitile and better sounding than the 15 watt Marshall DFX amps.

Don't know, just got it. Declined the extra 2 year replacement warranty from GS. But, it has a fender 5 yr warranty.

30+ years, owned all kinds of stuff.
What I like is: 1) it is small and portable, 2) it has that blues jr look, and like the old 1960s champ I had years ago, 3) it has good tone that can be varied a lot to suit all types of styles. and 4) It's a lot cheaper than the Marshall 15DFX and the Fender Champion 600. Like all amps that are for practice I wish it had a larger speaker. I might be able to fit a 10" weber in there.

-made in 2007
-suits any style
-one channel, fx a-plenty, headphone out, tuner, MIDI
-I wish it had a guitar string dispenser, otherwise it has a lot to offer, I'm sure hardly anyone uses all it's features regularly
-bedroom amp for practice, plenty of power for that, and it should only be judged as such

-the variety of sounds is broad indeed, from clean jazz to scooped metal, and those modelings do sound different and have unique characters
-at least on headphones the cleans stay clean until your ears bleed, the speaker is too loud for my apartment building. It sounds great on headphones, much better than my previous bedroom amp, the fabulous Micro Cube
-distortion is brutal if you don't tweak the sounds properly... but the British models I find (mostly) unusable, fuzzy & muddy no matter what I try. Metal models I don't need, but other overdrives and distorted amps are usable and provide me with enough options to last a lifetime of noodling. Faves being Blackface and Hot Rod, but Tweed is good too. Tweed and B-face clean sounds are very, very good, and compliment my Tele really well.
-Yup, I use it with an American Ash Tele (fave being B-face 1, gain 3,5 , tone 5 and the short delay... twang!), mostly clean, but good slightly ODed sounds for some Stones too (B-face 2, gain around 6,5). I also have a Les Paul that I use almost exclusively for dirt, and again all Tweed, B-face and Hot Rod ODs work depending on how much dirt is needed (I don't go for ultra distortions, but Neil Youngish style gets covered - not exact replica, but something that works, and works well)
-I'm happy it enables me to play what I want without having any effects at all. I didn't use much apart from ODs, and I don't need those with this. Guitars vol knob does the trick if I need to add something during a song, and I rarely do.
-not noisy at all

-seems reliable, stays in one place

-no idea, but Fender sounds reliable...

-been playing for 30 years, owned a lot of stuff trying to find a pleasing practice sound... this is it, no I can sell most extra gear and get stuff I really need (STRINGS!---this amp makes you play a lot)
-compares favourably to other bedroom amps like Micro Cube
-Love it, don't hate anything, it's functional

I am re-submitting this as it was mistakenly put in with the regular G-DEC the first time. This one has top mounted controls and no "menu" to fool with.

Series G-DEC Junior
Type Solid State Guitar Amplifier
Output 15 Watts
Speakers One 8" Fender Special Design Speaker
Channels One
Features *15 Watts into an 8" Special Design Speaker.
*16 Amp Types, Including Tweed, Blackface???, British, Hot Rod, Metal, Jazz, and Acoustic, Recreate the Guitar Tones Needed to Play any Style of Music.
*15 Special Effects Presets, Including Reverb, Delay, Chorus, Flange and Tremolo.
*15 Drum/Bass/Accompaniment Loops, Including Patterns Appropriate for Rock, Blues, Jazz, Metal, Country, Latin, Hip-hop and More.
*Metronome.
*Key Selector Knob Allows for 14 Different Keys; "Bass Off" may be Selected, Allowing only the Drum Sounds to be Activated.
*Tempo Knob Allows Settings from 30 to 240 Beats Per Minute.
*Separate Controls for Guitar Volume and Backing Loop Volume.
*Built-in E-tuner with LED Indicator.
*MIDI Connector Allows for Streaming Files from Computer.
*1/8" AUX In Allows Jam-along Capability with External CD or MP3 Player.
*1/8" Headphone Jack Doubles as a Line Output to Recording Gear or Other Amplifier
Controls (Guitar) Gain, Volume, Tone, Amp Type, Effects Select,
(Backing) Volume, Tempo, Key, Loop Select, Start/Stop

OK, this is where this little thing shines, MUCH easier to use than its big brothers. top controls, all knobs, no menus, just turn and play.
This thing is a little band all by itself, with bass, drums, multiple styles of backing tracks, and adjustable key and tempo, and multiple amp models
Only rereason it does not get a 10 is that the guitar controls are limited

OK, the backing tracks are really nice, but the amp models are just passable
But guess what, this is not supposed to be a gigging amp, it's a practice tool that is just loud enough to jam with buddies
The distorted sounds, aside from the metal setting, are just kind of raspy, the blues tones are OK but in no way resemble a combo with a tube screamer, the clean is quite good as is the metal setting

Aside from my Metalhead 1/2 stack, I don't have a lot of love for the fender solid state sounds, expecially after playing the horrible sounding FM65DSP, but this little amp is way cool and is good enough to make you ewant to play with it

For an advanced practicing musician, this is a great way to stay in the groove if you don't jam or play out on a regular basis
For a beginner just learing to play well, this is an invaluable practice tool
How often can you jam with a backing band, adjust the key, style, and tempo??
Get's a nine because nothing is perfect, but it's hard to find a "band in a box" for under $200 anywhere else.

This is the link to this little amp on musicians friend
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-GDEC-Junior-15-Watt-1x8-Combo-Amp?sku=485051