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Fender Prosonic Combo amp


KjStrat62

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Found one mint with cover. I believe it is a 1996 model. Thinking about trading my 73 fender twin for it. Not definite but was thinking of doing so. The prosonic has a drive channel that may sound good with my Gibson LP. Anyone have this amp and can fill me in on it's sounds?? Thanks

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I had one, sold it and don't regret it.

Imagine the worst distortion pedal you've ever played, that's the drive side of the Prosonic.

 

If you're gonna unload a Twin and want a Fender I'd go with the Supersonic, much better overdrive and the cleans are way better, plus you have two choices of clean sounds.

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Is this the red or green tolex one? The desireable version is the one that says "fender musical instruments" on the faceplate. The cleans on the amp were kind of dark for me. Which might be a concern for you since you would be coming from the twin reverb camp. The gain channel is also a bit dark and has two controls that you will have to get acqainted with. In the end, I didn't care for it so I sold it. It's too bad because it was a really cool looking amp.

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Great amps, I guess I have a tin ear cause I loved the drive side.

 

 

Yeah, i don't know what the hell SeeMoore is talking about - the Prosonics that i've played and heard have all sounded great.

 

class A or class A/B switch

tube rectifier

60 watts with a master volume and TWO stackable gain stages

glassy cleans like all Fender fans love, but super saturated distortions for heavy music fans

 

probably one of the most versatile Fender designs ever made.

probably didn't sell as well because they didn't make the combos 1x12 or 2x12, and kept them 2x10. that might have turned too many heavy music fans away, and it was too "metal" for the normal Fender weekend warrior blues player fanbase.

 

{censored} it. i've asked my friend to sell me his combo at least 5 times, but he's got a white-knuckle grip on it. he plays a Gretsch DuoJet through it and it sounds bad ass.

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I've had one for years. I think the normal channel is like a Vibroluxe on steroids, and mine definitely has the classic Fender sound. I also think it's much better than the Supersonic which to me fell short of either of the clean settings it has ( ampwise ).

The overrive channel is mostly just useful to me for slide playing and if the midrange is pushed to fatten up the clean channel the it's too honky for the overdrive channel. Depending on you tone preferences though it can definitely give what MOST people would find useful.

I have never really used mine in any but the 30 watt setting and it's LOUD ! I can see the time where I might need the 50 or 60 watt settings though, but I put tiltback legs on mine so 30 watts is plenty.

You can also do the trick where you dime the normal volume and turn all the tone settings to 0 and then gradually bring them up to taste and volume of preference. That way you can overdrive the amp and keep the volume from killing. Also doing that in the overdrive mode gives some different flavors.

I hope you find this info useful.........just my two cents.

B.

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I've had one for years. I think the normal channel is like a Vibroluxe on steroids, and mine definitely has the classic Fender sound. I also think it's much better than the Supersonic which to me fell short of either of the clean settings it has ( ampwise ).

The overrive channel is mostly just useful to me for slide playing and if the midrange is pushed to fatten up the clean channel the it's too honky for the overdrive channel. Depending on you tone preferences though it can definitely give what MOST people would find useful.

I have never really used mine in any but the 30 watt setting and it's LOUD ! I can see the time where I might need the 50 or 60 watt settings though, but I put tiltback legs on mine so 30 watts is plenty.

You can also do the trick where you dime the normal volume and turn all the tone settings to 0 and then gradually bring them up to taste and volume of preference. That way you can overdrive the amp and keep the volume from killing. Also doing that in the overdrive mode gives some different flavors.

I hope you find this info useful.........just my two cents.

B.

 

 

Thanks for that review. I would be using a Gibson Les Paul through one so looking for a little input

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Thanks for that review. I would be using a Gibson Les Paul through one so looking for a little input

 

 

 

I used a flying v and a fender 1960's relic with mine and I could get some pretty heavy sounds out of it with the v. I like to play old ZZ Top stuff like La Grange and Cheap Sunglasses and it could get there easily plugged straight into the amp. The EQ controls are active, very sensitive, with the mids rolled off it can get a sort of Recto type of distortion with humbuckers. With single coils on the clean channel it has a nice spanking clean tone.

 

Issues with the prosonic:

 

Popping noise when switching channels:

When you switch channels from clean to gain it pops. There are alot of discussions out there about fixes for it, check the FDP forum (http://www.fenderforum.com/forum.html?db=&topic_number=233632&lastpost=2007-04-0104:41:28) there is a huge thread there discussing the amp. Good preamp tubes almost eliminate it.

 

FX loop:

Cant really use pedals in the FX loop, rack stuff only.

 

Its been about five years since I owned mine so I cant really remember alot about it. I wish I had not sold it but I have a Rectoverb that covers all the same bases that the prosonic did and then some. Might be worth checking into, one thing about the rectoverb that people often overlook is the clean channel. It is really very good, the key to it is to roll off the volume on your guitar a little and it really gets sweet.

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The Prosonic has been my main amp for about 7 years.

 

It's really good and versatile like some have said. The cleans are dark (this sutis me great) and it has tinges of Mesa and Voxiness in there. At 30 watts it's plenty loud enough for most applications. I used to get a little more clean for certain outdoor things by changing rectifier settings.

 

I don't use the gain channel. Not that it's bad. I just find it better to put pedal in front.

 

Mine still runs very hot and is always slightly noisy too. At the time I bought it, it was stupidly expensive, but secondhand these are going for decent prices and haven't been pushed up too much by being discontinued.

 

I probably wouldn't swap it for the 73 Twin, unless the speakers in that are bad or your back is hurting from lugging it. The 2x10s in the prosonic make it very cool in Vibrolux fashion...they suit me, they move some good air without the weight of 2x12.

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Bump I think I'll take a chance on this amp. If it doesn't work out it wouldn't be the first time!!

 

 

pay little attention to the naysayers, this amp is liquid napalm.

 

just take the time to tweak it to your use.

it breathes fire & ice.

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pay little attention to the naysayers, this amp is liquid napalm.


just take the time to tweak it to your use.

it breathes fire & ice.

 

 

Well made the trade and you hit this one on the head. The amp breathes fire and ice. Swapped out the chicken head knobs with some Fender white vintage knobs. Replaced the lamp light and amp jewel to a cool light blue. replaced the reverb pre driver with a EH 12at7. This amp smokes. Blows away the twin. the gain stages are awesome. can't really turn the amp up past a 2 in either channel. I like the Celestion custom shop speakers. This amp sings!!!:thu:

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The drive channel is one of the best things about the Prosonic. I'll admit it takes good ears and some tweaking, but great tone is in there. I have no problem getting Mark 1 & Dumble like sounds out of the amp. It will even get into Marshall territory. The Clean sound is great, a little darker than a regular Fender amp with a bright switch -but no where near being a problem. Very rich.

 

When you add in the three operating/power choices you have a very versatile amp. I have a 1976 Twin and I'd take the Prosonic to a gig over it any day. Mine is a LO serial number (Fender Musical Instruments- under the Prosonic label) with a green jewel light stock -The original custom shop model.

 

Anyone that says the drive channel is useless wasn't trying very hard. Some of the best things in life have little to do with instant gratification.

 

p.s. My effects loop works great with pedals, but overdrives rack units for some reason. This has been said by many Custom Shop Prosonic users and isn't one of the issues Fender list a fix for. I did have to do three mods to correct the channel popping & Reverb issues. Fender did supply clear instructions/schematics online -and they worked.

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Prosonics are great amps, but none were made in the custom shop. They were only designed there. I got this info on Fender Forum, where they got an actual reply from Fender and Bruce Zinky. All of them came with green lights stock. Early ones were made in a different factory though, but not the custom shop, like Tone Master, Vibro King and so on.

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Prosonics are great amps, but none were made in the custom shop. They were only designed there. I got this info on Fender Forum, where they got an actual reply from Fender and Bruce Zinky. All of them came with green lights stock. Early ones were made in a different factory though, but not the custom shop, like Tone Master, Vibro King and so on.

 

Yea custom shop doesn't mean much to me. Good sound DOES!!

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I had one, sold it and don't regret it.

Imagine the worst distortion pedal you've ever played, that's the drive side of the Prosonic.


If you're gonna unload a Twin and want a Fender I'd go with the Supersonic, much better overdrive and the cleans are way better, plus you have two choices of clean sounds.

 

 

So, you didn't know how to use the cascading gain configuration, eh? Your loss dude someone else's gain.

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The 73 Twin is a nice amp. Just weighs a ton!! Has plenty of clean headroom. Looking for a dirty channel amp though. I thought the prosonic might be a good match

 

Keep the Twin, get a dolly, get a Damage Control Womanizer and run it in the Twin (works good with other pedals too)

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