A Guitar And Gear Support Forum

Scored one of these last week and wanted to give my thoughts on it.

I had only played through a Frontman noodling around at GC previously, and that was limited to the 40 watt Champion, which is basically the updated version of the Frontman (from what I've read) which includes digital shtuff/settings.

I've messed around with it for a couple of days, and my impression so far is:

• It's loud. Like PV Bandit loud. The clean channel volume knob is silly sensitive and goes from 0-100 at about 3 on the dial. You can play it at bedroom volume, but you have to fiddle with it some.

• The clean channel is...very very good. Pure Fender, is pretty much the best description. Sounds absolutely great with a Strat or Tele, and frankly, an LP as well. It's a little hissy, but not terrible, and I've heard worse (Vox AD series, and even the vaunted Pathfinder for example). Strong, scooped Fender tone.

• I had heard nothing but horrible reviews of the drive channel on the internet, and was prepared to hate it. Surprise--it's usable to a point. Up to about 4 on the gain, it sounds pretty damn good for classic rock/blues stuff. Beyond that, yeah, it gets fizzy/blatty, and not my thing. But it's got good tone to about halfway up, and it's definitely usable.

• Spring reverb is a bit disappointing. A little anemic, but again, usable. Prefer a HOF or something here.

• Pretty well-built. Not to the level of the old PV stuff, but the cab is MDF, and hardware is pretty solid. Knobs and pots are a bit flimsy though.

For the price you can get these--it's a good amp. Simple, and pretty full-featured for something you just want to plug into and let rip. Worth a look for a good pedal platform, and light gig amp, IMO.

Cleans on Fender solid state amps are usually pretty nice. Maybe it could use a bigger/better reverb tank?

Yeah, I think a bigger tank would probably help. The one in this thing is a bit short and stocky. Longer one would probably give it more ooomph.

Have you run any pedals into it as you mentioned as a possible pedal platform?

I had the little frontman. Probably 10 or 15 w. I was so surprised at how decent the clean channel was. And then adding pedals was still very nice. But that drive channel on mine was nails on a chalkboard. At any level. Any cheap drive pedal with clean was magnitudes better. On mine, anyway

AnotherJim wrote: ↑Wed Mar 24, 2021 6:28 pm Have you run any pedals into it as you mentioned as a possible pedal platform?

Yeah, I've tested it with a Flashback and HOF reverb, and those both sound great into the front. A Blackstar Drive pedal in front as well, and it sounds great also, but I have a couple of other OD's that I want to try. The Blackstar pedal can be a little thin, and I want to try something with a little more midrange hump. But yeah, so far, pedals work well with it.

nomadh wrote: ↑Wed Mar 24, 2021 7:45 pm I had the little frontman. Probably 10 or 15 w. I was so surprised at how decent the clean channel was. And then adding pedals was still very nice. But that drive channel on mine was nails on a chalkboard. At any level. Any cheap drive pedal with clean was magnitudes better. On mine, anyway

Yeah, I don't disagree with your assessment, as it's all subjective. It does sound horrible (to me) if the treble and bass are past 2-3. I found that turning the treble and bass down to about 3, and cranking the mids helped a lot. The gain (IMO) sucks if it's much past 4. It's just too shrill and splatty.

That amp channel works best when it's mildly overdriven AFAIC. Or yeah--just slap an OD in front.

I don't remember if the volume pot is linear or audio taper. Which ever one it is, put in the other taper to make it more usable. There are mo' better mods for this. Google is your friend for how to mod and improve the amp.

Yeah, loud, clean, and classic Fenderish when clean.

Great review!

Very similar tale on my fm 15r on a 12". Just breathe on that V knob and it goes shrieky loud.