hebbronx_rocksteady

This baritone has really nice tone. It is also very sturdy, staying in tune pretty well. My only issue is the bridge which is acoustic style, having no individual saddles. In this respect, action (saddle height) and intonation are not adjustable in the conventional sense. But like I said, it's sturdy and stays in tune pretty well, so if you take care of it a real set-up with action and intonation adjustments might not be necessary for a while. the lime/seafoam green finish is really cool. Trem + baritone gives a nice surf vibe. The lipstick pickups are a little buzzy. But what else does one expect from inexpensive single coils really?

I initially really liked this - maybe of a 4 star affinity - but I recently realized that the special sauce of a good Fuzz Face is as much volume-rolled-back cleans as it is in-your-face wooly explosiveness. I had heard about this but have been playing mostly on a Les Paul through an overdriven amp - a sound perhaps too big and inarticulate for these dynamics. Rather, this especially works well with single coils. I've been using it with my Tele and Strat-style guitars and enjoy the sparkly clean (yet beefy) tones. The Fuzz Face adds a great muscular granularity to clean tones. Think Hendrix's "Like a Rolling Stone" Live at Winterland, "Hey Joe" or the Band of Gypsys live stuff (except those were with silicon transistors, which sound slightly different). That kind of clean to face-melting range at your fingertips when used with single coils and at good amp settings. The compact size is also a huge plus - especially compared to the regular/original FF.

This is a good product. Some say it's a bit bassy, but that has not been my experience, even with an LP. Spectrum knob keeps your mids in place avoiding nasal stuff but adding depth and crunch to taste. So compact and you can run 18v power into it instead of 9v which, for me, saves me from buying another power brick and also seems to add some clarity.

A big knock against the GTX100 is that the presets are not usable for live performances or recording but are more suited for bedroom hobbyists. That may be true, but the real value here is the ability to quite convincingly model classic amps - not the Fender presets - which you can tweak to your taste. You can use the presets, if you wish, as a starting point to build your own sound and rig. Most of them are EQ'd in a way that needs to be changed for your live or recording situation. The Fender Tone App sets you see and choose from so many options of amp, settings, pedals etc.. The amp models are great. The Fender sounds, unsurprisingly, are the best and some of the British models are also great. I use it for 1. clean Bassman sounds; 2. pushed tweed Bassman sounds and 3. amplifying my * checks notes * mandolin for gigs using their "Acoustasonic" amp setting. I've had great success with a pushed '59 Bassman model which I've customized to go into a Showman cabinet with JBLs. Not exactly possible these days without access to immense wealth or an amp museum. Most importantly, I can transport the thing without slipping more disks. I've sold my 90s Blues Deluxe as it's no longer needed and, despite the tubes, it can't get the sounds I'm after without becoming ear-splittingly loud first, but even then... One drawback for me is the footswitch. I like to see the pedals right in front of me and I currently operate on more pedals than the 4 or 5 buttons that the footswitch has. Also, though the amp does get loud and "move air," some of that natural low end rumble that you get from cranking a real tube amp is not there. I can usually address that with some basic knob work. Can double as a bluetooth or aux speaker between sets. Tone, versatility, VALUE and weight (or lack thereof) still earn this amp 5 stars.