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Post subject: Frontman 65R
Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 3:58 pm
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So...
I'm really trying to like this little amp but it's no easy task. First of all, I'm spoiled by owning a TRRI, I just needed an extra "little" amp to travel with easier so ended up with the Frontman.
The first one I had fried which should have been my first warning... So my beefs are as follows:

The reverb gets really noisy past 4/5 but frankly it's pretty weak sounding, even at 10 it's not super-reverby. At zero however the amp quiets right down to where I think it should be all the time. I suppose I could buy a little reverb pedal and just use that.

Second, the EQ is all but useless on the clean channel especially... to tame this thing and get what I think are good tones out of it, I'm having to use the 2nd input and set the treble to zero, and bass at 2/3. Do I just need to be more patient in letting the speaker break in and warm up tone-wise? Or am I fooling myself into thinking that this amp will ever "break in" and sound better. Again, an EQ pedal could probably solve these problems...

Also, the volume knob has gone scratchy already and the electrical contact cleaner spray didn't seem to fix the problem...which often works wonders for scratchy pots. The volume also goes from zero to blow your head off before it's even at 3. The range of control on all the pots seems WAY off, whether it be volume or tone.

On the plus side it's light, not rattling, and I'm surprised how much I like the drive channel...I've actually gotten some really great blues/rock tones out of it... and it's fun to play a super crunch death metal lick one in a while. :twisted:

So... I'm just wondering if anyone who has this amp has/is experiencing these problems as well. Yes, I know it's a $200 amp and shouldn't expect that much of it but I think I should be able to expect it to at least work properly. Yes, I know it's made in China but what isn't these days... not everything made in China is crap (though I'm wondering if this amp might be an example of just that)

I'm aware that with a few pedals as mentioned , I could probably remedy the problem... I guess I'm perhaps bummed out that I now wish I had purchased the Mustang III (however, at the time it wasn't out yet) And I'm still not sure that I really like all the DSP stuff... if this amp is so riddled with problems, I can't imagine incorporating a bunch more electrical stuff to crap out.

Suggestions, thoughts, comments?


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Post subject: Re: Frontman 65R
Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 4:05 pm
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JamGuy wrote:
Suggestions, thoughts, comments?


Just two words, JG......

"Princeton".

And "Reverb".

'Nuff said!

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


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Post subject: Re: Frontman 65R
Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 4:18 pm
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I know, I know...

Years ago I had a little Blues Jr too but had to let that go. I was just trying to get a decent amp for gigs and jamming for cheap...maybe I was dreaming. My new gear budget is blown (the latest strat project has seem to that...) not to mention the pickup system in my acoustic has stopped working, and my loop pedal seems to be headed south which will bring me to tears should it die. I would have to address that stuff before buying a new princeton... or find a better job.


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Post subject: Re: Frontman 65R
Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 4:29 pm
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Sounds like great motivation to write a C&W classic tear-jerker......

:mrgreen:

Be that as it may, there are a few measures you might take to wring some justice out of that FM65R. Start with a volume pot replacement (it sounds as if the existing part has "flown south" permanently). Next, replace that chicom speaker with something a skosh more musical -- say, a Celestion V30 or an Eminence Swamp Thang. Finally, ditch the on-board reverb and find a stompbox adequate for the task (re-engineering the amp circuit could take weeks and cost beau coup $$$). It'll never sound like your TRRI but hey, what does? In any case, the amp should sound significantly better than a stock unit.

Best of luck, HTH

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


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Post subject: Re: Frontman 65R
Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 5:08 pm
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Everything of mine's just falling apart, from my chinese amp to my busted heart...
:lol:
Frigging around with amps has always made me nervous... I've been electrocuted enough to know that I'd like to avoid it happening again... I'm really green when it comes to amp related repairs.

Would it be a pretty easy task to replace all the pots with higher quality ones? They're smaller than reg. guitar pots and have plastic posts... what kind of pots would I replace them with? I believe they're soldered to the board and I have never done any solder work like that before...

speaker swap out wouldn't be a problem...I have a speaker from an old organ, same ohms...should be able to handle 65 watts, perhaps I'll give it a try.

And yeah, I'll probably just have to get a reverb pedal at some point and will just not use the amp reverb... I've seen a few complaints recently about the accutronics reverb units so maybe it's the reverb unit, not the amp, that's making the noise.


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Post subject: Re: Frontman 65R
Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 6:54 pm
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Replacing the pots is easy enough -- the trick is to accomplish it without overheating the PCB and/or damaging the delicate traces. It might be advisable to hire a tech pro to handle that, if only to spare you the indignity of a visit from the paramedics and a ride in an ambulance.

You might be right about those imported Accutronics reverb tanks. If a higher-quality replacement is available, that might make all the difference (and save you from having to integrate another stompbox on your pedalboard).

I'm doubtful that an old organ speaker will sound significantly better than the Shanghai-made eggroll wrap that's currently in your amp. A real guitar speaker with modern voicing is your best bet. Keep an eye out on Ebay for bargains.

HTH

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


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Post subject: Re: Frontman 65R
Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 7:36 pm
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Thanks...that all makes good sense, especially the bit about ambulance ride. :lol:

Arjay, would you have a suggestion on higher quality replacement pots? Is it also possible to fix some of the EQ problems as well with higher quality pots or are the EQ values associated with the transitstors on the board? It seems like for the price of 9 pots it would be worth replacing them all with something with a metal shaft...ever if it means having to replace the knobs.

I get your point on the organ speaker... it's probably not worth the trouble. I can always sling some junk on ebay and raise funds for a new speaker though.

I don't really want to turn this into an expensive project but it would be nice to get it working well.


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Post subject: Re: Frontman 65R
Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 9:14 pm
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Shimmilou is probably your "go-to" guy for modern amps and the parts they use. My thinking though is, you may have just got a bad pot from the factory and a new replacement will be hokay. Many quality pots employ the nylex or delrin shafts (even in original vintage silverfaces) so I wouldn't use that criterion for determining whether or not the part is good. As for the EQ aspects, roll-off and boost are functions of the signal caps within the pre-amp circuit on the PCB. To recalibrate and alter these parameters, you'd need to calculate the new cap values using Kirchoff's law. And it's Saturday night and I don't feel like dragging out all of my theory books and a calculator (even on my best days I suck at math).

:lol:

In any case, I'd get a decent speaker into the cab before tackling something like that -- you might even find that a nice driver cures the lion's share of your EQ problems.

HTH

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


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Post subject: Re: Frontman 65R
Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 9:16 pm
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SOLID!


Frontmans 25 65 and 212 are great acoustic amps. With magnetic and peizo pickup they out do any acoustic amp at that price range, even the acoustasonic jr.


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Post subject: Re: Frontman 65R
Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 10:36 am
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As you know you'll never be able to get the tone of a Twin from a Frontman 65, however as Arjay has stated there are some things you can do that will improve it a great deal over stock. A couple of years ago I was at a blues festival in which the lead guitarist for one of the bands was using s mic'd up Frontman 65R. He had added a Rajun Cajun speaker and used a Boss FDR1 pedal. It actually sounded very good. So don't give up on it yet.


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Post subject: Re: Frontman 65R
Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2011 9:07 pm
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Thanks for the tips guys...

As a few of you suggested, a speaker upgrade will probably help matters some... and a nice reverb pedal, I just watched Andy's demo of the Boss FRV-1 at proguitarshop.com. Looks like that may work nicely should I go that route. I appreciate the suggestions and help, cheers!


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Post subject: Re: Frontman 65R
Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2011 6:17 pm
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In a few paydays, I may go right back over to GC and trade it in on Mustang III. I know I'll be taking it in the can trading it in but I'd never be able to look someone in the eye and say, "yeah this is a great little amp" and take their money which a private sale would necessitate... I'm honest to a fault I guess.

Seems like the Mustang III has a better speaker and from what I can tell from the videos I've checked out, sounds pretty good too. I've always avoided modeling amps like the plague and hope I'm not going to be trading in one set of problems for another, but the build quality seems to be better than the frontman series and it'll be fun to fiddle around with all the settings. I've been trying to fish around for some info in the Mustang forum to answer a few questions I have about it though.


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Post subject: Re: Frontman 65R
Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2011 2:53 pm
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hey jamguy
i have several amps to mess with, and the superchamp XD is nice sounding.
mate it with a legend 158? and it rocks.
65R or the like: the eq sections and tone stacks are fairly easy to deal with les treble; lower the cap value1000pf to say 330pf increase treble and bass pots to say 100K.
increase bass cap to 1uf(.47uf typ)
your blues jr is about the best bang for the buck when set up correct . loud enough to gig with...i use ay7 in #1 spot to tame the OD ....all the info you need is at billmaudio.com more than a 1000 bjrs under his belt!..i have 2 myself! both set up diff from eachother ...email me if you need more specific details dtmole@cccomm.net


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Post subject: Re: Frontman 65R
Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2011 8:03 am
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Thanks for the tips... at this point I'm just not sure I want to sink a dime into it. I agree, the Blues Jr is a great little amp and I miss mine dearly...oh well.

I think I'm going to trade the Frontman in today as a matter of fact, on a Mustang III. Even if there's one working clean tone with reverb I'll be better off than I am now.


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Post subject: Re: Frontman 65R
Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2011 9:10 am
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JG, I think you made the right call. You would probably put more in it and still not get the tone you're after. If the amp is under warranty have you considered having them give you another amp? I personally think with the introduction of the Mustang line of amps the Frontmans will probably be discontinued with the exception of maybe the smaller ones such as the 10 and 15. I think those are sometimes included in beginner guitar packages from Squier. I'm sure the Mustang will be a big improvement, let us know how it works out.


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