Bust speakers?

[Titus Pullo]

I've had to return my Tweed this week – after one band rehearsal (at modest volume) the clean channel was 'orribly distorted. Not the delightful crunch of tubes doing their thing, but the rasp of a wooly jumper being dragged across a mic-kind of sound.

So I checked out the replacement amps, all Fender, and every last one of them had the same problem.

Questions:

1. This isn't normal, right? My ears aren't deceiving me? I've been playing over 20 years and never experienced this.

2. Is it possible substandard stuff got sent to the shop? I live in the Czech Republic, and this is not unusual in other areas of the retail experience.

3. Is there something I'm missing?

[frans]

1. This isn't normal, right? My ears aren't deceiving me? I've been playing over 20 years and never experienced this.

In my experience, not the clean channel but the overdrive channel of each and every Fender amp I heard in 30 years was... err... not good. The clean channel just wants a pedal (TS808/clone, ZVex, Hermida, pick your poison) in front of it.

2. Is it possible substandard stuff got sent to the shop?

A friend of mine had a shop for musical instruments. EVERY time something came from Fender (or Gibson... ) we had to return bad and sloppily built things. Bigger companies are more prone to this - it's not that uncommon. Things - if built cheap - can break in a short or not so short time. I don't want to diss Fender, you just got to watch out.

3. Is there something I'm missing?

That's why you simply can't shop amps and instruments via mailorder. There are companies where you can put your trust into anything they build, but - to pick only one - Fender isn't. We had mexican Strats that surpassed USA built ones.. and vice versa.