“It’s honestly really amazing”: Tube amp aficionado Joe Bonamassa has been “beta testing” a Fender Tone Master on tour – and he’s impressed
Is renowned vintage gear enthusiast Joe Bonamassa coming around to the idea of digital amp modelling?
As the custodian of one of the most extensive personal vintage and analogue gear collections on the planet – housed in two locations, Nerdville East and West in Nashville and Los Angeles, respectively – it might sound hard to believe, but it seems even JoBo is beginning to the see the benefits of digital…
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Among that gear collection sit a host of top-shelf tube amps, including a selection of Dumbles, and a new addition as of November 2025, Gary Moore’s old Soldano SLO-100, which he bought for $25,000.
But aside from his analogue-focused gear collection, Joe Bonamassa has been vocally critical of amp modellers as of late, recently questioning whether Eddie Van Halen would have been seen as the ultra-cool guitar icon he was were he to have played a Neural DSP Quad Cortex.
But his views may be shifting, after he revealed in April he’s been using amps from Fender’s Tone Master range – all fully digital – on tour.
In an Instagram post made on 24 April (via Guitar World), the blues ace shared a photo of two Fender Twin Amps, urging fans to spot the (pretty obvious) difference.
“Well, Well, Well! What do we have here?” he wrote next to the photo, which showed a Fender Twin alongside its digital Tone Master counterpart. “Fresh in from the Arizona territory of Scottsdale. Beta testing something new and exciting on this tour. Spot the difference and you might win a prize. (Prizes will not be honored.)”
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And it seems like his affinity for Fender’s digital Tone Master range surprised even himself. Responding to a comment made by Americana guitarist Jason Isbell under the post, Bonamassa confessed he “wanted to dislike it”, saying: “It’s honestly really amazing what they did digitally.”
Fender’s Tone Master range arrived in 2019, promising convincing tube-inspired tones in a totally digital format. The line consists of digital versions of many of Fender’s most classic amp designs, including the Deluxe Reverb, Twin Reverb, Princeton Reverb and more.
Joe Bonamassa’s Instagram post explicitly states he has been “beta testing” a Fender Tone Master Twin – but his praise suggests they may soon make a permanent fixture of his touring rig.
Learn more about the Tone Master range at Fender.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
