Fender Stage 100 Review

History: I've played multiple instruments since I was a kid ranging from drums and percussion to horns to guitars to piano/keyboards. I mostly play indie/experimental, guitar-based rock, but enjoy at least something from almost every style of music.

Purchase: Guitar Center, about $500. I bought it because I wanted a good solid, reliable amp, with good tone that would pack a punch, but be portable for smaller gigs. Additionally, I wanted reverb options, which this amp undeniably has.

Pros: Though you don't get the sound you might from a tube amp, the electronic chip portion of this amp has its perks: all kinds of effects and reverb options ranging from 5 different delays, to tremolo's, vibrato's, chorus. It is a great amp for intermediate level guitarists who are thinking about building an effects rack, or getting more serious about their playing. It's plenty loud for small clubs, house shows, and sounds great in the studio. Great Celestion speaker backing it all up.



Cons: I've had my amp in the shop twice within a year of buying it. Fortunately the folks at Fender have a pretty decent repair warranty. As far as I know, this was just a fluke--I haven't heard of anyone else having this problem. Basically what happened was a bad solder leading to some melting inside. It sounds a lot worse than it ended up being, but as a result the volume level on the clean channel is a bit out of whack. no big deal, but an inconvenience.

Stage 100 Quality: Very easy to use. Enough knobs to handle the range of effects etc, but not too many to where it gets crowded. 4 switch footpedal is a godsend!

Fender Summary: All-in-all a really solid amp. Sometimes it is nice to have your effects external--allows for more control, etc. but like i said, if you are interested in beginning a foray into multiple effects, this could be a cost-effective way to start and get great tone out of an amp. I plan on hanging on to this one for a while.

Rating of this product: 4

This Fender Guitar Amplifiers Review Submitted By: osully17

Date: 2006-04-05

Usefulness Rating: 4.75 out of 5. 20 reader(s) voted.