Fender Tone Master Pro hopes to capture the ears of guitarists everywhere
The new Fender Tone Master Pro is the company’s first foray into digital multi-effects systems, a sophisticated unit that blends retro style with high-end electronics

Guitarists tend to have a very binary reaction to all things digital. There are infinite ways of treating the signal generated by this most analogue of electric instruments, but you can roughly divide the community between those who favour the perceived authenticity and warmth of traditional valves, speaker cones, cabinets and transistor circuitry, and those who are happy to use digital means of emulating the lot.
Fender’s new Tone Master Pro caters to the latter, with a nod to the former via a form factor and style that reflects the company’s eight decades of experience building guitars, amplifiers and effects. Designed to pair with the Tone Master amplifier series, this is a floor-based pedalboard that contains sophisticated emulation, effectively a whole studio’s worth of gear in a single box.
The electric guitar is at one of its periodic crossroads, a point where the paths diverge and several futures present themselves. A couple of years ago, the industry was in fine form, buoyed by idle fingers seeking inspiration during the pandemic and the bottomless pockets of nostalgia-driven boomers. The fickle tides of musical taste have also swung back around to give all forms of six-stringed expression a fresh start, from anthemic to virtuosic.
Fender Tone Master Pro: the ‘ultimate guitar processor’
Together with Gibson, the two brands account for over 60 per cent of all guitars sold in the USA. However, despite investing big on everything from innovation (the Acoustasonic series and a Stratocaster collaboration with Louis Vuitton), a huge range of merchandise and its first-ever standalone store, the Fender Flagship Tokyo, there is now a post-pandemic lull to contend with. The Tone Master Pro is designed to take Fender back to the head of the field.
Guitar modelling is big business. In a relatively crowded field of established players – most notably Line 6’s Helix series, as well as similar boards from Kemper, Boss, Headrush FX, Fractal Audio, Neural DSP and Zoom, as well as many emerging Chinese brands – the Tone Master Pro needs to stand out.
Like its rivals, the device models the sound of different amplifiers and effects, allowing for endless customisation through the 7in touchscreen or via the dedicated app. Describing it as the ‘ultimate guitar processor in terms of tone, dynamics, power, and user-friendliness’, Fender is pitching this new product at everyone from bedroom players (it sounds great through headphones) to studios and live performers.
Right out of the box the quality is apparent. A chunky rectangular unit, built for being stomped on again and again and again, the Pro has ten footswitches, two dials and that touchscreen, with a wide array of rear inputs and outputs. The footswitches also double up as dials to adjust the many tweakable parameters for each of the 100-plus amplifier and effect models and each has its own LED ‘scribble strip’ to convey the function and parameter.
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Chains of effects can be built up using the screen, with a simple skeuomorphic interface that replicates the array of available devices. The presets range from warm and full to shrill and buzzy, but with the ability to tweak every single parameter, it shouldn’t be too hard to dial in something that sounds good to you.
This is a noble first effort in a market that favours loyalty and likes to keep hold of proprietary data; you can build a great-sounding virtual board with ease, but it cannot be shared with similar devices from other manufacturers. What is in a common format, however, are the ‘impulse responses’, or IRs, shipped with the device. These are audio files that provide an accurate map of how an amp, effect and space will alter a signal, offering infinite ways to replicate different sounds.
If this is all a bit technical, then rest assured that the Tone Master Pro is very user-friendly, with a huge collection of pre-set sounds built in for those who don’t want to delve too deep into the system. It’s more compact than many of its rivals, although it’s at top end of the price range, and Fender promises regular software updates that’ll expand the scope of the device.
Like any quest for something that is endlessly subjective, the hunt for ‘tone’ (the sound of an amplified guitar) can become an obsession, one that can happily consume musicians of every ability. The Tone Master Pro caters to these hunters, while also completing the company’s contemporary guitar eco-system, albeit at a price. Fender is no doubt hoping that its loyal fans now have another reason to add to their collection.
Fender Tone Master Pro, £1,649, tested with a Fender Tone Master FR-12 amplifier, £519, Fender.com
Jonathan Bell has written for Wallpaper* magazine since 1999, covering everything from architecture and transport design to books, tech and graphic design. He is now the magazine’s Transport and Technology Editor. Jonathan has written and edited 15 books, including Concept Car Design, 21st Century House, and The New Modern House. He is also the host of Wallpaper’s first podcast.
-
Florencia Rodriguez on the importance of curiosity, criticism and cultural freedom
Florencia Rodriguez, architect, writer and artistic director of this year’s Chicago Architecture Biennial, comments on the state of the States
-
Jean-Michel Othoniel takes over Avignon for his biggest ever exhibition
Originally approached by Avignon to mark their 25th anniversary as the European Capital of Culture, Jean-Michel Othoniel more than rose to the challenge, installing 270 artworks around the city
-
What is the future for design in Africa? Designer Hicham Lahlou shares possibilities for the continent at large
The Moroccan designer celebrates 30 years of his practice. Here he speaks from his studio in Rabat about his own career and the creative possibilities for design in Morocco and the rest of Africa
-
The Sinclair name is back, attached to a pocket-sized games console with an educational edge
Grant Sinclair’s name is freighted with early computing history. Wallpaper* tapped up the British inventor to find out more about his new GamerCard console and other innovation
-
Tuneshine is a new way of bringing back the lost art of the album cover
The compact Tuneshine screen uses LED tech to illuminate the artwork of whatever you’re currently streaming
-
Loewe reaches for the stars with the biggest screen in its history, the Stellar 97 television
German audio specialist Loewe has revealed its new flagship, a 97-inch OLED television that’s a showcase for the company’s crafted approach
-
Dyson’s new Cool CF1 fan brings quiet, compact cooling into the home
An evolution of Dyson’s quest to reinvent the humble desk fan, the Cool CF1 is enhanced and updated for a new, smarter generation
-
The new Polaroid Flip unfolds to bring you pin-sharp instant photography
Polaroid announces the Flip, an instant camera that blends its evergreen film technology with better results and more control
-
Could putting pen to reMarkable’s Paper Pro tablet make you more creative and less stressed?
Design Museum director Tim Marlow extols the power of ‘scribbling’, and is backed up by new research from reMarkable on the benefits of its paper tablet
-
Clicks creates keyboard cases for iPhones – now they're also available for three Android flagships
Smartphones get a new lease of life with Clicks, which brings a Blackberry-style keyboard to today’s cutting-edge Apple and Android devices
-
The OM System OM-3 camera blends heritage design with cutting-edge technology
The OM-3 from OM System is the newest must-have mirrorless camera design, classically styled and comprehensively equipped to create the ultimate contemporary digital camera