The guitar heroes at Fender have launched a new free app enabling axe masters to record their jam sessions while harnessing some iconic Fender tones.
The new Fender Sounds app, which is available today for iOS, Android, macOS, Windows and Linux, enables guitarists to channel the sounds of the company’s amps and pedals with just the app..
Guitarists and bassists will be able to access digital emulations of five effects peals, like Overdrive, Mono Delay and Small Hall Reverb for free. There’ll also be models of amps like the ’65 Twin Reverb, the ’59 Bassman and the Rumble 800 v.3 bass amp. There’s app boards plenty of digital guitar and bass effects like Clean Twin Room and Rumble Overdrive too.
If you register for a free Fender Connect account you can unlock loads more good stuff, including six more amps and six more effects. There’s Garageband-like multi-track recording available with up to 8 tracks supported, a built-in tuner, 20 professionally recorded Jam Tracks, and the ability to edit your tracks with tools like Compression, EQ, Reverb, Delay, and creative vocal FX like De-Tuner, Transformer, and Vocoder.
To record directly into the app you’ll need a Fender Link I/O which links the USB-C out to the 1/4-inch jack and offers zero latency.
The app and Link I/O hardware sounds like a superb option for at home recording and it reminds me a lot of my favourite pieces of guitar equipment – Positive Grid’s Spark amps and the Spark app, which offer hundreds of customisable guitar tones based upon emulations of classic amp and pedal models. There’s also a massive user-generated database of tones that mimic some of the sounds from the greatest tracks ever recorded.
Opinion
As a huge fan of Positive Grid’s Spark amps it’s clear that Fender is taking a page from that playbook. Bedroom guitarists don’t have the room or the finances for a huge peddle board, multiple guitar amps and a decent home recording set-up. Fender Studio means all you need is your guitar, a little connection dongle and a free app for your phone. I’m excited to give it a try.
