I did a thing. NAD Fender Machete

  • Thread starter Thread starter MadAsAHatter
  • Start date Start date
Well now that the cat's out the bag...

Does anyone own or have played Fender Machete? I only have old youtube clips to go by and haven't heard in it person. Curious about current opinions and what I might expect once it arrives.
 
MadAsAHatter said:
This was Fender's attempt to appeal to the high gain player and not what you typically think of from them. I think that's one of the reasons it didn't do well. Fender traditionalists were like what the fuck is this thing, it's not a reissue Twin. Metal players didn't give it a chance because Fender doesn't do high gain.
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just like the MetalHead
 
Fender not being known for high gain, probably didn't get much love from the market. You might have a sleeper that slays, hope you dig it!

After years of amp FAFO, very content with my Marshalls, and moded Marshall-esque Bogner and Engl; Mesa JP-2C and Fender Super Twin. Only problem is how much space I need for all of this, and my keyboards.
 
Amp arrived late yesterday afternoon safe and sound. Maybe Guitar Center is upping their game on packing. The last couple amps I got from them were packed well. Several layers of bubble wrap around the entire amp and in an appropriate sized box. Or maybe I just got lucky.

Anyway, The head is in near perfect condition. No major scuffs or tear. I spent about 20-30 minutes getting to know it. I'm not giving any right out the box initial impressions on tone because frankly I don't know what to make of it yet. The Machete doesn't sound bad by any means. It's just on the opposite end of the spectrum of my normal sound and not really like any Fender amp I've played before. I need a a little extra time with it to figure it out.

That said I did manage a respectable Dimebag, scooped mids type tone. I can tell it's capable of more than that and should sound pretty good. I just need some time to find it's strengths & weaknesses. I don't see the Machete kicking anything off my top favorites; however, I do foresee this one being a keeper. If anything it's one that'll push me out my comfort zone.

I can offer a few tidbits. The damping knob does have a large effect on how the amp feels. Loose it's aggressive with a little bit of bounce. Tight it's smoother and more focused. Notch has a large affect on tone. The tone stack is active and small adjustments can have a bigger impact on boosting/cutting frequencies.

One thing I didn't realize is how few of these amps were made. When looking for suggested settings to start with, I came across some production info. Apparently only 100 heads and 300 combos were made in total between 2012-2014. My head is stamped 09 of 25 First Production Run.

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I remember when these came out then never saw shit about them again; never saw one in person

Interested to hear more about it!
 
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