NAD = Lightning In A Box!

Ahhhh! A new Fender Rumble Studio 40!

 

Review: Fender Rumble Studio 40 Is Lightening In A Box!

For those of you that do not know, the new Fender Rumble Studio 40 and its big brother the Stage 800 have taken the bass amp world by storm. Winner of Bass Gear Magazine's 'Best of Show' award at Winter NAMM 2018. 2018 Winter NAMM Show Awards | Bass Gear Magazine Publisher Tom Bowlus (@tombowlus) states "...let me just say that the new Studio 40 and Stage 800 impressed the heck out of us. I’m willing to throw out the phrase “game changer.” Seriously, folks, these new Rumbles are great!"
Fender calls them "Lightning In A Box" Rumble™ Studio 40 You can find all the specs here and also download an owner's manual in any of ten languages.

Quick overview:
2 studio pre-amps = if you want totally clean super transparent and ultra flat Hi-Fi tone, here it is. The complete package. 13 classic iconic amps, and who doesn't want to own fifteen or twenty thousand dollars worth of the very best bass amplifiers in history? Do you miss the mighty SWR Redhead? It's in there in all its glory! Yes, that good!

23 speaker cabinets to choose from. The new 10" Fender Special Design drivers are exceedingly Hi-Fi in order to duplicate the tone and other sound quality characteristics of each cabinet. They are so good as to truly amaze the high $$$ speaker connoisseurs.

40 studio quality effects. They are here big time! The bass synths and octobot are just amazing and thick. Just look in the owner's manual for yourself. And hey, who doesn't want four thousand dollars worth of great effects, eh?

All the controls are programmable, so they do different things according to the amp model chosen. You get that amp's tone stack. Plus there are additional EQ options available to include two 7 band graphics and a semi-parametric. So tons of tone sculpting ability.

The presets are pretty cool with many of them being totally usable as is. Others are more sonic sketchpads to demonstrate some of the amps strengths and capabilities. You will have to try them on for yourself and tweak & tailor to your desires for proper fitment. Plus build your own personal presets to include the ability to create your personal setlist of tones/sounds for live work. This is something I am going to have to dive into head first.

I popped the Studio 40 on top of my Rumble 200 combo to use as a pre-amp. Boy Howdy let me tell you what! Massively HUGE! If you own a class D amp of any brand, just do this and stand back.

So yes, just do this. You'll be glad you did.

 

No, it's easier to play that way, and I like it like that.

 

Beginning to learn my way around the digital end of this amp. Very few of the presets are the same volume. So if you are going to switch from one to the other you need to make some adjustments. Now celebrating my first success! It's the little things that count in life.

 

Yes, he or she was kind enough to include the optional $80 footswitch too. I am focused on learning how to make my own presets. So much to learn & know!

 

Thank you @thumpbass1, and you're welcome! For those that can afford it, buy both the Stage 800 and Studio 40 and build all your presets and setlists together. That way you'd be ready for anything for many years to come.

 

Just having a whole lot of fun. And You?

 

Listen!

 

Did anyone buy a box of lightning today? Rumble On!