NEW - Fender RIFF Bluetooth Speaker/Practice Amp

[WRM]

I've been looking at portable stuff for a while, and this checks a lot of the boxes on my list.

Invalid Link Removed

Has anyone tried one - thoughts? Any news about it from NAMM?

Thanks,

 

[WRM]

Someone has to be the Guinea Pig, so I ordered one last week. It arrived yesterday with about 3/4 charge and took a little over an hour to get fully charged at 100W (20V X 5A USB-C).



Tried it with aux-in/CD player and an acoustic-electric today. It had good sound, but I was hoping for more from those 60W - I could barely hear it over the accoustic! Nowhere near (as in galaxies away from) the R40 I used to have.

I had high hopes but it left me underwhelmed; I'd give it a "C" and do not recommend it. Maybe others may find it more to their liking, but that's how I see it.

Cheers,

 

[G-Dog]

I've been looking at portable stuff for a while, and this checks a lot of the boxes on my list.

Invalid Link Removed

Has anyone tried one - thoughts? Any news about it from NAMM?

Thanks,

Interesting, W! I saw this article about it:

Fender Unveils A Hybrid Bluetooth Speaker + Portable Amp That Lets You Jam To Your Favorite Tunes – Yanko Design​

So, I went to the Fender website and found the page you linked and also browsed the Fender Riff manual, linked there under the 'Support' tab.​

Someone has to be the Guinea Pig, so I ordered one last week. It arrived yesterday with about 3/4 charge and took a little over an hour to get fully charged at 100W (20V X 5A USB-C).

View attachment 5038444

Tried it with aux-in/CD player and an acoustic-electric today. It had good sound, but I was hoping for more from those 60W - I could barely hear it over the accoustic! Nowhere near (as in galaxies away from) the R40 I used to have.

I had high hopes but it left me underwhelmed; I'd give it a "C" and do not recommend it. Maybe others may find it more to their liking, but that's how I see it.

Cheers,

Yeah, W, those "60W of sonic bliss delivered through 6 custom-tuned drivers" probably still don't pump near as much air as a 40W combo with a 10" driver. But, maybe connecting several of them together could be quite something!

We still need a guinea pig for the Riff's Party Mode, W. How about buying another 100 of them to connect to your first one!?! I wonder if a guitar, or bass, connected to the sending unit is replicated through all the receiving units? I bet that would give the Rumble 40 a run for the money!

.​

 

[WRM]

Interesting, W! I saw this article about it:

Fender Unveils A Hybrid Bluetooth Speaker + Portable Amp That Lets You Jam To Your Favorite Tunes – Yanko Design​

So, I went to the Fender website and found the page you linked and also browsed the Fender Riff manual, linked there under the 'Support' tab.​

Yeah, W, those "60W of sonic bliss delivered through 6 custom-tuned drivers" probably still don't pump near as much air as a 40W combo with a 10" driver. But, maybe connecting several of them together could be quite something!

We still need a guinea pig for the Riff's Party Mode, W. How about buying another 100 of them to connect to your first one!?! I wonder if a guitar, or bass, connected to the sending unit is replicated through all the receiving units? I bet that would give the Rumble 40 a run for the money!

View attachment 5074723
.​

Except for that first-time test, I put it back in the box and really haven't spent much time with it, but can say that I do not have any plans to purchase any additional units, so somebody else needs to be the Guinea Pig for that experiment?...

Though I had the volume at max, the EQ was centered, so there was more volume available at the expense of EQ. My 35W PJB NanoX4 kicks 60W Riff butt, too.

Still curious what anyone else who has tried one thinks about it?...

Cheers, Bill (William)

 

[WRM]

I finally opened the box again to use it as a BT speaker, (finally) read the (disappointing) "manual", and found this:



The middle paragraph under "Guitar" mentions low/high gain?...

I tried it with the A/E single coil CBG, hanging from a strap facing away on my right side, with Riff on my left (all controls maxed T/B/V):

"Low" gain was (still) quieter than Acoustic.
"High" gain was louder, until my left ear was more than three feet away.

It does work well as a battery-powered BT speaker, but still a disappointment as a 60W Bass/Instrument Amp?...

YMMV

Cheers,

 

[J Wilson]

Contest!

How long will it take to meltdown playing my five-string through it?

Betting closes at midnight, central time, 2 night.

 

[Queue]

The form factor is really nice, bummer the performance isn't on par with the looks.