Reviews of the Fender Rumble Stage 800 and Fender Rumble Studio 40 Bass Amps

Fender has recently introduced the Fender Rumble Stage 800 and the Fender Rumble Studio 40 to the Fender Rumble series. I’ve played in quite few clubs on Broadway in Nashville and the Fender Rumbles are widely used there because of their great sound, durability, and reliability. Myself, I have been using Fender Rumbles on gigs for years because of this and was introduced to them playing those clubs on Broadway.

These new additions are what I call a digital version of the classic Fender Rumbles.

The Rumble Stage 800 is 400 watts at 8 ohms by itself and packs out 800 watts with an 8 or 4 ohm extension cab. It has two 10” Eminence ceramic speakers and a compression tweeter. There is one input with controls for Gain, Bass, Mids, Treble, and Master. There is an aux input, headphone output, XLR out, and USB out to connect to your PC/MAC for recording, and it is also capable of mono or stereo send and return.

The amplifier is a digital bass amp featuring WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity.

Wifi is easy to setup and is used to update the firmware. I was able to quickly download updates and have the latest version of software up and running in no time. Bluetooth is used for the Fender Tone app, which can be downloaded to an iPhone or Android. The Fender Tone app was easy to setup, just create an account in the app if you don’t already have one, make sure your Bluetooth is turned on and click on ‘Find My Amp’ in the app. You can also setup your WiFi network within the app, or on the Fender Rumble Stage 800 itself.

The Fender Tone app allows you to create or download presets and also sample top presets.

In addition to this, all of the settings for the Fender Rumble Stage 800 digital amp are in the Fender Tone app.

You can choose from classic Fender Amps like a ’59 Fender Bassman or models of other Amps, even an older Rumble Amp. Effects are a plenty and include chorus, octave, flanger, echo, synth, fuzz, and more to give you that sound you are looking for. Don’t have an 8-string or 12-string bass? The Rumble Stage 800 has the effect to do it for you and all of the presets can be modified to your liking using either the Fender Tone app, or by modifying them on the amp. In addition to this, there is also a tuner! It was hard for me to pick out a favorite… I guess it really depends on the gig. Speaking of the gig, you can create a setlist to help out with your gig and put a grouping of presets in order for your gig. You can also download presets that others have created.

All of this is easy to change with the included MGT-4 footswitch.

In addition, it also allows you to use the Fender Rumble Stage 800 looper with ease. The looper does loops up to 60 seconds and can be used with the setlist too.

With the new Rumble Stage 800, Fender didn’t leave anything out. It is the complete package that also has a little brother, the Fender Rumble Studio 40. There is not much difference between the two except that the Fender Rumble Studio 40 is 40 watts and has one 10” Fender designed speaker and compression tweeter. It still has the same controls and all the digital goodies of its bigger brother.

The Fender Rumble Studio 40, as per the name, seems more for the studio, however I have used it on rehearsals and it also packs quite a punch and I didn’t have any issues with volume at all.

While the Fender Rumble Stage 800 does come with the MGT-4 footswitch, the Fender Rumble Studio 40 does not, but can be purchased separately. Of course, the easiest way to get around purchasing one is just to get the Fender Rumble Stage 800 and the Fender Studio 40 together. I did. I love both of these amps and they fit my needs and on occasion, I still pull out my other Fender Rumble, which isn’t going any time soon.

Check out the Fender Rumble Stage 800 and Fender Rumble Studio 40 online at GuitarCenter.com or your local music store.