Fender tackles the budget end of the market with its new Hammertone Range of Pedals

Unlike the recent Gibson Original Collection (but not really!), there’s no surprise here which target demographic Fender is trying to appeal to. They’ve jealously watched and witnessed the success JHS has had with its budget $99 3-Series range and want some of that action. And they’ve gone in with even keener pricing for some models - or $79.99 as well as $99.99 and top-mounted jacks - in order to achieve that. In fact the JHS Pedals typically retail in the UK at £99, while this Fender Hammertone Range significantly undercuts that at £65 and £75!

The unique colour-coded knobs are a nice touch but otherwise it comes across a little like a pic’n’mix selection of somewhat disparate font choices - some of which land - but many which do not. It also doesn’t really help that these have fairly vague descriptors - so you don’t really significantly know what you’re getting here. We all need to know what rough ballpark each of those effects sort of overlaps with!

• Overdrive [Tone, Pre Mid Boost, Level, Gain]- $79 / £65 (Tube Screamer?)
• Distortion [Treble, Bass, Level, Gain] - $79 / £65
• Metal [High, Low, Level, Gain] - $79 / £65
• Fuzz [Tone, Fuzz, Level, Octave] - $79 / £65
• Chorus [Depth, Rate, Level, Type, Tone] - $99 / £75
• Flanger [Manual, Rate, Depth, Resonance, Type] - $99 / £75 
• Delay [Time, Feedback, Level, Type, Modulation] - $99 / £75 
• Space Delay [Time, Feedback, Level, Pattern, Modulation] - $99 / £75 (pseudo Space Echo?)
• Reverb [Time, Damp, Level, Type, Tone]- $99 / £75 

When Josh Scott launched his 3-series he was careful to define what each pedal was about and where it sat within its own genre. Many commentators have said that the Hammertone series is a somewhat cynical exercise - it certainly all seems to have been done somewhat in haste!

In contrast, the mainline Fender Pedal Series was a much more measured and detailed approach which led with certain key innovations - the LED’s within knobs and the battery compartment foremost among those. For that series Fender seemed to be genuinely making an effort to do something distinctly different and innovative. I’ve still to pick up on that action as the releases were somewhat oddly clustered for me and all too sporadic - while I’m pretty sure I will pick up at least the two mainline fuzz pedals at some stage (Pelt and Trapper). Generally I found the enclosures a touch too large - especially considering what Chase Bliss Audio, Keeley and Walrus Audio are doing with compact enclosures these days. I will likely do a take on 9 of the best Fender Mainline Series pedals - if you could let me know if you have any favourites there!

For the Hammertone range it’s all a little meh really for me. I’m confused as to what exactly most of these are as there are all too few salient references. I did note that the Space Delay seems to be a somewhat of an intriguing take on the Roland / Boss Space Echo - but not really with the appropriate controls overall.

I’m typically always keen to check out new fuzzes - while I’m a little conflicted over this one - which they describe as ’captures the iconic splat, saturation and horn-like sustain’ - that makes is sound like a Maestro FZ-1, but then it has an Octave mode too?

Fender’s pedigree in Effects Pedals is relatively solid (Fender Blender etc.), but still somewhat inconsistent, and I’m really not sure how I feel about these Hammertone pedals. With those particular colour choices they look a little cheap - possibly a combination of the knob colours and jaunty fonts. As another example the Metal pedal is simply described as a ’low-noise, high-gain machine with a dynamic and aggressive sound’. There are numerous ’Metal’ genres - would it be too much to say if it’s intended as a more Modern Tight style of Metal, or more Vintage Scooped and Saggy? Is it Marshall, Mesa or Diezel derived for instance - where exactly does this pedal sit within the pantheon of Metal Genres and types?

Unlike with the JHS 3-series - where I immediately got the context of each of those  - and thought I might quite like the Fuzz and Distortion at some stage (or Fuzz Face and Rat) - while not exactly a priority. With the Hammertone ones I’m mostly left clueless as to position and provenance - and beyond the snazzy knobs and top-mounted jacks, I’m not sure what else there is here to seize on?

I’m all about getting more pedals into the hands of the consumer, and I have nothing against budget pedals, but I’m not convinced that Fender has the best intentions here. Both Fender and Gibson like to trade on their heritage and legacy - and have an unfair advantage in terms of market  presence and mindset and dealer penetration - which makes it quite difficult for other brands to compete. Especially when you flood the market with a load of cheap pedals!

Fender had lots of different options for where they could go next - but I’m not convinced this was the right choice. Possibly one or two of these will do well, but I imagine there will be a lot left on the shelves in a year or two. And where the JHS 3-Series seems like more of a public / JHS fan service, the Hammertone pedals feel rather more like a cash-grab, or just another big business exercise in profiteering. It’s right that some of the smaller brands are worried - as this will divert some cash away from them for sure - and Fender’s marketing clout and market penetration for that is already a somewhat unfair competitive advantage.

For my purposes I’m not sure anything here really appeals to me - which is in sharp contrast to JHS’s sort of similar offering. Also weirdly no demos - not even from Fender at launch!? It will be interesting for sure to see how this one plays out. What say all of you?