Fender Cyber-Twin, Instruction Manual

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The goal of the
Cyber-Twin was to pro-
duce a digital amp that
worked as if it were the
best analog amp money
could buy. Job number
one for me was to recre-
ate the action of the best
tone controls in the
world, not just ordinary
digital controls. We
managed to find ways in
digital to nail the
response characteristics
of any tone stack we
wanted. Next job was to
build a DSP operating
system that was so great
that no one noticed it,
after all this is an amp
not a video game.
Finally, I know you will
also like the noise gate.
I listened to other noise
gates and was never sat-
isfied. The Cyber-Twin’s
noise gate is very spe-
cial—smooth, and espe-
cially guitar friendly. It
was really fun showing
the noise gate to people
for the first time. Their
reaction was usually a
confused, “this must be
some sort of trick...”
Then they would realize
that it was no trick, just
the best noise gate they
had ever heard.
Chuck Adams,
Principal Engineer
MIDI on a Fender guitar
amp!? That was the first
question that came to my
mind when this project
was introduced to me. At
first, we kept the MIDI
implementation simple.
With the basic implemen-
tation in place, a few of us
at R&D brought the Cyber
Twin into a studio to really
find out its capabilities.
Well after a few studio
sessions, more MIDI ideas
came streaming in. The
phrase “Wouldn’t it be
great if …” was being
repeated over and over
again. We realized that
controlling the Cyber Twin
through MIDI needed to
be more extensive. After
numerous discussions
with other R&D engineers,
the MIDI implementation
on the Cyber Twin has
grown. I get great joy now
seeing the reaction from
people when they realize
what they can do with
MIDI and the Cyber Twin.
Paul Rooney,
Software Engineer
I first expe rienced the hum b le begin-
nings of the Cyber-Twin a m p wh en I
intervie w ed for the jo b at Fen der R & D.
Th e d epartm ent w as in the proce ss of
building a co re of D S P products, w ith the
flagsh ip D SP am p (th e Cyber-Twin) at
the ce nter of atten tion. Before the visit to
Fe nder, it w as hard to im agine the tradi-
tiona l, classic Fe nder tube am plifier and
the D S P prod ucts togeth er... althou gh it
seem ed like a nece ssa ry evolution.
H aving been a guitar “h obbyist” and
gro w in g up in an e ra of R ock and
R hythm & B lues the wh ole idea se em ed
exciting, yet sad so m ehow.
B ut w he n I sp oke w ith the pe ople at
F en der a nd vie w ed th e first Cyber-Twin
prototyp es , I w as qu ickly rea ssured th at
th e ev olution o f D S P aud io do es n ot
ha ve to thro w asid e the trad itio nal ae s-
th etics an d so un d o f th e ea rly Fe nd er
tu be a m p s. In fact, the prio rities w e re
To ne , To ne a nd Trad ition ,... a nd in th at
orde r. T h e ad va nta ge s of D S P archite c-
tu re w ere o nly u sed to e nh an ce the
am p lifier a nd m a ke it m ore versatile. N o
trad e-o ffs fo r ton e or trad ition w e re
ac cep tab le. W h en I saw th e first artists ’
re nd ering s of the am p a nd the m o to r-
ize d-p ot sch em e, I tho ug ht to m yself,...
“the b est o f bo th w o rlds ,... the l ook, feel,
an d to ne of (seve ra l) an alo g am ps of
da ys p ast,...A N D th e a uto m a tio n, v ers a-
tility, an d e ffe cts tha t dig ital elec tro nics
offe r!” W hich is precise ly w ha t th ey
w e re try ing to tell m e....
N o w tha t I h ave w itne sse d a g oo d d ea l
of the Cyber-Twin d ev elop m e nt, a nd as
it n ears p rod uction , I am am az ed m o re
an d m o re by th e ran ge of this am plifier.
T he c on trib utio ns b y the tea m m em be rs
th at co nce ptua liz ed a nd de sign ed the
Cyber-Twin ha ve b een rem arkab le.
T his p ro du ct h as e vok ed the kin d o f pa s-
sio n in their w ork th at I h op e to con tin ue
en joyin g as I wor k h e r e. I will al w ays be
prou d to ha ve be en inv olve d w ith this
prod uct, h av ing p rov ided eng ine ering
su pp ort o n a n inte nsiv e p ro ject. I a m
th rilled to w itnes s this n ew revo lutio n in
th e d igita l au dio an d m u sic in du stry.
Mike Oney,
Software Engineer