Maybe you have a fender amp, maybe you want to buy a fender amp, or maybe you just want to know what the hell ”MID scooped” means.
Either way, I’ll (hopefully) answer everything you need to know about fender amplifiers, other ”brands” of amps, show you what MID scooped means and whether or not fender amps are good for metal.
But first of all, let’s answer the main question. Are Fender amps mid scooped?
Yes, they are MID scooped. It has been proven that fender amp-frequencies falls into the mid-range frequencies.
Are fender amps good for metal?
No. Because they are mid scooped, Fender amps do not provide the sound characteristic for metal genre.
Now, let’s go into details. Stay with me!
What Does “MID Scoop” Mean?
The terminology is kinda awkward and confusing, but what MID scoop means is pretty straightforward.
Simply put, different ”brands” of amplifiers have different ranges of sound frequencies they can output.
What MID scoop means is when the frequency range of an amp is in the middle, not too high of a frequency, not too low.
Usually, when you are playing a song on your guitar, your MID scooped amp is going to output mid-range frequencies instead of high-end frequencies or low-end frequencies.
Of course, it’s impossible to just cut out all of the low end and high end frequencies. The thing is that the most of the sound output from the Fender amps falls in the MID range of frequencies.
And that’s it. Not that hard, is it?
Jokes aside, that’s all it is, a MID-scooped amplifier is an amplifier that falls in the mid-range frequencies of sound.
MID Scooped Fender Amps
Many people consider Fender amplifiers one of the, if not the best, brand of amplifiers in the market. There’s a reason for it.
Fender amps let you play a wide variety of genres (more about this soon, keep reading!) with great, clean sounds. The amplifiers are sturdy as hell, and the prices are good for the value Fender offers.
So, are fender amplifiers MID scooped? As it’s been said at the beginning of this article – yes.
If you have a fender amplifier and you previously didn’t know that it was MID scooped, don’t panic. Having a MID scooped amp is not a problem. The majority of people prefer MID scooped amps and that is one of the many reasons why Fender amps are so good and popular.
MID scooped amps fits very, very well the majority of music genres related to guitars, except for metal.
MID scooped amps are only a problem when you want to play metal. It’s not going to ruin your playing as a whole, but the experience without a MID scooped amp is better for metal.
I’ll further explain why, but first, you gotta know what amps aren’t MID scooped.
Let’s compare!
Comparing Different Amps
In the amp market, there are three big players: Fender, Vox and Marshall. I’ll compare these three, as they have very distinct types of frequencies.
These amps are all high-quality and, arguably, you can’t go wrong buying one of these three.
Fender
You already know, we talked a lot about Fender in this article. It’s sturdy, high-quality, over-delivers for the price of its amps. I would say that, for the price, Fender is probably the best option of amp if you’re a beginner.
Fender is MID Scooped (you are already an expert in this topic), but just to quickly refresh your memory- Mid scoop= Middle frequencies of sound in an amplifier, meaning that if the style of music that you choose has lower frequencies of sound, Fender amps won’t reproduce the sound as good as you would want.
Marshall
Oh yeah, the most famous brand in this list, the iconic Marshall. The majority of Marshall’s amplifiers are expensive, and, truth is: You are paying for the brand. It doesn’t mean that Marshall isn’t high-quality.
The amps that they produce are very, very good amps, but they are too expensive for the value that their amps offer. If the price wasn’t that high, it would be the best amp brand on this list, for sure.
Marshall’s amps are at the low-end of the frequencies, the mid-frequency is there, but its mostly bottom frequencies.
Vox
In this list, Vox amps are the most underrated. They produce really good amps, that are as sturdy as Fender’s, and have a sound as ”clean” as Marshall.
Don’t get me wrong, Vox is a well-known amp producer, but from these three amp brands of this list, Vox is the underrated one.
The value of Vox amps is very high for the price you pay. The frequencies of a Vox amp is mostly on the high-end of the frequency spectrum, having little to know low-end frequencies.
It’s the opposite of a Marshall, frequency-wise.
Some Cool Videos To Illustrate.
Sometimes people just can’t visualize what it’s written when the subject is audio oriented.
Having that in mind, I scavenged a cool Youtube video that shows the three amps in action and colors, so you can see, and listen for yourself what I’m writing here. I hope this video helps you!
Fender, Vox, Marshal Amp Review
In the video, you can see the clear difference between each amp frequency, it’s amazing. And keep the sound of the Marshall, we will refer to it later on this article.
I recommend watching the whole video, it’s only about 10 minutes, but it is very information-packed.
The following 3 links come from the same channel, ”intheblues”. His videos do a great job showing the difference between the 3 brands of amplifiers.
- Fender
This video shows the sound ”dirtiness” of the Fender frequencies. And when you compare this video with the Vox one down below, you instantly listen to the differences of each amp, not to mention that the low-end of the Vox, comparing to the MID scoop of the Fender is almost a shock.
- Vox
This video features a newer version of the Vox amp, so you can compare this video to the Vox review of the first one.
You can hear that the low-end of the Vox never really changed in decades.
- Marshall
In the video above, the Marshall amplifier almost makes it evident that the sound is cleary high-end frequencies. Sometimes there is some MID scoop in there, but, the majority is high end frequencies.
Are Fender Amps Good For Metal?
The short answer is: No, absolutely not.
A lot of metalheads recommend to turn off the ”mid” on your amp because it ruins the well-known metal sound. So, if you wanna sound like Slayer, I strongly recommend you not to use the Fender.
The MID scoop type of amp just simply doesn’t work well with metal. The sound is floppy. It’s a cock block listening to metal in a MID scooped amp, and there is nothing we can do about it.
The only solution is using pedals to manipulate the sound, which is hard or buy another amp, which is expensive.
So the solution is to research before buying, just like you’re doing it now!
I strongly advise you to buy a Marshall, they are the absolute best when it comes to metal. A Fender just sucks, and the Vox would sound like a metal song with a Snapchat dog filter.
Marshall sounds like it was made to amplify metal songs. The frequencies simply match well with metal!
A Marshall is an expensive amp? Absolutely.
Is it a huge investment? Sure. So why are you recommending this to me? If you want to play metal like it’s supposed to, you just have to buy a Marshall. Go do your scavenging or buy it used from someone. Trust me, it is worth every penny.
Thank you for reading!
Best Affordable Amps In 2020
Check out this article from the site, so you can see some of the great, affordable amps for yourself. There are video reviews, also.
Final Words
I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it! This article, I hope, gave an answer to all of your questions, and give a little bit of light on this dark topic that amps are.
I learned a lot when I was doing deeper research on this topic, and I intended to transmit as much of this knowledge as I possibly could!
I wish you the best of luck on your player guitar career, and I hope you can afford that Marshall if you need to.
Don’t forget to check out some other interesting articles from this site. There are articles about various guitar topics and issues. Hope you’ll find something for yourself.
Cheers, and rock on!
