Rockin' out with the Fender G-Dec 3 Amp

Fender's new G-DEC 3 attempts to correct that equation.

You can plug your guitar straight into the amp and rock out, but additionally, as you could do with a music program like Apple's Garage Band or Logic, you can use Fender's built-in software to give your guitar a different sound.

Fender G-DEC 3 amp has a built-in hard drive to play loops and MP3s along with the guitar playing.

Fender has over 100 of them, ranging from basic rock and roll fuzz, to twangy country treble and a clean jazz sound. The G-DEC (which stands for Digital Entertainment Center) has a built-in hard drive, which comes pre-loaded with loops and WAV files to jam along to, basic blues, shuffles, rock ditties and country tunes. You could also put your favorite MP3s onto an SD memory card, and insert it directly into the amp or plug in an MP3 player as well.

The 15-watt version sells for around $299, and the 30-watt version is around $399.

Sounds like fun, right? At first blush, what's not to like? You plug in your guitar, and groove along with either some band you've never of (on Fender's loops), or to the Black Eyed Peas from your MP3 player. And there's a mixer, so you can adjust your volume along with the built-in music.

Fender knob
The amp has oodles of power. I was absolutely wailing away, using one of Fender's pre-set sounds, at 2 (volume goes from 1 to 10.) And it's fun to take a basic guitar (in my case, a Fender Telecaster) and give it all those different sounds.

I've done similar work with Garage Band and Logic on a laptop, and had my friend come over to jam with his amp. Problem: he was wailing at 2, and I was struggling to be heard at 10 -- even with the plugged in speakers.

What I don't like: the G-DEC 3 has a USB slot, but it doesn't take a Flash drive. You can plug in your MP3 player, yes, but not with any cord you have lying around the house. I had to run to Radio Shack and pick up a headphone to headphone jack.

Fender has a software program called FUSE, which is similar to Garage Band, to help you record music, but as of this writing, there's no Apple support -- it's Windows only. Fender says the Mac version is coming.

But bottom line: for anyone who likes to play along with their favorite songs on the computer, here's another way to do it, with considerably more power and flexibility.