“Every artist we've put through it is like, ‘Wait a minute, that's the plugin?!’” Why Fender just launched its own recording software – and what sets it apart for guitarists

When Fender added famed music technology company PreSonus to its roster way back in 2021, it was speculated that the guitar giant could eventually rebrand the creator of the ever-popular Studio One Pro DAW to better fit within the Fender family. However, with the launch of both Studio One 6 and 7 under its stewardship, that possibility looked increasingly unlikely – until now.

The new Fender Studio unites the PreSonus Studio One Pro software and its acclaimed recording interfaces under the Fender banner for the very first time.

Studio One Pro transforms into Fender Studio Pro, while naturally, the Quantum and AudioBox interfaces are reborn as the Fender Quantum Series and Fender AudioBox.

​“We're really building on the legacy you know of Studio One and bringing Fender's ‘special sauce’, like a clear tonal identity,” Max Gutnik, Fender’s FMIC Chief Product Officer, tells Guitar World.

“We wanted to modernize and evolve by creating a beautifully refreshed interface, with more intuitive workflows that make a lot of sense for guitar players and creatives,” Gutnick continues.

Existing Studio One users may be worried that their go-to DAW is about to operate and behave differently, but Arnd Kaiser, Fender’s General Manager of Software, is quick to point out that this is most definitely not the case.

​“This newly designed or redesigned user interface will look familiar because we haven't really moved anything. We've just updated the look and feel. It was a great opportunity to take a fresh look”, continues Kaiser.

“We haven't really updated the user interface in a while – I think version three was the last time we updated the main user interface. Our goal was to give Fender Studio Pro a more modern, more polished, more professional look – get rid of some of the quirkiness that we had in certain areas.”

He is keen to point out that this is not a V1 scenario. In fact, Fender is counting this as a continuation of PreSonus Studio One Pro, and is therefore designating this as version eight.

“Underneath it is still the same code base, so this is not a version 1.0,” says Kaiser. “This is the next major update for an existing Studio One Pro user, so we don't have version one bugs, but we have version eight features and improvements, so this is truly building on the legacy of more than 15 years of development.”

​Of course, people are understandably protective of their preferred DAWs and pushback is inevitable.

Across the past few decades, Studio One has become a staple in countless studios and, not all rebrands are successful – we only need to look at what happened when Gibson acquired Cakewalk, which it ultimately closed in 2017, before BandLab brought it back a year later.

It's also entirely possible that some producers and music-makers may feel alienated by the new guitar-centric branding, leaving them nervous about the change in direction, but Fender isn’t losing any sleep over it.

​“There will definitely be some hot takes on the name. We're sure about that, but we understand it. You know, PreSonus is a really loved brand, and we love it too,” says Gutnik.

Kaiser – who joined Fender as part of the PreSonus acquisition back in 2021 – offers his opinion on the issue.

“For a long time, die-hard Studio One users, this is also the next major release with a ton of new features, many of which come directly from feature requests from those users.

“We have an online portal where anyone can post feature requests, and other users can vote on those requests. We actually read this every day, and with every feature update, you could say two-thirds or three-quarters of what's [included] is based on this feedback.”

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​Naturally, with Fender at the helm, we’re expecting the guitar titans to implement a heavy dose of its iconic amps and effects – and thankfully, that’s exactly what we’ve got. Fender Studio Pro is the only DAW with native Fender Mustang and Rumble amp and effects models onboard, with no requirement to download extra third-party plugins to gain access to a wealth of tonal possibilities.

​“These are the [Mustang] GTX models, which are really, really high-quality models that you know. Every artist that we've put through Fender Studio Pro, they're like, ‘Wait a minute, that's the plugin?!’ We're really excited about it because it's integrated into Fender Studio Pro, so you have all this content available to you right out of the [box]," says Gutnik.

​Gutnik is quick to point out that these amp models and effects are the same that can be found in Fender’s free-to-download Fender Studio app, which is available on iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, and Linux. And better yet, Fender Studio 1.2 introduces a unique transmit feature that seamlessly sends Fender Studio sessions directly to the new Fender Studio Pro 8.

​“By the way, this is the same technology we have in Fender Studio. We just have a smaller set of amps and effects,” Gutnik tells GW. "With the updates that are being released next week, we are fully compatible in either direction, so you can start on your iPhone using some basic amps and effects, record your music, and then wirelessly transfer it to your computer in the studio, and then start editing and mixing.”

We were keen to know if the Tone Master Pro sounds could make their way to the Studio Pro. Fender wasn't giving anything away, but Gutnik did tell us that they did used Tone Master software as a blueprint for features in the new DAW.

"We wanted all the vernacular to be common so that you weren't trying to figure out what things meant. You can see it kind of takes [elements] of Tone Master Pro. If you know how to use it in one place. You know how to use it everywhere. That really speaks to the Mustang and Rumble plugin - you'll see how that's very similar to the other stuff we do, so you learn it once. And then you know how to use it everywhere."

Now, it’s not only a fresh new look and a slew of digital amps and effects to play with – Fender Studio Pro also boasts an intuitive suite of AI-powered tools perfect for the modern musician. We’re talking Audio-to-Note conversion that turns your riffs into editable MIDI in a snap, and a Chord Assistant that not only identifies your progressions but can transpose and suggest new chords to keep your songwriting fresh.

AI can get a bit of a bad rap in creative circles, but Gutnik is quick to clarify.

“We're not replacing the creative process. We're enhancing it,” confidently states Gutnik. “So this is still about you, creating authentic content for yourself, but then giving you tools to go do the things that maybe aren’t your personal expertise and being able to give you the tools to get the job done.”

​Fender Studio Pro 8 is out now, along with Fender Quantum and AudioBox interfaces. For more information, head to Fender.com.