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Author Topic:  Fender Mustang II
Steve Hotra


From:
Camas, Washington
Post  Posted 16 Jan 2011 8:59 pm    
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Bill Bassett wrote:
So, I need a small amp to play a few tunes each night in a show. I need something for the Tele so I don't have to switch things around you know. I was reading about the Mustang I and II. Price is right but what I'd do with it is plug it into the sound system and just use the little guy as an on stage monitor. Does anyone know if they have a line out besides the headphone and USB? Does the headphone out cancel the speaker? I suppose I need to find one in a music store to try it out.

BDBassett
Rimrock AZ


Buy the 2... it can handle small gigs where you mic your amp. I use mine the same way as you are planning to do.
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Ron Hogan

 

From:
Nashville, TN, usa
Post  Posted 15 Feb 2017 8:17 am    
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I know this is an old topic about the Fender Mustang amp.

I am off for knee surgery recovery for about 3 months. I usually play through a Nashville 1000 here is Nashville, really like it. But I have a Fender Mustang 111 on the way (100 watt). I'm going to do some heavy experimenting just to see how good a tone I can get for steel.

Lighter weight, good power bit will see how it cuts it. When you compare cost and what it can do to others steel amps that are close to $2,000.00, its worth a try. Even new at $329.00.

It may just turn into a good practise amp or playing out amp. Anyway, these days you can try any amp for 45 days and return it if not happy. Will let you know how it goes.
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James Quackenbush

 

From:
Pomona, New York, USA
Post  Posted 15 Feb 2017 8:37 am    
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One thing you should be aware of ....In MANY of these type of amps that have so many features and editing abilities , the presets that come with the amp are not usually that good ....They are over processed , and most are just not that good .....Do yourself a favor and start from scratch with a clean tone , and build from there ..These amps are NOT $2,000 tube amps , but you will be amazed at what tones you can coax out of them if you take the time to do so .... A buddy of mine is the lead guitarist for an American band that plays over sea's a lot and plays STADIUMS over there ....When he's back in the states , he gig's with friends at local bars and kicks some serious butt with a 2-12 Mustang amp with upgrade speakers in it .... Believe me when I tell you , he get's some SERIOUS tone from that amp !!..I'm a tube amp guy from way back , but he shocked me with this amp !!... Jim
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James Mayer


From:
back in Portland Oregon, USA (via Arkansas and London, UK)
Post  Posted 15 Feb 2017 8:46 am    
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I have a Mustang I and a Mustang III. I actually prefer the sound of the I in my practice room. The III is much easier to tweak however and has a great feature that isn't advertised.....it's an excellent FRFR amp for modelers if you plug directly into the FX loop return. I read about people doing this online and it's become a popular low-cost FRFR solution. I'm using it that way to amplify Bias FX on my iPad and it does the job well. I have the Version 1 Mustang, but if you have the V2, you just have to go in and edit where the FX loop sits in the chain to place it after the cabinet modeling so you get a flat response.

Anyway, I once owned a Peavey Nashville 112 and spent some time comparing it to the similarly sized and powered Mustang. The Mustang was hands-down a better sounding amp in every situation and it's cheaper, has built-in effects, presets, headphone output, etc.
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Bill Bassett

 

From:
Papamoa New Zealand
Post  Posted 15 Feb 2017 9:14 am     Thanks guys
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In the ensuing years I have tried several amps. I now have 8 to choose from. Currently using a pair of Acoustic amps. They sound sweet, have nice simple controls, light weight, good looking and inexpensive. Six months on and I'm still loving em.
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James Quackenbush

 

From:
Pomona, New York, USA
Post  Posted 15 Feb 2017 9:56 am    
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Never be afraid to try something new ....or something out of the ordinary ....There are no rules here ...tweak , try new amps , new inputs , move effects around in the chain , etc .. Many time's I have totally surprised myself ...There are so many good modelers out there today that you don't know where to start !!....That's a good thing....Variety is the spice of life !!.....Good tip on the effects return James ...These amps are cheap enough too that you can get 2 of them and run in stereo if you want ... or set them up with a different tone in each amp ....The sky is the limit ...Jim
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Ron Hogan

 

From:
Nashville, TN, usa
Post  Posted 19 Feb 2017 10:27 am    
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Status thus far on this Fender Mustang 111.

First few hours I was ready to throw in the towel. But the deeper I got into it, I started getting surprised positively.

Its not an amp you can just give a quick one hour look at. The harder you drive it the better it sounds (keep master volume and volume turned up). And just keep the Gain knob turned off for no distortion.

I'm still tweaking it so what your hearing is just the beginning of experimenting. I was driving it hard on both E9th and C6th and it didn't break up. Have to tweak the highs and lows more. I'm using the on-board effects and try a few more of the AMP models. After all, this was designed for a guitar and not steel in mind.

Remember, my goal here is looking for a backup amp that is light, reasonably priced vs. the $2,000.00 to $3,000.00 amps that are out there for steel, can cut the smaller gigs, practice amp. I'm a Peavey guy so it's hard to beat their quality, price and how they have been there for Steel Guitarists for years as a manufacturer. So far, so good for buying a used, very good shape Mustang 111 100 watt for $169.00 (new $329.00).

I have a lot more experimenting to do, including a few steel buddies in Nashville here to try it. Give a listen to the sample.

http://picosong.com/GfuD/
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James Quackenbush

 

From:
Pomona, New York, USA
Post  Posted 19 Feb 2017 11:17 am    
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You've got the right idea ....Your clips sound great !!...You can either bring up your EQ ( bass, treble , etc )or add a touch of gain ( not too much to distort things ) and it will add a bit more body , and sustain, to your playing .....Don't add a lot or it will destroy the tone you have already .... Judicial use of delay will also help you out ... You shouldn't have too much of a problem with volume as the amp is pretty powerful even for a Solid State amp .... You're most of the way there with what you've done already ....Nice job !....Jim


BTW ...A tube amp adds a certain amount of compression to the tone just from the tubes ...You will not get that with this amp since it's solid state ....There will be a limit on how close you can get to a tube amp... You are getting some good tones and will get better the more you tweak them ... Don't be afraid to experiment with anything and everything ....It's a pretty clean sounding amp and can take extreme tweaking before it sounds bad ....
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Ron Hogan

 

From:
Nashville, TN, usa
Post  Posted 19 Feb 2017 12:48 pm    
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Thx Jim

I appreciate your input. Thats whats its all about here on the forum. I like experimenting. Keep the input coming.

Ron
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Tim Whitlock


From:
Colorado, USA
Post  Posted 20 Feb 2017 10:53 am    
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I played a Mustang III for two years. My thoughts.

Pros:
Lightweight
All in one package including effects
Loud
Sounds good enough

Cons:
Difficult to make changes on the fly.
Built in tuner is very low quality
Ultimately uninspiring

I got positive feedback on my tone with the Mustang. It is certainly a good value. Eventually I got tired of programming and re-programming the infinite options, chasing a sound that just wasn't there, and went back to my Twin Reverb.
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Tom Wolverton


From:
Carpinteria, CA
Post  Posted 20 Feb 2017 12:22 pm    
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One other "pro" for the Mustang I and II: a really great headphone out with decent gain.
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Ron Hogan

 

From:
Nashville, TN, usa
Post  Posted 20 Feb 2017 4:27 pm    
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Here is the latest today with tones and pushing the Mustang 111. Three presets out of 99 I felt I could use and mod (but how many do I really need). I Found about two amps that I like in the choices. Didn't like the twin reverb sound, so choose two others.

I think you have 12 amp sounds to choose from and 99 presets of the 12 amps.

http://picosong.com/GLkZ/

Ron Hogan
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Darrell Birtcher

 

Post  Posted 21 Feb 2017 8:47 am     Mustang info
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I've been living with a Mustang 3 for quite a while now. I was totally skeptical that Fender had the know-how to pull off a decent modeling amp due to their previous efforts but I kept hearing such great things about the Mustangs that I decided to try one.

While I haven't done much with it on steel, I have used it extensively on guitar with great results. As stated before, the Fuse software really helps unlock this amp's potential.

One thing I feel needs to be known about this amp and all modelers that I've tried: Since it digitizes everything that goes into it, including noise, it has limitations when using single coil pickups in a noisy environment. We practice weekly in a room with some really bad electrical interference and it drives this amp nuts. Yes, there is a noise gate in it, and I also use one on my pedalboard, but when the gates are open, the audible confusion created by the digitization of noise is chaotic to my ears. The computer just doesn't know what to do with it and it creates a lot of trash. I've also used a Hum Debugger which helps but I don't like the comb filtering it creates. Sounds like I'm using a flanger.

I ultimately went back to an all-analog setup. Yes, the noise is still there, but I'm free of the digital trash created by it so it sounds much smoother.

I'm not trying to create a discussion about single-coil vs humbuckers or how to handle noise in general. I just want folks to be aware of how modelers handle noise.
Perhaps as CPU horsepower increases and algorithms get better the situation will improve.

An aside about using the power amps in the Mustangs as a direct-in from a pedal board as related earlier: The power amps in the Mustang 3 and 4 (not sure about 1 and 2) are class-d type power amps and actually sound really smooth and have some built in compression at full volume. I believe they contribute a lot to the tube-like character of the Mustang. Also, I've heard of people upgrading the speakers but I believe that all of the models were voiced for the stock speaker so results may vary somewhat by amp model if you change the speaker.

Stephen Abruzzo

 

From:
Philly, PA
Post  Posted 21 Feb 2017 11:25 am    
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A good friend gigs with a Mustang III.....he gigs with it over his tube amps for a variety of reasons. What he has always said is this.....forget the presets because you'll go nuts....find a good CLEAN sound from the amp models, tweak EQ as needed and save that as a preset.....he has 4 presets and plays off those all nite and adds pedals as needed.
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Ron Hogan

 

From:
Nashville, TN, usa
Post  Posted 21 Feb 2017 7:16 pm    
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Here it is with some C6th sounds trying to punch it a bit. A little more high end but I can adjust that out.

http://picosong.com/G2rG/

Playing: STE-002.mp3 - picosong
PICOSONG.COM
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Will Brumley

 

From:
Hubbard, TX
Post  Posted 13 Dec 2018 12:08 pm     Mustang III
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I've hade the Line 6 stuff. No use for it in country music that I found. I play fiddle and lead guitar. Tone was too thin. I picked up a Mustang III version 1 and liked it but it was missing the studio preamp simulator which I had in the pedal version. I ended up buying the same amp in the version 2 and it is my gigging amp for fiddle and guitar. I've had some pretty good pickers come up to me in Texas and say what is that amp? They couldn't believe it was a simulator. I am going to try to dial in something decent for steel tonight. I really don't want to haul around a different amp for my fiddle, guitar, and steel. I know I love a Session 500 but I'm not going to tote that heavy thing around. I have a Nashville 400 but don't love it for fiddle and my polytones just don't cut it for steel. It's the world we live in. Just my honest input, don't bash someone for the tone they like. It's not your ears that are listening to them because you probably have your own gig to attend to. Be safe out there and teach a youngster to play something. It's cheaper than bail money.
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