Question: Tell me about those Fender Mustang amps.

Here are the 3 presets I use most of the time. I'm pretty sure the voodoo tele thing above was recorded with the Wag Deluxe Hot preset - I do know it was w/my baja tele on the neck pickup.

'65 Deluxe Reverb: https://www.dropbox.com/s/66lb5wbxao2m04m/MU_Wag 57 Deluxe w-reverb.fuse?dl=0

65 Twin: https://www.dropbox.com/s/i4oiotg0zz0oocd/MU_Wag Twin.fuse?dl=0

57 Deluxe w/Reverb added: https://www.dropbox.com/s/4m2mhiwhebrh9cv/MU_Wag Deluxe Hot.fuse?dl=0

As far as tweaking, what I've found for practice volume levels is I usually go to the Advanced Amp settings and crank the bias to +50% and use LESS on the MATCHED setting. These settings seem to liven things up a bit.

I don't use the amp live with a band, only for quiet practice and direct USB recording. I have played out with the amp, but only solo. I did practice with it once and I felt I needed to tweak the settings to get it to sound better with other bass and drums going; unfortunately the M2 doesn't lend itself to knob fiddling (IMO) in a live setting. I would probably attempt to play out with a M3 if I had one, just out of curiosity.

I do think there are great tones to be had with the mustang amp - for the price, they really are great. They DO require some fiddling though, but that's part of the fun (IMO).
 
I'll throw in my $.02 since I had the Mustang III for a couple years:

The MIII is the best possible option of the whole Mustang line as far as sound/bang-for-buck/portability go, but you do have to spend some time to get the patches right for you. Once you do, and they are saved, however, you have nothing to do but turn the amp on, select a patch, adjust your master volume and start playing. The MIII also has an effects loop so you can use your own pedals. It is also loud enough to play with a band, or at a gathering on a hill with a bunch of other yahoos :wink:.

I recently got a Champion 40 as Grant mentioned above, but had it back in the box and sent back within an hour. I thought, frankly, it just sounded bad, plus the build quality was flimsier than the Peavey Vypyrs. The channel 1 volume was working intermittently, too. Severely disappointed, because I thought the Champion 100 sounded pretty good in the showroom, but that's a 2x12...

Here's something not mentioned (I think) so far, and if I were to get another SS amp, it would probably win: The Orange CR60c/CR35RT. The 60 has been out a couple of years, and is a 1x12 that is based off the Rockerverb (it is actually the R-verb circuit), but the toobs are subbed out for transistors, therefore not a modeler. The CR35RT is a new amp that is 35w, also has that R-verb circuit, and has a 10" speaker. Both have reverb and (at least the 60) an effects loop. I've played through both and they both sound really good, and come close to that tubey punch. They are both built like brick garages and really good for simple plug & play without all the tweaking :thu:
 
I have a mustang III. The amp sounds good when you correct the sag adjustment. We even had a mustang amp set up thread a couple years ago.
 
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A guy I play with has a Mustang III. I find it to be ok, but nothing special at all, and the presets are limiting, IMHO. When I wanted a solid state backup amp, I found a good used Fender Frontman 212R for around $200 (the college kid selling it was look to go to a tube amp, and I wanted SS backup, so it was a perfect deal). The Frontman has the classic Fender sound, takes pedals well, and although it can get loud, since I'm not looking for it to break up, it sounds just fine at lower volumes.

If you want everything in a box, the Mustang is ok, but if you're not limiting yourself to that, then I would look elsewhere. Just my 2 cents.
 
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I haven't found a crunch/distortion on my mustang floor that I'm really in love with. I'm looking at buying the new Roland blues cube artist. Chappers described it as the best solid state amp he's ever played.
 
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I haven't found a crunch/distortion on my mustang floor that I'm really in love with. I'm looking at buying the new Roland blues cube artist. Chappers described it as the best solid state amp he's ever played.
I don't like they real high gain stuff in the mustang, but I've gotten some usable tones out of the super-sonic model.
 
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