It is currently Mon Mar 16, 2020 1:51 pm

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 22 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next
Go to page 1, 2  Next
Author Message
Post subject: I Picked up My Mustang III today!!!
Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2011 5:11 pm
Offline
Roadie
Roadie
User avatar

Joined: Tue May 18, 2010 2:56 pm
Posts: 266
Location: Marysville, WA
I checked online and saw that the Mustang III had arrived in the Seattle Guitar Center this morning and I was able to take off enough time to go and pick it up and play it for about an hour or so. Here are my initial thoughts...

I should say first that I love it. You know when you've been anticipating something for a while and it doesn't live up to your expectations? This amp exceeded my expectations within minutes. (mostly because of the quality of the sound)

In the past, I have played the Mustang I and II. I owned a GDEC 3 15 watt for a couple of months. I have played many different tube amps. I have also played the Vox modeling amps, and the Line 6 Spider amps.

Construction
It looks like the Mustang I and II, and feels very solid. I am still surprised at how light these amps feel.

Controls
They took the LCD from the GDEC 3's the knobs from the Mustang I and II, and added the functionality of a couple more knobs... In my opinion, it is the best of both worlds. You have the Treble, Mid and Low EQ controls as well as a Volume, Gain, and Master Volume. In any given preset, when you twist a knob, it automatically activates the knob. This takes a bit of getting used to because just by barely touching the knob, you can have the eq change a ton. So you do have to keep tabs on where the knobs are set on the LCD to know how much your twist is going to affect the sound.

There is a tap tempo control as well as buttons to change the amp, add reverb, stomp or delay effects.

So compared to the Mustang I and II, you can easily see and tweak any setting very easily.

The Footswitch feels pretty high quality to me. I am still amazed that the 2 button switch comes standard with the III for only a total price of $299.

The Sounds
My first impression is amazement at how many good useful tones they have put together in the presets. If you compare this to a Line 6 amp, the difference is amazing. The Line 6 has so many tones with crazy amounts of flange or delay that I would only use as a silly intro or a little niche sound in a song. Most of the Line 6 stuff sounds over produced and not authentic to me.

The Amp models that were on the I and II are on the III and sound great. The III sounds better than the I and II to me. I don't know what part of the combination of the open back and the celestion speaker does it, but the tones are really amazing. I have to say that they are better than I expected. Although the Bassman tone on the Mustang I was so surprisingly good, in my opinion. The combination of the low power and the small speaker made the Bassman model sound really special in the Mustang I... to me.

The new amp models are WAY cooler than I thought they might be. The '57 Champ is such a cool and useful sound for blues stuff. I am really amazed at how much of the character of the Champ really came through in this 100watt 12 inch Digital model. The #9 preset has two '57 champs in stereo and sounds amazing in headphones or just through the one speaker. the '65 Deluxe and the Princeton are cool additions. They all have different character with some overdrive, but all of them are useful and sound amazing.

In a post in another thread, I made the point that I thought that Fender may be marketing this amp too much to the Metal Crowd and the Metal heads might be disappointed because the I and II seemed to recreate vintage tones better than the metal and heavy tones. But I have to admit, metal sounds amazing on this amp. The SuperSonic is really useful and sounds better to me on this combination than on the I or II. The Metal 90's is a very cool setting too.

The best way to get to know the sounds on this amp is to start with the bare bones amps in presets #88-99. Then to just drop in a stomp box or reverb or delay and see what starts happening.

I have not hooked it to the Fuse yet, and I imagine that I will have plenty of tones to mess around with for a while before getting more from Fuse.

The Quality of the Sound
This is the first modeling amp that I really seriously would imagine someone using to create a vintage tone on stage. I am no expert and have only really backed off of the metal and heavy rock in the last few years to learn some blues and classic stuff. (I've traded my Ibanez and Line 6 stuff for a Strat, a Tele and now a Mustang amp.)

My big test though was: Could I have fun at a low volume with my kids watching TV in the next room, or while they sleep upstairs? (My 15w blackheart tube amp was just too much amp for getting a good sound at a low volume.) The answer is yes. Not only can I plug in headphones and love the sound, I can also keep the speaker at a low volume and still get ballsy rock and blues tones.

This amp is exactly what I hoped it would be and more. I might really struggle to get any work done this week while this sits in my home office.

If you thought that the Mustang I and II were a good value. The Mustang III might be the best amp value I have ever seen.

For $299 you get:
The amazing vintage amp models, the big sounding metal amp models, stompbox models, effects, reverb, delay, tap tempo. EQ controls. The LCD Screen. A quality build. An effects loop. A celestion speaker. A solid 2 button footswitch (expandable to 6.) The Fender Fuse community. The Ableton recording software. And the Fender Support and Community.
I have friends who have bought stompboxes for $300


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject: Re: I Picked up My Mustang III today!!!
Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2011 6:13 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2011 12:54 pm
Posts: 27
nice review. i have to say i completely agree.
i am totally new to amps as i have been a headphones only recording geek, playing and recording directly into my multi trak recorder, than adding and altering tones later.
i knew the III would be good for me and i shall continue to explore all of it's potential.

_________________
Mustang III


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: I Picked up My Mustang III today!!!
Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2011 7:03 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2010 8:55 pm
Posts: 859
Location: ʎʇıuıɟuı ɟo sʇɹıʞsʇno
Yeah terrific review in short time use!!!
I'm sold .. I'm either getting III or IV ..but probably the III because of the BIG savings
and the two button plus effects loop and omg ..everything sounds better :) Great stuff!
Thanks.

_________________
J. Hendrix / S.R.V. / E. Clapton / R. Hansen / F. Marino / B.B. King (now that's a neat six-pack) :)
Eminence The Wizard vs Stock Mustang II Speaker Shootout http://arttux.com/Fender-Mustang-II-Eminence-Wizard-Speaker-Swap/


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: I Picked up My Mustang III today!!!
Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 7:15 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2011 11:10 am
Posts: 3
I just ordered mine! I have the I, but if I would have known the III came out so soon after I picked up the I, I would have waited. So now I just have to wait for it to get to Afghanistan!


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: I Picked up My Mustang III today!!!
Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 10:13 am
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2010 8:55 pm
Posts: 859
Location: ʎʇıuıɟuı ɟo sʇɹıʞsʇno
I bet you'll love it. Stay safe!

_________________
J. Hendrix / S.R.V. / E. Clapton / R. Hansen / F. Marino / B.B. King (now that's a neat six-pack) :)
Eminence The Wizard vs Stock Mustang II Speaker Shootout http://arttux.com/Fender-Mustang-II-Eminence-Wizard-Speaker-Swap/


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: I Picked up My Mustang III today!!!
Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 12:00 pm
Offline
Fender Staff
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2010 1:12 pm
Posts: 4396
That's a great review PaztorMike. Congrats on your purchase and let us know if we can be of assistance.

_________________
Fender Technology Support Lab
Fender Musical Instruments Corporation
TSL@Fender.com
(800) 856-9801


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: I Picked up My Mustang III today!!!
Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 3:12 pm
Offline
Roadie
Roadie
User avatar

Joined: Tue May 18, 2010 2:56 pm
Posts: 266
Location: Marysville, WA
ArmyGuitar wrote:
I just ordered mine! I have the I, but if I would have known the III came out so soon after I picked up the I, I would have waited. So now I just have to wait for it to get to Afghanistan!

Wow! That's amazing. I hope you get it soon. You'll love it! Thanks for your service and stay safe.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: I Picked up My Mustang III today!!!
Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 3:31 pm
Offline
Roadie
Roadie
User avatar

Joined: Tue May 18, 2010 2:56 pm
Posts: 266
Location: Marysville, WA
I am getting some incredible thick rock sounds by:

Adding an Overdrive pedal to the Bassman setting, increasing the gain and volume to about 9 o'clock.

Also
The SuperSonic amp model is a big surprise to me. If you take some gain off of it, it seems like you get more character out of it, and when you increase the volume it is a really beefy heavy blues/hard rock sound. (I love the band King's X, and you can get some great Ty Tabor sounds out of the SuperSonic.)


Also
Every setting using the '57 Champ is really fun and cool for blues. Some great Hendrix type blues sounds, or just a throwback type of blues tone. There is so much character to the Champ. You'd swear that there is a little Champ tube amp inside of the Mustang.


I have used a couple of guitars through it, and it makes my Squier Classic Vibe 60's Strat sound amazing. (If you haven't checked out the Squier Classic Vibe Guitars yet, you should, amazing guitars.) I bought my Classic Vibe 60's strat a couple of weeks ago for $289 (with a Guitar Center Coupon) and I bought my Mustang III for $269. The combo costing $560 might be the best sounding combo for that price I could imagine. The Strat has Alnico V pickups and sounds like a million dollars through the Mustang. The Bridge pickup is raspy and crunchy, the notch settings are really full of spanky quack (in a good way) and there is more sustain from this guitar than out of any Strat I have ever played.

If you try the Mustang out at Guitar Center, pull a Classic Vibe Strat off of the wall and check it out.

I am having more guitar fun than I have ever had. I played until my fingers couldn't take it anymore last night, and I am desperately trying to finish work today so that I can get back to it.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: I Picked up My Mustang III today!!!
Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 5:30 pm
Offline
Amateur
Amateur

Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2010 12:56 pm
Posts: 189
paztormike wrote:
Also
The SuperSonic amp model is a big surprise to me. If you take some gain off of it, it seems like you get more character out of it, and when you increase the volume it is a really beefy heavy blues/hard rock sound. (I love the band King's X, and you can get some great Ty Tabor sounds out of the SuperSonic.)


Yep. You ought to try the preset from the fuse site called "Super Sonic Beauty" by Shane Sanders. I use it as a basis for a few other SS presets.

Congrats on getting the MIII, btw!


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: I Picked up My Mustang III today!!!
Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 6:02 pm
Offline
Roadie
Roadie
User avatar

Joined: Tue May 18, 2010 2:56 pm
Posts: 266
Location: Marysville, WA
lesbeat wrote:
paztormike wrote:
Also
The SuperSonic amp model is a big surprise to me. If you take some gain off of it, it seems like you get more character out of it, and when you increase the volume it is a really beefy heavy blues/hard rock sound. (I love the band King's X, and you can get some great Ty Tabor sounds out of the SuperSonic.)


Yep. You ought to try the preset from the fuse site called "Super Sonic Beauty" by Shane Sanders. I use it as a basis for a few other SS presets.

Congrats on getting the MIII, btw!

I can't wait to dig into Fuse. I haven't even connected my III to my computer yet.

It's crazy to me that while Fuse was one of the coolest parts of the GDec's and Mustang I and II. With the LCD interface on the III, you can do so much deep editing without even connecting to your computer. There is just so much fun to have with this amp it's crazy!

I sold a great tube amp that I loved to buy the III and I am not missing it, not even a little.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: I Picked up My Mustang III today!!!
Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 6:03 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 8:39 am
Posts: 85
Location: Texas
Congrats on your new Mustang! :D


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: I Picked up My Mustang III today!!!
Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 6:24 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2010 8:55 pm
Posts: 859
Location: ʎʇıuıɟuı ɟo sʇɹıʞsʇno
Excellent .. the MIII has to be one of the best Amps of 2011 then ..and my brother picked up a Classic 50's Vibe Blue w/ maple neck ...but he wont let me even strum
an E chord on it lol...They're a really nice guitar when you get a good one for sure.
I cant wait to get the MIII or IV ..but I have to :))

_________________
J. Hendrix / S.R.V. / E. Clapton / R. Hansen / F. Marino / B.B. King (now that's a neat six-pack) :)
Eminence The Wizard vs Stock Mustang II Speaker Shootout http://arttux.com/Fender-Mustang-II-Eminence-Wizard-Speaker-Swap/


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: I Picked up My Mustang III today!!!
Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 7:32 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2011 6:31 pm
Posts: 15
paztormike wrote:
ArmyGuitar wrote:
So now I just have to wait for it to get to Afghanistan!

Wow! That's amazing. I hope you get it soon. You'll love it! Thanks for your service and stay safe.


Absolutely! As a combat veteran of Vietnam myself, let me express my thanks for your (often thankless) service to this once great but now struggling nation, and I join the others in hoping that you'll enjoy your new Mustang amp!

Stay safe and rock-on, braddah!


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: I Picked up My Mustang III today!!!
Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 11:55 am
Offline
Roadie
Roadie
User avatar

Joined: Tue May 18, 2010 2:56 pm
Posts: 266
Location: Marysville, WA
I can't get over how cool the M III is.

I've been learning a Blues song off of Jimi's Blues cd, a couple of Govt Mule songs and a King's X song.

I found perfect settings that made each sound so cool and interesting, all with my same strat. The coolest part of it was that while I was planning to practice each song a few times last night, once I dialed in a great tone, I just kept playing and playing. My wife even came in and told me that it sounded really great.

I am now going to have to get a more comfortable practice chair.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: I Picked up My Mustang III today!!!
Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 6:57 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2010 8:55 pm
Posts: 859
Location: ʎʇıuıɟuı ɟo sʇɹıʞsʇno
I dont have that CD (I bet ur nailing his sounds ez tho :) ... I have tons of his CD's tho ..but mainly I just listen to The Jimi Hendrix Concerts and Band of Gypy's .. allthough couple days ago i picked up a 5 CD pack called West Coast Seattle Boy- Hendrix Anthology ..not that great but adds to my collection and Albert King / SRV In Session which is pretty good. SRV is only playing thru one Amp ..and I cant figure out what Amp it is ..but guessing its Vibroverb 212 ...doesn't look like the single 15' ..but his sound is
perfect ..as if he's going thru ALL his usual chained amps together!! .. I love watching stevie in it ..cuz A. King talks allot ..just like BB. King does ..and Stevie's in his prime or even before it ..and I can tell he cant stand talking .... the bg blues bass player music's overwhelming him and he just wants to dig in an play ...like a little kid in a candy store .. but they have great respect ..being A. King his idol ... anyways ..yeah have fun on ur MIII .. pretty soon I'll be playing that or the IV (o:

_________________
J. Hendrix / S.R.V. / E. Clapton / R. Hansen / F. Marino / B.B. King (now that's a neat six-pack) :)
Eminence The Wizard vs Stock Mustang II Speaker Shootout http://arttux.com/Fender-Mustang-II-Eminence-Wizard-Speaker-Swap/


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 22 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next
Go to page 1, 2  Next

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: