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Post subject: Quality of the Mustang III?
Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2011 3:52 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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Is everyone pretty happy with the quality of these amps, both in construction and tone? How do the knobs feel? Are they excessively noisy? Do the pots have a nice sweep to them or do they go from zero to blow your head off?

The reason I ask... I bought a frontman 65 last year as a practice/open mic/jam amp which has turned out to be a piece of crap really. The reverb is noisy, the EQ is useless, the volume knob is already scratchy and the sweep on the pots is pretty much useless as well. I'm thinking about just trading it in on a Mustang III and paying the difference, but not if I'm going to be trading in one set of problems for another.

I play mostly clean or with a little OD, bluesy, jazzy, classic rock, jam-bandy kind of music... I've seen a few promising videos on the Mustang III but haven't tried one yet. Of course, they're done by a Fender rep or something so they're not very critical. Is there any thing you don't like about these amps? Am I going to be missing out greatly by not being able to use the fuse software? (I have an older Mac) Thanks... I know, lot's of questions here but am trying to cover everything... I wish I had asked more questions before buying the frontman!


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Post subject: Re: Quality of the Mustang III?
Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2011 6:42 pm
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Most of what I can say about quality is that... I love the sound.

I have not had one quality problem, but I don't move my amp a lot. The knobs and buttons feel great and feel like they are quality. The amp feels light to me, which always makes me wonder about how solid it is.

My only dislikes have been on presets. But still, a higher percentage of presets are usable to me than on any Line 6 amp.

I have owned... Peavy Classics, Blackheart Handsome Devil, Line 6 Spider II and III, Behringer VAMPIRE, Fender GDEC, Vox AC4tv, Blues Jr. Plus Line 6 pod xt, and Vox Jamvox etc.

If you told me I could pick one for the rest of my life. I'd pick the Mustang III hands down.

I have had buyer's remorse about everything I have owned except this amp.

No quality issues for me.


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Post subject: Re: Quality of the Mustang III?
Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2011 6:50 pm
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JamGuy wrote:
Is everyone pretty happy with the quality of these amps, both in construction and tone? How do the knobs feel? Are they excessively noisy? Do the pots have a nice sweep to them or do they go from zero to blow your head off?


I haven't had mine long enough to speak to the quality/durability (and, my usage is probably relatively gentle in any case, pretty much exclusively noodling around at home, not gigging, transporting, spilling beer on the controls or anything).

The master volume knob does give a very usable volume range. While it is quite capable of "blow your head off"--at least in my tiny home office--it's easy enough to dial it back and use it between 1 and 2 (although really if I wanted to hear more nuanced sound I'd probably go with the headphones).

Quote:
The reason I ask... I bought a frontman 65 last year as a practice/open mic/jam amp which has turned out to be a piece of crap really. The reverb is noisy, the EQ is useless, the volume knob is already scratchy and the sweep on the pots is pretty much useless as well. I'm thinking about just trading it in on a Mustang III and paying the difference, but not if I'm going to be trading in one set of problems for another.


You should probably try to demo it at a retailer if at all possible rather than polling the Internet since acceptable performance is likely quite subjective. I have no complaints though.

Quote:
I play mostly clean or with a little OD, bluesy, jazzy, classic rock, jam-bandy kind of music... I've seen a few promising videos on the Mustang III but haven't tried one yet.


I think the consensus is that cleaner tones are the Mustangs' strengths out of the box, although with patience it isn't too shabby with overdriven/distorted tones--but again, your ear needs to be the judge.

Quote:
Am I going to be missing out greatly by not being able to use the fuse software? (I have an older Mac) Thanks... I know, lot's of questions here but am trying to cover everything... I wish I had asked more questions before buying the frontman!


I believe just about everything is adjustable on the amp itself, if you go with models III, IV or V (except maybe things like changing the signal processing path through the effects [but I'm not sure about this], and of course you will miss out on the pretty pictures in FUSE). Also, FUSE helps if you want to manage preset libraries that you can backup, or save/restore for different occasions; I am not sure if it's easy or even possible to do that without FUSE.

PITA


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Post subject: Re: Quality of the Mustang III?
Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2011 7:34 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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I agree, the best thing to do will be bring my guitar to GC and demo it...

It's nice to hear though from the few comments that it seems to be of good quality... Likely the amp will not be getting gigged much as I'm really just playing at home these days. I would suspect that bouncing it around (like with any amp) would do little for its longevity. I've come to realize that amps and liquids are generally a bad combination as well. I cooked a peavey classic 30 once, seems it didn't like drinking beer nearly as much as myself.

I have one question on the reverb... is that a digital model as well or is there a reverb tank? Does the reverb knob just determine the level of whatever reverb model you choose in the amp?


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Post subject: Re: Quality of the Mustang III?
Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2011 7:38 pm
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Mine seems fine, solid as a rock, everything a-ok. Just wish Fender would coordinate covers with releases better. God knows when we're going to covers for these things.


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Post subject: Re: Quality of the Mustang III?
Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2011 8:12 pm
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JamGuy wrote:
I've come to realize that amps and liquids are generally a bad combination as well. I cooked a peavey classic 30 once, seems it didn't like drinking beer nearly as much as myself.


:lol:

Quote:
I have one question on the reverb... is that a digital model as well or is there a reverb tank? Does the reverb knob just determine the level of whatever reverb model you choose in the amp?


I am pretty sure it is all modeled. The independent reverb effect lets you choose between several types of reverb (small/large room/hall/plate, ambient, arena, Fender '63 spring, Fender '65 spring), plus each amp has a reverb "knob" of its own.

PITA


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Post subject: Re: Quality of the Mustang III?
Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 11:43 pm
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PITA wrote:
I haven't had mine long enough to speak to the quality/durability (and, my usage is probably relatively gentle in any case, pretty much exclusively noodling around at home, not gigging, transporting, spilling beer on the controls or anything).


O-o-o-okay then. I now have an additional data point on this subject. I think I also have to eat my words about being gentle... As my Pappy used to say, "If you can't be a role model, you might as well be a bad example."

So yesterday, I'm sitting with the headphones on in front of the computer and getting an annoying hum, at which point I decide to shift position to try to minimize the noise. Unfortunately, I forgot I was wearing the headphones, stood up smartly and took a step to the left. Yeah, I'm an idiot. The little plastic collar of the headphone jack has snapped off completely, and the jack is very loose (now I need to position it just right before it cuts out the speaker and diverts to the headphones--I had to bend the headphone plug back to approximately straight).

%*&#@@!! :evil:

I'm now having a little trouble sitting down, my backside is black and blue from kicking myself. :oops:

Also, I couldn't help noticing the shiny metal 3.5mm jack on my ME-25. Hmph.

Don't try this at home kids.

PITA


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Post subject: Re: Quality of the Mustang III?
Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 12:28 pm
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JamGuy wrote:
Is everyone pretty happy with the quality of these amps, both in construction and tone? How do the knobs feel? Are they excessively noisy? Do the pots have a nice sweep to them or do they go from zero to blow your head off?


The Mustang III is a good quality amp, but I would not gig with it without at least an amp cover or even better, a transport case. Gator makes a 1x12 amp case, the G-Roto-112 that is an inexpensive and fits the MIII. It has casters and you can put the amp on top of the case at the gig and play the amp at a good height from the floor. It also makes a good stand for home studio use.


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Post subject: Re: Quality of the Mustang III?
Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 12:40 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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PITA--Did the exact same thing to the headphone jack on my MII. Fender just sent me a new amp. I figure it's fair since they really should have installed a hefty 1/4" jack for phones/line out (and should have either an XLR or 1/4" line out(s) on the back as well). Trying to get a line out from a 1/8" sub-mini is pathetic.


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Post subject: Re: Quality of the Mustang III?
Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 1:08 pm
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Musicmaster2 wrote:
PITA--Did the exact same thing to the headphone jack on my MII. Fender just sent me a new amp. I figure it's fair since they really should have installed a hefty 1/4" jack for phones/line out (and should have either an XLR or 1/4" line out(s) on the back as well). Trying to get a line out from a 1/8" sub-mini is pathetic.


Since this thread is about the Mustang III and not the II, you don't have to use the submini jack for line out. On the III you can connect a 1/4'' instrument cable to the FX send jack on the back of the amp. The FX send jack is a line out from the amp.


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Post subject: Re: Quality of the Mustang III?
Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 4:12 pm
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Well....

It sounds ok on clean and crunch, but I hope they will do some updates on the gain amps soon. It's not that great with gain imo. The knobs are not what you would normally expect from a quality amp, but hey...it's not a quality amp. You will have to pay way more to get high qual.

I have not yet been able to install the F*CKING driver so I can't tell you anything about III with fuse or anything else related to connecting with computer.

All in all.....it's good value for the money.....if I can connect it to my laptop ;o)

PS. I have not heard anything from my dealer about the 4-button switch that I wanted, so I don't know if that works great with the III. Imo completely stupid not to sell it with the right footswitch.


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Post subject: Re: Quality of the Mustang III?
Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2011 11:01 pm
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PITA wrote:
The little plastic collar of the headphone jack has snapped off completely, and the jack is very loose


Musicmaster2 wrote:
PITA--Did the exact same thing to the headphone jack on my MII. Fender just sent me a new amp.


Update: I finally made time today to bring the amp back to the retailer as requested, and they set me up with another. Yay!

In an attempt to avoid a repeat performance, I've now attached the headphones via a short pigtail (couldn't quickly find a 3.5mm right angle adapter) which I hope will detach itself from the headphones before damaging the jack.

PITA


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Post subject: Re: Quality of the Mustang III?
Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2011 9:44 am
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Well, today's the day! I'm going to take whatever GC will give me for my Frontman 65 and trade 'er in on the Mustang III. I figure, even if I get just a few tones out of this thing that I like and reverb that works, I'll be better off. Not to mention it'll be fun to geek out with all the settings and see if I can get a good Jerry tone out of it... I've very curious. Thanks for all the input folks... it's been very helpful. Cheers


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Post subject: Re: Quality of the Mustang III?
Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 6:27 pm
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My first amp was a 64 Bassman, about 6 years old. Since then I've had a progression of "handbuilt" and factory made systems. Look inside a classic Mk 2 Mesa and you'll see lots of circuit boards (Guitar Player went to the factory). Look inside a nice Blackface Twin and you'll see...Just buy one made on a Wednesday and not a Friday.
Modern digital equipment is built so rugged the weak links are the connectors and controls - and the ultimate controller , the user.

Fender could have used metal jacks and mil-spec controls and got an amp that would fall off a truck and still work - and it would have cost so much it would not have been able to compete in the marketplace.

I agree, for road use get a case. This isn't a Tweed Deluxe with a parts count of 50. It is a pretty sophisticated system (Check out the Cyber-Amp schematics to get a feel of what's in a digital system amp).
It built as well as any modern amp. It feels solid, at high volumes ( I tried on up to 8 on the master before I wimped out) it doesn't buzz, it doesn't run hot, and the main controls have a really nice feel. It is years ahead of the competition in that respect. V-x, Pe--y, and L----6 could learn from Fender's quality control and design.
My only concern is the "Master Controller" that is a switch and digital encoder wheel. But given it has a nice 5 (that's right five) year warrantee I would say Fender is standing solidly behind the amp.

If I was on the road, I'd see if the input jack could be upgraded to a metal one ( or use a dedicated jumper with a metal jack on a short cable that's left plugged into the amp.)

Just don't abuse it. Don't put your beer on top, don't let it bounce around in the trunk, don't try to rid your house of bugs by running everything at 10 and doing Spinal Tap. And then wonder why it suddenly went all quiet.

As for FUSE - nice software. It is a cool tool and really opens up the ability to use the power in the amplifier's design.
It does use Microsoft's Silverlight, which I think is why it has problems running on some systems and it is a resource hog - high video demands and CPU time. Think of it as a really cool game that needs a great game system. It won't run very well on either "cutting edge" or "old" hardware. Runs great on a mid-line Dell with either VISTA or Win 7. I run Garage Band and it too gets fussy about plug-ins if you don't have enough resources.

I think I'll get more than my 5 year's worth out of this amp, it just feels solid - like a classic Blackface Deluxe Reverb feels. Not too heavy, not flimsy, just a sold performer.


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