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Post subject: Mustang Amp Lifespan
Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 11:32 am
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Hi all,

I have become very dependent on my Mustang 3. The range of sounds and access to the multitude of effects has made this my primary gigging amp. I've sold all my pedals...so for the forseeable future, it's the Mustang 3 for me.

My question is...I know these are new, but I would die if this thing konked out on me the night of a gig. With all the sensitive electronics, and the fact that this thing is quite affordable, how reliable will the amp be over time? Has anyone had the electronics die on theirs at all? I've been through many computers and Ipods. I'm hoping the Mustang 3 will stand the test of time.

Any feedback to rest my paranoid mind?


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Post subject: Re: Mustang Amp Lifespan
Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 11:48 am
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Well, I still have two gdecs that I bought back in 06 and they have electronics and still work perfectly. I think, like most electronic devices, if you don't bang them around too hard they should just keep working.


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Post subject: Re: Mustang Amp Lifespan
Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 2:11 pm
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Hopefully, just like computers, Ipods, and other electronics, Fender will release new and improved models of the amps every few years. And, IMHO, the amps are so cost effective that I'd probably want to upgrade to a new unit anyways when the time comes. So just take good care of your amp untill then then. And backup your presets. :)


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Post subject: Re: Mustang Amp Lifespan
Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 5:33 pm
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laywrite wrote:
...this thing is quite affordable, how reliable will the amp be over time? [...]

Any feedback to rest my paranoid mind?


Buy a second one as backup (maybe used)?

PITA


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Post subject: Re: Mustang Amp Lifespan
Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 6:34 am
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PITA wrote:
laywrite wrote:
...this thing is quite affordable, how reliable will the amp be over time? [...]

Any feedback to rest my paranoid mind?


Buy a second one as backup (maybe used)?

PITA

If it was me and I was concerned about a failure, I certainly wouldn't buy a used one - you can't know how well it was taken care of. But I bought a new GDEC 3 Thirty and use it as a backup to my Mustang IV. Haven't needed it yet, and they're not quite apples to apples, but the GDEC 3 Thirty is a great amp in it's own right.


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Post subject: Re: Mustang Amp Lifespan
Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 9:45 pm
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I've had my Mustang V for well over a year now... it spent most of the brutal South Carolina summer and some of the fall in an old expediently constructed barn with:

-tin roof
-no outer wall on stall area
-THICK layers of fine dense feed/grain/hay particle dust
-no equipment covers
-lots of thick humidity
-pretty crappy AC power

It was only played about twice a week and completely untouched for a month and a half before I had the time and energy to haul it back to the house. It was never directly exposed to rain or direct sunlight or anything but that's still a pretty extreme environment. I've seen it at 100+degF in the shade here for a week at a stretch in the summer with near 100% humidity.

Anyone who knows a bit about electronics repair knows this is not an ideal environment. After some serious (damn near 45 minutes) external cleaning w/ Mean Green, Windex and DustOff, it looks like it did the day I bought it. None of the rotary encoders or knobs skip or jitter and work over the full range. All buttons are fine. LCD is peachy. Cleaned all the dust from around edges of rubber buttons, etc.

Circuit boards are just fine and corrosion free as well. No unintended noise in signal.

Fender makes damn solid gear that's usually pretty easy to service as well. If you can wield a soldering iron, you can keep most of their amps going for damn near eternity even if you abuse them a bit.

Now I will say this..... the solid state output stage in this amp is possibly based on IC's and not a bunch of big ol' power transistors and discrete components. Turn the "VOLUME" and "GAIN" knobs up all you want, they control the amp MODELING stage ....but....

I promise you if you run this amp all the time with "VOLUME", "MASTER", and/or "GAIN" set to "10" the output stage is going to go POOF and it's either going to sound like complete crap or cease to function entirely. Might be a familiar smell and a waft of smoke too. Your amp will not last long this way, solid state amps, especially the super-clean-sounding miniaturized IC variety aren't supposed be run at their absolute peak output for extended periods of time. They sound like s**t and get hot real quick and start to fail.

With a tube amp, you swap a tube, in this case with the Mustang you either buy an amp or hope it can be repaired by a tech.

You want the solid state output stage to be as clear and sterile as possible. You want to modeling stage to add the noisy tube character to your sound.

Overdriven tubes=Cool sounding! Overdriven solid state transistors=Damaging, awful sounding with lots of clipping (and not the intentional cool sounding purposeful distortion kind), and generally sounds horrible.

The overdriven solid state amp will puke all over the sound of the emulated vintage amp as well.

As long as you treat it well and don't cook it, it should last a very long time. These digital modeling amps are by nature going to be more fragile because they are more complex. They have a ton of cool features but these features require modern, smaller, more fragile high-speed components and IC's with lots of pins. Modern boards with lots of SMD components tend to suffer more from thermal stresses as well which can break near-impossible-to-get-to solder joints more easily if the board warps.

I'm sure Fender designed it to take some punishment. Like I said, mine has already seen some harsh conditions. I would bet that the III/IV/V are designed to take more abuse than the I and II however. I play my Mustang V outdoors a lot. The I and II wouldn't have enough oomph for me anyway, especially with a drummer.


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Post subject: Re: Mustang Amp Lifespan
Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 10:34 pm
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PITA[/quote]
If it was me and I was concerned about a failure, I certainly wouldn't buy a used one - you can't know how well it was taken care of. But I bought a new GDEC 3 Thirty and use it as a backup to my Mustang IV. Haven't needed it yet, and they're not quite apples to apples, but the GDEC 3 Thirty is a great amp in it's own right.[/quote]

Not always true.... most truly defective components show their face during the first few months of use. I bought my Mustang V used from either Guitar Center or Musicians Friend...can't remember which. I generally buy certified refurbished or used gear because it's usually well broken in and any initial defects would have already shown normally. I prefer to test before I buy but online it's not always an option.

Got an awesome deal on it ($180 for the Mustang V amp head w/ all accessories, manuals and software) and it was in perfect condition and fizz free. Found a half decent Ibanez 4x12 320W cab cheap as well new on sale for around $200 or so and modified it for stereo. Talk about one hell of an amp rig for $380. And it came with a warranty. I used the money I saved to buy an Ibanez RG2EX1 and some new toy stomp boxes.

Now I do NOT trust used speakers. I must hear them first and play with them for a little bit before I'd buy them. People do terrible things to speakers that aren't always apparent. I can fix electronics, I'm good with a scope and iron. I can NOT fix a damaged speaker. Some speakers are also climate sensitive. I've seen speakers destroyed by a couple years in a storage unit with no climate control.


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Post subject: Re: Mustang Amp Lifespan
Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 5:04 am
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Hi Laywrite, lots of good replies. My thoughts are:

1. If you are a gigging musician ALWAYS make sure you take a back-up rig with you. The MIII's are so inexpensive I'd buy a second one and take both to the gig. Unless you're USA/Canada, buy new for full warranty and confidence, but if you're in USA/Canada with 5yr transferable warranty, and you can get a nice s/hand one at a really good saving, then go for it. I'd also rotate them to make sure they are both working correctly. There's no point in having a back-up that lets you down when you need it because you haven't run it long enough to pick-up on any faults. Generally, if anything is going to fail, it will probably be in the first 6 mths. Other back-up solutions might be taking a compact, light Multi-FX modeling pedal that you can plug straight into the PA eg I have a little Vox Tonelab ST that saves taking another amp & will get me through a gig. I'm thinking of upgrading this to the TLEX for better foot control inc. stomp box type effect functionalty.

2. If you're USA/Canada, the Fender warranty is 5 yrs which is terrific. To me, this not only demonstrates Fender's customer care but its confidence in its own products, which is a good sign. Warranties differ between regions (eg 2yrs in UK) but some stores (like DV247 in UK) give extra free warranties of their own (DV247 gives 4 yrs on nearly everything it sells!) so choice of store you're buying a back-up from may be important if you're non-USA/Canada.

3. A word of caution based on practical experience. New Mustang models may come out but that doesn't necessarily mean they'll be better. The original Valvetronix 'Blue' series (like my AD120VTX) IMHO have never been bettered (caveat: I haven't played the new VTX150 Pro yet though). These were designed as gigging amps but were discontinued because of cost and a move to the low cost end of the market with Valvetronix amps evolved from a practice amp design. Manufacturers have a nasty habit of adding more bells & whistles but lowering quality of components and moving manufacture to cheaper regions to increase profits. So be wary and don't rush to upgrade unless you really need to, and until the new products been out tried & tested for 6 mths to give time for independent reviews, and glitches/quirks (which there will be) to be reported, so you know what the pro's & cons are.

4. Longevity of products depends on how well you take care of your gear, usage, manufacturing/component quality and control, and the amount of bells & whistles. Generally speaking the more that's added to a DSP amp the more there is to go wrong e.g. lcd screen on the MIII/IV/V that isn't in the MI/II's. I like the lcd screen as it makes the amp easier to use - I'm just saying its another 'thing' that can 'go'. There's also an element of luck with any gear - even if only 1 in 500 gives problems, someone's going to get the 'iffy' one - fact of life I'm afraid!

5. Modern DSP amps at this price point are as much computers as they are guitar amps and are manufactured very much more as disposable items as compared to traditional valve amps that can be repaired by normal techs. If the processor goes or the main board or power-amp, chances are only Fender can fix it - but allowing for labour costs often its cheaper for manufacturers just to replace the amp - especially as a manufacturers 'true net cost' for the MI/II/III's is only 40-50% (or even less) of what the final customer pays.

Rich :wink:

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"I started out with nothing ...and I've still got most of it left!" (Seasick Steve)


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