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Post subject: Mustang III or DRRI
Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2011 3:35 pm
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I been shopping for a new amp and pretty much made up my mind on a 65 DRRI until I ran across the Mustang III. The DRRI cost $1000 and the Mustang is $300. The online reviews, if you can believe them, say the Mustang can be made to sounds very much like the old vingage amps (65 Deluxe Reverb and 57 Bassman). If this is true, I can't see why the Mustang III wouldn't be a smarter buy. I trust you guy's opinion much more that those on other websites. Can you give me your opinions? I play only small gigs a few times a week. I use only clean channels, play old rock 50s-70s, blues, and jazz. I Like the mellow, smooth tones I get from my 65 Bassman but it's getting to heavy to tote around.

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Post subject: Re: Mustang III or DRRI
Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2011 8:20 pm
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You can make the Mustang III sound really close to a Deluxe, but there is that tube vibe that you just can't really duplicate no matter how accurate the model is.
Having said that, I don't think you'll go wrong either way. I'm like you, tone wise; I don't really have a use for a real overdriven sound, I just need good clean tones. The Mustang will give you that in spades. I have a Mustang II, and have setup about three or four really great clean tones that I love.
Plus, you have the flexibility of using the other models (Twin, '57 Deluxe, Bassman) and all the tweaking you can do with them using the Fuse software.
Since the Mustang is so much less expensive, why not try it out and see if it works for you? If not, then the DRRI is always out there if you feel like you need to go that way.


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Post subject: Re: Mustang III or DRRI
Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2011 9:40 pm
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Go someplace and play both.


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Post subject: Re: Mustang III or DRRI
Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2011 5:49 am
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jmoss wrote:
I been shopping for a new amp and pretty much made up my mind on a 65 DRRI until I ran across the Mustang III. The DRRI cost $1000 and the Mustang is $300. The online reviews, if you can believe them, say the Mustang can be made to sounds very much like the old vingage amps (65 Deluxe Reverb and 57 Bassman). If this is true, I can't see why the Mustang III wouldn't be a smarter buy. I trust you guy's opinion much more that those on other websites. Can you give me your opinions? I play only small gigs a few times a week. I use only clean channels, play old rock 50s-70s, blues, and jazz. I Like the mellow, smooth tones I get from my 65 Bassman but it's getting to heavy to tote around.


The kind of music you like to play may be affected by the fizz issue. It appears that about half the MIII's have the fizz, and all are susceptible to it over time. The fizz is an annoying, unwanted, modeling sound effect that appears when playing extended low notes on clean settings. Fender has officially stated that this is normal for the MIII, IV, and V. However if you're doing a show in a small room playing quiet jazz, a fizzing MIII may not be acceptable. The fizz is not fixable at this time.

If money were not an issue, I would get the DRRI in a heartbeat. It's a time-tested, professional amp that will play the kind of music you've described without any eyebrow-raising anomalies, and will have good resale value. If you're gigging several times a week, the DRRI is probably worth the investment.

Because of the inconsistent production quality, the MIII is not quite ready for prime time. It's very innovative and does most things great, but it still has that one bug that can make it unsuitable as your main amp for clean jazz.


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Post subject: Re: Mustang III or DRRI
Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2011 7:19 am
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If you ONLY want clean, I would say you might want to check out the DRRI. I have the MIII and MIV and do not have the fizz. If the fizz did start to occur on one of my amps at school, I probably wouldn't notice that much. I really don't hold notes out that long when playing with the kids. I use it mainly for rhythm while I'm singing. I will say that I use the over driven sounds much more than clean.

I also play in a band at church and honestly even if the fizz kicked in, I probably wouldn't hear it that much with drums, bass and keys. However, 99% of the time I use one of my tube amps and a pedal board when we play live.

You can always go in and try out an MIII, but if you only use the factory presets you might not be that impressed and experience what the amp can do. I have modified most of the presets that I use. In the short amount of time you might have in the store you might not be able to figure it out and find satisfying sounds.

As was said before, an SS amp isn't gonna give you a true tube sound. This one comes very close, and honestly, for my purposes, close enough.


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Post subject: Re: Mustang III or DRRI
Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2011 7:37 am
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DRRI :wink:


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Post subject: Re: Mustang III or DRRI
Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2011 9:18 am
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For what it's worth -

I've never used a tube guitar amplifier. However, I'm guessing I've listened to thousands of recordings and hundreds of live shows that used tube guitar amplifiers.

And when I saw I've listened, I really do mean listened. My girlfriend must think I'm funny. I ask her what she thinks of a guitar sound when we are listening to a recording and she just shrugs her shoulders. She must listen to the band as a whole, where I'm obsessing over the guitar parts or some other instrument. I love music where the guitar matters.

The Mustang sounds like a tube amplifier to me. I may not have the credibility of a tube player, but I am a guitar music lover - and I can't tell the difference.

Good luck! Let us know what you decide!


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Post subject: Re: Mustang III or DRRI
Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2011 9:50 am
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My opinion with over 30 years as a gigging musician for experience is that if you only need one tone go with a small tube rig. There is a difference in feel and warmth with a modeling amp that you will notice if you are used to tube rigs. I need multiple tones and was tired of transporting a 100lb tube amp with a full pedal board but if I was just a blues or classic player I would have gone with HR deluxe.


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Post subject: Re: Mustang III or DRRI
Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2011 3:14 pm
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Check out this guy called musicmatty on youtube. (I've seen him in these forums too.)

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=musicmatty+fender+mustang+amp+&oq=musicmatty+fender+mustang+amp+&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=s&gs_upl=26450l30319l0l31645l3l3l0l2l0l0l156l156l0.1l1l0

He plays a lot of 50's & 60's music. He's using the IV, but it will give you a good idea of what kind of tone the III is also capable of.


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Post subject: Re: Mustang III or DRRI
Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 7:24 am
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Thanks guys for all the great advice. Based on all the issues with this "fizz" that happers with the III, IV, and V (saw this on other post),I think I'll hold off getting a Mustang until Fender can fix the problem. I going to take you advice on take my guitar to the store and just sit down and play a few amps. The DRRI is still my first choice but there may be others like the Frontman 212R that may work for me. Thanks again for the advice.

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Post subject: Re: Mustang III or DRRI
Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 8:39 am
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The DRRI is a really good amp. Vintage even more so.

Listen for yourself, with your guitar before you decide.

Cheers


David

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Post subject: Re: Mustang III or DRRI
Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 10:28 am
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Do you live by a Guitar Center? They have a 30 day satisfaction guarantee, so you can return it within that time for a full refund. You really need to try it at home with the fuse software to see if you like it. For the price, it's definitely worth checking out.

I had a MIII that I eventually returned. I did like it, but I was just lusting for a tube amp and there were a couple of "annoyances" with the MIII. I mainly use the over-driven sounds and wasn't happy with the note bleeding into each other. I also like controlling the overdrive with the pickup volume control which I couldn't do.

My amp did not have the fizz problem, so that may be a hit or miss thing. They do have a 5 year warranty. Give one a test run if it won't cost you anything.


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Post subject: Re: Mustang III or DRRI
Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 11:56 am
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You know what Guys, I for one would love to see a true blind test between a DRRI and a Mustang II or III (a non-fizzy one) with the amps behind an acoustically transparent but visually opaque curtain and the pilot lights covered up. Have both amps set up to sound and respond as similarly as possible, set to the same audible level with an A/B switch to go between the two. I would really love to see if any player could really tell the difference with any kind of repeatable accuracy - especially the so called "Tone or Tube Snobs".

O.


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Post subject: Re: Mustang III or DRRI
Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 12:01 pm
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jmoss wrote:
Thanks guys for all the great advice. Based on all the issues with this "fizz" that happers with the III, IV, and V (saw this on other post),I think I'll hold off getting a Mustang until Fender can fix the problem. I going to take you advice on take my guitar to the store and just sit down and play a few amps. The DRRI is still my first choice but there may be others like the Frontman 212R that may work for me. Thanks again for the advice.


Jmoss. I just did a little research and the DRRI is only 8 lbs. lighter than the Bassman. Is that still worth the expenditure to you? Doesn't seem to be much of a difference to me. I'd hang onto the Bassman.

O.


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Post subject: Re: Mustang III or DRRI
Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 12:06 pm
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Orcatraz wrote:
You know what Guys, I for one would love to see a true blind test between a DRRI and a Mustang II or III (a non-fizzy one) with the amps behind an acoustically transparent but visually opaque curtain and the pilot lights covered up. Have both amps set up to sound and respond as similarly as possible, set to the same audible level with an A/B switch to go between the two. I would really love to see if any player could really tell the difference with any kind of repeatable accuracy - especially the so called "Tone or Tube Snobs".

O.


This would be interesting!!


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