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Post subject: Upgrading a Mustang III... can it be done?
Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 7:22 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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So my question is this... could a qualified amp tech replace the subpar plastic parts (input & headphone jack... maybe even change it from a 1/8 to 1/4 inch) and add a new power section to the amp... it seems many feel the fizz originates in the power section. I DO NOT want to get on a fizzy debate but was just wondering how easy it would be to upgrade some of the lower quality components and if anyone thinks it would actually improve the amps performance?

I hadn't played mine much for the last few months since I got my SuperChamp X2 but after playing with it all afternoon, was reminded of how much fun the MIII is.


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Post subject: Re: Upgrading a Mustang III... can it be done?
Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 7:46 pm
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JamGuy wrote:
So my question is this... could a qualified amp tech replace the subpar plastic parts (input & headphone jack... maybe even change it from a 1/8 to 1/4 inch) and add a new power section to the amp... it seems many feel the fizz originates in the power section. I DO NOT want to get on a fizzy debate but was just wondering how easy it would be to upgrade some of the lower quality components and if anyone thinks it would actually improve the amps performance?

I hadn't played mine much for the last few months since I got my SuperChamp X2 but after playing with it all afternoon, was reminded of how much fun the MIII is.

Sure it could be done, for about a $1000. Why would you want to do that to a $300 amp? Why not buy a Mustang Floor, and power it the way you want? I don't hear the fizz on my Mustang III, but the fizz didn't bother me on the Line 6 gear that some complained about. I EQ my stuff to get rid of it as much as possible, buy my Marshall JVM, a $2400 amp fizzes too...


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Post subject: Re: Upgrading a Mustang III... can it be done?
Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 10:28 pm
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I don't have the fizz either, or maybe I do to some extent... I hear something wierd with some settings, but not on others. Like you mentioned, it's pretty easy (IMO) to EQ it out of existence or by fiddling with other settings. As I mentioned in my original post... I don't really want to stir the pot regarding the fizz, I know it bothers some more than others and some not at all.

So, that's a very good question, why would I want to do that... I don't think it would seriously cost that much do you? It's just a matter of soldering a few $2 parts to the board... it's just that I don't know what I'm doing and don't want to electrocute myself. How much would a new transformer cost... couldn't be more that $100 bucks or so? I'd pay A few hundred bucks to beef it up w/o question... most of us would put that much in upgrades to a cheap strat so it seems reasonable to me. Anyhow... I was just curious. I don't know what other parts would need to be changed out to do it up right.

Like others have mentioned, it would have been sweet if they'd just made them a little more quality the first go round or if they'd come out with a new version that was a little more solid (and perhaps had a speaker out...hint, hint ) I feel like they were so close with this one... the digital end of things seems top notch but the paper thin tolex and plastic inputs and such seem pretty cheesy and feel dangerously flimsy at times. Yeah, it's a $300 amp and I don't expect the world of it, but that's why I was wondering if it could be beefed up for a few hundred dollars more. :?:


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Post subject: Re: Upgrading a Mustang III... can it be done?
Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 11:15 pm
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JamGuy wrote:
I don't have the fizz either, or maybe I do to some extent... I hear something wierd with some settings, but not on others. Like you mentioned, it's pretty easy (IMO) to EQ it out of existence or by fiddling with other settings. As I mentioned in my original post... I don't really want to stir the pot regarding the fizz, I know it bothers some more than others and some not at all.
So, that's a very good question, why would I want to do that... I don't think it would seriously cost that much do you? It's just a matter of soldering a few $2 parts to the board... it's just that I don't know what I'm doing and don't want to electrocute myself. How much would a new transformer cost... couldn't be more that $100 bucks or so? I'd pay A few hundred bucks to beef it up w/o question... most of us would put that much in upgrades to a cheap strat so it seems reasonable to me. Anyhow... I was just curious. I don't know what other parts would need to be changed out to do it up right.

Like others have mentioned, it would have been sweet if they'd just made them a little more quality the first go round or if they'd come out with a new version that was a little more solid (and perhaps had a speaker out...hint, hint ) I feel like they were so close with this one... the digital end of things seems top notch but the paper thin tolex and plastic inputs and such seem pretty cheesy and feel dangerously flimsy at times. Yeah, it's a $300 amp and I don't expect the world of it, but that's why I was wondering if it could be beefed up for a few hundred dollars more. :?:


Designing a power amp is a lot more complicated than "soldering a few 2 dollar parts". Are you looking for more power and speaker outs- the Mustang V has both. Changing plastic jacks isn't hard if you're handy with a soldering iron. As far as the Tolex is concerned- you're right it's thin. I invested $30 in a cover for my III so it's reasonably road worthy. They're competing with Line 6 and other companies for the lower priced market. I had a Spider IV120 and even though it was very good, the Mustang sounds more like a tube amp to me, even though the Spider had a wider range of tones, and much better effects. YMMV

They obviously built this amp to a price point, and I think the compromises they made were right. The sounds are excellent, the power for the money is very good, and it's well engineered and easy to operate.


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Post subject: Re: Upgrading a Mustang III... can it be done?
Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 5:37 pm
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Fair enough... that's why I was asking, I'm no amp tech. Yeah, it's cool for what it is and it something too hot on my burner to do, I was just wondering if it [icould[/i] be done. Sounds like it could but it also sounds a lot more complex than just replacing a few parts.

As far as the specs of the MIII go, I love 'em. I'll never use all 100 watts and wouldn't care if it was lower wattage but the volume sweep on the MIII is very usable at lower levels I find.


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