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Post subject: Fender Mustang 2 v.2 fx loop mod
Posted: Wed May 21, 2014 4:26 am
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Hi. Some time ago i purchased a Mustang 2 abaout a year ago. Nice amp. But recently ive been wondering - is it possible to make a fx loop. Has anybody tried it? Also, i would really like a schematic for the Mustang 2 amp.


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Post subject: Re: Fender Mustang 2 v.2 fx loop mod
Posted: Wed May 21, 2014 6:41 am
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There are companies that make/sell after-market fx-loop kits that you can retro-fit to amplifiers (there's more it than just a couple of sockets).

However, you need some understanding of amplifier circuits, some electronics skills (soldering etc) and you need the details (schematic etc) for your amp.

And therein lies the problem. To my knowledge, Fender don't publish schematics for the Mustang amps. I suspect this is mainly because (unlike Fender's valve amps for which schematics are published), the Mustangs aren't built from discrete components. They utilise custom ICs so there's much less that can be repaired/replaced/modified within the amp.

So unless you can figure out the amp schematic from examining the circuit board, and can find a place in the circuit (eg, at the input to the power amp section) to insert the fx loop, you're stuck. And that pre-supposes that there is an accessible suitable insertion point - ie something external on the circuit board, rather than the key junction being inside one of the ICs. If the necessary point is inside an IC, nothing you can do at all.

So the alternative suggestion is: it's probably cheapar, and certainly much easier, just to upgrade your Mustang 2 to a Mustang 3 that already has an fx loop.


Last edited by scott-uk on Wed May 21, 2014 11:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Mustang 2 v.2 fx loop mod
Posted: Wed May 21, 2014 8:10 am
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Thanks for your reply. Ill try to figure out the layout of the board, maybe ill make a post about what i find.
About the upgrade to Mustang 3 - It is a little bit too much for my apartment (even the 2nd one is). And here, in Russia, not many people would buy it if I thought of selling it.


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Post subject: Re: Fender Mustang 2 v.2 fx loop mod
Posted: Wed May 21, 2014 8:22 am
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Mustang III is too much for your apartment ... as far as volume, or just the size of it? Volume shouldn't be a problem, it can be adjusted to low volumes.

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Last edited by strings10927 on Wed May 21, 2014 6:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Mustang 2 v.2 fx loop mod
Posted: Wed May 21, 2014 8:31 am
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Both. My Mustang fits perfectly in a very convenient place, and 100w, in my opinion, would be just a waste, since I wont be using even half. And of course you had to drag Ukraine here)


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Post subject: Re: Fender Mustang 2 v.2 fx loop mod
Posted: Wed May 21, 2014 8:37 am
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bodium wrote:
And of course you had to drag Ukraine here

sorry, must have posted the wrong link by mistake. :wink:

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Post subject: Re: Fender Mustang 2 v.2 fx loop mod
Posted: Wed May 21, 2014 8:39 am
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Yeah
.
.
.
.
.
right


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Post subject: Re: Fender Mustang 2 v.2 fx loop mod
Posted: Wed May 21, 2014 11:52 pm
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100w, in my opinion, would be just a waste

I understand your point, but as has been posted in many topics here, the Mustang amps are perfectly playable and sound good at low volumes. It's not like a valve/tube amp that you have to turn up loud to get the right 'tone.' So don't let that put you off.

But this topic raises another point that has also come up many times on this forum: that only the higher-powered amps have all the features. There seem to be a lot of people who would like a lower-powered amp (such as Mustang 2) but with all the features of the more powerful amps - whether that's the LCD screen and editing controls, the fx loop, higher-quality sockets and other fittings, etc. I hope Fender pay attention to this.

(This - only putting good features on the powerful amps - seems to apply to all amp ranges by all manufacturers, it's not a Mustang-specific limitation. Couple that with the decreasing need for high-power guitar amps, as increasingly venues of all sizes have their own PA systems, and this seems an odd manufacturer decision - as far as I can tell, the move is towards lower-powered amps for home/rehearsal/recording use and mic'ing to PAs, rather than musicians lugging around big powerful amps. From everything I've read, it seems to me that manufacturers should be looking more to high-feature, low-power amps, whether SS, modelling or valve/tube).


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Post subject: Re: Fender Mustang 2 v.2 fx loop mod
Posted: Thu May 22, 2014 2:51 am
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Ok, so i had a look inside. I didnt have the time to take it all apart, but after a short look around I figured that wont be necessary. Image
The yellow board, obviously, is the power supply. The one below is the board for the volume etc. knobs.
To the left there are 3 boards on top of each other. The bottom one is for the second part of the knobs (you can see the soldering points in a semicircle - the leds). I guess this board doesnt serve as the preamp, though I couldnt see the part, thats below the other board on top.
The second board has at least two chips, one of which is the DSP. So Thats the effect board.
The Third one (the topmost board) is, by my best guess, the amp.
This must mean, that the preamp is on the effects board. From what i found out, it is the same series as the Mustang 3 (http://forums.fender.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=89318) but has different components, since on one of the chips says MUST1/2.
So anyway, an fx loop mod on the Mustang 1 or 2 is not that simple. I think ill just manage without one.


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Post subject: Re: Fender Mustang 2 v.2 fx loop mod
Posted: Thu May 22, 2014 6:43 am
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you are right, the small board on top contains the power-amp-in-a-chip used by mustangs.
If you can identify which one of the cables on the ribbon going from the DSP board to the power-amp board carries the audio signal, you can just put two jacks inline on that connection (fx-send with a normal jack followed by fx-return with a switched jack to open the circuit when something is connected to the fx-return)

considering that there are good chances the Mustang2 follows the same inter-board connections as the Mustang3 (if they decided to use the same DSP PCB on both) probably looking at the cables used for fx-send on a mustang3 would suffice to identify which ones to tap on mustang2


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Post subject: Re: Fender Mustang 2 v.2 fx loop mod
Posted: Thu May 22, 2014 7:25 am
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The big question is - where can I find such a kind person, who would post some photos of the Mustang 3 insides?


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Post subject: Re: Fender Mustang 2 v.2 fx loop mod
Posted: Thu May 22, 2014 9:12 am
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Quote:
you can just put two jacks inline on that connection

Depending how thorough you want to be, really there should also be a buffer/isolating stage (effectively, a zero-gain pre-amp, or adjustable-level if you're feeling really posh) on both sides - ie just before the fx-send socket, and just after (in terms of signal path/order) the fx-return.

In terms of which wire(s) on the ribbon cable carry audio, it should be straightforward to figure out with a voltmeter (AC millivolts) on each wire in turn, while injecting an audio signal through the amp - either from a signal generator or just by playing the guitar. Although you may run out of arms to play guitar and hold the voltmeter probes in place at the same time :-) Of course, if more than one wire on the ribbon cable is ground/earth, this won't tell you which one is the audio ground, or whether that matters...


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Post subject: Re: Fender Mustang 2 v.2 fx loop mod
Posted: Thu May 22, 2014 9:17 am
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bodium wrote:
The big question is - where can I find such a kind person, who would post some photos of the Mustang 3 insides?

This guy has at least one pic of the inside of an MIII, try sending a PM to the user:

kirefiel wrote:
Image


From: viewtopic.php?f=27&t=92784






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