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Post subject: Where to start with my new Mustang II Amp?
Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 9:30 am
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After not playing for 42 years, I recently purchased a Squier Stratocaster and a Mustang II, 40 watt, V.2 amp. Needless to say, a lot has changed with the gear since the early 70's. There are so many variables with the sounds and capabilities with this amp, I'm not sure where to start. I also want to know the best way to learn about this amp's capabilities.


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Post subject: Re: Where to start with my new Mustang ll Amp?
Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 9:42 am
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Hi RNArizona,
Welcome to the Forum!
You should check out the Mustang section of the Forum, here:
viewforum.php?f=27
cheers,
Alex

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Post subject: Re: Where to start with my new Mustang ll Amp?
Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 9:43 am
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Welcome to the Forum RNArizona, congratulations on your new gear !
Youtube has many instructional videos:


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Post subject: Re: Where to start with my new Mustang ll Amp?
Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2015 1:00 am
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Quote:
You should check out the Mustang section of the Forum, here:
viewforum.php?f=27
Also check out the "Fender FUSE™ Software (2010 - Current)" forum, at viewforum.php?f=26
A lot of the topic threads could go in either one, because you really need the FUSE software to bring out the full potential of the Mustang amps.

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Post subject: Re: Where to start with my new Mustang II Amp?
Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2015 7:16 pm
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Hello, you should really like the amp. Lots of fun and versatile. John is correct in that you'll want to use the Fuze software. Check this thread out:

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=75417

Read the forums and Ask questions in the forums. People are very helpful.


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Post subject: Re: Where to start with my new Mustang II Amp?
Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2015 8:10 pm
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i8chillywilly wrote:
Hello, you should really like the amp. Lots of fun and versatile. John is correct in that you'll want to use the Fuze software. Check this thread out:

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=75417

Read the forums and Ask questions in the forums. People are very helpful.


I always liked that thread. :lol:

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Post subject: Re: Where to start with my new Mustang II Amp?
Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 2:52 pm
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In all honesty, the best place to learn the amp is probably through trial and error and this forum. And yeah ^^^^ awesome thread.

As a fellow mustang II owner, a few things that helped me immensely were:

1. Doing a factory restore of the amp and then do a backup. I had gotten a little carried away with making presets at first so this helped bring it back to square one. Then I did a backup so I could restore an individual preset if I wished without blowing over the whole amp.
2. Picking ONE or TWO models to get really familiar with and learning the subtleties of Fuse and all the FX, Cabs etc with those. For me it was the 65 Deluxe with the default cab and the Bassman with the 2x12C cab. Once I got the hang of the thing, tweaking some of the other models was much quicker, easier and with better results.
3. Once you learn your way around Fuse, check out the Save FX button. This is a VERY useful button for us Mustang I/II users. You can store FX (unfortunately not any Fuzz, OD or other Stomps) settings to the MOD and DLY/REV knobs which is extremely handy if you want to Add any Modulation, Delay or Reverb on the fly and have it be your tweaked settings rather than whats default from the factory. HUGE plus if you eventually want to get away from being chained to Fuse.

Welcome and enjoy your new amp

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Post subject: Re: Where to start with my new Mustang II Amp?
Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2015 12:27 am
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I got my son one. Sounds good when he plays through it but I've never tried it. My Peavey Vyper doesn't like active pickups and they seem to be pretty much the same type of modeling amp. Same issue with the Mustang?
I sometimes use a little tubed preamp between the guitar and the Peavey. Something you would use with an acoustic guitar, mike, or keyboard and just a little drive. Have the same issues as with active pickups but can adjust out of it and get a better less digital sounding tone.


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Post subject: Re: Where to start with my new Mustang II Amp?
Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2015 4:14 am
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captainc wrote:
In all honesty, the best place to learn the amp is probably through trial and error and this forum. And yeah ^^^^ awesome thread.

As a fellow mustang II owner, a few things that helped me immensely were:

1. Doing a factory restore of the amp and then do a backup. I had gotten a little carried away with making presets at first so this helped bring it back to square one. Then I did a backup so I could restore an individual preset if I wished without blowing over the whole amp.
2. Picking ONE or TWO models to get really familiar with and learning the subtleties of Fuse and all the FX, Cabs etc with those. For me it was the 65 Deluxe with the default cab and the Bassman with the 2x12C cab. Once I got the hang of the thing, tweaking some of the other models was much quicker, easier and with better results.
3. Once you learn your way around Fuse, check out the Save FX button. This is a VERY useful button for us Mustang I/II users. You can store FX (unfortunately not any Fuzz, OD or other Stomps) settings to the MOD and DLY/REV knobs which is extremely handy if you want to Add any Modulation, Delay or Reverb on the fly and have it be your tweaked settings rather than whats default from the factory. HUGE plus if you eventually want to get away from being chained to Fuse.

Welcome and enjoy your new amp



Funny- your #2 is exactly what I did on my III- same speaker cab sims and everything. I hear a lot of Mustang guys saying they tend to go with these two models most of the time!

Sticking with one or two as suggested here is good advice. Once I got familiar with these, and how everything worked, it made the others much easier to dial in. I eventually made a third preset using the 90's metal preset- which mainly did nothing but howl, hum, and give nasty, buzzy distortion, when I initially tried it. I avoided it, and the Supersonic, for a long time because of this. Turned out to be astonishingly easy to tame that beast- lowered the vol and gain, added some mids, and switched cabs. Now I actually LIKE that model. ( both the 2x12C and 4x12G cabs sound a lot nicer-to my ears- than the default 4x12V
cab for the 90's model)

I can't answer the question about active pickups, as I don't own any. It definitely makes a difference when you switch between high and low output passive pickups, though. It makes sense, though, that these amps wouldn't like really hot actives- they don't care for having a bunch of voltage pushed through the main input.

My next "project" will be to really figure out the fuzz effect, I think. I haven't spent much time with it, but I'm seriously in love with Neil Young's utterly filthy fuzz tones! ( and I hear the Mustang's fuzz is modelled after the Vox Tonebender, like he uses.)


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Post subject: Re: Where to start with my new Mustang II Amp?
Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2015 3:21 pm
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pyroman wrote:
My next "project" will be to really figure out the fuzz effect, I think. I haven't spent much time with it, but I'm seriously in love with Neil Young's utterly filthy fuzz tones! ( and I hear the Mustang's fuzz is modelled after the Vox Tonebender, like he uses.)

Great minds think alike. I'm doing this now. I hated the Big Fuzz for a while and wasn't even super fond of the Fuzz stomp but I recently decided to figure these out. I found they work really well with the Tweeds. Since you can't have two stomps and I like Fuzz mixed with OD i find them to work especially well and natural with the tweed models. The 57 Twin has a glitch where higher gain stuff causes white noise bursts so avoid that. But they both work pretty well with the 57 Deluxe i'm finding.

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Post subject: Re: Where to start with my new Mustang II Amp?
Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2015 9:07 pm
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captainc wrote:
pyroman wrote:
My next "project" will be to really figure out the fuzz effect, I think. I haven't spent much time with it, but I'm seriously in love with Neil Young's utterly filthy fuzz tones! ( and I hear the Mustang's fuzz is modelled after the Vox Tonebender, like he uses.)

Great minds think alike. I'm doing this now. I hated the Big Fuzz for a while and wasn't even super fond of the Fuzz stomp but I recently decided to figure these out. I found they work really well with the Tweeds. Since you can't have two stomps and I like Fuzz mixed with OD i find them to work especially well and natural with the tweed models. The 57 Twin has a glitch where higher gain stuff causes white noise bursts so avoid that. But they both work pretty well with the 57 Deluxe i'm finding.


Alas, I have a v1 Mustang, so I don't have the 57 twin. (or the big fuzz) I do have a good OD pedal or two, if I want to combine the effects.

I'm thinking it will sound kick arse with my 50's Tribute SG!


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