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Post subject: Help with Mustang I v1. No Sound
Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2015 1:14 pm
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I picked up a used Fender Mustang I v1 yesterday from a pawn shop as not working. I like to mess around with stuff so I figured it's worth a shot. I was hoping it would be something easy like dust / dirt in the input, a broken solder connection, etc. but no such luck. When you flip the switch on the amp powers up but there's no sound from the speaker. I tried plugging in headphones but no sound there either. I took the back of the cabinet off last night and didn't see anything obvious like a unsoldered wire. Also, I was using a guitar and cable that I knew worked to test the amp. So far I've blown out the connections with compressed air, sprayed a little electric contact cleaner in the input, reset the amp by holding the exit button while powering on, turned the knobs while strumming, selected different presets while strumming, and done a quick visual inspection inside the cabinet and of the circuit board tray.

Can someone give me an idea what I should check next?


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Post subject: Re: Help with Mustang I v1. No Sound
Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2015 5:31 pm
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Get the manual from the Fender website. It tells you how to do a factory reset. If that doesn't help, download Fuse, plug the amp into your computer with a USB cable and try to download the firmware to the amp, again it's described in the manual. If neither of those things work, well - hope you didn't spend too much on the amp. But I'd bet one of those things will bring it back to life. Good luck!


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Post subject: Re: Help with Mustang I v1. No Sound
Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2015 7:13 pm
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Try putting a 9volt battery against the speaker contacts and see if you get a pop out of the speakers. It could be blown...


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Post subject: Re: Help with Mustang I v1. No Sound
Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2015 9:50 pm
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TimsAudio wrote:
Try putting a 9volt battery against the speaker contacts and see if you get a pop out of the speakers. It could be blown...

He should get a sound out of the headphones even if the speaker was dead, though.


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Post subject: Re: Help with Mustang I v1. No Sound
Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2015 4:40 am
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Another thing to try would be plugging a MP3 player (iPod, your phone, etc.) headphone out into the aux input of the amp. You should be able to play music through the amp like that. Just one more step in isolating where the problem is.


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Post subject: Re: Help with Mustang I v1. No Sound
Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2015 7:47 am
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Yes, the Hphone should be an indicator of the Power amps health, but in some of these digital amps, it is a separate driver.
Given it's age, its probably a dead digital power amp module.
If it says, ICE" on the module board, its unrepairable and needs to be replaced


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Post subject: Re: Help with Mustang I v1. No Sound
Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2015 9:56 am
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Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I'll give them a try this weekend and report back.


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Post subject: Re: Help with Mustang I v1. No Sound
Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2015 2:02 pm
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I tried downloading the new firmware to the amp and doing a factory reset, neither of which worked. Two things I've found though. One is when I connected my phone through the Aux jack and played music it came through the amp's speaker just fine. Second is if you turn the amp and guitar all the way up and strum hard you can faintly hear the music coming through the amp. It was most noticeable on the American 90's setting, while on other settings you really couldn't hear it.


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Post subject: Re: Help with Mustang I v1. No Sound
Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2015 5:25 am
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Well, seems like the power supply and power amp are working. The problem is likely with the sound processor. Unfortunately, $100 amps are considered throw aways when they don't work. Fender never published the schematic, that I know of.


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Post subject: Re: Help with Mustang I v1. No Sound
Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2015 9:25 am
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So you at least have a good slave amp.
The digital circuits couls very well have crapped out, But It sounds like you can change presets, so at least part of the digital is working.
Whats more likely wrong is the input jack damaged or broken loose from its solder.
To check for that empirically, you need to see if the rest of the input circuitry works.
The input signal will go from the input jack to a nearby 8 pin IC, probably a TL072 or a 4560. Then it goes into the A/D converter and into the digital processor.
Pull the chassis and connect it to the speaker or headphones.
Insert a plug into the input jack.
Turn the amp on with the volume up.
WITHOUT TOUCHING THE AMP, put your finger near the input jack and the opamp. There are no dangerous voltages near here, so its safe enough to touch, but don't.
The amp should start humming or buzzing when your finger gets near the input circuit if the circuitry is OK.
If it does start humming, turn the amp off and unplug it.
Inspect the jack for cracks in the plastic or deformed metal contacts.
Inspect the board where the jack is soldered.
The soldering may have cracks around it or the green traces that its soldered to may be lifted up and broken away from the board.
Good luck.


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Post subject: Re: Help with Mustang I v1. No Sound
Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2015 7:37 am
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Wow thanks TimsAudio! I did as you said & definite buzzing / static when my finger got near the input wires. Upon further investigation it looks as if the solder on the circuit board is cracked / pulled away. Now I need to brush up on my circuit board soldering skills and have a go and re-soldering the connection. I'll let you know how it goes, and thanks again!


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Post subject: Re: Help with Mustang I v1. No Sound
Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2015 1:18 pm
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I tried re-soldering the input jack connections, but there's still no sound. I'm not sure if my soldering job wasn't good, or the jack itself might be bad. Is there any way to test the jack or my solder connections with an ohm meter or anything? Or should I perhaps just order and install a new Input jack?


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Post subject: Re: Help with Mustang I v1. No Sound
Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2015 1:42 pm
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If you have an ohm meter you could plug a guitar cable into the jack and check for continuity from the cable to the circuit board. Obviously, keep the amp unplugged from the wall when you do that.


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Post subject: Re: Help with Mustang I v1. No Sound
Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2015 7:52 pm
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Do what he said.
If the jack took a hard enough hit to break the board, it probably needs to be replaced. They are only a few bucks.


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Post subject: Re: Help with Mustang I v1. No Sound
Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2015 11:40 am
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I think I'm out of luck. I called Fender & the guy said he didn't show a part number for the jack and that it's built into the board. I thought I'd just buy the whole board, called another day, and talked to someone different who said they still make the part, but don't sell the PCB's to the public and are only for warranty work to keep from building their own amps.


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