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Post subject: Key selling point breaks after less than 1 year
Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2018 1:15 pm
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I've had the GT 40 less than a year. Bluetooth editing was one of the reasons I chose it over the Boss Katana 50 (which I also bought, later, on Craigslist). With the Mustang's latest firmware, I can no longer edit sounds on my iPod Touch 5G running iOS 9. I see why Fender doesn't want the expense of supporting older devices, but you can't expect customers to thank you for it or spread the good news about this amp when one of its main selling points expires after less than a year of ownership.

The Mustang GT has a lot of things I still like, but if someone asks "What's the best modeling amp in this price range?" I think my answer would have to be Katana. It may lack some of the Mustang GT's features, but it was designed for a longer lifespan.


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Post subject: Re: Key selling point breaks after less than 1 year
Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2018 6:24 pm
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I would chalk this up more to Apple’s inconsistent handling of the iPod Touch line than Fender’s handling of the Tone app. E.g., the iPhone 5s, released in fall 2013, can run iOS 10 and 11, but the first iPod Touch that is still supported on iOS 10 and 11 wasn’t released until 2015 (the 6th generation version). Your 5th generation iPod Touch came out in 2012.

According to some stats from last fall, less than 6% of iOS devices at that time were running iOS 9 or below. It’s probably significantly less than 5% now.

So, I guess can’t exactly blame Fender for no longer supporting iOS 9 since all iOS devices released since fall 2013 - nearly five years ago - can run Tone, and keeping support around for older iOS versions is not free. FYI, if you look around, you can find a used iPad Mini 2 with a Retina display for less than $200, and that’s a terrific machine to run Tone as well as so many other awesome iOS music creation and learning apps. And the brand new iPad that supports the Apple Pencil is $329 - not exactly cheap, but not particularly expensive either.


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Post subject: Re: Key selling point breaks after less than 1 year
Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2018 6:45 pm
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As I have said, "I see why Fender doesn't want the expense of supporting older devices."

Still I maintain: "You can't expect customers to thank you for it or spread the good news about this amp when one of its main selling points expires after less than a year of ownership."

I don't say this from malice or ignorance of the product's abiding virtues, which I have praised repeatedly on the Telecaster forum.


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Post subject: Re: Key selling point breaks after less than 1 year
Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2018 8:34 pm
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I don't (at this time) use Apple devices, but it seems like it would be good if before doing an update, you would be informed that your device may no longer be supported or also be given the ability to go back to a previous supported version. Anyway my Android version shows being supported, but is not connecting. Go figure... I do however think they will eventually get it right. The problem is how many returns and bad press they get until then...


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Post subject: Re: Key selling point breaks after less than 1 year
Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2018 8:40 pm
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dswo wrote:
Still I maintain: "You can't expect customers to thank you for it or spread the good news about this amp when one of its main selling points expires after less than a year of ownership."


If the iOS version statistics I cited are representative of the actual and potential Tone user base, then the vast majority of actual and potential Tone users will not be affected by Fender dropping support for iOS 9. So I’m disagreeing with the part of your post that I bolded above.

But this also points out that if Fender had a mechanism to roll back firmware updates, you could move your amp back to the firmware version that is compatible with your Tone version...Fender? Bueller?


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Post subject: Re: Key selling point breaks after less than 1 year
Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2018 11:56 am
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Exactly, but don't write them off yet... They can still implement the "roll back firmware updates" any time.
Lets make it known that is a feature that is truly needed...


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Post subject: Re: Key selling point breaks after less than 1 year
Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2018 3:49 pm
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dswo wrote:
As I have said, "I see why Fender doesn't want the expense of supporting older devices."

Still I maintain: "You can't expect customers to thank you for it or spread the good news about this amp when one of its main selling points expires after less than a year of ownership."

I don't say this from malice or ignorance of the product's abiding virtues, which I have praised repeatedly on the Telecaster forum.
Sadly, this is not limited to consumer-level (and consumer-cost) software.
My city invested about $100,000 in hardware and software to provide us with the ability to monitor our traffic signal control network on our Android devices.
The particular package that we selected, one of the key features was that it was compatible with Android, and they were expecting to roll out iOS compatibility soon.
After about a year, Android updated, and the program failed to load. Upon contact with tech support, we were told that because Google was making so many changes so quickly, they did not have the resources to keep up and they were dropping Android support!
I called the CEO, and he flew out from New York for a FTF conference with me and my boss (and other customers including Universal Studios), and assured us that Android compatibility would be restored as soon as possible.

IIRC, this was the KitKat update, and we have had no problems on any OS updates since that time.

Not that this changes anything, just a point that things like this are a continual problem for products costing many times the cost of an amplifier, and they can be a real nightmare for the product support staff to keep customers happy.
Sometimes it requires a directive from upper management to "make this happen" when marketing doesn't realize that tech support has given up on an issue.

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Post subject: Re: Key selling point breaks after less than 1 year
Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2018 6:32 pm
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Upper management, marketing, and the coders, are all functioning
at the same level.


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Post subject: Re: Key selling point breaks after less than 1 year
Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2018 10:07 am
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Android has an "end of life" for device updates too. IMO, this comes with the territory when you are using portable (disposable) devices. The Mustang amp is just as disposable as your iPod. They will make a lovely matched set in a landfill someday.


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Post subject: Re: Key selling point breaks after less than 1 year
Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2018 11:19 am
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ghost_of_strings wrote:
The Mustang amp is just as disposable as your iPod.


I like my GT 40 and practice with it every day. But the Boss gear, I think, is sturdier.
+ The vulnerable corners of my Katana 50 are reinforced. They aren't on the comparably-priced GT 40.
+ The K50's headphone/line out jack is 1/4" compared with 1/8" on the GT 40.
+ The K50's USB input is a husky type B jack compared with the delicate micro-B jack on the GT 40.

I'm not saying the GT 40 is junk. Not at all: it has a very nice screen, and sits conveniently on a shelf (which the K50 does not). But the Boss hardware does seem to be engineered for harsher environments and a longer lifespan.


Last edited by dswo on Wed Apr 04, 2018 1:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: Key selling point breaks after less than 1 year
Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2018 11:52 am
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Most software devices reach a time when they no longer need an update or as mentioned a newer device replaces it.
That is not to say they will not reach a time when they will fail to function.
Amps like any other device will likely fail, whether tube or SS. The SS amp does not need tubes replaced, but the extra effects and such, will likely reach a time when they are no longer supported. That amp will still be an amp that could last as long or even longer then it's tube based brother. Cell phones grow old quickly for several reasons...
I don't think the display on the GT amps is destine to break or you have to buy insurance for it.
Yes, I believe they will work out the bugs and hope they do it soon, but I believe the GT 100 is still a good deal...


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Post subject: Re: Key selling point breaks after less than 1 year
Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2018 12:27 pm
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I'm not talking about hardware. How useful would that amp be if the Fender Tone software didn't work at all on any device? Would it lose any of the functionality you paid for?


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Post subject: Re: Key selling point breaks after less than 1 year
Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2018 12:51 pm
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For me, My main goals were:
Light weight
Clean fender sound
And an amp loud enough to jam with...

I believe it still meets those requirements. As to the software/firmware end of this amp, I believe that’s just icing on the cake...


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Post subject: Re: Key selling point breaks after less than 1 year
Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2018 12:54 pm
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ghost_of_strings wrote:
I'm not talking about hardware. How useful would that amp be if the Fender Tone software didn't work at all on any device?


This is one reason I initially bought a Mustang GT instead of a Boss Katana: you can edit the former on-screen. (I later got a Katana on Craigslist.)

ghost_of_strings wrote:
Would it lose any of the functionality you paid for?


If functionality means "the amp makes a good sound when you play through it," no. If functionality includes wireless editing and wireless streaming, yes.


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Post subject: Re: Key selling point breaks after less than 1 year
Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2018 2:26 pm
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I first tried the Katana before deciding on the GT.
I was able to try out the Katana with a mex strat , in a lesson room for the better part of a day.
I was looking for those clean fender sounds. I did find the Katana reasonably priced and with a simple to use basic interface, but fender clean sounds, not so much. I did end up buying that mex strat though and I can say that strat does a good job of reproducing those fender sounds. FWIW, after buying the GT, and trying it with a lot of my guitars, I think the sound you get does depend largely on the guitar you hook up to it...


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