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Post subject: Mustang GT gain clamps down then returns
Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2020 5:23 pm
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I'm having the common issue with a pretty new GT 200 where it cuts out then comes back after a second or two. I have been jerked around by Fender for a month now. They act confused and like they don't know what I'm talking about and say they're working on how to fix it. This is not really acceptable. If Fender can't just refund this then I will feel obligated to go to every youtube video, every forum post, every review site I can find and warn people away from this amp.

I thought long and hard about whether or not to buy a solid state amp or a low price tube amp. I thought that a solid state amp would be more reliable. Crate solid state amps last for decades. So it seems fair to try to get the word out to avoid this line of amplifiers if you want something you can use long-term.

(Edited to say that the repair shop I took it to was the source of my warranty trouble. I don't know what went wrong on their end, but 2 days after someone there told me they'd be able to start working with Fender's techs to attempt a fix in "a week and half" someone else called to tell me that a replacement had arrived. I don't know what the deal actually was but good on Fender for that. The shop has a terrible reputation and I wish Fender would drop them.)


Last edited by DaveMcGrew2 on Sat Jan 25, 2020 11:42 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Post subject: Re: Mustang GT gain clamps down then returns
Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 4:45 pm
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Having purchased a brand new gt200 about a month ago, I feel your pain! It seems like it affects all of the GT line and it’s not limited to a handful of them being lemons. I read somewhere on this forum to point a fan at the back of it and it totally solved my problems. Now every once in awhile I will have the drop out issue and look up and realize I forgot to turn the fan on, and after a quick reset it’s back to normal and no more problems.

In the manual it does state to provide at least 6” of clearance from obstructions like walls, which is kind of hard to do when using it at home, otherwise you would need it to be right in the center of a room which isn’t practical. So I leave mine right about 6” from the wall and point a fan at it from the side so the air is flowing parallel to the back of the unit and it really is a noticeable reduction in the drop out issue! Hope that helps some for your issue!


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Post subject: Re: Mustang GT gain clamps down then returns
Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 8:27 pm
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2 of us tried fans and both of us eventually came to realize thats not it. I even went as far as to implement a fan inside the chassis. Needless to say it;s now gone because thats not the issue. I have gone thru a lot trying to suss this issue but it;s strange because it will seem to react to something you do then later on come back again and then not be affected by it anymore. It's like the amp is F'ing with me. My best guess and what i think is the likely cause so far is a ribbon cable or the solder joints of the the pins it connects to on the board. I cut the end of the cable off and soldered all the wires direct to the pins and it stopped for about 6 weeks. Then it happened again one day and i removed the top handle and reached in and pushed on that ribbon cable and it stopped. Pulled the chassis after that and re-flowed the solder under the board to all the pins. So far no more issue but s with last thing i tried i will not know if that was it till it doesn't do it for at least 3 months i'd say. And yes, fender knows about this and even suggested it was a ribbon cable and that they fixed it but people keep buying new GTs since and getting the same issue. Unless they bought old stock, the issue remains. I just hope the new GTX isn't plagued by it. Fender is a complete bust when it comes to customer service. Soon as they see they can't do anything to help they just blow u off. I'm sure they think people like me are aholes but the fact is i'm not the one who took THIER money for a defective design and went silent. Probably something they don't want to admit even to themselves. But thats what people do when theres a lot at stake.


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Post subject: Re: Mustang GT gain clamps down then returns
Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2020 12:04 am
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I edited my first post to reflect that Fender actually sent me a new amp right away, no questions asked. I was getting completely wrong information from the shop. I know it was the shop because 2 days after the shop told me it would be a week and a half before they could work with Fender to fix it, they called me to tell me a replacement has come. So I really can't blame Fender at all and I commend them for their customer service. It was really a surprise after hearing what I had through the repair shop. (It's got a terrible yelp/google reputation but I guess that's who Fender can work with where I am. I hope they drop him, honestly.)

But more importantly I wanted to say a little bit about the replacement amp. It's brand new and the hardware update is noticeable. @cozad I believe you have spotted the differences with the headphone and aux jacks, and it's substantial. It's like they over-corrected - both of those jacks are the most heavy-duty 3.5mm jacks I've seen period. I didn't know they made them this solid. The input jack looks more solid too although I'm less sure about it.

Another difference I am sure about though is the knobs. They don't feel flimsy anymore. They don't feel unually strong but they don't make me feel "I'd better be extra careful I don't snap one of these off if my hand slips," like I did with the first one I had. Their action is a little stiffer and more solid too.

The next couple things I'm less sure about, but it seems like the cab is slightly more solid, the grill cloth is slightly closer to the edge of the frame, the texture of the control panel seems a bit different. I don't get to play loud very much with kids and everyone asleep most of my free time, plus I can't A/B it, but the treble seems a little less ear-bleed pokey. I don't know if I'm imagining that though.

One last thing I am sure about is that on my first model, very last 5% or so of the master volume dial was unusable. I could not make it quiet enough to play without headphones at night. It went from silent to too loud and that first 5% or something of the dial was literally silent. Then the volume would come at an unpredictable spot but always too loud. On my new one, there's still a bit of that, but it's the last 2-3% percent of the dial, and crucially I can get it quiet enough to play at night. It's a bit fiddly, but there's actually a bit of a range between silent and "bedroom" levels low.

All in all, this newer model seems like a significant upgrade. I can only guess that with the relative success that the amp had (everyone says they sold well) they didn't want to call attention to the fact that they kind of had a revision already. As long as they fixed the drop out issue (I'll know in a month or two) my experience with the newer GTs bodes pretty well for the GTX.


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Post subject: Re: Mustang GT gain clamps down then returns
Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2020 7:38 am
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The dropout issue could happen any time. Mine didn't do it for maybe a year or so before it started. So it can happen immediately, after a month, a year, whatever. I hope it iS gone tho because if not the GTX could still have it. U probably read what i did to mine to try and fix it via that ribbon cable. Well, that seemed to fix it for about 6weeks then it started again. A few days back i again pulled the chassis and this time i reflowed every solder pad for each of the pins because i still think it could be that after having the issue manifest then pushing on the ribbon while it was happening which stopped it. So i began to suspect it again but know it wasn't the connector since i removed that and soldered the wires f the ribbon directly to the pins. Once it did it again and stopped when pushing on the ribbon the logical assumption was that one of th pins had a intermittent solder joint. If thats what it is even the GTX may still be susceptible unless they completely retooled for that board and did it differently somehow. We shall see.
By the way, fender replaced mine early on too and it had all the same issues. Thats not my problem with them. It's that once they realize they can't do anything about the issue they go silent on it and u r stuck with an amp that doesn't work right. to be fair, most companies are like that. They will replace a few items but if they are faced with a total recall they go silent rather then do the right thing. I just hope all the issues are gone with the GTX. Then they will have one hell of an amp.


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