Fender Mustang Amplifiers

mikeyb

Hey there guys. I was browsing all the really good website's that i do on an almost daily basis.
I came across the Fender Mustang amplifiers.
Now they really do seem to be a great set of amps. I am in the market for a new one, but what really interests me is the nice user interface, where you can connect to your pc and customize your sounds etc. and a cool recording interface.
http://www.fender.com/products/mustang

Features
Mustang™ I and II contain 24 highly accurate onboard amp models with tones from vintage Fender® sparkle to outrageous modern metal distortion. Easily connect to your computer to add to the number of amp models, too.

Connect Mustang to your computer with free Fender® FUSE™ software. Open up a world of possibilities, including on-screen parameter control, deep editing, additional effects, unlimited preset storage, online preset swapping with the Fender® FUSE™ community, and free Fender artist presets

Basically what I want to know, is has anyone had any experience or at least tried out these amps.
Seems very good.

Norman86

Yip... AWESOME amps! Better than the Roland cubes IMO!
they sound very good... play very good... and they're Fender!

what puts me off is the thing we may not speak of (pricing in SA).
eg. Mustang 1 - USA $99, UK 99GBP, RSA R2500.
Mustang 2 - USA $150, UK, 140GBP, RSA R4000.

mikeyb

Ya that is what I was thinking.

Although priced not bad, I got a bud who manages a shop and he quoted me a price of R1700 for the mustang 1. Which I would definitely get. That to me..... sounds like a deal.

But as luck would have it I need to sell a kidney at this stage of my life to buy it. So I have reverted back to prostituting my graphic skills to save up for it. May take a while.
HAHAHAAHHA

singemonkey

Keira gave a little review which concurred with the reviews I checked out on the net: Great classic Fender tones, the other amp sounds are less than stellar.

Norman86

Something like the Mustang IV with 2 x 12's or the Mustang V with separate head and cab...They dont suffer from the same problem as they have the speakers to back up the tones!!

And again, its who you know... but normal SA retail is just shocking!!

AlanRatcliffe

Norman86 wrote: what puts me off is the thing we may not speak of (pricing in SA).
eg. Mustang 1 - USA $99, UK 99GBP, RSA R2500.
Mustang 2 - USA $150, UK, 140GBP, RSA R4000.

You may (and do, often) speak of pricing, but please make sure your facts are right before you make comparisons:

Mustang 1 = R1,995 not R2,500
Mustang 2 = R3,295 not R4,000

That's retail before discount, so you're looking a street price of at most R1,400 for the Mustang 1 and R2,300 for the Mustang 2. So UK street prices are the same by the time you add VAT and 10% duties - and that's before you even look at shipping from the UK.

Norman86

Alan Ratcliffe wrote:
Norman86 wrote: what puts me off is the thing we may not speak of (pricing in SA).
eg. Mustang 1 - USA $99, UK 99GBP, RSA R2500.
Mustang 2 - USA $150, UK, 140GBP, RSA R4000.
You may (and do, often) speak of pricing, but please make sure your facts are right before you make comparisons:

Mustang 1 = R1,995 not R2,500
Mustang 2 = R3,295 not R4,000

That's retail before discount, so you're looking a street price of at most R1,400 for the Mustang 1 and R2,300 for the Mustang 2. So UK street prices are the same by the time you add VAT and 10% duties - and that's before you even look at shipping from the UK.

Thats not the pricing I saw in musicmate the other day!
What i said was exactly the price i saw on the box! ?

mikeyb

Thanks Alan, is that marshall Music?
And have you had any experience, and is there any useful info you have with these sort of modelling amps/

AlanRatcliffe

Norman86 wrote: Thats not the pricing I saw in musicmate the other day!

Those are Fender's recommended retail prices (I did check...). That's what the stores should be charging for them...

mikeyb wrote: And have you had any experience, and is there any useful info you have with these sort of modelling amps/

Not the Mustangs specifically. I'll see if I can get a chance to try them next time I am in town.

mikeyb

Thanks Alan, any help with these amps would be great, They sound almost too good to be true.

Norman86

Well its good to know that what the RRP should be then!
Thanks Alan!

I have just checked Sweetwater, and i must say, the Mustang and the Cube are most definitely direct competitors... Modelling AND price wise.
Roland products though are much cheaper here though, making Fender less of a competitor here...

$99:

Roland Cube15XL vs Fender Mustang I
15W, 8" speaker vs 20W, 8" Speaker.

$159
Roland Cube 20XL
20W, 8" speaker

now last i saw, the fender was around this price... but its higher now... anyways...

$199
Fender Mustang II
40W, 12" speaker

$219
Roland Cube 40XL
40W, 10" speaker

$299
Fender Mustang III
100W, 1 x 12"

$369
Roland Cube 80XL
80W, 1 x 12.

Fender Mustang IV and V come in at $500 and $600 respectively.
But in the states, most definitely a viable alternative to the Rolands, with more amp models, and the possibility to use more than one effect at a time.
eg, delay and reverb, where the cube cannot do this!

Also, the USB connectivity and edibility make this more powerful than the cubes!

Either way, the Fender has a bigger speaker and more output for the same price!
In the states at least!

Keira-WitherKay

singemonkey wrote: Keira gave a little review which concurred with the reviews I checked out on the net: Great classic Fender tones, the other amp sounds are less than stellar.

and i stick to that review after trying the 40W one the mustang II out a few times more since.......

for the money it's the cheapest way to get great fender tones......... but in my mind it still can't can't replace a real tube amp....... i tested a 40W Mustang II on the fender deluxe sound then plugged directly after into a real fender blues deluxe reverb and let me just mention it was no contest ..... but the price of the blues deluxe reverb in that store after discounts was about 16K and the mustang a mere 2.8K so not a fair comparison ..but it stood up well enough for me to say the mustang is superb value for money , and i did try a 20W roland cube (it was the only cube the store had) but afraid the cube just which didn't compete at all......... but in all fairness i shoulda compared a 40W cube.......

but yes for the money (discounted off retail) it's a fabulous amp ( the mustang) and the usb option allows one to even download your guitar hero's amp settings online .......from a libray of sounds.all features which are very usable in music biz.......

on comparison within all the mustang models i see the mustang III (with 100W and 12 inch speaker..but still a combo ) looks the biz .and the digital modelling feautures and interface on the III and IV ( stack) seem better than the smaller models .......

Norman86

on comparison within all the mustang models i see the mustang III (with 100W and 12 inch speaker..but still a combo ) looks the biz .and the digital modelling feautures and interface on the III and IV ( stack) seem better than the smaller models .......

but at $300 and $500 respectively in the states, you might as well go tube here! and MFX!
What ARE the prices for those mustangs HERE??

Keira-WitherKay

Norman86 wrote:
on comparison within all the mustang models i see the mustang III (with 100W and 12 inch speaker..but still a combo ) looks the biz .and the digital modelling feautures and interface on the III and IV ( stack) seem better than the smaller models .......
but at $300 and $500 respectively in the states, you might as well go tube here! and MFX!
What ARE the prices for those mustangs HERE??

but the thing is, even on a limited budget one can go the tube amp route here..... for under 4 K even less you can get a laney 15W cub brand new.... the ibanez tubescreamer 15 watters are also about 4.5 K brand new .... damn i found a 10W cub for less than 2K 2nd hand and i love the tone, and it's loud ....... so it's not that much about money but personal requirements...

as i think someone wanting a tube amp will just buy one.......

but the modelling is not aimed at that market but more at the muso's wanting a good recording amp, or an amp that can model lots of different amps........

don't forget a tube amp has basically one sound .( ok 2 if you count clean and distortion as separate sounds but it's still one tone albeit clean or distorted ).....and that what you buy it for...most tube amp buyers buy their amps for the specific tone that amp brings to the party........ and tube amp buyers know a fender tube amp will never sound like an ac30 or marshall and vice versa..

where the modelling offers the entire range of amps and fx , and the mustangs have some pretty nifty digital interfaces and fx's ......they are the way of the future even if they not perfect yet ....... modelling is getting better and better .and no it will not tempt the muso's who want that real tube sound....... and i don't think it's positioned in the market to challenge the tube amp buyers either ......

but i think one must separate the tube amps from modelling amps...... and even their pricing cos they have different target markets and differnt purposes.....

so yes a mark III mustang may cost as much as a tube amp ( a cheap one) but that would not matter to someone wanting modeling amp for stage/studio and the added options of digital interface/full fx/and silent/quiet recording if needed...... and is very good value for money and the 100W will be fab for any live stage ..... and i'm sure cover band muso's will love the 100W amp cos the 40 W is too small for onstage at live gigs.... but the 100W is what you need in transistor power onstage...... pity they not made a 60 or 80 W that would work live too.....but 40 is too small..... and the digital download of sound patch's will give cover muso's the edge in sounding close to the original recorded tones of the songs they covering ....

so here i am defending modeling amps fully ? but as much as i know they the way of the future ...they not for me .... i'm a dinasour and still want a valve amp ... but then i'm only wanting one good tone from that amp that suits my playing .....

so what i'm really saying is stop worrying about the prices ........ but pick an amp for your needs...... then once you know what you want ..be it tube or modelling then find the best price......

Norman86

the Mustang 3...

saw the sticker price today in store... obviously... where else would one see it??
R4999... i even got a photo of it!!!
so, if you get a 30% discount, (read when you get the actual price) it should be around R3500.
Damn good price!
That IS almost the American price to the tee. excluding all the other nonsense...
As $500 is around R3500 at todays exchange... Maybe a little more... maybe a little less... but this amps price is spot on!!!
Which leaves me begging the question...
if some Fender products are almost directly the same price, why not everything!!! :-\

Anyways... Good price for that amp then! IF you get the "normal" 30% off.
Crisis i hate these discounted prices. You NEVER know what the price is going to be.
Why not put the correct price on the sticker in the first place? ugh!
/rant!

mikeyb

Well guys. Sorry it took so long to post a reply on it.
I got it and it is rocking.
The Friendly folks at Marshall's got it to me for a cool R1500. I love this amp, and really wouldn't swap it out for anything really.
I has great variety built in and with the customizations it really does get close to what I would be able to tell as the real thing.
I spend lots of time fine tuning the sounds, downloading presets off hte net.
This is a great practice amp and really inexpensive way to really get going with some good quality recording, if that sort of thing does it for you.
Great value and tone for such a small inexpensive amp.

psyx

so did you take the mustang I ? Those amps are quite pretty... The "carbon fibre" look works quite well... I had to choose between a mustang and a cube. Both have their advantages and both sound good, so for me it came down to price and I took the cube!

But grats on a good amp!

mikeyb

I did indeed get the mustang I amp.
It is a very good looking amp, as amps go. I definitely would have expects them to brand this a squier amp for the price.
But I indeed got a Fender branded amp, that is more than I expected. Which Cube did you get?
I think the main difference between the 2 is that you can dial in a bit more from the amp interface on the cube.
Do you got pc editing and usb out for low latency recording on the cube?

psyx

I have the cube 40xl... the disadvantage of the cube is that unlike the mustang and the line6 spider , it cant be edited via a usb port. However, in my opinion the cube has by stock an amazing tone for each of the presets , so Im happy! And its loud! It also packs the Roland jazz chorus model which is a good clean channel.
The big problem with modelling amps is that the sound tends to sound "processed" and luckily with the new cubes thats almost gone now. Every new generation digital amp moves closer to sounding exactly like tube amps.
So in comparison to the mustang the cube is fairly limited... As I said , in the end I took the cube because it was a bit more value for money

Norman86

Personal taste...
i cold never like the JC clean on the cube 20x i had, i hated it!
In fact, i hated the amp so much, i just hardly ever bothered plugging into it!
A Vox mini 3 has more value to me than any roland amp!
It has better sounding models even though its smaller!

And the fender is in another class compared to the roland!
More features, better tones!
in my opinion anyway!