Bought a new amp!

Lewguitar

Lewguitar

New member
Fender Mustang III 100 watt modeling amp. 12" Celestion speaker. Great sounding models of all the classic Fender and Marshall amps of the last 60 years and 100 presets that can be modified to taste and then stored as your own preset. Sounds amazing

And the response feels like tubes! Sounds killer at extremely low volumes and high volumes too. Delay, reverb, chorus, infinate range of overdriven tones and much more.

How much? That's the other amazing thing: $329 including the footswitch.

Modeling amps have really come a long way. Now, they not only sound good but they FEEL good.

I've been playing out once a week with a band that plays at extremely low volumes and this Mustang III is perfect for this gig.

Makes my Strat sound like Gary Moore or Carlos Santana but the cleaner tones are equally mind blowing.

Here's the amp: 10455347_10154016927643584_8445221801436490066_n.jpg
 
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Re: Bought a new amp!

treyhaislip said:
Congrats on the new amp! I've heard good things about the Mustang–enjoy!
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It's pretty spectacular. I auditioned Line 6 and a couple of others too.

I liked the Line 6 Spider IV and it excelled at super overdriven metal tones but the clean tones were lacking.

The Mustang III does everything well.

I can now foresee a day when tube amps will be a thing of the past because modeling technology has come a long ways even in the last two or three years.

The feel is now there. That's what was always missing and now it's not missing.

And they're just going to keep getting better and better until, I think, the sound of modeling amps will eventually surpass the sound and feel of tubes.
 
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Re: Bought a new amp!

Lewguitar said:
I can now foresee a day when tube amps will be a thing of the past
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Re: Bought a new amp!

lew, i love you. please get your meds checked very soon.

ive played a bunch of new stuff cause i want something that is ss or digital modeling for quiet home use. even my little 8w into a greenback is too loud if i want it to break up. having said that, even that little homemade 8w sounds so much better than anything ss or modeling ive tried. it weighs almost as much as a 100w digital amp but there is no comparison in sound quality as far as im concerned. clean its wonderful and can be quiet but to get dirt ya gotta turn it up (volume and tone are the only controls and the tone controls gain a fair amount too). if i find a analog ss or digital amp that can do what i want, ill buy it. but i havent found it yet.
 
Re: Bought a new amp!

Jeremy, check out this video if you have a minute. A is the Mustang. B is the Deluxe Reverb.

 
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Re: Bought a new amp!

Lewguitar said:
Yes. That day will come. This Mustang III is extremely good but it's inexpensive and still somewhat artificial sounding. But spend more, and that day when modeling amps are not artificial sounding may already be here.

Paul Gilbert is now using a Kemper modeling amp: https://www.facebook.com/kemperamps/posts/1290181367664850:0
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Interesting Lew but you will not convince me or many others around here. Keeping in mind I am one of the few "keepers of the solid state faith" around here. I love my solid state amps but I am yet to find anything in the digital modeling world that satisfies me. Paul Gilbert can use a Kemper all day but that doesn't make it right for me or a lot of other guitar players. As long as there are guitar players there will be tube amps.
 
Re: Bought a new amp!

Securb said:
Interesting Lew but you will not convince me or many others around here. Keeping in mind I am one of the few "keepers of the solid state faith" around here. I love my solid state amps but I am yet to find anything in the digital modeling world that satisfies me. Paul Gilbert can use a Kemper all day but that doesn't make it right for me or a lot of other guitar players. As long as there are guitar players there will be tube amps.
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No. I wouldn't expect words to convince anyone.

But experience with a $300 Mustang III or a $200 Mustang II might.

I went back three times on three different days before I believed that what I was hearing was true.

Then I bought one.

Check one out if you get a chance.

And try a Line 6 Spider too. Its cleans are not as good but its overdrive tones are a lot of fun.

Most folks like the Mustang more. I did.

 
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Re: Bought a new amp!

Lewguitar said:
Jeremy, check out this video if you have a minute. A is the Mustang. B is the Deluxe Reverb.

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To my ears (and through my nice headphones) both sound nice..but B won by a landslide. Warmer, fuller, a bit dirtier when he dug in.

The technology to replace tubes it there, it just would take so much time and resources that the new product would end up being more expensive as a tube amp.

But, why not just use tubes rather than trying to mimic tubes? I mean, if you want tube sound..go tube..if you want reliably, simplicity, and overall lightweight..go SS.

Don't get me wrong though, the Mustang is a great modeling amp overall. Very versatile and such. It's a bit thin and bright to my ears though.
 
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Re: Bought a new amp!

TRex said:
To my ears (and through my nice headphones) both sound nice..but B won by a landslide. Warmer, fuller, a bit dirtier when he dug in.

The technology to replace tubes it there, it just would take so much time and resources that the new product would end up being more expensive as a tube amp.

But, why not just use tubes rather than trying to mimic tubes? I mean, if you want tube sound..go tube..if you want reliably, simplicity, and overall lightweight..go SS.

Don't get me wrong though, the Mustang is a great modeling amp overall. Very versatile and such. It's a bit thin and bright to my ears though.
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In the A/B test I liked A every time and I'm a fairly dedicated Deluxe Reverb user. Got a couple of original blackface DR's myself.

The really great modeling amps, like the Kemper that Paul Gilbert is using, are very expensive. $2000...and that's just for the preamp. With a power amp they're $2450.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...nZDpv3HmVVB6zlkCcyjemlDk21SNUiHLgIhoCQUXw_wcB

So yeah: very expensive.

But this Mustang III was $329. A screaming great deal for all that it does and for a 100 watt gigging amp.

Did I mention that it has a nice Celestion 12" speaker? Yep, it does. G12T-100.

And it's perfect for the gig I'm doing now and perfect for the church gig I do at Unity of Boulder from time to time. Plus I can plug it into the PA board which is something they've been mentioning a lot lately.

A lot of churches have gone that way and don't want to mic the instruments. At Unity I'm the only one who still mics his amp. The keys, bass and electronic drums all go through the PA and don't generate much onstage sound except through monitors.

The times are changing.

Not that I plan to sell my old Fender amps anytime soon. ;) Still have a few left.
 
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Re: Bought a new amp!

blueman335 said:
You know that if I did that, I wouldn't be able to resist making some comments about you suddenly liking 250K pots: "If I'd have only listened to Blueman sooner!"
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Well I'll tell you what: if you go check out one of these Mustang II or III amps, you might be saying: "If I'd have only listened to Lew sooner!" :)

They do like Strats though. Maybe better than guitars with humbuckers.
 
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Re: Bought a new amp!

Hey Lew good to see ya. My band mate has one and it replaced a Peavey Classic which in itself did sound pretty darn good. However, the Mustang 3 is an awesome gigging amp... Not too heavy, plenty of power but sounds good at low volume too, and in a gigging situation the models are more than convincing. My band mate is quite a fussy so and so... He stupidly sold a killer '68 Fender super reverb (I think that's what he said he had) but knows a thing or 2 about tone and gigging. Who is really going to be able to tell the difference at a gig anyway? The fact is that regardless of the cost of the amp it makes a lot of good noises and with the multi footswitch makes for a great versatile working mans amp.
 
Re: Bought a new amp!

d1dsj said:
Hey Lew good to see ya. My band mate has one and it replaced a Peavey Classic which in itself did sound pretty darn good. However, the Mustang 3 is an awesome gigging amp... Not too heavy, plenty of power but sounds good at low volume too, and in a gigging situation the models are more than convincing. My band mate is quite a fussy so and so... He stupidly sold a killer '68 Fender super reverb (I think that's what he said he had) but knows a thing or 2 about tone and gigging. Who is really going to be able to tell the difference at a gig anyway? The fact is that regardless of the cost of the amp it makes a lot of good noises and with the multi footswitch makes for a great versatile working mans amp.
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Thanks...nice to be here!

And nice to hear that you've heard it on a gig and liked what you heard.

I don't think anyone who's dissing it :28: has actually heard it. :smack:

I just wanted to turn people onto it...especially younger players looking for a great first or second amp.

For $200 for the 40 watt version, or $329 for the 100 watt with a lot more features, it's a real bargain.

Thanks for the feedback!
 
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