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Two new modelling amps with a familiar name
Simon Bradley (Guitarist), Wed 16 Mar 2011, 10:53 am GMT
Most famously, the Fender Mustang is a quirky short-scale electric guitar launched in 1965, that later found favour with indie bands due to its cool shape and livery.
Joining it in the current-day corral are two new modelling amps that also use the Mustang moniker, but are as modern in specification as the Mustang guitar is now retro.
The lion's share of the Mustang II's spec is shared by the I, and you can assume that what goes for the bigger amp is the same for the smaller unless stated.
In fact all that separates them is the output, speaker size and cabinet dimensions, all of which are listed in the spec check: the operating system we'll describe is the same.
"Neither boutique nor expensive, they nonetheless deliver top tones for playing and practising."
The tones are based around eight amp models, with three versions of each: orange, red and green. They're accessed via a rotary pot that scrolls all the way through; all the oranges, then greens, then reds.
There are no menus to squint at, or multi-element LED displays to keep track of, so the Mustang is immediately easy to use.
Although loaded with tones from the outset, the concept is that you set up a sound in the non-editable orange banks, then save it to the specific amp model's red or green equivalent. Press the save button, scroll between red and green, then save again and it's done.
The models comprise three of Fender's best-known amps, two British options and a trio of higher gain amps. All settings on the five-knob front panel, aside from the master volume, can be edited and saved.
Alongside the amps are a choice of effects and Fender has resisted the temptation to overload the Mustang with all manner of unusable noises in favour of different types of the same denomination of effect: chorus and deep chorus, a slow and fast Vibratone and so on.
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Great price. Satusfying tones. Easy to use.
The metal sounds don't stand up to the clean ones in quality.
For vintage-flavoured practice or home noodling, these are genuinely impressive amps that recreate some of Fender's greatest moments.
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Mustang I