[TeeDub]

After lugging my Twin Reverb for the last 15 years I'm ready to concede that maybe, just maybe, a lightweight modeling amp for bar gigs wouldn't necessarily be such a huge compromise in integrity, if it sounded halfway decent.

I'm seeing a lot of love for the Fender Mustang III over on the Fender Forum and not much mention of it here. Would anyone care to share their experience? I play mostly steel guitar so my primary need is for lots of clean headroom. Steel players pick with the volume pedal about half way down and use the other half to sustain the note, so generally we need at least 100 watts in order to keep up with a guitar player with a 15 watt amp.

I'm thinking it would be cool to have a 100 watt amp that I can easily carry, fits nicely on cramped stages and can create a reasonable facsimile of a Twin Reverb, Deluxe Reverb, Tweed Bassman, etc. Who listens that closely in a bar anyway? I can always drag out the TR for festivals and whatnot. Thoughts on the Mustang III? Loud enough? Durable?

[Lizardkinged]

Sun Model-T head, Ampeg V4 head, some of the bassman heads that are up @ 100 watts. I think if you got a DRRI you would be fine Deluxe reverb reissues are about half a twin.

[Sonny Strimple]

I don't play professionally - just for my own enjoyment. I had an Airline tube amp for many years that quit working last year. I purchased a 15 watt line6 thinking I could get by with it - but was disappointed with the clean sound. I had to turn the volume up all the way to get even a little clean sound and then it would distort. I started looking into amps that could give a nice clean sound, have enough power if I were to play at my local bar, and still be able to play at a low volume (practice at home). I also wanted to be able to play without using any pedals right out of the box.

I decided that FENDER could be trusted to model their own 50/60's amps the best, since many were their designs. The Mustang lll had everything I was looking for - and even a 100 watt Celestion speaker. After all - they (FENDER) are doing a wonderful job with the GRETSCH line of guitars.

I ordered my Mustang lll from MF (and even got 15% off). It came in excellent condition and sounds and models the older amps with the good clean sound I was looking for. I believe my tastes for the sound fall in line with what Synchro likes. I can turn the volume down and still get the tones I like. I have 2 Gretsch pre-Fenders (6119 and 6122jr). Both sound great through this amp. I would think anyone with my tastes would be more than happy with this amp. My thanks to FENDER for a great product (built well too) for a very low price.

Sonny

[Tony65x55]

I owned a Mustang III for two years. It was fantastic and I really enjoyed it. I found my love over in the Super Champ XD and X2 amps and just sold my Mustang III last week. It was a very good amp and very versatile.

[brucehodge]

I've had a mustang III for about a year, its a versatile amp and its pretty loud.
I use it for practice because its light, and I can lug it around without worrying about tubes
and damaging my JTM-30 which is a bit fragile.
But for the very few gigs I do I use the Marshall JTM-30 and take the III as a backup.

[montereyjack66]

I would echo most of the Pro Mustang III verbage here. Had mine about a year with no real problems. It can be easy to get lost in the vast array of technical options if you're not comfortable. The good parts are: (A) simple is there right away, done.You don't have to go infinite technical if that's not your thing. (B) What you may lack in "pristine perfect" ideal tube sound you more than make up for in "pretty darn good!", reliable, flexibility, and bang for your buck. The celestion puts out and you come go from Fender clean to Randy Rhoads in two seconds. I also have an old blackface Bandmaster which sounds great at 6 but sorrowfully dull at 3, is heavier, moodyier, and bigger.

Caveats: Don't park it too close to a wall (at least six inches) or it suddenly sounds flat, dull and honky. Also, there is much verbage on the net about "fizz", mostly related to humbuckers in hot mode. I imagine I was lucky as I have not experienced this despite having a Schecter Vintage Solo with a Seymore Duncan 102 HB (although I mostly use it in Gretsch twang mode, not Judas Priest mode). The best fix for this possibility is to test drive your take home amp before you take it out of the store. If it has the dreaded fizz, ask for another one. If you really like a big Gretsch BOOM on the low end, you may not quite get there like you would with a Bassman or something with a 15". On the other hand, when I sync it up with another similar amp with a 12" speaker (a crude twin if you will) the boom shows up pretty nice.

Nice amp that goes from bedroom to a 150 seat club with little compromise.
My two cents.

mj

Oh YeaH! It is much lighter than a similar tube amp. This is not so bad.

[polishbroadcast]

I had one for a few weeks. It had the dreaded fizz (you can see the 70+ page thread on the Fender forum). My feelings are that I loved the sound for the price, the weight was nice, no tube buzz but great tube sound. I didn't love the chipboard construction and unusable clean sound because of the fizz.

If I were to need a cheap light amp again, I would go for the Super champ XD.

Have you looked into Neodymium speakers as a weight reducer?

[TeeDub]

Thanks for the opines. I have read about the dreaded fizz. Apparently it can be cured by a free firmware upgrade. There are some used MIIIs locally for not much so I guess it couldn't hurt to find out. At worst I can use it for my practice amp.

[griole]

I lugged a Twin Reverb around for decades, and although I still believe they are the best all-around amp ever made, the weight will eventually get to you. The Mustang III does a pretty good imitation of the Twin, and has enough muscle to cut through in a gigging situation, in most cases. As mentioned above, it isn't perfect. However, it's close enough to be more than acceptable, in my opinion. The Mustang's 100w of solid state power does not compare to the 85w of rompin', stompin' dynamite that a tube-powered Twin offers, volume-wise. But you can hold your own in a gigging situation.

I also have a Super Champ XD, in a custom-made 1x12" cabinet that I sometimes use, and it's a great-sounding amp, but doesn't work well for gigs, unless you're miking it. Given a choice of either of these modern-day Fenders, I prefer the Mustang overall. Both are excellent alternatives to, and much more easily luggable than, the venerable Twin Reverb. Amp modeling has come a long way in recent years, and Fender's entries into this genre are well worth looking into. It all comes down to how it sounds to your ears. To my ears, the benefits of the Mustang III far outweigh the negatives. Great amp!

[PacRat]

I too liked the Mustang III, but I had a problem in the live setting trying to use the different presets I had dialed in. A buddy here stepped in to use it at the Gretschtogether we had in March and it was a disaster for him as he had no idea where to go to just to get a clean Twin sound. I soon sold mine and went to my old stand by, my Peavey Delta Blues. Simplicity rules supreme

[polishbroadcast]

Originally Posted by TeeDub

Thanks for the opines. I have read about the dreaded fizz. Apparently it can be cured by a free firmware upgrade. There are some used MIIIs locally for not much so I guess it couldn't hurt to find out. At worst I can use it for my practice amp.

There was another digital distortion problem that was fixed by firmware but it is different than the current "tail end distortion". The current problem is an unpleasant artifact that is attached to decaying notes. Firmware doesn't and will likely never fix it. Fender said as much on the Fender board. If you play one and like it you should be in the clear. I just didn't want you to buy a bad one thinking software would fix it. There is speculation that the power amp is poorly designed. It only affects the III-V.

[PacRat]

For what it worth, mine had no problem other then the 100's presets I was trying to keep straight. The amp performed flawlessly and I was very happy with the cleans as well as some of the sounds I was able to dial in.

[stevo]

I feel your pain. I love Twins and DRRI's, they just never leave my basement when I own them! Talk about a backache.

100 Watts in that amp never seems as loud as 50 in a Hot Rod Deluxe (for instance). For whatever reason, frequency response or overall dynamics, solid state amps are never as loud to my ears as the same wattage tube amp. For a bar Gig, I'd much rather see a Hot Rod Deluxe. Granted, you still have to have your own effects and it's not as light as the Mustang. But it's lighter than a Twin.

[Anakin2Solo]

Have you considered a Super Champ X2? Same benefits as the Mustang with tubes. Both share the Fuse software (although differently).

[cybermgk]

Originally Posted by Anakin2Solo

Have you considered a Super Champ X2? Same benefits as the Mustang with tubes. Both share the Fuse software (although differently).

Not sure the SCX2 is going to have the volume the OP is looking for. 15 tube watts doesn't seem to be quite enough.

[kennium]

I have a Mustang 2 for my home recordings. I wiped it clean of all the settings that came with it. Then I started from scratch. I auditioned each amp model separately and tweaked it to sound good clean. I wanted to get the best sound I could with just guitar and amp. I figured I can always add distortion or overdrive or extra gain etc... later on. the same applies to effects. This approach paid off for me. It took a lot of work, but it was worth it. I'm always surprised by the way most amp models and effects pedals, and computer based amp sounds seem to be dirty sounding. Sometimes you can't tell what the guitar itself sounds like because there's so much stuff burying the tone.
I like the Mustang. It's small, loud, and cheap, and it sounds damned good too. Great for home studios.

[TeeDub]

Originally Posted by stevo

I feel your pain. I love Twins and DRRI's, they just never leave my basement when I own them! Talk about a backache.

100 Watts in that amp never seems as loud as 50 in a Hot Rod Deluxe (for instance). For whatever reason, frequency response or overall dynamics, solid state amps are never as loud to my ears as the same wattage tube amp. For a bar Gig, I'd much rather see a Hot Rod Deluxe. Granted, you still have to have your own effects and it's not as light as the Mustang. But it's lighter than a Twin.

Good points and I was wondering the same thing. I had bought a Peavey Studio Pro rated at 65 watts (solid state) for the same purpose a while back. It sounded great in my music room but was dreadfully underpowered on stage. I got buried the first and only time I used it. It probably varies from brand to brand because in contrast my solid state 60s Standel at 70 watts was incredibly loud. Much louder than my Twin. In general I am quite certain that modern solid state watts are way overated and very inconsistent in helping you gauge an amp's loudness.

Back to the Mustang III. There's one listed for $150. I can easily get my money back out of it if it doesn't pan out. I'll report back later with a review.