Why you cant get the most from your Mustang I & II without fuse

I know there is alot of people that tested the mustangs and made his mind based on what they got from the default tones and some tweak with the amp controls.

Most of the mustang default tones suck. Most of the default preset of anydevice suck!

That say, I've made an experiment. Get one of my favorites tones using only the panel control, without fuse.

EPIC FAIL.

Point ONE. Since you cannot directly select the amp model you have to use a default preset that use the amp model you want.

This may sound ok but here it comes the first problem: none of the preset i may use have the Overdrive configured. And there is no way you can enable or tweak the overdrive stomp.

Is there a solution? Yes, we have 2 solution:

1) use an external stomp
2) get more gain from the amp

I, near or less, choose the second solution. I have a stomp i could use but this is out of the scope of my experiment,

So i choose to try to replicate my trash metal tone. It sounds good and dont use the overdrive stomp. It uses the simple comp but the difference without it is subtle,i can do without.

Point TWO. The delay. I, like many, use the delay (or the pitch shifter) to double the sound of the guitar. You can set delay volume to 100% but the tap does not allow you to select the lowest delay time. In fact i was not able to set a decently low time! Neither i was able to set the number of repetion to one!

Is there a solution? I dont see one, but i will ask on the forum!

The Fender DSP processor

There is a topic goin on in the Fender Forum that leaded me to doing some search.

The Fender DSP technology, any amp with that, is all based on the same little board with small upgrades and modification. Main components are a DSP56725 from freescale and an ARM from ST,

the tone pot

For many years i didnt use none of the control on the guitar. No volume, no tone.

Lately i started learning and experimenting.

Yesterday i was playng with this tone:

https://fuse.fender.com/mustang/presets/mordor74-piezo-acustic-7-string-petrucci/

the version with the chorus, dont know if the one uploaded has...

As i've wrote before since i can remember i've always used a clean tone that mimic certain characters of a piezo sound. Just think that popping defined attack, very clean and acustic.

With my previous gear i used a Jazz Chorus modeling amp and a compression set to get that attack sound that clean with the high gain humb i use. Later i've starded using some neck humb that allow me some alternative.

But i usually work with the tone of the amp rather than the tone on the guitar.

Actually the latest version of my piezo preset is a Deluxe (the cleanest amp i could find in the Mustang) with the compression placed after the pre. Add some mid scooping and a fair amount of treble and bass.

Yesterday i've (for the first time) experimented with the tone pot and this preset and the result was pretty surprising. The deluxe model handle really well the changes. Really change the character of what you are playing moving from my bright piezo tone to darker acustic sounds to something that reming arpeggios in metallica and finally ending in to a dark jazzy tone. All with the same guitar and the same preset.

So, my suggestion is: experiment with your tone pot and your 'stang, and, why not, give a try to my piezo tone!

Liquid Solo Delay preset updated

https://fuse.fender.com/mustang/presets/mordor74-liquid-solo-delay

Yesterday i update my Liquid Solo preset, i realize it is a keeper but i decided to add in a nice ambience delay.

Dream Theater - Breaking All Illusions Solo - AKA Prog Solo Preset

Recently the monkey of "Breaking all illusions" from Dream theater has climbed on my back. Not that i did not heard the song before but suddenly it has grown and has became one of my favorites songs...

I was already on the main riff and i've started learning the solos. Tone-wise there is much here. The first Solo, around 6 minutes of the song is a very "liquid" tone, then separated by an arpeggio there a less aggressive solo with a matching tone.

I was starting a tone from scratch but when i try to play some slice of the solos with my Prog Solo preset i found it was already good enough. It just needed some tweak on the overdrive stomp to become my masterpice. The trick is:

Riff parts with the bridge humbacker
Solo I with the neck humbacker
Solo II also neck but roll down the volume knob on the guitar to half or less and pick really gently. I guess you will find how much gently.


Here is the link to download it:

https://fuse.fender.com/mustang/presets/mordor74-john-petrucci-solo-and-riff/

(as usuale rate and comment if you download anything!)

Some note here: my neck PU is not the best for liquid tones so was a surpries to hear it works so well. Another surprise was how much the mustang react to volume and touch change. Really good, my old pony!

Some word on the final tweak: the overdrive is near or less setted to my Tubescreamer configuration. Just some more mids that was already there and lately added just a bit of gain to touch the perfection.

Actually the delay is used to double the guitar (0ms 1 repat 100% volume), i would like to make a version of the preset with the PS for double the sound and the delay used as a delay.

I was also tempted by working out the same tone without the overdrive pedal in front. I have plenty of gain on the amp but trebles are already maxed so i dont know it is possible.

Here is how i tweaked the amp:

Sound nice but i prefer using the stomp (disabled in this version).

Resource alert: more on amp EQ and tone stack!

You may remember my post on amp EQ, i've found a blog with more information and graphs from the various mustang amp models.

https://guitmod.wordpress.com/2016/09/22/fender-mustang-v2-amp-tone-stacks-of-the-amp-models-frequency-responses/

Dig the blog for more interesting posts!

Resource review: blog with Iron Maiden presets!

Digging into the comments of a preset in the fuse site 've found a link to this blog:

http://themtones.blogspot.co.uk

You can find here a number of Iron Maiden preset.

I've tested some (Iron Maiden and Seventh Son albums) and I've found they sound good enough. They worked with my EX370 in the single+bridge position. Not so good if you have mahogany and no single coils and not good for headphones. But with speaker and a single coil they are good!

I think i will start a new page with the internet resources for our 'Stang.

The best mustang preset review: number 1 - ACDC by ryry444

Disclamier: This post is part of a series where i test the most downloaded preset from Fender site. It should be consider as a personal opinion based on a test done with (probably) a different guitar.

---

ACDC is a basic preset, ryry444 tweaked only the amp without any effect, just like Angus would like. It uses the Marshall '80 changing the cabinet to the 4x12 greenback. Like Anugs indeed.

I tested it with my Ibanez SZ that is tonewise close to an SG. Both with the headphones and with the speaker. I played and compare with the tone from

How does it sound? It is a very nice British overdriven sound. A good example of this model. I feel like higer notes are a bit "choked" for my taste but it is really nice and fun to play chord and power chord.

How close it is? Well, i think that compared with the songs i played along it is a bit too much overdriven. I tweaked to a 4 of gain and toruned down both high and bass and the tone become closer. I dont know what guitar was used to shape the tone, but with mine i needed to backoff a bit. I remember reading an interview on guitar magazie where Angus said that he does not use much gain.
It would have been nice to know what guitar ryry444 is using. I suggest everybody to put this information on the notes when you upload a preset!

Anyway is a good tone, i suggest you to give it a try if you like the genere, and also vote it and comment it if you download it.

Here is the link:

https://fuse.fender.com/mustang/presets/ryry444-acdc/

I've rated the preset 4 star on 5.

Next post will be TOP2: blues by mulvaneyr

The Fender Mustang mods post

From a facebook group

What i would like to see in a Fender Mustang I v3

• a display, at least with preset names
• MID knob
• 3 state on a single footswitch
• support for a bigger footcontroller like in the III/IV/V
• another FX slot so we can have compression+OD or WAH+OD
• Overdrive selectable via front panel like modulation and delay/reverb (maybe paired in the same knob with modulation like done for delay and reverb, this was a big mistake!)
• a better selection of preset, especially with 3-5 good metal tones that are really missing right now

i'd also like to see a fullsize USB connector, the mini one is a lot fragile

maybe bluethooth support will be a trendy addiction!

New preset order 3x8 mode

Because of the Mustangraider/Raspberry project i changed the way i ordered my preset in the mustang I.

Previously i used to store preset in a modeler type basis:

Bassman in the G sloth, DeLuxe in the # slot, Metal2K in the A slot and so on...

Worked good for some year, very useful to understand how i am using the modelers.

Since i plan to use a single footswitch in the first test i come up with this idea:

the footswitch will cycle between green, red and orange on the same line (example: the 3 preset stored in the C/American 90)

when i change the "line" via the knob the footswitch will eventually cycle the preset in the new line

so i have 3 preset per every song/genere and 8 blocks/song/generes

Consideration:

first thing first it sorta opened my mind on the preset usage and switching. Packing together similar preset really gives another feeling.

the number of clean presets needed to be raised, so i created some new and i had to drop some preset i use rarely.

I made a bank for my Satriani Tones: the lead, a clean with chorus and the wah
A prog bank with my new wonderful Prog Solo preset (will talk later about it!) a piezo and my trusty erotomania tone
A trash bank with the classic Trash tone, my clean fot metal song (very clean, very acustic) and my Deluxe classic very fender and very stratty that i use for blues, funk but also for the first One (Metallica) solo.
One bank of bassman tones for that bluesy mood
A marshall bank with my Slash tone, the new Paradise City clean and, as a guest, my Megadeth rust in peace preset that i want to rename "Mega Classic" and move to another bank to make some room for the Slash wah version (that will be fun!)
A gain and a solo bank where i group presets that dows not belog to everything else and finally the Mega Bank with the soon to be renamed Mega Modern preset, the Stomper preset (neutral clean to be used with my Zoom Multistomp MG50) and one of the two Mesa RAW Boomer (one for the SZ and one for the RGD) that i am start feeling redoundand with the Prog Solo preset.

Here is a schema:

How to clone a tone: Paradise City Clean by guns'n'roses

My First step is alway gather some good information: what was used in the studio?

Everyone is ok with the fact that there is Chorus and Reverb (obviously included in every preset mentioned here!), and that it is a clean channel pushed to the limit of the volume.

The model?

Either the famous Marshall JMP 1959T Super Lead or some unnamed Fender "tweed".

My starting point was testing the various British. There is a problem. Fender did not put a Britsh Clean channel in the mustang. I used what i have: very low gain but with all the volumes cranked. I dont like this very much, but that's all you can do without a british clean tone. I tried the different 4x12 cab model and i found that the greenback have the right degree of frequence separation for the clean suff.

To my taste the better solution was to tweak my trusty Fender 57 De luxe model, emulating the maxed volume with that bit of gain to compress the sound. I keep the default cab that was just so good to me. Maybe the British 70 was the best matching tone, but using the F57DL allowed me to have a more versatile tone, that works better with the neck pickup and allow me a cleaner sound with the volume pot. Overall a preset that really deserve his slot on the amp.

I will update later with link to the 3 presets i made!

Two words of amp EQ

Ok, you have 3 knobs. Looks easy. TREBLE, MID, BASS. It is a no brainer. Or not?

I was reading an article on the web. The writer suggested to start with a setting. 3 numbers. No mention what amp or channel was used.

As you may know, reading about amps is a passion of mine.

Reading the above article i decided that there was some information that need to be shared with you reader. If you have a fender mustang you have up to 17 amp models (v2 numbers). So you need to know that  every amp model may use its EQ in a different way.

Let me explain.

EQ can act in 3 different way.

1) 100% (all cranked) is the standard volume and 0% is (almost) no volume: the knob act as cutter
2) 50% (mid position) is the standard volume and you can either cut or boost the frequencies
3) 0% (opposite of cranked) is the standard volume and you can only boost frequencies (usually you can boos A LOT)

This 3 way are often mixed, so you can have an amp with BASS and TREBLE that act as a cutter and MID that can either cut or boost. So you can get totally different sounds in different amp with the same "numbers". You can understand the issue in the above article...

 A concrete  example:

my Champ 12 has no MID knob, only a boost switch, so you have only 2 MID settings, TREBLE and BASS are cutter, you can handle this but not every combination is possible. You cannot scoop mids!

Another one:

American 90 model (like the good old mesa) higly boost Basses so you need to set the BASS know as much as it can but without became muddy.

Last tip: the tonal variaton of the guitar pickup conbination (Fender Stratocaster vs Gibson Les Paul) is about a +10%/-10%. Do your math!

Raspberry Mustang Raider: it works!!!

Big news (for me).

After solving some problem the basics seems to work fine!

In the screenshot you can see the deamon mode outputting the preset change i was doing with the amp knob.

Actually, via command line, it output a lot of staff i sorta-of-need to understand, see this sample:

root@raspberrypi:~/mustangr/mustang-raider-master# ./mustangr c 13
ENGL amb v2
Current preset: 0
Mk2c Insane V2
Current preset: 1
Mesa Raw RGD v4
Current preset: 2
Megadeth TS v3
Current preset: 3
Mesa Raw Boomer V3
Current preset: 4
Piezo 7 v2
Current preset: 5
Liquid Solo V3
Current preset: 6
Metal Clean v2
Current preset: 7
Satch Lead Delay v2
Current preset: 8
Satch Wah M2K v4
Current preset: 9
Drive Solo V4
Current preset: 10
Slash
Current preset: 11
Mesa Mk2c Rob V3
Current preset: 12
Piezo Chorus v2
Current preset: 13
Bassman Screamer
Current preset: 14
Bassman SRV2
Current preset: 15
Thrash Metal v4
Current preset: 16
Prog Solo
Current preset: 17
Erotomania SZ v4
Current preset: 18
Megadeth Rip V2
Current preset: 19
zdream
Current preset: 20
Stomper
Current preset: 21
Bassman Screamer Ch
Current preset: 22
Deluxe Reverb Class
Current preset: 23
Bassman Screamer Ch
Current preset: 22
Tri Chorus Light
Current preset: 0
Chorus Deep
Current preset: 1
Flanger
Current preset: 2
Bias/Sine Tremolo
Current preset: 3
Vintage Tremolo
Current preset: 4
Vintage Tremolo Fas
Current preset: 5
Vibratone Slow
Current preset: 6
Vibratone Fast
Current preset: 7
Track DoublePitch S
Current preset: 8
Phaser Slow Deep
Current preset: 9
Phaser Medium
Current preset: 10
Step Filter
Current preset: 11
Double Small
Current preset: 0
Stereo Tape Delay
Current preset: 1
Mono Delay Long
Current preset: 2
Small Room Reverb
Current preset: 3
Plate Reverb
Current preset: 4
Large Hall Reverb
Current preset: 5
Fender '65 Spring
Current preset: 6
Fender '63 Spring
Current preset: 7
Tape Delay/Room
Current preset: 8
Tape Delay/Lg Hall
Current preset: 9
Ducking Delay/Sm Hall
Current preset: 10
Close DL + Arena
Current preset: 11
Mustang Raider 0.2
t for tuner ON
PATCH 13 -
OK
No argoument!
Usage: mustangr tuneron
       mustangr <virtual_port> <midi_channel#>

       port = 0..n,  channel = 1..16

As you can see it output the whole preset list i sdumped actually.

Some outing for my new project

https://github.com/mordor74/mustang-raider

Here you can read what i am doing right now.

Hope to post a proof of concept soon!

Notes for my new project!

My new project involves a Raspberry PI and my Fender Mustang.

I have some testing script, and i am collecting here some preliminar information.

You can guess what my project is...

pi@raspberrypi ~ $ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0a12:0001 Cambridge Silicon Radio, Ltd Bluetooth Dongle (HCI mode)
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 1234:0123 Brain Actuated Technologies
Bus 001 Device 006: ID 1ed8:0004
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0424:ec00 Standard Microsystems Corp. SMSC9512/9514 Fast Ethernet Adapter
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0424:9514 Standard Microsystems Corp.
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

So 1ed8:0004 is my mustang I v1.

Some more information:

root@raspberrypi:~# lsusb -s 6 -v

Bus 001 Device 006: ID 1ed8:0004

Device Descriptor:

  bLength                18

  bDescriptorType         1

  bcdUSB               1.10

  bDeviceClass            0 (Defined at Interface level)

  bDeviceSubClass         0

  bDeviceProtocol         0

  bMaxPacketSize0        64

  idVendor           0x1ed8

  idProduct          0x0004

  bcdDevice            1.00

  iManufacturer           1 FMIC

  iProduct                2 Mustang Amplifier

  iSerial                 3 96A1FF323230573057086026

  bNumConfigurations      1

  Configuration Descriptor:

    bLength                 9

    bDescriptorType         2

    wTotalLength          132

    bNumInterfaces          3

    bConfigurationValue     1

    iConfiguration          0

    bmAttributes         0xc0

      Self Powered

    MaxPower              100mA

    Interface Descriptor:

      bLength                 9

      bDescriptorType         4

      bInterfaceNumber        0

      bAlternateSetting       0

      bNumEndpoints           2

      bInterfaceClass         3 Human Interface Device

      bInterfaceSubClass      0 No Subclass

      bInterfaceProtocol      0 None

      iInterface              0

        HID Device Descriptor:

          bLength                 9

          bDescriptorType        33

          bcdHID               1.10

          bCountryCode            0 Not supported

          bNumDescriptors         1

          bDescriptorType        34 Report

          wDescriptorLength      32

         Report Descriptors:

           ** UNAVAILABLE **

      Endpoint Descriptor:

        bLength                 7

        bDescriptorType         5

        bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN

        bmAttributes            3

          Transfer Type            Interrupt

          Synch Type               None

          Usage Type               Data

        wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes

        bInterval               1

      Endpoint Descriptor:

        bLength                 7

        bDescriptorType         5

        bEndpointAddress     0x01  EP 1 OUT

        bmAttributes            3

          Transfer Type            Interrupt

          Synch Type               None

          Usage Type               Data

        wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes

        bInterval               1

    Interface Descriptor:

      bLength                 9

      bDescriptorType         4

      bInterfaceNumber        2

      bAlternateSetting       0

      bNumEndpoints           0

      bInterfaceClass         1 Audio

      bInterfaceSubClass      1 Control Device

      bInterfaceProtocol      0

      iInterface              0

      AudioControl Interface Descriptor:

        bLength                 9

        bDescriptorType        36

        bDescriptorSubtype      1 (HEADER)

        bcdADC               1.00

        wTotalLength           30

        bInCollection           1

        baInterfaceNr( 0)       1

      AudioControl Interface Descriptor:

        bLength                12

        bDescriptorType        36

        bDescriptorSubtype      2 (INPUT_TERMINAL)

        bTerminalID             1

        wTerminalType      0x0200 Input Undefined

        bAssocTerminal          0

        bNrChannels             2

        wChannelConfig     0x0003

          Left Front (L)

          Right Front (R)

        iChannelNames           0

        iTerminal               0

      AudioControl Interface Descriptor:

        bLength                 9

        bDescriptorType        36

        bDescriptorSubtype      3 (OUTPUT_TERMINAL)

        bTerminalID             2

        wTerminalType      0x0101 USB Streaming

        bAssocTerminal          0

        bSourceID               1

        iTerminal               0

    Interface Descriptor:

      bLength                 9

      bDescriptorType         4

      bInterfaceNumber        1

      bAlternateSetting       0

      bNumEndpoints           0

      bInterfaceClass         1 Audio

      bInterfaceSubClass      2 Streaming

      bInterfaceProtocol      0

      iInterface              0

    Interface Descriptor:

      bLength                 9

      bDescriptorType         4

      bInterfaceNumber        1

      bAlternateSetting       1

      bNumEndpoints           1

      bInterfaceClass         1 Audio

      bInterfaceSubClass      2 Streaming

      bInterfaceProtocol      0

      iInterface              0

      AudioStreaming Interface Descriptor:

        bLength                 7

        bDescriptorType        36

        bDescriptorSubtype      1 (AS_GENERAL)

        bTerminalLink           2

        bDelay                  1 frames

        wFormatTag              1 PCM

      AudioStreaming Interface Descriptor:

        bLength                11

        bDescriptorType        36

        bDescriptorSubtype      2 (FORMAT_TYPE)

        bFormatType             1 (FORMAT_TYPE_I)

        bNrChannels             2

        bSubframeSize           2

        bBitResolution         16

        bSamFreqType            1 Discrete

        tSamFreq[ 0]        44100

      Endpoint Descriptor:

        bLength                 9

        bDescriptorType         5

        bEndpointAddress     0x82  EP 2 IN

        bmAttributes            5

          Transfer Type            Isochronous

          Synch Type               Asynchronous

          Usage Type               Data

        wMaxPacketSize     0x00c0  1x 192 bytes

        bInterval               1

        bRefresh                0

        bSynchAddress           0

        AudioControl Endpoint Descriptor:

          bLength                 7

          bDescriptorType        37

          bDescriptorSubtype      1 (EP_GENERAL)

          bmAttributes         0x00

          bLockDelayUnits         0 Undefined

          wLockDelay              0 Undefined

Device Status:     0x0000

  (Bus Powered)

Seems like now i need to understand endpoints!

Why Fender has not released a Mustang v3 yet?

Well, this is my guess but...

Over the years of life of the Fender Mustang v1 and then v2 a lot of video appeared demostrating how good and close is a Mustang to a Valve amp.

I mean, maybe when you have the 2 amps in your room you can feel the difference in the way the sound propagate from the amps, its dynamics and so on...

But on a recording, a good recording is hard to tell the difference.

So people who start with a 100$ Mustang may not be motivated to invest in a 1000$ amp...

So my guess is... why should Fender upgrade the mustang and make it even better?

If you look at Amazon is already one of the best selling guitar amp. Sells more than cheap line6 or cheap peavy. It cost less and has good quality.

No reason to make it better, could not sell more than that!

Go playalong: A really cool learning tool!

Go Playalong is a tool that allow you to sync an audio track with a guitar pro tab.

How does it catch with a Mustang amp.

One of my learning tools is Rocksmith, but when i use Rocksmith i miss my Mustang tones.

Before Rocksmith i used (like many people) guitar pro. It is good but i'd like better play along with the original track...

Another good tool i use is Jammit but lacks of songs and you also have to pay. You pay for multitrack version of the song so it really worth the money but when a track is not available there is nothing you can do!

Well... it looks like GPA is what i was missing. I synched Enter Sandman in minutes and now i dont need anymore rocksmith to play it (it is a recent addiction to my rep and i still need hints on the structure, more than on the single note).

A side note: GPA is not an editor, but you can edit the Guitarpro file in anymoment and GPA will update the next time you load the song. Very well done! Tuxguitar is a free tool that may match well with GPA for editing pourpouses.

Free version allows you to synch 3 song. After i fill the 3 free slot i will surely pay for the full version.

I did not find a forum or a community online. Too bad! A good community will make this tool fly!

Very soon i will do an youtube demo of the tool, stay tuned!

Satriani Tone Clone with Fender Mustang

Some day ago i've found on youtube a number of videos that explain how to get Satriani tone with a "low" budget.

Most of this videos use "low" end valve amps plus a number of stomp boxes.

Not so low budget in the end...

I have two presets saved on my mustang for Satriani tone. One with Wah and One without.

Here you can find the one with the wah:

https://fuse.fender.com/mustang/presets/mordor74-satch-wah-satriani-summer-song-metal2000/

I use the Fuzz Wah because you can get Overdrive stomp and wha stomp in a single slot. The only way with the limits of the mustang!

Many says that Satch tone is OD/DS on a clean channel. I find my Satch tone with the Metal 2000, the mustang model in the neightboorhood of the Soldano and the Peavy 5150. SLO100 was tha main amp on The Extremist AFAIK... I use some amp distortion plus the stomp one. Reverb is large all: more ambience with less tone influence. On the preset thereis also the chorus but is switched off.

The main trick is control the roundness of the tone with the tone knob. Some song need more treble, like Always with you, always with me. Some need almost none, like friends.


Here is the updated version of the patch without the wah that i am using:

This is not uploaded on the fender library right now but you can easily copy the setting from the image, thanks to fender that allows a very complete overview of the setting at hand.

The difference in this patch is that i'm using the modulation slot for the pitchshift for the doubled track effect: as usual 100% level a slight delay (20-30ms) and no shift/detune.

In this mode i can have a delay to enrich the ambience of the tone.