@Ryan K

Hi Ryan, welcome!

I have a Mustang III V2, my favorite practice amp….I’ve had it for about 2.5 years and its my go to amp most days. You have a great guitar and amp combo…really dont need pedals. I’ve got all my tones sorted out.

So, in order to help you we need to define “nice blues rhythm sound”. SRV, Hendrix, Clapton, Freddie King, etc. could you share a clip or video of something you like and consider the tone you are looking for? I could give you a general answer but given you have a Mustang, I could even send you some presets to work with.

Happy to help.

Roberto

Hi Ryan,

Wait until Maradonagol sees your post and he will sort you out.

It is really a matter of taste and you will have to fiddle around until you get the sound you like. Which Mustang is it? I have a Mustang 3 version 2. Remember, there is no one sound that represents the blues – just listen to Stevie Ray Vaughan and BB King to see the differences. You might want BB’s sound with an Epiphone Dot. Not too much gain and a spoonful of mids, possibly on the front pick up.

I have mine on the “Basic British 60’s” most of the time which is a VOX type amp sound. I would start by turning everything to 12 o’clock and the Master Volume to between 2.5 to 3. ( If you go below this there is a danger of over distortion if you turn the VOX model up on the volume and gain). Then I would reduce the gain a bit until it is cleaner and then tweak all the EQ’s until you like what you hear. Depending on the Dot and the pick ups you have the sound will be different,so, if you have two pick ups try each one at the above settings and then mix to taste. There is a site called “In the Blues” where an Australian guy demonstrates many of the blues sounds you can get with a Mustang and you can copy his settings. You can also download settings from the Fuse software – I have never got those to work very well.

All depends on the amp model you have chosen and the guitar you are playing and the volume you can cope with in the space you play the guitar. There is no “one size fits all”. If you play in the house then 3 on a Mustang is going to be plenty loud enough and there will be loads of “headroom” before it distorts. I like to get mine in a place where it is on the edge of distortion so that turning the volumes up on my guitars will distort and rolling them back will clean them up. That is all done by trial and error. Sometimes when you switch on at another time you find the sounds seem different to you. Try the effects on the Mustang before you buy any pedals. They may not be right for you but they will give you an idea. I bought a BOSS Blues Driver recently and depending on the settings it gives me a rich warm sound or a crunching tone. I don’t think I will need any more pedals but then I never thought I would buy 8 guitars!!!!

They say “it’s all in the fingers” but the chain from pick/plectrum to speaker has an enormous influence.

Try these approaches and see how you get on. Let us know how you progress.

You’ll get plenty of suggestions from the boys on the site!

Best of luck,

Andrew

Great question, Ryan! Thank you, Roberto and Andrew for your input, and thai you in advance to anyone else.

I want to follow this thread as I’m going amp shopping tomorrow. So far, I’ve seen Peavey Vypyr, Yamaha THR10 (with software bundle) and Fender Mustang recommended; going to try some of them out. I dislike shopping, even for amps, so I’m not really looking forward to it, but I need one to have a sound that cuts through my rhythm gittar tracks.

@Ryan K

Ok Ryan got it….good choice of tone EP133. Brian’s ES 335 has very articulate pickups….and yes the room will have an impact, my experience with tubes versus digital is that the impact is sort of too much reverb.

Anyway here’s what I did, I plugged in my ES335 and picked some setting that get you close, obviously guitar, amp and room are different. You should be able to get there with the twin or deluxe since thats what Brian is using, at a minimum you should turn the model volume all the way to 10 always, increase the treble reduce the bass and mids…..my tones are mostly based on the 59 Bassman…best amp ever…..Marshall/HIwatt/Orange for everything else. So below please find some pics of actual setting settings that work. The first is a bassman, my go to settings (amazing on a strat). The rest are variations that get close and you can play with. What I dont know is if the Mustang II has the same base amp models as the III. Please note that the bassman and some others have a presence knob only visible on pc screen it is a critical setting which you can play with it affects utlra high frequencies so very important on bassman and 57 dlx models. And you dont need any of the effects on the first bassman except a little reverb.

Give these a try, let me know what works.

Roberto

Hi Don,

If you look at the Mustang don’t bother with the 1 and 2 models. Mustang iii V2 (not V1) is the place to start as it sounds authentic and gives you loads of amp models plus some reasonable effects. You should get some good prices now!

If you are only going to use it at home with your Tele you probably won’t get above 3 on the Master Volume as you will get complaints from the neighbours (unless you use headphones, of course). If you play it at 2 or below and turn the volume and gain up on any of the amp versions you will get a lot of distortion. From 2.5 upwards there is loads of headroom so make sure you test this out on all the brands you try. Flexibility is key. They are very light to shift about and not too big.

Many reviewers say they use them at gigs (not stadiums but I don’t think you are planning those) but good sized rooms and they cut through. The Fender Fuse software enables you a really easy way to change the dials on your amp without constantly bending over and ferreting on the controls but even they are very clear and easy to use. Once you have found settings you like you can save them which makes it so easy to just switch on and play.

Last of the big spenders you are young Deering. Hope you find what you like.

All the best – will be on your side of the pond next week and going to George Gruhn’s shop to see the $300,000 vintage guitars. Might pop a couple in the back of the hire car and bring them home!!!!

Andrew

@Don Deering

Totally agree with Andrew….mine is set at 3.5 always….I have a finished basement all to myself……and the fender models are excellent…..orange and HIwatt very good….Marshall could be better but with some work are nice….and it does take pedals well.

But give the Yamaha a fair shake, you’ll love it…..great tones….it’s really up to what you want/need.

I dont like shopping either…except for gear!!!

Enjoy the hunt..

Roberto

Thanks again, Roberto and Andrew! Good luck, Ryan!

So far as spending goes, I’d like to avoid it, but now that I have the boxes, I need something to put in them.

Deering my friend you talk in riddles! Good luck!

Andrew

Thanks, Andrew, only because I’m sure you know what I mean.

Hmmmmmm!

Don, I have been looking at amps too, since I will need one if I ever decide to get a guitar. Of the modeling amps, the ones that have my attention are the Mustang 3, the Yamaha THR 10C, and the Blackstar ID30 TVP (Or ID60).

The Mustang tries to model sounds from classic amps, and it does really well for the most part. Also, its powerful and portable. But some people say that it doesn’t really model what happens with a tube, particularly the power tubes, when the volume changes.

The Yamaha generally gets better reviews for its clean sounds, and particularly for its crunch sounds, where it mimics the power tube getting overdriven. It doesn’t try to mimic classic amps, but tries instead to sound as good at lower volumes. It’s clearly the most portable, and from what I have heard, has the best blues tones. But it is pretty much only a practice amp.

The Blackstar insists that its not a modeling amp. Instead of trying to model the finished sound of an amp, as the Mustang does, it models the circuitry of the tubes themselves. It thus tries to preserve the response of both the preamp and power amp tubes, and allows you to put them into any combination with each other. Thus, you get to select from 5 preamp tubes, and 5 power amp tubes, giving you 25 basic amp models to work with before you get to any tone or effect controls. The TVP stands for True Valve Power, and means that its 30 or 60 designation means that its as loud as a 30 or 60 watt amp. This gives more variety than the Yamaha, and it seems to have slightly more authentic response than the Mustang. I can’t make out much of a difference in tone between it and the Yamaha, at least on the tones that they both do. And it has enough power for jamming and for small gigs.

I haven’t decided yet on which I would get, but right now I am probably leaning towards the Yamaha. If not, then the Blackstar. It depends on whether I see jamming with others in a larger setting as probable.

Thanks Duffy, going to add the Blackstar to my list of amps to check out.

No matter what, I’m not buying one tomorrow unless I find something good in an incredible sale for a limited time.

Modeling amps, being solid state, and subject to firmware updates, are great candidates for buying used.

Although I really like the Mustang, I’m not a salesman for it. I don’t really understand what Duffy means about the volume changes. If you turn it up it gets fatter and louder and yet it still maintains its character when played quietly. You can overdrive it with the gain control. You can also get crunch by using the built in overdrive or as I am doing adding the Boss Blues Driver. Also, if you play with a hard right hand like you do you will notice the difference in tone if you back off and play with less attack. I haven’t seen the criticisms that Duffy mentions. I will look for them. The Australian guy on “In the Blues” has compared it with “real” Fender amps and found it difficult to tell the difference. He’s worth watching. What I liked about it was that it maintained a beefy bottom end when played at lower volumes whereas other amps seem to lose their tone. In the end its a question of what your ear hears.

I would be interested to hear what Maradonagol think about this as he is pretty knowledgeable on the subject.

Anyway, have fun dial twiddling and take our time.

Andrew

Duffy one point about the thr10c is that you can use the head phone out as a line out, I have this from Yamaha support. Now i guess the volume would be perfectly ok to practice jam with. Brian told me he once did a small gig with his. However you might well be able to line out to a spare input on a power amp at any gig, so that might be another bonus for the thr10c. I do actually play into head phones with mine and i line out to an onyx blacjack and take my head phones off that and then feed cubase daw from the black jack as i found it gave better control for mixing levels than the thr direct.

Been looking more deeply at modeling amps recently, and decided to revive this thread. The criticism that I have heard about the Mustang is that, with a tube amp, when you turn your guitar down, the sound will clean up and when you turn it up, the sound starts to break up. With the Mustang, so I have heard, that doesn’t happen, or doesn’t always happen. Rather, when you turn the volume down on the guitar, you get the same tone but at a lower volume. The breakup doesn’t change as the guitar volume knob is adjusted.

That clearly happens on the Yamaha. It also happens on the new Marshall Code. Not as sure about the Mustang or the Backstar ID.

Been looking more deeply at modeling amps recently, and decided to revive this thread. The criticism that I have heard about the Mustang is that, with a tube amp, when you turn your guitar down, the sound will clean up and when you turn it up, the sound starts to break up. With the Mustang, so I have heard, that doesn’t happen, or doesn’t always happen. Rather, when you turn the volume down on the guitar, you get the same tone but at a lower volume. The breakup doesn’t change as the guitar volume knob is adjusted.

That clearly happens on the Yamaha. It also happens on the new Marshall Code. Not as sure about the Mustang or the Backstar ID.

I have had 3 or 4 modeling amps, including a Blackstar ID40. None of them managed to get that “working on the edge of breaking up” sound without using pedals. However, stacking a couple of gain pedals in front of the clean channel on a solid state amp can get you a lot of cool tones.
If you are looking for good old blues tones its hard to beat a decent tube amp.

That is just the nature of the beast with a transistor amp. To get the effect you are talking about Duffy, I use a HotTubes pedal. It does exactly what a tube would do. You turn up the volume on your guitar, you get that tube crunch, turn down, and it goes clean.

I use the Peavey Vyper 1. I really like the amp and all, but, I wish I would gotten the 2. It just has more bells and whistles and all. Everything I have posted was recorded with that amp. I either use the Classic or the Fender Twin settings. The biggest selling point for me was it can emulate a bass guitar just using my guitar. The Vyper 2 can emulate more guitars and they sound really good, i.e., a 12 string, a resonator guitar (Dobro), etc. The AMP itself can be switched to an Acoustic amp, or a BASS Amp too.

For my setup, it goes Guitar -> Pedals -> AMP -> USB -> PC From the PC it goes Head phone out -> AUX in on my AMP and I plug in a pair of iPhone ear buds into my amp.

Took my a while to figure out that the headphone on the guitar amp is not stereo .. I would listen to mixes and such and could not figure out why the stereo pan was never working lol.. duh moment there..

I have a Laney cub 15watt class A tube that supposedly is London’s version of a Marshall sound from what I was told .. anyway can’t seem to get a clean sound even when lowering the gain and trying to adjust nid treb bass tone settings for a clean sound..I have to compare it to a black-heart which i was explained will give a cleaner sound ..haven’t yet compared the amps against each other but will next few days…. I’m not a pro and not sure what i want as for sound amplification.. but i do like to have an option going from high gain to clear which is my complaint with the Laney cub.. maybe after I hear both and comparing them I’ll do a demo.. folks don’t confuse the black star with the black-heart ..t also i was told all these class A tube amps are great amps enough for blues/rock and playing out in small pubs etc. I just personally like a clean sounding amp and the Laney although nice as it sounds can’t get clean sound ..like for jazz ,,unless i need a lesson on how to adjust the few settings .. just my input from comparing it to a tiny g dec 15 solid state which i mainly use in my room for practice.

I’m no pro but, from my experience try keeping everything minamal .. i like to set mid treb bass and tone in the middle same with gain control and reverb.. work it from there using the guitar volume tone pickup settings.. every amp is a bit different so you need to listen for your own preferences which one can only do from hours many hours experience.. also play low voume like 3 or 4 ..while taking the time to adjust the mid treb bass tone.. that is what i do with an amp until i figure out tone settings. Also depends on the room space you’re playing in.. you don’t want back feed from your guitar pickups so depending how far away/space from amp.. keep all settings low and adjust from there!

Everyone had good input,I would only add get your amp off the floor if possible. You can buy an amp stand or use a chair whatever it takes to get it off the floor. You will hear the difference immediately. I use a Mustang iii v.2 and love the tones I get. Another huge thing to remember is what sounds great at home to your ears will need to be tweeked when playing live.Hope this helps you some.

Right now, I’m trying to decide between a Marshall Code 50 (which I can get this weekend for about $215) a Mustang iii ($220 used) or a Mustang iv (about $320 used).

The Code sounds much better than I thought it would. Had a chance to play one in GC yesterday. Cleans were a lot nicer than I had been led to believe. And that break-up was there. Down sides are 1) not much support community yet, 2) no FX loop, 3) a bit more limited I think on the clean variety.

The Mustang iii sounds like crap in the store, but thats what everyone says, and the community swears by them (or at least many do). It has fewer models than the Code. It has an FX loop. Right now, the community support and ability to lift other peoples settings is way ahead of Code. The modeling is based on overall amp sound, and not on components, so I consider that to be a limitation. And the effects don’t sound as good to me as the Code effects (could be wrong on this one too).

The Mustang iv primarily because it has two speaker stereo, and thus will likely best capture the sound of a Fender Twin. (If I could have one amp alone, and a place to play it at volume, it would be the Twin). Also, I’ve read that this one actually sounds fuller at low volume than the iii.

I’ve thought about the Yamaha, but its too limited to low volume. Also, with the merger between Yamaha and Line 6, I have my doubts about the future of this series.

Also thought about the Backstar TVP. I hate that the presence control doesn’t appear on the front of anything before the 60. It doesn’t look like Backstar is doing anything to keep up with this series – no updates in forever. And it’s more limited on effects and presets.

I wish people wouldn’t say things like “The Mustang III sounds crap in the store”.

There are lots of people who have bought the Mustang and been happy with it and got the effects that they want from using different settings!

In your opinion you don’t like the Mustang and that’s fine but a comment like this makes it sound like all the other people who have bought them have been duped and that is not true. Look at the “In the Blues site” for someone who has got some good sounds.

Fortunately, Active Melody is not like You Tube and doesn’t get this type of comment. People share opinions and ideas and always in a pleasant manner.

My opinion still holds. I have had a Mustang for a couple of years and played it at jams where people have really enjoyed it. It is never going to be a tube amp but it makes some good attempts.

Thanks for the comments Roberto. And my apologies to StratPlus for being too brief in my “crap” comment. I meant exactly what Roberto said. I’ve gone to the store and tried some presets on the Mustang, and they sound bad. Then I hear things on YouTube, and its a mixed bag. Some really good, some not good, but I figure that’s more a matter of people’s taste and abilities, and not really a test of the amp. However, since some of the things on YouTube sound really good, that makes it clear that the amp can sound really good. I think Fender really should have put in better pre-sets, or should have modified them over the years as the community came up with really good sounding stuff. (And this kind of sounding bad is different from the generic, overdriven shredding you hear all the time at GC, which to my ears always sounds bad.)

If I simply thought that the amp sounded bad, period, there is no way it would be one of the contenders for what I am going to get. And Roberto almost has me convinced. If I do get one, it will probably be the iv – In the Blues says it does better at modeling the Fender Twin. (With the Code, I got some sounds out of it that I thought were really nice. Also heard a bunch of pre-sets that sounded awful, to my ears. The interesting thing to me about the Code is how much better the 50 sounded than the 25. The speaker difference is pretty substantial.)

As for the component comment. The Mustang models 14 amps sounds, and has something like 34 effects. What Fender has done is try to model the sound of a complete amp. The more recent trend is to model different components in the circuitry. Thus, Blackstar models the pre-amp, and then the power amp sections. The Marshall Code, models 8 pre-amps, 4 power amps, and then 8 cabinets. The Line 6 Pod series models preamps and power amps, but not cabinets, as far as I know. The Helix will allow you to model the pre-amp, the power amp, the cabinet, the speakers in the cabinet, and the microphone together with placement. And so on. So, instead of modeling the overall sound of a classic amp, the trend is now to be more granular with the pieces that are being modeled. Of course, I know nothing about what is better. The latter adds for a lot more options, which also means a lot more ways to screw up.

Hi Duffy I note the coment ‘too limited to low volume’. Well I dont know quite what you have in mind use wise but I would say have you tried one out? Where Yamaha get the power from is a bit of amazing design and it strikes me you may not have had a hands on with the THR10c. Also the line out feature of the headphones pressumably means you could use it as a head pre amp at a gig if you wanted to.
Secondly cant see that the line 6 will be a problem to worry about on two counts 1 the amp is most likely to run 100 percent for many years and line 6 are set to make a killing with their wireless jack plug com design for lead free guitar. The 2.4 ghz transmission from a rechargeable jack is a world beating design I suspect. They are currently on continuos back order here I can only assume that they have patents in place which probably secures their future. Yamaja are very unlilely to have come up with any shakey deals.
I can only recomemd a hands on test run if you havent before you rule this amp out. Best wishes JohnStrat

There are no 10c models nearby. I might be able to hear one of the regular 10s. You make a good point about the headphone jack as a line out. Right now, I don’t really know what I want.

Duffy

I hope to go into my local guitar store later today and I will ask if the volumes of the THR series seem directly comparable. They will probably have all the models in stock they certainly know about them. This might at least solve the volume comparison for you. And I had it from Yamaha Support that the Headphone out may be used as line out.

By the way Chajo John eventually bought a THR10c he might be able to help you clarify.

Regards John Strat

I’m really new to electric guitars and I bought a Fender Mustang amp so that I can find the sound that I want. But I really have no idea what I’m doing.

I have an Epiphone Dot that as of right now goes straight into the Mustang amp (I have purchased several pedals but they haven’t arrived yet…I have a problem).

So my question is as follows. How do I set the amp to get a nice blues rhythm sound. I’m not asking how to set a Mustang amp in particular, just where do I set the volume, gain, treble, mid and bass. Also what about the guitar, what pickups should I use and volume and tone settings on the guitar. I really haven’t figured out all of the knobs yet on the guitar to be honest. Anyway, my sound always tends to get muddy, at least that is the best way I can explain it.

Thanks for any help.

Ryan

Isn’t a blues sound subjective though, what is a nice blues sound to you might not be a nice blues sound to everyone else or might not be their nice blues sound, so what is it that you are really asking for here Ryan, Is it a set of base settings that you can +/- to create the blues sound that you like?. I like yourself was a bit lost when it came to doing electric guitar but once it was pointed out to me that the guitar needs the settings adjusted before the amp settings comes in to play, you need a combination from both to find the sounds…. So
My base settings are GUITAR selector switch pos 5, tone pos 5( the tone dial next to the vol on a strat shaped guitar), and vol pos 7
AMP vol 4 on clean channel with just a touch of REVERB/ or if you like a touch of DELAY..( but I prefer reverb)
Play a setting, record it and then listen and adjust, keep doing this until you get the sound you are happy with..

Hope this helps you some Ryan.

Billy

Roberto, I’m so glad you used the technical term, and yes, ‘umf’ gets it exactly right, although its debatable whether there should be a p before the f, “umpf”, especially for British amps. (If you are a Phish fan, of course, its “umph”).

Need to make my decision soon, so I plan on doing some extensive shopping/listening this weekend. Can get the iii for about $200, the iv for $320, the CODE for $215, and the THR for maybe $250. Each has advantages and drawbacks.

@Billy – There are at least two approaches to what makes a nice tone. The harder approach is to use your tools and your imagination. The easier and more common way is to chase the tone of people you admire, and yes, of course who you admire will be somewhat subjective. But a nice blues tone might simply mean: a sound reminiscent of BB King’s, or EC’s, or Duane Allman’s, and so forth.

But then you find out, for example, that Keith Richard recorded Jumping Jack Flash’s guitars entirely with an acoustic guitar recording to a cheap Japanese cassette deck, with no distortion clipping on it, and then playing that back at volume in the studio. That’s an entirely different way of developing tone.

Duffy my local guy says in terms of volume you will perceive virtual no difference between any of the THR10 series amps They are all 10 watt. However it is a ten watts that you wont believe could be so powerful from such a small portable unit. Its portability is a really great feature too and its size means you can place it in so many places for best advantage. JohnStrat