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A third alternative to the Roland 80XL and Mustang III is the Vox VT50. Has a great clean sound, does good amp modelling and digital fx, much as the other two. Has the advantage of a single tube and special circuitry that makes the solid state power section sound and respond very tubefully. Those three are about the best of the lot in that price range, and are all decent amps.
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06-14-2011 05:50 AM
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I know - for sure if I had no amp at all, then I would be looking at the Wholetone. But common sense tells me it would not really be adding a whole lot to my amp capabilities. So it looks like I will be checking out the 80xl and Mustang...
Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
...and the VT50 sounds worth consideration too, cheers for putting that one in! Originally Posted by strumcat
I agree we never are totally happy (is this a sad comment on consumerism in general? Originally Posted by Pierrot
Whatever you get, I promise you'll NEVER be fully happy.
That's my current set of amps...well, almost. (LOPO+Eminence complement speaker for the MegaBrute not shown on picture...)
and I feel GASsy for the Wholetone. It's crazy.
) but sometimes you just have to at least scratch the itch! Nice collection of amps there - your smaller Polytone looks to be of a similar vintage to mine. Which is your favourite for jazz? 
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Well, my consumerism begins and finishes with music gear. I wear very cheap clothes (no interest in that kind of things...) for instance. Originally Posted by Meggy
I agree we never are totally happy (is this a sad comment on consumerism in general? ) but sometimes you just have to at least scratch the itch!
This one. The megabrute. But I use them always in stereo sets. Once you get used to the sound roominess, it's hard to go back to mono. Originally Posted by Meggy
Nice collection of amps there - your smaller Polytone looks to be of a similar vintage to mine. Which is your favourite for jazz?
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Only joking about the consumerism! Originally Posted by Pierrot
I know someone with a Megabrute, but they won't sell it to me.
Interesting about the stereo amps - I'll be able to try that when I have a second one!
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i've never had a problem with noise when using stereo effects into 2 amps. That's what they were designed for.
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Sure. Nevertheless, years ago, I tried with an Ibanez bi-chorus, as far as I can remember, and I did have noise. I guess some may add noise and some don't. Misteries of electron's dance. Originally Posted by jzucker
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I tried a Mustang III yesterday - and that's what I'm buying!
I'm surprised to be saying this, I really thought I would go with the Roland in the end, but not so! I wouldn't have reached this conclusion without the help of this great forum though, so cheers to everyone here for your help.
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Congratulations Meggy. Enjoy it.
I'm going to document myself about this amp;-))) Maybe my GAS has some room for growing up, hahaha...
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To be perfectly honest, I am not an experienced jazzer by any means and what I like in a jazz tone seems to go against the grain a bit in that I like mine to sound more like a nice acoustic.
I REALLY like the jazzier tones of the Roland Cube. To be honest, I got it for that.
When I got it, though, I was FLOORED at how good the Fender blackface and Vox AC30 models were. It may not be a replica but it gets the feel of the tone RIGHT ON.
I purposely have withheld what amp I am playing through when I do recordings just because upon hearing that I am using a modeler, I know I will get people that will instantly not like it sound unheard. I rather enjoy flooring people that think I am using a VERY expensive boutique Fender styled amp for early rock and rockabilly type tunes. Nope. It is a $350 amp... NEW.
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Glad you finally got it sorted out.... enjoy the new amp.
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Congrats on the new amp and have fun exploring it. The two main things it has that the Roland doesn't have are the fx loop and a master volume. Of course the USB interface and software are also a big plus. Just be sure to get one without the 'fizz'. A few of them have a slight tail-end distortion that comes in as a clean sustained note fades out. The 4-button footswitch seems useful, too. Man, you're gonna have a blast with that thing! Enjoy!
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Originally Posted by Pierrot
Congratulations Meggy. Enjoy it.
I'm going to document myself about this amp;-))) Maybe my GAS has some room for growing up, hahaha... Originally Posted by 23skidoo
Thanks guys Originally Posted by strumcat
Congrats on the new amp and have fun exploring it. The two main things it has that the Roland doesn't have are the fx loop and a master volume. Of course the USB interface and software are also a big plus. Just be sure to get one without the 'fizz'. A few of them have a slight tail-end distortion that comes in as a clean sustained note fades out. The 4-button footswitch seems useful, too. Man, you're gonna have a blast with that thing! Enjoy! , I just got the amp home and about to have a bit of a go with it. Strumcat - I was made very aware of the whole fizz issue through this forum (thank you all for that), so was careful to give it a good test in the shop - honestly, I could hear nothing I didn't like, so I guess I've got an OK one. This is one reason I went to a shop in the first place, instead of the internet. Actually, I got a pretty good deal on it anyway, so a big thumbs up to the local music dealer for that. And I certainly will enjoy, it's been a while since I've treated myself, so it feels nice to have something nice and shiny and new.
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I feel I have to post again in all fairness - I've just been trying the amp for the first time at home, and suddenly the fizz is there. I can't tell you how gutting this is, and I feel pretty foolish, but there you are. I tried it well in the shop, and heard nothing wrong, so this is hard to understand, but I'm going to have to take it back tomorrow. The shop has a good rep, so hopefully they will be good about this. Looks like the cube was the right choice after all...
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Sorry for that. Hope the shop will act correctly and take back the amp.
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I thought getting rid of the fizz was a matter of a software upgrade. Am I wrong?
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Don't know on that score BD, maybe it can be done, but once you've had a bad experience I think you tend to just want to get your money back, or at least get the product changed for something else. That will be what I try to start with at least. It's not good to buy something, and it's no go from the start - does not incline me towards the idea of trying to sort it out with upgrades. They got it wrong, I'm going somewhere else is how I feel to be honest. Life I suppose... Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
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I was feeling pretty despondent just then, however, I do see on doing a search that there is indeed a firmware update available on the Fender website - I guess I'll have to at least try it when I have the energy! We'll see what transpires...
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Give it a shot. Most of the software I install on my computer need upgrades and patches. It's a bold new world -- think of your Mustang as a computer with a larger speaker.
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Cheers Big Daddy, I'm still feeling pretty dumb about this Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
, but nice to have a friendly voice to listen to - you have helped! A shot I will indeed give it, but I think it will have to wait until tomorrow morning when I'm a bit more energetic! One thing I can say is that as amps go, this one is a looker! Pity they couldn't iron out the fizz thing before shipping them out, but maybe all is not lost at least.
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Really sorry to hear about your bad experience. I hope the firmware upgrade solves the problem. Don't blame yourself. Fender has a lot to answer for on this.
What I'm wondering is if it's a compression problem. Sure sounds characteristic of it. Have you tried making your own clean setting with no compression or noise gate at all?
Anyway, you'll still wind up with a great new amp, whether it's a tamed Mustang or a Roland instead, so hang in there.
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I did. Turning down the "gain", virtual amp "volume", and even the guitar volume didn't seem to help. The firmware upgrade I did today seemed to fix the worst part of it though. I still don't know about the digital artifact issue mentioned here: https://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/guita...stang-iii.html Originally Posted by strumcat
It's a little more subtle. So I'll have to give it another listen. I'll check it out tomorrow. I'm going in a little early to check out the jazzier presets that you can download for the thing.
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Hi, Matt. Turning down gain/volume would help more with a generic buzz or hum. This fizz comes in as a clean note or chord fades. That sounds like a compressor trying to maintain the sound level instead of letting it fade naturally. It could wind up boosting nothing but noise that's normally imperceptable. If Fender set up their clean presets with compression (for more sustain) that could cause a problem of just that nature. Just a thought.
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Me too it IS going back today though! Not your issue, but cheers for the support on this, appreciated. Originally Posted by Pierrot
Sorry for that. Hope the shop will act correctly and take back the amp.
Not entirely - I did the update, and better, but there is still quite an issue with digital noise, particularly audible on clean settings too, which is no good for a jazzer. Oh well... Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
Probably there will be a complete upgrade solution at some point, but I'm not prepared to wait on an uncertainty - so it's a Cube for me. Cheers for the support and positive attitude though Big Daddy! Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
Tried taking all the effects, including compression, off the clean sound, and still a problem with noise. Sad, but at this point, I have to return it. I'm going to swap it for a Roland cube 80xl if possible. Originally Posted by strumcat
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Meggy, I hate to hear you're having a bad experience with your III! I'd take it back.
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Cheers Al, at least I'm over the initial bad feelings now, just a case of getting things sorted in the best way. The amp is going back to the shop (on Monday now, I didn't have time today in the end), and I will be happy to take credit through the shop for the price I paid, so I hope they'll be reasonable (I have no reason to think otherwise at this stage). Probably I will pay the extra, and get a Cube80XL - wish I'd done that in the first place, hindsight is a wonderful thing! Originally Posted by Al_F
For now it is sitting all packed up in it's box ready to go back - really a shame Fender could not get this right: it looks great, build quality seems excellent, the sounds would be good without the noise problems... So nearly a brilliant product!
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