Fender Mustang LT25

[ElmerJFudd]

Sub $200 ($170) 1x8” 25 watt guitar amp with amp modeling and fx.  
 

 

Impressed.  How’s it compare with Boss Katana 50 mkII at $230 or Positive Grid Spark 2 (which I’m guessing will be around $300).   

 

[murphybridget]

Using the Fender Tone software with a USB 2.0 port really opens up a lot of possibilities for customizing and tweaking your amp and effects in real-time.

[surfergirl]

If didn't already own a good modeling amp I consider this.

I really like this one, I think it's a GC exclusive.

[Caevan O’Shite]

22 minutes ago, surfergirl said:

If didn't already own a good modeling amp I consider this.

I really like this one, I think it's a GC exclusive.

Sharp looking Tolex color!

 

5 hours ago, murphybridget said:

Using the Fender Tone software with a USB 2.0 port really opens up a lot of possibilities for customizing and tweaking your amp and effects in real-time.

I used to love and live for such deep-dive detail tweaking; but any more, though, I prefer the relative simplicity of a classic patterned tube-amp, or a modeler/IR device like my Strymon Iridium, that effectively replicates that tube-amp experience.

[murphybridget]

12 hours ago, Caevan O’Shite said:

Sharp looking Tolex color!

 

I used to love and live for such deep-dive detail tweaking; but any more, though, I prefer the relative simplicity of a classic patterned tube-amp, or a modeler/IR device like my Strymon Iridium, that effectively replicates that tube-amp experience.

That could be overwhelming sometimes specially when you're not doing music for a living. I find it not worth it to tweak an amp for personal/leisure use. Would agree with me?

[Caevan O’Shite]

5 hours ago, murphybridget said:

That could be overwhelming sometimes specially when you're not doing music for a living. I find it not worth it to tweak an amp for personal/leisure use. Would agree with me?

I used to really, REALLY WANT to do a LOT of menu scrolling and parameter fiddling; the more options, the better. It was fun, and I was obsessed with customizing customization. I relished programmable and virtual EVERYTHING.

 

Like many players, I came to see that we'd 'thrown the baby out with the bathwater', some of what was great about vintage, analog, and tube gear was missing. I noticed that my multi-effects units that I had in my amp's effects-loop left the 'dry' tone sounding and feeling like plastic.

I also went from wanting four or five channels on an amp with multiple boost and EQ options etc. etc. etc., PLUS numerous pedals and rack units, to preferring as little switch-stomping as possible, with as much dynamic and tonal character responsiveness from my guitar's volume-knob and my picking "touch" as could be. I came to find the lost art of "playing the amp" to be immensely gratifying; my approach evolved and the gear that helped me do what I wanted to do changed with that.

Now I use amps or modeler/IR devices, and pedals, that allow me to get as much of my varying from clean-to-cleanish-to-mean-to-scream-to-"Beam me up, Scotty" as I can get with less footswitch actuation. I love to use one channel of an amp, or even an amp with NO channels to choose between, to vary between clean and overdriven and distorted tones. Some pedals help with that, sometimes NO pedals even.

I don't find detailed tweaking to be overwhelming, I was always a nerd and a geek about such stuff. I've just found that what I want and how I can get that has changed, or has been refined.

[Winston Psmith]

My approach to any MFX that I've just bought is to listen through the Factory Presets, to get an idea of what it can do, then I create a "BLANK" or "Winston Psmith" Preset and copy it 100, or 128, or even 200 times, to completely overwrite the Factory Presets.

 

Generally, I find that the Factory Presets are focussed on features or effects that aren't the ones I'm most interested in, so I really need to dig in and craft my own sounds. Otherwise, I'd have a generic Pedalboard, with some variation on the Big Three (OD-Mod-Dly/Rev.), and be done with it.

 

OTOH, a couple of my Synths came with 500-1000+ Presets onboard, and it struck me that the time, and button-pushing involved, to overwrite that many Presets would be better spent just creating new sounds. There are limits . . .

[surfergirl]

My preference is to use my pedals over the effects on my amp. The Boss Street Cube ll only has reverb, chorus and delay, so we need, or at least it helps, to have some additional effects.