Fender Mustang GT40 - Born Again?

Barnezy

I think I did mention I don't play high gain sounds that often, so my opinion is limited. My compassion here would be vs my THR, not my Helix though. The platform will be improved upon with future SW updates too.

I did look up the Foo Fighters tone from Fender Play and they used a Rectifier (American 90's) and it sounded pretty good to me. I've also struggled with the Marshall models. I made a Hendrix tone using the 70's Marshall and have the gain at 2.5. 

I've also found lowering the guitar volume on high gain amps helps alot. 

All in all the benefits of this amp for practice, outweighs its shortcomings for me and as mentioned, it cost me half what my KTR Klone pedal did, but is far more useful. 

roberty

Need to unsubscribe from this thread, getting GAS again. Sounds like a fun toy, messing around with the app and stuff

I use pedals with single channel amps instead of amp distortion so that's the approach I take with my THR, it never leaves the 'crunch' mode. The GT40 lets you put pedal sims in chain right? How are the dirt pedal models into a clean-ish amp?

My minijack cable arrived from Amazon (£6!), works really well into the THR so not overly fussed about the bluetooth side of things now

NelsonP

@Barnezy Just remembered something. Funnily enough the Soul Food that I ran into the front of my GT40 last night was the one that you used to own!

I'm going to do some more fiddling. I'm making some good progress with the "La Grange" preset from Fender Play - with a few tweaks.

Lewy

NelsonP said:

I'm still struggling a bit...……..

For now the jury remains out.

I've followed this thread with interest as someone who bought a GT40 a while ago as a home volume-level practice amp and lost interest in it pretty quickly as the sounds were uninspiring to me. So it was gathering dust until I saw about this firmware upgrade and having done the upgrade and explored for a couple of weeks, tinkered with the global EQ settings etc, it's back gathering dust.

Just like guitars like the Squier CVs, it's good for the money, it's good for what it is and what you can expect from that sort of thing, but it's still entirely feasible and understandable to be underwhelmed by it and that isn't automatically because you're failing to unearth it's hidden brilliance. 

NelsonP

^ Interesting points @Lewy ;
Outof interest, have you found anything similar that does inspire you?

...and the Squier analogy had also occurred to me. Very good at what it does, especially for the money, but somehow missing some magic.

Lewy

NelsonP said:

^ Interesting points @Lewy ;
Outof interest, have you found anything similar that does inspire you?

For the money and as an all-in-one, no I haven't found anything and I've stopped looking really. Since I bought the GT40 I've assembled an "ampless" pedal board so I just put that into a powered speaker or headphones for quiet practice now.

NelsonP

I've just been messing about some more and I've decided that the GT40 is going back. In many ways it is very good, especially for less than £200. But the Amplifire just sounds so much better for the kind of stuff I like to play (mainly 90's alt rock - Foos, Pearl Jam, Biffy Clyro, RATM etc) that I just can't see myself using it much.

It has made me revisit some of the cleaner amp models on the Amplifire though. Amazing that a <£200 practise amp can highlight some of the shortcomings of much more expensive gear.

grungebob

@NelsonP ;
you really ought to try out a Vox VT20x or the VT40X. Once you turn off the global noise gate it’s a great practice amp. 

In built effects, tuner, presets etc and an iOS app ( does need a micro usb to lightning cable though).  

Barnezy

Sorry guys if it's been a disappointment for some.

I'm really happy with it for what I'm using it for and as far as practice amps go, THR, Kantana Air and Bias Spark, I thought it was the best. It's obviously never going to compare to a high end modeler which are typically more fuss and less user friendly, or a tube amp. 

Sync

I still can't get on with the GT40. It's good if not perfect for what it is; but that is a far cry from an achievable tone I personally enjoy. 

For home noodling, I still haven't been able to replace my mustang v2 III 100w 1x12. Great at low volumes and when really low volumes are required then I use headphones. I will be getting a GTX100 at some point but not overly rushed. 

I can't get on with the bookshelf options either like the THR. 

The Vox VT100x is only £224 at gak at the moment and with the built in power attenuator would be the best budget option by a country mile.

Bigger than a GT40 but once you get to anything bigger than the THR/Katana Air etc then may as well get something notably bigger / better.

Again though that's my personal preference. I can fully understand why the smaller practice amps and bookshelf options are used by so many and without complaint. 

NelsonP

Barnezy said:

Sorry guys if it's been a disappointment for some.

I'm really happy with it for what I'm using it for and as far as practice amps go, THR, Kantana Air and Bias Spark, I thought it was the best. It's obviously never going to compare to a high end modeler which are typically more fuss and less user friendly, or a tube amp. 

Not at all. It's been a really good education and tbh for the price it is a great bit of kit and does a lot of things very well indeed. 

Barnezy

Just saw this on a FB post. 

New firmware upgrade available for GTX, GT and Rumble amps (5th May). 'Mustang GT Version 3.0.43 (May 5th, 2020) Rumble Stage-Studio Version 3.0.23 (May 5th, 2020) Mustang GTX 3.0.73 (May 5th, 2020)

 * Added menu item to forget all paired Bluetooth devices
 * “Pedal” parameter is now displayed first when using wah and whammy effects
 * No Icon will appear on amp when connected to TONE
 * Fixed issue with iOS13 devices not connecting to TONE while also connected to Bluetooth audio.'

 See: https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/the-official-fender-mustang-gtx-amp-thread-2020.2113060/page-67#post-30483401

bazxkr

Barnezy said:

Just saw this on a FB post. 

New firmware upgrade available for GTX, GT and Rumble amps (5th May). 'Mustang GT Version 3.0.43 (May 5th, 2020) Rumble Stage-Studio Version 3.0.23 (May 5th, 2020) Mustang GTX 3.0.73 (May 5th, 2020)

 * Added menu item to forget all paired Bluetooth devices
 * “Pedal” parameter is now displayed first when using wah and whammy effects
 * No Icon will appear on amp when connected to TONE
 * Fixed issue with iOS13 devices not connecting to TONE while also connected to Bluetooth audio.'

 See: https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/the-official-fender-mustang-gtx-amp-thread-2020.2113060/page-67#post-30483401

Thks for the nod @Barnezy just updated mine to the latest  cheers

TheMarlin

I acquired one during the week, only got around to playing it today, and only for an hour or so.

First impression, Fender tones are fab, some of the preset driven tones are less impressive.  A quick play with different models, and I’ve quickly found some great overdriven tones.  Why do they always put crap tones in the first four slots?

I have had other practice amps in the past, where you could have reverb OR delay, but not both. With this GT40, you can takes loads of pedal effects and put them in any damn order you like. Pre and post amp. 

The sheer versatility this thing offers is incredible considering the relatively small outlay. 

Built like a tank, love the functionality of the app. I can leave the amp 10ft away, and tweak everything from my iPad on a stand within arms reach. I tweaked some of the models with different cabs with great results, and played a bunch of the tones from the tone library.  Some really were tremendous fun. 

It’s not the same as playing through my 5E3 or Bassman clone, but it’s not that kind of volume.  I had a fine old time while my granddaughter napped downstairs. 

Considering the purpose for which I bought it (small amp, small footprint, for home office use), it’s way more versatile than pretty much any other practice amp of it’s price point (THR, Vox handbag etc), sounds great, and the huge capacity for tweakabikiy means I should be able to replicate the vast majority of tones I want, that sound great at baby friendly practice volumes, for less than price of a decent effects pedal. 

Bearing everything in mind, and only having just scratched the surface, I’m delighted with it. 

Got the floor controller for it too. Need to read the manual. 

www

Really enjoying my GT40 too (thanks again for the heads-up @Barnezy). Got it from Bax with a 120 day return policy but I've already decided it's staying.

So it looks like I'll sell my THRii30 but I always struggle to let go of gear in fear that I might want it again one day. There's probably a medical term for that! Anyone know what a mint THRii30 would be worth these days?

roberty

www said:

Really enjoying my GT40 too (thanks again for the heads-up @Barnezy). Got it from Bax with a 120 day return policy but I've already decided it's staying.

So it looks like I'll sell my THRii30 but I always struggle to let go of gear in fear that I might want it again one day. There's probably a medical term for that! Anyone know what a mint THRii30 would be worth these days?

Good luck returning anything to Bax. They sent me a wrong item which I returned and now I've been trying to get the money back for 6 weeks lol

www

roberty said:

www said:

Really enjoying my GT40 too (thanks again for the heads-up @Barnezy). Got it from Bax with a 120 day return policy but I've already decided it's staying.

So it looks like I'll sell my THRii30 but I always struggle to let go of gear in fear that I might want it again one day. There's probably a medical term for that! Anyone know what a mint THRii30 would be worth these days?

Good luck returning anything to Bax. They sent me a wrong item which I returned and now I've been trying to get the money back for 6 weeks lol

Erm... as I said, I'm keeping it 

roberty

www said:

roberty said:

www said:

Really enjoying my GT40 too (thanks again for the heads-up @Barnezy). Got it from Bax with a 120 day return policy but I've already decided it's staying.

So it looks like I'll sell my THRii30 but I always struggle to let go of gear in fear that I might want it again one day. There's probably a medical term for that! Anyone know what a mint THRii30 would be worth these days?

Good luck returning anything to Bax. They sent me a wrong item which I returned and now I've been trying to get the money back for 6 weeks lol

Erm... as I said, I'm keeping it 

I know I was caveating the return policy for the sake of anyone reading

roberty

Your confidence is perhaps a bit misplaced that's all

t1000

I just picked up one of these second hand with the footswitch. Its never been updated so first thing I did. Wow excellent bit of kit and sounds great (for what it it) to my very untrained ears. Very easy to use which is always a bonus