Members GAS Man Posted August 31, 2011 Members Share Posted August 31, 2011 I think the Mustang I is indeed a great bang for the buck amp, but I don't like the way the tone starts to fall apart when you crank it up much more than half way. So I'm wondering if anyone has gotten more headroom or body out of these guys with a simple speaker upgrade, and if so, which speaker? And dang, it would be nice if there was a speaker out on these guys. I've played it with headphones and I know it's got more to offer than the power amp, cab and speaker brings to the table Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted August 31, 2011 Members Share Posted August 31, 2011 Shouldn't be too hard to add a speaker out that mutes the internal speaker... you'd just put it in line just in front of the internal speaker. Drill one hole, a couple solder connections and screw the new jack in place. But yeah... it pisses me off that amps don't come with speaker out jacks. I'm convinced it's to force you to buy higher end amps and the jacks only cost about $4 each when you buy one at a time... in bulk, they'd probably be $2 or less and another $2 in labor to install. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted August 31, 2011 Author Members Share Posted August 31, 2011 Shouldn't be too hard to add a speaker out that mutes the internal speaker... you'd just put it in line just in front of the internal speaker. Drill one hole, a couple solder connections and screw the new jack in place. But yeah... it pisses me off that amps don't come with speaker out jacks. I'm convinced it's to force you to buy higher end amps and the jacks only cost about $4 each when you buy one at a time... in bulk, they'd probably be $2 or less and another $2 in labor to install. That might be a good idea, because you never know until you put in a new speaker what all the limiting factors are. So a speaker out might be a good route. OTOH, if there's an inexpensive upgrade that has a later breakup without sacrificing too much efficiency, then I'd want to run at that too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gdsmithtx Posted August 31, 2011 Members Share Posted August 31, 2011 Three page comment thread from here on exactly that subject: link Jensen Mod8 was suggested as a good 8" replacement, but there's also a good possibility that a 10" would fit in there. I have a spare 10" Ragin' Cajun from an old amp that I sold; I may try putting that in my Mustang I over this holiday weekend, if the specs align and it seems like it'll fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted August 31, 2011 Members Share Posted August 31, 2011 The Ragin Cajun is exactly the speaker I'd hope would fit! I'm mostly a clean player as well... I crammed an 8" Weber into my Vox DA5 and I'd say it was a 100% improvement... at least for clean tones and sounding a bit bigger. The Weber moves so much more air that if I want to play reasonably loudly, I need to pull the back panel off the amp or else it sounds like it might explode. If the Ragin Cajun yielded similar results with the Mustang I, I think it would be a KILLER little amp! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted August 31, 2011 Author Members Share Posted August 31, 2011 Three page comment thread from here on exactly that subject: linkJensen Mod8 was suggested as a good 8" replacement, but there's also a good possibility that a 10" would fit in there. I have a spare 10" Ragin' Cajun from an old amp that I sold; I may try putting that in my Mustang I over this holiday weekend, if the specs align and it seems like it'll fit. Thanks. I happened to find that thread doing a google search after I started this new thread. I read that one last night and it looked like it petered out before many suggestions came in. But I thought, well, maybe we might get more reports back now that the amp's been out there for another 8 months However, I did read about the Jensen Mod 8 and last night I was listening to the Jensen sound clips on their home page, comparing the Mod 8 versus the CR8. I like the CR8 but I'm guessing the Mod 8 might indeed be the more versatile choice. Sounds like it's got a bit more bottom end and not as chimey bright as the CR8. So the Mod should be able to do the Fender stuff okay and be a better choice for the higher gain stuff. I have used the Ragin Cajun on a Fender Super Champ XD and thought it was a nice improvement. I actually bought another speaker (I'm just remembering) for the Super Champ (IIRC it's a Jensen Alnico) so I could see which one is the best fit for the SCXD and then see if I'm brave enough to attempt to covert the MI to a 10" speaker. But if I did that, I would have to remove the baffle and make the hole bigger, right? But since I'm just now remembering I have that spare 10" (plus the original 10" from the SCXD as well) I should probably start opening up that Mustang. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gdsmithtx Posted August 31, 2011 Members Share Posted August 31, 2011 I have used the Ragin Cajun on a Fender Super Champ XD and thought it was a nice improvement. I actually bought another speaker (I'm just remembering) for the Super Champ (IIRC it's a Jensen Alnico) so I could see which one is the best fit for the SCXD and then see if I'm brave enough to attempt to covert the MI to a 10" speaker.But if I did that, I would have to remove the baffle and make the hole bigger, right?But since I'm just now remembering I have that spare 10" (plus the original 10" from the SCXD as well) I should probably start opening up that Mustang. I did the same for my SCXD; really gave it a lot of extra bawlz. According to that thread and a couple of others I've read on the subject, you wouldn't have to make the hole bigger unless you were playing it at high volume and wanting to maximize the loudness. At bedroom/practice volumes, it shouldn't make a noticeable difference at all. At least that's what the proverbial "they" said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted August 31, 2011 Author Members Share Posted August 31, 2011 I did the same for my SCXD; really gave it a lot of extra bawlz. According to that thread and a couple of others I've read on the subject, you wouldn't have to make the hole bigger unless you were playing it at high volume and wanting to maximize the loudness. At bedroom/practice volumes, it shouldn't make a noticeable difference at all. At least that's what the proverbial "they" said. Yeah, I was getting that from that thread, but it left me a bit . I could see that maybe the speaker surround would give you some margin with little excursion, but I'm not sure if it would be enough of a margin for the cone excursion to clear the baffle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DaleH Posted August 31, 2011 Members Share Posted August 31, 2011 Celestion super 8, I have one in a small Kustom 16R amp. Would make a good speaker for the Mustang, IMO.I want to try this one in a Champ 600. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members steve_man Posted August 31, 2011 Members Share Posted August 31, 2011 That's why I bought the Mustang II...much better headroom...and the stock speaker is no slouch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Crisco Posted August 31, 2011 Members Share Posted August 31, 2011 I surely can't complain about the celestion G12T-100 in my Mustang III ampand that baby was stock..perhaps they make a smaller version for the Mustang I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wagdog Posted August 31, 2011 Members Share Posted August 31, 2011 FWIW, I had a M1 with a different speaker. At the time, I liked it better... but I have to be honest, it really doesn't make that much difference, especially if you're after headroom. The amp just doesn't sound good loud, and I don't think it's the speaker that's to blame; it's a 20w solid state amp. Sounds GREAT at low and medium volume, and seriously, it's a little amp, what do you expect? If you want more volume, I'd get a 2, or 3, or 4... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stormin1155 Posted August 31, 2011 Members Share Posted August 31, 2011 There's no doubt, the M1 is strictly a practice amp. IMO it sounds pretty good for an 8", better than most other practice amps, but is very limited. I did put a speaker out jack mine... easy mod. A 10" speaker WILL fit in there, but I honestly don't think it is worth the trouble. If I want a bigger sound I just run it through an external 1X12". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted August 31, 2011 Members Share Posted August 31, 2011 What I was saying in the other thread about possibly mounting a 10" speaker on the stock 8" baffle is since it's rear mount, you wouldn't absolutely 100% NEED to cut a larger hole in the baffle or replace the baffle the way you would if the speaker was front mounted. Not saying how it will sound, but I've put an 8" speaker on a baffle with a 6.5" hole and I've put a 12" speaker on a baffle with a 10" hole and in both instances, it worked out just fine though in neither instance did I ever really crank said amp. Imagine the speaker moves a certain amount in the cone. At a certain point, the surround or the cone will come into contact with the baffle. At that point, the difference would still be marginal at best. But once you are moving the speaker enough to actually force the cone or surround to pound against the baffle with authority, it would either sound kinda hanky or might possible lead to premature wear on the surround. My guess is with 20 solid state watts from a $100 amp, you probably aren't going to get enough juice to drive a 75W speaker to that point and even if the power section was physically capable of moving the speaker that much, my guess is it will sound pretty bad before it's putting out that full amount of power so you probably wouldn't want to crank the amp that far anyway. The other issue is traditionally, the 'boxy' tone comes from a large-ish speaker being in a small-ish enclosure so you'd probably have a Blues Jr effect trying to play the 10" speaker in the Mustang I if you listen critically and are playing at serious volumes. Though, admittedly, that is pure conjecture since I've never tried it. Still, I think the increase in the speaker size and the radical increase in speaker quality would be more than worth the trade-offs... and I still think the speaker out jack would be a more beneficial mod if you were only going to either add the jack or replace the speaker. I just have a hankerin for a modeling amp. I have the DA5 with the 8" speaker mod and a Roland Cube 30 which I rarely play, but I was so impressed with the Mustang II I had for a while that I'd like to see how close I can get with the smaller Mustang I and a 10" speaker. That's my take anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted September 1, 2011 Author Members Share Posted September 1, 2011 I guess it would also be easy enough for me to just hook up the speaker without installing it, and check for the amount of excursion. If it looks like it would hit the baffle, then I can find an appropriate bit for my dremel tool and go to town with it. If the excursion is limited with the low power output up to the level where the amp is still reasonably clean, then as you say, I wouldn't need to bother. In regards to some of the other comments about the inherent limits, I've got other amps so I'm not trying to really get beyond the SS config or size of the M1, just push it up on the headroom a bit. I do think it makes sense to do the speaker out jack first so I can see how much of the sound issues come from the stock speaker versus the limits of the SS amp. I still need to get around to doing your mod on the DA5 Cratz. For a while now I've been using one as my bedroom amp. Last year I got a new large night stand which meant I no longer had space on the floor there for a bigger amp (even an MI is too big for that space) but the DA5 sits nicely on top of the nightstand. So squeezing just a bit more out of that one would also be real nice. Sometime if you wouldn't mind hooking me up again with your thread on that conversion I'd appreciate it. You did so once before, but it slipped away from my bookmarks. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted September 1, 2011 Members Share Posted September 1, 2011 Here are the two I read through before putting the 8" in mine. I don't think I made a thread on mine as I usually don't do new NADs and NGDs. http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=403316&highlight=shibby http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showthread.php?2387296-Swap-to-8-quot-speaker-in-Vox-DA5-or-get-a-DA10 To me, the main improvement on the DA5 is the Fender tones sound more Fendery, the Vox tones sound more Voxy and the clean to slightly breaking up tones sound like they are coming from a bigger amp, esp at less than TV volumes. Again, these are the tones where I live and I'd say it made the DA5 into a pretty stellar amp for it's size and the ability to run on batteries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Emory Posted September 1, 2011 Members Share Posted September 1, 2011 Interesting. I put a Celestion 8" I got out of a dead Vox amp into my DA-5. Did a side by side with friend who has stock DA-5. More bottom for sure, but the higher notes were not as clear it seemed. Now I am thinking about putting that speaker into my Mustang, even though I like the sound of the Mustang quite a bit, tho it is lacking in bottom (quibble quibble). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Emory Posted September 2, 2011 Members Share Posted September 2, 2011 Ok, so put back original Vox speaker in DA-5 and swapped out Fender stock 8" for the Celestion 8" that was in my dead Cambridge originally. Improved sound, imho. Better bottom, just seems more articulate. Now I can try to put the Fender 8" in a Mustang Mini when I get it (hopefully) on my trip to America. I think they come with 6.5" speaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted September 2, 2011 Author Members Share Posted September 2, 2011 ^^^^ Great avatar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wagdog Posted September 3, 2011 Members Share Posted September 3, 2011 FWIW, I just got the MII I had traded my MI and some money for. Nice upgrade. If you're planning on playing these amps out, I'd say that in a small venue or practice, the MII *might* cut it. Wouldn't do a gig without a backup plan though... it is a cheaply made, flimsy little amp. Sounds great though. I really have to say that the speaker upgrade in the MI just isn't worth it. That amp is a *great* little practice and direct recording amp, but I really don't think it's ever going to sound good loud on its own, regardless of speaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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