Fender is gifting us with a wonderful piece of technology for practicing.
When I moved from one coast to another, I traveled with one of my guitar but the rest of my gear was in the moving truck and I knew I wouldn’t see my amp for at least a month. I was about to buy the VOX amPlug2 when I discovered that new device by Fender. After a quick comparison, I decided to buy the Mustang Micro mainly because of the Bluetooth capacity that would allow me to play backing track from a connected device. Still, as soon as my amp would be out of the truck I’d ditch the Mustang Micro, and… Boy I was wrong!
Let’s cut to the chase: I’m impressed by the simplicity and yet the quality of the Fender Micro Mustang. I find myself using it more than my amp! Not as a replacement, of course, but the variety of the effect is enough to satisfy most of any guitarist’s needs without disturbing your surroundings, which is a big plus. It is so compact you can literally bring it anywhere and practice in any room or on the go. It is my travel amp and my before-bedtime amp (particularly enjoying the summer sessions outside).
A wide combination of effects
The 12 different amps offer a range of tones, from clean to the dirtiest to cover any style of music you’d like. Some might feel frustrated because of the lack of control on the gain level but IMO that’s more than enough to practice. On top of that, the Mustang Micro has 12 effect combinations including overdrive, delay, reverb, compression etc. you can adjust with the “modify” buttons.
The device comes with that card to help you choose your effect. I lost it after two days but that’s a nice touch.
Important: The quality of the sound is as good as the headphones you have; you want to use a model tailored for instruments (e.g. Beyerdynamic DT-770, Sony MDR7506, …) as opposed to the ones that are great for listening to your favorite music in the subway (e.g. bose qc35, Sony WH-1000XM4, …).
The controls
As you can see on the card above, each effect or AMP has a different color associated with them. The same colors will appear on your device so you know which one you’re playing. Honestly, I didn’t try too much to remember any of them as the colors don’t have a “feel” but the white I know is just the default clean tone (e.g. red could be rock, green funk, etc. – I understand how subjective it is though). The limited number of effect combos (12) is an advantage here, and it doesn’t take forever to go through all of them and stop on the one that matches your mood at the moment.
Key Takeaways
The Fender Mustang Micro is a compact guitar Amplifier loaded with effects, making it a solid practice tool for guitarists.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| – Sound quality – Compact – Battery Life | – The colored lights are somehow confusing (I’m really trying to find cons here) |
Verdict
Fender Micro Mustang
Summary
The Fender Mustang Micro is a must-have for any guitarist, it works very well and is ultra-portable. You can now consider taking your guitar on a trip or just playing wherever you want without the hassle of the amp, as long as you don’t intend to play for an audience larger than yourself.
Specifications
| Guitar / Bass | both |
| Item dimensions L x W x H | 8 x 3.8 x 2.9 cm |
| Item weight | 51g |
| Connector Type | out: 3.5mm Jack in: 6.35mm Jack, Bluetooth charger: USB-C |
| Battery Life | ~ 4 hours of playtime |
| Features | 12 Amp Models, 12 Effect Models (Reverb, Modulation, Delay, Combination), EQ |