Ipad 2 With Cab or Mustang I Amp?

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 3:54 am

I recently traded away my Musicmaster Bass Amp to Haze for a Jaguar HH. This puts me in a situation of only having one electric amp which is not very portable. I need a small, inexpensive amp to take to school when I teach guitar lessons or for my daughter to bang away on.

I reread Robroe's thread about his Mustang I amp and they seem like a pretty good option. I like the size and the price.

But I also have an iPad 2 with Amplitube/Amplitube Fender and I was wondering if it were possible to find a small cab I could plug the iPad into via my iRig and use the iPad as my Amp.

Anyone tried using the iPad with Amplitube like this? What can I expect to pay for a small speaker cab and what do I need to connect it to the cab? Thoughts?

avj · Post by **avj** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 4:00 am

You'll still need a powered amp, as the line-level signal put out by the iPad isn't going to be enough to drive a speaker cabinet. A powered PA speaker would probably be the best, as it's self-contained and full-range. There's no reason to have a guitar amp coloring an already-amp-simulated signal.

A powered PA speaker or a keyboard amp would be my vote.

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 4:02 am

the mustang I has RCA (red and white) imputs on it.

so you can just plug your shit in that way with a regular old Y adapter you can get a the flea market for like 10 cents

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 4:04 am

im telling you the thing was the best 100 bucks i ever spent for bedroom/fuckaround with amp.

mustang w/ mustang
[youtube][/youtube]

mustang w/ mustang bass
[youtube][/youtube]

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 4:11 am

I found one on CL for $75 and almost pulled the trigger on it, but the guy was really far away and wouldn't attempt to deal or meet me closer. My coupon expired to Guitar Center and I could have gotten $20 bucks off but I didn't have the funds at the time.

I would love to use my iPad, but my issue is finding something cheaper than the Mustang I that will actually be the same price range and sound good.

plaidbeer · Post by **plaidbeer** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:21 am

taylornutt wrote:I found one on CL for $75 and almost pulled the trigger on it, but the guy was really far away and wouldn't attempt to deal or meet me closer. My coupon expired to Guitar Center and I could have gotten $20 bucks off but I didn't have the funds at the time.

I would love to use my iPad, but my issue is finding something cheaper than the Mustang I that will actually be the same price range and sound good.

Musician's Friend has a deal where you can get 12% off purchases of $99 or more. Expires at 11:59 PM PT Monday night, so that's 1:59 AM CST. Code is: 12OFFNOW

Post by **Doog** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 8:25 am

taylornutt wrote:I found one on CL for $75 and almost pulled the trigger on it, but the guy was really far away and wouldn't attempt to deal or meet me closer. My coupon expired to Guitar Center and I could have gotten $20 bucks off but I didn't have the funds at the time.

I would love to use my iPad, but my issue is finding something cheaper than the Mustang I that will actually be the same price range and sound good.

Seeing as the iPad and Amplitude would serve as preamp, you could in theory plug it directly into the FX loop "return" of any amp and have it sound reasonable. As long as said amp's power amp and speaker aren't absolute shit, obviously. I guess the fact that Amplitude is already running speaker simulation would colour the sound slightly, but I bet it'll still sound good.

Or it might just be a better idea to hold out for an affordable Mustang.

plaidbeer · Post by **plaidbeer** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 1:56 pm

plaidbeer wrote:
taylornutt wrote:I found one on CL for $75 and almost pulled the trigger on it, but the guy was really far away and wouldn't attempt to deal or meet me closer. My coupon expired to Guitar Center and I could have gotten $20 bucks off but I didn't have the funds at the time.

I would love to use my iPad, but my issue is finding something cheaper than the Mustang I that will actually be the same price range and sound good.
Musician's Friend has a deal where you can get 12% off purchases of $99 or more. Expires at 11:59 PM PT Monday night, so that's 1:59 AM CST. Code is: 12OFFNOW

Just got an e-mail stating that the discount has been extended one more day, so it expires tonight.

plaidbeer · Post by **plaidbeer** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 2:01 pm

No idea about how it sounds, but I got a mailer from GC yesterday which is advertising a "limited red edition" Frontman 25 for $80.

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 6:10 pm

^those are shite, believe me. the red tolex is the best thing about them!
I'd love to suggest the Pathfinder but honestly you'd be better off with the MASSIVE versatility of the Mustang. If you have a powered PA mixer and a PA speaker then the iPad route will work just fine, but I'd rather tote around a $100 practice amp than a $500 iPad.

plaidbeer · Post by **plaidbeer** » Tue Oct 18, 2011 7:12 pm

Good to know about the Frontman-series. Never tried one. I guess it's Fender's answer to the Pathfinder (inexpensive, solid state)?

I played around with a Mustang III a lot when I was looking at Teles and came to really like it. Thought it sounded pretty good and if I didn't have the Pathfinder, I'd get a Mustang.

BillClay · Post by **BillClay** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 5:58 pm

I got a mustang 1 for really cheap, it's a good enough bedroom amp for some dicking around, would probably be cooler if I learned to use that amplitude shit it comes with and get some better sounds than the shitty chorus reverb and distortion all maxed out at once effects that it's setup with. I don't claim to have great ears, but modeling amps are something that have never done it for me, always sound in-authentic. I can't imagine an ipad would be any better than the mustang, and the latter is way easier to cart around and set up.

mickie08 · Post by **mickie08** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 7:22 pm

Haze wrote:^those are shite, believe me. the red tolex is the best thing about them!
I'd love to suggest the Pathfinder but honestly you'd be better off with the MASSIVE versatility of the Mustang. If you have a powered PA mixer and a PA speaker then the iPad route will work just fine, but I'd rather tote around a $100 practice amp than a $500 iPad.

Haze (or anyone else), have you ever played the Peavey Vypyr amps? IF so how do they compare to the mustangs. I have been debating about gettign one or the other as a bedroom amp and/or for gigging small gigs..

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 7:58 pm

robroe wrote:the mustang I has RCA (red and white) imputs on it.

so you can just plug your shit in that way with a regular old Y adapter you can get a the flea market for like 10 cents

Um... Mine doesn't...

The only imputs on mine are the standard instrument jack and a 1/8" AUX by the headphone jack. Where are the RCA jacks on yours?

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 8:12 pm

mickie08 wrote:
Haze wrote:^those are shite, believe me. the red tolex is the best thing about them!
I'd love to suggest the Pathfinder but honestly you'd be better off with the MASSIVE versatility of the Mustang. If you have a powered PA mixer and a PA speaker then the iPad route will work just fine, but I'd rather tote around a $100 practice amp than a $500 iPad.
Haze (or anyone else), have you ever played the Peavey Vypyr amps? IF so how do they compare to the mustangs. I have been debating about gettign one or the other as a bedroom amp and/or for gigging small gigs..

I dont know how the mustangs sound in person, but I have played a few Peavey Vypyrs. The Peaveys are really very impressive sounding and have a ridiculous level of versatility. Also they put out a lot of grunt for such small amps, I had a go on a Vypyr 15 and was really really impressed, its not quite ZT Lunchbox volume by any stretch of the imagination, but at a push would probably keep up with a drummer. Nice warm sound which was nice. Still my favourite small sounding amp I've used was a Peavey Microbass Bass amp, only had a clean sound, but it sounded gorgeous for what it was.

mickie08 · Post by **mickie08** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 10:19 pm

mrperson wrote:
mickie08 wrote:
Haze wrote:^those are shite, believe me. the red tolex is the best thing about them!
I'd love to suggest the Pathfinder but honestly you'd be better off with the MASSIVE versatility of the Mustang. If you have a powered PA mixer and a PA speaker then the iPad route will work just fine, but I'd rather tote around a $100 practice amp than a $500 iPad.
Haze (or anyone else), have you ever played the Peavey Vypyr amps? IF so how do they compare to the mustangs. I have been debating about gettign one or the other as a bedroom amp and/or for gigging small gigs..
I dont know how the mustangs sound in person, but I have played a few Peavey Vypyrs. The Peaveys are really very impressive sounding and have a ridiculous level of versatility. Also they put out a lot of grunt for such small amps, I had a go on a Vypyr 15 and was really really impressed, its not quite ZT Lunchbox volume by any stretch of the imagination, but at a push would probably keep up with a drummer. Nice warm sound which was nice. Still my favourite small sounding amp I've used was a Peavey Microbass Bass amp, only had a clean sound, but it sounded gorgeous for what it was.

THanks. I been debating about picking up one of the 30-4 watt range vypryrs with the 12" speaker. I think it would work pretty well and I only need to flip between 2-3 tones (clean blues type dirt and medium distortion.heavy overdrive tone. Having some chorus or delay available is cool here and there but I am pretty straightforward.

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 2:46 pm

I was going to tryout the Mustang amps on Sunday, but I got to Guitar Center too early and didn't want to wait because my kids were with me.

I found a Mustang II amp for $90 on CL. Good deal for a Mustang II. Same as the Mustang I just a 12" speaker instead of a 8" speaker, but it's 7 lbs heavier. Mustang I is 17 lbs while the Mustang II is 24 lbs.

How does a 20W solidstate amp compare to a 20W Tube amp in terms of volume? The Mustang II is 40 watts which is 10 watts more than my Marshall JTM30 with 12" speaker.

I don't need an amp that blows away my tube amp, just something portable, sounds good, and cheap. My only concern with the Mustang II is the extra weight and too loud for my needs. Robroe mentioned his Mustang I was plenty loud.

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 4:18 pm

Depends on how loud you need to play, for home practice and teaching purposes I'd say 20w SS would be plenty loud, it wouldn't be anywhere near as loud as a tube amp but it'd be fine for that. If you need to play with a drummer its a whole different story, I struggle to keep up with a drummer with a 50W SS amp but my drummer is VERY loud.

sp3k · Post by **sp3k** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 5:27 pm

I'm probably a bit late, but you might want to consider the vox pathfinder. I had a 10w, and for playing at home i couldn't use it past 12h clean. And it sounded so good!! If they did a 50 or 100w version i would use that has my main amp. The overdrive on that thing sounded awesome. Even the cork sniffers in the portuguese guitar forum agree with me!

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 3:23 am

Ankhanu wrote:
robroe wrote:the mustang I has RCA (red and white) imputs on it.

so you can just plug your shit in that way with a regular old Y adapter you can get a the flea market for like 10 cents

Um... Mine doesn't...

The only imputs on mine are the standard instrument jack and a 1/8" AUX by the headphone jack. Where are the RCA jacks on yours?

my bad. it has a 1/8 jack. so fuck that Y cable i posted, just use a 1/8 to 1/8 cable at the flea marked for like 8 cents