Best Fender Mustang Micro Tone Settings for John Mayer, Blues, Grunge, Hendrix and more.

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"What's the best tone for blues??" Some of the most common questions I get with the Mustang Micro are what tone settings I'd recommend for different styles of music. So I recorded 9 little riffs in various styles and am sharing the settings I used to get the tone. Of course guitar, pickups, volume and tone knob settings all matter in shaping the tone, so this is just a starting point, but hope it helps to get you in the right ballpark and maybe inspire you to take some time to jam today. Thanks for watching! Cheers ✌️
Table of Contents
0:00 Intro
1:17 Texas Blues Style Mustang Micro Tone Settings
2:56 Grunge Style Mustang Micro Tone Settings
6:15 Jimi Hendrix Style Mustang Micro Tone Settings
10:02 John Mayer Style Mustang Micro Tone Settings
12:42 Pop Punk Style Mustang Micro Tone Settings
13:56 Rock Style Mustang Micro Tone Settings
15:38 Metal Style Mustang Micro Tone Settings
18:03 Neo-soul/Prog Clean Style Mustang Micro Tone Settings
19:17 Chicken Pickin' Country Style Mustang Micro Tone Settings
21:00 Wrapping Up

[@dadtimejamtime]

🎉 Big news! Check out this video on the newly released Mustang Micro Plus - the ultimate headphone amp in my mind! kzbin.info/www/bejne/p16mg6Wqo9yff5o

[@NickJardine]

I’m fortunate I discovered your channel! I am a newish dad of two girls under 3yrs old. My practice time window is like 30 minutes or so once they’ve gone to bed. Having a silent, portable practice option is huge. No fiddling around with anything. Plug-in and play. Watching your videos on this made me go out and buy one. Can’t wait to order the camera adapter to shoot some little videos of jamming! Thanks man.

[@cerezoguitar]

I'm in the same boat!!!

[@dadtimejamtime]

@@NickJardine how’s it been going with this? Hope it’s been working out!

[@NickJardine]

@@dadtimejamtime hey! I ended up upgrading to a Yamaha THR30ii Wireless! I have the wireless portability, USB recording, as well as headphone option or out loud. It’s a great all in one. But to be honest, in the last year, I have been playing Acoustic Guitar probably 95% of my time!

[@dadtimejamtime]

@NickJardine rad! Love those amps. Been wanting to compare it with my positive grid spark - now that the new ones are out maybe I will! Rock on good sir!

[@AnirbanDuttaChoudhuryChupKotha]

You saved my day. I was badly struggling with finding nice combo of amps and effects. Fender should include some of these combinations to get begineers started. And I am awestruck at your humbleness. Wish one day I can play like you. Best wishes from India. ❤

[@calvinevans6347]

The best thing about this amp is the stereo you hear from your guitar through headphones. I've only heard my guitars in mono prior to buying the micro amp. Good job with this demo, by the way. PS, you play better than I do.

[@dadtimejamtime]

@@calvinevans6347 great point about stereo - it’s a game changer once you start hearing those ping pongs and swirls. Thanks for the kind words 🙏!

[@FrankLodato]

Man, I REALLY appreciate you taking the time to make this video. I’m a 50yo drummer getting into guitar and amp sounds for the first time. This video gives me a great launch point. I’m looking for a slide tone and will try a few of these out. I’m thinking that chicken pickin’ tone would be cool to start with.

[@Firas-R]

I've only been playing for a few months but I decided to buy my first American Fender Strat (upgrade from a Squier Strat) & a Mustang Micro as I'm traveling to London (can't buy them in Kuwait where I'm from). The Micro surprised me with it's amazing tones, it's the perfect practice amp. Thank you for this great video showing how to achieve some of my favorite tones on the Micro (Blues, Hendrix, Mayer, Rock). I can't play those yet but saving this video for when I can in the future. Also love how humble you are about your playing skills, I think you rock! Liked & subscribed by a dad from Kuwait 😊

[@mazzetti8667]

thanks for the tones and putting it in writing. you play well, don't knock yourself there are plenty of a-holes that will do it for you! Keep up the good takes!!!!

[@rjohnson5120]

Super helpful to begin deciphering the amp. Many thanks.

[@voodoochile3201]

Thanks for the "push" to keep playing 🎸!

[@Michel-r6m]

Bought one today and after a short fiddle it sounds pretty impressive 🤠 BT works great for a drumtrack playing along. Jimi Hendrix Machine Gun and Dick Dale Miserlou 🤠 Also huge fan of David Gilmour and many others 🤠

[@MrKravmagadude]

Great video from genuinely top bloke. Really enjoyed. Sub'd

[@mathaios_c]

Nice video and great job. Exactly what i needed!

[@dadtimejamtime]

Thanks for the kind words! Glad it’s helpful! Cheers ✌️

[@patrick9640]

Very very epic stuff. Thank you.

[@Flukey_1970]

THANK YOU! just bought one and slightly lost at all the settings

[@Cousin_Gregg]

This channel confirmed the Mustang Micro is a great practice tool, this video was especially helpful exploring the tones packed in my new little amp. I went through each tone and you nailed them. I’d love a Part II if you got the time… could be a fun series to see how close you can get to iconic tones from players like Jerry Garcia, Mark Spear (Khruangbin), Jim Root 🤘 just to name a few… this micro is great because it’s got just enough options but not too many (for me at least).

[@dadtimejamtime]

That’s a great idea - glad you’re digging the MM. I love the simplicity. Gets me focusing on practicing and playing and less on obsessing over tweaking. There’s a time and a place to chase tone, but sometimes it gets in the way of actually playing! This thing prevents that, which is great.

[@joshmartin3222]

Appreciate this video. I was going insane trying to figure it out. There should be a link to this in the instruction book, it's so useful to newbies like myself.

[@dadtimejamtime]

I’m so glad it’s helpful! Thanks for watching and the comment. As simple as the device is, it can be overwhelming knowing what to pick when. If you’re aiming for other tones feel free to reach out with questions

[@TheScooterBobby]

Thank you for this video I can’t wait to try these combinations

[@dadtimejamtime]

No problem! Hope it’s helpful! Let me know how it goes!

[@TheScooterBobby]

@@dadtimejamtime OMG so after watching this I got out of bed and grabbed my Les Paul. I plugged in Micro and used the settings you suggested and I’m going to be playing my electric guitar more often. I totally disliked the micro when I got it and it sat around in a drawer for more than 6 months because I couldn’t get a good sound. You’re my hero for doing this. I can’t thank you enough I thought I wasted $120. Thank you 🙏🏻

[@narendrakrane]

Ohh..It sounds so good!!

[@cristiancamiloapariciopera1658]

Excellent job friend you could be more specific to configure the micro fender amplifier for bands such as green day, Blink 182 and the offspring in advance thank you for your help😊😊

[@stysnappin]

Thanks, this is super helpful! I got mine last week and my family is much happier 😅 What headstock tuner are you using?

[@dadtimejamtime]

@@stysnappin Looks like it’s the D’addario micro tuner - they’re nice and compact, but not rechargeable. I’ve got a few different types and these are the favorite based on size. Will be perfect when you can recharge them.

[@dadtimejamtime]

@@stysnappin glad this was helpful! Thanks for commenting!

[@roddieruddie4545]

What settings, amp, reverb etc for playing Delta Blues. John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters. Yes, I just bought a Micro today. Beginner so help needed with direction.

[@dadtimejamtime]

Good question and sorry for the late reply! This is a tough one because Fender in all their brilliance left out saturated tweed tones like a champ turned up. Maybe try the 65 deluxe + greenbox (yellow) or 70s british (purple) with a single coil guitar with the volume rolled back a little and the tone knob rolled off a little bit! Let me know how it goes!

[@LesleyLesPaul]

Good Demo 👍

[@jimwilliamson9893]

Hey Big Daddy, any plans on reviewing the new Mustang Micro Plus? Also, any idea if Fender will do a firmware update on the regular Micro?

[@dadtimejamtime]

Ha! Yeah just finished filming today and going to edit and release soon! Exciting stuff. No idea about any firmware update for Mustang Micro - but knowing Fender probably not. I have a feeling they might drop the price long enough to blow out the last bit of inventory and then retire it as a product. But who knows! New stuff coming soon!

[@senor12]

EXCELLENT!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@davidfletcher9933]

Class man

[@marioesparza8737]

Excellent video! Do you have any recommendations for any tone settings for David Gilmour style?

[@dadtimejamtime]

Hey, I'll look into it! have you come up with anything?

[@dadtimejamtime]

Maybe try the purple 70s british amp and the purple purple vintage trem + reverb Or the purple chorus + delay + reverb with a strat on position 4 & 5

[@HedgeMaJig]

I see a 65 deluxe + Greenbox but not a Tube Screamer. Was this a typo or an update to the Micro?

[@dadtimejamtime]

Hey, it is the ‘65 + Green Box - if you check the manual on it it’ll explain what they mean by green box which is a ts-808 style tube screamer 👍

[@manueltamagno8451]

Hi, is it compatible with footswitch, so you can get some presets presaved instead of being switching manually?

[@dadtimejamtime]

Nope, unfortunately nothing like that for the mustang micro. I was hoping there would be some new updates/peripherals over time, but there really hasn’t been anything released new.

[@manueltamagno8451]

Wow that would be a game changer in terms of versatility and possibilities. But thanks for the answer and the video! If there s any update on this please let me know

[@calvinevans6347]

Where did you find more detailed info on the amps, effects, etc.?

[@dadtimejamtime]

@@calvinevans6347 the user manual. You can download it from fender’s website.

[@user-os1qt9jz1o]

How are you getting it to play out with your headphones?

[@dadtimejamtime]

great question - you can use the usb c port on it to connect it to a device like a computer or iPad to record. So in this video I had it recording to my computer. I just turned on monitoring in my DAW (Logic pro) which let me hear what was being recorded through my monitors (speakers). The audio you’re hearing in the video is the recorded tracks overlayed. The audio I heard while playing was the live monitored audio in the room. You could also hook up a speaker via the headphone jack using a 3.5mm aux cable (like how you can plug a phone into a car car). Hope that makes sense! Let me know if you have any other questions.

[@Sean_Plays_Guitar]

He lives!!! What up bro?? Hope all is well!

[@Sean_Plays_Guitar]

Sick Tele, btw 🔥

[@dadtimejamtime]

Ha! Alive! but also sorta buried - with work and the fam. Excited to get back to it as things slow down. How you been? Thanks on the tele front! It’s one i put together a couple years ago and been enjoying it lately.

[@Sean_Plays_Guitar]

@@dadtimejamtime Dude I get that! Dad Time leaves little for Jam Time sometimes LOL. Not too bad over here with me man. Just finished up a Flying V Kit guitar. Have you seen those Flamma Headphone amps yet? They sound pretty darn good. Someone finally scratching the surface of the Micro. Also they have a bluetooth transmitter so you can use wireless headphones. I might get one for funsies. Glad to see you back at it man!

[@dadtimejamtime]

@@Sean_Plays_Guitar dude! Have been thinking about getting the flamma and seeing how the audio playback usb set up is - if it fixes the MM monitoring issue without a headphone jack it’s a clear win - especially with the drum loops too. *checks bank account* - yep imma make that video. The Flying V kit sounds like a great time! What color finish are you doing?

[@Sean_Plays_Guitar]

@@dadtimejamtime Yeah man that Flamma seems really good. My only concern will be as simple as if I like the sounds from it as much as the Micro. I LOVE the micro. But I agree with you completely about the monitoring fix. I did a Cherry Red finish on the V as I chose a 67-71 style kit with the top route. I actually have a video on it that I am putting together and will post soon. It turned out pretty cool! Sounds awesome.

[@SaxJockey]

Quick question (not read all reviews/descriptions yet) - are the user settings saved on memory after power off/on? Expect so, appreciate confirmation.

[@dadtimejamtime]

It remembers the last setting you used, but it doesnt allow to save presets or save edited settings per amp

[@SaxJockey]

Thanks for the reply. So it remembers which amp model was last selected but nothing else (EQ, Effect, Modify)? Very useful demo, your Chicken Pickin was perfectly fine, surprised how well the Micro managed that. Like the Thinline Tele (I have a Squier CV Thinline) 👍.

[@SaxJockey]

Thanks for the review/demo. I have now bought this device; pleased that I did. In brief, it's so easy to use (no pc/app/software/deep dive faff as with some other devices). As a Fender Amp guy, the clean amp models are nice (not quite the chime of a Fender Tube Amp). Several higher gain amp models available, the BassBreaker 15 is proving to be very useful when using humbuckers. YMMV dependant on type of pickups and headphones, I happen to have a good pair of Bayerdynamic DT250 phones (80 Ohm). So much fun streaming music/KZbin via Bluetooth into the phones and jamming along; very beneficial in terms of improving speed, tone, articulations and strumming pattern 👍👍👍.

[@Sugrshane]

I love mine

[@chinchillax1483]

I only own one electric guitar, and it’s got active pickups, which give me waaaay different results with all these amps than people are getting in these kinds of videos. The cleans get pushed too hard, so I have to roll off the volume knob if I want true clean, but I kind of like what I get: the cleans hit that edge of break up tone, the crunch tones are a bit more heavy, and the higher gain amps sound much better than how they sound in your video (that’s no diss on you, I just don’t think the micro does the high gain stuff well for you passive pickup folks). Like I said, it can be hard for me to get a real clean sound on the clean amps, and the yellow tube screamer channel sounds soooo bad with my guitar. Definitely nothing like Stevie Ray Vaughan. I love the mustang micro, though! I jam to backing tracks all the time, and I’ve improved so flippin’ much. Thx for the vid

[@dadtimejamtime]

Yah that’s the big caveat with all this - guitar and pickups are gonna make a difference. And totally - the high gain sounds with an active pickup on this probably sound worlds apart from how they sound here. Same even with a humbucker. In retrospect should have swapped guitars for that but ya know. Volume and tone knobs are definitely your friend. What guitar are you rocking? Thanks for the watch and sharing. Deeply appreciated 🙏

[@chinchillax1483]

@@dadtimejamtime I’ve got a Charvel single cut Desolation series in matte black finish. Looks pretty sweet, sounds good, but I’m looking forward to graduating finally so I can start making some dough and getting a small guitar collection. I’ll probably get a strat first, since I have 0 experience playing a single coil, then probably a semi hollow body, then maybe I’ll get to the telecaster style eventually. I got the mustang micro so I could finally commit to consistent practice, mostly so I could justify buying all those sweet guitars out there! What’s your favorite type of guitar?

[@dadtimejamtime]

@@chinchillax1483 ha! Slippery slope my friend - that guitar collection building can really turn into a sickness - I know because I’ve got it 🤦‍♂️ That all sounds like a really awesome series of choices though! My first guitar was actually this Korean semi Hollow s-type with a lightning bolt cut out and lace sensor style pickups and a super wizard thin neck - that was in the 90s when I was in 5th grade and I didn’t realize how versatile of a guitar it was at the time. But it did get me hooked on the semi-hollow/thinline style sound. I think I own more of those than any other type - even my PRS is the semi-hollow special. I think my favorite type of guitar is smaller body semi-hollows like a thinline tele or the d’Angelico Bedford semi-hollow. I’ve got a thinline Strat too that is a dream guitar. I think the next guitar build i do will be a thinline tele body with a paf humbucker in the bridge and a Strat neck or p90 in the neck. But honestly, I subscribe to the idea that it’s nice to have a variety for different situations - though I’m not really playing in a variety of situations lately so… my wife just thinks I’m crazy. Glad the MM is helping you get more practice time in - as much as I love buying guitars playing them is fun too 😬

[@baseballorbasketball]

you can get a really good reggae tone too if you use a cleaner amp setting and crank up the red effect (spring reverb)

[@dadtimejamtime]

Yeah man! totally! the spring reverb sounds great.

[@shiv838]

How to sound like John frusciante? Is it possible using micro mustang

[@dadtimejamtime]

That's a great question! I'll dive into it and check it out.

[@calebeverest8378]

Thank you! Anybody have a good Chuck Berry setting?

[@dadtimejamtime]

Oooh good question! This might be a tough one because there’s no direct volume/gain control to get some of the early ‘57 style amps a little overdriven. This is what I would try - but haven’t tried yet - but will try later tonight: 1. PAF style humbucker guitar like a 335 or Les Paul (or any humbucker you’ve got). 2. For amp: Go to the 65 deluxe + green box (yellow) 3. Effects: slap back + reverb (“raspberry”) 4. MOD setting: + or ++ in yellow or red Then I would roll the volume off on the guitar - experiment cause every volume control is different but you might be able to get a more cleaned up overdriven 65 sound that way. Worth a shot! Let me know how it goes. Heading out to date night now - but might try this when I get back.

[@calebeverest8378]

@@dadtimejamtime oo I was close. I just had to mess with the Mods! Thank you! 🤟🏼😁

[@SkylerMills]

I wish I could add or change amps :)

[@dadtimejamtime]

Yeah - agreed - was really hoping that Fender would use this as a platform and release updates like app support, new amps, presets, etc. I think it was a successful 1st gen product overall so I’m surprised they haven’t doubled down on it… Positive Grid Spark Go is a good option if you want a lot more extensibility of amps and effects. But at the same time, the form factor is different - not as small/plugged right into the guitar like this.

[@mightyhuntter9768]

What was the blues riffs you played? Also a good funk tone?

[@dadtimejamtime]

Hey! The blues riff was just a 1/4/5 blues shuffle in E with a little pentatonic/blues scale run - Not anything specific. “Good” funk tone can be done a couple different ways depending. Going to the cyan color for a direct preamp will give you a sort of straight into the board sound. Put a strat on the in between 2nd or 4th position and pick the spring reverb (red) on the effect and the put the modify all the way down in the reverb. It’s not perfect but it’s a sound. Another option is to go with the white 65 twin + compressor and again red spring reverb effect turned down. You can bump up the EQ on the these settings to taste as well to get a little more mid and high focused and simulate a tighter bottom end. Neither are perfect, like all settings for this device. It’s a compromise of flexibility for simplicity with the MM, but it’s useful! Good luck, thanks for watching and hope this helps!

[@mightyhuntter9768]

@@dadtimejamtime Thanks!

[@user-os1qt9jz1o]

Like what’s you setup right now?

[@dadtimejamtime]

@@user-os1qt9jz1o hey, not sure if this is in response to how to get it to play without headphones or just my set up in general, but I shared how I was getting audio without headphones on your other comment. In general I use the mustang micro with headphones to practice quietly while my kids sleep. It’s been super helpful for getting practice time in and I’ve been using it for over 3 years almost daily to play in stealth mode at night. If I’m playing amped to hear loudly I have a few different amps and profilers / modelers that I use depending on the situation! Let me know if you have any more specific questions!

[@Annecyminivoiles]

😀👌👍

[@tmbrwn]

The guy at guitar center kept warning me that the Mustang Micro is breaks easily. I bought one anyway, most people don't take care of their stuff. How durable would you say your Mustang Micro has been? Do you ever have issues?

[@dadtimejamtime]

2 years in it’s working great. Have used it a lot - traveled with it, kids have knocked guitars over with it plugged in, etc. I haven’t noticed any quality issues. Buttons all still work well, charging port still feels solid, and 1/4” plug is still solid and holds the position of the unit solidly - it’s not flopping around or anything like that. What kind of breaking did the GC guy say happens? Is it a physical/external break or a software/internal component/electrical issue? Haven’t run into anything and haven’t heard any anecdotal complaints or anything from other people either so far 2.5 years in

[@baseballorbasketball]

they dont break easily at all

[@arifturgan]

Get positive grid go instead

[@dadtimejamtime]

Thanks for commenting 🙏 I love the Go. Positive Grid tones are great at the price point. No doubt the Go sounds better. But form factor for a headphone amp, the MM still wins. The fact that it plugs into the body and stays there, no extra cable or anything makes it super clean. And for me, I like that it’s silent // I don’t need the speaker - I have other amps for listening without headphones. For me the biggest contender to the MM from a bigger company are the Boss Waza Airs, but they’re 3-4x as expensive. The NUX and Flamma headphone amps are good too and cheaper than the MM. But MM really opened up the space for this “~$100 headphone amp modeler w/ multiple good enough tones” market and I am grateful for that. It’s been a super useful tool for me.