Fender's 'smart' guitar amp has no Bluetooth pairing controls Guitar amp manufacturer Fender's recently-introduced Mustang GT 100 guitar amplifier can be made to play whatever audio an attacker fancies, security researchers have discovered. The amp allows Bluetooth connections, but without pairing security. Anyone within range could therefore "stream arbitrary audio to it and hijack your …
"We don’t consider these to be vulnerabilities particularly, more abuse of features for unintended consequences," Pen Test Partners' Ken Munro told El Reg.
It might be a vulnerability if someone turns it up to 11 and blasts pink noise through it. Damage to speakers, amp or eardrums is a possibility.
It might be a vulnerability if someone turns it up to 11 and blasts pink noise through it. Damage to speakers, amp or eardrums is a possibility.
Damage to ears possibly, damage to amp or speakers no. It's a combo amp, and the speaker is rated to be able to handle the output from the power amp stage. No matter how high you turn up the volume you can't damage the amplifier itself.
Er .... I wouldn't want to test that standing behind it, as a pilot once said.
That sentence is missing a "Should", and I can well believe that some combo amps have been built down to a price and someone said "100W speaker ?, No one will notice if we use a 50W."
Especially as some guitarists might think the resultant distortion is "pretty groovy".
"100W speaker ?, No one will notice if we use a 50W."
Long ago, in a far off planet, a band called deep purple had some blown loudspeakers.
They put them all in a couple of 4x12s and the Roadies Red-Star trained them back to Jim Marshalls
My acquaintance, a young engineer there. was. after a peculiar phone call, asked to come and pick them up from the station.
Not only had they been re stencilled with 'Fu**ing Marshall Sh*t' but on arrival removing the rear covers revealed that the roadies had used them as portable toilets.
IN the magazine 'studio sound', a hot guitarist was asked why he rans is loudspeaker cabinets without grilles or grille cloth. Was it perhaps to get some special sound ?
Nah mate" he retorted "Its so I can kick the **** out of them when the cones go, and stop them buzzing".
I can assure you that even cloth eared rock musicians can tell when a loudspeaker has blown.
@Hans Neeson-Bumpsadese: "It's a combo amp, and the speaker is rated to be able to handle the output from the power amp stage. No matter how high you turn up the volume you can't damage the amplifier itself."
Not true. The amplifier and speaker will have been specced up to handle fluctuating signals. Push it hard enough and for long enough and both the amplifier and speaker can be damaged.
Fender are claiming this as the first "wifi" amp, but Line 6 actually beat them to that with their Amplifi range.
I have designed guitar amplifiers,. You have not., They are specced to handle full power full distortion continuously
Typically 50W amps will have 60-80W loudspeakers.
My Marshall 50W (2x EL34) has a Celestion G75 installed
"No matter how high you turn up the volume you can't damage the amplifier itself."
Sadly not true. Many modern guitar amps are designed in such a way that they blow up if the user fails to regard the spec with enough scepticism and tries to use full power for any length of time. It's a consequence of design by marketers and beancounters.
Ironically, valve amplifiers of 40 or 50 years ago were much more robust in this regard. (I've been an amp repair tech for 45+ years and have seen a lot of blown up amplifiers).
"Many modern guitar amps are designed in such a way that they blow up if the user fails to regard the spec with enough scepticism and tries to use full power for any length of time."
If the amp is run at full power then the output devices become more like switches than resistors and actually become less hot than they would running, say, at 2/3 power. Feel sorry for the speaker though....
In a lot of ways it's safer to have an amp rated higher than your speakers rather than the other way round . The lower powered amp will start to "clip" the tops off the waveform as it runs out of headroom, which is not good for the speakers at all. Or your ears!
I don't consider a 1/4" guitar cable that much of an impediment, whereas a Bluetooth-doo-dah simply feels like my day job intruding into my leisure time. To be honest, the interplay of guitar straps and foundation-wear was just one more reason why playing the guitar seemed so liberating.
Maybe it's time to accept I'm an analogue girl in a digital dystopia.
Sounds like me. I suffer from GAS as much as the next bassist, but most of my toys - amps, effects pedals and whatnot - are decidedly analogue, are tied together with electric string and have controls you either twist or stamp on to make a noise.
In a weak moment, I bought a Boss digital mini-studio, and I find it a royal pain in the arse. Admittedly, the looping, speed control and recording functions are very good, but I really dislike breaking the rhythm to fiddle about with menus.
Anyway, that's Fender off my shopping list. I prefer Eden kit, anyway.
Mine's the one with the band patches on for bands nobody else seems to have heard of..
Band patches? How very late seventies and eighties is that?
We used to hand embroider the names and logos onto our denim jackets. Do you know how long it took me to hand embroider the cover from Rainbow Rising onto mine? And then some whippersnapper comes along with a jacket that his mum has sewn a Saxon patch onto.
Pah!
(old fogie icon ------> )
It's the Pen testers quoted as saying it's not a vulnerability. They seem to want to distinguish between "leaks private data/permits bank fraud" from "can make the screen go fuzzy/change the font".
It's probably a good idea to avoid sensationalism that makes people disregard pen-test reports, and if this is the distinction to draw, I can't say it's a bad one.
Sounds like the same 'feature' that lets my neighbours take over (accidentally, I'm sure!) our LG soundbar with their Bulgarian music without needing a pairing code. Worse, as soon as the soundbar sees a Bluetooth connection, it switches input mode automatically away from a wired input, as if Bluetooth is the most important thing in the world!
You forget about the flimsy USB connector. Why they didn't use the heavy duty B connector used on professional gear is unknown. I guess that they wanted to make shit that will break easily, steering you to buy a real amp. (by another manufacturer).
@James Huges
Have you picked up any new Fender guitars? Even their super expensive kit just feels cheap. Frets are poorly filed, action is crap, sound is crap. Its all just a huge marketing machine for wanna be rock stars to buy in to. As soon as they came out with fake road worn guitars, that was the end for me. The Japanese stuff is well made and worth the cash if you can get a decent one.
As for gimmic Amps. No thanks. Why would you want to play anything other than guitar through your guitar amp? The speaker isn't designed to play voices or deep bass, or whatever else isn't guitar. Or, at least, it shouldn't be.
I'll stick to my mid 80s Warmoth Boogie Body and my Orange Micro Dark in its custom cabinet with my nice sounding Eminence RamRod. Sounds fantastic, no pedals needed.
Why they didn't use the heavy duty B connector used on professional gear is unknown.
And even those are pretty crappy.
For real roadie-resistant connectors Neutrik has USB, RJ45 and several other not-known-for-their-durability computer connectors, housed in their signature XLR shells. With matching chassis parts, of course.
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