Mustang: Old vs New Pawn Shop
 

What are the advantages of buying a new Mustang Pawn Shop over the older Mustang bass. The new one has a hum bucker, but how different does that sound? Did they change the neck or much else?

One can buy the older used Mustang for less than the new one, so is the new one worth it?

I played a new one in the store yesterday and it was really nice. It had a short scale neck. But what do I know? I am a guitar player and don't play bass well. So I would love to hear opinions from the experienced players here.

Not sure if it was a lemon or GC not taking care of their instruments or what but the only time I played a Pawn Shop Jag was at Guitar Center and it was horrible. Loose pot, badly set up, noisy switch. I'd have a hard time buying one after playing that POS.

Quality
 

I played the new Mustang short scale Pawn Shop in a music store. Very easy to play. Build quality was nice. Neck was easy to play.

I own a PRS 513 ($2500 guitar), so I know good build quality when I see it. The Mustang was not at PRS level, but there was nothing junky about it. It felt like a pro instrument.

You must have played a bad on at Guitar Center!

GC never sets up their basses and i am not sure what fender does before. you have to look for the diamond in the ruff....

I can't comment on the original mustang basses, having played a Gibson SG for years but, having abandoned a recent flirt with a long scale Precision 5-string (I just prefer short scales), I've invested in a new "Pawn Shop" model and all I can say is that it is truly superb!

Set up, including neck relief, nut height and string height were all bob on; intonation was all that needed attention.
Build quality is nothing short of excellent, and tone variations from the single humbucker are really wide and varied.
It comes strung with Fender roundwounds, but I am sure that when I re-string with flats, it will surely become my "weapon of choice".
I still love my SG bass though :)

SG
 

Is you SG a short scale? How does it compare to the Pawn Shop?

Definitely thinking long about getting a Pawn Shop Mustang.

When you say old Mustang, are you talking about the made in USA Mustangs from the 60's and 70's or the Japanese re-issues?

I have a re-issue, and it's great!

The new Pawn Shop Mustang Bass that Fender just released. I think they're MIM

I just bought a Pawnshop Mustang SS last week at GC and am very pleased with it.

They're MIJ actually.

Nope, I was totally wrong. They are indeed MIM.

I have both MIJ mustang and the new pawn shop mustang. They pretty different instruments in many ways.

For the sound, they are pretty different. the new pawn shop has very high output deep low sound, while the old mustang is more like p-ish type of sound. If I have to compare the pawn shop on the sound, I probably compare it to Gibson semi hollow or such. The necks are different. The old mustang has thinner neck, while the pawn shop is chunkier. Pawn shop is heavier as well, not much, but noticeable.

Is your MIJ model the newest one out? The fender website says the pawn shop version has a 9.5 radius while the reissue has a 7.25 radius. So i would think the pawn shop bass was "thinner"? What model mij mustang do you have?

Thanks for your response as I'm wanting another mustang bass and not sure which way to go.

Well, I'm not sure about the radius, but my MIJ mustang's neck is definitely thinner.

If you're looking for something different in mustang, I think the pawn shop is a pretty good way to go. :bassist:

I just got a pawn shop mustang. I love it. Factory setup was pretty bad, though not unplayable. Just has high action and sloppy string winding. I'll be taking it in this week for a full setup.

Finish is superb, frets are nice and smooth. Fairly heavy for a bass of this size.

The pickup output seems really high. Lots of low end. Not super muddy, but a little lacking in the highs (though to be fair, my main right now is an active Ibanez, which has crazy amounts of highs, even with the EQ flat). I can't tell if the highs are missing, or just drowned out by the lows.

Seriously, with the tone knob wide open I have to turn the gain way down on my amp. Hottest pickup I've ever had. I read somewhere that you can lower the pickup quite a bit to get it a little more standard; tone changed a little bit, but still good. Haven't tried it myself.

My opinion so far is that it's a really nice bass, but the price point should be a bit lower, maybe around the Modern Player range? $550ish would seem a bit more reasonable.

I'm looking into getting a push/pull pot installed for coil splitting. Anybody modded theirs yet? I haven't taken it apart to look at the wiring. I only do that on old crappy basses. I let a pro do the work on my nicer ones.