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Fender Mustang Club

#5,601
J. Crawford said:
Just put a drop D tuner on her yesterday.

View attachment 5070755
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I use one on my #1 P bass. They're useful, but I have to work it out and mentally "lock in" for each song I use it on. And I can't improvise worth squat with it engaged (across the neck).
Several times I've forgotten to disengage on the next tune, earning a nasty look from the BL!:rollno:
HA!
I was 5s only for years, but have had to reduce weight post several surgeries.
Anyway. Gorgeous Stang!
 
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#5,607
Hi guys,

Hope everyone is safe and well.

Back in the late 70s through to mid-80s I played a Fender Jazz in a touring/recording band.

I haven't picked a bass up in over 30 years but I want to get back into it (in my retirement).

I want a shortie and I've checked out reviews on both the Squier Classic Vibe 60s and the Fender Player PJ - I'd love a vintage Mustang but my funds won't stretch to that.

I realise you guys will understandably have a 'Fender-bias' but my question is, are the Players that much better than the Squiers for the extra money?

Any advice/recommendations gratefully received.

Many thanks in advance.
 
#5,608
OldBassFrance said:
Hi guys,

Hope everyone is safe and well.

Back in the late 70s through to mid-80s I played a Fender Jazz in a touring/recording band.

I haven't picked a bass up in over 30 years but I want to get back into it (in my retirement).

I want a shortie and I've checked out reviews on both the Squier Classic Vibe 60s and the Fender Player PJ - I'd love a vintage Mustang but my funds won't stretch to that.

I realise you guys will understandably have a 'Fender-bias' but my question is, are the Players that much better than the Squiers for the extra money?

Any advice/recommendations gratefully received.

Many thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

If you poke around the short scale club you may find a few more answers. Some of the guys over there have figured out how to get a Fender Jazz in 30" from Fender Japan. Why they make it but dont bring it here....idk. Also any mustang players can snag a club number over there with a pic since y'all are all short scale.

As far as basses go.... in the last 30 years almost all factories switched from human routing to CNC routing. A computer can get just real accurate, so the cheap guitars got much better than back then. Really the difference now is how closely they pay attention to the wood going into the assembly line, and how much (if at all) they do quality control. Good luck on your search!
 
#5,609
mrperkolator said:
If you poke around the short scale club you may find a few more answers. Some of the guys over there have figured out how to get a Fender Jazz in 30" from Fender Japan. Why they make it but dont bring it here....idk. Also any mustang players can snag a club number over there with a pic since y'all are all short scale.

As far as basses go.... in the last 30 years almost all factories switched from human routing to CNC routing. A computer can get just real accurate, so the cheap guitars got much better than back then. Really the difference now is how closely they pay attention to the wood going into the assembly line, and how much (if at all) they do quality control. Good luck on your search!
Click to expand...
Thank you.
 
#5,610
Hoping to get a bit of advice here....have a mid-2000's CIJ Mustang on which I have done an immaculately thorough copper shielding in all body cavities, maintaining conductivity of the copper shielding under the pickguard and to all surface mounting screws.
I am still getting some hum regardless of what cable I use to plug in. (Same cable used on a Schecter Banshee or Squier VM Jag or Acoustic mini bass, all of which are silent!) The hum is accentuated by rolling off the highs on the Mustang's tone knob. Have used DeOxit on the pots with no improvement. Stock P/Us.
At gig volumes, it definitely CAN'T be heard in the mix, but our sound guy did mention it while doing sound check last gig. When I serve as ground by maintaining hand contact with the metal of the surface hardware or the strings, the hum dimishes.
 
#5,611
velobob said:
Hoping to get a bit of advice here....have a mid-2000's CIJ Mustang on which I have done an immaculately thorough copper shielding in all body cavities, maintaining conductivity of the copper shielding under the pickguard and to all surface mounting screws.
I am still getting some hum regardless of what cable I use to plug in. (Same cable used on a Schecter Banshee or Squier VM Jag or Acoustic mini bass, all of which are silent!) The hum is accentuated by rolling off the highs on the Mustang's tone knob. Have used DeOxit on the pots with no improvement. Stock P/Us.
At gig volumes, it definitely CAN'T be heard in the mix, but our sound guy did mention it while doing sound check last gig. When I serve as ground by maintaining hand contact with the metal of the surface hardware or the strings, the hum dimishes.
Click to expand...

your path to ground is broken. Check with a multimeter the whole path. Somewhere you have a break, or a bad solder.

Edit: Check the glue on the copper shielding. If the glue on the tape isn't conductive it can act as an insulator between strips of copper.
 
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#5,613
velobob said:
Hoping to get a bit of advice here....have a mid-2000's CIJ Mustang on which I have done an immaculately thorough copper shielding in all body cavities, maintaining conductivity of the copper shielding under the pickguard and to all surface mounting screws.
I am still getting some hum regardless of what cable I use to plug in. (Same cable used on a Schecter Banshee or Squier VM Jag or Acoustic mini bass, all of which are silent!) The hum is accentuated by rolling off the highs on the Mustang's tone knob. Have used DeOxit on the pots with no improvement. Stock P/Us.
At gig volumes, it definitely CAN'T be heard in the mix, but our sound guy did mention it while doing sound check last gig. When I serve as ground by maintaining hand contact with the metal of the surface hardware or the strings, the hum dimishes.
Click to expand...


Also make sure no lead/hot is not touching the shielding. Had this happen when I shielded my CIJ, the jack was somehow touching the foil when the plate was screwed down and it would cut off.

Is it the stock wiring or did you rewire it? My CIJs stock wiring had no ground solders to the back of pots/jack, it just depended on the mechanical contact with the plate. Had to change that.
 
#5,615
velobob said:
IDK....copper shielding tape definitely has conductive adhesive and ground path seems to be w/o any breaks in conductivity.
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well that's good the adhesive is conductive. It usually is, but I mention because that can be one heck of a gremlin to find if someone isn't aware.

Electrically speaking.... when you touch strings, you provide path to ground. When you take hand off, it buzzes. So your hand acts like a light switch. I'm not sure where, but somewhere your path to ground isn't as good as you think. FWIW.... I had a ridiculous issue several months back. I believe it was due to dirty old solder. It had connectivity too, except tone knob didn't roll off. Which again points to bad ground circuit. I threw in a preamp and called it a day....
 
#5,616
@MustangMan78 @ColdEye have yall tried shielding the pole pieces?

Edit: OH! ... it's also possible that the bridge ground isn't doing it's job, and the only "ungrounded" part is the bridge/strings. This would explain all of the behavior yall have mentioned. You may have to use sandpaper to get finish off bottom of bridge. Some finishes are not conductive....
 
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#5,618
mrperkolator said:
@MustangMan78 @ColdEye have yall tried shielding the pole pieces?

Edit: OH! ... it's also possible that the bridge ground isn't doing it's job, and the only "ungrounded" part is the bridge/strings. This would explain all of the behavior yall have mentioned. You may have to use sandpaper to get finish off bottom of bridge. Some finishes are not conductive....
Click to expand...

Interesting, that's the one thing I haven't looked at. I guess I need to take the bridge off to get at it, though!

How exactly does one go about grounding the pole pieces? In 25 years of guitar and bass, I've never heard of that!
 
#5,619
MustangMan78 said:
Interesting, that's the one thing I haven't looked at. I guess I need to take the bridge off to get at it, though!
Click to expand...

Just had a video playing in the background. Dude put a big piece of copper tape under bridge for good measure to not have to worry about small wire connecting with bridge. Probably overkill, but yeah it doesn't sound like a bad idea. I believe MOST bridge finishes are conductive. But it may have a film put on it for travel from the hardware factory to the bass factory to keep it nice till installed on bass. I'm thinking out loud at the moment. Worth checking anyway. You should be able to check your bridge without uninstall. Touch one lead to bridge, and other lead to known grounded point (pickguard screw if you put copper to it or metal control plate, etc).

Edit: it could be something is touching and shouldn't as Coldeye had too.
 
#5,620
Yeah the copper foil on the bridge is a good idea. Did not have to do that for my mustang but had to it with my P and J. Check that first before grounding the pole pieces. My exposed pole pieces for my P bass had that issue. If I touch it, it hums. Just put some clear nail polish and that fixed it, no contact with it.
 

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