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Fender Mustang Club
- Thread starter FlyingPigSound
- Start date
The logo for the first few weeks of production of the 1966 Mustang Bass was also cobbled together from Mustang guitar and Bass V decals until Fender received the correct production decals.
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Thanks for the replies. Yeah, I'd read what Olly wrote about the pieced together logo of differing fonts. I can also confirm it's the more typical decal on '66's as I can barely see the shadow of the old decal - I can faintly read BASS in the right light where it should be normally as shown in the pic above from Olly. The neck date is 17 SEP 66. The pots are both dated 31 66. And serial number is 174xxx. More pics of inside.
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Yes please keep it as is. It looks original to me. They did some weird stuff in those early days. Keep us posted on what you find out. Does it seem to be a water slide decal?
Thanks for the reply. On closer inspection, and as you can actually see of the close-up of the headstock on my original post, there is the faint shadow of 'BASS' below the Fender sticker which would have been correct to the period. Also, the end Fender is a waterslide decal, but it sits on top of the finish. I can see the outline and slight change of depth.
So all evidence indicates it was like this pic below of another '66 of similar serial number, and someone for some reason (thankfully) carefully removed the original and stuck a new one on. I've already spoken to a luthier, and to get this original he'd have to do a nitro finish overspray once the new decal is applied. He said that Fender always over-sprayed a final coat after the decal was on.
So all evidence indicates it was like this pic below of another '66 of similar serial number, and someone for some reason (thankfully) carefully removed the original and stuck a new one on. I've already spoken to a luthier, and to get this original he'd have to do a nitro finish overspray once the new decal is applied. He said that Fender always over-sprayed a final coat after the decal was on.
Yes the process to do a new decal will mean spraying nitro over a waterslide decal. After 66 they switched to screen print (I think it’s called) process which did not have the same raised edges as a waterslide. I’m afraid if you add a new logo you’ll lose all that beautiful checking. The overspray nitro would melt into it and it would vanish. I would strongly suggest just leaving it as a blank headstock over adding the decal. But of course I don’t own the bass. I’m just a vintage mustang bass enthusiastic with a few too many opinions.
Well thank you guys, this is super helpful. Now I believe the mystery is solved thanks to the 3 inputs I received on this forum.
And I was DEAD WRONG in what I said above. I do indeed have an early 'transition' Mustang. It's obvious now comparing the length of the shadow of BASS on my guitar relative to the size of the tuning peg, the length is much greater that in the later production 'MUSTANG BASS' decals. Sweet!
As for what to do, I certainly don't want to lost the wonderful checking. The guy I spoke to seemed to indicate a thin coat could be done limited to right around the decal and it would sit atop the checking. Not sure about that, he wasn't also the paint guy. Also, poking around, I found Fender MUSTANG guitar decals, but no Fender BASS V decals or similar size font that I could cut to replicate the original. So I will likely just remove that out of place Fender decal and just leave blank.
And I was DEAD WRONG in what I said above. I do indeed have an early 'transition' Mustang. It's obvious now comparing the length of the shadow of BASS on my guitar relative to the size of the tuning peg, the length is much greater that in the later production 'MUSTANG BASS' decals. Sweet!
As for what to do, I certainly don't want to lost the wonderful checking. The guy I spoke to seemed to indicate a thin coat could be done limited to right around the decal and it would sit atop the checking. Not sure about that, he wasn't also the paint guy. Also, poking around, I found Fender MUSTANG guitar decals, but no Fender BASS V decals or similar size font that I could cut to replicate the original. So I will likely just remove that out of place Fender decal and just leave blank.
Fender only started to lacquer over the decals around 1969 so you don’t need to worry about that on your Mustang.
Olly, again, very helpful and good to know should I ever find and bother with replicating the decal to transition period. I likely won't, it's just be the 2nd in my collection to be sans decal. I have a '66 Telecaster that was a studio guitar out of Jackson MS and someone in the distant past, who apparently was upset with Fender, scraped into the wood to remove the the full length of the decal. It doesn't make sense to restore that as it's part of it's studio story and anyway, it's into the wood so not even flat. What's up with people and decals?! 8^)
If you’re going to have a vintage bass with a blank headstock this is the one to have. Drooling over that checking!
Thanks for kind words. It's a beautiful bass.
I guess my last question is for recommendations on how or what to use to remove the odd decal at the headstock end and leaves the original finish and checking in perfect condition. See pic below of the decal and it's outline on top of the original finish.
I've read mention of a heat gun gently used to warm up the glue and make pliable to be able to pull up (really?) or rubbed gently with Naphtha, or 3-in-1 oil, or Goo Gone,
Does anyone have any actual experience removing a decal from a mid 60s nitro finish?
I guess my last question is for recommendations on how or what to use to remove the odd decal at the headstock end and leaves the original finish and checking in perfect condition. See pic below of the decal and it's outline on top of the original finish.
I've read mention of a heat gun gently used to warm up the glue and make pliable to be able to pull up (really?) or rubbed gently with Naphtha, or 3-in-1 oil, or Goo Gone,
Does anyone have any actual experience removing a decal from a mid 60s nitro finish?
I have recently put new logos on top of vintage nitro. Since this didn’t get any overspray it should honestly scrape off pretty easily. If you get just some kind of flat scraper and very gently try scraping at it, I bet it will come off fairly easy. Otherwise just a damp cloth on top for maybe 20-30 seconds might loosen it a bit. Even your fingernails might be enough.
I took an all nitro 1975 musicmaster neck and converted it to a mustang bass decal. The decal application didn’t go great at first so I scraped the first attempt off. Granted that was only a day or so after applying it. Not a decade or more.
I would avoid heat gun. Naphtha maybe but it could remove some of the lovely aging from the headstock. So my advice is to go slow and try the least abrasive options first. Just water first if scraping at it doesn’t help.
If it were me (and it's not), I would leave it. It's really unique and quirky as is and tells a strange and intriguing story. The finish checking on your headstock is beautiful (to me) and I wouldn't want to risk that.
In my opinion, the decal's not hurting anything as is and the bass looks great, so why poke the bear?
In my opinion, the decal's not hurting anything as is and the bass looks great, so why poke the bear?
Yeah honestly I second this opinion. It doesn’t look bad. Quirky? Yes. Clearly. But not bad in the slightest.
3rd the opinion! I would not mess with that, too risky and it looks great as is.
Thanks for the opinions, and keep 'em coming. I must admit the sticker looks to have been on there for a long time. That's kind of cool, but also may well mean removing it might leave a shadow at the end. Hmm.
It has aged very well all over the body and I especially love the yellowed pickguard. It's actually translucent and the flakes appear 3 dimensional and even deeper than the pickguard. The camera doesn't capture it. Totally cool, certainly the coolest pickguard in my collection.
It has aged very well all over the body and I especially love the yellowed pickguard. It's actually translucent and the flakes appear 3 dimensional and even deeper than the pickguard. The camera doesn't capture it. Totally cool, certainly the coolest pickguard in my collection.
What they said!! I wouldn't touch it. That checking, finish, pickguard patina are beautiful!!
