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Fender Mustang Club

#5,942
astrofan007 said:
I'm in a trial period to buy a 2018 Mustang. I notice a low level hum when plugged in, and I also hear some kind of momentary "scratch" when I turn the volume knob. Judging by the results of a search here for "hum" it seems that this is a normal part of Mustang ownership?
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No. It's not. If you're not a "by nature" Do-It-Yourselfer, I'd say pass it and wait for a good one, or buy new. The hum could be shielding, or a bad ground. Us DIYers shield basses, most don't. (the "copper tape" thing). Pots (the volume knob control inside the bass) are too cheap to bother to clean up and you destroy the inner lubricant when you do. I'd replace bad pots @$5.00 a pop with genuine Fender CTS pots (volume controls), but that requires a bit of soldering skill.
There are a lot of pristine instruments out there, that (mostly) newbies bought, then never played. Don't get in a hurry!

Should be an easy find here in Houston. Reach out to me.
 
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#5,943
And,
2cooltoolz said:
No. It's not. If you're not a "by nature" Do-It-Yourselfer, I'd say pass it and wait for a good one, or buy new. The hum could be shielding, or a bad ground. Us DIYers shield basses, most don't. (the "copper tape" thing). Pots (the volume knob control inside the bass) are too cheap to bother to clean up and you destroy the inner lubricant when you do. I'd replace bad pots @$5.00 a pop with genuine Fender CTS pots (volume controls), but that requires a bit of soldering skill.
There are a lot of pristine instruments out there, that (mostly) newbies bought, then never played. Don't get in a hurry!
Click to expand...
Thank you for this excellent advice. It's as if you read my mind, yes, at least I 'feel' like I'm in hurry mode. After the earlier post from Badabababa, I did some research to see what was involved and it would not be a problem for me as I have enough pcb/soldering experience to feel comfortable tackling it. The only thing I lack is what I'd need to look for when using a meter to test, and recommendations as to the correct Fender pots to buy. The only reason I'd want to give it a shot is because I like the color and I can't find another at the moment, plus I got a decent deal on it (including the right to return it for any reason).
 
#5,945
astrofan007 said:
Still, in light of what you mentioned, I wonder if this hum is atypical, in other words, are brand new ones absolutely quiet?
Click to expand...

Brand new ones are never 100% quiet.

The pickups are humbucking by nature of how they are wired. However all Mexican and Japanese mustang basses come stock with no shielding. It’s normal they would be somewhat noisy. As long as that noise stops when you touch the strings or any other metal part, then you know it’s the normal hum you should expect, and you simply need to shield the bass. If the hum gets louder when you touch the strings then you have a ground loop/lack of grounding, and that’s a bit trickier to figure out, but with a multimeter and a little effort it can be figured out easily. Often the bridge ground is not making contact with the bridge.

I do not know about American Performer basses and whether they have any shielding. I would hope so for that price tag. But haven’t gutted one of those.
 
#5,947
birdswthvertigo said:
Brand new ones are never 100% quiet.

The pickups are humbucking by nature of how they are wired. However all Mexican and Japanese mustang basses come stock with no shielding. It’s normal they would be somewhat noisy. As long as that noise stops when you touch the strings or any other metal part, then you know it’s the normal hum you should expect, and you simply need to shield the bass. If the hum gets louder when you touch the strings then you have a ground loop/lack of grounding, and that’s a bit trickier to figure out, but with a multimeter and a little effort it can be figured out easily. Often the bridge ground is not making contact with the bridge.

I do not know about American Performer basses and whether they have any shielding. I would hope so for that price tag. But haven’t gutted one of those.
Click to expand...
Very helpful information that puts my mind at ease. It only became an issue when I brought in an Am Pro, a Performer, a Sire U5, the Mustang, and a Mini P-Bass, all at once this week, to compare against one another. All but the Mustang are dead quiet. Anyhow, I've ordered the copper tape and pots.

Unrelated, do most Mustang owners change the toggle switch out for a rotating switch? If so, I might as well do that while I have the pickguard off.
 
#5,948
Back to strings. I finally received my strings shipped from Germany to the US, the only dealer I could find that had the Pyramid M828 Medium scale length 40-06-80-100 Stainless Roundcore. I've put them on my 1966 Mustang Bass and played with them some that past day or so. The verdict is they are super nice strings. They fit perfectly and have a nice bright articulate sound. Not brash and sound great with the tone rolled off a bit. I would highly recommend them for someone looking for a brighter string with a wide frequency range. And as a guitar player, the gauge is great as it allows expressive bending, at just the right tension. I think the problematic E at .100 is a good thickness. At first I thought it might be a taaad tubby, but after playing more, it's settling in and I really like them. They're the best stainless roundwound strings I've tried. Much better than the Rotosound Stainless 90s where the E was too loose and inarticulate).

I do LOVE my son's Vintera bass with the La Bella Mustang strings and I may well get a set of those for my '66 and swap them out occasionally. I love the way they glide like a fretless.

(And for what it's worth, I'm also settling into my '66 bass. I've only owned it for a few weeks and just got it set up perfectly. God Almighty, what a nice bass, Leo. Such an incredible instrument. What a treat to play and a total blast for a guitar player).

Pyramid strings on.jpg
Pyramid M828 (2).jpg
Pyramid M828 (1).jpg
 
#5,949
Does anyone know if the Vintera and Vintera II Mustang Bass have the same pickups? I found the parts list from Fender for the Vintera (link) and it has the pickups listed as "PICKUP ASSY 60S MUSTANG BASS", part number 7716456000. I haven't been able to find a parts list for the Vintera II, however.

Edit -- I guess probably not, given that the pickup in the Vintera II is referred to as "VINTAGE-STYLE '70S SPLIT-COIL PICKUP".
 
#5,950
Regarding stock bridge replacement, is it the group's consensus that Babicz should be at the top of the list if keeping bridge weight as low as possible is my primary concern? The only reason for the replacement is to get a functional intonation system better than Fender's original part.
 
#5,951
astrofan007 said:
Regarding stock bridge replacement, is it the group's consensus that Babicz should be at the top of the list if keeping bridge weight as low as possible is my primary concern? The only reason for the replacement is to get a functional intonation system better than Fender's original part.
Click to expand...

I’ve never had a terrible intonation problem with fender bridges. I am keeping the stock bridge just to keep the original look.
 
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#5,952
basslust said:
Does anyone know if the Vintera and Vintera II Mustang Bass have the same pickups? I found the parts list from Fender for the Vintera (link) and it has the pickups listed as "PICKUP ASSY 60S MUSTANG BASS", part number 7716456000. I haven't been able to find a parts list for the Vintera II, however.

Edit -- I guess probably not, given that the pickup in the Vintera II is referred to as "VINTAGE-STYLE '70S SPLIT-COIL PICKUP".
Click to expand...

i really wouldn’t be surprised if they are identical. It is annoying that Fender hasn’t uploaded parts lists to fmicassets for Vintera IIs although they’ve been out since what, September? Definitely would be helpful to know.

Relative to proper vintage 60s and 70s pups, the Vintera 60s pup is a bit brighter. Wound at 8-8.6 kohm. While vintage pups (and JMJ) come in at closer to 9.5-10.5 kOhm.
 
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#5,954
audiorep2 said:
Bought standard size and removed covers .
Click to expand...
Thanks... I ended up messaging the "Fat Bass Tone" company that had the NM4 in stock to ask them if there was a difference between the "standard" with covers and "vintage" without covers other than the lack of covers on the latter. They told me that there was a difference, and so I bought the "vintage" without covers. However I'm wishing that I hadn't now as buying the standard with covers would have allowed me to substitute a JMJ pickguard, whereas there is apparently one guy in the world who sells custom pickguards from for the Vinteras, and he sells them on eBay from the UK and is on vacation at the moment. It still isn't clear to me if there really is a difference between the "standard" and "vintage" other than the inclusion of covers.
 
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#5,959
Does anyone happen to know the type of intonation screw I need for a 1966 mustang bass? I' like to get some slightly longer than standard to give me some wiggle room.

My research so far seems to indicate 1/8" diameter by 32tpi or #5 UNC. 45mm long or 50mm for D and G.

That doesn't mean much to me but I have found a UK supplier of these, in various lengths:
M5 J.I.S Stainless Steel Pan Head Screws 50mm-85mm | eBay

If anyone here owns a vintage 'stand who is able to measure the screw it would be appreciated

Cheers
 

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