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Fender Mustang Club

#6,281
sonic boogaloo said:
recently had some Nordstrand NM4 pickups installed on my Fender Japan Mustang.

wow! why did i wait so long to do this?

i'd ummed and ahhed for so long as i couldn't really notice much difference from the content i found on YouTube.

i'm so pleased i bit the bullet. they sound fantastic! louder, punchier and much more clarity than the stock pickups. in band rehearsals i noticed the difference straight away. the bass was much more defined. superb upgrade, just wish i had done it earlier.

on a side note, before i had the Nordstrand NM4s installed my Mustang sometimes suffered from pickup hum, especially with my overdrive pedal. i put this down to being normal behaviour from single coils and purchased a noise gate pedal for when it happened. the luthier who installed the pickups told me that the stock pickups were not grounded very well (or something along those lines, i'm not very good at technical terminology.)

the upshot is that i've noticed zero hum since having the pickups installed. talk about killing two birds with one stone!
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Good to know. I have a Mustang project in the works and have been thinking about going with those NM4s specifically after watching a series of Mustang pickup comparisons by Jonathan Wong (he does this with a number of Mustang pickups), and the funny thing is his description of the NM4s having more like a P sound is helping sell me on them as a way to get something different from what would already be a sibling Mustang on the rack.

The noise cancelling is also something I'm a huge fan of. I never hear hum when playing with others, but if practicing at home, it drives me crazy.
 
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#6,282
Anyone else feel compelled to play their Mustang (or at least one of their Mustangs…) whenever there’s a new post in this thread?

I just played through a couple old Stevie Wonder songs on mine, and I love how easy it is to fly around the neck on this thing. I know it’s not what Jamerson would’ve used, but with La Bella strings, it sure sounds good anyway.
 
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#6,283
T McClure said:
Good to know. I have a Mustang project in the works and have been thinking about going with those NM4s specifically after watching a series of Mustang pickup comparisons by Jonathan Wong (he does this with a number of Mustang pickups), and the funny thing is his description of the NM4s having more like a P sound is helping sell me on them as a way to get something different from what would already be a sibling Mustang on the rack.

The noise cancelling is also something I'm a huge fan of. I never hear hum when playing with others, but if practicing at home, it drives me crazy.
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yeah, i watched Jonathan's videos too. a great series. although it was very hard to decipher the difference in sound on my computer, his description convinced me to go for the NM4s.

i had exactly the same problem with hum. in band practise i didn't notice it but at home it was a problem. so far no hum...

i'm ready to make a few more mods. the first is to swap out the tuners with hipshot ultralites as i have a little bit of neck dive. i'm assuming i'll need the 3/8 size, so if anyone can confirm that would be great.

i also want to swap out the bridge for a Hipshot A-type. the problem is that i don't know which one is best for a CIJ Mustang, so once again, if anyone can help it would be much appreciated!
 
#6,284
My new JMJ model. I am a tinkerer. Cant help it. Witch hat knobs. Pick up covers removed for a little more crispy top end. If I end up keeping the covers off, I will wrap the copper wiring with some pick up tape to protect the coil… Just testing things now. Vintage threaded barrels for wider string spacing. Surprisingly the neck width will allow 19 mm string spacing at the bridge… Just barely, i’ll probably rein it in to 18 mm. Really enjoying this bass so far. It’s a little heavy surprisingly. I thought it would be low 8 pounds maybe high 7 pounds but it’s pretty much all of 9 pounds. Somehow, it does feel lighter when wearing a strap.

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#6,285
The latest version of my small collection. From left to right: 1976; American Performer; Mexican PJ.

The two newer models have Novak pickups (which are amazing) and various other mods, including lollipop tuners, bone nuts, pearl and clay dots, and nitro finishes.

I don’t need a fourth (obviously), but if I got one it’d probably be a JMJ refinished in sunburst and tort. I love the look of early ‘60s Jazz basses.

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#6,290
BassAgent said:
I went on tour with a soul band last May, and they made a compilation video of one of the shows. Turned out pretty nicely. It was the only show that tour I used my JMJ Mustang, I played my vintage '73 Mustang on all other shows. But it was great fun. Germany is an amazing country to play!


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That JMJ sounds really good to my ears; solid playing as well
 
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#6,291
BassAgent said:
I went on tour with a soul band last May, and they made a compilation video of one of the shows. Turned out pretty nicely. It was the only show that tour I used my JMJ Mustang, I played my vintage '73 Mustang on all other shows. But it was great fun. Germany is an amazing country to play!


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What strings and amp/pedal setup did you have going for this show? It sounded great.
 
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#6,293
BassAgent said:
Thanks! Live I used my small Eich rig:
dNW8X5n.jpg

With the Origin Cali76 compressor. For this video it was reamped through an Ampeg B15 plugin.
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BassAgent, wow, great chewy tone here! Was this recording from a direct feed or captured live by mic? Was there much post-production mastering, or was this possibly the unaltered live mix? Either way it is def a tone I would aspire to achieve live. And props to your sound tech.
 
#6,294
Thanks! It was the direct out of the Eich head. It was definitely mixed afterwards by the regular bass player and producer of The Originators (the band in question), I was subbing for him on that tour. As said, he reamped my sound through a B15.
 
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#6,297
BassAgent said:
I went on tour with a soul band last May, and they made a compilation video of one of the shows. Turned out pretty nicely. It was the only show that tour I used my JMJ Mustang, I played my vintage '73 Mustang on all other shows. But it was great fun. Germany is an amazing country to play!


Click to expand...

Wow. The band sounds great. And you sound fantastic. Great tone and articulation.
 
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#6,300
I was looking at Bill Wyman's Competition Mustang, and noticed his model had individual string mutes. Did they all have this feature back then, and have any of the newer models included the mutes? Sorry if this has been discussed before.
 

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