Fender Mustang Club

[T McClure]

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.

No newer model has had them.

You can buy recreations on eBay. If you search one of the JMJ threads, you'll see some people have installed them.

Mustang Bass Bridge Mute - Vintage Reissue JMJ Vintera american Pro classic | eBay

 

[jnewmark]

No newer model has had them.

You can buy recreations on eBay. If you search one of the JMJ threads, you'll see some people have installed them.

Mustang Bass Bridge Mute - Vintage Reissue JMJ Vintera american Pro classic | eBay

Thanks. Were the individual string mutes adjustable like they were on the old Jazz basses?

 

[SpyderX]

Have you all seen the Chilli Beans Maika Mustang Bass? Must be Japan only - the North America site comes up 404

 

[Andy114]

I spy a Fender Player Mustang Capri Orange in the just-released David Byrne Tiny Desk concert.

Nice bass demo in "Nothing But Flowers". "Life During Wartime" isn't to shabby either.

Enjoy!

 

[2cooltoolz]

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!

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.

Have some on order for a new (hopefully) lightweight build I'm doing. The P-bass similarity is what drew me in!

 

[sonic boogaloo]

Have some on order for a new (hopefully) lightweight build I'm doing. The P-bass similarity is what drew me in!

nice! will be interested to hear your views on them.

they breathed new life into my mustang.

 

[LowEndLobster]

Sometimes if you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself. I present Project Seahorse, my Fender Mustang parts build. Big shout out to the friendly folks Over at Stratosphere Parts for having great deals on these mint fender parts. The body is from a Vintera Mustang, the neck is from a PJ Player Mustang, the pickguard is from WD Music, pickup is from Curtis Novak, and a horse a horse of course of course the STANG flatwounds from LaBella. All in, I paid around $1100 US for everything ($500 less than the American Performer Classic) and the icing on the cake is that the bridge is aligned. Video coming Soon!

 

[LowEndLobster]

Here's a mockup I did. Waiting on the knobs and it'll be done!

 

[sonic boogaloo]

Sometimes if you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself. I present Project Seahorse, my Fender Mustang parts build

beautiful mod job, can't wait to see the video!

i've been making some mods to my CIJ mustang too.

NM4s were fitted a while back but i've also had a pure tone jack and an extra ground installed as the tone knob was crackling.

i put on some hipshot lollipops and telecaster knobs for aesthetic reasons. the hipshots are are about 32g (in total) lighter than the stock gotoh tuners.

i've also ordered an anodised gold pick guard to complete the work, but i think it will look better on your blue mustang than on my fiesta red.

i'll post the results in the new year!

 

[T McClure]

View attachment 7393453

Sometimes if you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself. I present Project Seahorse, my Fender Mustang parts build. Big shout out to the friendly folks Over at Stratosphere Parts for having great deals on these mint fender parts. The body is from a Vintera Mustang, the neck is from a PJ Player Mustang, the pickguard is from WD Music, pickup is from Curtis Novak, and a horse a horse of course of course the STANG flatwounds from LaBella. All in, I paid around $1100 US for everything ($500 less than the American Performer Classic) and the icing on the cake is that the bridge is aligned. Video coming Soon!

This is Mustang number three for you, right? What was the order of this Mustang chase?

You also did a good thing of picking the only Mustang made by Fender/Squire with the forearm contour. I don't know why they've abandoned it since 1980 or so because it is an improvement in the design. I love my JMJ but wish it had the contour.

 

[LowEndLobster]

This is Mustang number three for you, right? What was the order of this Mustang chase?

Just the American Professional Classic from the video, the second Am Pro Classic which never left the store (I went there to inspect), my Squier from my revisit, and now this frankenstaaaaang. I'm tempted to do a second parts build with a bisonic and gold foil in the future with an American Professional body... But that's in the future, I have way too many other projects to do lol

 

[sleddogn]

Here is a fiesta red CIJ mustang i modded a few years ago in the flavor of a pawnshop mustang. Gold pick guard

 

[LowEndLobster]

... Just bought this too for review

 

[T McClure]

View attachment 7393631

... Just bought this too for review

At this point, you might as well buy one of every Mustang being made. You're halfway there already.

 

[PNC7]

View attachment 7393453

Sometimes if you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself. I present Project Seahorse, my Fender Mustang parts build. Big shout out to the friendly folks Over at Stratosphere Parts for having great deals on these mint fender parts. The body is from a Vintera Mustang, the neck is from a PJ Player Mustang, the pickguard is from WD Music, pickup is from Curtis Novak, and a horse a horse of course of course the STANG flatwounds from LaBella. All in, I paid around $1100 US for everything ($500 less than the American Performer Classic) and the icing on the cake is that the bridge is aligned. Video coming Soon!

Did the Player neck fit seamlessly onto the Vintera body?

I added a Nordstrand NM4 into a Player II PJ (seen in my profile pic) in the pursuit of getting the classic Mustang tone and vibe but with the modern neck... if I could just slap that neck onto a Vintera I'd be even closer.

Excited for the video!

 

[LowEndLobster]

Did the Player neck fit seamlessly onto the Vintera body?

I added a Nordstrand NM4 into a Player II PJ (seen in my profile pic) in the pursuit of getting the classic Mustang tone and vibe but with the modern neck... if I could just slap that neck onto a Vintera I'd be even closer.

Excited for the video!

Yup, neck fits perfectly with no mods or funny business

 

[Makten]

A propos Mustang necks... Which models have the chunkiest necks? I'm thinking about getting a Mustang because I love my '73 Musicmaster, but I don't want to butcher it to fit a better pickup (that is a bit closer to a P and also with adjustable string balance). But I really do not want a skinny neck.

The MM has a fairly substantial neck; 41.2 mm wide at the nut and ~0.83" thick at the first fret (edit: without the frets and strings; not sure how this is usually measured). I would actually want it to be even thicker front-to-back, but it's not too thin at least.

It seems the Vintera II has the same width, but no manufacturer bothers with telling us how thick the neck is. "C shape" could really mean anything. What also draws me to that particular model are the nice finishes and the bevels on the body.

Are there any other ones I should investigate? The JMJ is a bit too expensive and I don't like the relicing.

 

[T McClure]

A propos Mustang necks... Which models have the chunkiest necks? I'm thinking about getting a Mustang because I love my '73 Musicmaster, but I don't want to butcher it to fit a better pickup (that is a bit closer to a P and also with adjustable string balance). But I really do not want a skinny neck.

The MM has a fairly substantial neck; 41.2 mm wide at the nut and ~0.83" thick at the first fret (edit: without the frets and strings; not sure how this is usually measured). I would actually want it to be even thicker front-to-back, but it's not too thin at least.

It seems the Vintera II has the same width, but no manufacturer bothers with telling us how thick the neck is. "C shape" could really mean anything. What also draws me to that particular model are the nice finishes and the bevels on the body.

Are there any other ones I should investigate? The JMJ is a bit too expensive and I don't like the relicing.

The JMJ has the chunkiest neck of all of the Mustangs. You can buy the neck off of eBay if you want to add it to a different Mustang body that has the look you want. That’s what I did to a Squier Classic Vibe. Like @LowEndLobster said with her neck swap, the JMJ neck went onto this Squier body with ease.



The Vintera II is next in terms of chunkiness, and it also has the 7.25” radius. The rest of the Mustangs being made today are going to be the slimmer modern C style.

If you can get these in your hands, it helps a lot. For the JMJ fans out there, the neck is a big reason why because it is unique for what Fender and Squier are doing with Mustangs.

 

[Makten]

The JMJ has the chunkiest neck of all of the Mustangs. You can buy the neck off of eBay if you want to add it to a different Mustang body that has the look you want. That’s what I did to a Squier Classic Vibe. Like @LowEndLobster said with her neck swap, the JMJ neck went onto this Squier body with ease.

View attachment 7394115

The Vintera II is next in terms of chunkiness, and it also has the 7.25” radius. The rest of the Mustangs being made today are going to be the slimmer modern C style.

If you can get these in your hands, it helps a lot. For the JMJ fans out there, the neck is a big reason why because it is unique for what Fender and Squier are doing with Mustangs.

The problem with Ebay is that I live in a remote country that applies high taxes on everything imported from outside of the EU. I also don't have any stores around to try stuff (at least not that have short scale basses availabe).

If the Vintera II is on par with the chunkiness of my Musicmaster, that would be fine. I could possibly even find one used locally.

Or I could just rout the MM for any other pickup and don't give a damn about resell value. I actually care more about the history of it than the price.
Why not get a MM specific pickup, you might ask? Well, because all of them except one don't allow individual adjustment of the pole pieces. Which is a must for me. I simply can't stand poor string balance, which is the case with every non adjustable pickup I've ever heard.
For the one (Stonewall) that does have adjustable pole pieces; I haven't been able to find any sound samples.

 

[PNC7]

I think between the Vintera and the JMJ "chunkier" may be a little subjective depending on the player though. While the JMJ has a wider nut width, it has the 9.5" radius so to me would feel less like a baseball bat than the Vintera with the narrower width and 7.25" radius.