Fender Mustang!

[stuonbass]

I recall pictures and videos of bass players in the following bands using Fender short scale basses:

Bill Wyman of The Rolling Stones (aforementioned), Talking Heads, and The Kinks. Anyone else know more?

 

[rllefebv]

Jeff Berlin's first bass was a Fender Mustang... (Actually, after a little more investigation, it was probably his second),

-robert

 

[jokerjkny]

been REALLY GAS'ed for a mustang bass myself!

AFAIK, i got into them only after seeing Phoenix bassist, Deck D'Arcy use one. here's an instore they did at Easy Street Records in seattle:

 

[wolfs]

holger czukay from can, one of my alltime favorite bands, played a mustang...

czukay isn't the most technically amazing bassist, but listen to some of can's trademark long freakouts and you can tell the man can really keep the groove coming along...

 

[anesthetist]

I was going to get a mustang, mainly because i have small hands and already have a squire bronco which i really like, but after reading all the good review's of the yamaha bb414 i went to a musicstore and tried the bb614 and loved the neck (+ the sound), so i bought that instead.

you guys in north america are really lucky, because everything bass related is like half the price it's over here in europe and scandinavia. if i lived over there i probably would have gotten both the mustang and bb414 by now!

btw i put in a EMG HZ pup in my bronco and it sounds really good, a bit muddy yes, but that doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing, a good shortscale alternative!

 

[Guinea Pig]

Kim Gordon of sonic youth played a mustang at some portion of her career. I played a 70's mustang that my friend showed me last year. He had rounds on it, I wanted to hear what it sounded like with flats. Oh well, it's not mine.

 

[wostbass]

I've seen Belle & Sebastian perform live at a festival last summer with a mustang bass. I was really surprised how much low end it had. Couldn't see if was vintage or reissue though.

 

[Bruce Lindfield]

That GAS thread just fed my GAS for Fender Mustang a bit more. Does anyone here own a Mustang, reissue or a vintage one? What kind of experiences you've had with the bass?

I owned an original 60s Fender Mustang in the late 70s /early 80s and really I didn't like it all - but in those days there were no MIMs or decent budget basses - I found it had one pretty dull tone, which was unvariable and it wouldn't intonate properly above the 12 fret!

I traded it in for one of the first Ibanez Musicians - which were superior basses in every way - after I saw Sting using one at a gig!

 

[natasmi]

I have a bunch of shortscale basses and my MIJ reissue Mustang is just about my favorite, it's that nice vintage white one. I strung it with medium scale D'Addario Chromes and it sounds great to me, feels great too, very confortable, fast player. I love mine.

 

[addylewis]

Ive got 2 - NICE basses...

The natural one isn't anything amazing really (a '72-'78 parts bass with different bridge and knob-plate...I STUPIDLY lost them in my bedroom when I gave the guy who assembled it all the bits...), but the white ones something else ...got it so I could go to uni without whacking my jazz's headstock against every doorframe I went through...mustangs are great basses for travellers, nice full sound for such a little bass...

 

[imChinOaChicken]

does anyone know if i get a RI mustang, would i be able to put a black 70's pickguard (w/thumbrest) on it and where i can get a regular black one?

thanks

 

[depalm]

Can you explain this in more detail? Thanks.

It's a trick I learned from an Steve Ray Vaughan's interview. He uses to wrap the strings with the rubber cores he took from small wires to reduce the attrition on his Stratocaster bridge to avoid strings to brake.

Flatwound strings can brake on string tru body bridges so I put the strings thru a small rubber core on different gauges to avoid damage on string due to the attrition.

I'm in Paris right now and left my Mustang in Rio but I can post some photos as soon as I get home.

 

[12stringbassist]

Link Removed
Alan Lancaster of Quo had a few different ones and got a great sound from them

See also : Link Removed

 

[jIvan]

pino palladino plays one too...check out his stuff with the john mayer trio

 

[Chris Breese]

pino palladino plays one too...check out his stuff with the john mayer trio

I hadn't read that anywhere... That's cool!

 

[Nighthawk551]

I played a Mustang the other day at the store. My fingers weren't used to the frets being so close together, but nonetheless it had a great neck! It is very fast and like a mini-Jazz neck.

 

[supergrizz]

I hate bringing up old threads, but I didn't think my question was worthy of taking up more space with a new post. But anyways..

The only sound samples I could find of a Mustang were people slapping, and I don't plan on slapping at all so that doesn't help. Does anyone have anything recorded using their Mustang ? If not, could any of you fine people describe its tone to me ? I'm intrigued by it, and I'd love to hear if it's the real deal or not.

 

[supergrizz]

Annnnybody ?

 

[depalm]

I hate bringing up old threads, but I didn't think my question was worthy of taking up more space with a new post. But anyways..

The only sound samples I could find of a Mustang were people slapping, and I don't plan on slapping at all so that doesn't help. Does anyone have anything recorded using their Mustang ? If not, could any of you fine people describe its tone to me ? I'm intrigued by it, and I'd love to hear if it's the real deal or not.

It's more like a Pbass, I use DD Chromes flats on mine and love the way it sounds.

take a look at this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHNDEA44UUg

 

[Bazzy]

Mustangs rule!

I had wanted one for over 20 years before I found the one that now sits in the spot of honor next to my desk. All my bass heroes at the time were playing Mustangs - Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads, Richard Hell of Television and The Heartbreakers, and Dee Dee Ramone. If you need a more modern name, I hear Flea learned to play on a Mustang.

A few months ago the big cheese at my local music store (Barcone's in Kingston, NY, They ROCK) was selling his '68 Mustang, and I couldn't pass it up. He's also a certified Fender tech, and offered me free lifetime set ups and labor on it. Yes, I am that lucky.

Listening to some early Talking Heads is as good a way to hear the tone as any. Check out Psycho Killer, The Book I Read and Found a Job. The bass is very easy to hear in any of these.

As a side note, although my main axe is still my '86 Precision Lyte, the short scale makes playing the Bach cello suites much easier (lots of chording).

Good Luck!