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New PJ Mustang at Summer NAMM
- Thread starter GhettoBrassGuy
- Start date
Is the bridge tone a bit softer or more middy? Asking because I'm looking for a different set of strings. I appreciate it.
Has anyone noticed excessive fret buzz on this?
This bass is perfect for me but it really buzzed at the store and I can't have that showing through on my recordings. Even all the demo videos on youtube (unless I'm imagining it) you can hear it buzzes more than basses played in other demo videos by the same people. I'm hoping a set up would help, but you would imagine that in Fender's promo videos or any other "professional" demo channels, the basses would be set up well.
Could it be because it's Mexican made with lesser quality than American stuff? Or do short scales have more buzzing due to looser strings because there's less tension on a short scale? (I don't recall buzzing on the Japanese Mustang that I used to own however).
This bass is perfect for me but it really buzzed at the store and I can't have that showing through on my recordings. Even all the demo videos on youtube (unless I'm imagining it) you can hear it buzzes more than basses played in other demo videos by the same people. I'm hoping a set up would help, but you would imagine that in Fender's promo videos or any other "professional" demo channels, the basses would be set up well.
Could it be because it's Mexican made with lesser quality than American stuff? Or do short scales have more buzzing due to looser strings because there's less tension on a short scale? (I don't recall buzzing on the Japanese Mustang that I used to own however).
Mine was fine out of the box. It did come with pretty low action, lower than I expected. It's a little buzzy if I really dig in, but I can avoid it pretty easily and still play hard-ish.
I'd say you should consider getting a proper set up.
It may have an environmental change that caused the neck to dry out, or humidify, over time and the neck needs the truss rod adjusted a bit. If it bowed backwards a little from the climate change you might get a pretty buzzy feeling out of it.
I have had basses shipped to me that needed the truss adjusted in a week or two as the bass adjusted to the climate. It happens. Sometimes the store the bass is in didn't bother setting it up after they unboxed it. That could be true especially at a place like Guitar Center.
That being said. The fret leveling on these will not be up to the standards of a Fender American made but Mexican instruments tend to be pretty good these days. I haven't had many problems with unlevel frets from any Mexican bass I've tried over the last couple years. They at least will take the action listed in a Fender factory standard setup as outlined in their guide.
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That looks like Sonic Blue to me. More of a very pale, light sky blue color.
With my Sonic Blue P/J and Olympic White MIJ Mustangs standing in black gig bags next to each other,
the difference really stands out. I'll get a pic up of that soon.
Edit: Sonic Blue on the left, Olympic White on the right:
.
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A couple more pics.
The colors stand out more against a dark background than they do in bright light, or in a store.
And I get to show off my favorite basses this way too - LOL
.
The colors stand out more against a dark background than they do in bright light, or in a store.
And I get to show off my favorite basses this way too - LOL
.
I'm wondering if the green pickguard throws off ones intuition about it. The green pickguard almost looks beige in some lights.
When I looked at my mustang PJ bass in different lighting I noticed the green pop out in the pickguard and the body color did look blueish.
It's like an optical illusion or something, perhaps, that it looks so white.
Ya - it's really an oddball color combination. Optical illusion sounds about right.
The fret board dots on your picture look really white. Then if you compare the
body color to those dots, the body looks slightly blue. But when you compare
it to the pick guard, the body looks more white.
https://www.talkbass.com/attachments/img_0470-jpg.1003124/
I think a different color pick guard would have worked better.
The thing plays and sounds so good that it makes up for any color weirdness though.
The fret board dots on your picture look really white. Then if you compare the
body color to those dots, the body looks slightly blue. But when you compare
it to the pick guard, the body looks more white.
https://www.talkbass.com/attachments/img_0470-jpg.1003124/
I think a different color pick guard would have worked better.
The thing plays and sounds so good that it makes up for any color weirdness though.
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Even the dealers have the sonic blue version tagged as "white". In bad lighting you'd never know until you got it home (or held it up next to an actual white bass). The sonic blue is the lightest blue I have ever seen on a guitar. Blue paint must be pricey 
......
On a slightly different topic, has anyone actually seen the red one in the wild? All I have seen are photos. No one seems to have them around here.
......On a slightly different topic, has anyone actually seen the red one in the wild? All I have seen are photos. No one seems to have them around here.
I held one at the local Sam Ash last weekend. The Torino Red was as expected. Personally, I'd like to see a different color pickguard though.Even the dealers have the sonic blue version tagged as "white". In bad lighting you'd never know until you got it home (or held it up next to an actual white bass). The sonic blue is the lightest blue I have ever seen on a guitar. Blue paint must be pricey
On a slightly different topic, has anyone actually seen the red one in the wild? All I have seen are photos. No one seems to have them around here.
Got mine a few days ago. Does anyone else think that the P pickup is especially "boomy" and/or muddy? Seems like when I switch to the P only position there's a huge jump in volume and everything is so warm and wooly that there's no clarity at all. I even have my low mids scooped out a bit, the bass at 11:30, treble at 1:30 and all the special switches and graphic EQ bypassed. Plus I'm playing with a pick. Plus the tone knob is all the way up. So, it's not adding up. It has to be the pickup/bass, right?... I'm playing it through an Ampeg SVT-3PRO into an Ampeg 8x10 cab.
There's lots of variables. Mine's not like that.
I have a Fender Rumble 500 and a small Eden WTX264/w a single EX110.
I get a pretty clear sound - no wooliness/fuzziness/boom/ or mud with everything centered.
I still prefer to roll off the lows on the amp a bit, like you have set up.
Your description doesn't sound right to me, but I think there's a lot of variation in these basses.
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Even the dealers have the sonic blue version tagged as "white". In bad lighting you'd never know until you got it home (or held it up next to an actual white bass). The sonic blue is the lightest blue I have ever seen on a guitar. Blue paint must be pricey
On a slightly different topic, has anyone actually seen the red one in the wild? All I have seen are photos. No one seems to have them around here.
I played a red one here in Nashville at Corner Music. It was the only one they had. I've seen the blue and white ones at Guitar Center, and I like the red color the best.
>>Optical illusion sounds about right.
When I first saw the white one on line I thought it had some sort of weird coloured transparent pick guard.
I go with optical illusion.
When I first saw the white one on line I thought it had some sort of weird coloured transparent pick guard.
I go with optical illusion.
Well, for better or for worse I bought the "blue" one today. Pics later.
As for the talk about it being boomy I found the opposite to be true but no doubt I have a different amp (Peavey MiniMega). I was twisting all kinds of knobs trying to get what I think of as a classic thump. Getting close. Doesn't help that the amp is new also and I am still figuring it out.
Played a red one today. Liked it a lot but the E string sounded dead. Expect is was just poor set up. May have to search for a white one and then search to replace the zombie hunter green pickguard with something like a black one.
Thanks for posting these. Does the Olympic White look that...tan in real life. The Sonic Blue looks more white than the OW does.
Do you know where to get pickquards with the right cutouts for the pickup and toggle switch?
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