Underwhelmed by my Mustang PJ

[Antisyzygy]

My Mustang PJ sounds thin with round wounds, especially with both pickups on. That is expected as they are now in parallel making a lowpass filter to ground, as with JJ pickups. (The body resonance is also higher than a standard P because it is lighter.) But the snap/bite more than makes up for it and so does the ease of playing. Please don't spend time and money modifying pickups or whatever until you try thicker sounding strings. I love the sound with D'Addario Chromes or nylon tape wounds. Both are available in short scale. Finger style or pick.

I liked the way it sounds with rounds, but Chromes certainly work well. I'm using Chromes now. You can still get a decent slap tone in the middle position if that's holding anyone back.

The Mustang for me is a portable and versatile bass. The chromes also help make it lower maintenance since you wont have to swap out strings often. It's a perfect bass for the studio when you put those on it.

 

[RocknRay]

I liked the way it sounds with rounds, but Chromes certainly work well. I'm using Chromes now. You can still get a decent slap tone in the middle position if that's holding anyone back.

The Mustang for me is a portable and versatile bass. The chromes also help make it lower maintenance since you wont have to swap out strings often. It's a perfect bass for the studio when you put those on it.

Yep! I think the Chromes will just keep sounding better on this bass. Thick with lots of punch, but clear too! And the short scale bass does not have the annoying dead area ("spot") between C and Eb on the G string that standard scale Fenders have.

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

You will never get your Mustang to sound like your G&L.
Strings, setup, and pickups may improve the Mustang.
A Kia Rio will never be a Corvette.

Bah... I played a daphne blue one in Paris in April and it was producing a nice, deep, low end ... deeper than my maple boarded P basses ... the bass wasn't set up yet but it was easy to play ... honestly I liked it

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

I actually think one finger per fret is a terrible habit ergonomically and musically. Even if you're in a chromatic box, your fingers should always be jumping rather than stretching. It's not guitar. You don't need to hold intervals.

Questionable .., yes stretching is stressing but if you want to run ...

 

[RocknRay]

Just played an outdoor church barbecue gig. Classic party band--guitar, keys, bass, drums. I used my new Mustang PJ through my usual rig--a MarkBass CMD121P on top of an Aguilar GS112--sitting on a lawn, i.e., in free space, no corners or other reinforcement of any kind. With D'Addario Chromes the sound was absolutely outstanding! Very solid bottom with a musical, slightly metallic presence that cut through with ease. I liked both the P and PJ sounds. Not to dismiss the J sound, just did not find a use for it on this gig. Very happy!

 

[felis]

FWIW, I've been playing the long scale (G&L SB-2) most of the time. Mustang has an appointment to get new strings and a set up next Saturday. Not sure I will sink any more money into it at this point.

What was the outcome?

 

[Low Spark]

The Mustang spends most of its time in its case. Tried to sell it on Craigslist, no luck. I bought another G&L SB-2 which is newer (still 20+ years old) and lighter than my 1st gen SB-2, and I'm playing that. I really like the feel and tone of the full scale G&Ls. They make the Mustang feel like a toy to me. I'm still very much a beginner, but I'm working on that. Back to the shed. . .

 

[Novarocker]

The Mustang spends most of its time in its case. Tried to sell it on Craigslist, no luck. I bought another G&L SB-2 which is newer (still 20+ years old) and lighter than my 1st gen SB-2, and I'm playing that. I really like the feel and tone of the full scale G&Ls. They make the Mustang feel like a toy to me. I'm still very much a beginner, but I'm working on that. Back to the shed. . .

Just curious but did raising the pickups help at all with the sound? Is it that you don't care for the tone?

To be honest I'm also not surprised that you prefer the sb2, not because the mustang isn't any good, but that a $1200 bass should have a better quality feel than a $500 one...

Sorry to hear that you don't like the feel of it, hopefully you won't take a loss out of it.

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

The Mustang spends most of its time in its case. Tried to sell it on Craigslist, no luck. I bought another G&L SB-2 which is newer (still 20+ years old) and lighter than my 1st gen SB-2, and I'm playing that. I really like the feel and tone of the full scale G&Ls. They make the Mustang feel like a toy to me. I'm still very much a beginner, but I'm working on that. Back to the shed. . .

Probably can sell that mustang PJ here in the classifieds .

Any pics to share of your new G&L?
Did you keep your 1st G&L or do you plan on selling it?

 

[Yemi sonixx]

Hi Im loving my Mustang.. soon as i put flatwounds on it. it came alive

 

[bassplayer9512]

Just played one tonight at my local music shop that was set up very well and pickups set up perfect to balance the volume.

Sounded great, easy to play (I'm 6'2" and don't have small hands), and between the 3 way switch, tone knob, and playing position or technique, you can do just about all of it. It also is a great instrument to Frankenstein which I plan to do when I buy the orange one and black out the hardware.

 

[Kev1955]

You might check out this thread “Fender Mustang PJ upgrades” I modded my Mustang PJ and it sounds great. Emg GZR butler set, Babicz bridge, Labella 760FX-S flatwounds

 

[grisezd]