Vintage Fender short scale.

[markob]

Been wanting a short scale for a while. Thought I'd go with a CBS Mustang but a late 60's Coronado 1 has come available and I'm goin to check it out. I like the idea of a light weight hollow with a quick decay/double bass vibe for a jump blues/bebop gig that I'm involved with. I know these (Coronado II) and Mustangs have been re-issued but I like the vintage thing.
I'm normally a 5 string player and got rid of my standard scale 4's.
Those that have any experience with these and care to comment please do.

 

[sumeursault]

Been wanting a short scale for a while. Thought I'd go with a CBS Mustang but a late 60's Coronado 1 has come available and I'm goin to check it out. I like the idea of a light weight hollow with a quick decay/double bass vibe for a jump blues/bebop gig that I'm involved with. I know these (Coronado II) and Mustangs have been re-issued but I like the vintage thing.
I'm normally a 5 string player and got rid of my standard scale 4's.
Those that have any experience with these and care to comment please do.

I just tried one out at a local shop ('67 Coronado). I wasn't blown away to be honest. But of course it wasn't setup properly and also had some electrical gremlins that needed sorting. Did you get a chance to try out yours?

 

[ajkula66]

I owned a Coronado set - matching guitar and bass - back in the '80s. TBT, I wasn't impressed with either instrument. They are very much their own thing for sure, and that thing wasn't working for me back then.

Having owned a few Mustangs from the CBS era I'd say that I'd take any of them before a Coronado. Obviously, YMMV.

My gut tells me that you might be better off with a Guild Starfire or a Gibson EB-2D, although these are not as light as Coronado.

My $0.02 only...

 

[Longwheelbass]

You want a shorty that's vintage and gives a thumping woody tone? Get a 78 Musicmaster. They have the better tuners (made by Schaller so they're the same as the late 70's P bass ones but just shorter stems and turn real smooth), and they're cheaper than the Mustang. The six pole pickup that's lurking under the black plastic pickup cover sounds way better than all the longscale snobs and "upgraders" will have you believe too. Granted they only have the two saddle bridge (I never have a problem with the two saddle bridges on my 68 Tele Basses) but if you wanted to you could just screw a stock vintage style Fender four saddle bridge to it. There's a heap of them on Fleabay and Weeverb right now. If I had shorter fingers I'd be all over the Sonic Blue one in a flash...

 

[Longwheelbass]

PS not Schallers sorry, they improved on the terrible tuners they first installed on Musicmasters in the 60's.

 

[Jim C]

I had a Mustang bass back in the 70's. Did not care for it at all.

 

[bvoshus]

You want a shorty that's vintage and gives a thumping woody tone? Get a 78 Musicmaster. They have the better tuners (made by Schaller so they're the same as the late 70's P bass ones but just shorter stems and turn real smooth), and they're cheaper than the Mustang. The six pole pickup that's lurking under the black plastic pickup cover sounds way better than all the longscale snobs and "upgraders" will have you believe too. Granted they only have the two saddle bridge (I never have a problem with the two saddle bridges on my 68 Tele Basses) but if you wanted to you could just screw a stock vintage style Fender four saddle bridge to it. There's a heap of them on Fleabay and Weeverb right now. If I had shorter fingers I'd be all over the Sonic Blue one in a flash...


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What do you think the right number is to pay for a late 70’s musicmaster in black, very good- good condition?