NGD - Vintage Fender Mustang Content

speakerjones

speakerjones

my hat is all
Soooo...I went to visit my aunt this week and she pulled this guitar out from under the bed. She had loaned this to me for a while when I was a young teenager. I was mostly into metal at the time though, and couldn't get along with it. Flash forward 25 years, and I love everything about this guitar. I don't think she's played it much, if at all in those 25 years. It does need some work, so I'm going to get that done in exchange for her letting me borrow the guitar for the foreseeable future. Serial number dates it to '66/67. Pots date it to '67. I haven't pulled the neck. The tone pot was frozen, so that got pulled out and will need to be replaced and the electronics gone through. The only other thing wrong really, is a nasty little snap sized gouge in the back of the neck right where the snap in the case is. Looks like the little strap that holds the neck in place in the case came undone and rubbed against the neck for a while. I've got a guy who's good with that sort of repair, so I'll entrust it to him. I've got a pretty nice, protective gig bag that I'll keep it in until such time as I can find a better case to hold this thing. The finish is in really good shape for its age. A couple of small chips in finish in the back, the front being totally intact, with a little discoloration where your forearm would rest. I'm not to hip to all of the Fender pastel colors. I think this is Sonic Blue though? I'm pretty sure my aunt was largely playing punk and new wave type stuff back in the late 70's/early 80's, but she clearly took care of the guitar. Somebody changed the tuners at some point to mini Schallers. Unfortunately they didn't line up with the original holes. I can't wait to get her all repaired and set up. I'll try and take some better pictures after I get her back.

1E9F4D4D-9D7C-4D43-B175-F4AF4074E704.jpg
 
Holy fook, that's cool! :cool:
I'm glad you are repairing it and giving it a nice foster home.
 
cool guitar. looks more like lake placid blue.
sonic blue is almost white.
could be daphne blue that has darkened over the years (see my avatar)
how much lighter is the color under the pickguard? that would be the original color.
 
Wow! I have such mixed emotions about this. First let me say congrats! I have long been in love with look and sound of the old Mustangs. One of the best looking guitars ever produced IMHO.

I owned a dead mint, natural blonde/black '64 for several years in the late 80s. That little thing screamed like Banshee. With an EBow on the neck pup, it produced a nearly out of body utopian feeling of being an architect of the universe. Spine tingling, goose bump inducing euphoria.

Despite that, it was head and shoulders above all challengers for the title of "Worst guitar I have ever owned". In fact, it really had no legitimate challengers.

The insanely radial fretboard made it a nightmare to play for many reasons. Besides the offensively unnatural feel it produced, it meant that the E strings were a mile above the frets while the D and G strings were close enough to buzz out. Needless to say, that was a large contributing factor in the overall inability to play a full chord at any fret that didn't sound out of tune. The other major factor was the pathetic "Fender Dynamic Vibrato" which use both useless and problematic.

I tried desperately to make it keeper, the best techs I could find were unable to cure the incessant and maddening tuning problems. I eventually had it set for and relegated to an EBow only guitar, but that was just silly.

That guitar was so shitty, that when my Firebird was stolen, the Mustang was sitting right beside it, in its equally mint condition original hard case, and the thieves left it behind... Seriously. They took the VCR and other random Shit but left that gorgeous Mustang sitting there.

I traded away an awesome Music Man amp for that thing which I still regret, but I eventually found it a good home.

Anyway, love/hate. I love the look and tone, I hate everything about it's build.
 
mongooz said:
cool guitar. looks more like lake placid blue.
sonic blue is almost white.
could be daphne blue that has darkened over the years (see my avatar)
how much lighter is the color under the pickguard? that would be the original color.
Click to expand...

I'll let you know when I dig into it. I'll get some pics under the guard as well as some daylight pics that will better show the actual color. Thanks!
 
speakerjones said:
Thanks Ben! I've been bringing stuff to this guy Norm Letendre in Newington. He does great work, is reliable, and reasonably priced.
Click to expand...

I know of Norm. I haven't been to see him yet. Next time you plan on going there, please let me know and I will see if I can meet up with you.
 
OGG said:
Wow! I have such mixed emotions about this. First let me say congrats! I have long been in love with look and sound of the old Mustangs. One of the best looking guitars ever produced IMHO.

I owned a dead mint, natural blonde/black '64 for several years in the late 80s. That little thing screamed like Banshee. With an EBow on the neck pup, it produced a nearly out of body utopian feeling of being an architect of the universe. Spine tingling, goose bump inducing euphoria.

Despite that, it was head and shoulders above all challengers for the title of "Worst guitar I have ever owned". In fact, it really had no legitimate challengers.

The insanely radial fretboard made it a nightmare to play for many reasons. Besides the offensively unnatural feel it produced, it meant that the E strings were a mile above the frets while the D and G strings were close enough to buzz out. Needless to say, that was a large contributing factor in the overall inability to play a full chord at any fret that didn't sound out of tune. The other major factor was the pathetic "Fender Dynamic Vibrato" which use both useless and problematic.

I tried desperately to make it keeper, the best techs I could find were unable to cure the incessant and maddening tuning problems. I eventually had it set for and relegated to an EBow only guitar, but that was just silly.

That guitar was so shitty, that when my Firebird was stolen, the Mustang was sitting right beside it, in its equally mint condition original hard case, and the thieves left it behind... Seriously. They took the VCR and other random Shit but left that gorgeous Mustang sitting there.

I traded away an awesome Music Man amp for that thing which I still regret, but I eventually found it a good home.

Anyway, love/hate. I love the look and tone, I hate everything about it's build.
Click to expand...

When I started on the hunt for a short scale offset, I was leaning more towards Duo-Sonics as I don't use the bar much anyway. The instrument that made me fall in love with these guitars was my bass player's '69 Mustang. That thing is really stable, so much fun to play, and it just screams. Granted, I've only ever really played it in the studio. Not sure how it would fare with travel, under stage lights, and being beat upon for an hour. I'm just starting out a new project that has Mustang written all over it. I think it will make a great foil to other guy's SG. This particular project will probably gig more than my others, but I'm not sure I'd be apt to take this one out to the clubs anyway.

That's hilarious (in a grim way) about the thieves passing up on the Mustang.
 
GreatDane said:
I know of Norm. I haven't been to see him yet. Next time you plan on going there, please let me know and I will see if I can meet up with you.
Click to expand...

Will do! I might actually take it up there tomorrow, depending on how my day goes. PM me your # and I'll let you know when I figure it out.
 
Lots of reactions.

* That guitar's just fucking awesome. So much vibe, so much music there. Congrats and good luck.

* "I'm pretty sure my aunt was largely playing punk and new wave type stuff back in the late 70's/early 80's" ... uhmmm ... more info, please? This sounds very interesting.

* OGG, did you consider changing the neck?

* I also had thieves take a pass on my Gibson Sonex 180 Deluxe not once, but TWICE in the 80's. They even took a little Donkey Kong game I had, but left the guitar. Twice.

HNGD!
 
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