Mustang

[Clint 55]

I put a 59 in the neck and a JB/C5 hybrid in the bridge with a 5 way super switch and 1 meg volume and 250k tone.
I should have just spent a little more and got the Fender with the stock hard tail, but it came out pretty well. The stock Mustang bridge on the Squier was horrible, the worst bridge I've ever used basically. So I put a sticker over the holes and mounted a regular bridge. Making a slot for the switch in the Warmoth pickguard was fun.

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Mustang

I have a vintage Mustang trem on my '66 , it's almost my favorite style of vintage trem... Awesome range and smooth like a Kahler, floats and stays in tune, but they are a ***** to set up, even vs. a Jaguar/Jazzmaster. And I've had bad luck with the quality of Squier Jaguar/Jazzmaster trems. If you want to try again, I'd keep a lookout for a US/vintage trem and a more standard Mustang bridge to slap in.

Anyway, cool setup. I could see the switch being in the way, but not much more un-ergonomic than a Strat vol.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Mustang

Glad to hear your Mustang works nicely. Those damn bridges are messed up and are hard to set up for sure. I love Fender's offset guitars because they give you a whole different sound and vibe that's good for creativity. But everything on them is so damn squirrelly. I just want a regular bridge and 1 control cavity! Not a bunch of crap all over the place that's going to mess up the ergonomics and resonance of the guitar. Also the tail piece super far away from the bridge increases string tension. Oh well. I'm sure I'll get there in the future. There's always something to work on.

Thanx for the compliments on the set up. The switch placement is ok for me because I'm not a rambunctious strummer. I don't notice it at all.
My favorite offset player at the moment (besides Cobain, don't make fun of me) is Robert Smith on his Jazzmaster. I think the dude wrote some pretty good guitar parts. He was only 21 here:

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Mustang

I totally get not wanting to mess with it. The worst thing about the Mustang trem is not being able to adjust the action of the trem without affecting the height of the tailpiece and so possibly the required height of the bridge (then, getting the balance of tailpiece/bridge height correct to where strings won't bind on the back of the bridge, AND where the intonation can't flop around.) Jazzmaster trems are much more set/forget, I prefer them by far to Strat trems.

Speaking of Smith and Jazzmasters and break angle... Having the tailpiece farther from the strings makes them more floppy and exerts less pressure on the bridge saddles; hence people complaining about strings bouncing out of saddles and rattling, esp. if the neck angle is wrong to begin with, and you use funny string gauges. A buzz-stop can solve for that, but can mess with the unique tone of the instrument, and detune the guitar under trem use.

My Squier Jazzmaster came to me somewhat Smith-ified; including a home-made (but Smith accurate) buzz-stop. I've been meaning to sell it to someone who wants to make a clone.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Mustang

I would have a fit with that. The strings sometimes rest on the bridge instead of the saddle and buzz or make the saddle not work. The 5 or 6 inches of extra string length back to the tail piece increases the tension the equivalent of around 2 gauges. I'm really fussy about my strings and the tension. I'm always trying to use the heaviest gauge possible and still have my desired feel. 10s tuned to Eb on the strat, 10s in E on the mustang, 11s on my jazz lp, 12 flats on my jazz dot.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Mustang



I got my P bass all finished today. I first got the Steve Harris pickup 7 months ago and it's now all finished. I bumped up the pots from 250 to 500 and it sounds way better. I put D'addario xl nickel wound strings on there. They sound classic.