The
Fender Mustang is an
electric guitar by the
Fender Musical
Instruments Corporation, introduced in 1964 as the basis of a
major redesign of Fender's student models then consisting of the
Musicmaster and
Duo-Sonic. It was produced until 1982 and reissued
in 1990.
In the 1960s, it was used in Surf music. It attained
cult status in the 1990s largely as a result
of its use by a number of
alternative
rock bands. Early examples are generally seen as the most
collectible of all the short-scale Fender guitars.
The Mustang features two single coil
pickups with an unusual switching
configuration, and a unique
tremolo arm
shared with only its derivative the
Jag-Stang. It was originally available in two
scale lengths.
Model history
In August 1964, Fender released a new guitar called the Mustang, an
economy model intended for more advanced students and featuring a
new, original
Leo Fender-designed
tremolo arm.
The Mustang has an offset waist, reminiscent of the
Jazzmaster, but its overall styling closely
followed the existing student models the
Musicmaster and
Duo-Sonic, the slight waist offset being the main
change. After the release of the Mustang, the Musicmaster and
Duo-Sonic were redesigned using the Mustang body; These were
branded the
Musicmaster II and
Duo-Sonic II but
the decals were not consistently applied.
All three Mustang-bodied models (Mustang, Musicmaster II and
Duo-Sonic II) were offered with optionally the 21 fret 22.5-inch
(or 3/4
scale) neck, or a 22 fret
24-inch neck, but the 24-inch was overwhelmingly more popular and
3/4 scale examples are rare. 24 inches is still relatively short,
the same as the
Fender Jaguar but a
full inch and a half shorter than the
Stratocaster and three-quarters of an inch
shorter than the
Gibson Les Paul.
The short scale neck makes this guitar perfect for people with
small hands, and also enhances the ability to use the tremolo arm
for upbends.
This short scale, combined with a unique and extremely direct
tremolo arm would make the Mustang a
cult guitar in the 1990s. Before that, its relatively low cost and
marketing as a student guitar made it an obvious candidate for
aftermarket upgrades, particularly pickup changes and also amateur
finishes. Its wiring with the original pickups also led itself to
custom modifications.
In 1966 Fender issued the
Fender
Mustang Bass. A new bass body was designed for this with a
similar offset body style to the Mustang guitar, and a short
(30-inch) scale was used. A
Fender Musicmaster Bass and
Fender Bronco Bass also exist using the
Mustang Bass body and neck.
In 1967, a fourth variant, the
Fender
Bronco, was added to the Mustang-bodied range. The Bronco had a
single pickup, like the Musicmaster, but in the bridge rather than
the neck position, and yet another
Leo
Fender designed
tremolo arm. As well
as the Mustang body it used the 24-inch 22 fret Mustang neck.
In 1968 Fender released the "Competition" Mustang with "racing
stripe" paint and painted headstocks. After mid '71 matching
headstocks were no longer applied.
In 1969 Fender discontinued the Duo-Sonic II. See
Fender Duo-Sonic.
In 1982 Fender discontinued both the Mustang and the Musicmaster
II. These were the last Mustang-bodied models, as the Bronco had
been discontinued in 1981. The Mustang Bass had also been
discontinued in 1981. Fender replaced the Mustang line with the
short-lived Fender Bullet line of guitars and
basses before relegating production of
their "student" guitars to their
Squier
division.
In 1990 Fender re-issued the Mustang, largely as a result of the
vintage movement prevalent at the time. Among
grunge and
punk rock
guitarists, Fender's discontinued models (budget models such as the
Duo-Sonic and high-end models such as the
Jazzmaster and
Jaguar) had become extremely popular. Such
models had Fender quality, but were less expensive secondhand than
vintage
Stratocasters and
Telecasters.
The
reissued Mustang is made in Japan
and
available in only the 24-inch scale. , the only current
Fender guitar with a 22.75 inch (approximate) scale was the 22.72
inch Stratocaster Junior. Other Fender student guitars included the
Fender Cyclone at 24.75 inches
(
Gibson Les Paul length), and the
Squier-branded
Bullet Mini, a
hard-tailed Stratocaster lookalike with a
very short scale of 20.75 inches. While original Mustangs used
mostly
poplar wood for the body (with some
rarely documented cases of
mahogany,
[139836] MG-72 Mustang reissues are made of
basswood while the newer MG-65 reissues revert to the
original poplar. The natural-finished MG-77 reissue is made of
ash.
Electronics
The Mustang has two angled single-coil pickups, each with an
adjacent on-off-on switch, and a master tone and volume
control.
The Mustang is unusual in having neither a pickup selector nor a
circuit selector switch, instead just using the two pickup switches
to allow the pickups to be used either singly or in parallel. The
second
on position reverses the phase of the selected
pickup, allowing the pickups to be either in or out of phase when
in parallel. This phasing option was also unusual for 1964.
It also meant that, as both pickups were floating with respect to
ground, it was possible to modify the wiring to put the pickups
into series either in or out of phase without excessive noise. The
unusual switching could also be replaced by a conventional pickup
change switch using the unused body routing already provided for
compatibility with the Duo-Sonic, requiring only modification of
the pickguard, and freeing the two eight-terminal pickup switches
for other uses. As with many student guitars, aftermarket pickup
additions and changes were also popular.
Tremolo arm
The Mustang introduced the
Fender Dynamic Vibrato tailpiece, which together with a
floating
bridge forms the
Mustang trem or
stang trem
system. The floating bridge concept
is common to the Fender floating tremolo developed for the
Jazzmaster, but on the Mustang the
saddles have only a single string slot, while on other Fender
guitars there are multiple slots to allow limited adjustment of the
string spacing.
The tailpiece was unique when introduced and remains the most
unusual feature of the Mustang; Only the
Jag-Stang and
Fender
Custom (Maverick) share this particular mechanism. While not
nearly so popular as the Stratocaster
synchronized
tremolo, some guitarists prefer it over all other tremolo
mechanisms. But a lot of guitarists also claim that the tremolo is
too sensitive. Most notably, Fender incorporated it in the custom
design which became the Jag-Stang. The tremolo in production
Jag-stangs was different from Kurt Cobain's own as he used a Gibson
style tune-o-matic bridge in all of his Mustangs, Jaguars and
Jagstang. Fender probably used the Mustang style bridge due to the
lower cost of producing it compared to the Gibson style
stop-tailpeice, which Kurt requested in his design
instructions.
No previous Fender student guitar had a tremolo arm at all, and the
subsequent
Fender Bronco used a
completely different mechanism, without a floating bridge.
The Mustang was the last of the Fender floating bridge models to be
withdrawn, and the first to be reissued. Mustangs have developed a
cult following in Japan.
Colors
The Mustang has been produced in the following colors: sunburst,
candy apple red, sonic blue, vintage white, blonde, black, brown,
olympic white, daphne blue, fiesta Red, Lake Placid blue, Dakota
red, surf green, competition red, competition orange.
Notable Mustang players
See also
External links
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