Mustangs, who plays 'em then?

maw4neu

Damon Albarn and the excellent Graham Coxon both have Mustangs . . .

They really are a great guitar,nice & light, jangly and pretty underestimated. 

Popular at the moment though so prices for them seem to be on the up :-)

 

DarnWeight

timhulio said:

The tuning stability issue isn't really an issue if you don't use the trem. There's no real need to lock the bridge or get an aftermarket hardtail.

Agreed.  If you need more stability and don't really use the trem, just raise the springs a notch or two on the posts, screw the cigar tube down nice and low, and take the trem arm off.  Should be pretty damn stable...plus you'll still be able to wobble things a little with some palm pressure on the cigar tube if you so choose.

Mosfed

Mustangs are super cool guitars.  And you can find original vintage ones for a pittance.  If I were to get a non-vintage one, I would definitely get rid of that doggy ass bridge / end piece for a stop bar.

That is a GREAT idea if I ever heard one!  Definitely deserves a shot of wisdom!

frankus

guitargeek62 said:

I found this site last night offering replacement control & bridge-plates for all manner of Fenders. Interestingly they have a Mustang hard-tail plate too which I'm tempted to try as it'd be an easy install (although it won't fix the stupid bridge itself, just avoids any potential problems with the vibrato);

http://www.ponoko.com/design-your-own/products/custom-laser-cut-guitar-control-plates-10317

@guitargeek62 tried the mastery bridge or the staytrem bridge?

guitargeek62

timhulio said:

The tuning stability issue isn't really an issue if you don't use the trem. There's no real need to lock the bridge or get an aftermarket hardtail.

Yes it is.

The problem with the stock bridge is that it rocks, regardless of if you use the trem or not. (Retracted as mine doesn't seem to be doing it now. Odd.) On top of that, the break angle over the bridge isn't enough unless you shim the neck and raise it up. Even then, the strings catch on the back of the bridge/adjustment screws anyway so it's never ideal. 

The solution is to replace the bridge (not the tremolo - that's surprisingly fine by itself) with either a fixed TOM, or something like the mastery bridge instead.

@frankus - nope, not yet - I like the look of the Mastery but it's a bit much for me to justify given that my 'stang only cost £225! I might take a dremel to my bridge and see if I can squeeze some extra string clearance out of it without weakening it too much...

*edit* Oooh, I hadn't seen the staytrem before - I thought they just did those trem-arms that locked in place! Hmm...

frankus

that Mastery looks fugly and I bet a better implementation could be created

I don't like how it's $175 in the US and £175 in the UK either

timhulio

guitargeek62 said:

timhulio said:

The tuning stability issue isn't really an issue if you don't use the trem. There's no real need to lock the bridge or get an aftermarket hardtail.

Yes it is.

The problem with the stock bridge is that it rocks, regardless of if you use the trem or not. On top of that, the break angle over the bridge isn't enough unless you shim the neck and raise it up. Even then, the strings catch on the back of the bridge/adjustment screws anyway so it's never ideal. 

The bridge doesn't rock unless you use the trem. It's a simpler implementation of the Jaguar and Jazzmaster bridges, which also don't rock unless you use the trem. The break angle is fine - on my '66 Mustang and on brand new MIJ reissues. Why do you think the break angle is insufficient?

guitargeek62

I just clicked... I forgot that the vintage Mustangs have a different bridge to the one that ships on the Squier VM. This one is a pile of crap - it's a bad version of the JM/Jag bridge rather than the more robust 'stang one. The saddle adjustment screws on this one are always working loose (easily fixed with glue/loctite), and intonation screws catch on the strings if you're not careful with the overall setup. It's a bitch, and won't be staying for much longer!

gusman2x

+1,000,000 for a staytrem bridge. Worth it for your VM stang too, as the radius is 9.5, and most normal mustang bridges are for 7.25. With the staytrem you can order either 7.25 or 9.5 fixed radius.

 

The break angle seems fine on my KC mustang. IN general I think they're fine as the strings wrap round and underneath the cigar tube. Unfortunately the trem on mine is worthless. I think tis is mainly due to the cobain mustang having a TOM. For the trem to work properly, the strings need to be able to move through the saddles, and a wound string does not want to slide over the sharp TOM saddles. Plus, I like 10's, so that doesn't help.

grungebob

@gusman2x how do you like the kc mustang?I have the jaguar and keep looking to see if this would be a wise buy?

gusman2x

@grungbob

 

 

I love it. It's probably my favourite player. I was on a downer for the sounds from the humbucker for the longest time, and I guess I'm not completely over it. The bridge just sounds really quite dark to me, but I think that's because I've been playing jazzmasters and jaguars pretty much exclusively for the last year or two. It feels like it could do with a shade more sparkle/bite. However, I've started playing it, and only using the bridge, and I'm getting a really good range of tones from using the tone and volume knobs. Similar in principal to a LP Jr or something.

 

The neck profile is great. Not too slim, but not not chunky either. I was really surprised how low I could get teh aciton, considering that it's 7.25 radius, with a TOM (which will be 9.5 at least, maybe 12). I love skinny frets over 7.25 ayway, so that was idea. Really well cut nut, and fantastic build quality make it an all round winner for me.

ThePrettyDamned

The bridge should rock it's part of the fantastic design that keeps it so well in tune (with 11s).

It means the nut doesn't play such a big role. I'm convinced that most out of tune vibrato Whammy fun comes from either the nut or a dodgy cheap bridge. The mustang rocks so the string doesn't move as much over the nut, so has less chance of sticking. Not sure if that's right, but whatever DOES happen, it keeps it in tune, and I'm certain the slight bridge movement helps.

I give my jazzmaster tons of welly, 2 tones down, fast as you like, and it springs straight back into tune. The nut cutting is terrible (woops!). I only have a tiny fraction of up pitch, because I don't use it for that. You just need to shim the neck and make sure there is enough break angle from the heavy strings to hold the bridge down firmly.

Theresa from warpaint also uses one along side Emily kokal.

suspiciousminds

I locked the trem down on the RI mustang and on my jagstang not because of tuning issues but because i'm not a fan of trems in general (that said i've toyed with the idea of a bigsby on my SG).
The jagstang tho was a twat to stay in tune until i had a proper setup done by Rob Williams - never had an issue since.
I have found that on occassion i've moved the bridge slightly if i've knocked it strumming "over excitedly)!:)

grungebob

gusman2x;65536" said:

@grungbob

 

 

I love it. It's probably my favourite player. I was on a downer for the sounds from the humbucker for the longest time, and I guess I'm not completely over it. The bridge just sounds really quite dark to me, but I think that's because I've been playing jazzmasters and jaguars pretty much exclusively for the last year or two. It feels like it could do with a shade more sparkle/bite. However, I've started playing it, and only using the bridge, and I'm getting a really good range of tones from using the tone and volume knobs. Similar in principal to a LP Jr or something.

 The neck profile is great. Not too slim, but not not chunky either. I was really surprised how low I could get teh aciton, considering that it's 7.25 radius, with a TOM (which will be 9.5 at least, maybe 12). I love skinny frets over 7.25 ayway, so that was idea. Really well cut nut, and fantastic build quality make it an all round winner for me.

That's actually good to hear as i'm after a darker sounding guitar and my fear was it'd be too bright.

guitargeek62

If anyone's interested in a loaded Fiesta Red Squier VM 'stang body, let me know. 

I have a replacement duo-sonic in the works for me  B-)