My first Mustang - a new project (advice needed, regular progress pics)

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AliGlenUig
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My first Mustang - a new project (advice needed, regular progress pics)

Post by AliGlenUig » Wed Feb 14, 2018 12:10 pm

Right folks, haven't posted in a while but seeking lots of advice

Impulse bought a Mustang body today, full US spec, £100 and should be with me Friday. I love the colour.

Seller had a Japanese trem system that'll fit the body so picked that up too. (He may be on here, if so thanks Mark!)

Plan for this build is a pretty much a classic Mustang, always wanted one and excited to get into it.

Next stop on the quest is a neck, struggling to find a second hand Mustang neck in the UK at the moment (anyone have a recommendation for parts dealers in the UK?) so my first question is this: can I put a Jag neck on a Mustang? Does the radius match up? (I'm right I'm saying I'm looking for a 24" scale neck, right?)

Secondary question: bridges. I'm well aware that bridges for offsets are a bit of a minefield. Should I go for a standard Mustang bridge? I'm trying to keep costs down but this is probably a long term build so do I look at Mastery? (Do they do a bridge that will fit a Mustang?) I know very little about Mustangs really so opinions welcome.

Thanks in advance, will keep this updated with progress reports!

Image
Last edited by AliGlenUig on Mon Apr 30, 2018 3:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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molwam
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Re: My first Mustang - a new project

Post by molwam » Wed Feb 14, 2018 12:42 pm

I have absolute no experience with mustangs but the color is indeed lovely :?

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AliGlenUig
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Re: My first Mustang - a new project

Post by AliGlenUig » Wed Feb 14, 2018 12:58 pm

molwam wrote:
Wed Feb 14, 2018 12:42 pm
I have absolute no experience with mustangs but the color is indeed lovely :?
Glad you agree!

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kdanie
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Re: My first Mustang - a new project

Post by kdanie » Wed Feb 14, 2018 1:00 pm

Jag necks & mustang necks interchange. There could be some variation in radius 7.5 vs 9.5. If that difference is a problem for you get a bridge to match. I would use a standard mustang bridge to keep it simple & less expensive. Jag/JM/Mustang bridges will interchange. I would not start with a mastery. The Mastery was developed to cure issues but you may not have any so go with a regular mustang bridge to start with.

ken
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AliGlenUig
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Re: My first Mustang - a new project

Post by AliGlenUig » Wed Feb 14, 2018 3:55 pm

kdanie wrote:
Wed Feb 14, 2018 1:00 pm
Jag necks & mustang necks interchange. There could be some variation in radius 7.5 vs 9.5. If that difference is a problem for you get a bridge to match. I would use a standard mustang bridge to keep it simple & less expensive. Jag/JM/Mustang bridges will interchange. I would not start with a mastery. The Mastery was developed to cure issues but you may not have any so go with a regular mustang bridge to start with.

ken
Thanks Ken, this is exactly what I wanted to hear and makes my life much easier.

Actually just thinking about it there I've seen several jags modified with Mustang bridges as some folk seem to prefer them so presumably radius isn't (much) of an issue.

Jag necks seem to be much easier to track down than Mustang ones where I'm based so will hopefully pick something up soon.

Also cheers for the thoughts on the mastery, I guess it's easy to get taken up with the idea of them when folks are raving about them all over the internet but they are phenomenally expensive and I'd probably rather test the waters with a stang bridge first as you suggest.

Cheers!

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Re: My first Mustang - a new project

Post by Horsefeather » Thu Feb 15, 2018 9:19 pm

My opinion of the Mustang bridge is that it's absolutely cheeseball. Just crappy Fender cost cutting tomfoolery. I suggest you rig some sort of fixed roller bridge in its place. I replaced the Mustang saddles in my own with old Kahler roller saddles and sleeved the posts to make it rigid but there are other ways to achieve a similar result. I wanted to retain individual saddle height adjustability, which is why I didn't do a roller TOM type, but one of those would probably work great.

Also, before you commit to the stock Mustang vibrato, I suggest playing on one if you haven't already. I was unpleasantly surprised to discover how much that stupid chrome cigar impedes one's hand when trying to play close to the bridge. It's pretty much impossible. You probably aren't wanting to go full custom on your build, I know, but I modified my Mustang vibrato plate to accept Jazzmaster guts and it turned out great and is sooo much better. It actually returns to pitch now!

Here's the thread where I posted about it: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=94048&hilit=mustang ... d&start=15

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Re: My first Mustang - a new project

Post by Johno » Fri Feb 16, 2018 3:45 am

Axecaster sell Allparts Jag necks

http://www.axecaster.co.uk/index.php?ma ... cts_id=307

The Staytrem bridge another alternative as is the staytrem tremolo.

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AliGlenUig
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Re: My first Mustang - a new project

Post by AliGlenUig » Fri Feb 16, 2018 12:24 pm

Johno wrote:
Fri Feb 16, 2018 3:45 am
Axecaster sell Allparts Jag necks

http://www.axecaster.co.uk/index.php?ma ... cts_id=307

The Staytrem bridge another alternative as is the staytrem tremolo.
Yeah that's the neck I was looking at, I've been offered one of those with a nut and a nice finish for £220 but I'm kind of inclined to get it unfinished and do the rest myself.. not that I've ever finished a guitar neck before. :blush:

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Re: My first Mustang - a new project

Post by AliGlenUig » Fri Feb 16, 2018 12:38 pm

Horsefeather wrote:
Thu Feb 15, 2018 9:19 pm
My opinion of the Mustang bridge is that it's absolutely cheeseball. Just crappy Fender cost cutting tomfoolery. I suggest you rig some sort of fixed roller bridge in its place. I replaced the Mustang saddles in my own with old Kahler roller saddles and sleeved the posts to make it rigid but there are other ways to achieve a similar result. I wanted to retain individual saddle height adjustability, which is why I didn't do a roller TOM type, but one of those would probably work great.

Also, before you commit to the stock Mustang vibrato, I suggest playing on one if you haven't already. I was unpleasantly surprised to discover how much that stupid chrome cigar impedes one's hand when trying to play close to the bridge. It's pretty much impossible. You probably aren't wanting to go full custom on your build, I know, but I modified my Mustang vibrato plate to accept Jazzmaster guts and it turned out great and is sooo much better. It actually returns to pitch now!

Here's the thread where I posted about it: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=94048&hilit=mustang ... d&start=15
This is really interesting, I've already got the Mustang trem so I guess I'll build with that and if I decide I hate it then I can consider copying your idea. I like the way that turned out visually for you.

I'm also very keen on the idea of swapping out the saddles for height-adjustable roller saddles, I've had some suggestions that there could be a radius issue between the Mustang bridge and Jag neck depending on the parts I end up with, so this could be the solution if that problem does arise. I'm guessing the standard roller saddles you can pick up for strats and teles would be too long to fit into the Mustang bridge though, the ones you have on yours are like none I've seen before.

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Re: My first Mustang - a new project

Post by Johno » Sat Feb 17, 2018 12:55 am

You know, you can pick up a Squier Bullet Mustang for about £112 brand new and maybe just take the neck off?

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AliGlenUig
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Re: My first Mustang - a new project

Post by AliGlenUig » Sat Feb 17, 2018 9:56 am

Johno wrote:
Sat Feb 17, 2018 12:55 am
You know, you can pick up a Squier Bullet Mustang for about £112 brand new and maybe just take the neck off?
An interesting idea, would the neck be shit though?

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Re: My first Mustang - a new project

Post by Embenny » Sat Feb 17, 2018 10:03 am

AliGlenUig wrote:
Sat Feb 17, 2018 9:56 am
Johno wrote:
Sat Feb 17, 2018 12:55 am
You know, you can pick up a Squier Bullet Mustang for about £112 brand new and maybe just take the neck off?
An interesting idea, would the neck be shit though?
Surprisingly good quality neck, but it's wide, flat (12" radius), and quite thin, so it's about as far from a vintage mustang as you can get in feel (which may or may not be to your taste). Tuners are ok, nut is terrible. Very raw-feeling...either actually raw, or such a thin finish that it feels that way.

Would be a shame to cannibalize one for the neck - IMO, the body is the nicest thing on that guitar (mine came with a flawless blue sparkle finish, neat and tidy routing, and alpha pots). The selector switch and maybe the bridge saddles were the only cheap-feeling parts of that body. Even the pickups were shockingly decent.
The artist formerly known as mbene085.

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AliGlenUig
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Re: My first Mustang - a new project

Post by AliGlenUig » Mon Mar 05, 2018 3:29 pm

Alright kids.
Got a neck on the way, hopefully it'll be as lovely as it looks. Where should I be looking for a Mustang bridge? As much as I've had some lovely ideas from folk on going non standard, I'm going to aim for a classic Mustang build/setup for now

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Re: My first Mustang - a new project

Post by tommycarlos » Mon Mar 05, 2018 4:53 pm

That colour! Yum.

Personally, as long as the neck you have coming is a 7.25" radius, I would just go with a Mustang bridge. If it's a 9.5", then maybe StayTrem or one of the height adjustable "Modified Mustang" ones from Warmoth?

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Re: My first Mustang - a new project

Post by AliGlenUig » Mon Mar 12, 2018 4:54 am

So have confirmed the neck is 7.25" radius.

Picked up a roller bridge supposedly designed to match Mustangs and jags, I thought the saddles were height adjustable but they aren't, just the whole bridge the same as the standard Mustang bridge.

Spec sheet that came with the bridge says the radius is 12, so I may have fucked it here and have to get something else. Might as well try stringing it up and see though, it's a shame as I was hoping the roller saddles would help with trem tuning stability.

Another question: the bridge pole pieces are loose in the holes in the body - should I tape them to fit snugly or is there supposed to be some rocking action in Mustang bridges? I'm sure I read that somewhere but might be imagining it.

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