JAG-STANG Prototype - Reverse Engineering

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mortron
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Re: JAG-STANG Prototype - Reverse Engineering

Post by mortron » Thu May 28, 2020 9:11 pm

There's some stuff online that appears to be posts by the kid and he claims his dad kind of swindled him for it and sold it to whomever put it on display. According to the posts, some parts were removed/swapped... But you know the internet and bullshit... They're almost synonymous.

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AcrylicSuperman
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Re: JAG-STANG Prototype - Reverse Engineering

Post by AcrylicSuperman » Thu May 28, 2020 9:19 pm

mortron wrote:
Thu May 28, 2020 9:11 pm
There's some stuff online that appears to be posts by the kid and he claims his dad kind of swindled him for it and sold it to whomever put it on display. According to the posts, some parts were removed/swapped... But you know the internet and bullshit... They're almost synonymous.
I believe that is in regards to Skystang III.

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Re: JAG-STANG Prototype - Reverse Engineering

Post by mortron » Fri May 29, 2020 5:29 pm

AcrylicSuperman wrote:
Thu May 28, 2020 9:19 pm
mortron wrote:
Thu May 28, 2020 9:11 pm
There's some stuff online that appears to be posts by the kid and he claims his dad kind of swindled him for it and sold it to whomever put it on display. According to the posts, some parts were removed/swapped... But you know the internet and bullshit... They're almost synonymous.
I believe that is in regards to Skystang III.
Right you are... I thought that's what was being discussed but went back and noticed you mentioned Comp Stang... My bad.

I just wish I didn't sell my "SkyStang" and am probably just all messed up about it 20 years later :S

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Re: JAG-STANG Prototype - Reverse Engineering

Post by AcrylicSuperman » Fri May 29, 2020 6:00 pm

mortron wrote:
Fri May 29, 2020 5:29 pm
AcrylicSuperman wrote:
Thu May 28, 2020 9:19 pm
mortron wrote:
Thu May 28, 2020 9:11 pm
There's some stuff online that appears to be posts by the kid and he claims his dad kind of swindled him for it and sold it to whomever put it on display. According to the posts, some parts were removed/swapped... But you know the internet and bullshit... They're almost synonymous.
I believe that is in regards to Skystang III.
Right you are... I thought that's what was being discussed but went back and noticed you mentioned Comp Stang... My bad.

I just wish I didn't sell my "SkyStang" and am probably just all messed up about it 20 years later :S
I have a few pics of Skystang III that a friend of Bobby's (the kid Courtney gave the guitar to) had taken with it that I havent posted here. Maybe a little later tonight or tomorrow, I'll showcase them here.

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Re: JAG-STANG Prototype - Reverse Engineering

Post by mortron » Sat May 30, 2020 3:36 am

Amazing... I have so many questions and hopefully a few photos may help. Thanks!

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Re: JAG-STANG Prototype - Reverse Engineering

Post by AcrylicSuperman » Sat May 30, 2020 9:21 am

Skystang III

Image

Image

Image

And as a bonus, the Ferrington

Image

Image

Image

Image

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Re: JAG-STANG Prototype - Reverse Engineering

Post by mortron » Sat May 30, 2020 10:21 am

That's amazing... Thank you so much. Also dig the bonus photos. The Ferrington is an interesting beast itself.

Was the Skystang one of the 1969 Reissues they were making in Japan at the time, but just left handed? I know he had to buy a bunch from Fender Japan in order for them to do it, but just wondered if that was due to the left handedness vs anything else.

I presume the lighting in the Skystang photos is quite off as it's a lot more pale than I recall it looking. My own Mustang from that factory was very blue by comparison. My pickguard had a prominent yellow spot on it as well, but cannot recall the Tort looking so red.

Apologies if this takes away from the Jag Stang topic of this thread. I feel like they're all part of one messed up family tho hah.

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Re: JAG-STANG Prototype - Reverse Engineering

Post by AcrylicSuperman » Sat May 30, 2020 12:13 pm

mortron wrote:
Sat May 30, 2020 10:21 am
That's amazing... Thank you so much. Also dig the bonus photos. The Ferrington is an interesting beast itself.

Was the Skystang one of the 1969 Reissues they were making in Japan at the time, but just left handed? I know he had to buy a bunch from Fender Japan in order for them to do it, but just wondered if that was due to the left handedness vs anything else.

I presume the lighting in the Skystang photos is quite off as it's a lot more pale than I recall it looking. My own Mustang from that factory was very blue by comparison. My pickguard had a prominent yellow spot on it as well, but cannot recall the Tort looking so red.

Apologies if this takes away from the Jag Stang topic of this thread. I feel like they're all part of one messed up family tho hah.
Yeah, Kurt ordered 10 standard 69 RI Mustangs but only ever received 6 before his death. Somewhere in this thread, there are shipping dates, but they were shipped 2 at a time. He got his red mustang and his first blue mustang first, then he got two more blue mustang (hence skystangs I, II and III) and his third shipment were two red mustangs. The other four were sold in a tokyo music store as left handed 69 reissues. All the blue mustangs had red tort pickguards, but Skystangs II and III got the contoured body decal on the ball of the headstock.

Yeah, the lighting is making it look different shades in those photos. That was half the problem we had with the Jagstang. Every photo showed it a different color and we were finally able to prove that the Jagstang was Daphne rather than Sonic. It is amazing how much those shades of blue change with something as small as a 1 degree tilt. But we were able to see a shot of the Jagstang and one of these blue Mustangs side by side, and even though they were under stage lights, side by side they were two different shades. I luckily got to speak with Larry who confirmed the colors were Daphne Blue and Dakota Red.

Also, one detail about the red Mustangs. Kurt's were actually a custom paint mix. So while they are listed as Fiesta Red, they really aren't.

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Re: JAG-STANG Prototype - Reverse Engineering

Post by FenderBob » Sun May 31, 2020 6:44 am

AcrylicSuperman wrote:
Fri Apr 03, 2020 12:55 am
Skystang 3 absolutely toured. And between those two blue models, he used the third the most. It definitely had wear by the time Bobby received it. A friend of his actually dug up some pictures of it. I have them somewhere, I'll gladly post them here in the near future. But yeah, Skystang 3 was basically the back up to Skystang 1, and Skystang 2 pretty much lounged around.
Trying to figure out why skystang 3 wouldn't have received the cut switches treatment? Are there photos out there of Kurt playing this one?

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Re: JAG-STANG Prototype - Reverse Engineering

Post by FenderBob » Sun May 31, 2020 6:49 am

AcrylicSuperman wrote:
Sat May 30, 2020 9:21 am
Skystang III

Image
This kid's expression says: "Crap, I just accidentally banged the head stock on the dresser....I don't think Bobby heard it....hope there isn't a huge ding."
Last edited by FenderBob on Sun May 31, 2020 6:20 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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Re: JAG-STANG Prototype - Reverse Engineering

Post by CROSS_guitars » Sun May 31, 2020 7:57 am

The ferrington must have had two different pickguards cut for it.
In the original magazines pics, there's a 3 way toggle near the jack.But in these pics, there's a blade switch but also a tiny switch under the humbucker.

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Re: JAG-STANG Prototype - Reverse Engineering

Post by AcrylicSuperman » Sun May 31, 2020 8:26 am

FenderBob wrote:
Sun May 31, 2020 6:44 am
AcrylicSuperman wrote:
Fri Apr 03, 2020 12:55 am
Skystang 3 absolutely toured. And between those two blue models, he used the third the most. It definitely had wear by the time Bobby received it. A friend of his actually dug up some pictures of it. I have them somewhere, I'll gladly post them here in the near future. But yeah, Skystang 3 was basically the back up to Skystang 1, and Skystang 2 pretty much lounged around.
Trying to figure out why skystang 3 wouldn't have received the cut switches treatment? Are there photos out there of Kurt playing this one?
It's hard to say for sure, as Skystang II and III are identical to each other other than the tort pickguard and Kurt's hand always covers that Identifying feature.

From what I have been told by techs, he really bonded with III, so at some point I think he was trying to save it from the road and I think that he found the perfect excuse in the Jagstang. 12/02/93 was the jagstang's second appearance and he starts the show with it, breaks a string, switches to skystang 1, breaks a string and swaps back to the Jagstang.

The switches never got cut off until 1994. The red mustang, skystangs I and II and the jagstang all got switches cut off. Skystang III and his other 2 red mustangs didn't. I think by the time they toured Europe, Skystang III returned home.
Last edited by AcrylicSuperman on Sun May 31, 2020 8:56 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: JAG-STANG Prototype - Reverse Engineering

Post by AcrylicSuperman » Sun May 31, 2020 8:27 am

CROSS_guitars wrote:
Sun May 31, 2020 7:57 am
The ferrington must have had two different pickguards cut for it.
In the original magazines pics, there's a 3 way toggle near the jack.But in these pics, there's a blade switch but also a tiny switch under the humbucker.
Yeah, Kurt definitely seems to have had it modified.

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Re: JAG-STANG Prototype - Reverse Engineering

Post by CROSS_guitars » Sun May 31, 2020 6:17 pm

AcrylicSuperman wrote:
Sun May 31, 2020 8:27 am
CROSS_guitars wrote:
Sun May 31, 2020 7:57 am
The ferrington must have had two different pickguards cut for it.
In the original magazines pics, there's a 3 way toggle near the jack.But in these pics, there's a blade switch but also a tiny switch under the humbucker.
Yeah, Kurt definitely seems to have had it modified.
Actually, I reckon it's the same tort pickguard. If you compare the pics, the swirls in the tort are the same.
In modding the guard for the blade switch, the existing toggle hole must still be there or carefully patched..

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Re: JAG-STANG Prototype - Reverse Engineering

Post by FenderBob » Mon Jun 01, 2020 10:42 am

Created this track all of the In Utero era MIJ Mustangs. The visual helped me wrap my head about things. This isn't intended to be comprehensive of everything we know about these guitars, more for fun and to get a overall snapshot. However would be happy to correct any obvious errors.

Image11x17 blank by murl99, on Flickr
Last edited by FenderBob on Mon Jun 01, 2020 1:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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