Mustang, baby!

[Tretgeraet]

I finished my Mustang last weekend and... where do I even start?

Well, maybe by linking the build threat here and by posting a pic of the completed guitar:


What are we looking at?

Mustang Guitar Body

Construction: Solid
Core Wood: Poplar (BONUS one-piece!)
Lam Top Wood: No Lam Top
Right / Left Handed: Right-Handed
Control Cavity: Top Rout
Multi Pickup Top Rout: Mustang Top Rout
Bridge Rout Type: Tremolo
Bridge Rout: Mustang Tremolo w/ Mustang Bridge
Would you like Warmoth to install the bridge studs?: No
Mounting Holes: Standard 4-Bolt
Neck Pocket Shape: Strat®
Body Contours: Forearm Contour, Tummy Cut
Paint Category: No Paint

Finished with Wudtone Lady Marion.

Mustang/Jaguar CBS
24" Scale Replacement Neck

Construction: Modern
Shaft Wood: Maple
Fretboard Wood: Maple
Nut Width: 1-5/8" (41mm) - Narrow
Right / Left Handed: Right-Handed
Neck Back Profile: D
Fretboard Radius: 10" - 16" Compound
Number of Frets: 22
Binding: None
Fret Size & Material: SS6150 - Wide & Tall (Stainless)
Tuner Hole Size: Schaller/Modern Fender/Sperzel (25/64")
Inlay Shape: Standard Dots
Inlay Material: Black
Side Dots: Black Side Dots
String Nut: Standard Nut - GraphTech White TUSQ XL
Mounting Holes: Standard 4-Bolt
Neck Heel Shape: Strat® Shape
Finish: None

Finished with Wudtone Vintage Neck Amber.

Also:
- Custom Warmoth Pickguard in Ruby Pearl
- Neck Screws, Neck Plate and Neck Plate Pad
- Modified Mustang® Bridge
- Mustang® Tremolo Tailpiece
- Mustang® Control Plate
- 2× Switchcraft Slide Switch, On-Off-On
- copper shielding
all from Warmoth...



The tuners (Kluson roundbacks), headstock decals, string trees, strap buttons (Schaller S-Locks), 500k log pots, wires, caps, the jack and the knobs I had already lying around.



(Btw.: I edited the headstock decals in the pics for the same reason I did on my second telly build: TMI for the internets...)

I bought a Rockinger Bellbucker for the bridge pickup position, while the neck pickup is from my very first electric guitar, which I have for 30 years and two days now (since Halloween 1995, my 12th birthday ).



The wiring I chose, with the switch closer to the neck pickup being a 3way pickup selector and the one closer to the bridge being a parallel/split/series switch for the humbucker turned out really nice and very useful!

Today we took a little walk in the park together.





A word on the finish:
I like it, although it turned out very different than I expected! And it's on of those finishes, that looks extremely different, depending on the light: Sometimes it looks like Metallic Surf Green, sometimes like Lake Placid Blue with a yellowed clear coat; sometimes it looks like a metallic version of olive drab; sometimes it looks more like a dark, smokey silver, than a green!

As I said in the build thread, the finishing kit consisted of 2 bottles of green base, 2 bottles of white base, half a bottle of "silver highlights" (small flakes) and a bottle of clear topcoat.

I started with applying 3 think coats of green mixed with white 1:1 to get a solid base. Using a 2:1, or 4:1 mix or skipping the white base all together and using only green might have worked as well for a darker finish.

Then I mixed green with the silver highlights 2:1 and applied 3 thick and 2 thin coats, followed by 5 thin clear coats.



It's not as smooth and perfect as it looks in the pictures, it's more like this:



But I think it's nice to the touch and it looks good, I actually hope it'll sink even more into the pores over time.



I'm always kind of "flexible" in my expectations and while the finished guitar looks different, than I originally imagined, I really like the result! So Wudtone made me happy again.

Ah, almost forgot about the neck finish:
It's great, love the color... but I realised I don't like to finish fretboards! It makes finishing the neck so much more work! If one prefers unfinished necks anyway that adds to the growing feeling of annoyance...

So, I'm happy with the result, but I'll never do it again!

How does it play/sound?

First of all: 24" scale feels weird if you're not used to it. I can switch between 25½" and 24¾" without feeling a huge difference, but 24" is something else somehow.

Maybe the D profile is adding to that, but I have to play it more to be sure.

Talking of weird: That Mustang Tremolo! I'm not sure if I just set it up wrong or if that thing is just... wrong... I managed to set it up so it's ok as a down only-trem, but if you pull it up, everything get's stuck, with ALL the strings being (not) close (enough) to a halfnote higher until you push it back down again. And it's so sensitive, that this already happend by accident!

However, I like that it's different. If all my guitars were the same I wouldn't have them all!

And I think it looks killer and is fairly light:
3.34kg or 7.36lbs

I have just one little regret: Jade dots would have fit perfectly...

 

[Strat Avenger]

That's a great color.

 

[Spud]

Very niiice!

 

[teleme01]

When I zoom in on the finish body, the visible crack is on my phone screen.

 

[Hodgo]

If a finish looks that nice in unaltered photos taken in sunlight it’s nothing to complain about! Although that’s not Sherwood green, I like it quite a lot.

A lot of offset guys seem to like Mastery bridges, a potential upgrade down the line to help with your trem issues?

 

[Tretgeraet]

When I zoom in on the finish body, the visible crack is on my phone screen.

I don't understand what you mean by that

 

[rockandroller]

Looks great!

 

[teleme01]

I thought I saw a flaw, but its my screen is all cracked and shit, it looks great

 

[Hagwood]

Looks great ! That finish turned out great and a cool color, and I love that you went with the vintage switching. I have a Mustang or Jaguar on my list for a vintage Fender color, but haven't decided which. Interesting impressions of the Trem and Scale Length, I was wondering the same thing. Let us know how you adapt to it.

 

[Tretgeraet]

Looks great ! That finish turned out great and a cool color, and I love that you went with the vintage switching. I have a Mustang or Jaguar on my list for a vintage Fender color, but haven't decided which. Interesting impressions of the Trem and Scale Length, I was wondering the same thing. Let us know how you adapt to it.

I was actually thinking back and forth between the Mustang and the Jaguar. I chose the Mustang, because; though I like the vintage look and layout of the Jaguar with all that chrome, I didn't really wanted to build a vintage guitar, but one with a humbucker, like I did with the Mustang. And for that, I found the original switching way to confusing and complicated.

I was thinking about putting a fuzz in the upper control plate but that also seemed too complicated for now.

The Mustang on the other hand could be wired in a way, that is flexible but much more straight forward. And it's so special with its 1½" thick body and that weird trem. Also I had that singlecoil and that's when it all suddenly made sense in my mind!

I always liked Jaguars and part of me is still bummed that I didn't choose it, but it was overruled by the part that is happy how the Mustang turned out!

Thanks for the compliments, y'all!

 

[rockandroller]

Mustangs have a thinner body??? That's very interesting... Same with musicmasters, Duo-Sonics, Swinger, etc?

 

[Tretgeraet]

Mustangs have a thinner body??? That's very interesting... Same with musicmasters, Duo-Sonics, Swinger, etc?

I have no real-world experience with the others, but the Mustang is thinner, yes. It's the only Warmoth body that is 1½" AFAIK.

I'm pretty sure it would've been my lightest guitar, if I had chosen the Toronado Hardtail instead of the trem, btw.

 

[Tretgeraet]

I did a little update on that guitar. I didn't like the bridge and I don't mean the strange trem I discussed earlier, but the Modified Mustang® Bridge.

First of all: The set screws for the height adjustment are unnecessarily long. So they either stick out and poke your hand, or the saddles get so high, that the intonation screw touches the string.

Yes, you can make them shorter, but because of these screws we already had a bad start!

But apart from that, the bridge was constantly rattling and buzzing and some notes produced a honky sound, like a resonator guitar and it somehow felt like the wobbliness of the bridge made playing and especially riffing more exhausting.

Maybe this is all part of the Mustang charme and usually I would leave special sounding guitars alone... but I don't have enough use for something like that right now. And also I wouldn't spend as much time and money for it, as I have!

So, I installed a different bridge:

Rockinger sells these adapters, either with 8mm Ø diameter to fit in the aluminium mounting cups of the Mustang bridge, or with 9mm Ø diameter to directly fit in the holes for those cups. I chose the first ones.



The M4 holes are off center to adjust them for different bridges.

Then I installed a roller bridge:



The only real downsides: The new bridge ist much taller, so I had to shim the neck; and it has a fixed 14" radius.

But other than that: It didn't change anything about tuning stability, but it feels more stable to play.

It also allowed for a better break angle and the guitar now has more sustain and sounds better, more mature, like a real guitar and less like a toy... which is kinda ironic 'cos it's so much more fun to play now!

I couldn't really enjoy the 24" scale before, but now I do.

I'm glad I did it!