Mustang Modifications, Batman!

jimmydasaint

Hey guys,

I'm new here to the forum, though I have been silently logging on to the site for a good few years.

Background (brief): I have a number of guitars, most pertinantly:

1991(ish) Squier Silver Series Telecaster (MIJ) - Black,

1997(ish) Fender (MIJ) Jaguar - Sunburst w/ red tortie pg,

2006(ish) Fender (MIJ) Mustang - Daphne/sonic blue w/ red tortie pg,

1965 Fender (USA) Duo-Sonic II - (refinished - not by me) Black w/ red tortie pg,

Only just noticed that they mostly have red tort pickguards.

Also I have some acoustics, junkers and smashing guitars that you'd not really be interested in: one strat copy with bridge humbucker, another in pieces, another weird '70s guitar smashed up and reassembled, a Dean electro-acoustic, and a Epi SG that I'm teaching my girlfriend on.

Anyway, I'm rambling: I LOVE my Duo-sonic II. REALLY LOVE it. It is better than a Mustang because it loses that very pretty, but very useless (IMO - for my style) trem tail.

I never really got on with my Jaguar and sold it a while back as the pick-ups used to squeal like a motherf and the bridge is rubbish. Only recently realised the mustang bridge mod was so easily carried out. Also the trem lock never worked.

SO, I'm looking to build a Franken-sonic II, or something similar that gives me all my favourite guitar elements. I want the neck pick-up of a tele, as I only ever use the neck pup for mellow stuff, A seymour JB HB in the bridge, a la Mr Cobain, and maybe even a single coil in the mid (but not so sure about that).

I want to fit a full-scale maple neck and fretboard (just prefer maple - my silver series tele neck is so sweet!), lose all of the switches that on both Jags and 'Stangs are in the way for an aggressive, sloppy player like me, and replace with a simple 3-way tele switch at the butt of the guitar (I have already modded my tele by swapping the control plate around). Instead of the two knobs, I'd like a master volume and a tone control for each pick-up, but I want them to be Jaguar roller-style knobs rather than the traditional cooker types (even though I love them - this is my ideal axe). Gotoh machine heads in schaller style, front mounted jack plate.

As for the bridge, I was very much drawn to the idea of replacing the dynamic vibrato and mustang bridge with a tun-o-matic and stoptail, then strung through body - this was probably Kurt's influence though and I realised that a hardtail strat bridge with six saddles is more stable and more highly adjustable, plus I prefer the strat string angle over the body.

SO, questions:

Any ideas on doing this without hacking up a classic guitar (DSII) that was only produced for 2 1/2 years? Obviously Mustang bodies are routed for trems, which I do not want.

How do I find a maple neck that will fit a mustang/duo neck cavity?

What is the warmest acoustic pick-up for the neck position?

Am I right to defect to the SD JB HB, or should I stick with single coils?

I've never had hot-rails or P90s, any opinions on those?

Any ideas about obtaining and wiring jag rollers?

I guess I'm going to have to cut a pick-guard in my desired shape, though I do enjoy a good chrome control plate. Anone know of anyone who cuts custom metal control plates?

Any concerns over scale-length and bridge positioning?

Can anyone tell me why I should go with the Cobain preferred mod of Tun-o-matic and stoptail over the six-saddle hardtail?

Any tips at all, really?

Typical newbie, eh?! First post and it's all *yack yack yack* "I've got loads of questions!"

Apologies,

Jay

jacksonjackass

I feel a bit out of my depth here, but just about the bridge:

I'd really recomend the gibson style stoptail because strat hardtails suck IMO

Where d'ya plan on sticking those roller knobs? I'll try doing a mock up of that with paint.....or its mac counterpart (getting a mac today 😁 )

Welcome to the forum 😁

jacksonjackass

Also what colour?

Do you want comp stripes?

And what sort of shape p/g are you looking for?

jimmydasaint

Thanks.

You'll not regret getting a mac, my friend. No looking back for you from here on in. I have to use a PC laptop for work regularly. I can't stand the things nowadays!

As for the bridge, tell me: why do fender hardtails suck, in your opinion.

Here are a few (VERY QUICKLY DONE) mock-ups of some ideas on a Jag body and a Mustang / DuoSonic body that I've knocked up, that may give you an idea of what I mean. Pics are very crumby, just slap dash paintbrush over ebay pics, mind...

actually, how do I add pics, do I have to upload them to a webpage and then add the URL or can I just put it on here somehow? Hmmm...

jimmydasaint

Not really worried about colour yet. Maybe plum or black or lake placid. white or red tort pickguard. custom shape to fit different config, but mostly based on a mustang's. Probably no competition stripes, no.

Jay

jacksonjackass

Strat hardtails suck because thay break strings, don't sustain as well and also won't look as good (or as authentic) as gibson style.

Also to upload pics: tinypic.com

Hope that helps 😁

jimmydasaint

Thanks for that. here was my basic idea:

Mustang/Duo-sonic II project quick sketch. Those first three blobs on the lower of the pickguard represent roller switches, BTW! (lol)

Same idea, but this time on a Jazzy/Jag body...

I know it looks bad, BTW, you don't have to tell me. Knocked them up in about 5 minutes.

jimmydasaint

Also, weirdly, I hear that it's tun-o-matics that break strings as they carve a sharpe niche into the saddles. I thought Fender bridges were a bit smoother and therefore less prone. Looking at the chunky six saddles, not the bent metal ones...

Here are pics of my existing Fender guitars, In case you're interested. sadly my old Jag is absent.

jacksonjackass

You can get TOMs with roller saddles. And I'm a bit worried about all those roller knobs, you may need to have them at a slight angle.

ModNuB

Sorry but I can't answer most of your ?s but here my 2 cents:

Hotrails are good for a hot humbucker sound w/out body mods. I have one in the bridge of my duo & I really like it. I wired mine to a 1M pot so its a bit too "hot"(?) w/ a lot of treb when on full so I run it at 1/2 vol at the most or I get too much output (pre amp tube od=no good). It is very highout put but to me at least its not in a bad way. I've gig w/ it a bit & it can cut thru a mix VERY nicely.

As for a bridge I personally would try & find either a tornado or a squier musicmaster(could be VERY hard to find) bridge. Both are string thru body & both look/have the same shape as the standard duo bridge. The main dif between the 2 is the mm has 6 round/tele style adjustables where as the tornado has strat style. I do think you should do a string thru body cause, at least on my duo, the sustain/fullness can be lacking & I blame that on the bridge. One of these 2 bridges will eventually be on my duo. I have never had a problem w/ my strat bridge breaking string but my Les Paul used to break string often so I'm not sure about this problem.

You'll prob have to adjust the bridge/neck placement if you're set on the 25.5 neck. If all you're after is a maple fret neck those can be found/made in 24 so you may keep that in mind.

Keep us updated & don't let any of our thoughts stop you from doing it your way cause you'll be the one paying for it & you'll have to be the one to play it.

jimmydasaint

Hey guys,

Thanks for the tips and suggestions. I agree that I have never had any probs with traditional Fender bridges breaking strings and had heard that it was an inherent flaw of the TOM.

Thanks also for the tips on bridge mods, I'd like to make mine string-through, just wanted some reassurance that it was the right way to go as all of my current guitars are toploaders (except cheap strat - but I hate the strat trem unit).

I'm certainly not set on a 25.5 scale neck, I just had an inkling about getting a cheap Jag-a-like I've seen which has a 25.5 scale and would therefore fit a strat neck if the pocket was the right size... and I was worried that getting ahold of a Mustang neck in maple might be too hard. (Don't want to hack up a '72 Mustang to do this project - don't want to hack up any vintage guitars: it's sacrilege).

I'll take a look at thhe tornado and music master reissues...

jimmydasaint

mcconnachiea said: ... And I'm a bit worried about all those roller knobs, you may need to have them at a slight angle.

I'd do the roller knobs like I have placed them on the second Jag-mock-up picture. I think they are fixed to a bent metal plate so I'd have them angled down the lower pick-guard in the same position as mustang knobs, like this:

___/

__/

hehe!

Fran

Nice project, nice Duo as well. Welcome to the forums 😁

I restored a 78 Musicmaster some years back but i used a Toronado bridge. You can buy them here..

http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/gbridge_fenderother.htm

Just remember when you fit it the measurement from the inside of the nut to the saddles should correspond with neck size. 25.5 or 24, depending what you use.

ModNuB

Sweet! I just may have to get 1 of those.

jimmydasaint

Cool. Thanks for the tip, dude. Though it is actually the width of the saddle I'm more concerned about. Will the string spacing still fit the neck and all when I change the bridge? *yikes*

Fran

It should do. You could always swap the saddles if not.

gilmourish

you have no idea how jealous i am of you. . i love duosonic II's. . wayyy more than mustangs. . the trems annoy me so much

jimmydasaint

I do love the duo-sonic II too. Prefer them to Mustangs, myself.

This bridge issue is the main one for me now as far as my build goes. Though I wanted string-through for both sustain and aesthetics, but they apparently increase string tension and make string bends harder... And I'm a total bender!

jacksonjackass

jimmydasaint said: And I'm a total bender!

HOMO THREAD THIS WAY

😆

Remember string-thru increases sustain and reduces buzz 😉

What string gauge do you use?

jimmydasaint

I used to be a strict Ernie Ball Super Slinky player, but I'm less fussy these days. Usually 11's I think, though I think I have a different guage on most guitars.

What would you peeps recommend (strings and bridge set-up-wise) for someone who likes a smoothe low action throughout with nice easy string bends?

starting to be a bit of a trial, picking the right tailpiece. To string-through or ont to string-through: perhaps that is the question.

Here are my bridge likes and dislikes - tell me what to do!!

Telecaster toploading bridge - love the action it gives, bridge is a bit shoddy though

'65 Duo-sonic II bridge - nice low action, not keen on the multiple saddle grooves though. Or the mere three saddles.

Jaguar stock bridge - horrible, just horrible.

TOM - no complaints so far, good for palm muting, though string height over body not as nice as the tele's action.

Strat trem bridge - OK until changing strings and keeping in tune. Rubbish thereafter.

CV Duo-sonic RI stock bridge - actually very reliable, but not adjustable enough (again, only three saddles, too) and aesthetically not so nice.

Mustang bridge - satisfied with the bridge piece itself, but don't want a trem unit to fark about with.