What are the best Mustangs and why?

101Volts

I'm a Mustang "newbie" but they interest me from their unique twangy sound. What are the best Mustangs and which year are they? 60s models, 70s models or early 80s... What is the best in your opinion and why? I'm just trying to figure out which one I should buy one day. 😀

Earth

When it comes to products there is no "best", its all 100% subjective!

To me personally , the best mustangs are from 66 to 70 CBS mustangs. (I have a 1966) They have a bigger headstock than the pre CBS 64 headstock (which I hate) plus the models between them years com in the 3 patriotic colors (pre CBS did the three colors too ) and it also includes the competition mustangs. The quality of 66-70 mustangs is no less than the pre CBS 64 in my experience but pre CBS is more desirable for reasons I couldn't give a phuck about.

Today, the best mustang for your money is a Japanese 65 or 69 reissue. they are cheap, almost 100% vintage correct and sound great.

If you want vintage, the best value for money is probably a 70's mustang or anything post 65-66 at least anyways. 64's sell for more quite a bit more.

Ebay always has bargains to be got but you need to do some research first or you may end up with a dud,expensive refinish job or something else entirely.

Vintage mustang pickups,much like the modern Japanese counterpart, are very low output and a little thin sounding for rock music. They sound great clean but aren't much good for anything else. They are only around 5.5k, that's pretty damn low for a single coil. The Japanese Mustang pickups sound pretty vintage correct also, like a Vintage mustang pickup would have sounded all those years ago.

I replaced both the pickups on my 66, a DiMarzio DP218 in the bridge and a Seymour Duncan a Jaguar antiquity in the neck. IMO, ALL mustang pickups need replacing with something hotter...for the music I play they do anyways. SD also makes Mustang Antiquity pickups if you're after than vintage sound. You seriously cant hear a difference between a real vintage pickup and a SD Antiquity, they sound identical.

A mustang with a 14 plus Kohm humbucker in the bridge is one gutsy guitar, its a very powerful sounding instrument!

Contrary to popular belief, the mustang vibrato can be set up perfectly and will ALWAYS stay in tune, even with excessive vibrato usage. Most people just don't know how to set them up correctly.

Mustangs also have 250k pots which can sound a little dull, they sound better with either 375k or 500k pots. It gives it more output, clarity and a fuller sound.

The phase reversal on mustangs sounds nice IMO, Fender went about it with the switches a bit ass up because there's too many switching combinations but only 4 sounds (bridge/neck/both/both phase) you can get out of a mustang.

Some Mustang models have arm/belly contours and some (the earliest ones) don't, I like both TBH, it doesn't bother me. But ALL Mustangs have an offset waist.

If you buy Japanese you can get 2nd hand and its cheaper still and you will end up with a great guitar, if you buy American you will pay more.

Fender Japan makes better Mustangs than they do Jaguars/Jazzmasters. They are at least as good as Fender USA AVRI series Jaguars/Jazzmasters in the stock condition.

There's this page you can read and learn a fair bit about Mustangs, its a good resource for info: LINK

minho422

whatever that fits your taste is the best for you. my best choices are the ash-body late '70s stangs and comp series, but it might not be the best for your taste.

Mad-Mike

It's all subjective. I tend to like all Mustangs in General, If I were in a touring band I'd want them more easy to get so I could have a bunch with different pickup configs put together. My favorite necks and Favorite trem unit all are Mustang parts or derivatives thereof.

My favorites have all been early 64's with slightly hotter wound pickups than normal. That was what the first one I played was like. But go figure, my 66' has something special about it, and it has weaker pickups than usual.

Doug

101, one thing you might consider is that some Mustangs have a shorter neck, maybe better for smaller hands. And Mustangs with the longer necks seem to suit most players who are used to regular necks.

Earth, I don't mean to break the thread here but I want to ask about something you said.

The vintage Mustang pickups being about 5.5k, can I compensate for that thinness by setting my guitar volume all the way up and then controlling volume from my amp? It's a Peavey Classic 30...maybe there are other ways I can squeeze the max out of these pups?

If this is stretching the thread, get back to me offline. Thanks.

Doug

enjoysleeping

Doug said: 101, one thing you might consider is that some Mustangs have a shorter neck, maybe better for smaller hands. And Mustangs with the longer necks seem to suit most players who are used to regular necks.
Earth, I don't mean to break the thread here but I want to ask about something you said.
The vintage Mustang pickups being about 5.5k, can I compensate for that thinness by setting my guitar volume all the way up and then controlling volume from my amp? It's a Peavey Classic 30...maybe there are other ways I can squeeze the max out of these pups?
If this is stretching the thread, get back to me offline. Thanks.
Doug

i have a peavey classic 30, and i used to play my vintage mustang with the guitar volume all the way up, and never really felt satisfied with the sound of the p/u's, so i swapped them out and was able to get a richer tone that way.

Earth

Doug said: 101, one thing you might consider is that some Mustangs have a shorter neck, maybe better for smaller hands. And Mustangs with the longer necks seem to suit most players who are used to regular necks.
Earth, I don't mean to break the thread here but I want to ask about something you said.
The vintage Mustang pickups being about 5.5k, can I compensate for that thinness by setting my guitar volume all the way up and then controlling volume from my amp? It's a Peavey Classic 30...maybe there are other ways I can squeeze the max out of these pups?
If this is stretching the thread, get back to me offline. Thanks.
Doug

No matter what you do its not gonna compare to a 13-14k pickup like a DP218 or SJAG2 or 3. The outputs just not there to begin with so you cant do much about it. You can boost it slightly but that's about all.

Doug

Thanks for the replies. That's what I was afraid of.

I'm trying to preserve the vinyage value. Instead of installing new pickups, what if I got these original pickups rewound...can they be boosted to 7 or higher?

villafranc

I don't think there's a best year or stretch of year for a good Mustang. I've tried dozens of Mustangs from the 60's and 70's and no two were the same. In fact, most of the vintage Mustangs I've tried had pickup issues of some sort, mostly in the form of noisiness. After a few years of jonesing for a vintage Mustang, I was able to have a right place, right time situation and found my awesome 74/75 Mustang that had no pickup problems whatsoever and was all original. (Here are some pics of her: http://pruff.com/74mustang/)

So again, I'd highly encourage you to only consider buying a Mustang that you can actually demo in person. Honestly, you never know what you're going to get, until you play the guitar -- you could find a really sweet looking 'stang on eBay that is completely stock, but sounds like total crap.

Good luck on your search!

- villafranc

101Volts

Thanks everyone, I'm mostly interested in buying a Mustang in sunburst but I don't know just what to go for. I'm interested in modifying my guitars too so I may end up either building my own or buying a new one, I like using a tremolo too but I have one problem with the Stang trem... The bar just slides in and out, right? Is there a mod to fix that?

Doug

101 and Villa, while my original pickups won't scream or shred, there's almost zero hum. So it's probably true, that there's wide variation across vintage Mustangs.

Fran

101Volts said: The bar just slides in and out, right? Is there a mod to fix that?

The Mad-Mike mod. I think its on the Jag-stang set up thread.

Personally i love the 65 neck on my Mustang, i dunno if i believe all this pre cbs mojo or not but apparently they were still using up that stock in the late 60s. I've not been impressed with reissue necks, they seem so-so. As for 70s necks, never tried a Mustang but if they are anything like the Musicmaster they will be great.

If you are looking for sunburst, in the 70s they made a lot of 3 piece bodys so the sunburst finish is faux, primed white then given a sunburst effect.

cheez

Earth said:
When it comes to products there is no "best", its all 100% subjective!
To me personally , the best mustangs are from 66 to 70 CBS mustangs. (I have a 1966) They have a bigger headstock than the pre CBS 64 headstock (which I hate) plus the models between them years com in the 3 patriotic colors (pre CBS did the three colors too ) and it also includes the competition mustangs. The quality of 66-70 mustangs is no less than the pre CBS 64 in my experience but pre CBS is more desirable for reasons I couldn't give a phuck about.
Today, the best mustang for your money is a Japanese 65 or 69 reissue. they are cheap, almost 100% vintage correct and sound great.
If you want vintage, the best value for money is probably a 70's mustang or anything post 65-66 at least anyways. 64's sell for more quite a bit more.
Ebay always has bargains to be got but you need to do some research first or you may end up with a dud,expensive refinish job or something else entirely.
Vintage mustang pickups,much like the modern Japanese counterpart, are very low output and a little thin sounding for rock music. They sound great clean but aren't much good for anything else. They are only around 5.5k, that's pretty damn low for a single coil. The Japanese Mustang pickups sound pretty vintage correct also, like a Vintage mustang pickup would have sounded all those years ago.
I replaced both the pickups on my 66, a DiMarzio DP218 in the bridge and a Seymour Duncan a Jaguar antiquity in the neck. IMO, ALL mustang pickups need replacing with something hotter...for the music I play they do anyways. SD also makes Mustang Antiquity pickups if you're after than vintage sound. You seriously cant hear a difference between a real vintage pickup and a SD Antiquity, they sound identical.
A mustang with a 14 plus Kohm humbucker in the bridge is one gutsy guitar, its a very powerful sounding instrument!
Contrary to popular belief, the mustang vibrato can be set up perfectly and will ALWAYS stay in tune, even with excessive vibrato usage. Most people just don't know how to set them up correctly.
Mustangs also have 250k pots which can sound a little dull, they sound better with either 375k or 500k pots. It gives it more output, clarity and a fuller sound.
The phase reversal on mustangs sounds nice IMO, Fender went about it with the switches a bit ass up because there's too many switching combinations but only 4 sounds (bridge/neck/both/both phase) you can get out of a mustang.
Some Mustang models have arm/belly contours and some (the earliest ones) don't, I like both TBH, it doesn't bother me. But ALL Mustangs have an offset waist.
If you buy Japanese you can get 2nd hand and its cheaper still and you will end up with a great guitar, if you buy American you will pay more.
Fender Japan makes better Mustangs than they do Jaguars/Jazzmasters. They are at least as good as Fender USA AVRI series Jaguars/Jazzmasters in the stock condition.
There's this page you can read and learn a fair bit about Mustangs, its a good resource for info: LINK

cheez

you seem to know a lot about Mustangs. Back in the 70s we treated them like junk...single coil SGs too. look now! Anyway I have a change to buy a NOS 1971 sunburst lefty OHSC

Mint.. is it worth the $2800 being a 71' plus they all sound different? too"... I do play clean funky stuff...sometimes

Cheezmistr

XandaP90HH

The best Mustang I ever played was a vintage 1973 sunburst colored Mustang. I never bought it, just played it in a store for a couple hours through a Fender Champion amp and it played and sounded beautiful. I liked its tone even more than the old 65 reissue Japanese model I used to have but they were both great guitars. The 73 sunburst Mustang just had an overall better sound and I think the bridge was better made and gave it more sustain. I really wish I had bought it but it was selling used for about $1,200.