Mustang advice

Mi7

Hi all!

Long long time lurker (since i was a long haired teen lol)

Got a Fender Mustang Japan '04-05 Reissue way back in 2005 just after my first student loan in my 2nd year!

This guitar made the rest of my uni life hard with no money but i always loved this guitar, was on a bus and went past Steel City guitars, saw it in the window and instantly fell in love ;D.

So after uni it kinda got left alone. I am expecting to be a dad soon and want to learn lots more songs to play to the little 'un so out comes the mustang, as first i looked up its value on the net as i wanted to sell it to get a nice acoustic...

but in my searches i found myself back on this website (after a long break) and seeing all the nice guitars here i fell in love the 'stang all over again...

So this time I'm keeping her!

She really needs setting up so i have been looking over the guides but then i noticed this cracking around the base of the neck (is this damage normal? is it really bad?)...

Please help was really shocked when i found it!

Cheers

Mi7

Also do you know the part code for the MG69 Japan Mustang pickguard? As i would like to try out a black guard but the shop said it would only fit usa models?

redman1401

Not sure of the part code, but the cracking looks like its finish only. I have the same model, though mine's from 94-95 theres some spots up where yours has cracks that mine has chips in the paint. structurally it looks fine so you should be good to go.

Mi7

Cheers good to know it isn't a problem.

I have been trying to setup the bridge and finding it very difficult any advice?

I also removed the vibrato to try and finding lock it for better tuning but couldn't really work out what i was supposed to do with the springs any advice?

Cheers for the help.

HNB

Neck pocket cracks are pretty common with bolt on neck guitars. Happens as body and neck expand and contract in hot and cold temps. Wood shrinks and expands causing the paint to crack. Just a visual issue, not structural. 😀

redman1401

Mi7 said:
Cheers good to know it isn't a problem.
I have been trying to setup the bridge and finding it very difficult any advice?
I also removed the vibrato to try and finding lock it for better tuning but couldn't really work out what i was supposed to do with the springs any advice?
Cheers for the help.

I removed the poles and springs completely and used a bolt and washers to bolt the trem bar down to the body.

Mi7

Cheers.

Just had this setup at the shop. Now plays very nicely needed to have this done for so long.

You chaps have any essential tips for maintaining guitar, strings etc?

Thanks

redman1401

Mi7 said:
Cheers.

Just had this setup at the shop. Now plays very nicely needed to have this done for so long.

You chaps have any essential tips for maintaining guitar, strings etc?

Thanks

Honestly, i don't do anything on mine, hell i bought the thing 6 years ago and just coniditioned the fretboard last month for the first time.

As far as the pickguard thing goes, you might have to have it custom made, thats what i did with mine to make the tort redder and have a better cut for the bridge humbucker i put in.

robertoriginal

having a guard custom cut is probly the best option and shouldn't run you more than 40 bucks. don't worry about the stress cracks(as stated above) and as far as the trem goes. do you wish to actually use it or lock it down?

i would advise moving the springs to the last notch and moving the cir tube all the way down to increase the break angle and tension. i did this to my jag-stng, and two mustangs ive had in thepassed. all of them stay in tune just fine. i made a video a long time ago.

its actually not that helpful i guess. but it does prove that what i did works.

redman1401

It might be a bit more than $40, but that i think depends on the material he gets it made out of.

Mi7

Thanks guys

Live in the UK so looking at custom guard prices now.

Another stupid question do Strat and Tele knobs fit Stang pots i imagine they do just want to be certain

Cheers

redman1401

Mi7 said:
Thanks guys
Live in the UK so looking at custom guard prices now.
Another stupid question do Strat and Tele knobs fit Stang pots i imagine they do just want to be certain
Cheers

you'd have to check since it depends, theres the issue of metric and imperial sizes so sometimes they won't fit, if they're both japanese made parts they should though.

robertoriginal

grizzley has red tort for 13 bucks a blank, or at least they used to. 2years ago.

Brendon77

Nice post, thansk Mi7 for share own experience and pics, you can share some lyrics own song.

robertoriginal

the stang should have solid shaft pots so your average strat knob won't fit since they are generally split shaft. just search around a few websites for pots that fit solid shaft pots.

redman1401

robert(original) said:

the stang should have solid shaft pots so your average strat knob won't fit since they are generally split shaft. just search around a few websites for pots that fit solid shaft pots.

The jap one that he has, which is the same as i have comes with split shaft pots, you'd have to get japanese strat or tele knobs to fit the japanese pots.

robertoriginal

ach, really? seems odd, i had a re-issue jag-stang, and two compstangs from the 04-06 era, all of em had solid shafts. i would have guessed his stang to be the same, but alas, the info for both is there,

redman1401

robert(original) said:

ach, really? seems odd, i had a re-issue jag-stang, and two compstangs from the 04-06 era, all of em had solid shafts. i would have guessed his stang to be the same, but alas, the info for both is there,

I got my 69 reissue directly from fender japan and it had split shafts, as did my jagstang from 97. That is unless they changed parts later on, since the mustang is from 94-95.

robertoriginal

bullocks, i read that all wrong, i read it as 04-05, my bad, you say your 97 jagstang had split shafts? i can't remember what mine had, i have replaced them so many damned times, tho i would have thought they came with solid shaft.

redman1401

robert(original) said:

bullocks, i read that all wrong, i read it as 04-05, my bad, you say your 97 jagstang had split shafts? i can't remember what mine had, i have replaced them so many damned times, tho i would have thought they came with solid shaft.

yep my 97 jagstang came with split shaft mini 250k pots as did my mustang, my mustang coming directly from fender japan, so i'm not sure if they changed later on when they changed factories. its now in my tele since i needed a small pot to fit and since i wasn't using them but you can see the 250k stamp on the bottom that the jap pots have and you can see in the second photo the split shaft