Mustang / and fender 51 / 72 (+ CV Tele colour pg 8)

[stewart]

that mustang thing looks like an old hack job you'd find on ebay and everyone says "ooh, that was probably a compstang at one time, shame it's been fucked up with a hardtail strat bridge", etc.

[kypdurron]

If that thing is what Othomas mentioned I wonder what all the switches will do. 3 way toggle, I guess that does the usual, but what for would they need 2 additional 3 way switches? I could imagine 2 2way switches that split those humbuckers would make sense. What really pisses me is that Fender seems to put humbuckers on everything now. I sold any humbucker guitar I owned in the last 5 yrs after a few months . It just don't work for me. If they continue that I'll not buy a new guitar in the near future I guess.

[rps-10]

Looks good. Add in a Maple fretboard option and we're away.

[honeyiscool]

If that thing is what Othomas mentioned I wonder what all the switches will do. 3 way toggle, I guess that does the usual, but what for would they need 2 additional 3 way switches? I could imagine 2 2way switches that split those humbuckers would make sense. What really pisses me is that Fender seems to put humbuckers on everything now. I sold any humbucker guitar I owned in the last 5 yrs after a few months . It just don't work for me. If they continue that I'll not buy a new guitar in the near future I guess.

I think 3-way switches make sense for humbuckers, so you can select the N or the S coil separately.

[serfx]

replace 3 way switches with roller knobs so you can blend single or hum, keep the 3 way toggle, and replace the bridge with tornado bridge, and could be alright.

[laterallateral]

Ughrrr... The fake Wide Rangers really piss me off, though.
The covers are huge, man! it completely throws off the nimbleness of the Mustang design.
Sacrifice aesthetics for aesthetics? MAKES NO SENSE TO ME.

Unless you actually like the look of these covers, that pickguard is throwaway!

[hotrodperlmutter]

see, i don't think the pickup covers on that mustang are WRHB sized. if they are, then it's not as cramped as i thought.

if this thing never comes out, i'd be interested in seeing about assembling one on me own.

[Rox]

So any real honest to goodness word from Fender about these models or have we all been watching a rumor induced thread made up of bullshit and wish lists ?

[Ankhanu]

I like this thing, save for parroted reservations about the Strat style bridge. Really curious about that switching setup, a dual tap would be a really neat set up.

The main reason Fender usually issues new versions of these old shapes without the proper trems is that so many people view them as a liability. We're a small community of people who love the way they look, in many cases even the way they operate, and all that kind of thing. But that's not what the vast majority of conservative minded guitarists out there want.

The recent Guitarist Magazine review of the whole Blacktop range gave all the models apart from the Jazzmaster the thumbs up, concentrating on the apparently odd decision of Fender to keep the "idiosyncratic" trem plate of the original design on the Blacktop version, giving it a lower score than the rest for this reason alone.

Yep, this baffles me. The trem units on these models are one of their strengths (and I consider defining features). Between removing good trem systems and going nuts with their recent humbucker fetish, Fender's fucking with some great models these days.

[ekwatts]

I like this thing, save for parroted reservations about the Strat style bridge. Really curious about that switching setup, a dual tap would be a really neat set up.

The main reason Fender usually issues new versions of these old shapes without the proper trems is that so many people view them as a liability. We're a small community of people who love the way they look, in many cases even the way they operate, and all that kind of thing. But that's not what the vast majority of conservative minded guitarists out there want.

The recent Guitarist Magazine review of the whole Blacktop range gave all the models apart from the Jazzmaster the thumbs up, concentrating on the apparently odd decision of Fender to keep the "idiosyncratic" trem plate of the original design on the Blacktop version, giving it a lower score than the rest for this reason alone.

Yep, this baffles me. The trem units on these models are one of their strengths (and I consider defining features). Between removing good trem systems and going nuts with their recent humbucker fetish, Fender's fucking with some great models these days.

I think the only real "problem" with the Jazzmaster was that it didn't closely follow the rest of the Blacktop range in terms of the pickups. Otherwise it would have made a fair bit of sense to have simply had the Jag as a shorter scale, hardtail, stripped down rock guitar in the style of a Les Paul and the Jazzmaster as the longer-scale trem-equipped equivalent with the same visual flair, including the twin chrome-covered pickups. But it seems that in leaving the trem on the Jazzy they decided to also mess with a couple of other Blacktop features, leaving it looking a bit like the shunned black sheep of the family on top of the fact that most of the guitarists that might be interested will have already passed over on it because of the trem.

So it's sometimes a case of bad design decisions by Fender attempting to please all of the people, all of the time (a move that all too often fails) and of guitarists for being so bloody obsessed with stratocasters and Les Pauls.

[hotrodperlmutter]

found this while searching for 'mustang with wide range'

[youtube][/youtube]

[Ankhanu]

I think the only real "problem" with the Jazzmaster was that it didn't closely follow the rest of the Blacktop range in terms of the pickups. Otherwise it would have made a fair bit of sense to have simply had the Jag as a shorter scale, hardtail, stripped down rock guitar in the style of a Les Paul and the Jazzmaster as the longer-scale trem-equipped equivalent with the same visual flair, including the twin chrome-covered pickups. But it seems that in leaving the trem on the Jazzy they decided to also mess with a couple of other Blacktop features, leaving it looking a bit like the shunned black sheep of the family on top of the fact that most of the guitarists that might be interested will have already passed over on it because of the trem.

So it's sometimes a case of bad design decisions by Fender attempting to please all of the people, all of the time (a move that all too often fails) and of guitarists for being so bloody obsessed with stratocasters and Les Pauls.

Good point. I hadn't put a lot of thought into how the JM differed from the rest of the series, but that's a really good point. Interestingly enough, it's the changes from the rest of the line that they made to it that makes the JM appeal to me while the others (such as the Jag) do not.

[SGJarrod]

I think the only real "problem" with the Jazzmaster was that it didn't closely follow the rest of the Blacktop range in terms of the pickups. Otherwise it would have made a fair bit of sense to have simply had the Jag as a shorter scale, hardtail, stripped down rock guitar in the style of a Les Paul and the Jazzmaster as the longer-scale trem-equipped equivalent with the same visual flair, including the twin chrome-covered pickups. But it seems that in leaving the trem on the Jazzy they decided to also mess with a couple of other Blacktop features, leaving it looking a bit like the shunned black sheep of the family on top of the fact that most of the guitarists that might be interested will have already passed over on it because of the trem.

So it's sometimes a case of bad design decisions by Fender attempting to please all of the people, all of the time (a move that all too often fails) and of guitarists for being so bloody obsessed with stratocasters and Les Pauls.

Good point. I hadn't put a lot of thought into how the JM differed from the rest of the series, but that's a really good point. Interestingly enough, it's the changes from the rest of the line that they made to it that makes the JM appeal to me while the others (such as the Jag) do not.

Zactly.... I Love my BT JM because of what it is..... I love JMs but like HB's in the bridge.... I know I'm not alone because I have heard of more peeps buying the JM than the other models

[SGJarrod]

I think the only real "problem" with the Jazzmaster was that it didn't closely follow the rest of the Blacktop range in terms of the pickups. Otherwise it would have made a fair bit of sense to have simply had the Jag as a shorter scale, hardtail, stripped down rock guitar in the style of a Les Paul and the Jazzmaster as the longer-scale trem-equipped equivalent with the same visual flair, including the twin chrome-covered pickups. But it seems that in leaving the trem on the Jazzy they decided to also mess with a couple of other Blacktop features, leaving it looking a bit like the shunned black sheep of the family on top of the fact that most of the guitarists that might be interested will have already passed over on it because of the trem.

So it's sometimes a case of bad design decisions by Fender attempting to please all of the people, all of the time (a move that all too often fails) and of guitarists for being so bloody obsessed with stratocasters and Les Pauls.

Good point. I hadn't put a lot of thought into how the JM differed from the rest of the series, but that's a really good point. Interestingly enough, it's the changes from the rest of the line that they made to it that makes the JM appeal to me while the others (such as the Jag) do not.

[GreenKnee]

found this while searching for 'mustang with wide range'

[youtube][/youtube]

I think that guys had a few too many of what's on top of the amp!

[SKC Willie]

I think the only real "problem" with the Jazzmaster was that it didn't closely follow the rest of the Blacktop range in terms of the pickups. Otherwise it would have made a fair bit of sense to have simply had the Jag as a shorter scale, hardtail, stripped down rock guitar in the style of a Les Paul and the Jazzmaster as the longer-scale trem-equipped equivalent with the same visual flair, including the twin chrome-covered pickups. But it seems that in leaving the trem on the Jazzy they decided to also mess with a couple of other Blacktop features, leaving it looking a bit like the shunned black sheep of the family on top of the fact that most of the guitarists that might be interested will have already passed over on it because of the trem.

So it's sometimes a case of bad design decisions by Fender attempting to please all of the people, all of the time (a move that all too often fails) and of guitarists for being so bloody obsessed with stratocasters and Les Pauls.

Good point. I hadn't put a lot of thought into how the JM differed from the rest of the series, but that's a really good point. Interestingly enough, it's the changes from the rest of the line that they made to it that makes the JM appeal to me while the others (such as the Jag) do not.

Zactly.... I Love my BT JM because of what it is..... I love JMs but like HB's in the bridge.... I know I'm not alone because I have heard of more peeps buying the JM than the other models

look at who you talk to.

they've sold alot of the teles too. every time I go to he music store, the guy tells me they sold another black top tele.

[ekwatts]

Yep, this is what I mean; the Blacktop Jazzmaster doesn't totally fit into the Blacktop range and for certain people (people like us) that marks it out as a more interesting instrument than the rest of the range. It's a funny old world.

I end up thinking that the vast majority of guitarists out there are knuckledragging fools in the end, not least because of the sheer amount of semi-naked failed porn stars that tend to appear in guitar magazines (although this seems to be a uniquely American problem, in fact).

[Ankhanu]

Well, that's just it, ANYONE can and will be a guitar player. Because it's such a widely adopted instrument, most people buying them are like most other people; they want what everyone else wants and is classically fashionable. There's nothing wrong with Teles, Strats, LPs and SGs, just that they're so goddamn popular; they're popular (partially because they're good) partially because they're fashionable, and popular because they're popular. It's vicious.

Of course, along with the broad spectrum of people that constitute "guitar players" there's still a sizable (though oft overlooked by manufacturers) population of players, such as ourselves, that are looking for something more interesting. I'm glad that the big manufacturers are occasionally looking for our market, but, they're so used to the normal market that they try to bring what works there to us, and to bring the normal market some appreciation for the aesthetics and features that appeal to us... and generally flopping on both sides

So yeah, vast majority of guitar players ARE knuckledragging fools, but only because the vast majority of people in general are

[Bacchus]

I quite like the look of the Mustang thing but not as much as a regular Mustang. I don't see the point in the Fender '51. Surely if you wanted that you'd just buy a Squier and mod it, no? Was that not the point?

[ekwatts]

Aye, the 51 was one of the most popular guitars Squier ever made, so I'd have thought a reissue wouldn't exactly be a bad move.

But I said years ago that Squier was beginning to turn into a bit of a testbed for future Fender products when the 51 and the Tele Custom II came out.