just got my first mustang in

brianjdc · Post by **brianjdc** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 9:02 pm

Well after playing jazzmasters and jags for a few years decided to grab a mustang to round out the family. can anyone point me towards a good set u[p guide for the mustang trem? Any tips on increasing tunning stability?

thanks

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 9:36 pm

I found that lubricating the saddle and nut and minimizing the windings on the tuner posts is enough, there's really not much else to the Mustang. People say that you can't set up a Mustang with 9s, but I've been able to do so. I prefer 10s, though.

You can raise or lower the tailpiece to increase the break angle, which in turn generally stabilizes the strings. However, screw it down too much and the trem becomes hard to use, so it's a matter of finding that right angle. But many Mustang players do without the whammy arm, we like to just push or pull on the tailpiece directly.

As with the Jaguar or Jazzmaster, the bridge moves from side to side, you can prevent it from moving by wrapping tape around the posts, although I don't know if I recommend that solution. And as with the Jag or Jazz, there's a lot of extracurricular noise from the instrument unplugged that tends to go away when plugged in, so don't obsesses over some weird sound that you can't localize.

rps-10 · Post by **rps-10** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 9:48 pm

http://shortscale.org/wiki/index.php?ti ... tang_Setup

brianjdc · Post by **brianjdc** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 9:53 pm

cool. thanks guys!

cobascis · Post by **cobascis** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 10:17 pm

Moving the springs down to the lowest notch is a night and day difference.

Mages · Post by **Mages** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 10:20 pm

that is for the vintage mustang BTW. here is a good guide for the MIJ guitar: http://www.jag-stang.com/forum/topic/92 ... hammy-use/ (has more general guitar setup advice as well)

there are two opposing viewpoints on how to setup this trem, one is that you should adjust the tailpiece posts to stand straight up, reducing string tension. this way allows the best use of the trem but sacrifices tuning stability. the other way is to adjust the posts to be leaning back, increasing string tension. this way gives the best tuning stability but sacrifices trem usability.

Doug · Post by **Doug** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 11:26 pm

Thanks for the clear, helpful post, Honeyiscool.

Doug

brianjdc · Post by **brianjdc** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 12:22 am

Ok I think I got her al dialed in now just when I was getting used to the jm/jag trem I had to go swithc it up.

mtotallywired · Post by **mtotallywired** » Fri May 06, 2011 4:44 am

for the record, i find the mustang vibrato the biggest pain in the ass to set up of all of fender's trem designs. if you haven't already gotten it fixed, try to track down mad-mike's jagstang setup guide...it's THOROUGH and actually works