NVGD: 1964 Fender Mustang - CAUTION POO BROWN CONTENT AHEAD

hotrodperlmutter · Post by **hotrodperlmutter** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 2:48 am

my explanation is that i don't think your 69RI was an A width.

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 3:08 am

A-width necks are 1 1/2 in. at the nut. Japanese mustangs are more like 1 9/16 in., maybe a hair less than 40 mm.

Lucamo · Post by **Lucamo** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 3:44 am

Grant wrote:A-width necks are 1 1/2 in. at the nut. Japanese mustangs are more like 1 9/16 in., maybe a hair less than 40 mm.

69RI are thinner in all ways then the 65RI. I think. For sure the fullness of the back of the neck. The fretboard may be the same width.

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 3:55 am

Ah, right. I should say that I'm measuring my 90's CIJ Mustang's nut. 90's Mustangs' nuts are as narrow as 69RIs', I think? Certainly not wider.

Mages · Post by **Mages** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 3:56 am

the fullness of the back of the neck is the neck profile. not width.

Lucamo · Post by **Lucamo** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 4:03 am

Mages wrote:the fullness of the back of the neck is the neck profile. not width.

Thanks friendo, I always mix the terms up.

From my experience, my 90s MIJ Mustang has a thinner profile than 65RI and 69RI but by not as much. Not sure about the width.

Mages · Post by **Mages** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 4:07 am

yeah, people don't talk about the width that much as I think it has pretty much been standardized to B width these days. but in the 60s fender apparently made everything from A to D width.

Lucamo · Post by **Lucamo** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 4:39 am

Isen't the nut measurement width?

Mages · Post by **Mages** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 4:43 am

yes, I believe so.

Phil O'Keefe wrote:You will see A and B on 24" scale necks most often, but there are A, B, C and D neck widths. B is by far the most common, although A is not all that rare - especially on "3/4" (22.5") scale necks. A = 1 Â½", B = 1 5/8", C = 1 Â¾" and D = 1 7/8". You'll also hear people using letters to describe the neck profile - usually with the letters C, D, V and U... but that has to do with the shape (or profile) of the back of the neck and not the actual width of it.

this all has to do with the vintage guitars. I'm pretty sure the new guitars are just standardized to something close to B width. although I think it varies slightly depending on who is building the guitar.

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 9:58 am

Vintage A width necks are tiny, moreso than any japanese mustangs i've played. That's why 99% of the people who buy A width necked mustangs want to swap the offending part out for a B width one.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 11:54 am

Fact: because of tiny hands I researched small necks and discovered A-Width and by proxy Shortscales and shortscale.org (after a brief dalliance with Offset)

Steve! · Post by **Steve!** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 7:31 pm

i think that looks awesome tbh

mtotallywired · Post by **mtotallywired** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 5:38 am

Glad to see so much interest in this thread! Hope everyone got to see the updated pics on page two.
I do dig this guitar so very much, and have been bringing it to every band practice we've played.
Unfortunately, I keep knocking one of the strings out of the nut. I think its the G or the D.
Because of the A neck, I feel especially heavy handed with it on open chords, which is a bummer but not so bad
cause I don't play too many songs with open chords. The occasional C or E though is enough to make it happen, which makes me
think of adding an extra string tree? but then again I don't want to mess with the headstock. I'm just keeping my eyes peeled
to trade this neck for a B width one, cause I really want to keep this guitar! Another alternative is to just keep this neck (for resale value) and get the jag neck from allparts and possibly get it finished by a pal of mine...but I wonder if that will fit in this neck pocket? I assume it would, because I've seen people pop these vintage A neck's on Japanese RI bodies...

To answer Mage's question,
I got all the issues, intonation, tuning, and vibrato functionality completely sorted thanks to mad-mike's guide over at the Jag-stang forum.
This thing is ridiculously stable now and the vibrato is every bit as usable as the trems on my jazzy's and my avri jag, except tbh, I do like the jazzy/jag design much more.

dweez · Post by **dweez** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 5:50 pm

I wasn't sold on the colour in the first pics, but when you showed the newer pics with the black pup cover on I think it really pulls the whole visual of the guitar together, and I must say I really quite like it now.

Nice wood floors in your photos too

Lucamo · Post by **Lucamo** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 6:10 pm

dweez wrote:
Nice wood floors in your photos too

was totally loving the amber gloss finish on your floors. Lawlz

Phil O'Keefe · Post by **Phil O'Keefe** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 11:49 am

Mages wrote:yeah, people don't talk about the width that much as I think it has pretty much been standardized to B width these days. but in the 60s fender apparently made everything from A to D width.

I have a 8 AUG 65 B stamped vintage neck; it's a slab board with a B width, but definitely a U profile; I only tried it very briefly, and didn't care for the extra "meat" on the shoulders of the neck. I have really short fingers...

I have a '75 Musicmaster neck, and a '94 MIJ, and they are nearly identical in size - both are B widths (1 5/8") but much more of a slim C shaped profile. My '71 Mustang is also very similar in shape (profile), but a tiny bit larger in all respects in terms of the back - a little thicker overall, but it doesn't have as much meat in the shoulders and it is not as quite as thick as the '65 is though. The width is also a B.

I've seen a couple of MIJ Mustang necks that were A widths, and a few USA necks that were A's and even a C width once... but never a D. Not on a Mustang / Duo Sonic or Music Master. I'm not saying they never made one - only that I've never run across one. The vast majority of the necks I've seen (USA and MIJ) are B width, and a few were A's.

mtotallywired · Post by **mtotallywired** » Fri May 06, 2011 4:41 am

A lil twist of fate to close this thread, I ended up selling this to a very happy Japanese gentleman who decided he'd get back to his roots and start playing guitar again, after winning a rolling rock endorsed fender telecaster. you know, those really terrible ones with the logo stamped across the entire body? Dude was 5 foot even, and had tiny hands, and he grabbed a hold of this thing and it was like a match made in heaven!

What did I do with the money instantaneously after? I bought a Japanese 65 RI, in one of my favorite colors, olympic white! I fucking LOVE IT. Now I just need to find a mint pickguard that'll fit this thing!