What do you think of the Mustang Pawn Shop Special?
Moderated By: mods
I like the Pawnshop bodies a lot, they really married the Mustang into the Jag/Jazz body thing, And they kept the cute little horns. I like the original more because the body has an awkwardness and innocence. The horns on both of these are important to me, they're stubby like Bambi might have. As opposed to those fully grown Strat horns, they bore the crap out of me.
-
taylornutt
- .
- Posts: 4908
- Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2009 5:04 pm
- Location: Dallas, TX
I played a Blue one at Best Buy and a red one at Guitar Center today. A few thoughts:
Construction: Solid and good quality like you would expect for a Japanese Fender guitar. I also played the Fender 72 in Surf green and it was also very well made.
Body: The overall guitar is very light weight and comfortable to hold in your lap. When you look at the body, it looks very small (like a miniature Jaguar), but it feels great while you play.I liked both LPB and the CAR, though I am a sucker for red guitars.
Neck: Perfect. Nice tint and gloss....similar to CV guitars but better. If you have played a Japanese neck you understand. Frets were well dressed and played heavenly. The profile felt like my AVRI Jaguar or the CIJ Jaguar HH, as opposed to a traditional Mustang neck. Tuners were good.
Pickups: Let me start by saying I don't like humbuckers. I had a PRS McCarty I sold and bought my AVRI Jaguar. I have also never been a fan of coil tapping or humbucker splitting because the single coil sound never sounds very good. I like how they did these Enforcer WRHBs. Using the Mustang switches, you can switch between humbucker or selecting either of the single coils from the humbucker. I played it thorough a Hot Rod Deville III and a Twin Reverb. The humbucker sounds similar to a WRHB but not as much presence. The coil split actually produced a nice single coil sound, especially on the bridge pickup. Great cleans and I liked the humbuckers as well.
Overall: I really liked the Mustang special, everything but the price. If I had to choose between a 65RI Mustang and the Mustang Special at that price, I would choose 65RI, but that doesn't take away I really loved Mustang special. I would not hesistate to pickup a used one down the road for a better price or to drop the pickguard/electronics into a normal Mustang style body for a more traditional feel. That sounds like a nice build idea for later
Construction: Solid and good quality like you would expect for a Japanese Fender guitar. I also played the Fender 72 in Surf green and it was also very well made.
Body: The overall guitar is very light weight and comfortable to hold in your lap. When you look at the body, it looks very small (like a miniature Jaguar), but it feels great while you play.I liked both LPB and the CAR, though I am a sucker for red guitars.
Neck: Perfect. Nice tint and gloss....similar to CV guitars but better. If you have played a Japanese neck you understand. Frets were well dressed and played heavenly. The profile felt like my AVRI Jaguar or the CIJ Jaguar HH, as opposed to a traditional Mustang neck. Tuners were good.
Pickups: Let me start by saying I don't like humbuckers. I had a PRS McCarty I sold and bought my AVRI Jaguar. I have also never been a fan of coil tapping or humbucker splitting because the single coil sound never sounds very good. I like how they did these Enforcer WRHBs. Using the Mustang switches, you can switch between humbucker or selecting either of the single coils from the humbucker. I played it thorough a Hot Rod Deville III and a Twin Reverb. The humbucker sounds similar to a WRHB but not as much presence. The coil split actually produced a nice single coil sound, especially on the bridge pickup. Great cleans and I liked the humbuckers as well.
Overall: I really liked the Mustang special, everything but the price. If I had to choose between a 65RI Mustang and the Mustang Special at that price, I would choose 65RI, but that doesn't take away I really loved Mustang special. I would not hesistate to pickup a used one down the road for a better price or to drop the pickguard/electronics into a normal Mustang style body for a more traditional feel. That sounds like a nice build idea for later
J Mascis Jazzmaster | AVRI Jaguar | Tuxedo-stang |Fender Toronado GT |
Squier FSR Sparkle Jaguar | Squier CV Mustang |1971 Fender Bronco| Baja Telecaster |
Squier FSR Sparkle Jaguar | Squier CV Mustang |1971 Fender Bronco| Baja Telecaster |