1968 Competition Red Mustang

Richard · Post by **Richard** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 4:40 am

Holy shit. That's one of the nicest original Comp. Mustangs I've seen. Absolutely stunning. Congratulations!

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 4:43 am

Thanks! I can't wait to play around more tomorrow. I need to check it along side my 69 reissue for fun.

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 5:20 am

The reissues do feel completely different. My Mullet-stang has a 1969 neck on it and it feels so comfortable to play. I really want a vintage Comp-stang one day.

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 3:39 pm

I am going to try to get both of my comps out tonight to give them a good look over side by side. I am almost positive the vintage bodies are thinner. The neck even feels narrower. It is a "B" neck, so it should be sort of the same.

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 6:00 pm

My Comp RI has the narrowest nut width at 41 mm I think. The neck is a thinner profile compared to my 1969 neck and the neck on my 1972 Bronco.

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 11:12 pm

Got out Red and Blue and did a side by side and sound check. It was really interesting actually.

Visually similar. The pickguard on Blue (Japanese) is slightly different.

IMG_3507 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

IMG_3506 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Japanese contours are more defined and hard edged. The American (Red) is more gradual.

IMG_3508 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Japanese one has Klusons similar to Red.

IMG_3509 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Red (American) IS slightly thinner but the overall weight was actually closer than I remembered. They feel about the same weight to me even with Red having a slightly slimmer body.

IMG_3510 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

IMG_3512 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Japanese has black side dots under the rosewood. American has white side dots on the line.

IMG_3514 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Japanese bridge screws go all the way to the other lip. No Pat. info.

IMG_3515 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

American ones stop about 1/8 of an inch. Tremolo has Pat. info.

IMG_3518 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Japanese has no gap between the control plate and the pickguard.

IMG_3519 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

American has a gap.

IMG_3520 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Sound wise they are actually very similar. I was impressed how close they were really. The headstock decals don't match. Japanese one has Black Fender with a larger and longer "Mustang" part as well as the Offset part. The American is white with more Pat. info under it. No Offset part and a smaller thinner "Mustang" text.

Fun comparison. The necks feel almost the same in shape. I was really surprised by this. The Japanese one holds well and was a very good rendition of the real deal. There are some differences of course, but they are very similar.

serfx · Post by **serfx** » Wed Jun 05, 2013 3:21 am

v. nice.

and thanks for the side by side comparison
we need to get that in the wiki.

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Wed Jun 05, 2013 4:01 am

Thanks! One thing I forgot is the twelfth fret dots on the American are closer together. The Japanese ones are centered under the A and B strings and the American is between the A and D and the G and the B string.

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Wed Jun 05, 2013 2:58 pm

Jim_Nowhere wrote:we need to get that in the wiki.

I am not sure how to do that. (Not sure if Mods or Admin do that.) They are welcome to use any pictures or info I posted.

If any different pictures are needed (like headstock decals) I could take some more as well. I could get a closer shot of the dot spacing, but you can see it in the full body picture.

Awstin · Post by **Awstin** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 11:34 am

That's a hawt combo right there. And damn that American has a fat neck compared to the japan one.

NickS · Post by **NickS** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 11:39 am

That's a nice geetar you got there.

HNB wrote:There is a ground wire running from the control plate to the tremolo plate.

Is that standard for the period, or just for student models? My Swinger has that too.

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 12:15 pm

I am guessing normal. Jazzies and Jags sometimes had a plate grounded like this.

weeping_moon · Post by **weeping_moon** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 6:09 pm

Congrats HNB! Would like to have this guitar to!

What kind of body material is it, popular, basswood or alder.

Very nice pics!

Could you maybe post a vid on youtube?

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Fri Jun 07, 2013 1:35 am

Will do. I have another one coming in a couple weeks, so I might dig out the Showman to do a proper demo of them both together.

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Mon Jun 17, 2013 2:28 am

New competition family photo. I thought I should get some pictures of all three of my competitions together. (1968 US Competition Red, 1969 US Competition Blue, and my '69 Reissue Japanese Competition Ocean Turquoise Metallic.)

IMG_3596 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

IMG_3597 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

IMG_3598 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

IMG_3599 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

IMG_3601 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

IMG_3602 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

StevePirates · Post by **StevePirates** » Mon Jun 17, 2013 3:14 am

Did you just buy one and put it in water? Don't feed it after midnight man, you might wind up with a Jackson Dinky.

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Mon Jun 17, 2013 3:52 am

LOL No. If that worked, I would have way more than three....

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Mon Jun 17, 2013 4:19 am

A little red vs blue. I did a demo of my '69 and my Japanese reissue. They sound very similar. After the demo, I raised the pickups in the reissue a bit and it sounds even closer. Slightly different, but very close. You can be the judge though.

[youtube][/youtube]

sfx · Post by **sfx** » Tue Jun 18, 2013 12:59 am

HNB wrote:I am guessing normal. Jazzies and Jags sometimes had a plate grounded like this.

I think so. My 69 Compstang has that ground wire too.

jims357 · Post by **jims357** » Wed Jun 19, 2013 4:42 am

amazing collection. that 69 comp blue is one of my dream guitars.