ShortScale.org

MrMaxima wrote:I've never seen a "naked" 70's pickup...

here's one-

the guitar is at a friend's house being worked on - he's in Florida
and I'm in Virginia. I'll see if he can take a few shots.

Stew,

those poles don't look real flush either - like mine.

vic108 wrote:Also missing trem springs ... if anyone knows a source.

Me! I am a source. Where are you? I'll send you a PM.

vic108 wrote:the guitar is at a friend's house being worked on - he's in Florida
and I'm in Virginia. I'll see if he can take a few shots.

Where in VA? I'm in Reston.

Eastern Shore

anyone ever use a Warmoth modified 'tang bridge?

http://www.warmoth.com/Modified-Mustang ... 6C716.aspx

doog swears by them.

cool = TY!

I'll get to =CB= who's working on it now...

=CB= is posting his work on this 'tang at the Warmoth site (if you care to look):


http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index. ... ic=13958.0


a pot from '66, neck stamp reads (to me) "Nov 70"..... a Leo's parts guitar?



nice 'tang link here too: http://fendermustangstory.com/main.htm

vic108 wrote:a pot from '66, neck stamp reads (to me) "Nov 70"..... a Leo's parts guitar?

they used pots from the mid 60s for years due to someone buying too many. why the mystery on the wormoth site? it seems fairly straightforward- 1970/71 LPB compstang with non-matching headstock, no? unless i'm missing something. granted the fretboard veneer looks a bit strange but they did strange things back then on occasion.

stewart wrote:

vic108 wrote:a pot from '66, neck stamp reads (to me) "Nov 70"..... a Leo's parts guitar?

they used pots from the mid 60s for years due to someone buying too many. why the mystery on the wormoth site? it seems fairly straightforward- 1970/71 LPB compstang with non-matching headstock, no? unless i'm missing something. granted the fretboard veneer looks a bit strange but they did strange things back then on occasion.

You gotta remember, since 'tangs were a cheap student guitar, folks didn't take them seriously.
Musicians tended to feel that, at one point, they would outgrow the student models and buy a REAL guitar.
The thing was they had a sound all their own - completely different than a strat or a tele and if you had small
hands, they were greater still.

When guitars started to become worth alot of dosh, folks tended to be drawn towards the Les Pauls, Strats, and Teles first.
Alot of research and data was dug up to evaluate the worth of these guitars. Since 'tangs were not one of the real valuable axes,
most folks are still discovering the quirks of Fender's approach to student guitar building - leftover parts, whatever parts were to be used up. When folks venture away from the flagship guitars, it's another world. That's why a place like this is important. You guys are the experts on these types of guitars.

I hate the term 'Tang. Every time I read that a bit of my brain dies.

BacchusPaul wrote:I hate the term 'Tang. Every time I read that a bit of my brain dies.

yeah and a chalky orange taste hits my mouth... eh, rancid stuff

It's no earlier than LATE 1968 - more likely early 1969. They didn't do the tummy contour and top (forearm) contour on Mustangs prior to that.

It's probably not newer than late 1975. They didn't make Mustangs with white button Fender made (NOT Schaller) F tuners after that.

The serial number (located on the neck plate) will give us a much better idea if you can post that. My guess is that it is six digits, and the first three numbers are in the 200-600 range. You can also open up the control cavity and write down any numbers that you find stamped into the volume and tone pots; they can also be used to date the year of manufacture.

As far as pearl pickguards, lots of early 70s Fenders had them stock. My '71 Mustang has one. My '73 Tele Thinline had one.

As far as the refinish, that white paint is most definitely not factory, so there's no harm to the "value" of the guitar by removing that and refinishing it. In fact, I would say the guitar's value will increase marginally with a decent nitrocellulose refinish job. Not as much as it would be if it still had the factory paint job, but it's definitely more desirable with a good nitro paint job than it is with, uh... that on there. Have a look inside the control cavity while you're in there and you'll probably see some traces of the original color on the sides of the cavity.

Even if you decide to leave it the way it is, it's still a nice score. Congratulations!

After reading more of the thread... I'd say it looks like a late '70 or early '71 Compstang, and it was probably originally Competition Burgundy (blue). The lack of matching headstock is interesting - I believe most of the Competition Mustangs made prior to mid 1971 had them, while pretty much all of the ones after mid 1971 did not. My '71 doesn't have a painted headstock, and the dates all fall in the mid '71 range.

As far as the '66 pots yeah, Fender had a gripload of them, and they were indeed used into the early 70s. And while Forrest White is rumored to have been fired over the order, that is untrue. He actually quit Fender over a dispute about quality and manufacturing methods, not for ordering too many solid shaft potentiometers in 1966:

I should also mention the 1966 dated pots. CBS Fender bought a huge surplus of pots in 1966. You can find 1966 pot codes, especially on 250K solid shaft pots, well into the early 70's. These pots can usually be found in Telecaster, P-Bass, J-Bass, Steel, amplifier and Mustang guitars. In his book, Forrest White claims after he left Fender the (untrue) rumor went around he was fired for buying up items in surplus. These pots are perhaps an example of that made the rumor believable to insiders.

Source.

Thanks Phil, 2 great posts. I'll get =CB= to check for a date in the neck pocket...

i know this is an old thread and I haven;t been around but i thought maybe some of you would be interested about what's been going on with this old mustang. My friend CB is only now getting around to it because i lost my job of 18 years and have been unemployed for 14 months, and I knew he was busy with motorcycles and girlfriends and told him to put it on the back burner. He started the project finally two weeks ago:



"The color is shell pink, from Re-Ranch. The clearcoats are good ol' Cabot rattle can lacquer. For gloss, Cabot is a tad better than Deft. It sands easier, but both give great results. Deft is the clear winner on satin finish. Defts satin is "to die for", and will buff to almost mirror bright, leaving a soft patina that says "aged" very well.
The back needs one more wet coat. The front needs a quick level, then two wet coats. After that - it sits for two weeks, followed by final sand with 600 or 800 grit, and buff to "not quite mirror". The body has defects that are not going to be fixed, so I'm not going for 100 percent mirror bright.

The neck will need to be "dumbed down" a bit, lose its brilliance, get some ciggy burns and character, then be mated to the body."



CB said whoever took a rotarty sander to it should be shot at dawn, that and the deep gouges made him decide to keep it reliced some, as sanding it smooth would take too much wood off to get it smooth. He's refretted and dressed the neck and says it's to die for. So. hopefully this long awaited project will be completed.

vic108 wrote:"The color is shell pink, from Re-Ranch.

Yes! Looks like a beauty.

This is what the world has been waiting for.

We're on pins and needles to see the pink wonder come to fruition, thanks for the update!