ShortScale.org

Well i picked up a bit of a cheap deal on ebay last week and it arrived today. It's a 69RI mustang made in 93. I might need a couple of words with the seller as there are a couple of issues but first some quick photo's






OK, the guitar needs a set up, some new strings (it has 9s on currently and they are rusty) and a bloody good clean which was kind of expected to be honest. The neck feels brilliant and while not as shallow as my CVC it is close. It seems narrow at the nut for me but soon gets wider lower down really means playing chords isn't an issue. Until I sort out the issues with the strings/set up/etc I won't comment on how it feels properly but I can sense I won't be disappointed.

My main gripe are the pots, the volume soon rolls off around a quarter of the way down and the tone control doesn't have much affect so these will need changing. There is also a rattle at the bridge when strumming chords but when I work through the strings it seems to be mainly the B string. Is this a set up issue or maybe something a little bit more serious?

I will have to say though it sounds great when tone and volume are on full. I really like it but would like to have a full range of sound on the pots.

Also no Trem arm, but at the moment that isn't an issue

So what pots should I add in? What else might I consider after a good clean and polish?

Nice dude, i had a semi-erection (your camera is..). Looks spanking.
CTS pots are teh vintage choice, but like with any CIJ Fender RI you have a great chassis that would benefit hugely from an electronic overall

Fran wrote:Nice dude, i had a semi-erection (your camera is..). Looks spanking.
CTS pots are teh vintage choice, but like with any CIJ Fender RI you have a great chassis that would benefit hugely from an electronic overall

thanks fran, i'm hoping to get better light at the weekend for some good photos of the jag, tele and mustang as well as a bit of time to crank the amp at the weekend (I had 10 mins before the kids had to go to bed tonight) and see what the mustang can delivery.

I will take a look at the CTS pots (who is good at stocking them?), like you say but the main thing for me is the neck feels right and pretty close to the tele which I think is lovely. What with my planned tele mods and this I can see the me and my solderining iron will be on good name terms pretty soon.

For sure dude, a Mustang neck is something else, beautiful to play.
In the UK axesrus stock CTS pots, they are good to deal with too.

Linky

very cool. i was not aware they made '69RI without matching headstocks. i thought that was the '73RI.

awesome though.

hotrodperlmutter wrote:very cool. i was not aware they made '69RI without matching headstocks. i thought that was the '73RI.

awesome though.

seller said 69, but i will do more research on it i think. Given the way the japanese ploughed out the re-issues it wouldn't surprise me that they did but they were marketed in the UK as 69s. Any other way I might be able to tell the differenence?

Thanks Fran. I need to order a few things so will take a look. What value pots should I go for? 500k? And also what type of taper? Will I need to order capacitors as well?

Cheers

I'm curious to know how much you paid for this.

Nice guitar. I love the competition stangs! How are the pickups?

I've always wanted a fender with a stripe. looks great man!

Taylor, they seem fine but the electrics need a good clean and I should be able to tell afterwards. The neck pick up seems great but I only had limited time playing it last night.


Astro, thanks

Danny, why the curiosity?

Mustangs usually have 250k pots stock.

500k would brighten them up if needed, but my stang is quite bright anyway, so its up to you

Jack

Nice. I prefer it without the matching headstock!

The rattle at the bridge may be the bridge posts, i get a similar thing on my 69ri. I think people just wrap them in tape or something but I just left mine as is. Also the pots on mine suck too haha.

I likes it!

Very cool. I'm in the camp that does prefer matching headstocks, but it wouldn't be a deal breaker.

Nice buy.

Nice Stang . Congrats . The needs for that thing is minimal . Setting up the bridge is a piece of cake . Truss rod can be a pain in the balls if it needs it . Neck's straight , right ?
As for the pots you can try just shooting CO2 in them to dust them out some . If you want to change the pots that's pretty inexpensive too.
IMO light strings on a Stang suck . Just my opinion . I put light strings on mine when I first got it ( I have a 69RI too) and it just didn't sound right . Elixir 10s are just proper .
Enjoy it .

Ah! Good to see a shortscaler snapped that up. I'd been underpaid when it finished so didn't really have the money for it, otherwise she might've been mine!
Look forward to seeing a few more pics + hope you can sort all the issues out. That's the problem with the bay really isn't it? Not being able to test before you buy, it's happened to me once or twice, but I'd say the good buys have more than made up for it.

thanks guys, at least the issues are minor and easily sorted out. Played it a little more and like the neck pick up but the bridge feels a little weak, will assess further once I clean it up and sort out the electrics.

Im surprised Robroe hasnt posted here, he knows his shit concerning the differences between Mustang reissues..

Curious because I've been looking for a 69 RI mustang for a good price.

I like comp red mustangs. I have the blue one but now i want a red one.
I was going to trade my '96 sonic blue stang for a comp red stang locally, but the deal fell thru