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squier vm mustang. opinions?

Posted: Tue Aug 27, 2013 12:27 pm
by Benmurray85
got a lead on what i reckon is a decent price second hand for one of these? (£150)

any opinions basically? do they need much working doing? parts changing? just trying to get a picture in my head whetehr or not this super cheap guitar is gonna need some stuff doing to it. coz i dont really have the time or the money :oops:

i hear great stuff about the vm range so im hoping to snap this up but i figure ss'ers will have a pretty decvent knowledge of these?

cheers guys

Posted: Tue Aug 27, 2013 12:54 pm
by gusman2x
Not played one, but based on the quality of my VM Jag, I'd say it's definitely going to be worth £150. Only thing I changed out was the bridge for a staytrem. If you are more patient, then the Std bridge can be fixed with some superglue and a bit of setting up. I'm always lokiong for the lowest action I can get too, which is part of the reason the I go for the staytrem.

WRT the sounds, the duncan designed in my VM Jag sound much better than my CIJ jag.

Buy it.

Posted: Tue Aug 27, 2013 6:02 pm
by Freddy V-C
Similarly, I haven't played the Mustang but I own the Jaguar and it has become my main guitar. Everything was pretty much perfect when I bought it other than the bridge. The bridge is a piece of shit. I bought a cheap TOM for £10 and shimmed the neck. All fine and dandy.

Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 2:59 am
by so1om
sounds like a deal.. i hope it all works out for you.

bridge buzz? easy fix.



http://s774.photobucket.com/user/so1o_m ... sort=3&o=0

Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 8:42 am
by Freddy V-C
It wasn't simply a case of bridge buzz for me. I had a couple of gigs where I had to stop midset and get out my allen key because the bridge was literally rattling to the point where screws were shaking themselves out.

Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 8:53 am
by Benmurray85
Freddy V-C wrote:The bridge is a piece of shit. I bought a cheap TOM for £10 and shimmed the neck. All fine and dandy.
i actually like the look of the bridge so i was hoping to keep it but im happy to swap it out if its shit. can i ask why you had to "shim the neck" sorry if this is a daft question

i should point out this is unlikely to be a gigging guitar. just something to throw around my bedroom like a filthy mistress

Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 9:00 am
by Freddy V-C
The TOM sits higher on the body than the stock bridge. Shimming the neck raised it up in order to meet the bridge so that the action wasn't crazy high.

To be honest the stock bridge will probably be okay if you're just playing it at home. And chances are you're not as heavy handed as I am.

Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 9:32 am
by Benmurray85
ah ok i see. cheers

and unfortunately i am extremely heavy handed as well, even at home! haha its the only way to get good tonez

Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 10:40 am
by so1om
Yeah, it's the loose tolerance of screw and fit that they allow for the build up of finish. Thats why some screws rattle out. Use some white glue, blue or purple picture, nail polish...just a dab on the threads. Some use Teflon tap, no big deal. Or buy high quality screws.. No more rattling out of screws. It's nothing new. These bridges have been around 50 years.

The shim increases neck angle, so you have to raise the bridge which increase break over between the bridge an tailpiece. Fenders been using a 0.070" shim at the neck heel of the 50th anniversary jaguars.

Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 10:48 am
by gusman2x
I wouldn't let the bridge be enought to put you off. The price seems excellent, and the necks on the VM guitars are ace.

What colour is it by the way?

Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 11:04 am
by Benmurray85
gusman2x wrote:What colour is it by the way?
not sure on the official colour but its the cream/white with tort scratchplate. i just love that colour with the tort and im not really a tort fan.

been a bussy old month for gear. got the gretsch couple of weeks ago, now this and put in an order for the bass vi thanks to your "help" gunsman. shortscale will be the death of my bank account

Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 11:05 am
by Benmurray85
gusman2x wrote:What colour is it by the way?
not sure on the official colour but its the cream/white with tort scratchplate. i just love that colour with the tort and im not really a tort fan.

been a busy old month for gear. got the gretsch couple of weeks ago, now this and put in an order for the bass vi thanks to your "help" gunsman. shortscale will be the death of my bank account

Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 6:50 pm
by HenryS
The springs are kind of loose and it doesn't give the trem much wiggle room.
The saddles are too small.
It has duncan designed strat pickups in it.
Mine wasn't properly grounded and buzzed like the dickens with any amount of overdrive.

I put about $70 american in Japan 65 RI parts in mine, replaced the entire bridge and vibrato system.
Put gold foil tape under the pickguard.
Now it's just about as good as it can get and has pretty much become my main guitar.

Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 8:35 am
by George
MASSIVE chunky neck, doesn't feel svelte and fast like most offsets. quite sharp fret ends and a slab body. the bridge is probably the worst feature and plagues the entire VM offset range i think. fucking dire.

all these things combined make it a bit of a missed opportunity by squier (ofc some parts are changeable).

apart from that the quality of the thing is fine, and the pickups are passable, it's just ehh

all things considered, definitely worth checking out if you're after a mustang, but make sure you try one first and don't let your judgement be clouded by a very low price tag because i've got one gathering dust now