Best Quality Mustang?

VerdantGreen · Post by **VerdantGreen** » Wed Aug 17, 2016 12:25 pm

I am considering purchasing a Fender Mustang via the internet (I cannot find them anywhere in stores) and was wondering which people on this board preferred stock.

I am looking at:

â€¢ '65 Reissue (daphne blue)
â€¢ '69 Reissue (sonic blue)
â€¢ KC Mustang (Sonic Blue)

I also hear people talk about a '66 reissue? Can't really tell if they are talking about a vintage model or not.

Discussion over their differences would be appreciated. I know the KC has a Humbucker in the bridge but I am looking for a single coil sound preferably (garage rock, indie rock style) I just thought I would consider it on my list of possible guitars.

I also wanted to ask about how these perform with fuzz (specifically a death by audio fuzz war pedal). I will probably use a fuzzy sound for what I want to work on but also sometimes overdrive with a tube screamer etc.

Thanks for any information you can provide.

gusman2x · Post by **gusman2x** » Wed Aug 17, 2016 12:37 pm

Hey there,

65RI has no body contours, and supposedly better pickups than the 69RI

69RI has body contours, often has matched headstock, but supposedly has inferior pickups to the 65RI

The KC Mustang has body contours, a 69RI neck pup, and a JB humbucker in the bridge. It also has a TOM bridge as opposed to a proper Mustang bridge like the other two. Probably makes the use of the trem harder (from a staying in tune point of view) than the other two.

WRT to necks, I think there's a belief that the 69RI may have a slightly smaller profile than the 65RI, but I think there is variation also, so no definite rules.

I have the KC Mustang (LPB). I love it dearly, and was my No1 until I had a custom made. I did take out the JB and the neck pup and replace them with a set of Mojos. But fit and function is amazing. A fantastic playing guitar.

One other thing to consider is that the KC Mustang appears to be discontinued, and the Sonic Blue appears to be the hardest to find. So this will have the best resale value.

The mustang singles sound amazing with fuzz. I've used them with all types of fuzz, and they excel.

VerdantGreen · Post by **VerdantGreen** » Wed Aug 17, 2016 12:41 pm

The only mustang I have played thus far is my friends Squier VM without plugging it in. I love the feel of the guitar (neck is a little chunky which I have heard is different from the fender mustangs), but I love short-scale necks and small guitar bodies. The Jag-Stang also intrigues me but I have heard so many negatives about it's sound no matter what pups you put on it that I have tended to stay away (maybe I will buy one as a toy when I get more skill at the guitar in general).

gusman2x · Post by **gusman2x** » Wed Aug 17, 2016 12:57 pm

My KC Mustang has a thicker neck than the Squier Jaguar I had. I reckon the Squier Jag and Stang will have similar profiles. The neck on my Mustang is sublime.

VerdantGreen · Post by **VerdantGreen** » Wed Aug 17, 2016 1:00 pm

So far out of the research I have done I am leaning towards the '65. I don't care about body contours (I think the slab body is much sexier anyways) as I have no belly whatsoever at this point in my life and I tend to play my guitars very high up on my torso. The better pickups sounds like a big plus too.

gusman2x · Post by **gusman2x** » Wed Aug 17, 2016 1:42 pm

Yup, the 65RIs get the most love round here out of the reissues.

JordanD · Post by **JordanD** » Wed Aug 17, 2016 1:47 pm

The Squier VM Mustang I owned had a horribly thick neck, sold it pretty quick. I had a 69 Comp Reissue that was great to play, with a decent sized neck but sounded really plonky and crap (even for a 'Stang). Kept my '66 Reissue (JP only I believe) which has a really slim neck and a nut width that reminds me of the Jag-stang neck. That one has pickups from a '65 Reissue in it though as the stock ones were the same crap as in my Comp Reissue.

Out of the ones you've listed I'd probably go for the 65 Reissue. Never played the KC Stang but really interested in picking one up at some point to hark back to that 14 year old fanboy that still lives in my head.

VerdantGreen · Post by **VerdantGreen** » Wed Aug 17, 2016 1:51 pm

What is the neck like on the '65 RI? I thought the squier neck was a tad too fat too so I would hope the '65 has a bit of a thinner neck.

JordanD · Post by **JordanD** » Thu Aug 18, 2016 7:00 am

If memory serves its not as fat as the VM, but I wouldn't call it thin. Go and play one in a shop mate, there's gotta be one near you with one in stock?

VerdantGreen · Post by **VerdantGreen** » Thu Aug 18, 2016 11:40 am

JordanD wrote:If memory serves its not as fat as the VM, but I wouldn't call it thin. Go and play one in a shop mate, there's gotta be one near you with one in stock?

Pfft yeah right, all the local Guitar centers have is generic guitars and local shops have random guitars I have never heard of that are way overpriced. Only rare thing I have seen at the one guitar center was my friend finding a yellow cyclone but thats it.

I've never seen a Mustang in a store besides the Squier VM and I bet if one arrived someone would snatch it up real fast because everyone is a Kurt fanboy.

JordanD · Post by **JordanD** » Thu Aug 18, 2016 11:50 am

What, really? Even a shitshow like Dawsons in the UK has at least one or two shortscale Fender guitars in at any given time. Surprised somewhere as big as GC wouldn't stock them.

VerdantGreen · Post by **VerdantGreen** » Thu Aug 18, 2016 11:52 am

I've noticed on some Mustangs they have black pups and some have white. Are there any differences in these? I have seen several listings on Reverb in the past of a '65 reissue and one will have black pups and another will have white but the user says they didn't change the pups so I don't know?

VerdantGreen · Post by **VerdantGreen** » Thu Aug 18, 2016 11:54 am

JordanD wrote:What, really? Even a shitshow like Dawsons in the UK has at least one or two shortscale Fender guitars in at any given time. Surprised somewhere as big as GC wouldn't stock them.

I found my Super-Sonic at the Sam Ash but that's almost an hour drive so I only go there every few months. They will have some used Rickenbacker Guitars once in awhile and some other odds and ends stuff but not many shortscales.

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Thu Aug 18, 2016 12:10 pm

the 65RI has better quality/sounding everything. but the 69RI is better.

the 69RI (mine is a compstangRI) has a slimmer neck. it wins. its closer to a jagstang neck. not quite that small but close. my jagstang neck is what i judge every other guitar neck on earth that i pick up. to me its the perfect neck. so if i pickup a guitar and the fretboard is too flat, its because the jagstang fretboard is round, if the neck is to fat, its because the jagstang neck is thin, if the guitar neck has a satin neck neck on it and it feels like shit its because the jag-stang neck has 10 coats of thick clear gloss laquer on it. it all comes down to what guitar you grew up with and played every waking fucking second of your life when you weren't at school thinking about the guitar when you get home. every other guitar you play after that guitar will fight and claw to be your first real guitar that you grew up with and none will ever match it.

after owning the compstangRI for 15 years and the 65RI for 10....it was the 65RI that got sold, and i still own the compstang.

just because the guitar is better, doesn't make it better. if that makes any sense.

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Thu Aug 18, 2016 12:11 pm

VerdantGreen wrote:I've noticed on some Mustangs they have black pups and some have white. Are there any differences in these? I have seen several listings on Reverb in the past of a '65 reissue and one will have black pups and another will have white but the user says they didn't change the pups so I don't know?

no. its just a plastic cover that you can easily swap for 6 bucks.

black
http://www.allparts.com/PC-0446-023-Pi ... _2429.html

white
http://www.allparts.com/PC-0446-025-Pi ... _2430.html

VerdantGreen · Post by **VerdantGreen** » Thu Aug 18, 2016 12:12 pm

robroe wrote:the 65RI has better quality/sounding everything. but the 69RI is better.

the 69RI (mine is a compstangRI) has a slimmer neck. it wins. its closer to a jagstang neck. not quite that small but close.

after owning the compstangRI for 15 years and the 65RI for 10....it was the 65RI that got sold, and i still own the compstang.

just because the guitar is better, doesn't make it better. if that makes any sense.

Nope doesn't really make any sense. So you're just saying it's better because the neck is slimmer? Could you compare it to a Fender Super-Sonic neck thickness by chance?

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Thu Aug 18, 2016 12:14 pm

I think he means it's a preference thing.

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Thu Aug 18, 2016 12:19 pm

VerdantGreen wrote:
robroe wrote:the 65RI has better quality/sounding everything. but the 69RI is better.

the 69RI (mine is a compstangRI) has a slimmer neck. it wins. its closer to a jagstang neck. not quite that small but close.

after owning the compstangRI for 15 years and the 65RI for 10....it was the 65RI that got sold, and i still own the compstang.

just because the guitar is better, doesn't make it better. if that makes any sense.
Nope doesn't really make any sense. So you're just saying it's better because the neck is slimmer? Could you compare it to a Fender Super-Sonic neck thickness by chance?

i owned a squier supersonic for 5 or so years. it was much fatter than a 69RI, a little fatter than the 65RI......and it was upside down, and the heel is shaped odd. i loved it though. I played it again at Fredo's when i was out in LA for shortscalefest last month. his felt exactly the same. the QC on the old squier vista series guitars was on point.

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Thu Aug 18, 2016 12:20 pm

VerdantGreen wrote:
robroe wrote:the 65RI has better quality/sounding everything. but the 69RI is better.

the 69RI (mine is a compstangRI) has a slimmer neck. it wins. its closer to a jagstang neck. not quite that small but close.

after owning the compstangRI for 15 years and the 65RI for 10....it was the 65RI that got sold, and i still own the compstang.

just because the guitar is better, doesn't make it better. if that makes any sense.
Nope doesn't really make any sense. So you're just saying it's better because the neck is slimmer? Could you compare it to a Fender Super-Sonic neck thickness by chance?

i edited my post and added a bunch more after you quoted. you are right in my wheelhouse for discussion. i could talk about this all day

VerdantGreen · Post by **VerdantGreen** » Thu Aug 18, 2016 12:21 pm

I hear so much good about the Jag-Stang neck but then I hear that no matter what pups you put in it, it will always sound like shit... So conflicted!