ShortScale.org

I'm soon buying a Squier Vintage Modified Mustang and I'm going to rout the bridge for a humbucker, how do I know exactly where to put it for the right tone and if I ever bought an aftermarket humbucker pick guard to fit

I would buy the pickguard first and then use it to help you place the pickup.

That's what I was thinking but the only place I could find a good humbucker pickguard was warmoth and they say there only made to fit warmoth bodies and won't retrofit other mustangs, but some people say they will still fit. Would a warmoth pickguard fit a vm mustang?

You could maybe try to find a Kurt Cobain mustang pickguard.

They have the humbucker route but I am not 100% sure if it will line up.

I know someone here should know the answer.

Just get a single coil-sized humbucker (like a JB Jr). No need to route nor get a new guard.

Mustang25 wrote:That's what I was thinking but the only place I could find a good humbucker pickguard was warmoth and they say there only made to fit warmoth bodies and won't retrofit other mustangs, but some people say they will still fit. Would a warmoth pickguard fit a vm mustang?

That sounds weird. I suppose it won't fit other Mustangs because other Mustangs don't have humbuckers? Otherwise, maybe it's an issue with screwholes being in the wrong place but if you were routing for a humbucker you probably won't be concerned about putting more screwholes in the body.

I don't see how it wouldn't fit other Mustangs unless Warmoth Mustangs were entirely the wrong shape. I suspect they're saying this to cover themselves from people buying pickguards and then complaining that they can't get them to fit.

I think Warmoth have both their bodies and pickguards slightly different shapes, because they're not Fender licensed. You might be able to make a Warmoth Mustang pickguard fit on a Fender body, but I agree with Noisy Cat, just get a single coil sized HB. Less work.

Looking at Warmoth I really want to build a Mustang now, but their bodies are the price of an entire VM Mustang

Noisy Cat wrote:Just get a single coil-sized humbucker (like a JB Jr). No need to route nor get a new guard.

yep.

The reason I'm routing it for a full sized humbucker is because I'm making a Kurt contain squier mustang, because a real fender mustang is almost impossible to find where I live

my advice is the "long haul" advice. get yourself a router, learn to use it on scraps. look up some how to videos and do it that way. where are you located? i would be willing to send you humbucker body and pickguard templates to ease the pain of trying to make your own or paying an arm and a leg from stew mac or some place like that.

I'm from Nova Scotia, Canada. How much would you want for them?

Dillon wrote:I think Warmoth have both their bodies and pickguards slightly different shapes, because they're not Fender licensed. You might be able to make a Warmoth Mustang pickguard fit on a Fender body, but I agree with Noisy Cat, just get a single coil sized HB. Less work.

Looking at Warmoth I really want to build a Mustang now, but their bodies are the price of an entire VM Mustang

I wonder if Warmoth's sales of alternative/offset/shortscale designs has lowered in recent years because there are cheap production models emerging that are plenty-good bases for modding for projects. Alternatively they may have risen as those shapes and models have become more fashionable and valuable (hence Fender and Squier offering them cheap and plentiful).

Ithink for something close to standard you're better off just getting a VM Mustang. You'll get a well made body and neck that will be at least as good as most others out there, and you won't have to spend much money. Unless you want something mad, like a Floyd Rose on a Mustang, I'm not sure what valuer there is in a Warmoth body anymore.

Warmoth has a print out that is the exact size of the pick guard so when I get my mustang I'll try it to see if it fits, if the screws don't line up is it a big deal to drill new ones? It's not going to be original anyways because of the routing.

as long as you shoot me the cost for shipping. so like 5 bucks maybe. its been a while since i have shipped anything to canada, im not sure what it runs these days.

Just get the stock pickguard routed if you want Kurtz.

Where exactly do I put it for it to line up with where the Kurt cobain mustangs humbucker is?

Why don't you just buy the new squier bullet mustang? It's cheaper and already has humbuckers. Unless you want trad. mustang look/layout controls, then I guess it can't be helped.

Mustang25 wrote:Where exactly do I put it for it to line up with where the Kurt cobain mustangs humbucker is?

Mustang25 wrote:how do I know exactly where to put it for the right tone

These are different questions.

theshadowofseattle wrote:

Mustang25 wrote:Where exactly do I put it for it to line up with where the Kurt cobain mustangs humbucker is?

Mustang25 wrote:how do I know exactly where to put it for the right tone

These are different questions.

not necessarily. "right tone" could mean "the tone one gets from a humbucker placed precisely where a humbucker is placed on a Kurt Cobain Mustang"

Yea that's what I mean, I'm trying to get it as close as possible to a Kurt cobain mustang.