Best Quality Mustang?

[Fran]

In context we are talking about electric guitar here and that usually means processing the signal.
For that reason alone, I think most arguments about tonewood are a moot point concerning electric guitar.

I've owned stuff with bodies made from a variety of materials; plywood, MDF, Acrylic, Swamp Ash, Ash, Alder, Mahogany, Pine... and none stand out as changing the amplified tone dramatically.

The hardware, electronics and construction make way more difference.
But agree with Rob, the neck makes all the difference from a playability point of view. You could make a guitar body out of a biscuit tin, put a nice Fender neck on it and its gonna play good.

[JordanD]

What Fran said.

[blane]

The 1969 reissue competition mustangs hands down the best i've played due to the neck alone. The 65 reissue's have a chunkier neck profile. & i've never played the KC so i can't compare.




With that said, mustangs have become too expensive. For the price there are plenty of other guitars on the used market that are better.

USA strats, USA telecasters and SG standards can be found used for the price of mustang these days...

[Cymbaline]

I'll vouch for Teh Kurdtz.. best neck, best sounding pickup.

[singlepup]

Expensive. I got my Jag-Stang in MINT condition from a store in a foreign country where Squier gear starts at $500 US.

You can do better than that if you're patient.

I like my Jag-Stang, but my daily driver is my CIJ Vista Jagmaster. The necks are slightly different but both rad.

What do you think is a good value for that type of Jag-Stang? Also, when talking alder vs basswood, which is preferred?

I don't think anyone is 100% sure if the 2002 Jag-Stangs were alder or basswood. What I do know is that my Vista Jagmaster is basswood. Also, I owned a Squier Jaguar and Jazzmaster, both basswood. All of those guitars were/are great instruments. Seriously: don't worry about the wood.

Per the Reverb price guide, second run Jag-Stangs are going for about $500-700. A good price for a Jag-Stang is closer to $500 with some dings.

For example, you could buy this right now. $530 shipped, non-original tuners, Seymour Duncans, new knobs, a few noticeable dings... but it's got that neck you're after.

http://reverb.com/item/2498682-fender-jag-stang-red

[singlepup]

Also, I'm pretty sure you'd be very happy with the neck on a 69 RI Mustang. There are loads of those on this website: http://www.ishibashi.co.jp/u_box/e/eubox.php?T=gazo

[StevePirates]

The Kurtstang has the best neck I've ever played on a guitar. Period. The CIJ compstang I got from HNB is a very close second, but the nut width on the Kurtstang is a tiny bit wider, which I prefer.

[singlepup]

If OP is now considering a Jag-Stang, I'm assuming he/she would prefer the slightly more narrow nut of the 69 RI. Personally I did enjoy the neck on the Kurtstang, tho.

[VerdantGreen]

Expensive. I got my Jag-Stang in MINT condition from a store in a foreign country where Squier gear starts at $500 US.

You can do better than that if you're patient.

I like my Jag-Stang, but my daily driver is my CIJ Vista Jagmaster. The necks are slightly different but both rad.

What do you think is a good value for that type of Jag-Stang? Also, when talking alder vs basswood, which is preferred?

I don't think anyone is 100% sure if the 2002 Jag-Stangs were alder or basswood. What I do know is that my Vista Jagmaster is basswood. Also, I owned a Squier Jaguar and Jazzmaster, both basswood. All of those guitars were/are great instruments. Seriously: don't worry about the wood.

Per the Reverb price guide, second run Jag-Stangs are going for about $500-700. A good price for a Jag-Stang is closer to $500 with some dings.

For example, you could buy this right now. $530 shipped, non-original tuners, Seymour Duncans, new knobs, a few noticeable dings... but it's got that neck you're after.

http://reverb.com/item/2498682-fender-jag-stang-red

Yeah I am looking for a blue one then I will pull the trigger. So many red ones out there on ebay and reverb. On ebay people like to charge over $1,000 for a jagstang and I am just sitting here wondering why the hell someone would spend that much so I am just being patient waiting for a well priced blue one.

[honeyiscool]

I've had two '65 RI, one '69 RI (old, when they had gappy saddles), one KC, and three '73 RI now.

I think it's hard to argue anything other than '65 RI being the best guitar out of the lot. That said, I only kept my 73s, so you can see that it's not all about absolute quality after all, especially when most of it's really close and so many of the differences are just cosmetic or parts that can be exchanged.

All the Japanese Mustangs have pristine necks and the same quality tuners and tailpiece and overall construction. But these points may speak to further quality:

1) '65 is poplar, KC is alder, '69 and '73 are basswood. Poplar is most vintage correct, though Mustang was also built in mahogany and ash, I believe, and alder is obviously the common Fender wood. However, I think basswood in general is a great wood for guitar, and it really works for the Mustang because it's really light. Its softness has never really affected me negatively, and dings make a guitar anyway. Steve Vai gets to have any wood in the world for his guitar and he chooses basswood. You don't need to think of it as a compromise. I found my KC Mustang heaviest (7.5 pounds or so), then '65, then the basswood ones are the lightest on average.

2) All Japanese Mustangs with the Mustang bridge seem to have the full sized saddles now. You do want these, they're better (IMO) than the gappy ones. Says me, though, I change all my bridges to Staytrem, and if you're going to change the bridge, it's like who cares what the stock one was? I used to also try Mastery, they're great bridges, too. The KC obviously has the ABR-1 style Tune-O-Matic, I believe it's a Gotoh unit, and it looks like it was filed for a rounder radius. Anyway, I really don't like that bridge on this kind of guitar. I know it's what Kurt rocked, but I float and use my vibrato, so it never worked for me.

3) '65 has full-sized CTS pots instead of dime-sized Alpha on the other three. You might consider this important. I don't. Alpha's a good brand, featured in many a boutique effect pedal, and also part of some really expensive basses out there. It seems like most of the high end basses that cost many thousands of dollars have active EQs with mini Alpha pots in them. Would they do that if Alphas were horrible? I don't think so. Besides, this is not an inexpensive fix if you want to change out your pots.

4) '65 has beefier construction pickups with what look like fiber bobbins and cloth wire, whereas the single coils on the others have plastic bobbins and PVC wire. The humbucker in the KC is obviously Seymour Duncan so one need not speak of that pickup, but it does have its fanboys and haters, too, so it is not completely beyond reproach. Regardless of how the plastic/PVC single coils look, they actually sound really good. I don't think the '65 necessarily sounds better stock, and when I did have the '65, I eventually did change the pickups, so if you're going to do that, once again, does it really matter what you started with? I use stock '73 pickups in one of my Mustangs.

These are the only differences in quality I could discern from my six different Japanese Mustangs. The rest are cosmetic differences and you pretty much know if you need the contours or the stripes or the matched headstock or not. I need all three, plus I like the gaudier colors, so I went with the '73. What I'm getting at is that they're all close enough in quality that you should get the one that speaks the best to you. But I do think the '65 is the most premium of the guitars.

[honeyiscool]

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.

The contour isn't really about whether you have a belly and is more about how much it hugs your body and becomes a part of you. The slab always felt like a guitar that sat on me. The contoured Mustang really becomes part of me, as douchey as that sounds.

Me, personally, I found the Sonic Blue to be a much sexier color than Daphne Blue. Daphne Blue always looked great in pictures, but in person, the Sonic Blue was just a better color for me. Daphne and Sonic Blue are very inconsistent colors for Fender, but Daphne was too muted for me. The Sonic Blue popped much better. However, I hated the tort guard at the time so I had replaced the pickguard with a white pearl guard. At this point in my life, I don't mind the Sonic Blue + Tort look too much.

You can always build your own, too. Warmoth makes a great Mustang body. Default routed for HH so you can do anything you want with it. Warmoth isn't really about saving money, but about having exactly what you want. I built a Mustang for a friend with a Warmoth body and a Squier neck, turned out great.

[VerdantGreen]

Great info, thank you! I prefer slab bodies over contour ones. I guess I just like the old vintage style look. I have a telecaster and that isn't contoured and it is fine. My super-sonic is contoured and I guess I don't notice it that much really so it doesnt make a difference to me besides the look.

I think I am looking Jag-Stang for now and then a '65 mustang down the road. Those Vintage '66 mustangs are awfully sweet though!

[StevePirates]

Now I'm just imagining Paul physically floating while playing guitar. Like slowly levitating on the stage as he turns Super Saiyajan Rose while manhandling the trem. And if he's using a contoured body, and it truly becomes one with him and he turns into Pautang.


....I watch too much Dragon Ball Z.

[honeyiscool]

Now I'm just imagining Paul physically floating while playing guitar. Like slowly levitating on the stage as he turns Super Saiyajan Rose while manhandling the trem. And if he's using a contoured body, and it truly becomes one with him and he turns into Pautang.


....I watch too much Dragon Ball Z.

It basically does feel like that. A good Mustang in my hands turns me a Super Saiyan.

[Darth Stang]

In terms of reissues, the apex of the mustang reissue was the beck.

However the most popular is the MG69, and were high quality right up until about 2013 when the factories changed. Around the time of the JD serial numbers

The MG65 has a slab board rosewood neck. Recently released mg65 in sunburst is worth a look

[Rox]

What's " the better quality RI Mustang" ? It's the one you prefer. They're all relative . Many like the 65. Many like the 69 or the 73RI. My best quality Mustang is a 69RI with 65RI pickups .
The KC Mustang is great too. I have one of those too. BTW , it's a 65RI pickup in the neck . Not a 69. Pop off your pickguard . It'll be evident . I will also add one of the BEST tones is a 65RI pickup in an alder body.. The neck pickup in the KC Mustang makes that guitar. The JB bridge IMHO makes it just ok. A SD Invader probably would of made it a better grunge/punk guitar.

[jcyphe]

In terms of reissues, the apex of the mustang reissue was the beck.

However the most popular is the MG69, and were high quality right up until about 2013 when the factories changed. Around the time of the JD serial numbers

The MG65 has a slab board rosewood neck. Recently released mg65 in sunburst is worth a look

Did they ever do a model with the Beck specs without the show branding and logo?

[Darth Stang]

Never. I can understand that it was a license thing to tie in with the cartoon, but they could have put them out in comp blue and red with the accurate specs.

Then they do stupid shit the two red mg69 mh for the anime girl thing, like the world needed more red mustangs

Then the Spider-Man thing. That's pretty out there. It's a pretty neesh market the people who like spider man AND mustangs AND have 1500 bucks

[Darth Stang]

I mean I'm a mustang fan and all, and as much as the amount of effort that went into the Spider-Man, comp headstock and web stripe and scratch plate, it's just too many levels of retard to strap on and play, or to have it as a curio on the wall. It's basically a prop for Halloween

[JordanD]

I mean I'm a mustang fan and all, and as much as the amount of effort that went into the Spider-Man, comp headstock and web stripe and scratch plate, it's just too many levels of retard to strap on and play, or to have it as a curio on the wall. It's basically a prop for Halloween

I really like the Spider-Man Mustang, and if I had the cash spare I would pick one up. Understand it's not for everyone though.