Squier Bullet Mustang

dezb1 · Post by **dezb1** » Sat Feb 25, 2017 12:10 am

PV-1955 wrote:This is my first post here.

FWIW, these have turned out to be a fun, affordable modding platform. They actually play quite well right out of the box.

They are 24" scale (the Fender website finally corrected the 24.75" they had listed)

It has a Basswood body with Maple/Rosewood neck/fretboard and a 12" radius

Toploader hardtail bridge.

Swimming pool route makes it easy to install any pickups you want

Here's mine with a new pg, new tuners and a bit of Kiwi. I have another tortie pg with single coils I'll be putting on with the next string change.

Where did you get the pickguard? Considering getting one of these if I can replace the guard easily enough

PV-1955 · Post by **PV-1955** » Sat Feb 25, 2017 4:09 am

dezb1 wrote:
Where did you get the pickguard? Considering getting one of these if I can replace the guard easily enough

It's super easy to make them fit. I bought a few cheapies on Ebay and Amazon. (6-8 bucks each shipped). They all seem to be identical and can fit the Bullet Mustang by removing a very small amount (approx. 2 mm) of material right where the pickguard meets the bridge. Fill and drill the body for new pickguard screws.
They are labeled "3 ply for Fender Mustang Classic Series". Most have the standard slider switch cutouts but a couple were blank. I'm modding one of the blue ones now with two single coils and standard slider switches. Still deciding which color pickguard to use. I have a few to choose from.

PV-1955 · Post by **PV-1955** » Mon Feb 27, 2017 8:01 am

This is just a quick update for my second Squier Bullet Mustang mod (this one in Imperial Blue) with dual single coil pickups and standard Mustang slide switches. I haven't had much time to work on it recently but today I took time to do some routing.

For this current mod I had to take the hand-router to two areas inside the swimming pool.

One area (top of the pool) is a must to make room for the slide switches.

The second area is along the bridge side of the pool where and I took a little material away to accommodate the bridge pickup (the necessity of this route depends upon the pickup placement).

I then applied Acheson Electrodag shielding paint and will paint the entire cavity with electrodag before putting it all back together.

The pics show another tortie pickguard which looks fine to me but I have a couple of other pickguard ideas that Iâ€™m considering and Iâ€™m still deciding on the pickups.

Thatâ€™s all for now. These guitars sure are fun to mod.

PV-1955 · Post by **PV-1955** » Mon Feb 27, 2017 8:05 am

Deleted - Duplicate post

markarkark · Post by **markarkark** » Mon Feb 27, 2017 10:15 am

This thread is brilliant, nice one.

I was wondering how the neck profile between the MIM and the squier compares. The back of the neck on the squier looks almost flat/square?

Cymbaline · Post by **Cymbaline** » Mon Feb 27, 2017 5:31 pm

I vote mint green pickguard if you have one

BTW - is there a specific better nut anyone can recommend that will exactly fit this guitar?

PV-1955 · Post by **PV-1955** » Mon Feb 27, 2017 9:35 pm

Cymbaline wrote:I vote mint green pickguard if you have one

BTW - is there a specific better nut anyone can recommend that will exactly fit this guitar?

I'm going to use one of these - Graph Tech TUSQ XL Fender Style Slotted Nut -
I find that the original stock nut with some Big Bends Nut Sauce actually works quite well though. -

Fakir Mustache · Post by **Fakir Mustache** » Tue Feb 28, 2017 11:31 am

PV-1955 wrote:
Cymbaline wrote:I vote mint green pickguard if you have one

BTW - is there a specific better nut anyone can recommend that will exactly fit this guitar?
I'm going to use one of these - Graph Tech TUSQ XL Fender Style Slotted Nut -
I find that the original stock nut with some Big Bends Nut Sauce actually works quite well though. -

I used one of those on my Mustang (USA). It was a pain in arse to remove the tab at the bottom, which you probably don't have to do because I don't think you have a curved slot, but then I had to file the bottom again because it was too high, and the sides as well because it was too wide. A lot of work.

Also, the spacing was wider than normal, but I don't mind,depends on your playing style.

PV-1955 · Post by **PV-1955** » Tue Feb 28, 2017 6:20 pm

Fakir Mustache wrote:I used one of those on my Mustang (USA). It was a pain in arse to remove the tab at the bottom, which you probably don't have to do because I don't think you have a curved slot, but then I had to file the bottom again because it was too high, and the sides as well because it was too wide. A lot of work.

Also, the spacing was wider than normal, but I don't mind,depends on your playing style.

The string spacing of this new Graph Tech nut is identical to the Bullet Mustang but the nut will need a small amount of filing to make it fit perfectly but I consider this to be normal but like I mentioned before the stock nut with a little work is quite good.

Cymbaline · Post by **Cymbaline** » Tue Feb 28, 2017 7:11 pm

Great info thank you!
Mine is arriving tomorrow. I'm thinking of modding it to be what the Pawn Shop Mustang should have been.
OR perhaps making it into a Cyclo-Stang. I wanna do something unique with it

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Wed Mar 01, 2017 6:54 am

My Bullet Mustangs arrived today. Yes, plural. I just can't put it down. Unlike a Fender, it felt very stiff when I first picked it up, but I checked action and relief, and it was pretty spot on at the factory.

I'm shocked. It really needs no mods. The pickups sound good enough, I could definitely gig with this tonight. There are brand name pots (Alpha), there's shielding, the workmanship is quite good. The pot values are 250k, mini pots, with a .022uF cap. Perhaps the 250k pots are part of the secret sauce that keeps the cheap pickups from being harsh. I think it's better wired than the Fender Offset Series, for what it's worth, plus there are spacers on the string trees, which some Fender skip and I don't understand. I'll probably replace the switch and jack at some point, but I don't think this guitar is automatic mod city.

The bridge is interesting. It's definitely not my favorite design, but they were thoughtful enough to use shorter intonation screws on the E and A to interfere with the string less. But it's weird, it works. I might want to get real steel saddles at some point, but they even made the height screws correctly sized so that it doesn't dig into my hands.

The tuners are even pretty decent. They're of a standard design, with the offset screw, so they should be easy to replace, but they feel smooth out of the box. They're not the rattly pieces of crap you find on $99 Epiphones.

I haven't even changed the strings yet. I want to do a little bit of playing on both guitars before I do so. It clearly felt a bit stiff when I first started playing. Obviously they cut corners on things like final sanding and fingerboard edges and so forth. But the frets aren't sharp. They're not beautifully dressed like on a PRS, but they're far from bad. It seems like every minute of playing makes the guitar feel better. I think once they get a few hours of play and a string change, I can't wait to see how well it plays. I will probably change the pickups eventually, but I plan on rolling with the stock guitar. I probably won't gig it for a few months, but I plan on playing the hell out of it.

Mattsican · Post by **Mattsican** » Wed Mar 01, 2017 7:16 am

Is this string thru body or what? The fender website says specifically

"SIX-SADDLE STRING-THRU-BODY BRIDGE

A string-thru-body bridge enhances vibration transfer, resulting in increased sustain, while the six individual saddles can be adjusted for precise intonation along each string."

But all of the pictures i see of the back have zero ferrules or any other business normally associated with a string thru. I'm buying one right now either way, im just curious. I'm gonna gloss the fuck outta the neck, get a tort guard on that bitch and throw a set of PRS S2 #7 pups ive laying around on it and go balls to the fucking wall with it.

PV-1955 · Post by **PV-1955** » Wed Mar 01, 2017 7:20 am

Mattsican wrote:Is this string thru body or what? The fender website says specifically

"SIX-SADDLE STRING-THRU-BODY BRIDGE

A string-thru-body bridge enhances vibration transfer, resulting in increased sustain, while the six individual saddles can be adjusted for precise intonation along each string."

But all of the pictures i see of the back have zero ferrules or any other business normally associated with a string thru. I'm buying one right now either way, im just curious.

It is not string-through-body. It has a toploader hard-tail bridge. It's just a misprint on the Fender site. At least they finally corrected the scale. It was originally listed as 24.75"

Cymbaline · Post by **Cymbaline** » Wed Mar 01, 2017 3:56 pm

Will the Kluson saftey-post tuners drop right in, or would I have to re-drill the screw holes?

I'd like to use these with the nickel knobs

PV-1955 · Post by **PV-1955** » Wed Mar 01, 2017 6:24 pm

Cymbaline wrote:Will the Kluson saftey-post tuners drop right in, or would I have to re-drill the screw holes?

I'd like to use these with the nickel knobs

It's a totally different screw pattern for Klusons so you will have to re-drill but the original holes are hidden well.

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Wed Mar 01, 2017 7:43 pm

Cymbaline wrote:Will the Kluson saftey-post tuners drop right in, or would I have to re-drill the screw holes?

I'd like to use these with the nickel knobs

You need to get conversion bushings for these. And re drill. You could also get plastic buttons for existing tuners.

Cymbaline · Post by **Cymbaline** » Wed Mar 01, 2017 7:58 pm

Are there any kluson-style (string down the hole) tuners that will fit the stock screw holes on this guitar? Dont care if theyre "vintage style"

PV-1955 · Post by **PV-1955** » Wed Mar 01, 2017 8:39 pm

Cymbaline wrote:Are there any kluson-style (string down the hole) tuners that will fit the stock screw holes on this guitar? Dont care if theyre "vintage style"

none that I'm aware of.

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Wed Mar 01, 2017 9:09 pm

Yeah, they're called conversion bushings. It's really pretty simple.

http://www.wdmusic.com/kluson_adapter_b ... les_6.html

When I say drill, I'm talking about back of the headstock. The front, you just stuff these into.

PV-1955 · Post by **PV-1955** » Wed Mar 01, 2017 9:45 pm

honeyiscool wrote:Yeah, they're called conversion bushings. It's really pretty simple.

http://www.wdmusic.com/kluson_adapter_b ... les_6.html

When I say drill, I'm talking about back of the headstock. The front, you just stuff these into.

Conversion bushings are for the post holes. The conversion bushings may or may not be required depending on the post diameter of the replacement tuners. I assumed these questions (because of the way they are worded) are referring to the "screw holes" that attach the tuning machines on the back of the guitar headstock.