Any Fenix experts out there ?

[Bassassin]

The actual same bass or one like it? Seems to be some debate over whether the bass came from the factory with a lizard!

Jon.

[kevbucket]

no... my bass !!! , thats my foot ;-) actually it's my Girlfriends bass but i love playing it , and she stuck the gecko on , it's a sticker !!!

[Grreth]

Dave, Is it ok if I join in and ask about your Sunn Mustang? I've got one but mine has a different logo on and looks more like a traditional Fender Precision. How old is yours? Do you have any info on it? I'm trying to piece the history of these together but information is scarce.

Much obliged!

[Bassassin]

I've had a few Sunn Mustang Strats - the first one I had was one of the nicest-playing guitars I've owned, and I wish I'd kept it. Anyway, I did a bit of digging into them & it's quite interesting. As with all web folklore it's hard to separate fact from speculation from utter fantasy, but the early Indian-made ones do seem to be decent.

The ones of interest have the standard Fender headstock, old Sunn amps logo and "FMIC" in small print under the logo. FMIC is, of course Fender Musical Instrument Corp, and it seems these are the same instruments as the US-only Squier II range, dating from the late 80s. Interestingly Squier IIs have a good reputation and are fairly sought-after. I think Sunn was UK/EU only and I don't know how long the Indian-made range with the Fender head was in production.

From my experience of the Strats, necks are very nice & well-made, bodies are nicely finished solid timber, but electronics & hardware were where corners had been cut. It's all functional, however, and easily upgraded. There is a web myth, probably based on the disparity between the metal & wood bits, that bodies & necks were Japanese-made and early Sunns were finished & assembled in India with lower-quality hardware. This is, I'm sure, utter tosh.

I've not had my hands on one of the basses yet but what I've read suggests they're very good too. I'm inclined to think they are the same instrument as the Indian-made Encore P copies which were around at the same time.

Because Sunn is not a well-known brand, they often come up for sale on Gumtree and the like for bargain-basement money, so it's only a matter of time before I end up shelling out £40...

J.

[DaveFry]

[quote name='Grreth' timestamp='1388342073' post='2321012']
Dave, Is it ok if I join in and ask about your Sunn Mustang? I've got one but mine has a different logo on and looks more like a traditional Fender Precision. How old is yours? Do you have any info on it? I'm trying to piece the history of these together but information is scarce.

Much obliged!
[/quote]

Sure, but I don't know much about them . Mine says " Made in India " , I guess from late 80's/ early 90's and it is very light in weight .
I picked it up locally a couple of years ago for £50 .

[Grreth]

Thanks for responding it's very interesting. There seems to be so little information on them considering that they were licensed by Fender and that they still own the 'Sunn' brand. How does it play?

Also, I had a Fenix Jazz and pretty much gave it away. I kind of want it back and might get back in touch with the guy. It was a decent bass and I really regret it!

[DaveFry]

The Sunn Mustang plays very nicely . It handles the lowest action of all my basses ,so that ,together with the lightness and simplicity of controls makes it the first one I offer to beginners to try .
I guess if you started a new thread about them on here you might get more info .

[Grreth]

Ha! You're probably right. I might just do that and see what happens!

[jimdolore]

[quote name='KiOgon' timestamp='1346094851' post='1785222']
Thanks for that, mine has the serial number engraved on the neck plate only, so no silver or black I'm guessing '87 then?

[/quote]

I know this is an older post, but I just stumbled upon this. I still have my first bass, which I bought in 1991 and it's a white Fenix by Young Chang Jazz Bass. I just checked the serial number and it is E737650! Who knows how long it had been sitting at the store before I bought it new, but I'm guessing it was made in '90 or '91.

[Bassassin]

[quote name='jimdolore' timestamp='1481310052' post='3191468']
I know this is an older post, but I just stumbled upon this. I still have my first bass, which I bought in 1991 and it's a white Fenix by Young Chang Jazz Bass. I just checked the serial number and it is E737650! Who knows how long it had been sitting at the store before I bought it new, but I'm guessing it was made in '90 or '91.
[/quote]

Dating these things is a bit unclear. According to some sources the serials are the same as MIK Squiers that were made in the Young-Chang factory. YC apparently lost the Squier contract because they were selling identical guitars off the same production runs under the Fenix brand. Doubt Fender were that keen on the name, either.