NBD - '66 and Squier Mustang

[ped]

This is why I should't be left alone during the week.

 

 

I asked a friend about his Mustang bass, and he said I could borrow it to try out. I told myself it was so my niece could have her own bass when she comes round to 'play guitar' (which mostly consists of her pressing all the buttons and moving all the dials in my office/studio)

 

I expected to want to change a few things on the bass ('Go for it' he said), but when it arrived I was floored with the little thing. I haven't played a Squier since my first bass, which was an Affinity P bass, which was great, but the neck in particular was pretty anaemic looking. This thing has a lovely dark tint; the fretwork is great (amazing for £300!) and I'm able to get a fairly low action without problems. I don't even mind the strings, despite having ordered some La Bella flats for it - I rather like the raspy little pickup and the poky sound. It's like a small happy dog and my regular P is like a calm Labrador.

 

 

So now I have a pack of La Bella 760-MUS flats doing nothing. And you know what that means.

 

I have gone fully down the rabbit hole, reading all about Mustangs and their history, even going back to Geddy Lee's book where they must have passed me by previously (tbh I was expecting Geddy to have some Stingrays, anyone know why not?)

 

So then I bought this, because that's probably sensible right? A few days later I had a big vets bill which meant selling a lot of things (actually it was quite good to have a clear out) but when you're paying about £500 to boil a pan of water it puts things into perspective, so I decided to honour the agreement and get this thing posted.

 

 

As you can see, it's a 1966 Mustang, from the first year of production - which would normally go for about £4500, but since this has been modified, allegedly in the 70s, with P/J pickups, it was to my mind great value. I'm not particularly worried about absolute originality, and rather like modified basses, especially if it makes them cheaper.

 

The body, neck, hardware are all original as far as I know, and working perfectly. The neck is straight, the fretwork is lovely and the feel of the thing is spot on. Broken in but looked after, I'd say. The tuners are the lollipop style found for a short time around '66 when Fender made them in house to cut costs, I believe.

 

 

 

The pickups are (we think) dimarzio (neck) and Fender (bridge) but I'll confirm at some stage. They sound great together, giving a nice 60s jazz growl together and individually the P sounds fantastic, like a mid heavy slightly more rubbery P sound with lots of articulation. The Jazz soloed is burpy and tight and not lacking in guts. Playing over the back pickup is more comfortable for me than on a regular sized jazz (not that full scale basses are difficult for me, I just wanted a mini P bass really)

 

The slab body, as with my Stingray, to my eyes looks amazing (on the Squier, too) and really suits the narrower body. Super comfortable to rest your arm on, allowing the hand to naturally fall over the back of the P pickup.

 

 

 

The controls are vol/vol - I am tempted to have them changed to balance/tone but I'm playing this bass 99% at home through my studio/headphone/bassboard setup where I can roll off the top end, although with flats and a custom foam insert (which slides in and out nicely) I'm really happy with the top end and can adjust it externally.

 

I'll try and get some sounds recorded and post them here. The case is original and you can see the original owner was 'Victoria' which is pretty cool, can you imagine tracking her down now? 

 

 

Cheers

ped

[Jonesy]

Really lovely, both of those look great and the wear to the 66 makes it look even better! Sounds like a pretty successful week in the ped household.

 

I'm always tempted by those Squier Mustangs. My 10 month old daughter needs a year of birth bass.....

[ped]

Just now, Jonesy said:

Really lovely, both of those look great and the wear to the 66 makes it look even better! Sounds like a pretty successful week in the ped household.

 

I'm always tempted by those Squier Mustangs. My 10 month old daughter needs a year of birth bass.....

 

They're fantastic quality - only a few minor signs of cost cutting such as a roughly cut pick guard and some minor setup required (though they provide tools and instructions). I'm sure if it was made in '66 it would be just as good as the other! Good idea to get her a YOB bass! You only have two months left. 

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

Very nice. That's a result getting the original silver tolex case. They were made for Fender by the Victoria luggage company.

[ped]

4 minutes ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

Very nice. That's a result getting the original silver tolex case. They were made for Fender by the Victoria luggage company.

 

Oh really, that's interesting. Makes sense as now I can see other cases owned by the mysterious Victoria 🤣

[ped]

Here's my custom made foam mute (available for £39.95, PM me)

 

It gets slightly thinner towards the treble side and has a special tab for removal. The dog hair is an essential part of the sound.

 

[Sibob]

Oh those horrible pickup changes on the '66......poor thing 😑

 

Well, at least you like it haha.

 

Si

[ped]

6 minutes ago, Sibob said:

Oh those horrible pickup changes on the '66......poor thing 😑

 

Well, at least you like it haha.

 

Si

 

Yeah it sounds fantastic. I think the 'proper' P pickup gives it a stronger fundamental and a fuller P sound, whereas the Mustang P pickup sounds a bit more like a Jazz bass front pickup sort of P sound, if you get what I mean.

 

I suppose back in the 70s people were less precious about early Fenders so they just had at it - fair enough if you ask me; certainly the rear pickup on this gives the bass a really growly sound.

 

That said I'm definitely now looking at other variations on the Mustang; Pawn Shop etc - I mean I should really have at least one of each, and I know you'll agree 

[Jonesy]

Hope you used a proper bit of tone cardboard for the mute. 

 

You definitely need one with competition stripes to help you play faster too.

[meterman]

The ‘66 looks amazing, and the mods on it wouldn’t bother me either. Love the lollipop tuners too. My Squier Mustang is my #1 bass and the only thing I would possibly change on it are the tuners. 
 

Looking at lollipop tuners online nowwww....

[ped]

14 minutes ago, meterman said:

The ‘66 looks amazing, and the mods on it wouldn’t bother me either. Love the lollipop tuners too. My Squier Mustang is my #1 bass and the only thing I would possibly change on it are the tuners. 
 

Looking at lollipop tuners online nowwww....

 

I think Fender have started using them again recently on some reissue models, so hopefully you can get some without the 'Vintage tax'

 

I really quite like modified basses, and would rather have a vintage modified bass than a refinished one, weirdly. Both affect value in the buyer's favour of course

[meterman]

1 hour ago, ped said:

 

I think Fender have started using them again recently on some reissue models, so hopefully you can get some without the 'Vintage tax'

 

I really quite like modified basses, and would rather have a vintage modified bass than a refinished one, weirdly. Both affect value in the buyer's favour of course

Hmmm. 🤔 I’d found Gotoh lollipop tuners online but not Fender ones. Not sure if they’d be a simple swap or not. Never changed tuners before.

[ped]

42 minutes ago, meterman said:

Hmmm. 🤔 I’d found Gotoh lollipop tuners online but not Fender ones. Not sure if they’d be a simple swap or not. Never changed tuners before.

Hm neither have I! Quite a few people change the lollipop tuners on the JMJ signature for lightweight ones so maybe you can find a set of those?

[ezbass]

Bitten by the Mustang/short scale bug eh? It’s a slippery slope but a wonderfully comfortable one.  

[martthebass]

Mustangs can be addictive Chris 😂😂😂😂

[ped]

11 minutes ago, martthebass said:

Mustangs can be addictive Chris 😂😂😂😂

Definitely! And the come in so many cool colours! 
 

I think I’ll put Elixir strings on the Squier and it’ll be a good opposite number to the Fender. The fretboard in the squier is really dark and nice looking. I was expecting to need to ‘feed’ it with Planet Waves Hydrate but it’s fine, especially compared to some I’ve seen online. 
 

In some ways holds its own compared to the Fender, especially for the price. The body weight very little so there’s a bit of neck dive whereas the Fender is perfectly balanced and weighs 7.6lbs. 

[martthebass]

I’m down to 2 now but the ‘Squier’ has done about 200 gigs with me now. It’s like a pair of comfy slippers. Don’t try a JMJ.....it’ll make you want to buy one big time.

[JohnDaBass]

13 hours ago, martthebass said:

I’m down to 2 now but the ‘Squier’ has done about 200 gigs with me now. It’s like a pair of comfy slippers. Don’t try a JMJ.....it’ll make you want to buy one big time.

*what pickup is on the Squier? Have you done a thread on the mods?

[ped]

4 hours ago, JohnDaBass said:

*what pickup is on the Squier? Have you done a thread on the mods?

 

I think I'm right in saying that the Squier is a signature model and that the pickup is standard

Ah yes here you go

https://www.andertons.co.uk/bass-dept/bass-guitars/retro-bass-guitars/squier-mikey-way-mustang-bass-rosewood-fretboard-large-flake-silver-sparkle

 

[LeftyJ]

18 minutes ago, ped said:

 

I think I'm right in saying that the Squier is a signature model and that the pickup is standard

Ah yes here you go

https://www.andertons.co.uk/bass-dept/bass-guitars/retro-bass-guitars/squier-mikey-way-mustang-bass-rosewood-fretboard-large-flake-silver-sparkle

 

Every time I see these mentioned I need to do a double take as my mind wants to read this:

 

[Guest]

22 hours ago, martthebass said:

I’m down to 2 now but the ‘Squier’ has done about 200 gigs with me now. It’s like a pair of comfy slippers. Don’t try a JMJ.....it’ll make you want to buy one big time.

A lot of truth in the statement on the JMJ

 

Edited August 20, 2022 by Moving Pictures

[ezbass]

You might as well start getting ready to buy one, just like Thanos, it is inevitable...

 

 

 

 

[LukeFRC]

On 19/08/2022 at 10:35, ped said:

posted.

 

That looks amazing. 
I love proper old stuff that’s been modded and played and no-one cared about ‘vintage value’ cos that wasn’t a thing - great find 

[ped]

11 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

That looks amazing. 
I love proper old stuff that’s been modded and played and no-one cared about ‘vintage value’ cos that wasn’t a thing - great find 

Cheers, yeah me too - the pickups in this give it a really full P bass bark and the J soloed is super punchy and ‘parpy’ - and used solo it has plenty of volume and ‘body’, whereas I usually find a single bridge pickup needs a bit of a bump in bass and vol. 

 

It’s a really fun little thing, dead pleased with it!

[ped]

Interesting to note that this is one of the first Mustang basses (Sept 66) before the bass specific logos arrived. It would have had the word 'Bass' added from the Bass V instead, which has come off. The proper 'Mustang Bass' decals can be seen on basses from approbations Nov 66 onwards and is reproduced on the JMJ