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Post subject: problems, real problems with my 1965 mustang re-issue
Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 6:34 am
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Hobbyist
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Joined: Sun Jul 05, 2009 11:31 pm
Posts: 31
even with the tremolo bar out, i cannot keep this guitar in tune to save my life. i have never owned a mustang or other fender with this type of vibrato on it. can anyone please PLEASE give me a clue as to how to fix this problem? i love the guitar otherwise. the tone and action are the best of any fender i've owned over the last 24 years since buying my first fender, also Japanese built. i'm ready to get rid of the guitar at this point it has me so frustrated though. i got it a week ago and i have fought it every day trying to get it right. i'm not at all inexperienced with setup of guitars, just with this type of vibrato.


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Post subject: Re: problems, real problems with my 1965 mustang re-issue
Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 8:28 am
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Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2007 7:33 am
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Location: Mars, the angry red planet.
bucky katt wrote:
even with the tremolo bar out, i cannot keep this guitar in tune to save my life. i have never owned a mustang or other fender with this type of vibrato on it. can anyone please PLEASE give me a clue as to how to fix this problem? i love the guitar otherwise. the tone and action are the best of any fender i've owned over the last 24 years since buying my first fender, also Japanese built. i'm ready to get rid of the guitar at this point it has me so frustrated though. i got it a week ago and i have fought it every day trying to get it right. i'm not at all inexperienced with setup of guitars, just with this type of vibrato.


There are a lot of players out there who swear their Mustang never goes out of tune. From experience and by its design, I cannot see how nor do I believe them. This is especially true with light gauge strings which the Mustang was not designed for. Regardless of string gauge, the bridge slogs around in its post holes, the strings flop off their saddles at will and the tremolo system is outright soggy and/or tends to mechanically bind and lurch like a bad nut does with strings; intonation is a whole other story.

As implied, it is with heavier gauged strings that Mustangs will have more stability but this is not to say that all its problems will go away. I've seen (and used) all sorts of extraneous remedies to aid in some sort of functional stability but it really takes some doing and there are always compromises. The bottom line is and I mean no offense, the Mustang was and still remains, a student level guitar.

Sure, you'll see a handful of professionals using them just as you'll see them using Teiscos, Danelectros, Sekovas, etc. and other student level models from the '60s and early '70s where with all, they have their own unique share of shortcomings. And yes, the price these instruments command, be they the originals or reissues is simply insane.

Hoards of players love to jump on the bandwagon with these types of instruments just because they are old, nostalgic, quaint, kind of unique or even shall we say, "avant garde". Regardless, the reality of what they are remains unchanged. But I digress.

To keep a Mustang in tune, the bridge and the tailpiece must be immobilized, plain and simple. Oftentimes the bridge saddles and intonation screws must be modified as well. Essentially, all this does is it turns the Mustang into its forebear, a Duo-Sonic II where even here, you won't see a whole lot of professionals using them either.

As always, this is merely IMO where YMMV.

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Post subject: Re: problems, real problems with my 1965 mustang re-issue
Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 4:08 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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Joined: Wed Dec 22, 2010 7:05 am
Posts: 667
I pulled the bridge out and wrapped tape around the posts to take up the slack. The Mustang tremolo is the worst design ever. PERIOD. It kinda free-floats, but used much more than for just a "wobble", it allows the strings to slip across the saddles. Then when the bridge moves, the strings slip, and nothing returns to zero. If you don't use tremolo much, remove the bridge and tape up the posts, and then remove the spring plate and tighten the spring screws to where the tremolo is basically tight and immobilized. Use graphite lube on the saddles, and especially the nut slots!


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Post subject: Re: problems, real problems with my 1965 mustang re-issue
Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 7:59 am
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Joined: Sun Jan 22, 2012 9:59 am
Posts: 103
2 words...Mastery Bridge.


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