Mustang bass reissue

[hudpucker]

In the past few months I've seen a few of the MIJ Mustang Bass reissues and they've been pretty damned fun to play. I know, it's because I'm primarily a guitarist that the short 30" scale appeals to me but, more importantly, the neck is narrow and short enough that it doesn't hurt my brittle hands the way my 35" scale Guild Pilot bass sometimes does.

What are the pros and cons to these models?

Would you replace a great (but sometimes painful to play) old Pilot bass with a shiny new MIJ RI bass?

I'm tempted, for sure...

[Kap'n]

The big thing with mustangs is, if you get tired of the pickup, you need to screw with it. There aren't any drop in replacements.

Unless, of course, you gut a Fender XII.

[hudpucker]

Two years later and I've finally answered my own question...



Wow these are fun to play!

[coldsteal2]

The big thing with mustangs is, if you get tired of the pickup, you need to screw with it. There aren't any drop in replacements.

Unless, of course, you gut a Fender XII.

or drop in a preamp

I had one back in 68-71, and it looked just like this one
except the head was also a matching blue (i really thought the Mustang competition stripes was cool)
Glen Hughes the bassist for Trapeze used a Fender Mustang Bass in his Trapeze days


It was an EXCELENT bass, but yea the pickups are kind of weak.
I just turned up loud to make up for it.

[clayville]

Cool score, Hud!

I lust after one of those for the exact same reason (guitarist, short scale, small hands). One of these days....

[Don]

Cool pic but kinda scary the way that amp is propped between to cabs and has the cord passing through the handle!!!

[hudpucker]

Cool pic but kinda scary the way that amp is propped between to cabs and has the cord passing through the handle!!!

heheh. I was thinking the same thing.


Yeah, this bass IS indeed a cool score. The build quality is very good and I dig the punchiness.

[Telebass]

Nice bass!

[coldsteal2]

Cool pic but kinda scary the way that amp is propped between to cabs and has the cord passing through the handle!!!

Oh, on the Old Bassmans there was this great
screw in attachment on the heads and cabinets
a pull out slot on the bottom of the amps
and a nut thats built into the cabs, you just hand
screw it in one of the coolest old ideas for attaching
a head to a cab. Very safe.
Made for literaly Leaning the cab back so it would stay attached
i cant think of any other company that did that.
The problem is when you have two cabs you have to seperate
them so you can attach them, it was kind of "hi tech" for the time


The bolts


The slider attachments on the bottom of the head


Shown attached to the cab

[coldsteal2]

heheh. I was thinking the same thing.


Yeah, this bass IS indeed a cool score. The build quality is very good and I dig the punchiness.

The short scale makes it easy to use
heavier guage strings and still be able
to get a good bottom out of them