Conference napalm::guitar

    Is the headstock shaped like a Strat headstock, or does it
    resemble a hockey stick, and seem larger than it should be
    for a 6 string ? You mentioned the body has a cutout. If
    I remember correctly, they made a guitar called simply
    the Fender Custom. They made them out of leftover 12 string
    parts. This explains why the headstock looks bigger than it
    needs to be for a 6 string. I don't recall them having only
    one pickup, though. I seem to remember them having some
    Jazzmaster or Jaquar parts (bridge?, pickups?), since the 
    12 string bridge couldn't be adapted for 6 string.
    
    I have "The Fender Book" at home. If you can give me some more
    clues, I can find out tonight exactly what model you have.
    
    Mark Jacques in the good old US of A.
                      
    

    
    It sounds from the description in .0 that you have a Fender "Swinger"
    also known as a "Musiclander".
    
    These were student models built in the late sixties for a music
    store chain.  Not too many were built.  They were essentially
    Bronco/Musicmaster based guitars with an additional cutout in the
    bottom of the body and the "knob" on the headstock removed to make
    it arrow shaped.
    
    They are rather rare here in the U.S. but I have no idea what they're
    worth.  I would assume over $300 at least.

    Thanks mark and lizard king(?) - 'Musiclander' rang bells with me
    - the head IS like a strat with the knob cut off.
    

    
    
    I looked through my back issues of Guitar Player and in May and
    June of 1984, the "Off the Wall" column ran a feature on Babe Simoni,
    who was a bigwig in production at Fender.
    
    Babe designed both the Custom and the Musiclander.  There is a picture
    of him with one of each, though his Musiclander (the first one built)
    has a knob on the headstock (he explains in the story the knob was
    later removed). 
    
    Both guitars existed as a way to get rid of excess parts.  The
    Custom used old Fender XII parts, but only handled six strings.
    It had two split pickups that looked kind of like miniature P-bass
    pickups, one volume and one tone mounted on a Mustang-like control
    plate, and a weird "horn" at the bottom of the body so it wasn't
    *exactly* like the 12-string.
    
    The Musiclander was built to use up some 3/4 scale necks that had
    been built for Mustangs...the 3/4 scale Mustang was a flop and the
    factory got a lot of them returned by dealers.  Babe claims only
    300 Musiclanders were ever built so it's really quite rare.  That
    also explains why your neck is stamped 1966 when you actually bought
    the guitar much later.
    
    

    I have a question on Fender Mustang pickup switches.  There are
    switches above each of the single coils, anyone know what the
    configurations are for each switch position?
    
    Thanks,
    Mike

    
    If I recall correctly, they have three positions, the middle is off,
    and if you turn both on, but with each switch in the opposite position,
    the pickups are out-of-phase.
    
    							Brian

    
    
    	Yep, you're absolutely right Brian....  I had a couple of those
    dudes.. (grin, you may remember)...  I've also got a set of switches
    left over (vintage Fender switches... If you're serious enough about
    your switches... ) has a nice ring to it huh??

    I started my rebuilding project of my '66 Mustang yesterday.  First, I
    replaced the switches (thanks Steve Greve) and omitted the intermittent
    contact problems.  They work great and I get better results now.  I
    couldn't hear any difference in the "out of phase" position before, but
    I can now with the new switches.  Kind of a cool vintage sound ;-)
    
    Now I need some guidance on fixing its other 2 problems.  
    
    1.  The pickups are original.  I figured it needs new ones and I should
        just replace them, but I'd like to know the source of this symptom.
        When playing through the Kitty, the sound sometimes fades out. 
        This usually happens on the clean channel and will usually go away if 
        I go to "red + green" distortion channel.  Are the old single coils 
        causing this occaisional flakeyness(sp?) or do I have a possible
        amp problem (maybe I should switch to 6L6s)?
    
    2.  How would I check for intonation problems on this beast?  Even when
        in "tune", it doesn't quite sound right.  Maybe a bridge adjustment
        is needed or new tuning machines?  It has the vibrato bridge on it,
        but the whammy bar was missing when I got it.
    
    Thanks,
    Mike

    
    
    
    	Mike, we can't adjust intonation on the MUstang bridge... but with
    a guitar this cool, who needs to be in tune, right???  I think the only
    way into the intonation game is to replace the bridge.. yuck!!  If you
    wind up going that way, I have a brass, badass bridge that i took off
    one of my mustangs that I'd ummm.. share with you...
    
    
    Regards,
    Steve

    What do you mean by the sound "fades out"?  Are you not getting enough
    sustain or is it simply that the output from the guitar seems to go up
    and down randomly?  
    
    Actually, my recommendation to you is to *not modify anything* on the
    guitar since a custom color Mustang is going to be worth more
    money stock than modified.  Unless it is really beat-up already....a
    modified Mustang is worth squat for resale.
    
    I can't believe you can't intonate a Mustang!!!  Steve, do you mean
    that you can't intonate the strings individually?  A good repairman can
    intonate electrics with old-style bridges that don't offer individual
    string adjustments.
    
    							Brian

    
    Mike, I have heard the "fade out thing" on my Kitty with the EL's. 
    It's really pretty minor on mine and only happened after it got 
    hot.  You may expect to lose a power tube soon - that's what happened
    after I heard mine do that.  Screw the EL's, I think you'll like the
    6L6's better anyway.  Brighter and punchier.  Kitty's seem to eat EL's
    (but not 6L6's) for some reason.  Mebbe that's why the "Wolfman" 
    recommends 6L6's?
    
    

    Re: fade out signal
    
    It is sort of like tuning in a radio station, but having it slightly
    off center frequency.  It is still there, but not as loud and sort of
    garbled.  Is this what you had Pat?
    
    Re: intonation
    
    This may or may not be the problem.  The strings *DO* have individual
    adjustment screws on the bridge.  It just sounds too twangy and drifts
    out of tune.  It was worse before I put the D'Addarios on it, but I'm
    still not happy.
    
    Mike

>    Actually, my recommendation to you is to *not modify anything* on the
>    guitar since a custom color Mustang is going to be worth more
>    money stock than modified.  Unless it is really beat-up already....a
>    modified Mustang is worth squat for resale.
    
    you mean people actually pay $$ for turquoise? ;-)  The finish does
    have some dings.  I was hoping to paint it black or white.
    
    Mike    

	If you are getting a fade out in one channel & not the other,
	I wouldn't suspect the output stage (the EL34's or 6L6GC's),
	but rather the pre-amp stage (probably 12AT7/12AX7's or something
	along the same lines) for that channel. It could also be a
	bad capacitor in that channel, or a carbon resistor that has
	gotten too hot (these will turn black in the middle - If you see
	one like this, replace it with the same resistance value, but a
	substantially higher wattage rating, 'cause it'll do it again
	if you don't). Most Resistors used in Tube amps are + or - 20%
	tolerance (ie. the stated resistance can be off as much as 20%
	and still be used). If you happened to get one that's a low resistance
	value, and it's also on the low side of it's tolerance rating, it
	could be overheating. I used to have a similar problem in an amplifier
	that I had. I put better resistors (metal film, 5% tolerance and 
	higher wattages) in the whole thing after repeated problems with
	resistors burning up. Remember that a TUBE amp runs hot to begin
	with, and you might benifit from a cheap muffin fan (Radio Shack
	sell them for about $15.00) blowing air around the tubes. I have
	a fan on the 6L6GC's in my Twin Reverb.

							Jens

    
    
    
    
    	Yeah.. right Mike.. I was trying to remember my bridges and thought
    that my Mustang had one of those roller things.. you know, wrap the
    string around and the whammy moved the roller.. but now I remember that
    mine DID have individual adjustments...
    
    	Brian, respectfully, anyone who says he/she/they can adjust
    intonation correctly on a bridge that doesn't allow for individual
    string adjustment is full of beans!
    
    Steve

    If you get the "fade" problem from a distortion channel, it's the power
    amp stage right?
    
    I just duplicated the problem in the distortion channels after about an
    hour of use during lunch.
    
    Mike

    
    When an amp sounds fine at first, but gets "weaker" after a few
    mninutes, I agree it's typically the power tubes.  Time for a new set
    already??  Geez, you must be cranking...8^)  8^)  8^)
    
    						Brian
    
    P.S. "Turquoise" is probably either foam green or surf green, which are
    among the rarest of Fender colors.  That Mustang is probably worth twice
    as much as an identical piece in another color.

Personally I wouldn't change the turquise.  That's one of the coolest colors!

Greg

    Well this boy is a happy camper now.  I had someone fix the Mustang and
    it sounds cooooll!  Turns out that my ears were right, despite their
    youth (guitar wise).  
    
    The bridge needed a slight adjustment for the D'Addarios that I'm
    using, plus it needed new springs.  I also had the action lowered.
    
    I'm in love!  
    
    Mike

    Is the Fender Mustang a 3/4 scale guitar?
    
    Mike

	No. you can measure the scale with a yardstick from nut to
	bridge should measure ~25.5"

	Excellent guitar. Go get a sheilding job and enjoy it. Surf
	green is the ULTIMATE mustang color (well, maybe orange).

	Have a little fun - put on some .013s and get a Ventures disk....

    
    
    
    	Whoa... wait a minute.... I'd respectfully submit that the mustang
    IS a short scale guit...  Mine was 24 inches and change...  I found out
    cos I wanted to put a Strat replacement neck on one of my many Mustangs
    and all the folks at the music store died laffing because my bridge
    would have had to move about a mile...
    
    
    Steve
    
    	Better playing through industrial power tools....

    re: .20
    
    Both the Mustang and the Jaguar had 24" scales.
    
    Fender's 3/4 scales were 22.5", short indeed.
    
    Danny W,

    Anyone have a photo of a Mustang with a tremolo bar on it that they can
    photocopy and send me?
    
    I want to have one made for mine.  I have the Fender Dynamic Vibrato
    bridge on mine, just a hole where the bar used to be.
    
    Thanks,
    Mike

	I play with a guy that has one of those and it always felt
	full scale. Guess I was blinkered by the Rick 325 which is
	far shorter.

    I received some good news over the weekend on my Mustang.  The guy that
    gave it to me (and the VOX amp) said he was cleaning house and found
    some more stuff more them, including the whammy bar.
    
    This Mustang will soon be back to its original condition, outside of
    the finish.
    
    Mike

	So is this a 22.5" Mustang or a 24" Mustang?

	If 22.5 it's probably one of the Mustangs mentioned in .4 (rare?)

    Where do I measure to find out?  The Mustang's body or neck?
    
    Mike

Have you ever tried to play one of those 3/4 scale necks?? It's a b*tch
if you try swapping between guitars on stage. I tried it once at a jam
session & I invented some new (and quite unique) scales when it was my
turn to solo. If it's the short scale neck, you might want to avoid it
if you play other guitars, but I can see it being great for a younger
child, as the shorter scale might fit thier hands better (for me it was
a disaster).
								Jens


        

    I was sorry to find out that my Mustang is a 24" model.  Not the rare
    22.5" version.  :-(
    
    Mike

    You're probably better off.  Short(er) scales are a pain to play on and
    (IMO) don't sound as nice.  
    
    Greg

	An awesome guitar.... gets that tone like the sound of breaking
	glass....

    Well friends, I've been looking for a practice amp (I leave my "Twin"
    at rehersal) and I have come across a Fender M-80 with 1-12". Good
    Lord, they are getting real good at transistor technology. I have been
    impressed by GK, Crate, and now this. I wonder about the difference 
    in a side by side comparison with "the Twin". I'm asking myself is my
    Twin Hundreds of $ better? This M80 is lightweight, yet very powerful.
    
    Does anyone out there have any experience with these, or have any
    literature about it? I don't know very much about 'em having never
    given transistors much consideration. How much are they worth? How much
    do they sell for new? Are they 80 Watts as the name would imply? How
    long have they been on the market? Any stories or rumors about
    reliability? 
    
    "sakman"

    
    M-80s have been out about a year, they are rated at 80 watts by Fender,
    they cost $3-400, I think.
    
    							Brian

    I don't think the problem I had in .8 is the fault of the Kitty.  I
    took the Kitty shopping with me today.  I tried out a Takamine (natural
    series) and an Ibanez RG550 and had no troubles whatsoever.  The only
    other difference was the guitar cord.
    
    I think the Mustang must have some electrical problem to cause that
    intermittent fading out of the signal.
    
    If things work out, I won't have it much longer ;-)
    
    Mike