1965 Fender Mustang, Blue

Very nice early 1965 Fender Mustang in a perfectly aged Blue lacquer finish with a clay dot rosewood Fingerboard and pearloid pickguard. 

Originally introduced in 1964, the Mustang was one of Leo Fender's last original designs before the CBS buy-out.  Essentially the same instrument as the Duo-Sonic II with the addition of the newly designed "Dynamic vibrato" tailpiece and floating bridge. Light, easy to handle and quite versatile with its in/out of phase pickup options the model was instantly hugely successful. Intended as a student instrument, the 24" scale guitar with vibrato has been used by many professionals over the decades since and endured as an absolute classic in its own right, so much so there are six Mustang models offered in the Fender Catalog today. The Mustang has proved a timeless favourite of bands from the 1960s and '70s right through to today, easily exceeding Leo's original intentions as a simple but effective student instrument.

This guitar dates to early 1965, the first full year of production for the Mustang and sports a perfectly aged and original blue lacquer finish. Some Mustangs from this period missed out on the clear coat during busy times of production and thanks to their more Student oriented designation but this one has a clear coat and has aged wonderfully with the blue taking on a deeper, less saturated Blue tone. On removal of the neck the neck pocket is painted half blue with the remainder still yellow from the earlier staining process. The body is free of nail holes as Fender had transitioned away from the nail method to drying multiple guitars on a rack. The neck also sports its original lacquer with the back of the neck perfectly played through. The headstock has gold transitional Fender Mustang logo with multiple patents. The neck stamp reads 8 JAN 65 A, pin router holes are present and the truss rod adjuster sits perfectly flush. Hardware is all correct but the nut has been replaced. Frets appear original and although they have lost some height the guitar plays well. Tuners are the same Double Line Klusons used on the Stratocaster and Telecaster just with plastic buttons. The pickguard is the original 3-ply Pearloid guard with pickup switched fitted the volume and tone controls mounted to a secondary chrome plate. The Stackpole volume and tone pots date to late ’64 with a source code of 304-6450. Pickups both have grey fibreboards with hand-written dates, likewise, both early 1965. The loom has had some wiring work done previously - with the wires between the pots and switches and copper plate and volume pot having been cut and re-attached. All components are correct for period and Pickups have not been de-soldered from the switches. Nevertheless everything under the hood works as expected with no issues.

Being a short-scale student model the guitar feels compact and easy to play. The neck measures 20.22mm at the first fret, and 24.32mm at the 12th with a nut width of 38.5mm. Despite the smaller dimensions the guitar feels great to play after only a short time adapting. The Fender single coil pickups sound excellent with all the chime and bell like ring that Mustang pickups are associated with a particularly mean grind into a fuzz or a breaking up amp.  The guitar comes with the correct Fender Mustang case.