❌SOLD❌ Fender Mustang Walnut Stain 24 Inch Scale, 1965

Introduced in August 1964 and built until 1982, the Fender Mustang was positioned between the student model DuoSonic and the professional grade Telecaster. Most Mustangs have a 24 inch scale length, but a few were built with a short 21.5 inch scale, all with Rosewood fingerboards. Until 1969, the body was a simple Poplar slab body, and then it received standard – patented – Fender contours. Until 1968, the finish was nitrocellulose lacquer; at that point the finish shifted to the new, heavier polyester coatings.

Fender was purchased by CBS on January 5, 1965.

This Fender Mustang Walnut Stain 24 Inch Scale dates to 1965 – the neck date is 8SEP65B – so it is a very early CBS guitar, almost certainly built with pre-CBS components already in stock, including the neck plate with ‘L-Series’ serial and no ‘F’ stamp. Its original lacquer finish was stripped long ago and the Poplar body received a light Walnut stain. The pickups, electronics are original or original style, replaced due to wear. The faux-pearlescent pickguard is original, as are the tuners.

The neck finish is the original lacquer, and the decal is in good shape – many have dried out and flaked over the years. The fingerboard is Brazilian Rosewood – Fender shifted to Indian Rosewood in 1966, and was professionally refretted some time ago.

This Fender Mustang guitar is in good playing condition and sounds great.

A ‘Distributor’ hard shell case is included. At this point in the 1960’s, there were meaningful import duties on ‘luggage’ items to support the Canadian luggage industry, so many US guitars shipped into Canada arrived without cases, and the distributor provided them.

The Fender Mustang features a trem system using a rocking bridge and elevated string bar tailpiece, the springs being located under the chrome bridge plate. Overall, this design shares several elements of the Jazzmaster / Jaguar trem bridge.

While intended as an intermediate model, the Mustang was used by professionals, including Johnny Winter. One of the things that has contributed to the immediate and enduring popularity of Fender guitars is the ease with which they can be successfully customized. However, the student and intermediate models, the DuoSonic, Music Master and Mustang, have a body that’s over a quarter of an inch thinner than the pro-grade Telecaster and Stratocaster. As a result, many of the parts that have been successfully used on the pro models just can’t fit on the Mustang, for example a stock Stratocaster trem bridge or a Floyd Rose.