- Fender Mustang Bass
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Mustang Bass 
Manufacturer Fender Period 1966 — 1981, 2002 - present. Construction Body type Solid Neck joint Bolt-on Scale 30" Woods Body Alder Neck Maple, “C” Shape,(Gloss Polyurethane Finish) Fretboard rosewood (9.5” Radius/241 mm) Hardware Bridge Strings-Thru-Body with 4 Individually Adjustable Saddles Pickup(s) 1 Special Design Split Single-Coil Mustang Bass Pickup Colors available Currently Vintage White, previous colours in the past. The Fender Mustang Bass is an electric bass guitar model produced by Fender. Two variants, the Musicmaster Bass and the Bronco Bass, have also been produced from time to time using the same body and neck shape.
Contents
History
Introduced in 1966 as a companion to Fender's shorter-scaled, two-pickup Fender Mustang guitars, the Mustang Bass was the last original bass designed by Leo Fender before his departure from the company in 1965. The Mustang Bass has a short 30" scale and a single split pickup (similar to the P-bass), one volume and one tone control, with strings-through-body routing. Like the early Precision and Jazz basses, the Mustang Bass was fitted with string mutes (although most players removed these).
The standard finishes were red and white. Mustang basses, like all Fender guitars, were finished in nitrocellulose lacquer up until 1968, thereafter in thick polyester finish. In 1969, both the Mustang guitar and bass were issued with 'Competition' finishes, i.e. red with three white stripes, a thick one between two thinner ones, Lake Placid Blue with lighter blue stripes, etc. and were later available in various plain finishes including black and sunburst. (The yellowing of the lacquer on some early models has also resulted in "rare" colours like Surf Green, in reality a yellowed Competition Blue).
In production almost continuously to 1981, the Mustang Bass was reissued by Fender Japan in 2002.
The Musicmaster Bass variant was also introduced in the mid-1960s and was originally marketed as a student model. Rather than the split-coil design of the Mustang Bass, it featured a single-coil pickup, which was actually a six-pole Stratocaster guitar pickup under a solid plastic cover. Production ceased around the same time as the Mustang Bass. The Squier Musicmaster Bass was reissued briefly in 1997, however it was discontinued after only one year of production and was ultimately replaced by the Bronco Bass.
Recently, Squier began manufacturing its own version of the Mustang Bass as part of the brand's Vintage Modified series. The Squier Vintage Modified Mustang Bass was released in July 2011, and is available in black, or three-tone sunburst with a maple fretboard, a black pickguard and stratocaster style volume and tone knobs.
Players
- Tomethy Furse and, more recently, Rhys Webb of The Horrors and Miss Frankie Stein of The Mission Creeps use all-black Mustang Basses.
- Trevor Bolder of David Bowie and The Spiders from Mars used a Mustang Bass among many other basses.
- Pete Agnew of Nazareth (band) used a Mustang bass on LP Loud 'n' Proud 1973.
- Lisa Brigatino, formerly of Lez Zeppelin, frequently uses a Mustang.
- Barry Bronson from Gear Wire reviews, is usually seen playing a Fender Mustang Bass when reviewing popular Bass amps.
- Holger Czukay of German band Can used the Fender Mustang extensively in the 1970s.
- Jason Falkner, solo musician, uses a black mid '70s Mustang Bass.
- Jesse Murphy, formerly of New York City band Brazilian Girls uses a Mustang Bass.
- Tim Foreman of Switchfoot presently uses this bass for live presentations.
- Nicolas Godin of the French band Air uses a red Mustang Bass on tour and when recording.
- Clive Griffiths of Patto used a Mustang bass for most of his tenure with the band.
- Brian Hill of The Postmarks currently uses this bass for live performances as well as recording.
- Gary Jarman of The Cribs used a Mustang Bass on stage until their second album, at which point he switched to Precision Basses.
- John Deacon of Queen occasionally used one and also had one as a backup for his Fender Precision Bass.
- Jeffrey Hammond of Jethro Tull is pictured playing one in the Living in the Past album.
- Alan Lancaster of Status Quo used Mustang and Musicmaster basses.
- Denny Laine occasionally used one during his time with Wings, when lead singer Paul McCartney would switch from bass to piano or guitar.
- John Linnell of They Might Be Giants plays a Mustang Bass in the music video for "The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)", although his role in the band is almost always that of keyboardist or saxophonist.
- Colin Moulding of XTC used a Musicmaster bass in 1979.
- Chris Murphy of Sloan frequently uses a Mustang bass.
- Dee Dee Ramone played a Musicmaster bass during the early days of the Ramones.
- Fred Smith of Television (band) used a Mustang bass during the band's early days.
- Thompson Twins Joe Leeway used a Musicmaster bass on "Hold Me Now" in 1983.
- Wally Waller of the Pretty Things used a Mustang bass from 1967 to approximately 1976, including on the band's seminal albums S.F. Sorrow and Parachute.
- Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads used a Mustang bass in the early days of the band.
- Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys used it in the video of Good Vibrations, and probably he used it on 1967 album Smiley Smile, too.
- Bill Wyman of The Rolling Stones used Mustang basses in the late-1960s and early-1970s.
- Bill Church of Montrose used a Mustang in the early days.
- Roger Glover of Deep Purple used a Mustang on the Fireball album.
- Jon "KC Wolf" Kindler of The Chariot plays a white Mustang on the band current tour supporting the album Wars and Rumors of Wars.
- Patrick of The Illegal Kind plays a Mustang bass.
- Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth can be seen playing a Musicmaster bass in the video for the band's song "Bull in the Heather."
- Todd Ingram (Brandon Routh) from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World plays a Fender Mustang bass with the fictional band the Clash at Demonhead.
- Zombierella Girl from Messer_Chups plays a daphne blue Mustang bass.
- Rob Petts of Chadison Avenue plays a vintage white, Japenese Fender Mustang Bass.
- Justin Davidson of Mass Transit and Honey and the Lion played a custom Mustang Bass on the song "Sucker for Lovin'" from Mass Transit's 2006 self-titled release.
- Max Greenhalgh played a Bronco bass in the early days of Tan Sister Radio.
- Simon Green aka Bonobo (musician) plays a Mustang bass, notably on the Live At Koko DVD.
- Spencer Anderson of Phage the Untouchable primarily plays a Mustang bass.
References
- Peter Bertges: The Fender Reference; Bomots, Saarbrücken 2007, ISBN 978-3-939316-38-1
External links
Categories:- Fender electric bass guitars
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