60's Fender Mustang restoration

My uncle gave me a 1967 Fender Mustang. However it has been stripped and has absolutely no original parts/electronics (I only know the year from taking off the neck and finding the stamp). It had been grossly spraypainted yellow in the 70's, so when he got it he sanded it and just applied a wood varnish (kind used for homemade furniture). I think I can handle the refinishing myself, but I don't even know where to begin to start looking for parts. I'm not going for a perfect restoration, and am not concerned about authenticity...just a playable, decent looking backup axe. Any suggestions on where to begin?

have you tried www.stewmac.com ?

Thanks for that Dr. I think I'll be able to find most everything I need there! But since we're on the subject, do the tremelos of that kind go out of tune easy? I've never played on one like that, and since they're not really around much, are they obsolete, unreliable, improvable?

There are several thinks you can do to help the guitar stay in tune.

First up are Graphtech string saver saddles and a graphtech nut. If you want to stay with the originals that is fine but it is some times a good idea to use a smattering of soft pencil lead (graphite) as lubricant on the saddle / nut. Also two and a half turns and NO more at the peg heads. You can also use chapstick if you prefer. Don't cover everything in it as you are only interested in lubricating the points where the guitar and the string touch. This is to alleviate any stored tension that will be released (so slackening the string and dropping the tuning) when you operate the trem.

Don't expect to be impersonating Steve Vai with this trem. It is not meant for that sort of abuse. If you want a little light tremolo a la Dick Dale then you are in business. If not, well Id get a Jackson or a cheap Kramer before I started modifying a fine old Mustang !!

Man... a Fender Mustang eh? That should be pretty nice when you get it up and going, but I'd imagine it to be more of a decorative instrument or like you said a backup axe. Well, I don't know enough about guitar building to contribute anything but I bid my best wishes that it turns out nice.

My cousin scored a 60's Fender Mustange and an old Fender 4x10 amp for $100 at a garage sale :eek: . Both worked perfectly. I never liked the control layout on the Mustange. I alway's bumped the switches and changed the pickups on accident. Great sounding guitar though.

I think if i had of been lucky enough to score an old mustang with a sound body and a stright neck, I,d try to put it back to the original as I could. Plenty of retro parts available. Google "Guitar Parts"

Originally Posted by: R. ShackleferdThanks for that Dr. I think I'll be able to find most everything I need there! But since we're on the subject, do the tremelos of that kind go out of tune easy? I've never played on one like that, and since they're not really around much, are they obsolete, unreliable, improvable?

The Mustang style vibrato has never been an exceptionally good design. As Dr. Simon pointed out, there's a few tricks you can use to minimize the tuning problems but they're still going to be there and you're not going to be able to do anything extreme on that whammy bar without having to retune it IMMEDIATELY afterwards.

Vintage gear nuts are probably going to have a heart attack when they read this, but you may want to look into installing a Gibson style Tune-O-Matic bridge on it; I'm not sure what would be involved exactly, but I do know that it has been done in the past and that I, personally, would rather have a hard tail than a vibrato I can't use.

I considered the fixed bridge first, but the tremelo cavities are on top, behind where the bridge sits...so I'd have to cover, fill, or try to ignore the gaping holes. Besides, my other axe is an SG...so I'll fix this one like it's supposed to play, only with more modern parts. As far as paying 3-5 times for 'vintage' parts, no way do I have the money or even desire. I looked into it though on ebay, and found a decent price for some '66 mustang tuners...clicked the link and turns out he only had 5 rusty ones!

I wouldn't consider vintage tuners, even for a second.

I plan to replace the vintage style tuners on both my Strat and my Tele as soon as I get the chance -- they look great, but they simply don't work as well as modern Schallers.

Rask has a point.

Id think carefully about wether you want to keep this guitar as a collectors piece at top value, or wether you want it to play as well as it can.

The two are usually mutually exclusive 'specially if you are a whammy bar fiend !!

It may be cheaper to buy a second axe with a FR (like a Kraymer or similar) if that is what you want to do.

[font=trebuchet ms]If I interpret your first post correctly, you have the neck, a (badly) re-finished body, and a few bits of hardware. I also get the sense that you aren't interested in doing a 'cork-sniffer' absolutely correct restoration.

That opens the door for doing anything that gives you a playable instrument. Since you intend to refinish the body anyway, You just might find that filling in the tremolo cavity is a good way to go. If you want to have a functional tremolo, I think you would get a better bang for the buck by buying something more modern. A used guitar will possibly work out to be less hassle. If you turn the Mustang into a hardtail, you can also make it string-through-body for better tone. And there's a world of aftermarket pickups available, to give you any kind of sound that tickles your fancy.

So take a look here Allparts guitar parts,
and here Guitar Parts Resource,
and here bartolini pickups and parts,
and here DiMarzio pickups,
and here EMG pickups,
and here Fender,
and here Guitarnuts sheilding techniques,
and here Guitar Trader parts catalog,
and here Higly Strung guitar parts,
and here Lace pickups,
and here Musical Instrument Makers Forum,
and here Seymour Duncan pickups,
and here StewMac guitar parts and luthier tools and supplies,
and here USA Custom Guitars guitars and parts,
and here Warmoth guitars and parts
for some ideas.

The only limits are your imagination and your budget.

Have fun![/font] :D