Ca. 1967 Fender Mustang Bass, serial number 219057. VG archive. Instrument courtesy of Rockahaulix.
Fender’s short-scale Mustang Bass, introduced in 1966, was a transitional instrument in many ways. The company had started developing instruments for the student market in the mid ’50s, when its single-pickup Musicmaster and two-pickup 3/4-size Duo-Sonic models were introduced, both with 221/2″ scales until ’65, when they adopted a 24″ scale (and a “II” designation). An upgrade student model, the two-pickup/24″-scale Mustang came along in ’64 sporting an offset waist and vibrato tailpiece. Following the Mustang’s lead, the Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic were given an offset-waist silhouette around the same time.
Fender didn’t market a short-scale four-string bass until after it had been sold to CBS in ’65, but the Mustang Bass quickly became popular among students.
Comfort was the intent behind the Mustang Bass, and its 30″ scale, light weight, offset waist, and body contours teamed made it easy to play whether sitting or standing. Its headstock has a classic Fender four-on-a-side silhouette, its tuning keys have a rounded/egg-shaped profile (later, Schaller cloverleaf-shaped keys), and its bolt-on neck is made of maple with a 19-fret rosewood fretboard with pearloid dot markers. The truss can be adjusted at the body end, though doing so requires removing the neck.
Another indication that the Mustang Bass was a student/budget instrument is its body silhouette. With its stubby cutaway horns and shallower cutaways, it looked more like a six-string cousin than a downsized Precision or Jazz.
Like the Precision, the Mustang had a single split-coil pickup. But where the Precision’s pickup housings were rectangular, the Mustang’s were oval-shaped. The configuration of the Volume and Tone controls gave a nod to the Jazz, being on a chrome plate instead of the pickguard. Its strings loaded through the rear of the body, and the large bridge plate had individual (and intonatable) string saddles, as well as foam mutes. A finger rest was initially found on the treble side of the pickguard.
The Mustang Bass body was first made of alder, but other woods were later used, particularly on natural-finished examples. It was first offered in colors listed simply as Red, White, or Blue; Red and Blue had white pearloid pickguards, while White had tortoiseshell.
Beginning in ’69, Mustangs were offered in “Competition” versions with new colors and a contrasting racing stripe across the corner of the lower bass bout. By 1970, Fender’s color chart listed custom options as well as Competition Red, Competition Burgundy, and Competition Orange. Curiously, Competition Burgundy looked more like the Lake Placid Blue.
The ’72 catalog lists finish options including Sunburst, White, Competition Burgundy, Competition Red. By ’73, Fender price lists include only four options – Sunburst, Olympic White, Competition Burgundy, and Competition Red. Some Competition versions had matching headstocks.
Later years saw the Mustang Bass given poplar or ash bodies dressed in sunburst, natural, walnut, black, and Wine Red. Most were given black pickguards, though sunburst and some white examples had white. In the late ’70s you could get a Mustang finished in Antigua. The model was discontinued in 1981.
Despite its short scale, the Mustang has a potent sound, and has been used by many notable players. Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman used one during the band’s 1969 tour, as documented by the movie Gimme Shelter. The Talking Heads’ Tina Weymouth used one, as did Brits Trevor Bolder of David Bowie’s Spiders from Mars, Alan Lancaster of Status Quo, and Denny Laine with Paul McCartney & Wings.
The Mustang was part of the learning experience for many aspiring bassists who came of age in the 1960s and ’70s. A Leo Fender design, it has a unique place in Fender’s lineup and the company’s overall history.
Special thanks to Walter Carter and Richard Smith.
This article originally appeared in VG‘s June 2008 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
1966 Fender Mustang Bass Test
