Officially launched in 1964 as a sort of bridge between Fender’s true “student models” (like the 1956 single-pickup Musicmaster) and its high-end instruments (which in ’56 were clearly the Telecaster and the Stratocaster), the Mustang was fairly inexpensive, yet it was quite playable, and more important, could deliver a surprising number of sounds. Studio pros loved this guitar, and still do. In fact, most first-call guitarists were almost certainly going to walk into sessions with more than one guitar – typically one with humbucking pickups and another with single-coils. While they might also have a Tele or a Strat, many preferred to use the Mustang, which had its own unique sound, thanks to the pickup switching, in which each pickup can be turned on or off, as well as combined in a true out-of-phase position. If you do the math, that’s actually seven different combinations – more than you get on a 3-pickup Strat! Plus, with both pickups being angled, you’d get a different set of harmonics than with any other Fender. Finally, these pickups have a sound all their own, with lots of upper-midrange complexity along with the trademark single-coil “spank and sparkle.”
Today we have the Fender ’65 Mustang as our Guitar of the Day, simply because players “in-the-know” want access to its remarkable tonal palette. When you play one, you immediately understand why Kurt Cobain chose a Mustang when developing that distinctive Nirvana sound. And that high-profile players like David Byrne, John Fruisciante, Todd Rundgren, and Adrian Belew all used them. This reissue of the ’65 Mustang (the first complete year of its production) is historically correct, with an Olympic White or Dakota Red body, a Tortoiseshell or White Pearl multi-ply pickguard respectively, a special-design floating bridge with “dynamic” vibrato tailpiece, a fast maple neck (tinted to look like a 40-year-old Fender’s neck would look) with comfortable “C” shape, gloss polyurethane finish (bonus points for that), and the large ’60s headstock. Both models come with a 22-fret rosewood fingerboard and a very wallet-friendly Sweetwater price tag, which includes absolutely free FedEx shipping right to your door. This one’s definitely worth checking out!
