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Fender American Performer Mustang Bass - Satin Surf Green with Rosewood Fingerboard Demo

4-string Electric Bass with Alder Body, Maple Neck, Rosewood Fingerboard, and 2 Single-coil Pickups - Satin Surf Green
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Condition Notes:

This guitar has a finish crack at the lower waist (located at the treble-side) near the output jack plate cover, along with an impact dent at the horn cutaway (treble-side). There are also fine scratches on various parts of the guitar that are not photographed. These scratches do not show well in photos, if at all. This guitar comes with an adjustment tool(s).

This item was thoroughly inspected by our factory-authorized service team and is backed by Sweetwater's exclusive 2-year warranty. These images are of the exact item advertised, and provide as accurate a representation of its condition as possible. If you need further information, please call your Sweetwater Sales Engineer at (800) 222-4700.

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Fender American Performer Mustang Bass - Satin Surf Green with Rosewood Fingerboard
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The Mustang Bass Is Better Than Ever

With its easy-playing 30" scale length and thumpy, punchy tone, the Mustang Bass is a favorite in the hands of any rock, surf, and soul lover. The Fender American Performer Mustang Bass marks a performance-defying return to form — with an exciting new look, modern tonal advancements, and an attractive American-made price that's sure to appeal to today's players. In addition to the silky-smooth Fender Yosemite classic split single-coil, you get a Yosemite Jazz Bass bridge pickup for added depth, growl, and versatility. Pickups are carefully calibrated, shellac dipped for feedback control, and fed into a Fender Greasebucket tone circuit to permit extra musicality from your onboard controls. Factor in the comfortable alder body and speedy, rosewood-topped modern "C" maple neck, and the Fender American Performer Mustang Bass promises to be one of the best iterations of the Mustang Bass we've seen.

American-made quality at an unbeatable price

Fender's American Performer Series exists to do one thing: give you genuine US-made quality at an unbeatable price. The American Performer Mustang Bass gives you a great selection of pro features, including a supremely playable maple neck and rosewood fingerboard, jumbo frets, Yosemite pickups, and Fender's innovative Greasebucket tone control. All in all, it's quite a potent music-delivery system. And it's made right here in the USA, in Fender's state-of-the-art Corona, California factory.

Versatile split and J-style Yosemite pickups

Modern or vintage, rounds or flats, players of all stripes will be pleased with what this Mustang Bass is packing by way of its increased-output Yosemite Alnico V passive pickups. In neck position is the classic split single-coil, for tubbier, thumpier walking lines and rubber band soul riffs. In bridge position, you'll find an additional Jazz Bass pickup with flat-staggered pole pieces for balance, clarity, and punch. These, paired with independent volume controls for each pickup and a master tone control, equip the American Performer Mustang Bass from Sweetwater for just about any style of music you can throw at it.

Greasebucket tone circuit

Fender has fitted their American Performer Mustang Bass with their Greasebucket tone control, which rolls off highs without adding bass or affecting your volume. This is seriously cool, because it gives you explicit control over your tone onstage without your having to compensate for volume loss — making the American Performer Mustang Bass a serious tone machine.

Fender American Performer Mustang Bass Features:

  • The classic Mustang Bass — now better than ever
  • American-made quality at an unbeatable price
  • Alder body is lightweight and tonally balanced
  • Maple modern “C” neck supplies supreme playability
  • Easy-playing 9.5"-radius fingerboard with jumbo frets
  • Yosemite pickups (Mustang Split and Jazz) equip this bass for rock, soul, and beyond
  • Greasebucket tone control rolls off highs without adding bass or affecting your volume

Why Buy Your Guitar from Sweetwater?

See how Sweetwater goes to great lengths to give you the very best online guitar buying experience. From our online Guitar Gallery that allows you to see and select the exact instrument you want to our 55-point Inspection process and our in-house guitar techs, we take the guesswork out of buying your next guitar online.

What is Demo Gear?

At Sweetwater, we're so picky that what we call a "demo" is actually better than what most music retailers sell as "new" gear! Our gear hasn't endured hundreds of people a week plunking away at all the keyboards, fumbling through Stairway to Heaven on every guitar or playing with every fader and knob on a mixer or control surface.

What demo means to us is that we've had it out of the box, or maybe it was in a customer's hands for a few days and isn't "factory fresh" as a result. Every demo item we sell has Sweetwater's 2-year Total Confidence Coverage™ warranty, and has been tested and verified up to "new" specs by our factory-authorized technicians to make sure it's in perfect working order before we ship it to you.

Note: While demo items from Fender do not include the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation warranty, you can shop with confidence knowing that this item is backed and covered by Sweetwater’s 2-year Total Confidence Coverage™ warranty.

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Warranty Info

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Tech Specs

  • Number of Strings: 4
  • Left-/Right-handed: Right-handed
  • Body Shape: Mustang
  • Body Material: Alder
  • Body Finish: Satin Polyurethane
  • Color: Surf Green
  • Neck Material: Maple
  • Neck Shape: Modern C
  • Radius: 9.5"
  • Fingerboard Material: Rosewood
  • Fingerboard Inlay: White Dots
  • Number of Frets: 19, Medium Jumbo
  • Scale Length: 30"
  • Nut Width: 1.625"
  • Nut Material: Synthetic
  • Bridge/Tailpiece: 4-saddle American Performer Mustang Bridge
  • Tuners: Fender F Light-weight Vintage-paddle Keys with Tapered Shafts
  • Middle Pickup: Yosemite Mustang Split-coil
  • Bridge Pickup: Yosemite Jazz Single-coil
  • Controls: 2 x volume, 1 x master tone, Greasebucket tone circuit
  • Strings: Fender USA 5250XL Short Scale, .040-.095
  • Case Included: Gig Bag
  • Manufacturer Part Number: 0198620357

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Customer Reviews

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Rated 5/5

Short scale? Hell yes!

As a life long Fender P-bass player I never thought I would entertain playing a short scale bass....boy was I wrong. At my age arthritis was creeping into my hands making fretting more and more difficult so why not give it a go? I contacted my Sweetwater rep Jonathon Casarow and he said they had one left in stock so send it to me. This bass has been an absolute joy to play. The workmanship and hardware is top of the line and talk about tone! The American Performer has all the tone and growl you'll ever need. With Sweetwater's 55 point inspection my bass showed up in perfect playable condition and has been a joy to play. I'm very happy with my purchase and Sweetwater's sales tech Jonathon Casarow for assisting me on this purchase.
Music background: Professional
Rated 5/5

A beautiful bass

I own two other American Fender basses (American Professional Jazz and American Professional Precision) and a Fender Mexican Precision. I love them all, so I was looking forward to receiving this Fender American Performer Mustang Bass. It's my first short-scale bass, and it doesn't disappoint. You hear a lot of people say that they sound just like their long-necked brethren and it's definitely true. I love this Mustang bass. It looks and sounds great, and the rosewood fretboard is perfect. This is my third purchase from Sweetwater, and it's always a pleasure.
Music background: Playing guitar and bass for fun for 45 years
Rated 5/5

Awesome Bass

I got what I'm assuming was one of the first of these from Sweetwater last November or December. My opinion is that Fender hit it out of the park with this American Performer Mustang bass. They have addressed all the little gripes I've had with various incarnations of the Mustang bass over the years. Since many of you may be deciding between this bass and the PJ, I'll compare two below (I have both), but first some general comments:

The build quality is very good. The hardware is great. And as far as I'm concerned the pickup combination is the best that has appeared on any Mustang bass at any time. Also, the neck profile, although it is the slightly wider 1.625 inch, is the best feeling neck that I have felt on ANY bass. It is very thin front to back and beats most J-bass necks for comfort even though it is a little wider. The finish is nice, I love the Surf Green, although I would prefer a high-gloss finish. That's really my only gripe with the whole bass and it's no big deal. And this pickup combination REALLY allows this Mustang to be a "do everything bass" (more on that below). Although the JMJ Mustang is a fine bass (I have that one too), this one runs circles around it as far as getting tons of usable tones.

Okay... let's compare this bass to the PJ. The PJ is a great bass priced reasonably, but this one really is a step up all the way around. Here's why (beyond the obvious step up in build quality)...

* Although the neck is narrower on the PJ, the American Performer (I'll call it the AP from now on) neck really is much sleeker feeling. In fact that neck is, as I said, about the best I've felt on ANY bass, including 4000 plus dollar basses I've had.

* Although the PJ sounds great, there has always been a little voice in the back of my head telling me of some of its shortcomings. The AP has addressed them, in my opinion. First, the neck pickup in the PJ can be a bit boomy/muddy/undefined. The AP is not at all muddy/boomy/undefined. It has a full sound without being to bottom-heavy. That's not to say it can't put out a lot of bottom end, it just does it in a more refined/defined manner. Second, I think the PJ bridge pickup is nearly useless on its own. It's volume level is way lower than the neck pickup and it is very thin sounding with not a lot of beef. It works fine in combination with the neck pickup, but not so much on it's own. And there really isn't much you can do about it other than swapping pickups--it's not horrible, but it is what it is. The AP has addressed this issue. The pickups are beautifully balanced. Both sound great on their own. And they sound wonderful together as well. The soloed bridge pickup with the tone rolled back is KILLER sounding. In fact, the bridge pickup is just a bit hotter than the neck. Just the way it should be to make all combinations of pickups useful. Also, the AP sound A LOT like a Jazz bass with both pickups on full. Close your eyes and you'd almost think it was. The PJ simply does not get a convincing Jazz bass tone. Also, the two volume controls open up tons of variation on the sound that you can't get with the PJ 3-way switch.

* The tone control on the AP is superior to the PJ. You can roll back the tone all the way without getting muddiness. Just punchy tones with less high end.

Whether this bass is worth it to you over the PJ is really dependent on what sound you are looking for, your wallet, and whether the refinements of the AP is worth the extra money. I have both basses, but if I were forced to choose one, it would be the American Performer Mustang Bass. It really is the perfect Mustang bass in my opinion and the first that can truly handle any musical situation I throw at it. That's pretty rare in a short scale bass. The PJ comes close, but this bass really does do it all. The only thing I wish Fender would do is offer it with a gloss maple fretboard. Maybe in the future....
Music background: Playing since dinosaurs roamed the earth
Rated 4/5

Great neck, cheap electronics, strange design elements

I think the neck of the bass is sturdy and feels like a $1000 guitar. Nonetheless, the electronics are cheap, the wiring is cheap, the Yosemite pickups sound great, but the bass and the pick guard are not shielded anywhere which adds a lot of noise and adjusting pickup height gently and for the first time ever, the pickup plastic cover loosed it"s grip so I had to change the screws for bigger ones in order to be able to raise them. Body seems resonant which is a good thing, and I think the pickup carving might fit a pair of p bass pickups. Don"t know yet. Another thing, the bridge is a bit off. Like the review title suggest strange design elements. All of that aside, I truly love the bass. It is fun to play, it is light and sounds great. Has a lot of personality. Hopefully someone makes a bridge alternative for the future and for the price they should shield the instrument.
Music background: Campo-Formio
Rated 3/5

Not as good as the recent MIM version

This is an ok bass. I own MANY basses, most American made. That being said, I also own the recent MIM Mustang and the blows this one out of the water which is why I scored this one so low.

The Bad: The neck split pickup is weak, the Jazz bridge pickup is not properly centered under the strings. The neck needs to be shimmed if you want super low action (unlike the MIM). The included gif bag is for a standard 34inch length, this one flops around inside. Those who score this bass high do not mind higher action and sub par tone.

The Good: looks great, made in America, very light weight.

Verdict: I was hoping for more from Fender as I have wanted an American made Mustang bass for quite some time since selling my 1970"s Mustang. Unfortunately, the tone, playability and overall value fall short. Especially considering the Mexican made Mustang plays and sounds so much better for less than half the price.
Music background: Semi pro studio musician

It’s impossible to imagine a world without Fender guitars, and if you’re like many of the guitarists at Sweetwater, then Fender not only made the first guitar you ever bought " they made the last one too! From building the first mass-produced solidbody electric guitars and basses in the 1950s to creating some of the most influential amplifier designs in history, it’s no wonder why Fender is one of the biggest names in the business. As one of the world’s largest Fender dealers, we have countless guitars, basses, amps, effects pedals, and accessories in stock and ready to ship, whenever you need them. We’re always getting our hands on their latest creations, and there’s nothing we love more than to tell our customers all about them! So, whether you’re looking for your first axe or a Custom Shop creation, make sure to give your Sweetwater Sales Engineer a call at (800) 222-4700.

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