NGD: Offset content

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Starfire
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NGD: Offset content

Post by Starfire »

This turned up this morning and I've been playing it all day. 'Tis a 2010/11 MIJ Mustang MG65 — basically the nearest thing Fender did/does to a '65 reissue. A few pics to start:

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Dakota Red.

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Lovely dark rosewood!

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Offset siblings!

Been keeping an eye out for a Mustang for a while — I can't say they were ever really high on my GAS list, but I've been enjoying some Mustang sounds lately and wanted to give one a go. Missed out on one on TM recently, which turned out to be a bit of a blessing because I found this one on Reverb, and it's a little better spec'd. These MG65s have a slightly chunkier neck, and I think a wider nut than most other MIJ Mustangs, as well as CTS pots and more vintagey pickups with fiberboard bottoms and cloth-covered wire which, as we all know, is where the tone lives.

Never played a Mustang before today. The neck feels great — similar '60s C to my Jazzmaster — and it turned up with action so low I expected it to be hella buzzy, but it's not at all. Hard to really comment on the sound since I'm limited to the THR/headphones at the moment. The pickups are super low output, which is fine by me 'cause I'm pretty much all about the cleans. They have lots of low end and I had to drop them down heaps on the bass side to get a balance I was happy with. It's a resonsant little guitar and has a kind of archtop-like attack, I think. Bit more lo-fi than the Jazzmaster.

Need to faff about with the trem a bit more — it's not working as smoothly as I'm sure it could, and the thing goes wildly out of tune if you even think about using the trem. And the arm needs bending so it's more parallel with the body, but I'll need a vice for that. Otherwise, it sounds/feels good!

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Re: NGD: Offset content

Post by IMOCD »

Starfire wrote: Fri Sep 03, 2021 7:16 pm This turned up this morning and I've been playing it all day. 'Tis a 2010/11 MIJ Mustang MG65 — basically the nearest thing Fender did/does to a '65 reissue. A few pics to start:

Image
Dakota Red.

Image

Image
Lovely dark rosewood!

Image

Image
Offset siblings!

Been keeping an eye out for a Mustang for a while — I can't say they were ever really high on my GAS list, but I've been enjoying some Mustang sounds lately and wanted to give one a go. Missed out on one on TM recently, which turned out to be a bit of a blessing because I found this one on Reverb, and it's a little better spec'd. These MG65s have a slightly chunkier neck, and I think a wider nut than most other MIJ Mustangs, as well as CTS pots and more vintagey pickups with fiberboard bottoms and cloth-covered wire which, as we all know, is where the tone lives.

Never played a Mustang before today. The neck feels great — similar '60s C to my Jazzmaster — and it turned up with action so low I expected it to be hella buzzy, but it's not at all. Hard to really comment on the sound since I'm limited to the THR/headphones at the moment. The pickups are super low output, which is fine by me 'cause I'm pretty much all about the cleans. They have lots of low end and I had to drop them down heaps on the bass side to get a balance I was happy with. It's a resonsant little guitar and has a kind of archtop-like attack, I think. Bit more lo-fi than the Jazzmaster.

Need to faff about with the trem a bit more — it's not working as smoothly as I'm sure it could, and the thing goes wildly out of tune if you even think about using the trem. And the arm needs bending so it's more parallel with the body, but I'll need a vice for that. Otherwise, it sounds/feels good!
That's nice. Quick question about the additional (strangle) switching on the JM. Do you use them much? I have been eyeing up a few JM's lately but none have that switching option. Will I be missing out, given I'm not a Jazzer?

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Re: NGD: Offset content

Post by Starfire »

IMOCD wrote: Sat Sep 04, 2021 11:10 am That's nice. Quick question about the additional (strangle) switching on the JM. Do you use them much? I have been eyeing up a few JM's lately but none have that switching option. Will I be missing out, given I'm not a Jazzer?
You can get basically the same sound by turning the lead circuit volume and tone down a little bit, so you're not missing out on some kind of magical sound by not having the rhythm circuit. It's kind of useful to go from a bright bridge position/overdriven tone to a warm/clean neck tone with the flick of a switch, but I don't really play with that kind of urgency at home, so I pretty much only use the lead circuit.

I could so something with the rhythm circuit I guess — series/parallel switching and separate volume/tone controls for each pickup, but I haven't felt the need.

Which JMs are you looking at, BTW?

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Re: NGD: Offset content

Post by IMOCD »

Starfire wrote: Sat Sep 04, 2021 11:41 am
IMOCD wrote: Sat Sep 04, 2021 11:10 am That's nice. Quick question about the additional (strangle) switching on the JM. Do you use them much? I have been eyeing up a few JM's lately but none have that switching option. Will I be missing out, given I'm not a Jazzer?
You can get basically the same sound by turning the lead circuit volume and tone down a little bit, so you're not missing out on some kind of magical sound by not having the rhythm circuit. It's kind of useful to go from a bright bridge position/overdriven tone to a warm/clean neck tone with the flick of a switch, but I don't really play with that kind of urgency at home, so I pretty much only use the lead circuit.

I could so something with the rhythm circuit I guess — series/parallel switching and separate volume/tone controls for each pickup, but I haven't felt the need.

Which JMs are you looking at, BTW?
Cool. Good to know, thanks. :thumbup: American Pro Series.

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Re: NGD: Offset content

Post by Starfire »

IMOCD wrote: Sat Sep 04, 2021 12:42 pm Cool. Good to know, thanks. :thumbup: American Pro Series.
Cool — I expect you can probably get a pretty decent deal on the Am Pro I now that the Am Pro II is out.

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Re: NGD: Offset content

Post by Speakos »

Very nice. Love that out of phase sound they can do.

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Re: NGD: Offset content

Post by Starfire »

Speakos wrote: Sun Sep 26, 2021 7:56 pm Very nice. Love that out of phase sound they can do.
This one's had the wiring fiddled with so that one switch is a pickup selector, and the other is off/parallel/series, so it doesn't actually have the out-of-phase sound. The series thing is kind of cool as a hefty boost, but mostly I find it's just dark and not all that useful — far from the bright tones I prefer. I have a new harness on the way that has the stock out-of-phase wiring, so I'm looking forward to giving that a go.

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Re: NGD: Offset content

Post by Speakos »

Ah cool, sounds like a good idea. That classic mustang honk, some people hate it. Can sound great with a band though.

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