Fender Mustang Bass
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mustang Bass | |
 |
|
| Manufacturer | Fender |
| Period | 1964 — present |
| Construction | |
| Body type | Solid |
| Neck joint | Bolt-on |
| Woods | |
| Body | Alder |
| Neck | Maple, “C” Shape,(Gloss Polyurethane Finish) |
| Fretboard | rosewood (9.5” Radius/241 mm) |
| Hardware | |
| Bridge | Strings-Thru-Body with 4 Individually Adjustable Saddles |
| Pickup(s) | 1 Special Design Split Single-Coil Mustang Bass Pickup |
| Colors available | |
| Currently Fiesta Red and Vintage White, previous colours in the past. | |
The Fender Mustang Bass is an electric bass guitar model produced by Fender. Two variants, the Musicmaster Bass and the Bronco Bass, have also been produced from time to time using the Mustang Bass body and neck.
The original Mustang Bass was introduced in 1964, at around the same time as the Fender Mustang guitar, and was similarly intended as a student-level model. Again like the Mustang guitar, the bass version featured a short scale, 30" for the bass. It also featured simple electrics, consisting of one split-pickup (similar to the P-bass), one volume, and one tone knob. The standard finishes were red and white. In 1969, both the Mustang guitar and bass were issued with 'Competition' finishes, i.e. red with three white stripes,a thicker one in the middle, sourrounded by two thinner ones, Lake Placid Blue with lighter blue stripes, etc. The bass was available in various finishes, such as black and sunburst. The Mustang Bass was built until 1981.
The Bronco and Musicmaster variants each featured one single-coil pickup, rather than the split-coil design of the Mustang. Some issues of these models have featured through-the-body tailpieces, others conventional belly-mounted tailpieces.
The Mustang bass has been reissued several times over the years by Fender and is currently still in production as of 2006, with the Bronco Bass and Musicmaster Bass also being offered but under the Squier brand name.
[edit] Players
- Bill Wyman of The Rolling Stones used Mustang basses in the late-1960s and early-1970s.
- Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads used a Mustang bass in the early days of the band.
- Denny Laine occasionally used one during his time with Wings, when lead singer Paul McCartney would switch from bass to piano or guitar.
- Chris Murphy of Sloan frequently uses a Mustang bass.
- Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea learned how to play bass on a Mustang.
- Dee Dee Ramone played many shows with a Mustang bass.
- Holger Czukay of Can (band) played a Mustang bass for much of his time with the band.
- Simon Green, a.k.a. Bonobo, plays a Mustang bass with his touring band.
- Trevor Bolder of David Bowie and The Spiders from Mars used a Mustang Bass among many other basses.
- Alan Lancaster of Status Quo used Mustang in 60s and 70s.
- Richard Hell of Richard Hell & The Voidoids, The Heartbreakers and Television played a Mustang bass.
Paula Pierce of The Rage (later a founding member of The Pandoras), played a Mustang bass live and when recording from 1976 to 1978. (
