(Vintage / JMJ / Vintera I & II / American Performer / Classic Vibe 60's / Japan Reissues...)
Mustang Bass Scale Length - Short ? Medium ? Long ?
The Fender Mustang Bass is a 30" short scale bass with string-through-body mount and 4-inline big tuners / tuning machine heads that add length.
=> Strings between 33" and 34.25" from ball-end to taper or silk !
You can install and fit some slightly longer short scale strings, most medium scale strings, Mustang bass dedicated strings (La Bella 760F-MUS) and some long scale strings (a bit too floppier / looser tension / E-A string issues sometimes).
=> GREEN = FAVORITES / BEST RESULTS / APPROUVED ...
PICKUPS :
Mustang Bass Pickups / Wiring : both pickups are identical in the same direction (North or South) but wired in a way that’s still canceling Hum. If you try to add additional pickups then one half of the Mustang pickups will be out-of-phase with them.
Precision Bass Pickups / Wiring : both pickups are reverse wound and reverse polarity (RWRP) then wired out-of-phase makes the signals in-phase with each-other while the noise remains out-of-phase that’s still canceling Hum.
VERSION A = VINTAGE : 40mm or a little over 1 9⁄16" shorter vintage correct cover / larger string spacing (0.87" = 22 mm)
VERSION B = REISSUE : 44mm or a little under 1 3⁄4" larger reissue bass cover / smaller string spacing (0.623 = 16 mm)
VERSION C = JMJ : Hybrid 44mm or a little under 1 3⁄4" larger reissue bass cover / larger string spacing (0.87" = 22 mm)
=> Custom Seymour Duncan Custom Shop Mustang Bass Pickups (overwound version - 10.5K)
=> Traditional Fender Mustang Bass pickups use two identical coils wired out-of-phase with each other to create humcancelling. This makes blending with a second pickup problematic since one of the two coils is always going to be Out of phase with the second pickup.
The Fender American Performer is the only Fender Mustang Bass I'm aware of that instead wires the two identical coils in-phase with each other, which essentially makes it like a split single-coil. Its not humcancelling by itself, but is humcancelling when blended with the bridge Jazz pickup on that bass.
You could wire any Fender pickup like that by switching the + and - ends of one of the coils, sacrificing individual humcancelling of the Mustang pickup with the ability to blend with a second pickup.
There isn't an easy way to get both humbucking AND phase-coherence when blending with a Fender Mustang Bass pickup. This would require flipping the magnets on one coil or recharging them in the opposite polarity.
There are aftermarket Mustang Bass pickups that are wound instead like a Precision Bass pickup. The coils are wired out-of-phase AND with opposite magnet polarity from each other, reverse wound and reverse polarity (RWRP) which means they are both humcancelling and blendable with other pickups without issues.
PICKGUARDS :
- Fender Pickguard American Performer Mustang Bass Model : 7713786000