A Fender Mustang is strung by wrapping around the tailpiece. Begin by inserting the strings into the tailpiece on the bridge side. Next, the strings are wrapped around the underside of the tailpiece and then they go over the bridge. If you don't string the guitar correctly at this point the tremolo will not work correctly. It will be too low on the body and the guitar will go out of tune very easily.
The Mustang's tremolo arm should be parallel to the guitar's strings. However, some people prefer to have the tremolo arm angled away from the body so that they may grip it better while playing. This is a personal playing preference so don't be afraid to experiment with this part of the setup. You may adjust the tremolo arm angle by raising or lowering the tail piece of the guitar. Note that the arm will be more parallel if the bridge is set high and it will angle away from the body if the bridge is set low. To raise and lower the tailpiece height and/or the bridge height you should use a .050 inch allen wrench.
Fender specifications say that a Mustang should have a string height of 3/64 of an inch on the treble E and 5/64's of an inch on the bass E side. You can measure this with feeler gauges which you can find at most automotive and hardware stores. The neck relief should be .012 inches on all strings at the seventh fret. While you might be able to get a lower action, it is quite tricky to lower it any further without having 'fret out' problems, particularly during bends. Some have gotten good results by replacing the vintage style frets with jumbo frets from what I've heard but don't do this to a vintage instrument please.
Another thing to know about the Fender Mustang setup is that some have a shim in the neck pocket. Guitars that have this will typically have fret out problems above the 12th fret. If your guitar has this problem, check with a professional guitar technician or Luither in your area.
3 comments:
Sorry, but your text is wrong according Mustang tailpice adjustment. Neither does a 0,5' allen wrench fit there (it must be a 3/32), nor does changing bridge height affect the trem bar angle in a noticable way. Thi scan be adjusted by using stronger strings or weaker feathers only.
Just posting this to save other Mustang nobbs from the frustration I had yesterday.
Actually it does work. I bought a used 'stang and put 11's on it. The tailbar leaned all the way forward. I lowered it quite a bit but not to the bottom, and it stood up straight. Thanks for the info.
he wasn't talking about the bridge height, man...
it's all about the tailpiece height!
and the allen wrench fits perfectly into that.
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