The Fender Mustang was introduced in August 1964 before the sale of Fender Electric Instruments to CBS. The idea was to create a mid-line model between the student grade DuoSonic, and the professional Telecaster. The Mustang was a very popular model, and was made until 1981. Originally designed with a 22.5" inch scale guitar, the Mustang is almost always found with a 24 inch scale. Early models had a slab alder body, but it was given the patented Fender contour body in early 1969. The Mustang had two pickups and (usually) a 24" short scale length. Though the scale length is longer than the original Duosonics/Musicmasters (which had 22.5" scales), the Mustang is still considered a "student model". Hence their value is low compared to other models. Originally the Mustang was introduced to replace the entire DuoSonic/MusicMaster line, becoming the new Fender student model. But The introduction of the Mustang moved the DuoSonic/MusicMaster lines to a second generation, 24" scale length. Due to extreme backorders, all student-line Fenders stayed intact to 1969 when demand dropped and the DuoSonic was discontinued.
August 1964 Mustang specs:
Slab body, red or white or blue finish.
Gold "transitional" peghead logo.
2 slant mounted pickups with plastic covers and no visible poles.
2 on/off switches.
Master volume and tone.
Tremolo.
1968 Mustang specs:
Black Fender decal.
"F" style tuning gears replaces Kluson gears.
Polyester thick finish replaces nitrocellulose lacquer.
1969 "Competition" Mustang specs:
Red, blue, burgundy or orange finish with a white racing stripe.
Contour body.
Mustang discontinued 1982.
prepared by: Benrockerman