The Delta Snake Review: Musical Gear Review and Music Article Archive: Review: Fender ‘65 Mustang (Reissue)

Guitar Review: Fender '65 Mustang Reissue

The Fender '65 Mustang, a reissue of the original student economy version, is a pricey trip into nostalgia and a classic example of how publicity can change the perception of a guitar.

I was treated to an hour-long demonstration of the Mustang back when I was a teenager in 1971 as the only customer in a small music store. I mentioned to the owner that my goal was to have a guitar like Jorma Kaukonen used in Hot Tuna, but I went into price shock at the cost of a Fender Strat, so I was immediately steered to the Mustang.

For about an hour, he had me play it through various amps and explained how clean its tone and body shape made it easy to play. Though I wasn't an expert, I couldn't get around one fact, it sounded awfully tinny and thin (not many gain knobs in '71 amps). I never bought it, though later considered a Duo Sonic, which I thought sounded much better.

I realized later that the problem was simply that a Mustang isn't a Strat…

So what makes this Fender Mustang worth almost a thousand dollars (at internet pricing to boot)? You can get a Telecaster for that kind of money.

Like many guitars, what gives it mojo is who plays it in the public eye. It suddenly became a pro-level guitar when it became associated with artists like Curt Cobain, Adrian Belew, Dave Byrne, Todd Rundgren, and others. It should also be noted that most of the above moved on to better guitars later in their careers.

One also has to consider that it is an attractive guitar, easy to play, and different from the countless number of strats and teles out there. It's certainly a guitar that can make real music in the hands of a player with talent or a player in a style that suits its sonic qualities. It also fits with the current trend of younger players preferring the Jaguar and Jazzmaster models over the more traditional body shapes.

That said, it's a specialty guitar and a former student guitar priced at a premium level. Unfortunately, the "Period Correct" poplar wood also puts it into the same wood quality category as the earlier (and much criticized) poplar-bodied Mexican-made strats and telecasters.

Fender uses Poplar on other models, and in itself, that's not a bad thing. They use it on the three-pickup Squire Tele, for example, and that's a model that some like a great deal. If accounts are correct, one of Leo Fender's earliest prototypes used Pine (leading to some high-priced Telecasters made of that wood by boutique makers).

The other hardware is pretty good, and I like the very cool vibrato mechanism with the floating tailpiece. It's a lighter and slimmer guitar than a Strat, and even the most snooty player will have to admit that from a playing standpoint, it's a fun and easy player.

I'll also give its Olympic White with tortoiseshell pickguard an "A" for style, and along with its Jazzmaster aura with extra buttons and unconventional tremolo, it's a guitar that would fly off the racks at 600.00, the average price of a Fender exclusive.

My impression of this handsome guitar was about the same as when I played it as a teen. It's a very easy guitar to sit with and play with for an hour (though with no store owner to keep it in my hands, my demo lasted less time) or more. From a playability standpoint, it's better than I remembered, and its tone is fuller. Part of that is that amps are better now and have gain knobs to get around any thin icepick tone.

I found the Fender 65 Mustang Electric to be a fun, easy-to-play guitar that could handle alternative and retro rock very well. It still sounded a bit thin to my ears, but if you listen to records by the guitarists listed above, their sound wasn't conventional either.

One should also note that few of those guitarists stuck with this model or only used it occasionally later on. Cobain, in particular, went on to other Fender models.

It's a special edition type guitar that would appeal more to baby boomers who may have fond memories of the Mustang if it was their first at this price, and even at almost a grand, I'm not saying you'll get a bad or mediocre guitar. For a few, it will be the perfect guitar.

But...if you put a Telecaster and this Mustang side by side, which the price essentially does, I'm going to take the Tele every time, not to mention Fender's very nice 800.00 range of Mexican strats or the Gibson SG special with the mini humbuckers, or....you get the picture.

At this price range, Fender should have forgotten about the period correct stuff (and added it to the Squire Vintage Modified Line), or made a super duper Mustang with the finest wood, hottest pickups, etc, like they did with the Curt Cobain Jaguar.

The ‘65 Mustang is a guitar that more than a few beginners and intermediates would be thrilled and proud to own, but not at this price.

-Al Handa

Note: This review first appeared on the ePinions.com site in 2013. This and other reviews were short takes that accompanied the link to a business that sold the guitar. As a rule, the guitar had to be at least examined and played by the reviewer (and ideally owned). In my case, a severe case of GAS made it possible to have at least owned the reviewed instrument for a short while. I'm reprinting these as having another source on a guitar never hurts, even if the reviews aren't definitive. Other than minor corrections, these short takes are unchanged from the original text. I figure that it might be helpful to keep the older perspective.

The Quitturz by Al Handa