This is a very early production (February 1969) Fender Mustang Bass Competition model. This bass was made at the original Fender factory in Fullerton California, U.S.A. It retains its original finish, all of its original components including salt & pepper hardcase, and is one of the best looking guitars to ever come out of the Fender factory (just a fact, jack). It has full-mojo with line checks in abundance, beautiful vibrant paint, and it plays sounds and feels amazing. No disappointments here.
The offset body design has nice contours both front and rear. The Competition Orange Finish is vibrant, with nice transverse line chicken all over the body and headstock too. No one will mistake this guitar for some sort of 'reissue' or whatever. There is handling evidence here and there-see photos. The dark Orange stripes are in excellent condition. The strings go through the body-providing excellent resonance-and all of the ferrules are present. The neck joint has the factory "baby bump" which is in perfect condition. The neck is an excellent fitment and serialized F-plate is in greta shape.
The neck itself is maple with a rosewood fingerboard. It is super straight and the truss rod functions smoothly. The back of the neck is smooth and has a great feel. There is a small rub mark down by about the backside of the 1st fret-see photos. The neck is a typical vintage medium C-shape. It measures 1.65" wide at the nut. The neck depth measures .890" at the 1st fret and 1.005" at the 12th fret. It really has an awesome and solid feel to it. The original vintage lollipop tuners all function smoothly and the bass stays in tune perfectly. The headstock and logo display amazing, with the special "competition logo" off-white decal looking killer on that sea of orange. Plenty of transverse line checking complete the mojo. The rosewood fingerboard is nice and clean and has a very smooth and soft feel. The frets have been leveled, crowned and polished and they appear crisp and near new condition-see photos. The action is set low for a fast and super easy playing experience. It plays really nice with a soft touch. The string height measures .010" at the 1st fret and .100" at the 12th fret. Perfect! The sustain and resonance are easily noticed even when the guitar is unplugged. Its THAT good!
The pickups have an excellent signal and on the grey bobbins appears 1969 date codes. They have proper vinyl wire leads. The output resistance measures 10.12 ohms. The potentiometers both date to the 42nd week of 1966 with vinyl wiring throughout-except one piece of (white) cloth wire which is connected to the pickup (yellow-vinyl) output. Original capacitor, output jack etc. are all really clean. The pickguard is super flat and unfaded. The sparkly pearloid looks so good on that Orange finish! The bridge and saddles are all solid and in good condition.
The bass is very lightweight and so comfortable to play. It only weighs 7.65 lbs. That's lighter than an average Stratocaster! You can play this bass all night long and not feel any neck fatigue whatsoever. It's Dynamite, baby! This bass is an absolute killer addition to anyone's collection and it is perfect in the studio, on stage, on the couch, live or just hanging on the wall. P-basses and Jazz basses are great, but this one steals all of the attention with good reason. I can't stress how awesome it is to pick this bass up and realize that it plays and sounds every bit as good as it looks.
Very rare, you know what to do.
The original salt & pepper hardcase is included, of course.
