This legendary guitar needs no introduction-but I'm going to do that anyway. Behold: the iconic "competition" model Mustang in Candy Apple Red finish complete with racing stripes. This vintage piece was constructed at the original Fender factory in Fullerton California, U.S.A. in 1973 and has excellent provenance. There are date codes and employee inspection stamps in abundance-just what we like to nerd-out on around these parts. The finish is glossy and clean and the color is very vibrant and looks like wet paint-exactly what you want in a Candy Apple finish. The guitar is 100% original and has been very well cared for. It has been professionally set up and is ready to go-it needs nothing.
The body is the familiar double cutaway contoured offset Mustang silhouette. The edges are nice and soft; providing a very comfortable playing experience. The Candy Apple Red finish is unfaded and shines with a vintage gloss that looks spectacular. It really catches the light and glows a bright apple-red at 90 degrees, growing darker as you view it from a shallower angle. As preciously stated-it is very brilliant and looks like wet paint. The top is very clean. There is handling evidence along the bottom side, most noticeably a few pecks along the high spots-see photos. The stripes look killer! The backside is similar; The paint shines beautifully with a couple of chips along the edges-see photos. There are a few melt splotches from sitting in the case on a strap or something in the middle of the back-but zero belt buckle rash or anything else. The neck joint is clean with no issues. There is a small gap on the bass side of the slot-which is pretty typical of this era of Fender guitar. There is actually a Fender employee's initials (J.F.) written in large marker signifying final fitment adjustment which was most certainly the factory double neck shims and factory-applied treble side wall-shim. There is also a Blue "D" in the neck slot denoting the original batch. The neck angle is good-it sits in there nicely.
The neck itself is smooth and straight as can be. The truss rod turns smoothly. The factory ink stamp on the end of the neck reads "49 (Mustang) 00 (Rosewood fingerboard) 46 (week of year) 2 (1972) 4 (day of work week-Thursday)" On the backside is an employee ink stamp "A.Armenta" and 2 other inspection stamps: Circle 17 & Circle 18. The neck profile is best described as a soft vintage-C shape. The standard neck width measures 1.60" wide at the nut (1 5/8"). The neck depth measures .835" at the 1st fret and .920" at the 12th fret. The neck has lots of Bird's Eye figuring along the backside of the fingerboard and more on both sides of the headstock. It looks stellar-see photos. The F-keys all function smoothly and the guitar holds tune excellent. The headstock and logo display very nice with mild patina: there are a couple of line checks in the finish. The Logo is nice and strong and presents perfectly. The original Double string trees guard the headstock and ward off slack string tension. The original nut is clean. The Rosewood fingerboard is super clean and has a beautiful high-contrast grain-see photos! It is fairly thick-approaches slab board depth, actually-yielding an excellent deck for a soft feel and smooth tone. The frets have been professionally leveled, cleaned, crowned and polished-they appear as close to new condition as possible-see photos. The action is set low for a fast and easy playing experience. The string height is currently .010" at the 1st fret and .050" at the 12th fret. The Mustang plays with a very light touch up and down the fingerboard-it's like butter! It has no dead spots anywhere and feels great all over.
The pickups have an excellent signal and perfect balance. The neck pickup measures 5.47 ohms and the bridge pickup measures 5.55 ohms. The pickups have the quintessential vintage Fender chime and brilliance with that special "bell" tone we all know and Love. The bobbins are grey with production code ink stamps on them (14 02 74) These codes are not necessarily date codes and shouldn't always be used to verify production dating. The solder joints are untouched and the entire wiring harness is clean. The switches and controls function smoothly and quietly. The potentiometers are the original CTS units and date to the 42nd week of 1973. The original Mustard-yellow ceramic "pancake" capacitor provides the tone. The original pearloid pickguard is nice and clean and does not have the typical "yellowing" we see on most of these guitars. It is also amazingly flat (YAY!) and an excellent fitment. The bridge and saddles are super clean and the vibrato functions smoothly if you have an arm-which we do not.
The Mustang is incredibly lightweight which makes for a very enjoyable playing experience. It only weighs 6.85 lbs! You can forget all about neck or shoulder fatigue with this unit-you will play for hours and still feel fresh as a flower (your option on type of flower-you know yourself best)
This vintage Mustang is a great investment and just a no-brainer when it comes to vintage Fender offsets: The Competition models are always in high-demand and always will be (Thanks Kurt Cobain and others). It comes complete with a used aftermarket hard case for protection purposes.
