Fender Mustang Competition Red Body Project

jagsonic · Post by **jagsonic** » Fri Dec 16, 2016 11:23 am

Since about 25 Years am i dreaming about a mustang. And since then i bought and sold a lot of guitars - tele, jaguar, jazzmaster, cyclone, duosonic, strat,... but i donâ€™t know why - there was no mustang.
Now iâ€™ve found a mustang body oh ebay-kleinanzeigen (similar craiglist) here in germany for a good price, what is really really seldom.
I thought i have to buy this and build a mustang. It came with original electronics besides a seymour duncan humbucker in the bridge position. The shielding under the pickups and the pots perplexed me - it looks really old. So i did some research here and it is an 1974 competition red mustang body.
I try to make a new mustang out of this - it's not so easy to buy parts for mustangs in germany. But i found an allparts neck and picked some other parts... My first thought was a refinish in daphneblue because i really dig this colour on mustangs. But then... (some sleep) iâ€™ve decided to strip down the red coat and look, whatever happened to the original competition red.
Since i havenâ€™t done any restorations at all, iâ€™m very curious, if i can manage to save the original finish...

First some photos how it came to me:

I've tried starting wet sanding and i think it works! But what the hell is that scratches on the back?!?

Hope frontside looks better. (to be continued...)

Post by **dots** » Fri Dec 16, 2016 3:35 pm

Daphne or comp red will be awesomes. Keep us in on this, pls. =]

jagsonic · Post by **jagsonic** » Fri Dec 16, 2016 3:45 pm

Hope i can keep comp red. I will let you know...

jagsonic · Post by **jagsonic** » Mon Dec 19, 2016 10:21 am

Okay Iâ€™m sanding very smooth. Everything is ok until i reach the back of the bottom horn - shit i sanded through!!! Then very gently going on the back contour and iâ€™m through also. But i see - itâ€™s not me, there is no CAR under the poor finish. It was sanded down to the wood before refinishing!!! 😮
OK, nevermind. Just try the frontside. If itâ€™s ok, who cares the backside? Smooooooooth sanding, the stripe gets clear...

â€¦ but WTF?????

There was sanded very hard and later was refinished in the ugly redâ€¦ There is nothing below the red at the bodyends. HOLY SHIT!!!

Someone raped this little mustang. 😔

At the moment i think i let it as it is as a monument for Â»donâ€™t refinish oldfashioned guitarsÂ« as it was done to this one i think in the 80iesâ€¦

NickS · Post by **NickS** » Mon Dec 19, 2016 10:51 am

Pretty cool

Dillon · Post by **Dillon** » Mon Dec 19, 2016 4:14 pm

Scratches on the back look like they're from an orbital power sander. It's strangely cool as is, but if you refinish it, I say go back to CAR with stripe.

NickS · Post by **NickS** » Mon Dec 19, 2016 5:01 pm

...the paint on the brass plates makes me wince...

Post by **dots** » Mon Dec 19, 2016 7:00 pm

NickS wrote:...the paint on the brass plates makes me wince...

agreed.

and agreed that if you end up going down to the wood, just do the CAR w/ stripe. i bet you'll be happiest with those results.

jagsonic · Post by **jagsonic** » Tue Dec 20, 2016 8:08 am

Yes, i give this fucked finish a try...

jagsonic · Post by **jagsonic** » Wed Dec 21, 2016 4:04 pm

I really like S-HB equipped guitars. So i do this:

HNB · Post by **HNB** » Wed Dec 21, 2016 10:01 pm

Ooo those are a few of my favorite things.

Mattsican · Post by **Mattsican** » Mon Dec 26, 2016 6:44 am

HOLY SHIT THAT LOOKS COOL AS FUCK. I'd clear that shit and profit.

theshadowofseattle · Post by **theshadowofseattle** » Thu Dec 29, 2016 12:25 am

EMERGENT STRIPE is the new hotness. That looks awesome

jagsonic · Post by **jagsonic** » Tue Jan 03, 2017 3:26 pm

Just done the first try. Put it together and love it. Plays and sounds really awesome. Love it. More photos will follow...

just a wild bastard...

jagsonic · Post by **jagsonic** » Wed Jan 04, 2017 11:50 am

NickS · Post by **NickS** » Wed Jan 04, 2017 12:33 pm

That really does look so much better than the red paint job. Congrats.

J0K1 · Post by **J0K1** » Sun Jan 08, 2017 1:21 pm

Nice work!

Mattsican · Post by **Mattsican** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 5:43 am

That looks really REALLY cool.

jagsonic · Post by **jagsonic** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 11:05 am

thanks @ all.

playing it about two weeks i'm thinking about selling all my other gear. reaaalllllyyyy love this guitar!!!

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Thu Jan 26, 2017 2:21 pm

rules