Fender Musicmaster, heavily modded, made in USA 1975. This little chiller has been pretty comprehensively re-invented, but it looked so cool that I had to grab it for the shop. It started life as a Musicmaster: Mustang body shape, short scale neck, single neck pickup, hardtail bridge. First up: this has a new neck, from an early 2000s Fender Japan Mustang. USA-made Fender necks from the mid 70s are not always pristine pieces of glorious craftsmanship, so while it's a shame the original neck is missing... the Japanese neck feels great, with great woodwork, a slick satin feel and tidy frets. Neck up, this has had a Tele Custom style set of pickups and controls installed. The original neck pickup has been moved the bridge position with a reverse slant added, while the neck slot is occupied by a gorgeous Lindy Fralin Firebird mini-humbucker. It's got a three way switch and a VVTT control setup like a Tele Custom, complete with a custom guard to accommodate the hardware. The original bridge is gone, replaced with a fun brass number with six adjustable saddles. If that all sounds like a bit of a jumble, it makes perfect sense in the hands: the thing feels fantastic. It's lightweight, lively, smooth and responsive with heaps of personality. The neck pickup sounds unreal: juicy and strong through the low end, with a soulful midrange and an open treble: much brighter than a standard humbucker, but much more smooth than it is harsh. The bridge pickup has a vigorous midrange punch, which fun for surfy cleans or nasty grungy dirty tones. The middle position is the magic: warm and gooey, with plenty of detail to outline the notes, gorgeous clean or with some drive. Needless to say this one will appeal to a particular buyer, but it's extremely convincing in the flesh and will surely make some very happy indeed. All hail the Mustangmaster!

Model: Fender Musicmaster (body, neck plate), Fender Japan MG66 Mustang (neck)
Made: USA 1975 (body), Japan 2002-4 (neck)
Serial: 606779 (body), Q035055 (neck)
Finish: black, gloss poly, original factory finish
Body: alder
Neck: maple, rosewood fretboard, 7.25" radius. 24" scale, 43mm nut, MG66 model, vintage C shape
Weight: 3.125kg
Mods: neck replaced including tuners, bone nut installed. body routed to accommodate bridge pickup, larger sized neck pickup and new controls, new pickguard installed with new custom electronics, new bridge and strap pins installed, neck sanded to satin
Pickups: Fender Musicmaster single coil (bridge position), Lindy Fralin Firebird mini-humbucker (neck)
Accessories: Fender vintage hard case

Cosmetic condition notes: minor finish wear. The headstock has minor dimples on the end. The neck has been sanded down to a smooth satin style finish on the back, which has some minor rub wear and a couple of minor dimples. The back has a little filled and blacked out hole up from the neck plate, scuffs on both horns, near the neck plate, around the ferrules, back edge, bottom corner and elbow area, as well as some dimples on the top horn, elbow area and bottom corner. The sides have minor scuffs and dimples around the whole body as well as some dents near the jack and minor chips in the elbow area. The front has scuffs around the whole body, dimples near the jack and along the back edge, surface scratches in the elbow area, a chip near the switch and some play wear on the guard and horns.
Overall: good condition (7/10)

Playing condition notes: Action is low, neck is straight, intonation is good, truss rod works. All electronics tested and working properly. Wearing fresh 11/49 strings.
Fret life: 7/10, normal wear inc the start of some pitting, but they're pretty even with no major buzz issues