What a ghastly thing to do to a 1964 Fender Mustang. I suppose it's no worse than the way in which John Mayall cuts his Strats down to minimal bodies, but it still causes me to shudder. Someone out there is going to say, "I like it", I can just tell. But it's not my idea of customisation.
Currently being offered for sale on eBay - it'll be interesting to see how much this fetches.
G L Wilson
© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - 10 years and counting!
Ah well look on the bright side-it's almost certainly going to provide some useful spare parts for someone restoring another Mustang. It may even be possible to return the neck to some semblance of its original form by grafting an extra peice of wood onto the headstock?
ReplyDeleteI know...look at this horror
ReplyDeletehttp://raleigh.craigslist.org/msg/3256662838.html
Ouch! How can he think that looks better than the way it was originally?
DeleteWhile I could do without the tacks quite happily, it's not horrible. If nothing else, at least a player would have no trouble reaching the top frets!
ReplyDeleteIs reaching the top frets really that much of a consideration?
DeleteI don't really think top frets were a consideration here. I don't even think playing was either. This strikes me as a guitar one might drape across a front man or woman. A cheap guitar to be used instead of the lead guitarists instrument.
DeleteBarre chords and rythasm playing with a look. Kind of like Ian Curtis using his (actually nice) Vox Phantom special in love will tear us apart. The lead instruments are the bass and keys, guitar's just droning a D.
Right. I just want to say this, before the hat rage boils over to critical levels. Does everyone remeber the 80's independent music scene in the U.S.? You know, the one where all those band bought classic fenders for a pittance because no-oine wanted them and they are a little bit of an aquired taste anyway? I think this guitar is a product of that period of cheap guitars.
ReplyDeleteTheword (omnipresent in such listings) 'vintage' is in the title, the parts are vintage, but it's possible this was bought cheap over 30 years ago or 20 years ago, while worthless, as a chap project. As one would do now with a cheap mij strat or some other P.O.S.
Ergo, maybe we shouldn't condemn it TOO much, merely just enough.
The thing we all need to acknowledge though, iss t5hat the dumbass ciustomizer hacked off the headstock with no real conception of how well the tuners would fit afterwards. Now that is dense.
You're probably absolutely correct. I still think it's an abomination.
DeleteAlthough it's a shame to have "customised" a decent guitar and I don't want to like it I do.
ReplyDeleteAs we all know, members of Devo were wont to carve up their instruments in this way as early as the late '70s, but it sort of fitted in with their "mutant robo-punk" image. I remember that their bassist played a Gibson Grabber (or was it a Ripper?) with the horns cut off.
ReplyDeleteIsn't this the core, the essence of the mass produced, conveyor belt "PRODUCT"? That it's cheap and cheerful and is customisable - everything bolt on and factory made.
ReplyDeleteWe've made them into antiques and revere them when there should be no reason to not do just this kind of customisation. There were thousands made. I see this certainly no worse than, say, Relic'ing, if not better. At least there is imagination and a uniqueness in this. This was never a high level guitar after all.
Yes, all very logical. I still find it highly disturbing.
Delete