Advice On Mustang Electronics Upgrade (pics)

[zjokka]

hi all,

a friend asked me to look into his 'Stang because it was so noisy and didn't sustain well, didn't sound good in all.

Here are the issues, feel very free to comment if you recognize anything:

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b230/zjo...0V/DSCN3521.jpg

(a) grounding: the ground tab on the input jack was unused because supposedly it's ground through the control plate over the jack casings. I think grounding it properly will improve the noise.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b230/zjo...angwiring02.jpg

( pickups: it was believe that this one had us strat pickups in it, but according to the view these seem to me to be jap pickups. will try some real ones or custom shops, but... I I'm not mistaken the Mustang is routed to have a strat pickup put upside down! Is that why Stangs cannot have staggered pole piece pu's? maybe I do have a staggered lefty lying around.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b230/zjo...0V/DSCN3527.jpg

© owner said he always he played with tone and volume on 10. Classic problem: will be installing a treble bleed and lower the stock ,047uF cap for a 22nF standard. Also will go for the alternative switch wiring scheme which concentrated pickup selection in one switch and kicks out the vol and tone control with the second one.

(d) very peculair acoustic problem: I noticed that the strings seem to rest on the screws that adjus the saddles. Intuitively I would say this would kill your tone dead on the spot. But seems inevitable with this setup... Are these the correct screws? Is the bidge on right? This cannot be how it should be. Pic says all

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b230/zjo...0V/DSCN3525.jpg

thanks for reading, feel free to comment any experience, will sure help me sort this baby out:

I'm kinda new to mustangs

zj

Edited November 7, 2006 by lovekraft

[da_free_runner]

hi all,

a friend asked me to look into his 'Stang because it was so noisy and didn't sustain well, didn't sound good in all.

SNIP!

Here are the issues, feel very free to comment if you recognize anything:

SNIP!

(a) grounding: the ground tab on the input jack was unused because supposedly it's ground through the control plate over the jack casings. I think grounding it properly will improve the noise.

dude, first thing i would do to this guitar is wire up that ground tab, i dont trust grounding through the plate, just solder up the grounds to the ground tab on the input jack.

SNIP!

( pickups: it was believe that this one had us strat pickups in it, but according to the view these seem to me to be jap pickups. will try some real ones or custom shops, but... I I'm not mistaken the Mustang is routed to have a strat pickup put upside down! Is that why Stangs cannot have staggered pole piece pu's? maybe I do have a staggered lefty lying around.

SNIP!

if you cant get pickups that fit the cavity, just route out a bit more, there is plenty of space but only take out what you need to

© owner said he always he played with tone and volume on 10. Classic problem: will be installing a treble bleed and lower the stock 0,047uF cap for a 22nF standard. Also will go for the alternative switch wiring scheme which concentrated pickup selection in one switch and kicks out the vol and tone control with the second one.

dono about this one, just do what you think best, you can always experiment

(d) very peculair acoustic problem: I noticed that the strings seem to rest on the screws that adjus the saddles. Intuitively I would say this would kill your tone dead on the spot. But seems inevitable with this setup... Are these the correct screws? Is the bidge on right? This cannot be how it should be. Pic says all SNIP!

hmmm.... this is a weird one, ive never seen this before but i would say that i wouldnt think it would effect the sustain, as the strings are touching the screws BEHIND the bridge dono about the tone though, i would google up about this guitar, you might find pictures of how its meant to look and work from them??

ive probably not been much help but oh well

Edited November 7, 2006 by lovekraft

[Robert_the_damned]

I'm afraid you'll probably get a nice message from one of the admins complaining that you have more pictures than you're allowed (the limit is one per-post would you believe it!)

in responce to some of your questions:

a ) I WOULDN'T connect up as per your blue line unless I knew for sure there was a break in the grounding: if you have a multimeter check for continuity (very little to no resistance) between the backs of the pots and the output jack. If you connect up as you suggest and there IS continuity you will make the buzzing worse by adding a ground loop.

b ) Some of the soldering on the pickup switches looks a little suspect, might help if you went over it and just heated the joints up and run some fresh solder onto them; just to make sure. You might be able to find somewhere that sells strat pickups individually and be able to pick up one left and one right so you have the correct stagger on both or buy pickups that are flat topped and turning one arround (all the big pickup companies make flat staggered pickups so you shouldn't have a problem there)or route for differant pickups as already suggested.

c ) The mods you have suggested may alter the sound a little but they wont make the guitar quieter(less buzzy).

d ) The bridge problem is very bizzare. I can't see it affecting the way the instrument sounds but it probably would add to string breakages. silly question but is that bridge on backwards? could you not remove it and put it back on so the screws were on the 'pickup' side of the bridge?

few extra ideas I thought of whilst going through that:

You might want to think about sheilding the body control and pickup cavities with copper foil or the like to help reduce buzz. that or get rid of all the unsheilded fender wires and replace them with wires with sheilding (both techniques have similar results: less buzz!).

If your friend doesn't use the trem on the mustang then maybe you could block it; it might improve the sustain a little.

[unklmickey]

Robert,

bridges and hardware are not my strong suit, so i'll mostly defer to your judgement on that.

one thing i did want to point out, that supports the suspicion the bridge is the wrong way round... look how tall the low strings sit in the saddle grooves. and how deep the high strings sit.

that would probably be less than ideal for sustain on the high strings too?

unk

[al heeley]

Hmm, not convinced, if all the saddle grooves are same width then this would also result in the effect seen in the pic. Certainly would do no harm though to try turning the bridge round.

[lovekraft]

I'm afraid you'll probably get a nice message from one of the admins complaining that you have more pictures than you're allowed (the limit is one per-post would you believe it!)

You betcha!! but that's not half as bad as quoting every single one of them!!!

Oh, BTW, that's the way my Mustang's bridge was set up, but since I didn't buy it new, I can't swear that's what Fender intended - I'll bet the guys at Jag-Stang,Com could tell ya.

[da_free_runner]

ouch! soz lovekraft i wil remember in future not to quote pictures

[zjokka]

Ok, sorry about the pictures.

Anway shielded and stargrounded and recapped this baby now. The electronics are ready to go. Indeed, as pictures from F.com confirm, the screws screw in from the bridge side to the neck side. No basic setup info at jag-stang.com about setting up that Mustang bridge althought they talk about how it's better than a jaguar bridge.

If the screws go like that I just don't understand how you are supposed to set up intonation. If it's stringed, it's impossible to adjust the screws with a normal screwdriver. You seem to need something with an angle, and still

I noticed something else: the strings were slid into the string retainers from the neck to the bridge and then pulled underneath over the saddles and so on. Is that correct? I imagine that if they are put in from bridge to the neck side they would sit higher and maybe not touch the screws?

But this changes the functioning of the vibrato? Pushing down still should lower pitch, not?

Will have to test the electronics it still before I put the strings on and fix the bridge. Did read that using electric tap on the bridge's leg (assy?) can stabilize it. Now where's the tape?

thanks for the comments,

if you want to see a a report of the electronics mods, check my blog below, lotsa pics! :-)

zj

[zjokka]

I solved the bridge problem as good as i could:

on jag-stang.com (great but odd structured website - that for the link again) you can read how the bridge can be prevented from rocking to and fro by wrapping the legs with electrical tape. I used duck tape and this worked just fine.

There is a not on the same site about how the reissue saddles are smaller than the original Mustang saddles although the bridge assembly is identical. All after-market Mustang bridge have the same dimensions. I you look at how it allows the string to swing up and down, you know it cannot be good.

In hindsight, I don't really understand why a 'student model' should have a tremelo, complicated string mounting method and hard to set up intonantion?

The sound has improved quite a bit.

ZJ