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Fixing An Old Abused Fender Mustang


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Last year a guy asked if i would take a look at a 1965 fender mustang...

He said it had been refinished a few times but the finish was coming off. At first i was like man i don't know... Hate to mess up an old classic.

After I saw it i was like DAMN!

No way i could screw this up any worse. ( he only had 2 conditions. Don't remove the already damaged Fender decal, and don't remove the factory neck date....

It had set so long the strings rust stained the nut. And the frets have turned green... not to mention the huge divots in the frets...

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Someone had laquered the rosewood fingerboard

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Looks like someone cross sanded

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They reassembled while it was wet

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The decals he wanted to save were bubbled

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Beat the crap out of it...

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Looks like they used acrylic wall paint...

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And they put that over some type of clear crap I can't identify. it you touched the white it rubbed right off lol...

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doesn't look genuine to me.... routes look like they were done with a rusty spoon! never seen an original decal bubble either. date looks authentic enough but I've seen plenty of fakes that also look authentic. a good relicer can replicate it better than this easily. its probably worth less in its current condition than if it gets a GOOD refinish.

edit; extra pics - you've done a good clean up job but I've also never seen a decal as close to the edge of the headstock

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doesn't look genuine to me.... routes look like they were done with a rusty spoon! never seen an original decal bubble either. date looks authentic enough but I've seen plenty of fakes that also look authentic. a good relicer can replicate it better than this easily. its probably worth less in its current condition than if it gets a GOOD refinish.

edit; extra pics - you've done a good clean up job but I've also never seen a decal as close to the edge of the headstock

Yeah i think originally it had singles... this was butchered severely!...

The guy said he has had it for about 30 years, got it when he was a kid I think he said.

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edit; extra pics - you've done a good clean up job but I've also never seen a decal as close to the edge of the headstock

there is no consistency in decal placement on early fenders - all over the shop

looks like a good job to me, 24" scale is fine but needs at least a set of 11's. the mustang bridge doesnt help things though

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