Más Crear blog Acceder

F E N D E R C O M P E T I T I O N M U S TA N G
A N D F E N D E R S W I N G E R G U I TA R S
D E TA I L E D D E S C R I P T I O N O F S O M E V E R Y C O O L F E N D E R G U I TA R S : F E AT U R I N G C O M P E T I T I O N
M U S TA N G S A N D A L S O T H E E L U S I V E F E N D E R S W I N G E R . P R E V I O U S P O S T S W I L L B E E D I T E D
R E G U L A R LY.

F R I D A Y, O C T O B E R 9 , 2 0 0 9 MY BLOG LIST

Competition Mustang Guitar Kurt Cobain's Guitars Now

2019 already?!
Fender first introduced Competition Mustangs and Competition 1 year ago
Mustang basses in 1969. Competition Mustangs were made in three
basic color schemes:

FOLLOWERS
1.) Competition Red; which was metallic red with white rally stripes.
Seguidores (6)
2.) Competition Orange; which was yellow with orange rally stripes.
3.) Competition Blue; which was metallic blue with light blue rally
stripes.

Seguir

BLOG ARCHIVE

► 2010 (2)
▼ 2009 (2)
► November (1)

▼ October (1)
Competition Mustang Guitar

ABOUT ME

MARKIS

VIEW MY COMPLETE PROFILE

 Like most
Fenders,

Competition Mustang were available in righty or lefty.

Competition Mustangs were offered in two different scales:

1.) 24" Scale: The standard scale, which probably accounted for over
95% of the competition mustangs produced. The 24" Scale neck has 22
frets.

2.) 22.5" Scale: This rarer scale is commonly called a 3/4" scale. The
22.5" scale neck has 21 frets. I've only seen a handful of competition
mustangs with this scale neck. It is not uncommon for 22.5" scale
necks to have very early stamped neck dates. Examples have
surfaced with 1966 and 1964 stamped neck dates. Evidently Fender
over produced these necks in the mid-60's and the surplus was spread
into the late 60's and even into the early to mid 70's. The 22.5" scale
mustangs have a slightly different shaped headstock as they were
made when Fender was using an earlier headstock design. They also
often come equipped with the earlier Kluson tuners as compared to
the later Fender "F" tuners.

Trio of 22.5" Scale comp. mustangs:

Note the difference in headstock shape:

-----------------------------------------
Color Confusion

The following is a portion of the color chart from Fender's 1970

catalog:

So whats the difference between Competition Blue and Lake Placid

Blue? The main difference, besides the presence of the competition
rally stripes, is that Competition Blue mustangs often had the
presence of a purple hue around the perimeter of the body and
headstock. The purple appears to have been added over the metallic
blue base coat. The presences of this purple is commonly &
mistakenly called "purpleburst". Standard Lake Placid Blue finished
guitars do not have this presence of purple. The presence of the
purple hue around the perimeter is probably also why the finish was
originally called "Competition Burgundy" to begin with.

Here is where it gets interesting though. A good percentage of

Competition Blue Mustangs have some purple, some quite a bit and
some just a little. But for every one that has some purple there
seems to be one without any signs of purple. What was going on at
Fender? Were workers spraying some with purple and some without?
This question remains to be answered.

It seems like most to all of the early 1969 Comp. blue Mustangs have
some purple on them but then towards the mid to end of 1969 you
start seeing some examples that don't have purple. In the early 70's
it gets harder to find mustangs that have purple on them.

Competition Blue showing a good deal of purple:

Competition Blue showing no purple:

Note that both Competition Blue and Lake Placid Blue finishes are
prone to "greening". Greening is likely caused by a variety of different
factors, but I am assuming the number one culprit is exposure to
sunlight. Exposure to UV can transform blue to a subtle or deep shade
of green, very similar to Ocean Turquoise or Sherwood Green. The
below pictures are a good example of greening.
 It appears the yellowing
occurs mostly in the clear
coat. As you see in the below
picture, the arm wear has
rubbed the clear coat away,
exposing the true color once
again. It is also the yellowing
the causes the white lettering
of the headstock decal to
look yellow.
Here the color change causes a Comp.Red mustang to look more a
copper color.
Here are some tan lines on Orange Mustang Bass:
Image courtesy of John C.

The below pictures are nice examples of the drastic color change
than can occur.
1.) This is a sonic blue mustang.

2.) A pair of comp. blue

headstocks.
 --------------
--------------
--------------
--
Early Competition Mustangs

Early Competition Mustangs often had interesting details not present

on later versions.

1.) As mentioned previously, early comp. mustang often had Kluson

tuners instead of Fender made "F" tuners. I am not sure why Fender
was using Kluson tuners on these guitars as they had made an official
switch from Klusons to "F" tuners in late 1965. Fender may have been
reverted back to the Klusons in order to use up the supply they had
left.

2.) Early Competition Mustangs also sometimes had oversized gold

mustang decals instead of the standard white decal. It appears
Fender was trying to find a way to get the mustang logo to stand out
more with the new competition mustangs. It looks as if they tried
simply enlarging the existing gold mustang decal before switching to
a white colored decal. The white decal contrasted nicely with the
new competition colors and was surely bold enough for Fender's
liking.
3.) In my opinion the coolest feature that early Competition Mustangs
had are in the examples that have rally stripes that went around the
entire body. It appears Fender found it too difficult or time
consuming to get the stripes to line up perfectly at the edges of the
body and settled with having the stripes on the front of the body
only. The examples I've seen with stripes on the backside have been
in red and blue.

Occasionally a creme-colored competition mustang decal would find

it's way on to the non-painted headstock of a Sunburst Mustang as
shown in the example below:

---------------------------------------
Famous Competition Mustangs

1.) Probably the most famous of all Competition Mustangs is the one
Kurt Cobain owned and played in Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit
Video.

Info on Kurt's lefty competition mustang can be found:

- On the Kurt Cobain's Guitars Now page.
- On The Kurt Cobain Equipment F.A.Q. page.

2.) The story of Lee Ranaldo's stolen and then returned mustang is
interesting. His guitar has got to be the most famous "missing"
competition mustang. The Sonic Youth guitarist recovered his guitar
after it being gone ten years.
Read all about it here at the Sonic Youth Gear Guide.

---------------------------------------
Beat Competition Mustangs

Because who doesn't like beat up / worn down guitars.

---------------------------------------
Clean Competition Mustangs

Here's very clean example of a 1970 Fender Red Comp Mustang:

 For more
photos of
this beauty
and others
see Joe's
Vintage
Fender
website.

---------------------------------------
Rodvonbon's Collection

Rodvonbon is a versatile guitarist from the midwest and has a super

cool arsenal of guitars featuring many comp. mustangs and a
homemade swinger.

Click on a description to see the guitar. Pics on in order starting with

the back row first, right to left. All photos of this collection
courtesy of Rodvonbon.

Reissue Competition Mustang Bass - Comp. Ocean Turquoise

Reissue Competition Mustang Bass - Comp. CAR
Vintage Competition Mustang - LPB w/ decals , Picture #2.
Vintage Competition Mustang - LPB
Vintage Competition Mustang - Factory Orange over Blue
Project Competition Mustang - Orange
Vintage Competition Mustang - Orange
Reissue Competition Mustang - Capri Orange
Reissue Competition Mustang - Fiesta Red
Reissue Competition Mustang - CAR
Reissue Comp. Mustang - LPB w/ custom matching headstock
Warmoth / Project Competition Mustang - Metallic Gold
Vintage Competition Mustang - Orange (stripes worn off)
Project M16 Mustang - White w/ real clip
Project Swinger - Blue, note 24" scale neck

Pair 'em up:

Matching Comp. Orange Mustang and Mustang Bass:
Photo Courtesy of John C.

Collection of Candy Apple Red Fenders:

From left to right:
1.) 60's Electric 12
2.) 69 comp. mustang (matching headstock)
3.) 70's comp. mustang (non-matching headstock)
4.) 69 Fender Swinger
5.) One-off custom ten-string mustang, most likely made by a Fender
employee.

A Trio of 70's Comp Mustangs

Photos courtesy of Luau
 Now throw in
a bass too.

Another set of matching Comp. Oranges:

Matching Sonic Blue Mustang and Mustang Bass:

And yet another set of matching Comp. Oranges; Note the ultra rare
22.5 scale lefty mustang w/ the non-matching headstock!!
---------------------------------------
References and Links:

1970 Fender Catalog page featuring the Competition Mustang:

1970 Fender Catalog page featuring the Competition Mustang Bass:

A great source of information about ALL mustangs:
Mr. Maxima's The Fender Mustang Story

A great source of information about ALL 3/4 scale Fenders:

Tim Pershing's article Fender's 3/4 Scale Guitars

Note regarding photos: I've tried to use photos that I've took of
guitars that I've owned but also have used various photos of guitars
that I've saved off the internet over several years. I did not keep
record of the sources of where these photos came from. Contact me
if I have used your photo and you would like it removed.

Contact me at CompetitionMustang@gmail.com with any questions,

comments, photos, information, etc.
P O S T E D B Y M A R K I S AT 8 : 4 8 P M
L A B E L S : C O M P E T I T I O N M U S TA N G G U I TA R S

NO COMMENTS:

POST A COMMENT

Enter your comment...

Comment as: Google Account

Publish Preview

Newer Post Home

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)