Fender Mustang Model Solid Body Electric Bass Guitar (1975), made in Fullerton, California, serial # 551821, Mocha Brown polyester finish, alder body, maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, black tolex hard shell case.

This basic brown 1975 Fender Mustang Bass is what we call a "Real Relic" these days, as opposed to the recently manufactured "pre-worn" instruments out there. This bass gained its scars out in the world, likely gigged relentlessly for some time. It shows considerable cosmetic wear and tear but remains structurally undamaged, a fine player still in nicely original condition.

This bass was built a couple of years after the end of the run for the whimsical "Competition" Mustangs in 1972 and has more generic low-key 1970s Fender cosmetics. This includes a distinctly non-flashy "Mocha Brown" finish on the body, a new CBS idea around this time probably inspired by the look of many stripped and stained older Fender bodies then in use! This bass also has the then-new black plastic pickguard with the thumb rest mounted above the strings mated to a natural neck and headstock. The headstock decal is still the old gold-logo '60s style. Oddly enough the finish on this bass is not as heavy as the "thick skin" gloss on period higher end Fender models and it still feels more like an older instrument.

The heel is has a green ink stamping with the mid-1970s date-coded factory numbers that are not particularly legible. The original pots are coded to the 33rd and 36th weeks of 1975; the serial number on the neck plate corroborates this date. Aside from the studiously unflashy cosmetics and thumbrest position, the physical features on this mid-70s bass remain similar to later 1960s models. The rosewood-fingerboard neck feels a bit slimmer than some earlier examples and is very comfortable.

The Mustang Bass was introduced in 1966, Leo Fender's last original design for the company that bore his name. Although originally intended for students, the instrument is so well-designed and laid out that many professional players have used it extensively including Bill Wyman and Tina Weymouth. Ideal for guitar players or bassists with smaller hands, the Mustang is now more popular than ever. Regarded as one of the best short-scale basses ever designed, the Mustang is well-balanced and comfortable with a very punchy and surprisingly fat sonic signature. This superb-playing bass has seen a lot of use but survived the decades with its sonic character intact ready for another 50+ years!

Overall length is 42 1/8 in. (107 cm.), 12 1/4 in. (31.1 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm.) deep. Scale length is 30 in. (762 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5/8 in. (41 mm.).

This bass remains nearly all original showing a LOT of finish wear but no structural damage or repair. The body has an extensive collection of dings, scrapes, scratching, chips and dents particularly on the edges and the back. The clean poly neck finish is less heavily worn along the back with just some small chips, dings and minor dents.

The metal plating has some general corrosion and loss (especially to the bridge saddles) but everything works as intended; this bass definitely shows its five decades years on the planet. All hardware is original except the thumbrest which is a repro and the string ferrules on the back; these often fall out when the strings are removed and this bass has a more recent set installed. By this point Fender had given up fitting the mute foam in front of the bridge saddles, but the flat springs are still there. This is a very solid player, cosmetically worn but sonically a fine example of the essential Mustang Bass character set up with LaBella's new "Stang" flatwound strings living in a more recent HSC. Very Good + Condition.