Mustang neck profiles

[skern]

Hello. Does anyone have info on which neck profiles (e.g. shape/depth, NOT nut width) are used on various Mustang models throughout the years? I'm only interested in models with the Dynamic Vibrato. By that, I mean the following:

Japanese reissues
Kurt Cobain signature model
Squier Vintage Modified
Squier Classic Vibe
Vintage models (I know, wrong forum...)

...and perhaps others I'm unaware of.

Thanks!

[robroe]

The profile on all of them is C.

not sure how you want us to tell you the thickness of the neck without telling you the nut width because its directly related to how thick or thin the neck is.

Standard listed nut width for all these guitars is 42mm

how your individual neck deviates from this in real life is what gives individuality across what a C shaped neck is.

I am not a squier snob by any means, i have owned probably 20 different ones, tinkered around with all of them but I have had people all the time tell me that "wow this neck feels way thinner than the one I had" or visa versa with squier stuff, across all lines and makes. all those necks aren't 42mm and they all don't feel the same.


Hell I have right now 2 vintage bronco necks (same as mustang neck with different decal) and one has a 42mm nut and one has a 41mm nut the two necks feel completely different.

I have a 1994 Jagstang with a <40mm nut and its my favorite neck (again mustang neck different decal) Listed in catalogs of the day at 42mm. All those old jag stangs had slim necks. I personally prefer it because it was my first guitar in 1994 and only guitar until 2001, my brains and hand muscles formed some kind of bond with it, and its my base for any other guitar I pick up in a shop with my brain telling me "this feels too big" or "this is just right"


Long story short is all these models you are talking about are listed as "C profile" and "42mm" nut. in real life its the nut width variation from guitar to guitar that tells me these necks are thicker or thinner because they all have the same profile. Example You cant go to the store and get a Mustang with a "D profile" neck.

[Danley]

For what it’s worth I picked up a VM in a store the other day and thought ‘wow this sort of feels like a club compared to my ‘66 B-width.’ Japan feels more or less the same as my ‘66 in my experience. The profile isn’t even significantly larger/smaller on an ‘64 3/4 neck I once played (though other dimensions are certainly different.)

[BoringPostcards]

Squier VM Mustang has a really fat neck for a Mustang. It’s the biggest neck I’ve had on a Mustang. I’ve had a few CIJ models and the VM is way fatter than all of them.

[601210]

Honestly it's so fucking hard to talk about neck profile, and that's unfortunate because it's one of the most variable and feel-affecting things about a guitar.

I could tell you the difference between a C or a D or a V, but all my guitars are Cs and their profiles are still very very different from each other. In the end I just stopped questing for that one neck that feels perfect and to just work with what I have.

[robroe]

this is a 65RI that I used to own. ignore that i changed it into a `stang-master II. the nut on this neck was 42.5mm and bigger around than any of my other necks. still C shape profile, still B width neck. still listed in catalogs as 42mm


this is my 1964 mustang. the nut is 37mm, neck profile still C shape, the scale is still 24", but now the neck is "A" width neck. totally changing the feel of the neck.



everything else made between these two guitars is "somewhere in the middle" for me.

[Danley]

I hate the convention of calling necks ‘C’ ‘D’ or ‘U’ - to me (and depending on one’s penmanship,) those shapes can all be either identical, or differ in ways other than you’d expect - TLDR those letters are the same fucking curve.

I guess the alternative is saying ‘flat,’ ‘pointy,’ ‘thin’ etc. relative to an arbitrary but generally understood norm. So I think the Bullet Mustang neck is ‘thin/flat,’ the VM ‘thick/round’ and the vintage/Japan ‘medium/sort of flat.’

[601210]

I hate the convention of calling necks ‘C’ ‘D’ or ‘U’ - to me (and depending on one’s penmanship,) those shapes can all be either identical, or differ in ways other than you’d expect - TLDR those letters are the same fucking curve.

I guess the alternative is saying ‘flat,’ ‘pointy,’ ‘thin’ etc. relative to an arbitrary but generally understood norm. So I think the Bullet Mustang neck is ‘thin/flat,’ the VM ‘thick/round’ and the vintage/Japan ‘medium/sort of flat.’

Idk what U is, but to me D is like on Casinos where there's a pronounced flat spot on the back.

I feel like an actual U shaped neck would be extremely unwieldy...

[skern]

I hate the convention of calling necks ‘C’ ‘D’ or ‘U’ - to me (and depending on one’s penmanship,) those shapes can all be either identical, or differ in ways other than you’d expect - TLDR those letters are the same fucking curve.

I guess the alternative is saying ‘flat,’ ‘pointy,’ ‘thin’ etc. relative to an arbitrary but generally understood norm. So I think the Bullet Mustang neck is ‘thin/flat,’ the VM ‘thick/round’ and the vintage/Japan ‘medium/sort of flat.’

Whatabout the CV?

[matthew a]

I’ve nothing to add to this except that the KC Mustang neck is one of the most comfortable things I’ve ever used. Had a sonic blue mustang & another KC neck on a Jag build.

I can’t believe I sold both.

[Danley]

I hate the convention of calling necks ‘C’ ‘D’ or ‘U’ - to me (and depending on one’s penmanship,) those shapes can all be either identical, or differ in ways other than you’d expect - TLDR those letters are the same fucking curve.

I guess the alternative is saying ‘flat,’ ‘pointy,’ ‘thin’ etc. relative to an arbitrary but generally understood norm. So I think the Bullet Mustang neck is ‘thin/flat,’ the VM ‘thick/round’ and the vintage/Japan ‘medium/sort of flat.’

Whatabout the CV?

Haven’t picked one up yet. Or an American Performer (though I really want to.)

[skern]

I’ve nothing to add to this except that the KC Mustang neck is one of the most comfortable things I’ve ever used. Had a sonic blue mustang & another KC neck on a Jag build.

I can’t believe I sold both.

Yeah I've been jonesing for a KC because I want the humbucker and the tune-o-matic. Do you know if the saddles in the stock bridge could be replaced with roller saddles?

[matthew a]

I’ve nothing to add to this except that the KC Mustang neck is one of the most comfortable things I’ve ever used. Had a sonic blue mustang & another KC neck on a Jag build.

I can’t believe I sold both.

Yeah I've been jonesing for a KC because I want the humbucker and the tune-o-matic. Do you know if the saddles in the stock bridge could be replaced with roller saddles?

No idea I’m afraid.

Bought the guitar for obvious reasons, but barely used it beyond 2nd rhythm guitar track on one album. Loved recording with it, the JB was dirrrrty. But I felt really self-conscious playing it live as the colour was so distinctively a KC guitar & I’m left handed.

[Debaser]

Neck shapes aren’t that hard, it’s words that suck. Adjectives just don’t mean shit between the converted. I like to stick to what can be quantified, and it’s pretty straight forward with a caliper and contour gauge. Make a few necks and these become invaluable tools.

A “C” profile is good expression, but U and D get a little conflated. As does the V, but a hard V is pretty straight forward.

It seems people get thickness mixed up with what I call width of fretboard, which is related to both the nut and heel. Neck thickness to me is the distance between the middle of the fretboard (top) and the center line at the back of the neck, minus the frets.

I just sold my VM Mustang, which I wanted to keep for it’s chunky neck. It has a good “C” shape, meaning there is some shoulder rounding out the sides of the neck. It’s not a U/D by any means. Nut width (I know you didn’t ask, but here is anyways) is 1.65” (41.9mm), 1st fret thickness is 0.92” and 12th fret thickness is 0.95”. I love this neck, but it’s gone now

All vintage Mustangs I played had narrow, and thin feeling necks (probably all A-necks). I didn’t measure any. A late 60s Competition stripe changed my impressions. It’s a tiny sample of what’s out there, but I know now at least some vintage examples had some decent should and better width. If I measured it, I wouldn’t be surprised to find it was more of a “U” than “C” and the first fret area was over 0.90” thick.

[skern]

I just sold my VM Mustang, which I wanted to keep for it’s chunky neck. It has a good “C” shape, meaning there is some shoulder rounding out the sides of the neck. It’s not a U/D by any means. Nut width (I know you didn’t ask, but here is anyways) is 1.65” (41.9mm), 1st fret thickness is 0.92” and 12th fret thickness is 0.95”. I love this neck, but it’s gone now

Damn, that IS chunky. I was leaning towards the Classic Vibe cause it has a cooler looking tortoiseshell with the sonic blue (I know, I'm a shallow prick), but I think I'll have to try a VM now.