Should I send this JMJ Mustang Bass Back?

[burpgun]

I took delivery yesterday of one of the new black JMJ Mustang basses. I'm not sure this is the right bass for me and maybe you can all help me decide whether to keep or send back. First off, it's a totally solid bass. The relicing is STUPID and feels like such a cheat but this particular model seemed the closest in Fender's current offering to a what a classic vintage Mustang would be, so I decided to take a shot.

So why am thinking about sending it back? This bass, even with its stock flats, is super bright and kind of clanky, if that sounds right. I had to raise the action quite a bit to keep the strings from hitting the frets constantly. It's got a ground hum when you let go of the strings, which I think wouldn't be the case with P-style pickup.

I've been playing bass for more than 30 years and have mostly stuck with Precisions. l also have two Squier Jaguar shorties that I like very much. One I'm slowly upgrading with better pickups and parts and it's honestly a great bass, even for a super cheap Squier. Notably, the pickup on the Jaguar is standard typed P pickup, and even on the short-scale, I hear the sound I want. So back to the Mustang. Am I wrong to hear it sounding far afield from a Precision type of sound? I could save myself nearly $500 and send the JMJ back and get one the the cheaper Mustang PJs, or save even more and realize my suped up Jag is doing the job.

What do you think?

[Kent]

Don't over-think it. Send it back. There is a bass that is closer to 'perfect' FOR YOU out there.

[parry]

I wasn't aware they'd started making them in black - which, to me, is an absolute dream. Except for the clownish relic...
Ugh. I was under the impression that they'd dialed it back and gotten it to the point where it just felt like a well-played instrument. Too bad.

This is one of those IT support "did you turn the computer on/off", type questions... but did you adjust the EQ on your amp? I've been guilty of plugging in different guitars and being put off because they didn't sing magically in the last settings of my favourite guitar. If it's not doing it for you though... definitely dump it (while you can) and find something that is. Maybe it's a different Mustang bass? The sound you described isn't what I would consider that "classic" mustang bass sound.

[beauzooka]

Can you post a pic of it so we can check out the relic work please?

Regarding the flats, the stock fender flats are on the bright side, like D'Adderio Chromes. They will calm down after a while, but maybe not enough for you. I like bright flats personally but there are many others out there that would probably sound better to your ears.

[Embenny]

You've been playing bass long enough to know whether you like something.

In my experience, if you're trying to find ways to tweak it to make it enjoyable, you'll never like it, period.

Tweaking things is fun when you have the mindset of "MAN this neck feels great" or "I LOVE this tone" and you're just trying to dial the whole experience in to be even better.

If your first impressions are negative, you probably just don't like it and never will.

[burpgun]

What I'm learning from this first time experience with a traditionally setup Mustang is that it's definitely got its own voice and one that's distinct from what a normal P type pickup outputs. I say that because outside of scale issues, I don't find a massive difference between my GZR equipped Precision bass and the Squier shorty that's got a US Fender P pickup in it. They are, to my ear, on the same continuum. This Mustang, which again, is well set up and feels great, sounds very different. I'll also add I've got a complex pedal board signal change and lot of options to shape the sound, and I often easily go between instruments, including a Bass VI, with this path, and it's all good. The Mustang just seems too clanky.

beauzooka, you'd asked for pics of the relic job and I wish I knew how to post them! I suppose as relic jobs go it's good it's just the concept is goofy. A few years back I actually got a tour of the Fender custom shop and got to see a lot of how that work was done, absent a blocked off area where the real special stuff went down. Instruments like the JMJ stand apart from that, somehow they've found a way to scale that process. So I'd just go online and look at any of the JMJ Mustangs, blue or black, they're all been whacked in the same way!

[beauzooka]

beauzooka, you'd asked for pics of the relic job and I wish I knew how to post them! I suppose as relic jobs go it's good it's just the concept is goofy. A few years back I actually got a tour of the Fender custom shop and got to see a lot of how that work was done, absent a blocked off area where the real special stuff went down. Instruments like the JMJ stand apart from that, somehow they've found a way to scale that process. So I'd just go online and look at any of the JMJ Mustangs, blue or black, they're all been whacked in the same way!

I was thinking that you were saying that it was a badly done relic - but you just don't like relics. Here's a pic for reference:

[burpgun]

beauzooka, you'd asked for pics of the relic job and I wish I knew how to post them! I suppose as relic jobs go it's good it's just the concept is goofy. A few years back I actually got a tour of the Fender custom shop and got to see a lot of how that work was done, absent a blocked off area where the real special stuff went down. Instruments like the JMJ stand apart from that, somehow they've found a way to scale that process. So I'd just go online and look at any of the JMJ Mustangs, blue or black, they're all been whacked in the same way!

I was thinking that you were saying that it was a badly done relic - but you just don't like relics. Here's a pic for reference:

I love beat up guitars, but that come by it honestly, you know? My '75 Precision bass absolutely shows wear, but I've had it since 1993 and it's real. The relicing on the JMJ is well done, it's just the concept that bugs me. I follow a lot of guitar stuff on Instagram and just wonder where this is all headed. Is it a fad or here to stay? At this point I'm guessing the latter, but I'll avoid it wherever possible. I could see one defensible angle: Relicing to sort of wear the instrument in a bit but no standing through the finish and fake gouges, etc.

[Wil_66]

I vote for sending it back... If it don't feel right, it probably isn't. I've returned a few guitars because I just couldn't bond with them and I've never regretted it. It's the guitars I've sold because I needed money that I wish I still had.

[N0_Camping4U]

Someone on Surfguitar101.com had a quote in their signature that changed my life... "Life is too short for a 'B' rig".

If you ain't feelin' it - get what you want. We got one life. Get what you want!

[Ben_m]

Isn't the Vintera Mustang bass basically the same without the relic work? Are the pickups the same?

[beauzooka]

Isn't the Vintera Mustang bass basically the same without the relic work? Are the pickups the same?

I am not sure of all of the differences but the specs of the JMJ match his ‘66 - including a thicker headstock and specific neck profile. The JMJ pup is not on the Vintera and was made by Seymour Duncan with JMJ input.

[vistavision]

I follow a lot of guitar stuff on Instagram and just wonder where this is all headed. Is it a fad or here to stay? At this point I'm guessing the latter, but I'll avoid it wherever possible.

Although boutique builders had been doing relics in the late 80s-early 90s, Fender Custom Shop did their first reliced part for Dylan who wanted a distressed Tele neck in '94. The first Custom Shop distressed instrument was a P-bass for producer Don Was, also in '94. When CS head John Page saw builder Vince Cunetto's personal reliced Strat he was all-in on the idea and had 2 reliced guitars built for NAMM '95. Boom! After that relics were the top selling instruments for the Fender Custom Shop. The Ensenada-built Road Worn Series was released 11 years ago in 2009. The Road Worn Jazzmaster is still in production.

As the owner and abuser of an honestly beat-up '84 G&L I think that distressed instruments are equally dumb and brilliant. (That relicing drives the boomer classic rock/dad-blooz curmudgeons crazy on TGP is a hilarious bonus). The problem these days is there aren't enough places to play live music often enough where you can authentically fuck up your instrument in a reasonably timely fashion.

[HNB]

If you aren't feeling it, send it back.

[burpgun]

Just to square the circle here, the bass is going back. It's a good well made bass but it's just not for me, and it doesn't provide $1,000 of unique experience relative to anything else I've got.

As part of my effort to figure out what was bothering me about the Mustang, I ended up taking off the horrible low-tension Labella flats I had on my Jaguar long-scale (they played nice but sounded like dead rubber bands) and replacing them with chrome flats to better sort out what I was hearing. Once I did that, it kind of drove home that the Mustang had some good sounds, but it also had a strange hollowness and snap that didn't agree with me. Another thing that jumped out at me was a realization that the tone pot was really important on the Mustang. Usually I'm full open on tone, or dialed back for dub, but the Mustang benefitted by rolling the tone down by about 25% all the time.

This may be the bass for you. Fender even provided a black pickguard in case the pearloid thing isn't your bag, which is nice. Once I get credited back for this bass, I'm going to find myself a nice used Mustang JP. It's got a pickup more like I'm used to, I'll put some flats on and call it a day.