NGD: 1973 beater Mustang
Posted: Thu May 27, 2021 6:26 am
Went to pick up this little thing this morning and just spent a couple of hours giving it a once over and full inspection. I knew it had some issues so haggled down to what I thought was an acceptable price. I was initially looking for a Mustang in an interesting colour but something about the full 70's dirge of a faded (almost to tobacco burst) 3TS got me falling in love with this thing. It makes no sense, but doe's it ever?
Apparently 1973 was a minor transition year for the Mustangs where you could still get pearloid pickguards but with the new finishes. Here it is as I picked it up...
One of the tuners is a replacement. It works fine but I'll replace it at some point...
I guess they were still shooting nitro in '73 then judging by the checking...
Neck pocket and stamp...
All seems good in here...
You can really see the fade under the plate...
Here's where it gets a little messy, and why I haggled down. Switches have been replaced (I have the OG's too) but the bridge pickup has been changed at some point...
No markings of any sort on it but it sounds fine, like a generic strat pickup. Again, if I can find a '73 to replace it I will
And here it is cleaned up a little, fretboard oiled, set up and I found an old strat vibrato arm that fit for the time-being while I wait for a replacement to arrive
Overall I'm happy with it. I like my guitars a little haggard as a rule anyway so I don't have to baby them. This, seeing as it's already had work, means I can happily mod this one, stick a sticker or two on, and generally enjoy it without being scared to damage it - like I used to before offsets became so damn expensive for an old one. This was cheap enough to not really care too much about.
Future plans: I've got some old 70's/80's punk and skateboard stickers I might throw a couple of on as an unruly teenager would likely have done back in the day, might try out something interesting in the bridge pickup area. Apart from that will just be to play it
Apparently 1973 was a minor transition year for the Mustangs where you could still get pearloid pickguards but with the new finishes. Here it is as I picked it up...
One of the tuners is a replacement. It works fine but I'll replace it at some point...
I guess they were still shooting nitro in '73 then judging by the checking...
Neck pocket and stamp...
All seems good in here...
You can really see the fade under the plate...
Here's where it gets a little messy, and why I haggled down. Switches have been replaced (I have the OG's too) but the bridge pickup has been changed at some point...
No markings of any sort on it but it sounds fine, like a generic strat pickup. Again, if I can find a '73 to replace it I will
And here it is cleaned up a little, fretboard oiled, set up and I found an old strat vibrato arm that fit for the time-being while I wait for a replacement to arrive
Overall I'm happy with it. I like my guitars a little haggard as a rule anyway so I don't have to baby them. This, seeing as it's already had work, means I can happily mod this one, stick a sticker or two on, and generally enjoy it without being scared to damage it - like I used to before offsets became so damn expensive for an old one. This was cheap enough to not really care too much about.
Future plans: I've got some old 70's/80's punk and skateboard stickers I might throw a couple of on as an unruly teenager would likely have done back in the day, might try out something interesting in the bridge pickup area. Apart from that will just be to play it
