NGD: 1965 L-Series Mustang - first vintage anything

[Psychic_Monkey]

G'Day!

Long time listener, first time caller.
I've picked up this '65 Mustang and wanted some guidance on setup. I currently have it strung with 12s and a .25 shim in the neck pocket, and the bridge is practically flush with the body.

Issue is, when it was strung with 10s and a larger shim, the neck would choke out above the 14th fret.
A mate of mine has suggested that shimming the nut might be the go, but he also doesn't have heaps of experience with offsets.

Besides the slightly tall action, this thing is great. Lollar Sixty-Fours (no originals included, unfortunately) sound lovely, but the volume drop out-of-phase is way steeper than on other guitars I've had in the past.
I'm considering going for Mustang 5.0 wiring, or something that gives a series switching option.

If anyone has any tips, or suggestions, I'm all ears!

[Bradley-Jazz]

Hi there!

Welcome to the forum, and lovely guitar!

First thought - have you checked the neck relief? You’ve gone up two gauges, and if it’s heavily bowed, the strings will be going “uphill” (if that makes any sense) at the high end so may well choke out. The truss rod may need tightening but go very gently on an old guitar like this. You will then probably need to raise the bridge a bit.

Also, check the nut slot height by fretting at the third fret and tapping the strings on to the first fret - there should just be a tiny gap you can feel/hear. Regardless, I don’t see how shimming the nut will help the playability high up the neck.

[andy_tchp]

Definitely do not shim the nut. The guitar needs to be properly setup.

Measure neck relief as suggested:
HOW TO MEASURE NECK RELIEF ON GUITAR OR BASS

Other possibility is a high fret. All of this stuff needs to be measured to actually assess the state of the instrument's setup.


Also, article on checking nut height here:
Checking nut action

[Psychic_Monkey]

First thought - have you checked the neck relief? You’ve gone up two gauges, and if it’s heavily bowed, the strings will be going “uphill” (if that makes any sense) at the high end so may well choke out. The truss rod may need tightening but go very gently on an old guitar like this. You will then probably need to raise the bridge a bit.

Sorry, I don't think I explained myself well. The guitar plays fine now, no choking out. It *used* to choke out, back when it had a ridiculously high cardboard shim and 10s on it. The neck has been set for 12s, and has even relief - albeit a higher than normal action at 3mm low E, 2.7mm high E at 12th fret.

Also, check the nut slot height by fretting at the third fret and tapping the strings on to the first fret - there should just be a tiny gap you can feel/hear. Regardless, I don’t see how shimming the nut will help the playability high up the neck.

There's a very very small gap, but my concern is that if I try to shim more, to bring the bridge up, and lower the action, that in doing so I get contact in the first couple frets no matter what the relief is set for.

[Nudger]

Nice!
Got a couple o wiring options for ya..

[Psychic_Monkey]

Nice!
Got a couple o wiring options for ya..

I saw the first one posted elsewhere and it seems very tempting...
When I have the time this weekend to pull the thing apart I'll take a look at the current state of things internally, see if it's a simple job or if the wiring needs an overhaul - I only managed to peek inside the control cavity.

[Psychic_Monkey]

Definitely do not shim the nut. The guitar needs to be properly setup.

Measure neck relief as suggested:
HOW TO MEASURE NECK RELIEF ON GUITAR OR BASS

Other possibility is a high fret. All of this stuff needs to be measured to actually assess the state of the instrument's setup.

Relief is bang-on .012” both sides, but the low E has zero clearance when measuring nut action. High E has a tiny amount, but less than the G which has what looks to be a healthy gap (vs. the high E which can’t be seen, only heard by pressing down)

[Bradley-Jazz]

Definitely do not shim the nut. The guitar needs to be properly setup.

Measure neck relief as suggested:
HOW TO MEASURE NECK RELIEF ON GUITAR OR BASS

Other possibility is a high fret. All of this stuff needs to be measured to actually assess the state of the instrument's setup.

Relief is bang-on .012” both sides, but the low E has zero clearance when measuring nut action. High E has a tiny amount, but less than the G which has what looks to be a healthy gap (vs. the high E which can’t be seen, only heard by pressing down)

Does the low E buzz when played open? If not, then I’d say the nut slot is at the perfect depth. What happens if you lower the bridge to bring the action down to where you’d reasonably want it, or is there no space to drop the bridge further? If the latter, then a bigger angle shim will allow more scope to lift and adjust the bridge. So far, the neck itself sounds to be all good, unless there is a high fret or such - I still can’t see the logic in shimming the nut at this stage.

[andy_tchp]

There is zero logic in shimming the nut.

Almost zero clearance (heard but not seen) is perfect unless an open string is buzzing.

[DaddyDom]

Superb! There's nothing like your first vintage anything.
Enjoy.

[Winkybiker]

Very nice.

[armensguitars]

Congratulations! That looks really clean.

[Psychic_Monkey]

An update on this one, a month later.

I've removed the shim from the neck, gone back to 10 gauge strings, and wired it with the series/parallel phase/OOP diagram from above.
The frets don't buzz or choke out now, however they will definitely need replacing after some more wear. Action is great, relief is bang-on, vibrato has zero issues returning to pitch, it's all golden.

Series wiring is such a welcome change, I seriously don't understand why it wasn't stock - it balances out the excessive honk of OOP when in parallel, adds some great grit when in-phase, and it required zero extra parts.

I've grown very fond of the Lollar Sixty-Fours too, so overall this was a perfect purchase for me!