Fender Mustang Bass

The Fender Mustang Bass is a shortscale electric bass guitar model produced by Fender and Squier. Two variants, the Musicmaster Bass and the Bronco Bass, have also been produced from time to time, using the same body and neck shape. Originally marketed as a student bass, the Mustang Bass is notable for its usage in alternative and indie genres.

The Mustang Bass utilizes the same body as the Fender Mustang, its guitar counterpart. The body design has also been used on the Musicmaster guitar and basses, Duo-Sonic guitar, Fender Bronco guitar, and Squier Bronco basses. Based on the earlier Musicmaster body, the Mustang body has a more notable offset. The Mustang Bass has a 30" scale length, with a shorter neck that typically has 19 frets. Relatively unique elements of the Mustang bass are the string-through body design, and the 7-bolt bridge. The pickguard and control plate are two separate pieces, with the control plate made of metal, similar to the Fender Jazz Bass. The control plate features a tone knob, a volume knob, and an output jack facing out of the guitar. The pickups on the Mustang bass have a split coil design similar to the Precision style pickup, but appear smaller, and have a plastic covering with no exposed pole pieces. Mustang basses originally came with the standard "Pull-bar" on the treble side of the strings of the early Fender era, though later models may not include them, or may include the bar installed as a thumb rest on the bass side of the strings.

Introduced in 1966 as a companion to Fender's shorter-scaled, two-pickup Fender Mustang guitars, the Mustang Bass was the last original bass designed by Leo Fender before his departure from the company in 1965. Like the early Precision and Jazz basses, the Mustang Bass was originally fitted with string mutes, which were often removed by players.

The standard finishes were red, white, and blue. Fender guitars were finished in nitrocellulose lacquer up until 1968, with later finishes done in a thick polyester.

In 1969, the Mustang Bass and Mustang Guitar were issued with notable competition finishes. These finishes included "racing" stripes over the base coat, with one thick central stripe, and two thin stripes bordering it. Three competition finishes were originally offered, being competition orange (with red stripes), competition red (with white stripes), and competition "burgundy" (actually blue, with lighter blue stripes). In 1970, sunburst was added. In 1972, blue, red, and competition orange were no longer offered. By 1974, competition red and burgundy were also no longer offered, replaced by black and walnut. White was replaced by or renamed to olympic white. In 1977, the mustang Bass was offered in blond, natural, and walnut, as well as sunburst, black, and white (no longer olympic). In 1981, the sunburst was tobacco sunburst, and the only available left-handed model finish. White, black, and natural remained, while the walnut finish was replaced by antigua and wine finishes. The Mustang Bass was not listed by Fender in 1982, and stopped production from their Fullerton plant in 1983.

Discoloration in older runs of the Mustang Bass have led to "rare" alternate colors such as the "surf green", actually a yellowed competition burgundy, and the "competition burgundy" itself. Fender sells Vintera II Competition Mustangs with the competition burgundy finish as a blue finish with light blue racing stripes. The burgundy has been attributed to misprints, a short-lived burgundy sunburst around the edges of the finish, or discoloration of the competition burgundy from a blue to a burgundy.

Fender Japan reissued the Mustang Bass in 1998.

During 2013 and 2014, Fender produced the Fender Pawn Shop Mustang Bass, a series with the tagline of "guitars that never were, but should have been". They were made in Mexico, and based on the original "competition" Mustangs of the early 1970s. Available in Candy Apple Red with white stripes, Olympic White with blue stripes, and three color sunburst, their features included an alder body, C-shaped maple neck, 9.5-inch radius rosewood fingerboard with 19 medium jumbo frets, four-ply white pearloid pick-guard, two Jazz Bass control knobs (volume and tone) and string-through-body bridges with four adjustable saddles. Similar to the Squier Mikey Way Mustang Bass, the Pawn Shop Mustang basses featured a single humbucking pickup.