Player 2 Mustang bass any good?

[shoulderpet]

Hi 

I have owned a couple of Fender PJ Mustang basses in the past but foolishly moved them on due to gas making me want newer, shinier but not necessarily better things, I remember them being really solid basses, not sure what series of Mustang they were but were easy before the player 2 series. 

 

Anyway I am at the point where I would like another bass and want something a little nicer than the cheap £200 basses that I tend to end up buying (and then moving on a few months later), anyone here own a player 2 series Mustang bass? How are they?  I really liked the Mustangs I played in the past and hoping these are as good 

 

Thanks

[HeadlessBassist]

The Mexican Fender plant at Ensenada is putting out some lovely quality instruments these days. Obviously, try before you buy still applies to all Fenders if you can get to a dealer.

 

As for the Player/Player PJ Mustang, it's a nice bass overall. But... Don't expect it to sound like a Mustang. It sounds like countless other full-scale PJ equipped Precisions. Basically, like a much larger, more generic bass. In order to get the true Mustang sound, you need the smaller Japanese split coil pickup used in the Mexican Vintera II Mustang and the American Performer Mustang.

 

So back to that Player II PJ Mustang... Yes, it's a nice bass, but that big split coil makes it sound like a full size Precision. If that's what you want, then go for it.    

 

There's a nice satin Surf Green American Performer for sale in the BC classifieds, and a friend of mine has an Aubergine American Performer, a Competition Burgundy Vintera II & a Cherry Burst Player PJ for sale, two of which I previously owned for a short time. If you've got the budget, the one I've settled with is the American Performer. It's a great bass (and a real Mustang.)

 

Hope that helps!

Edited 1 hour ago by HeadlessBassist

[Lozz196]

Agree, I bought one but returned it, nothing wrong with it, very nice bass actually, but although I bought it to be a Mustang that sounded like a Precision ultimately that was why I returned it, I found that I just prefer my Mustangs to sound like Mustangs.
 

But for anyone wanting Precision sounds from a short scale bass with Jazz width neck then these are hard to beat, the one I had played beautifully with the factory set up & stock strings.