A few years ago, I completed Electric XII and Maverick projects. I thought it would be fun to make a Fender Swinger/Musiclander/Arrow replica.
In the late 60’s, Fender was trying to use up piles of MusicMaster and Bass V bodies and short-scale (22.5″) MusicMaster and Mustang student model necks. Most examples I’ve seen are made from highly-modified Bass V bodies with the tell-tale original split pickup route under the guard.
As with the Maverick/Custom, Virgilio “Babe” Simoni was given the task of chopping up those bodies to make a new model. He said his original headstock shape was more like the curved Fender acoustics of the day, but then someone decided to cut one straight across the bottom and it stuck.
After not being able to find exactly what I wanted for a body, it was off to eBay to find a beat up 60’s MusicMaster body. I found the perfect poplar victim with a bad refinish already for a great price. I knew I didn’t want the 22.5 scale length of the originals, so I opted for an Allparts 24″ scale length Jaguar neck.
I made a body routing template by hand based on photos and a drawing of an original body. A surprisingly large amount of wood had to come off the body. I didn’t put the front and back body contours on mine, so it’s a “slab” version…call it a prototype! I trimmed off the lower section of the headstock in a straight line like the originals. After the routing, re-shaping, stripping and initial fitting, I sent the neck and body off to Matt at MJT Custom Aged Guitar Finishes for a light-relic Sonic Blue body finish.
I used a modified Fender Toronado bridge plate with compensated brass Tele saddles. I went with a pair of Lindy Fralin Mustang pickups and a push-pull series-parallel switch on the volume control. The bridge pickup is hidden under the guard and is there more for hum-cancelling, but it does inject some brightness.
I had a modified Mustang pickguard template from a similar project, but I had to make a few changes to get the fit right. Guards like this are tricky, especially where they meet control plates and the bridge.
I’m very happy with the end results…it’s a fun little guitar with a playable scale length, good intonation and no hum!
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