Fender Justin Meldal Johnsen Mustang

... ich spiele ausschließlich passive Bässe mit einem Pickup, Flatwounds und zwei Knöppen - 68er Gibson EB-0, 65er Fender Preci, 2013er Hotwire Prezz - und dieser kleine blaue "JMJ" passt perfekt dazu.
Dabei ist er für wilde Jamsessions und vernebelte Heimwege morgens um 5 nicht zu schade. Sehr durchsetzungsstark, leicht zu bespielen, passt immer gut in den Mix, und ja - untenrum ist?s fett genug. Nicht so fett wie ein Prezi, das sollte klar sein.
Sehr gute Alternative zu einem alten Original. Kam gut eingestellt von Thomann (gewünschte Einstellung bei der Bestellung mit angeben, kostet nix extra!), die Flatwounds sind ganz OK, obwohl ich eigentlich Thomastik spiele. Ich lasse die mal ein paar Jahre drauf...

Ein absolut tolles Instrument.

Die Verarbeitung wäre an sich eigentlich gut aber das Setup war leider praktisch non-existent. Die Schraube am Steg der E Saite war lose und stand komplett hinten raus, Intonation auf drei Saiten nicht sauber und der Truss Rod musste auch etwas justiert werden. Im Internet gibt es dazu aber ja genügend Hilfestellungen und so kenne ich mein neues Instrument jetzt noch etwas besser und weiss mir zu helfen. An der Qualität des Instruments ändert das nichts.
Ist für mich auch absolut ok. Das sind halt die Kosten, wenn wir nicht mehr im Laden einkaufen.
Ich bin auf jeden Fall super glücklich mit meinem Kauf. Der Bass klingt einfach extrem nice, sieht cool aus und spielt sich sehr angenehm. Klare Empfehlung.

After a couple of months of owning the JMJ Mustang, I feel like I can objectively review the bass now.

First of all, let's put it out of the way, I love it.

Out of the box, it came with Fender 9050 Flatwound strings which complement the vintage sound and feel of the bass. In terms of setup, the action was perfect and there were no dead spots but the intonation was off. It needed some major intonation on the E string and the A string needed some minor intonation fixes. Both the D and G were properly intonated. The fretboard needed some oil as it was a little dry but those were all minor things in my book. The gig bag it comes with is just a regular gigbag for a normally scaled bass. Not suited for a short scaled bass but it will do the job if needed.

On to the bass itself. It is pretty lightweight and it feels really good on the hands. I know that the relicing process is not for everyone, but I can assure you that the neck on this thing feels like it has been played for 50 years, it's perfect, feels like a real vintage bass. It comes with vintage lollipop hipshot tuners which are welcome (those are reliced to fit the image and feel of the bass) and looks cool and the Seymour Duncan pickups are, in my opinion, the biggest selling point of this bass. They sound really defined and punchy. Coupled with flatwound strings this bass provides a deep and rich sound with great definition. Very P-Bass like, but with its own character.
The tone knob is very responsive and has a lot of range, you can hear a difference even with a minimal change.

I was looking for a bass that channeled a vintage feel, that was easy to carry around, but that sounded big at the same time. I wasn't disappointed, this bass ticked all the boxes and it will surely be with me for a long time.

Secret tech: This is a great pick/mute bass! The thing that surprised me the most in this bass was the thump you can get when mute picking. I never heard such a beautiful pick attack. It's perfect for those boogaloo fast runs.


Summing up:

The build quality is topnotch, don't be discouraged just because it's made in Mexico. There's attention to every detail and it sounds like a P bass but bit more focused (exactly like how JMJ described it).

After a wait of 6 months it was all worth it!
The build quality is topnotch and i love the Roadworn look, it is done very nice and in much detail everywhere, even the thumbrest and hardware, screws, and the nitro laquer. It is not overdone... very,very nice. This shortscale bass sings with flatwounds (La Bella!) and playing with a pick, for me this is THE sound i was after. The real 60's tic tac sound. Justin knows his thing.
The custom Seymour Duncan pickups are hot and big, but nice sounding and needed a little lowering at the E and G string side. Feel,fretwork and neck are great, nice thick neck like the original! and what a sustain...A very high Quality instrument (mexico is not an issue her anymore!! ) and for sure an collectors item after a few years when they stop making these....
Buy one! It is the closest thing to an original vintage Mustang but with very reasonable price. Thomann thanx for keeping me notice about the delays.