Step By Step Restoration-1965 Fender Mustang P4
Vintage Guitar Disassembly

The neck is removed from the body to reveal the
original color of this guitar...Daphne Blue. In 1965
Mustang guitars had custom colors at a standard
price! Daphne Blue and Dakota Red were custom,
so Fender just called them Blue and Red to avoid
conflict from dealers. Usually the neck joint colors
are the most accurate to the original color
because the neck joint has been shielded from
sunlight.
Document the neck date on
a vintage Fender. Check
that the other dated parts
are from the same era.
Until recently, original Fender colors were difficult
to find. Fender generally used color formulations
developed by General Motors...but over the years,
even the color chips have drifted! Luckily, Guitar
ReRanch, www.guitarreranch.com has researched
and reformulated vintage Fender colors and now
sells them to the public in aerosol spray cans. It is
the closest you can get to the original custom
Fender colors...and they are in the original
nitro-cellulose laquer!
One of the cool things
about vintage Fenders;
the builders initialed and
dated their parts! The
neck pickup was wound
on August 12, 1965 by
"VC," and the bridge
pickup was made on
August 10, 1965 by "AS."
When the pickguard is removed, it becomes
evident that this part is a reproduction. The wiring
to the pickups and switches is original with
unbroken solder. I removed the wiring from the
pickguard and soaked it in coffee grounds for a
week; this gave the reproduction pickguard the
yellowed appearance of an original.