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Fender Ben Gibbard Mustang
Fender American Original 60s Jaguar
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Playability
75
Sound
72
Build
67
Value
71
Score
71
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Playability
75
Sound
76
Build
72
Value
64
Score
74
FIND IT ON:
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Fender Ben Gibbard Mustang vs American Original 60s Jaguar Specs Comparison
Fender Ben Gibbard Mustang American Original 60s Jaguar
General
Brand: Fender Fender
Year: 2021 2018
Configuration: SS SS
Strings: 6 6
Made in: Mexico United States
Series: Artist American Original
Colors: Natural Sunburst, Blue, Green
Left-Handed Version: No No
Body
Type: Solid Body Solid Body
Body Material: Chambered Ash Alder
Bridge: 6-Saddle Vintage-Style Mustang Tremolo Vintage-Style Floating Tremolo with Tremolo Lock Button and Push-In Tremolo Arm
Neck
Neck Joint: Bolt-On Bolt-On
Tuners: Vintage-Style with Fender Logo Pure Vintage Single Line Fender Deluxe
Fretboard: Maple Round-Lam Rosewood
Neck Material: Maple Maple
Decoration: Black Dot White Pearloid Dot - 7mm
Scale Size: 24" 24"
Shape: Modern C Mid 60s C
Thickness: 1st Fret: 0.82'' (20.8mm) - 12th Fret: 0.87'' (22.1mm) 1st Fret: 0.825'' (21mm) - 12th Fret: 0.975'' (24.8mm)
Frets: 22 Medium Jumbo Nickel Silver 22 Vintage Tall Nickel Silver
Fretboard Radius: 9.5" 9.5"
Nut: Synthetic Bone Bone
Nut Width: 42mm (1.654'') 42mm (1.654'')
Electronics
Bridge Pickups: Fender Vintage-Style Single-Coil Mustang (Single Coil / Passive) Fender Pure Vintage 62 Single-Coil Jaguar (Single Coil / Passive)
Middle Pickup:
Neck Pickup: Fender Vintage-Style Single-Coil Mustang (Single Coil / Passive) Fender Pure Vintage 62 Single-Coil Jaguar (Single Coil / Passive)
Switch: 3 Way 3 Way
Knobs: Bell Bell
Pickup Mods: None High-Pass Filter
Volume Controls: 1 2
Tone Controls: 0 2
Hardware
Strap Lock: Yes No
Hardware Color: Chrome Chrome
Show Diagrams Comparison
Fender Ben Gibbard Mustang and Fender American Original 60s Jaguar pickups switch and push knobs diagram
Fender Ben Gibbard Mustang and Fender American Original 60s Jaguar's switch options

Reasons to Get
Fender Ben Gibbard Mustang over American Original 60s Jaguar

Release Year
2021 vs 2018
From a more recent year
Neck Thickness at 1st Fret
0.82'' (20.8mm) vs 0.825'' (21mm)
More comfortable open chords for small hands
Neck Thickness at 12th Fret
0.87'' (22.1mm) vs 0.975'' (24.8mm)
More comfortable at higher frets for small hands
Strap Lock
Yes vs None
Protects your guitar from dropping by locking the strap
Value Score
71 vs 64
Better price/quality relationship

Reasons to Get
Fender American Original 60s Jaguar over Ben Gibbard Mustang

Country of Manufacturing
United States vs Mexico
Built with higher quality standards
Frets Height
Taller vs Shorter
Easier to press down strings and bend them
Pickup Mods
High-Pass Filter vs None
Attenuates the bass for a less muddy tone
Volume Knobs
2 vs 1
More volume control
Tone Knobs
2 vs 0
More tone control
Neck Thickness at 1st Fret
0.825'' (21mm) vs 0.82'' (20.8mm)
More comfortable open chords for big hands
Neck Thickness at 12th Fret
0.975'' (24.8mm) vs 0.87'' (22.1mm)
More comfortable at higher frets for big hands

Other Key Differences
Fender Ben Gibbard Mustang vs American Original 60s Jaguar

Bridge Pickup
Fender Vintage-Style Single-Coil Mustang vs Fender Pure Vintage 62 Single-Coil Jaguar
Different Bridge Pickup
Neck Pickup
Fender Vintage-Style Single-Coil Mustang vs Fender Pure Vintage 62 Single-Coil Jaguar
Different Neck Pickup
Body Wood
Ash vs Alder
Different Body Wood
Fretboard Wood
Maple vs Rosewood
Different Fretboard Wood
Nut Material
Synthetic Bone vs Bone
Different Nut Material

Shared Features
Fender Ben Gibbard Mustang vs American Original 60s Jaguar

Neck Wood
Maple
Same Neck Wood
Headstock
6
Same Headstock
Strings
6
Same playing style
Body Type
Solid Body
Feedback free
Switch Positions
3
Same pickups versatility
Pickups
SS
Beautiful cleans
Number of Frets
22
Same maximum octave
Nut Width
1.654'' (42mm)
Same string separation at the nut
Paint Finish
Poly
Resistant paint that ages well
Bridge
Tremolo
Simple vibratos without too much maintenance
Scale Length
24'' (609.6mm)
Same string tension and fret separation
Fretboard Radius
9.5'' (241.3mm)
Same fretboard comfortability
Pickups Power
Passive
Cleaner sound and no battery needed
Neck Profile Type
C
Comfortable neck that works for most people
Neck Joint
Bolt-On
Allows you to detach and swap the neck
Type of Frets
Medium Jumbo vs Vintage Tall
You'll feel the fretboard when pressing down the strings

Common Strengths

  • High-Quality Nut
  • Top Pickup Brand
  • Expensive Wood

Common Weaknesses

  • Neck-Through Build
  • Weight Relief
  • Locking Tuners
  • Stays in Tune (Evertune)
  • High-Quality Frets
  • Compound Radius Fretboard
  • Luminescent Sidedots
  • 21:1 Tuner Ratio
  • Active/Passive Preamp

Price History Comparison

SET PRICE ALERT

Fender American Original 60s Jaguar Prices

SET PRICE ALERT

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Hand Size Comfortability

And after taking into account the scale length, nut width, neck profile and fretboard radius, we can conclude that the Fender American Original 60s Jaguar favors large hands more than the Fender Ben Gibbard Mustang.

Fender Ben Gibbard Mustang:
Big Hands
Small Hands
Fender American Original 60s Jaguar:
Big Hands
Small Hands

Beginner Friendliness

Both meet 7 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players. If you're looking for your first guitar to learn how to play, you can't go wrong with either of them.

New Player Friendliness

Fender Ben Gibbard Mustang
  • Comfortable shape
  • Easy-to-use bridge
  • Comfortable fretboard
  • Tall frets
  • Narrow nut
  • Short scale
  • Comfortable neck
  • Locking tuners

New Player Friendliness

Fender American Original 60s Jaguar
  • Comfortable shape
  • Easy-to-use bridge
  • Comfortable fretboard
  • Tall frets
  • Narrow nut
  • Short scale
  • Comfortable neck
  • Locking tuners

Sound Quality Comparison

The wood used in an electric guitar or bass is not as important to determine the final tone. However, some people prefer specific wood types, so we'll take a look at those first. Then, we'll take a look at the electronics to determine the versatility and sound quality of each instrument.

Woods Used in Both

Maple wood pattern used for guitar building
Maple

Maple is one of the most popular necks for good reasons. It is a strong wood that is relatively cheap to make and looks beautiful. The highest quality maple is the hardest that comes from North America. Find out more about Maple.

Woods Used in the Fender Ben Gibbard Mustang

Ash wood pattern used for guitar building
Ash

Ash is a type of wood that Fender used almost exclusively in the 50s, and it's still used by many brands. It's a dense wood with a light color that works well for a transparent, natural finish because of its beautiful patterns. In terms of sound, it's known for emphasizing the mid and high frequencies, but with strong low end. Find out more about Ash.

Woods Used in the Fender American Original 60s Jaguar

Rosewood wood pattern used for guitar building
Rosewood
Alder wood pattern used for guitar building
Alder

Rosewood is an almost purple-looking wood that is used mainly for fretboards since it's heavy, rare, and expensive. It's sometimes used on acoustic guitar bodies to create stronger warm tones. Find out more about Rosewood.

Alder is the most popular wood that Fender uses in most of their guitars nowadays. Even though they say it's because of its balanced tone with an emphasis in the upper midrange, it probably is because it isn't too expensive, and it's also pretty lightweight—more than Mahogany. Find out more about Alder.

Winner: Tie.

Pickup Configuration

Both pickup configurations are SS. SS is the classic Telecaster configuration. It's used mainly for playing clean or with low-gain distortion, and it's very popular for the country genre because of their brightness. It doesn't give you as much versatility as a Strat SSS configuration, but you might like the cleaner look of a guitar body with fewer pickups.

Pickups Quality

Both come with some of the top pickups on the market. You can't go wrong with either of them. You'll probably never need a pickup upgrade.

We found the same or similar pickups to the Fender American Original 60s Jaguar's online:

Both use Passive pickups. This is what's used for most music genres. They have a regular output and will serve you for both high-gain and clean tones. The alternative (Active pickups) offer a higher output that is mostly used for heavy music.

Winner: Tie.

Versatility Comparison

Some instruments offer you more ways to explore your creativity than others. Below you'll find how both compare when it comes to versatility.

Switch Options

Both are equal when it comes to the pickup switching option.

Only the Fender American Original 60s Jaguar comes with some kind of pickup modification: High-Pass Filter.

You can use a High-Pass Filter to attenuate the low frequencies and get a less less muddy tone with more clarity. This can be useful when playing in a band, as it helps separate your guitar from the rest of the instruments.

When evaluating versatility, we also take into consideration bridge and neck joint type, number of frets, switch options, amount of pickups and more.

Winner: Fender American Original 60s Jaguar.

Final Sound Quality Scores

Fender Ben Gibbard Mustang
Pickups 100
Sustain 60
Versatility 62
Tuning Stability 65
Sound 72
Fender American Original 60s Jaguar
Pickups 100
Sustain 60
Versatility 78
Tuning Stability 65
Sound 76

Build Quality Comparison

When it comes to build quality, we like to take into account everything used to build the instrument. This includes materials, hardware and the quality control expected depending on the country where it was built. Let's see how the Fender Ben Gibbard Mustang compares to the Fender American Original 60s Jaguar.

Country of Origin

The manufacturing country can tell a lot about the build quality of an instrument. The Fender Ben Gibbard Mustang is built in Mexico while the Fender American Original 60s Jaguar is made in United States.

Mexico has been for a long time where Fender has built their semi-premium series. If you don't want to overpay for a wellp-built instrument, a guitar built in this country by a good brand always offers good value for the money.

The United States is considered one of the best electric guitar manufacturers in the world. A guitar made in this country is supposed to have world-class quality control. Nowadays, guitars made in other countries can beat some of the ones made in the US, but most of the time, this country offers the best you can get. Of course, that comes at a price.

Winner: Fender American Original 60s Jaguar

Nut Material

If you want your guitar to stay in tune and sound good, you need a well cut nut. Nut quality can be inconsistent even when comparing two copies of the same model. The best way to make sure you're nut will be well done is by getting a nut made by an expert company like TUSQ or Micarta.

The Fender Ben Gibbard Mustang has a Synthetic Bone nut. Bone is the best natural material for guitar nuts. However, its tonal properties can be inconsistent. That's the problem that synthetic bone fixes. This is much better than using a plastic nut because the nut is more slippery—which helps with tuning stability—, and it gives your open strings rich harmonics.

On the other hand, the Fender American Original 60s Jaguar comes with a Bone nut. It's a type of nut found in high-quality instruments. They sound similar to Ivory since they give a lot of sustain and a bright sound (at least when striking open strings). The only problem they can run into is that you may get a bone piece that simply doesn't sound as well as others because that's just how natural materials are.

Winner: Tie.

Fret Material

Most fret wire is made of nickel silver. This material eventually wears down after a lot of use and most instruments end up needing a complete fret replacement. However, some expensive models come with stainless steel frets. This is what you should aim for if you can afford it.

Unfortunately, none of them come with stainless steel frets.

Winner: Tie.

Bridge

The perfect bridge for you will depend on your playstyle because they all have advantages and disadvantages. However, some bridges are more expensive—like Floyd Roses and Evertunes—and thus add more value to a guitar.

Both come with a similar bridge: Tremolo. Tremolo bridges give you more versatility than fixed bridges. They let you perform the intense vibrato effects that would be impossible with a fixed bridge. However, since the bridge floats and there's less contact with the body, the strings lose sustain slightly faster. They can also be a bit harder to restring and set up correctly than fixed bridges.

Since we need to be objective, the most expensive type of bridge will be the winner of this section. In the end, this doesn't matter if you're not going to use the bridge for its original purpose, so choose the bridge that fits your playing style better.

Winner: Tie.

Tuners

Both come with regular tuners. The Fender Ben Gibbard Mustang's are Vintage-Style with Fender Logo while the Fender American Original 60s Jaguar's are Pure Vintage Single Line Fender Deluxe

Winner: Tie.

Neck Joint

Contrary to popular belief, the difference in sustain and tone that some neck joints give to a guitar is simply unperceivable—if they're all well built. However, some of them do have advantages over the others.

Both have a Bolt-On neck joint. This neck is joined to the body by 4 bolts that you can simply unscrew. This allows you to replace the neck or take it off for travel. It's the most common and cheapest way to build a guitar.

Winner: Tie.

Here is the list of features that were considered when choosing the winner in the Features subcategory:

Strengths & Weaknesses
Fender Ben Gibbard Mustang
  • Expensive Wood
  • Synthetic Bone Nut
  • Top Brand Pickups
  • Tremolo
  • Strap Lock
  • Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
  • No Locking Tuners
  • Made in Mexico
  • No Neck-Through Build
  • No Push Knob or Extra Switch Option
  • No Weight Relief
  • No Luminescent Inlay
  • No Compound Radius Fretboard
  • No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
Strengths & Weaknesses
Fender American Original 60s Jaguar
  • Made in United States
  • Expensive Wood
  • Bone Nut
  • Top Brand Pickups
  • High-Pass Filter Pickups
  • Tremolo
  • Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
  • No Locking Tuners
  • No Neck-Through Build
  • No Weight Relief
  • No Luminescent Inlay
  • No Compound Radius Fretboard
  • No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
  • No Strap Lock

Final Build Quality Scores

Fender Ben Gibbard Mustang
Quality of materials 66
Features 60
Quality Control 75
Build Quality 67
Fender American Original 60s Jaguar
Quality of materials 61
Features 60
Quality Control 95
Build Quality 72

Playability Comparison

Let's now compare their playability. Bear in mind that the instrument will feel different depending on your hand size and play style. That's why you should always test before buying. But if you can't or want a second opinion on it, we can still take a look at each of the important measurements of the instrument for you. This way, we can predict how easy a guitar might be to play, or how different it will feel compared to the other.

Remember that, even though the difference might seem small, every inch counts when it comes to feeling of the instrument in your hands. Any variation can completely change how comfortable a guitar feels in your hands.

Nut Width

Fender Ben Gibbard Mustang Nut Width
Both Guitars Have The Same Nut Width

The nut width will affect the separation between strings at the nut. In this comparison, both have a nut width of 42mm (1.654'').

This is considered a narrow width for a 6-string guitar. This means that this guitar will have a narrower string separation at the nut, which will affect your fretting hand.

If you are a player with big hands, you might find it difficult to play chords without muting strings. However, this is good for players who have smaller hands, as it will allow them to reach each string more easily at the nut.

Scale Length

Fender Ben Gibbard Mustang and Fender American Original 60s Jaguar's Scale Length
Both have the same scale length

The scale length is one of the things that influences playability the most. This is the distance between the nut and the bridge and will affect everything from low action allowance, difficulty to perform bends, fret separation, and even tone.

In this case, both have a scale length of 24".

There are advantages and disadvantages to a short scale length like this. This guitar will be very easy to play, especially if you have small hands because the frets will be close to each other. Also, since the distance between the bridge and nut is short, the strings will have less tension, so they'll be really easy to bend. However, this also means that you won't be able to lower the action (lower the saddles and get the strings closer to the fretboard) too much or you will get fret buzz since the strings will be a bit loose.

Also, short scales give less space for the harmonics to 'breath', so this ends up making the tone of the guitar sound more 'bassy' than a loger scale where there's more separation between harmonics, which gives the tone more chime.

Lastly, remember that you can also affect the tension of the strings by changing your string gauge. You can use a thicker gauge for more tension and a lighter one for less tension.

Neck Profile

Fender Ben Gibbard Mustang Neck Profile
Fender Ben Gibbard Mustang's neck profile
Fender American Original 60s Jaguar Neck Profile
Fender American Original 60s Jaguar's neck profile

No single neck shape is better than others. However, most people tend to prefer a thinner necks because it doesn't get in their way when playing fast and most hand sizes can adapt to it pretty well. However, some people still prefer thicker necks for a better grip, especially if they have big hands.

Both the Fender Ben Gibbard Mustang and the Fender American Original 60s Jaguar have a C-shaped neck. This is what you'll find in most modern guitars. Most people feel like the thickness of a C neck is simply the less intrusive one for playing fast, while at the same time allowing you to grab the neck easily for resting if you want to.

Fretboard Radius

Fender Ben Gibbard Mustang Fingerboard Radius
Both Guitars Have The Same Fretboard Radius

Most guitar fretboards are not flat; they usually have a curve or arc across their width. A curved fretboard will make it easier to perform chords without muting strings, while a flatter one will make it easier to play single notes, which is good for bending and soloing in general. The best fretboards have a compound radius that varies across the fingerboard, but they're not common since they take a lot more work to build.

Both the Fender Ben Gibbard Mustang and the Fender American Original 60s Jaguar have the same fretboard radius of 9.5". This is the most common radius for Stratocaster guitars. It's considered curved when compared to most other models. This allows you to play chords very easily without muting strings accidentally and gives you more space between strings for fingerpicking. However, this curve also gives the guitar less allowance for lower action. If you bend too hard at the high frets, some of your notes might get muted because the curve will make the string fret out.

Fret Size

Fender Ben Gibbard Mustang Frets Size
Fender Ben Gibbard Mustang's Frets Size
Fender American Original 60s Jaguar Frets Size
Fender American Original 60s Jaguar's Frets Size

The Fender American Original 60s Jaguar has Vintage Tall frets, which should be taller than the Fender Ben Gibbard Mustang's Medium Jumbo frets.

Some people prefer taller frets because they result in more sustain since the strings get pressed cleanly without interference from the fretboard. However, if they're too tall—like Jumbo frets—, you might change the pitch of the strings accidentally if you press too hard because you won't be touching the fretboard with your fingers. This is also why some guitarists with a heavy grip prefer smaller frets. They like to feel the fingerboard to avoid pressing down too hard and getting out of pitch.

Final Playability Scores

Fender Ben Gibbard Mustang
Bending & Vibrato Ease 75
Chord Playability 90
Solo Playability 60
Playability 75
Fender American Original 60s Jaguar
Bending & Vibrato Ease 75
Chord Playability 90
Solo Playability 60
Playability 75