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Glen Campbell's "Frankenstang" Fender Mustang

A look at the history behind many of the guitars Glen has used throughout his career.
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oooogie
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Aug 03, 2021 12:40 am

I owned Glen Campbell's "Frankenstang" Fender Mustang

Post by oooogie »

Hey Willard, I'm the guy he gave it to. I was Glens personal golf club maker/repairman. Did a lot of work for him over the years. I am also a guitar player(sort of) and we would frequently talk about music while I was reshafting a club(or 4) for him.
He told me about the Mustang and said it had 3/4 scale length. He told me that if I'd like to borrow it he'd bring it to the shop and sure enough, the next time he came in he had a guitar case in his hand.
He said take it home and check it out. Keep it for a couple of months if you want.
So I took it home and I loved the thing.
I was mostly an acoustic player and had just gotten involved playing some electric music with some friends. I was using a borrowed es 33? at the time and the neck on the Mustang was just like butter to me.
A month or two later he asked about it. And I said I love it. He told me he wanted to give it one more try and I said if you ever want to sell it, I'll buy it. I brought it back in the next day and he picked it up a day or two later.
A couple of weeks pass and one day I see the Rolls pull into the parking lot. Glen gets out and the reaches back in and grabs the guitar case.
He brings the guitar in and hands it to me. I say what do you want for it and he said "for you to play it in good health". I was shocked. He was GIVING me the Mustang.
He then went on to tell me the short scale was giving him fits. Said "I have to look at the neck when I play it" He also mentioned that he had trouble keeping it in tune.
I loved the Floyd Rose micro tuners and the fact that it wasn't routed for a whammy bar use was of no interest to me anyway.
Ultimately a few years later as my electric playing became more refined I began to notice the quirks of the guitar and I sold it off to finance another purchase. That was probably one hundred guitars ago ;)
Here's a picture of me playing it and a gig at the Sail Inn in Tempe. I play the Bobby part in a Grateful Dead tribute that is still going strong after 26 years together.
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oooogie
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Aug 03, 2021 12:40 am

Re: Glen Campbell's 1980 Adamas Nylon XSC-8 Prototype

Post by oooogie »

Did that Mustang have a ratty dull black finish?


Bluebird
Posts: 41
Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2014 4:34 am

Re: The Frankenstang

Post by Bluebird »

I love tour stories, Willard... thanks for the input.

Wayne


Bob Willard Henke
Posts: 14
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2018 2:51 pm

Glen Campbell's "Frankenstang" Fender Mustang

Post by Bob Willard Henke »

I was keeper of the guitars that Glen used on stage from 1987 to 1991 and was his Guitar Tech and Head Tech as well as the Bass Player with the Jeff Dayton Band. I loved Glen. He was a wonderful person to work with and as I told him once, "The best Frontman I ever had in a band".
Every now and then he would pull out an oddball guitar and want to use it on stage. It was up to me to get it in shape and ready to be used without any glitches. One guitar in particular was the '60's Fender Mustang we affectionatly called "The Frankenstang" as it had a very faded Black finish with a Floyd Rose Tailpiece and Locking Nut. He wanted different pickups installed so I had a Telecaster pickup installed at the bridge position and two Stratocaster pickups put in at the middle and neck position. It was a real odd duck and he only played it for a short time. Eventually he gave it away to a friend or fan, I don't know for sure which.
Glen was the consumate musician and I can't express fully the joy I felt making music with him. At the end he may not have been able to remember all of the fun we had together but I'll remember for both of us.

Thanks Again,
Bob"Willard"Henke
Glen Campbell & Bob"Willard"Henke - Kansas City, MO. 1989
Glen Campbell & Bob"Willard"Henke - Kansas City, MO. 1989
Me & Glen - Kansas City, MO. circa 1989 copy.jpeg (54.72 KiB) Viewed 14145 times


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