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Post new topic How about a real Stringmaster, T8 almost perfect condition!?
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Author Topic:  How about a real Stringmaster, T8 almost perfect condition!?
Former Member

 

Post  Posted 11 Mar 2017 3:51 pm    
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Pretty much museum quality. I'm planning on turning this into a left handed oriented guitar..it's almost too nice for that.....
This is what a T8 26" long scale looks like after resting in it's case for 60 years!
Still has it's original rubber feet!










Chrome is practically perfect! Man, even I'm questioning if I should take it apart!
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Tim Heidner

 

From:
Groves, TX
Post  Posted 11 Mar 2017 6:35 pm    
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Lawd a Mighty! Whoa!
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Bill Creller

 

From:
Saginaw, Michigan, USA (deceased)
Post  Posted 11 Mar 2017 7:08 pm    
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Beautiful !! Very Happy
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Jeff Mead


From:
London, England
Post  Posted 12 Mar 2017 3:49 am    
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Haven't seen many in that condition.

I would never modify something like that. There are plenty of refinished/rebuilt/beaten up guitars around ripe for modifications. Of course, it's your guitar and you can do what you want with it but if you have any interest in resale value, I'd advise leaving it alone.

You will find that the inside surface of the necks (which will now be exposed front and back) don't look good so you would either have to consider a partial refinish (which would be hard to match with the rest of the guitar) or a total refnish which would halve its value.

If you don't mind how it looks with the exposed unfinished bits, then you might as well get a beaten up guitar. You'll also have to drill a couple of extra holes in it. Just wouldn't make sense to me.
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Former Member

 

Post  Posted 12 Mar 2017 5:17 am    
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You ain't the only one telling me that!
It's not my fault the guitar was better than expected....😀
I figured for the price, it would be cool to do the lefty switcheroo.
Not glued to it, I might go ahead and pass it on to someone who really wants it.
I now live real close to the best lap steel mechanic, it could be changed without problems.
I'm no pro, far from it, so not sure what to do. Just put up the pics to counterattack that veggie spinner!
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George Piburn


From:
The Land of Enchantment New Mexico
Post  Posted 12 Mar 2017 7:26 am     KingPin
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KingPin Guitars by Gary Rue can make you a new left play for reasonable.

Cool
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Patrick Ickes

 

From:
Upper Lake, CA USA
Post  Posted 12 Mar 2017 9:11 am     Sell yours, Buy Mine
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Hi Ron,
I have a 55 T-8 Stringmaster that is already partially disassembled and parts bagged. The necks are still bolted together. I was going to refinish, but have since lost interest.
If interested, I could dig it out and send some pics.
Patrick
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Ian McLatchie

 

From:
Sechelt, British Columbia
Post  Posted 12 Mar 2017 2:15 pm    
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Quote:
I'm planning on turning this into a left handed oriented guitar


Converting a Stringmaster to left-handed involves reversing the nuts, adjusting the bridge and pickup height - that's it. I mean, you could rewire it so the bridge plate with the volume and tone pots is on the inner neck, but what's the point? Lovely guitar. It deserves to be kept in original condition if possible.
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Jeff Mead


From:
London, England
Post  Posted 12 Mar 2017 2:52 pm    
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Ian McLatchie wrote:
Quote:
I'm planning on turning this into a left handed oriented guitar


Converting a Stringmaster to left-handed involves reversing the nuts, adjusting the bridge and pickup height - that's it. I mean, you could rewire it so the bridge plate with the volume and tone pots is on the inner neck, but what's the point?


There's more to it than that if you want to do it properly. Because the necks are stepped in height, simply turning it around so the front faces the player makes the furthest neck really hard to play as it is a lot lower than the (now) nearest one.

I assumed he was planning to do a full conversion which would involve unbolting the necks and reversing each one so the step was the correct way round. This would mean that the front of the front neck would now be up against the middle neck and would need a hole drilled through it for the wiring. Also the holes between the other necks for the wiring would probably no longer line up and need to be drilled. The back neck, nearest the player would now have the jack socket hole against the middle neck, so a new one would need to be drilled in the side facing the player. The new outside faces would not be finished properly and would look pretty rough necessitating a full or partial refinish.
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Former Member

 

Post  Posted 12 Mar 2017 2:56 pm    
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I just PM'd him that Very Happy
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Ian McLatchie

 

From:
Sechelt, British Columbia
Post  Posted 12 Mar 2017 4:25 pm    
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You're right, Jeff, the difference in body thickness on a triple neck would be problematic if it were played left-handed. I experimented with my Deluxe 8 and found that, even though having the outer neck on a lower tier than the inner one is obviously not desirable, it's still quite playable that way. A third neck would be way more troublesome, although as someone who plays Spanish guitar left-handed I know there's a great deal one can adapt to. Butchering a guitar as beautiful as this one would be a shame. Better to sell it and pick up one with more road wear. The difference in price would almost pay for the conversion, I expect.
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Mark Addeo

 

From:
New Jersey, USA
Post  Posted 14 Mar 2017 6:42 am    
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that's a beaut but even as a lefty I couldn't bring myself to do it. Especially one from the early 50's. My love of all things Fender wouldn't let me. I bought an abused D8 stringmaster for that purpose figuring I was doing more good than harm. Winking But good luck whatever you decide. She's yours!
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Allen Hutchison


From:
Kilcoy, Qld, Australia
Post  Posted 14 Mar 2017 1:46 pm     Please don't
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Man, that's too nice!
As a bit of a collector & a lefty, I would salt that away in a dust proof glass case & maybe? let a righty play it rarely! Mr. Green
You gotta ask yourself, "when will I ever see another one this good"
PS. If it's ever for sale - I'm interested!
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Former Member

 

Post  Posted 25 Mar 2017 6:01 am    
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After almost giving up on my project due to others, I manned up and started the conversion. Hopefully I can still get some help, and not worries anymore since the "seal has been broken"..
I'm not doing the full neck change until my friend/expert gets well, but I went ahead and restrung neck #1 (the farthest neck for a righty), to a lefty perspective. Flipped the nut around, but the strings are not level.
I see the diameter of the nuts is 3/8", and to keep them original, I'm going to buy some stainless bar and fashion new ones.
The tuners need some kind of lubricant as do the legs which will not telescope, small scratch with both knobs, switches work fine.
#0528= February 1954 (2-54) in the pan written in red pencil.
It sounds Fendertastic!! Now I better start working on my vibrato as there's no hiding.
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Jeff Mead


From:
London, England
Post  Posted 25 Mar 2017 6:29 am    
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Hmmm... Can't imagine why the strings wouldn't be level. I assume they were level when it was the original way round? Is the nut slightly higher at one end? If so, maybe you could just raise the other end to make it level again?

There must be an easy solution to this. It would be so much cooler to use the original nut.
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Former Member

 

Post  Posted 25 Mar 2017 6:52 am    
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This necks nut has much wider slots than the other two, Leon McCaulif style bass neck maybe, I'm going to switch it with the other nut. - thanks! Probably going to use 3 in 1 oil for the tuners, and some kind of nut loose spray for the legs.
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Jeff Mead


From:
London, England
Post  Posted 25 Mar 2017 7:08 am    
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Ron Ellison wrote:
This necks nut has much wider slots than the other two, Leon McCaulif style bass neck maybe, I'm going to switch it with the other nut. - thanks! Probably going to use 3 in 1 oil for the tuners, and some kind of nut loose spray for the legs.


Yes, all triples and quads had thicker grooves on the front neck's nut to accommodate low bass tuning. I've used nuts like that for regular tuning though with no problem.
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Former Member

 

Post  Posted 25 Mar 2017 7:30 am    
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strings 5,6,7 don't touch the underside of the bar just in front of the nut. Could be the the strings I'm using, gonna change the nut for the other one.
What do you think the wood is, it's kinda soft.
-also I was told that these legs go straight down from the sockets on the older MK1. the sockets on this T8 angle the legs a little bit.
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Jeff Mead


From:
London, England
Post  Posted 25 Mar 2017 7:52 am    
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Ron Ellison wrote:
strings 5,6,7 don't touch the underside of the bar just in front of the nut.


OK, that sounds like the issue was there before you changed anything so it's not a left/right conversion issue.

If you got the guitar for a pretty good price anyway, why not splash out and buy a vintage nut with regular grooves (they are easier to find than many other Stringmaster parts). But, as you say, once you have finalised your gauges and tunings it may not even be a problem. I'd use a nut from one of the other necks for now and keep your eyes open. You could always try a low bass tuning on the 3rd neck?

Just about everyone with a triple or quad Stringmaster will have this nut on their front neck and many of them don't use bass tuning so maybe ask that specific question in another thread and see what they do?
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Stefan Robertson


From:
Hertfordshire, UK
Post  Posted 27 Mar 2017 12:12 pm    
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Despite it being super valuable I think the most important thing is if you can't play it due to setup - change it as at the end of the day making music is what its for.

Plus if you get rid of it you will be forever missing it and saying " I wish I didn't..."

If you really wanted to play a double neck just change the setup but keep it.
Whoa!
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Former Member

 

Post  Posted 27 Mar 2017 2:16 pm    
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I did not pay much for it, the person who sold it didn't care about money, he wanted to move it.
I don't feel like I had to buy a "basket case" to justify converting it. But I want to do it right, for the lefties of the future! Very Happy
I just gotta figure out what 3 tunings to set it up for..
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