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Author Topic:  Establishing a definitive Stringmaster timeline
Chris Scruggs

 

From:
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Post  Posted 12 Jun 2015 4:25 pm    
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Regarding serial numbers, they started back at the beginning when they went to the Mark II Stringmaster in 1955. I owned a November 55 D-8 with a 0075 serial number, yet my earlier October 1954 Stringmaster is serial number 460. The plates with the serial numbers are not interchsmgable between the two eras so they must have restarted the serial number process.
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Chris Scruggs

 

From:
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Post  Posted 12 Jun 2015 4:35 pm    
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Brad , Miles and Jeff, that chart is for guitar serial numbers, not steel guitar serial numbers. The "-" prefix in the serial number is something you see on guitars from 56-57., and those beginning and ending serials for each year correspond with my roundneck Fwnser instruments of that era. In apring 63 the serial numbers started carrying a letter L at the beginning of the serial number, that was an accident as was the "-" in the late 50s.

Pre 1954 Fender guitars (the only models offered were the Telecaster/Esquire and Precision Bass)have the serial number stamped on the bridge (except for the pre-production Startocasters which have the serial on the white plastic trem speing cover) so that's why the chart starts at 1954, when Femder moved the serials for all standard guitars and bass guitars to the neck plate. This is also responsible for a lot of the confusion surrounding people who say Pete Frampton's Strat was the first one built. It wasn't, it just had the 0001 neck plate serial number...
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Jeff Mead


From:
London, England
Post  Posted 12 Jun 2015 11:23 pm    
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Chris Scruggs wrote:
...This is also responsible for a lot of the confusion surrounding people who say Pete Frampton's Strat was the first one built. It wasn't, it just had the 0001 neck plate serial number...


Chris - Strat 0001 actually belongs to David Gilmour.
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Chris Scruggs

 

From:
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Post  Posted 13 Jun 2015 6:03 pm    
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D'oh! That's what I meant. I don't know why I typed PF, I absolutely meant DG.
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basilh


From:
United Kingdom
Post  Posted 3 Feb 2016 6:20 am    
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We need more serial numbers and descriptions/pictures to expand the list..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxnyVAlTu2w
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basilh


From:
United Kingdom
Post  Posted 4 Nov 2017 10:46 am    
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Tom Wolverton wrote:
My big question is this: What year did the 26" scale SM stop being produced? Was it when the blender pots showed up? I.e. has anyone ever seen a long scale SM with blender pots?

Tom, the long scale Stringmaster DOES have a blender pot..
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Brad Davis


From:
Texas, USA
Post  Posted 4 Nov 2017 11:05 am    
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I remember reading some old threads that made me wonder whether the earliest (mid-late-1953) Stringmasters, prototypes perhaps, had the same "blend" circuit. For example, did Noel Boggs' first Stringmaster have a blend circuit or a more conventional tone circuit?

Clearly the long scales were made into early-mid 1955 before retooling for the new design. Based on some anecdotal observation here and elsewhere I wonder whether there might be some slight semblance of logic to the long scale serial numbers. I have noticed that the quads tend to have fairly low serial numbers, even for examples made much later than some 2 and 3 neck guitars with very high serial numbers. My quad for example is 0083 from 12-54. So perhaps there is some sort of relationship between serial numbers and neck configuration? This would seem to make sense as there were far fewer quads and so the serial range would stay fairly low. Of course a much earlier quad example with a serial like 0900+ would blow this flimsy theory out of the water.
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basilh


From:
United Kingdom
Post  Posted 4 Nov 2017 12:29 pm    
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Here is the ORIGINAL Blend control on the MkI Stringmaster..


And this is how it works:--->
https://youtu.be/mxnyVAlTu2w
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Jeff Mead


From:
London, England
Post  Posted 15 Jun 2020 5:08 pm    
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Mk.3 October 1956 - Doubleneck - Butterbean tuners, plastic pickup covers, switchcraft blade neck selector switch.
S/N -01468
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Mark Durante


From:
St. Pete Beach FL
Post  Posted 19 Jun 2020 12:01 pm    
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My T-8 26" Stringmaster was 0607 I'll look to see if I can find the photos of tuner pocket but as far as I remember it was late 54. No blend pots, never seen a 26" with blend pots. 54 and 55 were the transition years as they phased in the new Stringmasters with the new features and different scale lengths.
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Jeff Mead


From:
London, England
Post  Posted 19 Jun 2020 12:19 pm    
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Mark Durante wrote:
My T-8 26" Stringmaster was 0607 I'll look to see if I can find the photos of tuner pocket but as far as I remember it was late 54. No blend pots, never seen a 26" with blend pots.


No individual blend pots on the long scale ones but, I am reliably informed by a couple of people who have them (including Basil who talks about exactly this a couple of posts above yours)that what you would assume was the master tone knob is actually a master blend knob that works on all necks.
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