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Topic: 1953 Fender Stringmaster Steel |
Jeff Mead
From:
London, England
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Posted 24 Mar 2017 12:07 am |
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| Erv Niehaus wrote: |
Fred,
On that particular model of Stringmaster, you cannot set the pickup mix. It has no blending wheel. That feature came on the later models. |
I don't think that is correct. On those early Stringmasters, one of the knobs on the control plate is actually the blend control which acts on all necks. What it lacks is a traditional tone control.
The later Stringmasters added an overall tone control on the master control plate and added individual blend wheels on each neck. |
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Former Member
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 24 Mar 2017 7:42 am
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It sure sounds like a tone control to me.  |
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Dan Campbell
From:
Florida, USA
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Posted 23 May 2021 6:08 am 53 Fender single neck?
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Erv,
You posted some time ago that Fender made a single neck stringmaster 1953. I think I may have gotten one in the shop. Can you confirm that this is a single neck (not cut down from a double or triple neck)? Also do you know what the holes on the side--beneath the control plate for the electronics was for? Thanks for any information you can provide Dan Campbell
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 23 May 2021 6:13 am
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Dan,
Fender never made a single neck Stringmaster. I bought some Stringmaste parts off of Ebay at one time and the seller threw in a neck so I made a single neck Stringmaster.
I don't know what that hole was for.
Erv |
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Nic Neufeld
From:
Kansas City, Missouri
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Posted 23 May 2021 6:35 am
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Assuming that's a chopped up multi-necker...that hole would make sense as a channel they route the pickup leads through to the inner necks/switches/output.
_________________
Waikīkī, at night when the shadows are falling
I hear the rolling surf calling
Calling and calling to me |
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Dan Campbell
From:
Florida, USA
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Posted 23 May 2021 6:56 am Single neck
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| Thanks for the feedback. I am amazed at how well it works as a single neck—light, stable on legs etc. it is also 2.25 inches thick. |
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Bill Sinclair
From:
Waynesboro, PA, USA
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Posted 23 May 2021 8:55 am
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Since there are holes for the wire path on both the front and back and the body is 2.25" thick, this would have been the third neck on a quad (or second if you're going front to back). I think it's very cool. A single neck long scale with all Fender parts (although I think somebody swiped the original volume and tone knobs to put on their telecaster  ). |
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Nic Neufeld
From:
Kansas City, Missouri
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Posted 23 May 2021 9:08 am
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Just measured my 1957 T8. Near neck 1 1/2", middle neck 1 7/8", far neck 2 1/4" roughly. Unless they changed their dimensions...if the far side of the neck doesn't have the wiring hole (which I can't see in the picture, but they could have plugged it?) but the inside one does, outer neck of a T-8 would be my guess. I wonder why they didn't use that hole (widened) for an output jack?
Fender did make a single neck Stringmaster...although it was called a Deluxe, not a Stringmaster (but it was built roughly the same). The body shape is slightly different and the controls are moved:
_________________
Waikīkī, at night when the shadows are falling
I hear the rolling surf calling
Calling and calling to me |
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Dan Campbell
From:
Florida, USA
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Posted 23 May 2021 10:58 am Single neck stringmaster
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| Thanks for that measurement Nic. I think it must have been part of a double or triple. I’m very familiar with the deluxe and this is definitely not that because this guitar has a 26 inch scale. I will say this guitar is in really great shape and has a fantastic sound. Jason Lollar rewound the original pickups just a few years ago. Whoever reworked this guitar, they did a great job. |
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Bill Sinclair
From:
Waynesboro, PA, USA
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Posted 23 May 2021 5:51 pm
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| Nic Neufeld wrote: |
| ...if the far side of the neck doesn't have the wiring hole (which I can't see in the picture, but they could have plugged it?) [/img] |
Dan mentioned holes (plural) so I assumed that the lighter spot I was seeing just below the control plate in the first picture was a hole that had been plugged. That would make it the third neck in a quad. If I'm just imagining a plug there, you are correct, it would be the outside neck of a D8 or T8. Either way, it's one of the nicer "orphan" Stringmasters I've seen. |
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Nic Neufeld
From:
Kansas City, Missouri
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Posted 24 May 2021 4:01 am
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Agreed on both counts! It is a pretty guitar and I like the idea of a long scale. The actual factory singlenecks (Deluxes) would have been short (and maybe medium...the one pictured above is short scale).
I wonder if it is still wired the same way, with the combination blend / tone capacitor circuit of the original Stringmasters?
_________________
Waikīkī, at night when the shadows are falling
I hear the rolling surf calling
Calling and calling to me |
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Mike Christensen
From:
Cook Minnesota
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Posted 24 May 2021 6:21 am 53
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| Yes it is Nic. Lots of different tones on that guitar when you juggle the volume and tone controls. They work well. Cavities are lined with copper foil. NO noises. Was a covid project. Mike C |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 24 May 2021 6:58 am
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The orphan neck that I made into a Stringmaster single looked like this part way through restoration:
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