Stringmaster Colors

[Doug Beaumier]

OK, that's twice you used the word nitpick/nitpicking in a short paragraph. You wouldn't be trying to tell me something, would you?

I said "Buyers"... nitpick to get the price down on $40K telecasters.

Since you brought it up... Yes, you are nitpicking and inventing new names for Stringmaster finishes, names that never existed until you made them up.

I don't see how the discussion of a particular characteristic (in this case color) of a Stringmaster steel guitar that could help to define a given model year is irrelevant?

Because the shade of the finish does NOT determine the year of the guitar. Nor does the shade of the finish have anything to do with scale length, as you have stated. The shade has to do with how the guitar lived it's life of 50 years.

irrelevant?

Yes, read my replies more carefully. I said the shade of a blonde finish is "irrelevant" to Value and Desirability. That is certainly true.

I've read what I believe are flat out inaccuracies on this thread that I would take issue with and have attempted to correct the record

Thank you for "correcting" us. The problem is... you're wrong. If you are so concerned about accurate information in this thread, stop using false terms like "Butterscotch Blonde" Stringmasters... and "burst finish" that you said was a Fender factory finish on your old steel. Anyone who thinks that Fender offered a so-called "walnut burst" finish on a 1950s non-pedal steel guitar proves that he is Not a Fender steel guitar expert.

I had a '54 Stringmaster 26" that had the burst finish...

...I think this finish went out on stringmasters when the 26" scale was discontinued the next year.

You also state incorrect information about the shade of the finish being somehow related to scale length. You're taking random information and theories about Fender Guitar finishes/clear coats and transferring that info over to the steel guitars. That fact is: you don't know which coats were applied to the steel guitars... and in which years. Neither do I. Nor do we know how those finishes Might have reacted to sun, smoke, heat, cold, etc. Lets not make up "facts" from guesswork.

I'm waiting for other Forum members to come forth and support your theories.

[Erv Niehaus]

Doug,
I certainly agree with you.
Scott is the party coming up with the inaccuracies and misinformation.

[Rick Collins]

For what it's worth (if any value at all) about "so called" butterscotch finishes.
And, if you do not like the look __ which I don't:

I bought a 1954 triple Fender Stringmaster (26 inch) off Ebay (from somewhere in South Dakota).
It also, __ looked as if it had been dipped into butterscotch pudding, but with very few dings.

I committed a "transgression of the law" for the care and preservation of nitro finishes (if that's what it is).
With a small amount of alcohol on a piece of cotton, I cleaned the entire wood area of the guitar very lightly (everything but the decal).

I did this three consecutive days, each time letting it dry for 24 hours.

On the fourth day I polished it with Nu Finish, once a year car polish (no wax).

Remarkable color transformation __ looks nearly new.
You can see it on Don Burrows web site under Legs and Leg Sockets.

Could it be, that nitro finish is human-like __ can tolerate alcohol well if only one drink per day?

[Erv Niehaus]

I've heard about alcohol rubs.

[Doug Beaumier]

Could it be, that nitro finish is human-like __ can tolerate alcohol well if only one drink per day?

Could be, Rick! I've also heard that hot linseed oil will bring out the luster in a finish... a mica finish in particular. I'd be a little worried about applying anything to an original nitro finish though. BTW, don'tcha love the aroma of a nitro finish?