Stringmaster Push Buttons (and various other parts)

[Alex Cattaneo]

Is this what it’s supposed to look like?

On the third picture, you can see one tab as en eyelet of some sort, the others don’t. And the tab on the right is broken at the top, I’m guessing that’s not ideal?

I would have a hard time trusting this on a gig!

[Alex Cattaneo]

I guess I’ll post all my parts questions here.

Anyone know what type and size of screw this is? These are the ones that hold the nut right next to the tuner pans.

[John Larson]

Not sure if they are the same length but those screws look a lot like what Fender used/uses on their six screw vibrato systems on Fender Stratocasters. As for the switcher it looks like the bottom most part under those screws is a thin piece of metal that flexes when the switch is selected and makes contact to select the neck. It probably wouldn't be terribly difficult to fashion a new piece if you could find (looks like copper) the same thickness and bent it to match the others. If you have some solder wick I'd try to clean the rest of the solder off those wire tabs to see how salvageable they are.

Alternately you could try soldering another thin strip of copper to the end of the broken one to try and repair it but I doubt that will hold up long term.

[K Maul]

The push buttons are about the least popular of Stringmaster features. I’m not sure how to fix them or what an alternative might be except for four microswitches that you can turn on/off individually.

[John Larson]

The push buttons are about the least popular of Stringmaster features. I’m not sure how to fix them or what an alternative might be except for four microswitches that you can turn on/off individually.

You could probably fit a rotary switch in there you'd need at least a 2 pole, 4 position, non shortening (break before make)
I know on the 1 pole style I've used when building effects pedals the amount of positions are usually selectable with a washer.

https://www.taydaelectronics.com/electr ... witch.html

If there's enough clearance throw one of these in and put a chicken head knob on it.

Then you'd just have to put something in to fill the other three holes.

[Alex Cattaneo]

I really like the chicken knob idea, but what if I want to have several necks on at the same time? Or is that a bad idea? Because I think the push buttons allow for multiple necks to be on.

[John Larson]

Then go with 4 microswitches. Looks like you'll need double pole double throw switches. Didn't realize that let you have multiple necks on at once. I'd be so tempted to set up a neck to operate like the sympathetic strings on a sitar and tune it modally to match the key of one of the other necks. I know on the 3 necks I've seen they have what looks like the same blade type selector that Fender later used on the Telecaster.

[Tim Whitlock]

I think the micro switches are a good idea. I might need to put them on my T8. The push buttons have gotten worse over time. By the way, if you haven't seen it, here is Buddy Merrill working out all four necks, including the baritone tuning:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcipRLzk4zM

[Alex Cattaneo]

I really appreciate everybody chiming in. This is a big project and I need all the help I can get!

Yes, that Buddy Merrill video pretty much convinced me to keep the Quad configuration. Amazing stuff.

Speaking of baritone tuning, here’s the tuning assembly for said 4th neck:






Anybody remember the Bad Idea Jeans skit on SNL? This reminds me of that, hahaha! Someone remove the highest and lowest string tuners and replaced them with singles, which kinda work? Except they’re all loosey goosey. Not great. Apparently Kluson is making these 4x4 tuners again? Maybe my 3x3 could be of use for someone who has a six-string deluxe?

I remember that when I put together my baritone esquire, I had to drill a larger hole in a couple of tuners to accommodate for the bigger strings. Does anyone know if the tuners in the bass neck were any different than the other necks? It would make sense, since the nut has wider grooves for exactly that reason.

I mean, 30 tuners out of 32 is not bad at all!

[Ethan Shaw]

Yes, the tuners for that neck have larger holes. I can also tell you as someone who gigs with a fender triple and quad regularly, the push buttons suck. And other pro steelers have commiserated with me about them. All the fixes seem to work for a little while, and then you're back to the same problem. I finally put micro switches in both of mine, and my stress level at gigs decreased by a ton. I had to drill the holes slightly larger, but it was pretty easy, even with a hand drill. If you have it all apart right now, do yourself a favor, and just do it now. Eddie Rivers recently did the same thing, and he also is very happy he did.

[K Maul]

I finally put micro switches in both of mine, and my stress level at gigs decreased by a ton. I had to drill the holes slightly larger, but it was pretty easy….

Oooh! But then it won’t be all ORIGINAL!
I’m joking of course, since I mentioned it above, haha!
It’s a good practical solution. Did anyone ever chide Don Helms for “messing up” his Gibson Console Grande by putting decent legs on it in 1950?

[Alex Cattaneo]

Ethan, if you have the chance, I’d love to see some pictures. But yes, I have already decided to go with mini-switches. Has anyone tried slide switches? I changed the rockin switches for black slide switches on my Guyatone and they work real good.

[Tony Oresteen]

IIRC the screws for the nuts are #4 with a #3 head.

Put a #4 screw in a drill and use a file to grind the head down until it fits. This is a poor man's lathe.

[Bill Sinclair]

Alex,

As to the slide switches, it's a lot easier to enlarge a round hole for the mini toggles than it would be to notch a square cutout for slides. I'd stick with the toggle idea.

Tony,

Now that you mention it, I think your file-the-head-in-a-drillpress idea is exactly what I did with one of my Stringmaster projects. Great minds, eh?

[Ethan Shaw]

Alex, you can see them pretty closely on my triple here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxbP7G6f5qE
or on my quad here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXoN1U_xD08

[Tony Oresteen]

Alex,

Tony,

Now that you mention it, I think your file-the-head-in-a-drillpress idea is exactly what I did with one of my Stringmaster projects. Great minds, eh?

Yup!


Updated Info:

I pulled a nut screw from my 1978 T-8 and measured this:

The head of the Stringmaster nut round head screw is 0.173"

The shank is 0.103".

The length is 0.625" (5/8")

That would make it a #3 round head Phillips screw 5/8" long. Some of the used nut screws I have are 3/4" long.

[Alex Cattaneo]

Hahaha, Tony, after I read your post I went to the hardware store and got 3/4 #4 screws.... NOPE! Hahaha, Guess I'm a going back tomorrow!

Ethan, for your triple, you went with three separate switches instead of the "three-position switch plus another switch for the all-necks on" setup?

[Alex Cattaneo]

Also, Ethan, do you know the proper switch model, size, etc?

[Joe A. Roberts]

Before they came out, Jody Carver said he tried to warn Mr. Fender about the technical problems and playing logistics of the push buttons.
Obviously he went ahead with them anyway... If only he knew players would still be struggling with them 70 years later! And maybe even 70 years from now too!

[Eric Philippsen]

Whichever way you go you’re going to have to have some soldering done. After 25 years of repairing amps I’m convinced it’s a skill, if not an art. Anyone who says, “Aw, it’s easy,” ends up with results that show it’s not.

[Ethan Shaw]

You would have to find a whole new cover or cut one to accomodate the strat-style switch, so the mini toggles are a lot easier. Just drill the holes a little larger, and they'll fit right in. And it is nice to be able to turn on multiple necks at once. But Eric is right, the soldering isn't the easiest. I think I used these:
https://www.amazon.com/MTS-101-Position ... 0799LBFNY/

[Jeff Highland]

Not those ones, they would need to be DPDT of/on not single pole.

[Tony Oresteen]

Not those ones, they would need to be DPDT of/on not single pole.

Nope. Brother Shaw is right. All you have to do is to cut the pickup hot wire from getting to the output jack. A single pole switch will do that. Think of it as a light switch. One position is on, the other position is off.

[Jeff Highland]

Look at the schematic John Larson posted above
Because you are not going to output directly but through a single blend pot, you need to to keep the output from the 2 pickups on each neck separate hence the need for dual pole.

I guess it depends on if you are doing the early stringmaster setup as shown above or having blend Knobs on each neck/