Stringmaster Push Buttons (and various other parts)

Alex Cattaneo · From: Quebec, Canada

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 · From: Quebec, Canada

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 · From: Pennsyltucky, USA

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.
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Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous; praise is meet for the upright. Give praise to the Lord with the harp, chant unto Him with the ten-stringed psaltery. Sing unto Him a new song, chant well unto Him with jubilation. For the word of the Lord is true, and all His works are in faithfulness. The Lord loveth mercy and judgement; the earth is full of the mercy of the Lord.
- Psalm 33:1-5

K Maul · From: Hadley, NY/Hobe Sound, FL

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.
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Kevin Maul: Airline, Beard, Clinesmith, Donner, Evans, Excel, Fender, Fluger, Gibson, Hilton, Ibanez, Justice, K+K, Live Strings, MOYO, National, Oahu, Peterson, Quilter, Rickenbacher, Sho~Bud, Supro, TC, Ultimate, VHT, Williams, X-otic, Yamaha, ZKing.

John Larson · From: Pennsyltucky, USA

Alex Cattaneo · From: Quebec, Canada

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 · From: Pennsyltucky, USA

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.
_________________
Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous; praise is meet for the upright. Give praise to the Lord with the harp, chant unto Him with the ten-stringed psaltery. Sing unto Him a new song, chant well unto Him with jubilation. For the word of the Lord is true, and all His works are in faithfulness. The Lord loveth mercy and judgement; the earth is full of the mercy of the Lord.
- Psalm 33:1-5

Tim Whitlock · From: Colorado, USA

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 · From: Quebec, Canada

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 · From: Texas, USA

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 · From: Hadley, NY/Hobe Sound, FL

Alex Cattaneo · From: Quebec, Canada

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 · From: Georgia, USA

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.
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Tony
Newnan, GA

Too many guitars, not enough time to play
'72 Sho-Bud 6139, '71 Marlen 210
'78 Fender Stringmaster T8 black
PedalMaster D8

Bill Sinclair · From: Waynesboro, PA, USA

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? Laughing

Ethan Shaw · From: Texas, USA

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 · From: Georgia, USA

Alex Cattaneo · From: Quebec, Canada

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 · From: Quebec, Canada

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

Joe A. Roberts · From: Seoul, South Korea

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! Laughing

Eric Philippsen · From: Central Florida USA

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 · From: Texas, USA

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-Miniature-Toggle-Switch/dp/B0799LBFNY/

Jeff Highland · From: New South Wales, Australia

Not those ones, they would need to be DPDT of/on not single pole.
_________________
Duesenberg Fairytale
1949 Supro Supreme
1950 National New Yorker
2008 Highland Baritone Weissenborn
2020 Highland New Yorker.
2020 Highland Mohan Veena
2021 Highland Weissencone

Tony Oresteen · From: Georgia, USA

Jeff Highland · From: New South Wales, Australia

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/
_________________
Duesenberg Fairytale
1949 Supro Supreme
1950 National New Yorker
2008 Highland Baritone Weissenborn
2020 Highland New Yorker.
2020 Highland Mohan Veena
2021 Highland Weissencone

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