The Restoration of a Fender Stringmaster D8

[Alan Brookes]

...In a hundred years time some Fender historian may be totally bamboozled by the discrepancies and consider it a "Transitional Model"

They would be bamboozled except that underneath one of the tuner pans, before I screwed it down, I left one of my builder's labels to show that it's been renovated. The label isn't glued down, like I normally do on instruments that I build myself, it's just loose.

Of course, they might not think to remove the tuner pans...

[Alan Brookes]

Now comes the part I've not been looking forward to.


Figuring out how to put the wiring back how it was...

...did you make a note of what pickups went where ? BECAUSE the two on each neck have opposite polarities. To be clear, The front pickup is wound "top going" and the magnets are oriented for North polarity. The rear or bridge position pickup is wound "top coming" and with a South polarity. The pickups are mounted along a common center line parallel to each other and centered one and one half inches apart . The result is a humbucking arrangement with two opposite magnetic fields that oppose and cancel each other. The sound is unique, being somewhat treble-dominant, that blends well in most bands. These pickups work exceptionally well for both the Hawaiian and Western Swing style of music..

see here ;- http://home.insight.rr.com/steelgtr/stringmaster.html
"

Well, of course, no, I didn't.

You can't repaint the body without removing the pickups and controls, and you can't remove the pickups and controls without disconnecting them. My thought at the time was that, rather than unsolder them and use new wiring, I would snip each wire and rely on wire length and insulation color to figure it all out later. Unfortunately, the colors of the wire have faded over the years, making such identifications difficult if not impossible. In retrospect, I should have stuck little bits of masking tape on the end of each wire and numbered them. Alas, hindsight is 50/50, which is one of the reasons to run this tab, so that others undergoing the same project will learn from my mistakes.

The first stage was the earth/grounding wire. I removed the old wires soldered to the pickup bodies and soldered a length of bright greeen wire to each, long enough to protrude well beyond the body. Then I soldered some new wire from each of the pickups, allowing plenty of length.

Now we have to put at least one string on each neck, to test the pickups. Each pickup was tested individually by connecting it directly to an amplifier. Once satisfied that they all still worked, the pickups were screwed down.



So that's where we are so far, ready to wire the volume control and switches. Enough length of wire will be left so that if Basil wants to change the wiring he can do so within the control boxes, without having to remove the pickups.

In retrospect, maybe I should have bored out the connecting holes deeper and the pickup cutouts. Fender's connecting holes are just big enough for their wiring, but if you use a heavier gauge of wire there's not much room for the wires. Also, with new wiring there's not much vertical adjustment in the pick-up height, so the bridges may have to be adjusted to give the correct string-above-pickup distance of two US Quarters.

My tests by ear alone, holding the wires in place, suggest that one of the pickups has less volume than the other three, but that may disappear when soldered connections are made.

[basilh]

There is a tool you should invest in anyway, from
Stewart MacDonald

[Alan Brookes]

In instruments I build myself from scratch to my own designs I usually fit a double-pole double-throw switch in the circuit, so that polarity can be changed at the flick of a switch. Since Fender didn't fit such a switch it would have to be a nonstandard addition. If this were my instrument I would build a new control plate and insert toggle switches.

[Andy Sandoval]

Does this help any? Fender Stringmaster D-8 Schematic

[basilh]

That diagram is for a later model with the pickup balance control, the Mk1 Stringmaster didn't have a balance control just slide switches for the neck selection..

so that polarity can be changed at the flick of a switch

Only, that wouldn't change which pole of the magnet was "Up" (North at the top or South)
Whilst changing the phase of the pickup CAN be achieved by a switch, the relationship of the two rows of magnets opposing each other in a "Humbucking" arrangement can't be duplicated by just altering the wiring.

[Alan Brookes]

Well I spent all weekend rewiring it and trying to figure out where everything went. I had to put at least one string onto each neck to test the pickups. Since I don't know what tuning Basil is going to be using I opted to put the lightest gauge strings I had on the first string position of both necks. At the end of the day all the pickups work, but whether the switches do what Basil wants them to do remains to be seen. The good thing about the Stringmaster control panels is that you can change the wiring around without having to remove the pickups, or without even slackening the strings. So, as Basil is an expert at electronics I've put the panels back and I'll leave it to him to customise it to his taste.

This is what it looks like with the panel removed....



If it were my instrument I would change the switches.

With the panels screwed back on, we're nearing completion....

[basilh]

Some difference between what Alan's done and how it USED to be :-
















Congrats Alan, not only a superb job, but a useful resource for anyone considering working on a Stringmaster.
And, 4394 views would seem to bear out that assumption !!

[Doug Beaumier]

Regarding pickup polarity... if you do not have a polarity tester and you want to determine whether two (or more) pickups share the same polarity or have opposing polarity there is a quick, easy way to do that:

When the pickups are out of the guitar, place two pickups face to face together, so the pole pieces touch. If they repel, they share the same magnetic polarity. If the two pickups attract each other, they have opposing magnetic polarity. That won’t tell you north/south of a particular pickup, but it will tell you whether a certain pickup’s polarity is the same as (or the opposite of) another pickup, and you can then install them in the guitar accordingly. From Baz’s description above it sounds like the two pickups on each neck have opposing polarities, hence would produce a somewhat thin, out-of-phase tone.

[Rick Collins]

Well, you've come a long ways Mr. Brookes. But, it's still naked without the strings.

[basilh]

Well I THINK that these gauges will work, they are 2 thou' less than what I use on a 23" guitar

Fender Stringmaster 26" Scale
E13th neck (NEAREST TO PLAYER)
[tab]
1= E .013
2= C# .015
3= B .017
4= G# .022 PLAIN
5= E .032 WOUND
6= D .040
7= B .046
8= E .054

B11th neck
1= E .013
2= C# .015
3= A .019
4= F# .022 PLAIN OR 24 WOUND
5= D# .032 WOUND
6= B .038
7= A .048
8= B .068
[/tab]

[Charley Wilder]

[Andy Zynda]

Outstanding work! What a beautiful refinish job!
The only thing I'd have done differently is install vintage style, cloth covered wire. Then the inside would look (and work) as snazzy as the outside.
On the other hand, only a geeker like me would care that much about the wire.
Again, I salute your work!
-andy z-

[basilh]

Andy, the wiring Alan is doing is only temporary, as he said :-

. At the end of the day all the pickups work, but whether the switches do what Basil wants them to do remains to be seen. The good thing about the Stringmaster control panels is that you can change the wiring around without having to remove the pickups, or without even slackening the strings. So, as Basil is an expert at electronics I've put the panels back and I'll leave it to him to customise it to his taste.

Not so much an 'Expert" as a 'Dedicated Amateur', the crux of the matter being that I WILL alter the wiring and with that in mind I bought this :- Click here

[Brad Bechtel]

Alan, you are to be saluted for your work restoring this piece of crap back into a thing of beauty. Thanks for sharing the journey with us!

[Alan Brookes]

Alan, you are to be saluted for your work restoring this piece of crap back into a thing of beauty. Thanks for sharing the journey with us!

Thanks Brad. I have another exciting project on the horizon, the Restoration of a Flood-Damaged Fender 2000, which I'm currently negotiating to obtain, and I hope to be running instalments on that too in a few weeks time.

[basilh]

I presume Alan that it'll be in the "Pedal Steel" section.

A note to Brad, when this project is finished, don't close the thread as it may disappear into the golden vaults of "Steel Guitar Memorabilia" to be never seen again.
Leave the thread 'Open' so it can be resurrected surreptitiously at appropriate intervals for perusal by interested parties. (What about the Bill Hankeyisms ?)

With regard to the Fender 2000, I see there are a 'Brace' of Fenders on E-Bay, including an 800. Click Here

[Andy Zynda]

Excellent Basil!!! The very thing!!
What a great project, thanks for sharing this restoration with us.

[John Dahms]

Four stars for this great restoration!

[Alan Brookes]

I had hopes of completing the project today. Over the week I stripped the Fender plate down to its bare brass. I several times sprayed it, and each time I tried to remove the paint from the letters, since the letters are so finely raised above the base, and the plate is no longer straight, some of the background paint came off too. I finally settled for a system used to paint the background of model railway locomotive nameplates... I sprayed it, then slowly rubbed the plate on very fine emery paper until it exposed the words, then I touched up the black with paint in a mapping pen. When it was dry I gave it a layer of clear varnish, to prevent the exposed brass from tarnishing. Unfortunately over the years the plating round the outside disappeared, while the plating on the letters remains, so the nameplate is more yellowish than it was when it left the factory. In view of this I attached it with brass screws, which match the nameplate, rather than nickel-plated screws.


Applying the logo transfers is usually as easy job, and I've applied many transfers in the past with no difficulty. Sometimes they tear in two, but that doesn't cause any difficulties as you just align them while they can still slide on the paintwork. However, the transfer that I had was old and it disintegrated...


Now completion will have to wait until I can find another transfer. When I do find a source of supply I shall buy more than one, as I shall need another in a few months time on the Fender 2000.

[Alan Brookes]

Earlier on in this thread I posted this picture of the label under the pickup, and said I believed it to be unreadable....


Today there is a Stringmaster on sale on eBay that was manufactured at the same time as this one, and in that guitar it has this label....


It's the same sort of tape, the same width and texture, and both were written with the same slant. In retrospect, does our label also read "Gloria" ?

Does anyone know who Gloria was ?

[Jody Carver]

Gloria was one of five (5) who assembled the steel guitars. Tadeo and Freddy Tavares did most all, but Gloria was one of Leo's favorites and a pretty girl as well I don't recall the other two, but I know they weren't as cute as Gloria..That's why I can't remember their names ..If you want. I can find out from Dale Hyatt, Dale and myself and are the last one's left of the original Fender team of Tweed.

[Jon Moen]

That would be Gloria Fuentes (on the left in the picture below). This is from Bill Carson's book.
The picture originally was in a 1979 issue of the CBS Musical Instruments Insider employee publication. This picture caption if you can't read it states that each of the people shown were working at Fender 25 years before when the Stratocaster was first built.
According to this page:
Often a piece of masking tape is seen in the control cavity with the final assembly person's signature. Most often seen is "Mary" as in Mary Lemus, a Fender factory employee (Mary began work at Fender in 1954 as an assembler, eventually becoming a final assembly supervisor). Also seen very often is "Gloria" as in Gloria Fuentes, another Fender factory employee assembler.

Gloria was a final assembly inspector according to this page.

Mary Lemus is 2nd from the left.

[Doug Beaumier]

Alan, I flipped the picture of the label over and enhanced it a little... and I believe it says:

Mary
4-10-53 (or 11-10-53)



Very cool!

[basilh]

Doug, you appear to be correct IMHO

(Mary began work at Fender in 1954 as an assembler, eventually becoming a final assembly supervisor)

If that's the case then how come the bare cavity is this :-



That was found when the silly amateur "Garden Fence" paint job had been stripped off by Alan.