Fender Stringmaster Triple Neck Steel Guitar 1950's

Duane Belotti · Post by **Duane Belotti** » 19 Oct 2016 1:19 pm

Hey All, Nice to be here.

I have a beautiful Vintage 1950's Fender Stringmaster Triple Neck Steel Guitar. It's in amazing condition, and my dad was the first owner.

I did some research, and would like to hear more about it.
â€¢ 24.5" scale - 31 frets ( 24.5" introduced in 1954 )
â€¢ Blonde - T8
â€¢ Serial #: 01
â€¢ Console Steel type - 4 Tube legs
â€¢ Original Tweed Hard Case

Dad loved this guitar and loved to play Hawaiian Music on it. I play electric guitar, and my first musical notes were on this Triple Neck. It never traveled out of our house. There is some minor wear for it's age, but a beautiful instrument overall. All electronics are working and it could use a fresh set of strings.

Looking for the right person that truly appreciates this type of guitar, that will give it a good home, and make it sing again.

I look forward to your responses. ( See photo links below )

Thank you, DB

info@arenarox.com

Michael Butler · Post by **Michael Butler** » 19 Oct 2016 1:31 pm

duane: i think you meant to put it in the classifieds with a price attached. maybe the mods can move it for you.

play music!

Duane Belotti · Post by **Duane Belotti** » 19 Oct 2016 2:02 pm

Hey Michael: Will do. Just wanted to see if my research was on point, and if anyone had any other info. on the Stringmaster. I thought the Serial Number #01, was very interesting.

Steve Green · Post by **Steve Green** » 19 Oct 2016 2:05 pm

Nice looking guitar Duane. Have you looked under the pans for a date & name?

Duane Belotti · Post by **Duane Belotti** » 19 Oct 2016 2:12 pm

Hey Steve: Thanks! Not yet. That's a bunch of restringing I'd rather not have to do. My research didn't seem to be consistent on any dating under the pans. Unless Leo signed it... then it's a whole new ballgame.

Jeff Mead · Post by **Jeff Mead** » 19 Oct 2016 2:38 pm

That's unusual. Never seen a Stringmaster (or any other Fender) with a 2 digit serial number. It's far to late for it to be some sort of prototype.

The only way to date it accurately is to look at the pencil date under the tuning pans. However, the blade selecter switch dates it to late '56 onwards and the case would narrow it down further to around '59 to '61.

Miles Lang · Post by **Miles Lang** » 19 Oct 2016 2:59 pm

That's so pretty it makes my heart hurt. Wish I had to do-re-mi to buy it right now

Post by **Brad Bechtel** » 19 Oct 2016 3:04 pm

Moved to For Sale: Steel Guitars from Steel Without Pedals.

That's a nice guitar! I hope it goes to a deserving person.

Dana Duplan · Post by **Dana Duplan** » 19 Oct 2016 3:26 pm

Nice guitar!--It's not a tweed case, but rather brown tolex--that would date it somewhere in the 1960-1962 range, assuming it's original to the guitar.

Jack Goodson · Post by **Jack Goodson** » 19 Oct 2016 3:47 pm

i know i could not afford a guitar like this, if i could i would own it just to look at....thanks jack

Craig A Davidson · Post by **Craig A Davidson** » 19 Oct 2016 7:44 pm

Does it have a price?

Steve Green · Post by **Steve Green** » 20 Oct 2016 3:21 am

Jeff Mead wrote:That's unusual. Never seen a Stringmaster (or any other Fender) with a 2 digit serial number. . .

That's true. I hadn't thought of that. Perhaps Erv Niehaus will chime in. He's very knowledgeable on Stringmasters. He has a Fender Quad serial # 0002.

Duane Belotti · Post by **Duane Belotti** » 20 Oct 2016 3:41 am

Hey Steve: I took off the pans last night like you suggested. To my surprise, no dates. There were some numbers, not many, but only single digits. So the mystery remains with the Serial Number #01.

Jeff Mead · Post by **Jeff Mead** » 20 Oct 2016 3:49 am

Steve Green wrote:
Jeff Mead wrote:That's unusual. Never seen a Stringmaster (or any other Fender) with a 2 digit serial number. . .
That's true. I hadn't thought of that. Perhaps Erv Niehaus will chime in. He's very knowledgeable on Stringmasters. He as a Fender Quad serial # 0002.

Exactly - he has 0002 not 02

I believe Erv has one of the early long scale Stringmaster and they started the numbers again when they brought out the new version (available in medium and short scale) so there may well be another 0002 out there somewhere.

I believe Noel Biggs had a Stringmaster quad s/n 0001 and it was part of the same series as Erv's.

Jeff Mead · Post by **Jeff Mead** » 20 Oct 2016 3:50 am

Duane Belotti wrote:Hey Steve: I took off the pans last night like you suggested. To my surprise, no dates. There were some numbers, not many, but only single digits. So the mystery remains with the Serial Number #01.

I don't suppose you photographed them by any chance?

Duane Belotti · Post by **Duane Belotti** » 20 Oct 2016 4:30 am

Hey Jeff: Absolutely!

http://www.arenarox.com/Fender/fender_t ... ansOff.JPG

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 20 Oct 2016 7:51 am

Jeff,
Yes, you are correct. I have a quad Stringmaster with serial number #0002. And you can tell by the picture that it is a much earlier guitar than the one here for sale.

Duane Belotti · Post by **Duane Belotti** » 20 Oct 2016 7:59 am

Just did some more research with the guys over at Gruhn Guitars. They placed the year at a late '54 - '55.

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 20 Oct 2016 8:17 am

That's on mine, I take it?

J Fletcher · Post by **J Fletcher** » 20 Oct 2016 8:20 am

You can date the guitar by looking at the date code on the volume and tone pots.
Fender stopped writing the dates on the guitar necks for a period of time in 1959.
Perhaps they stopped the practice on steel guitars as well.

Steve Green · Post by **Steve Green** » 20 Oct 2016 8:35 am

Found this post on an old thread. Perhaps your name / date is in the control panel cavity like this one by "Gloria" on 10/27/54

Jon Light wrote:

I don't know the date of the last 26" steels. This one is scribed thusly:

And although we know that the serial numbers are not useful, who knows:

Jeff Mead · Post by **Jeff Mead** » 20 Oct 2016 8:58 am

Duane Belotti wrote:Just did some more research with the guys over at Gruhn Guitars. They placed the year at a late '54 - '55.

With all respect to Gruhns, if they can show me a Stringmaster with that type of switch that was made before 1956 I'd be fascinated (and amazed) to see it.

And did they think the case was not original? Because in 1954/55 it would have been a tweed one.

Did they say anything about the 2 digit serial number?

The good news is that, with Stringmasters, the date doesn't seem to affect the price and yours looks to be a lovely example. But as a lot of us are here because we are really interested in the history of these great instruments, I think it is important to get these details straightened out.

Jeff Mead · Post by **Jeff Mead** » 20 Oct 2016 9:02 am

J Fletcher wrote:You can date the guitar by looking at the date code on the volume and tone pots.
Fender stopped writing the dates on the guitar necks for a period of time in 1959.
Perhaps they stopped the practice on steel guitars as well.

Yes, that's right. Apparently a customer found something rude written in the neck pocket of his guitar and for a while employees were instructed not to write anything at all!

Duane Belotti · Post by **Duane Belotti** » 20 Oct 2016 9:15 am

That's some great feedback and info. I really do appreciate it. I'll have to look into it further. Pretty hilarious about the hidden inappropriate stuff.

Ben Elder · Post by **Ben Elder** » 20 Oct 2016 9:17 am

Perhaps Fender historians Tom Wheeler or Richard Smith (Fullerton CA Museum), etc. could shed light on the 01 serial number.

-----

Apparently a customer found something rude written in the neck pocket of his guitar

Not to divert the thread, but years ago, Joan Baez sent her 1920s Martin 0-45 back to the factory and later discovered "Too bad you are a communist" penciled on the underside of the top. When Martin did the Joan Baez 0-45 reissue, they included "Too bad you are a communist".