Playing my Fender 400

Gordon Borland · Post by **Gordon Borland** » 26 May 2006 8:07 pm

Just got my Fender 400 back from Don Pack.
He cleaned it up and put new strings and put my pedal set up on it. I just got this last week. Today is the first time I got to play it and I cannot belive four hours went by so fast! I pluged it into my 1963 brown Fender Delux and there it was! That Fender old style sound. I put the E9th tuning on it and the day set up and it has one knee lever to lower the E's. It has four pedals.
I pluged into my Nashville 400 to hear what it would sound like with reverb. I am a kid with a new toy. I dont see using the fender on gigs but you never know. The Fender 400 seems more rugged than I expected and stayed in tune very nicely.
I wonder if anyone gigs with a Fender 1000 or 400?

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Gordon Borland
MSA D10,FENDER STEEL KING,

Jim Sliff · Post by **Jim Sliff** » 26 May 2006 8:17 pm

Until his recent retirement from touring, Sneaky Pete Kleinow played a 9-pedal, two-knee 400 on stage and in the studio for...well, about 35 years I think.

He uses a B6 tuning with sort of E9-type changes on A&B, C6-like changes on 5, 6 & 7 and a mix of other stuff.

They are darned versatile guitars with fantastic tone. People diss them for the cable setup and single-raise, single-lower, but the cables work great if set up right and the single changes are overcome rather simply with barrel stops.

Plus - NO cabinet drop. None.

I've got 2 400's and a 1000, and whil I might have someone (if I can find somebody willing) build me a more modernized 8-string (or a 10-string with wider string spacing), I can probably get by just fine with these.

It's funny - they were dismissed for years and now there's a bunch of guys scrambling for every part that can be found!

Jody Carver · Post by **Jody Carver** » 26 May 2006 8:38 pm

And many said years back when I was a Fender rep that the 1000 and 400 were useless, well I may not know it all, but these are the best guitars LF designed and they are built like a Sherman tank.

Gordon Borland · Post by **Gordon Borland** » 26 May 2006 8:53 pm

Someone over the years put a really nice "roller" bridge on it and the finish is not orginal and there are no Fender decals on it and the bridge cover is gone. The legs are a little too short and it moves around quite a bit because I am big and fat and dont play very well. I saw Rick Price today and he showed me his "new" Emmons P&P bolt on green with inlay 8 and 5. Then I went and picked up my little Fender 400 and got it home and could not pull myself away from it.
Then later after supper I got a note from my
MSA D10...it said stop messing around on me and quit looking at other steels! The Fender is so little I said..."well Iam tapering off!"

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Gordon Borland
MSA D10,FENDER STEEL KING,

Dean Parks · Post by **Dean Parks** » 26 May 2006 9:23 pm

Jim-

Mitsuo Fujii will build an 8-string Excel with Fender-type 3/8" string spacing. It's not a "Superb", it's the other model.

-dean-

Tim Jones of Kansas · Post by **Tim Jones of Kansas** » 26 May 2006 9:25 pm

I've got a 1000.

I play only the old old stuff and the Fender is the only choice for me. I play no pedals on the front C6 neck, and I use only 1 pedal change on the back E6 neck.

For that old stuff, I don't need 9 pedals and 4 'knee levers' or any other 'accessories'.

Just a steel and an amp....volume pedal optional of course.

I wouldn't trade this Fender for anything....and if I did, I'd take the newer steel, sell it high, and take that money and buy another 1000. hehe.

Tim Jones
~)Fender 1000 and Nothin' else(~