Restoring T-8 Fender Stringmaster

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 24 Jul 2003 11:23 am

I re-acquired my 1955 T-8 Fender Stringmaster some months ago. I have been laboring away in the process of restoring it to its original glory. It is taking quite a bit of time, but then, I wanted to do it right. I don't have it all completed yet but in the meantime, Jesse Harris has agreed to post some pictures of it before and during restoration. The painting and clear coating is just about complete and I have started reassembly.
To be continued!
Erv

Ricky Davis · Post by **Ricky Davis** » 24 Jul 2003 11:54 am

Erv. I know every single inch of the Fender Stringmaster; as I've taken several apart and back together again.....and can help with any questions you have.
Ricky

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 24 Jul 2003 12:53 pm

Ricky,
Do you know if there are any quad necks out there looking for a new home. I have a single neck, a double neck and a triple neck. It sure would be nice to complete the set!!
Erv

Jeff Strouse · Post by **Jeff Strouse** » 24 Jul 2003 6:11 pm

I like your thinking, Erv!

Ricky Davis · Post by **Ricky Davis** » 24 Jul 2003 10:42 pm

Erv; I don't know of any at this point....but I got ya logged in as one to contact when I do know.
Ricky

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 25 Jul 2003 5:53 am

It's kind of interesting in that my three Stringmasters all have different length fretboards. The single neck is 22 1/2, and double neck is 24 1/2, and the triple neck is 26". When I get the T-8 finished, I'll post some pictures of all three of them. Now if I only had that quad neck!!!!
Erv

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 27 Jul 2003 6:17 am

I got an e-mail and Jesse is going to get those pictures up ASAP. It's not easy to have to work around the abilities of a left-handed Norwegian when it comes to computers!

Erv

Ricky Davis · Post by **Ricky Davis** » 27 Jul 2003 9:42 am

Hey Erv. here is a picture below of a 1955 D-8 Stringmaster that I just worked on....and it was the 2nd one made in March of 1955.....and should be identical to your Triple of that year(minus one Neck..ha)...and it's the 26" Long Scale...and I buffed and polished all the metal parts including the bridge and grooved nut. There is NO problem with any string guageing/breakage...on these long scales as long as you turn the bridge over and polish the nut and bridge.
Ricky

Ricky[This message was edited by Ricky Davis on 28 July 2003 at 10:15 AM.]

Ricky Davis · Post by **Ricky Davis** » 28 Jul 2003 10:22 am

So do you have pictures yet?? Can't wait to see what'cha workin' on Erv.

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Ricky Davis

My Homepage
Rebel™ and Ricky's Audio Clips
www.mightyfinemusic.com
Email Ricky: sshawaiian@aol.com

John Troutman · Post by **John Troutman** » 28 Jul 2003 10:34 am

The '55 looks great Ricky! Another amazing restoration job. Can't wait to see you play it with Redd tomorrow night!

Jesse Pearson · Post by **Jesse Pearson** » 28 Jul 2003 10:42 am

Ricky, nice job. What kind of compound would you recommend for polishing the metal on old fenders? Thanks...

Gerald Ross · Post by **Gerald Ross** » 28 Jul 2003 11:02 am

Ricky,

Please elaborate on "turn the bridge over". What do you mean by this?

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Gerald Ross
'Northwest Ann Arbor, Michigan's King Of The Hawaiian Steel Guitar'

Gerald's Fingerstyle Guitar Website

Ricky Davis · Post by **Ricky Davis** » 28 Jul 2003 11:46 am

John are you home??? ha..and yes indeed I will have your 55 in hand...
Jesse...I have a dremel with a small buffing wheel...than I use Mothers Mag&Aluminum Polish.....
Gerald; these old Fenders have a bridge(the pickin' end) that sits on the plate and is adjustable with two machine screws and springs...as you probably know.
Take the screws out and look at the bridge(solid steel round bar) and you will see grooves on the side where it was facing up...now flip it over long ways and you'll see the side that hasn't been used....and that's the side you want up..after you polish her up a little....but make sure you flip it long ways so that the adjusting screws go in the small holes to the back...
You can't really do that with the grooved bridge nut(tuning pan end) as the screws are inset in the top...and there is no inset on the other side....>but you can smooth the grooves where the strings sit(HIGHLY suggested) with Scotch Brite pad(and for the bridge too)...and the scotch brite pad will not take off any metal ...but it will make sure there are no grooves in the grooves..ha..."did I say that?"

..ha...and buff and polish that Nut also the same as the bridge.
In doing all this....You can put a .013 on the High G of a C6th tuning....NO PROB....but if you do not do this process....I wouldn't touch a .013 or even a .012 with a 10 foot pole....to go up to G...on a 26" scale.
If you get rid of ANY friction whatsoever, on these bridges....You will no longer have a problem with string guages and string breakage, on these old longscales...that sound OUT OF THIS WORLD..
Ricky

Gerald Ross · Post by **Gerald Ross** » 28 Jul 2003 12:03 pm

Thanks Ricky,

I have a 1950's era double-six short scale chocolate brown Stringmaster. There are string grooves in the bridge. Do you think I can improve the tone of the guitar if I flip the bridge and follow your instructions?
Or am I completely off topic here?

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Gerald Ross
'Northwest Ann Arbor, Michigan's King Of The Hawaiian Steel Guitar'

Gerald's Fingerstyle Guitar Website

[This message was edited by Gerald Ross on 28 July 2003 at 01:11 PM.]

Ricky Davis · Post by **Ricky Davis** » 28 Jul 2003 2:23 pm

Gerald you will certainly improve the ringing and sustain of the guitar by doing this....but the tone will be the same...ah..ha.(and is the tone of your particular Fender kinda mid-rangey??)
How do you know it's a '50s era Double-6? What confirmation do you have that leads you to believe its from the '50's??> sorry for the questions...but I've never seen a brown one from the 50's..
Ricky

Jesse Harris · Post by **Jesse Harris** » 28 Jul 2003 2:24 pm

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 28 Jul 2003 3:11 pm

The first two pictures that Jesse was soooo kind to post for me is the T-8 Stringmaster as reacquired. You can see the shape it was in. For the life of me I don't know he played it to take the finish off like he did. I think he must have played it with a crow bar!
The 3rd picture is after it was disassembled.
The 4th picture is after the finish was stripped off. In case you are wondering what the blue stuff is, it is masking tape used to cover up the date (4/55) and a signature written in each tuner cavity. Maybe Jody knows who signed those Stringmasters at that time. It looks like a woman's writing.
I have the guitar all refinished and have started reassembly. Started soldering the electronics back together last night.
To be continued!
Erv

Ricky Davis · Post by **Ricky Davis** » 28 Jul 2003 4:09 pm

Yep the exact big twin brother of the double I posted...and just one month apart too...cool.
Erv...what did you restain or repaint with and what finish did you use???
Let me know when it's time to ground this baby up as I have a couple or pointers for you, if you don't know already?
Go Get'um Bro.....lookin' good.
Ricky

Gerald Ross · Post by **Gerald Ross** » 29 Jul 2003 4:52 am

Ricky,
I'm just guessing on the age of the guitar. What I do know is that the pickup selector is the "knife" type and the case that came with the guitar is the typical rectangular Fender black tolex. It's probably a 1960's model. I have not removed any parts looking for dates.

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Gerald Ross
'Northwest Ann Arbor, Michigan's King Of The Hawaiian Steel Guitar'

Gerald's Fingerstyle Guitar Website

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 29 Jul 2003 6:16 am

Ricky,
I bought all my refinishing materials from The Guitar ReRanch in Texas. Is is refinished with nitrocellulose lacquer just like the original finish. It gets to be quite a long drawn out process. After stripping, filling in the dents, bleaching out the cigarette burns and sanding, I used a couple of applications of paste filler, then a couple of coats of sand and sealer, then several coats of "Fender Blonde" then a combination of clear coat and tinted clear coat. Of course, there was quite a bit of sanding involved also. The tinted clear coat gives an "aged" look to the Fender Blonde. It makes the Stringmaster look like it's close to 50 years old, which it is. After the finish was applied, I sanded it with #800, 1000, 1200, 1500 and, finally 2000 grit wet sandpaper. The last step was to remove the fine scratches and polish it with a 3M product called Finesse II. I really think it turned out nice and will have Jesse post some more pictures when it's all completed.
Erv[This message was edited by Erv Niehaus on 29 July 2003 at 07:24 AM.]

Ricky Davis · Post by **Ricky Davis** » 29 Jul 2003 10:13 am

Erv.....that is THE PEFECT PROCESS it sounds like you did pal....good for you...and to me the aged/tinted finish is the way to go and keeps it looking original...and is the exact finish that is put on the SSHAWAIIAN....Kinda a yellowed vintage nitro-lacquer......you'da man.
Gerald....yes it is from the 60's...as per your Black tolex case....
Ricky

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 29 Jul 2003 12:30 pm

Ricky,
Yes, I really like that tinted clear coat. The Fender Blonde just looks too sterile! I kept hitting it with the tinted clear coat until I got the right "look" and then finished it off with a few more coats of the plain clear.

Erv[This message was edited by Erv Niehaus on 30 July 2003 at 07:20 AM.]

Brett Cookingham · Post by **Brett Cookingham** » 2 Aug 2003 1:03 am

![This message was edited by Brett Cookingham on 02 August 2003 at 04:14 PM.]

Karl Oberlander · Post by **Karl Oberlander** » 3 Aug 2003 3:26 pm

He Guys,

Here's some pix of my recently acquired Stringmaster T-8. I believe it to be a '57 model based on information given by various forum members. This is pretty much how I found it. I've cleaned it up a bit but have not done anything very thorough as I wanted to restring it and see what it sounded like. It's the short scale and it does sound great out of my old Super Reverb amp.

Hey Ricky, can I do anything about the dulling on the chrome? I've wiped it down with some 409 but that really didn't get it shining abain.

http:/home.austin.rr.com/kobeco.pix/Kobe T-8 1.jpg
http:/home.austin.rr.com/kobeco.pix/Kobe T-8 2.jpg
http:/home.austin.rr.com/kobeco.pix/Kobe T-8 3.jpg

Any suggestions welcome.

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Gibson D-8 Console Grande
Fender Super Reverb

Karl Oberlander · Post by **Karl Oberlander** » 3 Aug 2003 3:29 pm

Yikes, I mistyped that URL! This is my first picture post to the forum so bear with me. Here goes again.

http:/home.austin.rr.com/kobeco/pix/Kobe T-8 1.jpg
http:/home.austin.rr.com/kobeco/pix/Kobe T-8 2.jpg
http:/home.austin.rr.com/kobeco.pix/Kobe T-8 3.jpg

As you can see it has no real dings or paint rub off anywhere that I can see. It belonged to a music instructor here in Austin and he never took it out of the studio. And probably didn't really play it that much. He also never bought a case but thanks to Mike Black I've secured a correct vintage tweed for it.

Kobe

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Gibson D-8 Console Grande
Fender Super Reverb