Fender Dual 6. Tone Blender

Peter Cummins · Post by **Peter Cummins** » 23 Nov 2003 11:53 pm

Can any one help.
Q1
Is this feature meant to blend the output from/between both pickups. Or does it work in the same way as a tone pot on any guitar, which adjusts the amount of treble/bass.
Q2
This guitar has two black pickups on each neck. It is a rich dark brown colour with black trim.On the near neck of this guitar,just below the blender dial is the number -00355. Does this number date the guitar or indicate the model no.
Thanks in advance.

Rick Collins · Post by **Rick Collins** » 24 Nov 2003 8:11 am

Peter,

Don't quote me __ get a more professional opinion; but I think that the volume of the pickup near the bridge is fixed and the control just attenuates the inner pickup.

Rick

Post by **Brad Bechtel** » 24 Nov 2003 9:38 am

A1:
The tone blender is meant to blend the output from/between both pickups. The tone control knob is used to adjust the amount of treble/bass.
A2:
There's no efficient way to date the guitar based on the serial number. Most Fender steels have a manufacture date pencilled in under the pickups or the tuner pan (depending on the model). Your instrument sounds like a later model based on the limited description you've given.

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Peter Cummins · Post by **Peter Cummins** » 24 Nov 2003 12:54 pm

Thanks for the replies folks.

The front PUP on the near neck doesn't give any output no matter what the position of the blender dial. So Einstein has deduced that this is either a dead PUP or a blender pot problem.
If there is a problem with the pot, can we just drop a replacement pot in there, And if so what is the best one and where would I get one.
The blender pot has 250k AUD 304645 stamped on the base.
The tone pot has 1 meg Lin 702125-0125 304645 stamped into it.
Thanks again.

Post by **Brad Bechtel** » 24 Nov 2003 7:10 pm

Any good electronics store should carry a 250K audio taper potentiometer. I'd check the pickup first, though; it's much more likely that the pickup's windings have broken or something's come loose than the blender pot has stopped working (especially if you turn the pot and the other pickup's sound fades).

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Brad's Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars

Peter Cummins · Post by **Peter Cummins** » 24 Nov 2003 9:36 pm

Thanks for your help Brad,
Regards,
Pete

Karl Oberlander · Post by **Karl Oberlander** » 25 Nov 2003 4:21 am

These pots date to the 45 week of 1956. So I would suppose this ax is from late 1956 or early 1957. Also it sounds like a stringmaster rather than a dual 6 because of the two PU's per neck. I don't recall hearing of or seeing a dual that had two PU's.

Kobe

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Gibson D-8 Console Grande - Stringmaster T-8 - Alkire EHarp D-10
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Bob Schaedler · Post by **Bob Schaedler** » 25 Nov 2003 4:30 am

I have schematic (simple as it is) if that will help you.