Remember the Letter To Fender ?

Jody Carver · Post by **Jody Carver** » 22 Jun 2006 9:44 am

Mark Easton posted and I quote.

USA Dodger Blue Forever.
posted 21 June 2006 08:54 PM profile edit
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Bill
All is not lost,Fender has a golden opportunity to do what they do best, keep the faith my friend. The time will come.
Mark Eaton
Member
From: Windsor, Sonoma County, CA
posted 21 June 2006 10:26 PM profile send email edit
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Jody - and I'm not being a smart aleck here - what exactly is it that they do best?
And as a sidebar, if for example, they were going to start building American made Stringmasters again, I wonder how many they would have to sell in a year for it to make sense to the bean counters?

Mark, I have been promising a Fender book based on my life with Fender which has spanned for many many years.I have been dragging my feet on this due to health issues and personal problems, and yet I am still trying to make my promise come true, The frets of life are catching up to me and there is nothing more for me to be proud of to see this dream come true before I buy the farm.. This means much to me and I will do all I can to see your dream and my dream come true as well.

edited Dont give up on FENDER!!!

Thank you.

Jody

[This message was edited by Jody Carver on 24 June 2006 at 08:39 AM.]

Mark Eaton · Post by **Mark Eaton** » 22 Jun 2006 9:56 am

Any tiny thing that I can do to help Jody, count me in.

But I will follow Rick's advice and not send an e-mail to the lady at Fender, since she has already gotten that message loud and clear.

And I sure would like a signed copy of your book when it's ready to go!

Please don't use Dodger Blue ink. I would prefer mine to be signed in Giants Black.

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Mark
[This message was edited by Mark Eaton on 22 June 2006 at 10:57 AM.]

Jeff Mead · Post by **Jeff Mead** » 22 Jun 2006 10:29 am

Hi guys,

I am fairly new here and may be missing the point, but when I owned a Stringmaster, I replaced a strip of tuners with 4 individual guitar tuners (Kluson clones). The only modification I needed to make was to drill a hole through the shaft of each one to put the string through. They fitted right into the pan and worked perfectly.

As far as I am concerned, tuners would be the least of my worries.

Now, the push button neck selecter - there's another story.[This message was edited by Jeff Mead on 22 June 2006 at 11:31 AM.]

Rick Alexander · Post by **Rick Alexander** » 22 Jun 2006 10:43 am

Rick Alexander · Post by **Rick Alexander** » 22 Jun 2006 4:32 pm

I was thinking back to when I was having tuner problems with my first Stringmaster. I had already been eyeballing Remington Steelmasters and I was seriously considering ordering one. When tuners on both necks failed that clinched it. I looked at the pics of those bulletproof Gotohs and I called Herb Remington and ordered a Steelmaster T8. I'm really glad I did that, because the Steelmaster is a great guitar - solid and reliable. I've used it for recording and live performance and it has never let me down. It stays in tune and it has a fat beautiful tone with lots of sustain. I also have a black D8 I got on eBay. I would heartily recommend Remington Steelmasters to anyone who wants a great sounding accurate reliable steel guitar. If one of those Gotohs did fail, which is highly unlikely - it could be easily replaced. And being able to pick up the phone and talk to the man who makes them - priceless!

But for all their idiosyncracies, I love Stringmasters and I just wish someone would make replacement 4-in-line tuner assemblies - the correct configuration for these guitars.

John Lang · Post by **John Lang** » 22 Jun 2006 4:38 pm

I would guess that most folks that visit this thread would have seen this recent post from April:
http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum2/HTML/008993.html

..that dealt with finding a way to repair, rather than replace tuning pans and components. If you own a 1955 or earlier Stringmaster and run into tuner problems, you will find a much more primitive mechanism than the four on a strip setup that you will have to deal with. String changes on these antiques must be approached with a degree of caution similar to brain surgery!

Norman Evans · Post by **Norman Evans** » 23 Jun 2006 4:46 am

Have you checked with Kluson? They are still making tuners. Their web address is www.kluson.com.

Fender D-8 Stringmaster

Mark Vinbury · Post by **Mark Vinbury** » 23 Jun 2006 5:34 am

From the pics it looks like the tuner part of the 4 on a strip tuners were Klusons that were made for "slot head "guitars, like a classical.They have longer posts and the string hole is near the middle.
Maybe these or a knock-off are still available.[This message was edited by Mark Vinbury on 24 June 2006 at 08:37 AM.]

Mark White · Post by **Mark White** » 23 Jun 2006 1:33 pm

Does anyone know if the six on a plate with two tuners cut off would fit?

Nick Reed · Post by **Nick Reed** » 24 Jun 2006 6:36 am

We sure like those Stringmaster's!

Rick Collins · Post by **Rick Collins** » 24 Jun 2006 7:48 am

It would seem, that in repairing an "individual" tuner on the strip, one could replace the vertical shaft (with the worm gear) and the pinion matching the worm. If you use the old screw to hold the new pinion gear, old button, frame, and reel shaft why would this not suffice?

With the wide selection of new open tuners, it seems new gears and vertical shaft could be found that would fit.

Jackiso · Post by **Jackiso** » 24 Jun 2006 6:57 pm

One comment from the Far East: I recently went through a project to fix the Stringmaster tuner whose vertical shaft was broken. At first I just dropped in the whole tuner assembly which I had bought a while back as cautious mind dictated. Easy job but it left in a parts bin a bulky tuner assembly with only one bad tuner and seven good tuners. Waste of rare parts.

Then I read this thread, http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum2/HTML/008993.html and ordered Gotoh TK0875. To do as instructed here, however, you would have to cut off the base strip and I hesitated to spoil its originality to that extent.

I opened the back cover of the bad tuner to find the star gear was OK but couldn't be pulled off. If I could get a good worm gear with shaft and button intact, I could reassemble the tuner on the original base strip. I sent an SOS on WTB section which was responded with a suggestion (Ron, you were a great help!) that I would disassemble a stock Kluson to get the worm out and put it together with the original Stringmaster star gear. Excellent idea! Unfortunately this didnft work because of the different size of the gears and different ratio.

This prompted me to advance the surgery one step further: remove the original star gear from the base strip by cutting it off from the post and install Gotoh tuner parts. This worked! Only the difference from the original is the shape of tunerfs post and location of the hole on the post. Who cares on these differences as long as it works and looks almost identical ? You got a 4-in-line tuner perfect fit for the Stringmaster tuner pan.

Now do I still need a 4-in-line replacement tuner? Oh, yes, absolutely. Although above surgery worked, it was rather a tough task for an ordinary steeler who has no more tool than some screw drivers and a couple of pliers.

In going over the Kluson or Gotoh parts, it should not be a big deal for Kluson or Gotoh to make a replacement tuner as the major parts are already there. They would have to newly make the post and the base strip but many of us wouldnft complain much about the stock post as long as it does its job:winding. Cutting a piece of metal sheet to make the base strip and stamp some holes out wouldnft cost you much. Those parts manufacturers are in the better position than Fender as the supply of parts is their core business.

Rick Alexander · Post by **Rick Alexander** » 29 Jun 2006 4:02 pm

I just received an email from Rose:
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Hey Rick:

One of our technicians responded with this suggestion:

I play lap steel and sympathize with the consumer concerning parts availability. (I have a 1937 Oahu 6-string that I had to modify to accept a modern pickup.) When I have steel guitar questions I usually get some kind of direction from a web page called “Brad’s Page of Steel”; they have a Resources tab that has links to several vendors for amps, steels, parts, etc.

I hope this has been helpful,
So, as you can see, our own employees also have difficulty getting these parts. Fender does care about its customers but, unfortunately, some things are out of our control. In one last attempt to see if there is another option, I forwarded your message to one of our employees in Japan asking if he had any suggestions but he has been traveling and has been unable to respond. If he responds with any additional information, I will forward it to you.

Thanks again for your loyalty to Fender. On Fender's behalf, I apologize that we have been unable to offer further assistance with this situation.

Rose<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

<marquee Direction="Right">

</marquee>

Nathan Hernandez · Post by **Nathan Hernandez** » 30 Jun 2006 6:22 pm

I brought this up to a friend of mine who used to work at fender in Corona, Ca., and was in the know there. He had told me that all the tooling is there, in Corona, for the stringmaster stuff. He had seen this stuff with his own two eyes and couldnt beleve it was just sitting there along with other types of tooling equipment,,,,going to waste!

Rick Alexander · Post by **Rick Alexander** » 30 Jun 2006 11:04 pm

This is my reply. I took the liberty of quoting Nathan's timely post . .
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> Hi Rose,
Thanks for the email and for your efforts. I've known about Brad's page of Steel for some time, he's one of the moderators on the Steel Guitar Forum. There are only a few thousand Steel Players in the world (compared to a few billion guitar players) and as a result it's a fairly tight-knit community. We share info, experience, tips etc - we buy and sell gear to one another and so on. So most Steel Guitar resources are known to all. If someone has a gripe, everybody knows about it. And they're all waiting to see what comes of this.
It would be easy to tool up and fasten tuners to metal strips to fit Stringmasters. The projected profits might not be huge enough to merit such a project being authorized by Fender. However it would go a long way in promoting good will among Steelers, many of whom are currently wondering whether to buy Fender Steel King amplifiers or Peavey NV112s (one of those ongoing debates)

This is from a post on the Steel Guitar Forum by Nathan Hernandez of Riverside CA:

"I brought this up to a friend of mine who used to work at fender in Corona, Ca., and was in the know there. He had told me that all the tooling is there, in Corona, for the Stringmaster stuff. He had seen this stuff with his own two eyes and couldnt believe it was just sitting there along with other types of tooling equipment,,,,going to waste!"

If you'd like to see the thread about this, it's: http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum2/HTML/009378.html
Whether Fender ultimately supports its beloved vintage Stringmasters or not, we very much appreciate your time and interest in our ongoing predicament.

all the best,
Rick Alexander<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>[This message was edited by Rick Alexander on 01 July 2006 at 03:40 PM.]

Gary Boyett · Post by **Gary Boyett** » 1 Jul 2006 4:35 am

Keep it going Rick. Maybe the powers to be will do a limited edition Stringmaster or something. I don't think that new junk steel did us much good though. I hear they are selling like hot cakes,,, two bucks a stack!

Rick Alexander · Post by **Rick Alexander** » 1 Jul 2006 7:31 am

G-Man, I'd be happy if they just made the damn tuners.
To be truthful, I don't care if they ever make Stringmasters again. If they did, they'd probably be manufactured in China like the FS 52 - and they'd probably be about the same quality.

Don Kona Woods · Post by **Don Kona Woods** » 1 Jul 2006 12:23 pm

Thank you Rick for all of your efforts in our behalf.

Your letter writing is excellent.

Aloha,
Don

David Siegler · Post by **David Siegler** » 1 Jul 2006 1:38 pm

Just wanted to add my thanks Rick. You are handling this very professionally and I really appreciate the effort and care in doing so.

There is a lot of good will awaiting Fender should they choose to support these old gems.

Bernard Beck · Post by **Bernard Beck** » 3 Jul 2006 11:51 pm

Great thread, I did refrain myself from writing to Fender. Thanks Rick for that action.
And while we are at it, what about the fretboards ?
I own a D8 which has been "refinished". The sound of the instrument is perfect. The look from a close up point of view is not. I am seriously thinking about having it "rerefinished" to the original Fender Blond. I wander if it is worth it. In case I do it, I'll need new fretboards and I'll take any advice about the refinishing job.
Bernard

Ron Brennan · Post by **Ron Brennan** » 4 Jul 2006 9:11 am

Rick,

Your are a very accomplished letter writer. Thank you again for your efforts.

Question? If Nathan's Fender friend concerning tooling "wasting away" in Corona holds true, what would it take for Fender to let it go?

Is there any (1 or more) amongst us that would consider this remote possibility?

Forgive my naivety, how large would tooling like this be? Just thinking out loud....TX

Rgds,

Ron

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JCFSGC member 2005 "Be of Good Cheer"
"55" Stringmaster D8,
"67" Telecaster,
"60"Fender Concert Amp 4-10's

[This message was edited by Ron Brennan on 04 July 2006 at 10:52 AM.]