restored 1963 Fender 400 Steel Guitar

[Nick Anderson]

Here is my restored Fender 400 steel. It was labeled under the body as a 1963. I got it with no pedals, pedalboard or under carriage hardware.



I stripped the lacquer, had the chrome re-plated and had the metal frame powdercoated.



The pics in the bright sun show it to be more red, but it is more of a red walnut color.



I made the pedal board and adapted the "stamped" pedals, instead of the "cast" pedals the steel would have come with.



I have the guitar tuned to C6(A-C-E-G-A-C-E-G) with pedals 1-3 being P5, P6 and P7 from the 10-string tuning. Pedal 4 lowers string 4, which helps to do away with a bar slant I've been using. I figure if Buddy Emmons and John Hughey had that lower, so can I. LOL Hope you enjoy!

Thanks,
Nick Anderson

[Richard Sinkler]

Nice job.

[Micky Byrne]

Well done Nick....looks classy


Micky "scars" Byrne U.K.

[Bob Russell]

Beautifully done! Congrats and happy pickin'.

[Bob Russell]

How about some shots of the undercarriage?

[Fred Glave]

Looks gorgeous.

[Jean-Sebastien Gauthier]

Great job!

[Gene Jones]

I owned a Fender 1000 early in my career, but I also owned an original 1949 Fender three-neck, one of the first of that era.

Any of those early guitars that can be restored is a worthy endeavor, however, there is no
financial gain in doing it. Historical value is the only incentive for saving these artifacts from the past.

[Jean-Sebastien Gauthier]

Historical value is the only incentive for saving these artifacts from the past.

Tone can be another incentive!

[Alan Brookes]

Attractive job, well done.

I've restored three over the years; I even covered one with vinyl; but I've never managed to get the cable mechanism working the way I would have liked. Particularly on the double-necked D10 the cables keep getting tangled.

[Nick Anderson]

Here is the undercarriage . . .



It was primed, sprayed with drywall texture, then painted black with an ordinary interior latex.

The foam quiets the cables.

I agree with the point of view that I will not get much on resale, it's vintage, but not era correct. If I'm correct, a '63 would have come with cast pedals instead of stamped. I prefer the stamped pedals. I restored it to be what it is . . . to be played. And to see if I could do it.

Thanks to everyone for the kind words!

Nick Anderson

[Michael Maddex]

Nick, it looks very sharp. I have a ~1964 short scale 400 like yours that came from the factory with six stamped chrome pedals, so you are not period incorrect there. You can catch a glimpse of it in my avatar. There was a period in the early sixties where Fender shipped the new short scale bodies with the old pedal boards. I have seen some photos of a couple of others. The stories of Leo using up the old stock before starting in on the new seem to be endless.

Enjoy!

[Chris Lucker]

I had a 1963 that had cast pedals that looked just like the stamped pedals. Here is what they looked like. They had a plated steel tip on the toe: