The Steel Guitar Forum

I got ahold of a body and am going to try and restore this to playing Condition.

What tuner pans fit this model? I've been told the stringmaster ones don't fit. Do the new repros fit this?

Any help would be appreciated. I've located one pickup this far, the control plates and bridges.

I need nuts for all three necks, where can I locate these. That guy on eBay doesn't have them

Robert Jackson wrote:I got ahold of a body and am going to try and restore this to playing Condition.

What tuner pans fit this model? I've been told the stringmaster ones don't fit. Do the new repros fit this?

Any help would be appreciated. I've located one pickup this far, the control plates and bridges.

I need nuts for all three necks, where can I locate these. That guy on eBay doesn't have them

The good news is that the nuts are actually an integral part of the tuner pan so you won't need those.

That's about it for the good news though. The tuner pans are as rare as hens' teeth and the repros definitely don't fit (they don't even fit all Stringmasters which they are designed for but that's another matter).

The pickups are just as hard to find - in fact parts for these are far more difficult to come by than for Stringmasters (which are hard enough to find).

Unfortunately, about the only thing I can suggest would be to find a way to make a pan and mount regular tuners and a way to fit Stringmaster pickups into the bridge plates When I get home, I'll find some images of a tuner pan someone made for a Stringmaster that might give you ideas.

Other than that, you could be in for a long wait.

Whatever route you go, you'll probably end up spending more than it would have cost to buy an original instrument and, if you do source all the original parts you need, you will actually reduce their value by assembling them into a playable instrument (as I discovered when I built a Stringmaster Quad from parts).

Hopefully, you already have fretboards but if not, at least they are available as repros.

Robert,
On those models the nut and tuner pan are integrated together, no seperate nut. I'll dig through my parts and see what I have for your project. Feel free to email or pm me for info/help.

Russell

I am ignorant of the differences in tuner pans.

Is it possible to buy the re-pro pans and carefully rout the space to fit them? As long as the scale length is accurate, and it isn't done poorly, why couldn't you? Or is the space too big?

I was able to route the pocket on a long scale Stringmaster neck to fit one of the new Kluson pans with a new set of tuners. Freehand with a dremel, just stayed inside the pan outline I had drawn. The long scale Stringmasters had a lollipop tuner pan similar to the Professional but without the integrated nut. I imagine you could use these pans with a Stringmaster nut and be on your way.

Looks like the pan might need to be modified slightly too as there isn't so much wood at the end of the Custom and the pan might hang over the edge?

Huh. I think you're right, Jeff. I guess the long scale Stringmaster and Custom lollipop pans are significantly different (besides the nut). Robert, send me your address and I'll send you a Stringmaster pan (no tuners) that has several extra holes drilled into it. You can use it as a pattern to see whether it would be feasible to modify a Stringmaster pan for your guitar and report back to us (with pictures).

Not sure it does you much good but that ebay guy does have one 6-string pan of this style listed.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/50s-Fender-lap- ... 2208949332

It looks a little rough, wants a lot for it and I'm sure you want 8 strings. Might be useful as a pattern though.

Yeah - the Custom tuner pans are designed to hook over the end of the guitar.

Maybe with a bit of ingenuity the Stringmaster ones might be persuaded to fit.

Your best bet might be to wait and see what Russell or any other kind forum members can come up with in terms of original parts.

Of course, tuner pans from the double or single 8 versions of the trapezoid guitars would work.

Thank you for all of the info.... I'll be working on the body starting tomorrow. Got enough to do there while the rest of parts shake out.

I would definitely get the correct tuning pans with integrated nuts for this guitar. The stringmasters have much lower action and it will negatively effect the intonation of the fretboards. Plus, you really don't want to put new holes in vintage guitars.