The Steel Guitar Forum

Here is a local Fender Stringmaster I have the chance to buy tomorrow. I'd love any advice as to whether or not I should go for it. I'm a hobby player so this may very well get flipped at some point (just want to be honest and up front).

Look at the pics and let me know if there's anything I should be looking out for. In the same vein, if you think I should pass, let me know that as well!

How much do you think it will go for? How much do you WANT to spend?

Rick Abbott wrote:How much do you think it will go for? How much do you WANT to spend?

Well, without going into too much detail, I WANT to spend well under $1K but I don't know what the street value of the steel is on the used market (what I could get for it if and when I list it).

I would say that's average condition in terms of wear and pitting with no apparent damage. If the pickups and switches all work, clean it up and it should be worth $1200- $1500. Even though I have no need for a triple, I would have a hard time passing it up for $1000 - just to keep it from being parted out. Looks like a late 50's medium scale.

Whelp, it's a moot point now....BECAUSE I BOUGHT IT!

congrats. its a great guitar.

My first reaction after looking at those pictures of the tuners is "this is not a guitar owned by someone who knows about the care & feeding of a guitar".

The first thing I would do, after cutting off all the strings, is remove the tuning assemblies and apply white lithium grease to the gears. Don't even turn them until you do this. This could prevent potential damage.

Congrats on the new guitar.

Have a look at Forum member Brad Davis’ Quad Stringmaster restoration project. You can even get touch-paint.
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtop ... sc&start=0

Congrats. It's a Stringmaster, so who knows you may fall in love and never be able to part with it

I find cleaning these up and making minor repairs to be fun, but the best part is playing one.

I took it out and set it up on my lunch break.

The good news, all 4 legs move and lock as they should!

The unit is dusty, dirty, and the electronics definitely show their age with grit and grime but it passes signal! The 3 way works (although the top hat switch tip got bored out so it won't stay on anymore...but it was in the case). The toggle is a little wonky in that I've read it's supposed to turn on all 3 but i'm not getting that result. The pickup blend pots under each bridge cover turn smoothly and without real issue.

I'm at the point where I'm already wondering where to start when it comes to cleaning it or if it's a project I feel confident undertaking.

If you were thinking in the 1000 range, even a fair ways over, you likely got a bargain. I have a similar midscale 57 triple (main difference is mine is walnut finished) and it is a lovely guitar. Technically was in rougher shape than yours cosmetically, although its a fine player. I think yours might clean up really nice.

Mark Nason wrote:II'm at the point where I'm already wondering where to start when it comes to cleaning it or if it's a project I feel confident undertaking.

Work on one neck at a time to avoid getting overwhelmed with the sheer magnitude of the project, and to avoid losing parts. Unless you are stripping the paint and refinishing. But don’t do that...

Snip the strings (in the manner suggested earlier), brush off all the dust, remove all the hardware, and become one with a can of Brasso (or other quality metal cleaner/polish). Have some steel wool and 400-800 grit sandpaper on hand.

Pots wear out, so that might be the one thing to consider replacing. The rest of it looks pretty workable.

Lots of restoration experts here on the forum, so definitely search them out and ask.

Mark Nason wrote:Whelp, it's a moot point now....BECAUSE I BOUGHT IT!

Good move.

Probably just needs a bit of a clean up and maybe the wiring sorted. You're right that the toggle switch should activate all 3 necks.

Here's the date scribble (10-58) and a shot of how well it polished up!

SSCCCOOOOOOOOOOORRRREEEEE!!!!

Question: with the tuners being enclosed Klusons (gears not exposed), should I do anything to try and get lubricant under the tuners or just leave them be?

I received some good tips on cleaning these tuners when fixing up my stringmaster.

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=336661

The tuners felt good so I never followed the advice but it makes sense.

I like to remove the diamonds and loosen the bolts that hold the necks together, just enough to get a cleaning cloth between the necks and give it a flossing. It can get funky in there.
Don’t over tighten and be aware of the wires passing between the necks.

Was there a piece of masking tape in the control cavity? I have the brother to your guitar... it says ‘Gloria’ inside.

Stephen Cowell wrote:Was there a piece of masking tape in the control cavity? I have the brother to your guitar... it says ‘Gloria’ inside.

I saw your post about Gloria elsewhere on the forum but alas, under the control cavity I found no similar name. I did look though!

Great find! I'm a 10-58 too. I should be holding up as well...

Got the new strings in the mail today!

Nice. I use all those sets also.

OK, after a complete wiring checkup and new strings here the good, bad, & ugly.

Everything works! The only electrical aspect that needed replacing was the capacitor. The volume knob is frozen on (set screw won't budge) but luckily the pot is still good so it's a problem for another day. My tech used epoxy on the broken switch tip so it's on there until someone decides they really don't want it on there anymore.

I strung it up with E13, A6, C6 (front to back) but I have one small curious issue. I'm getting a buzzing on the low E of the E16 neck (closest to player). I can't seem to find any burrs at the nut or bridge. Any idea on what it could be?

Could be a bad string, or maybe the string is not sitting in the nut slot just right. There’s always this stuff for really cleaning up the nut slot:

Beautiful job on shining it up. It really looks great and I’m sure it sounds great too.