The Steel Guitar Forum

I am considering getting one or the other of these guitars & wonder what the differences are. The stringmaster appears to have 2 pickups? Do they have a better tone, or just a different tone? String length varies from 22' to 24.5" to 26". Is there a preference? How important is it to have original pickups, pots, etc. I know stringmasters go for about $200/$400 more, so I am assuming they are more desirable, but why. Personally I like the looks of the Dual 8 a little better. Thanks for your input. Tom

Tom,

I own all of the guitars that you mentioned. If you play a lot of Hawaiian music get the Dual Pro.

If you can find one, get the 26 inch scale Stringmaster for all other types of music. For me, the pickup mixing feature of the later, shorter, scale Stringmasters is not as important as the long scale with older chrome pickups.

I also think the Fender Dual Eight Professional, with the trapezoidal pickups, has the most beautiful lines of any steel guitar ever built (if you widen the stance with the newer leg sockets).

Rick

HAWAIIAN: Definitely the Custom Duo !

I own and play both. The Dual Pro has the short scale which makes slants much easier. The Dual pro I have has the trapezoid pickups which sound very good, but they are a little hard to work around with the right hand. Not a big deal, but I have to adjust. My Stringmaster is 24.5" scale.

The Stringmasters have two pickups for each neck and a blend knob. The bridge pickup is always on and then, one blends in the neck pickup to suit. The pickups are also adjustable up and down.

IMHO, original pots, switches, etc. are not important from an electronic or sound/tone point of view.(they should be of the same electrical values). These are desirable from a pride of ownership perspective.

Dual Pro has 3 legs, Stringmaster 4 legs. No big deal to me. A very tall person can have difficulty getting his right leg/knee comfortable. Some place their right knee on the outside when sitting down. Not a problem when standing. Both guitars will raise up for playing in a standing position.

Let your eyes and ears be the judge. I don't see how you could wrong with either one. They are desirable and collectable. Don't overlook the case, if collecting guitars of this age.

Check out Andy Volk's new Lap Steel book.

Ron

Just to clarify Rick's post for you, Tom, the 26" Stringmaster which was produced for only a short time right at the beginning does not have the pickup blend feature which was introduced after this model's demise.

Jon,

Yes they do. The early Stringmasters have a master blend pot for all necks located where the "regular" tone knob is on later models. What the early Stringmasters lack is a standard "wah wah" tone knob.

Tom,

Think of it like this: Dual Professional is to Telecaster as Stringmaster is to Stratocaster.

Strat's are fancier with more "bells and ringers", but that doesn't mean it's better than the straight forward working man's Tele. Same with the steels. It's just a matter of preferance.

I prefer the three leg design, pickups, body style, volume/tone knob location, and string spacing of a Dual Pro, but Some people like the wide range of sounds from the two Stringmaster pickups. The funny thing is, Stringmasters have a "sweet spot" on the blender where most players leave it, and never move it. When you find the "sweet spot", you will agree it is the only place to have it. I think the sound of both pickups even sounds like crap.

IMO, why try to find the sweet spot on a SM when it's already there every time you plug in a Dual Pro.

OK
Its my turn at bat now.You guys had your turn
Now I would like to echo my opinions.Is that
Ok with you guys? Ok thanks for asking.

I am amazed at Chris's comments, I could not have said it better than Chris,longer yes,but
not better.

Chris is like a fast ball pitcher that can throw a hard one down the middle as he has done once again.

Leo Fender always told me in later years that
his favorite steel was the Custom, and when I asked him why he changed to the Stringmaster he said,,well sir,,it was time for a change dontcha think?.

Chris has hit the sweet spot with his comments about the comparing of the Custom or Dual Pro to the Stringmaster and his words
are the words of wisdom that he has.

If I had not known,I would have thought that Chris was a Fender rep or connected with Fender back then.

Jon..Chris is correct regarding the blender feature and the facts are that the Dual Pro
and Custom are built like Sherman Tanks.

I agree that the Stringmaster is Great..I have had many over the years and now I have
my original 4 neck Stringmaster which has a sound to die for,,"BUT" the Custom Trap Pickups have a distinctive solid tone all its
own and Noel Boggs himself told me many times
he preferred the Custom Triple over the Stringmaster.

But when someone like Noel who was a Fender endorser as I was, we were asked to play the latest and greatest, however the latest was not the greatest in this case.

If I had a choice of the two I would take the Dual Pro if I were buying either or.
True many players dont like the trap pickups because they are in the way when they need to
block. But I am amazed that Chris told it as he feels and for that I must say...Hey Chris
You should have been born earlier..you should have been a Fender Rep

Good Post and your Fast Ball is breaking on the inside corner of the plate and I wouldnt want to bat against you my friend.

Thank you for saying what I have said for years and since I am no longer a Fender rep
I will always be in my heart. You do Fender proud my friend. You probably know that the Custom and Dual Pro was what put Fender on the map.People would see Noels Custom triple on TV when he was playing with the Cooley band and it was referred to as the "diamond guitar" meaning for the two diamond plates on the front of the Custom. That Custom is what made Leo Fender and Fender what it is today.

I love both the Custom and Stringmaster but I do agree with Chris one more time.
On a 1 to 10 the Stringmaster is a 10 on a 1 to 10 the Custom is a 10 & 3/4...so you see I love them both,but the Custom has a special place for me and has the edge in my opinion as well as the man who designed them both.

Thank You Chris for telling it like we all felt all those years at Fender.

Thats the Rest of the Story

Good Day. edited to add...Ron Randall should know.Ron has a great Custom triple that belonged to my friend and a great steel player Gene Jones and Ron's Triple Stringmaster is great as well. You all have good taste..Be well.

The Knight Of Fender Tweed Has Spoken Sorry for the looong reply
but I warned all of you.<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Jody Carver on 11 February 2004 at 05:53 PM.]</p></FONT>

Ok than I'll add my little comments..ha...>Gotcha Jody...ha
Stringmaster all the way....and only if it is in the 50's...>60's stringmasters loose me.
But I personally would choose a Stringmaster over a Custom or dual any day of the week; no brainer, Hands down Winner.
>...there; how bout that??ha.
Ricky

I have a Custom, a Dual Pro, and a couple Stringmasters. My experience is that while I really enjoy the sound of the Direct Pickups in the Custom and Dual, the placement of the pickup makes my hand positions too tight when playing up the neck in Murphey-land. And I have small hands at that. So I generally play the Stringmasters when playing non-pedal, or the Bigsby.

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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association

Either way, it's a tough call. The Dual Pro and Custom have such great design features and tone. I love the trapazoidal pickups and prefer their tone to Stringmaster tone even though I sold my custom and now own a Stringmaster. The Custom's strings go thru the magnetic field like a Rick pickup. Over the years, however, the plastic inserts inside the pickups have oftern warped so you can get some weird buzzes and dampening going on. I fixed the problem on my old custom with a hot butter knife.

On the other hand, the Stringmaster is a more streamlined, more versatile axe which can go from a warm Hawaiian sound all the way to teeth-chattering treble. The pickups can go into humbucking mode too which can be a real plus.

The tonewood is also a factor. A Swamp Ash guitar sounds better to me than one made of Walnut. and of course, playing either model through a mediocre amp won't expose the instrument's true capabilities. There are a lot of factors. the one common tonal characteristic in Fenders however is a scooped midrange in favor of rich bass & treble. <FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Andy Volk on 12 February 2004 at 04:26 PM.]</p></FONT>

I'll take my Dually ... with 1 Trapazoid and one Boxcar.



I got a Stringmaster more for R&D than anything ... and it is cool.

But it can't "hang" with the Dually ...

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<font size=1>www.horseshoemagnets.com </font><FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Rick Aiello on 12 February 2004 at 05:06 PM.]</p></FONT>

I have a 1954 T-8 Stringmaster that I bought new and recently restored to its original condition. This guitar has the chrome pickup covers and it does not have the blend control for the pickups.
Erv

Andy
Those plastic bobbins can be replaced by Jason Lollar. Thats characteristic on most old Fender Trapezoid pickups.
www.lollarguitars.com

An old post on this subject mentioned tuner problems on the D8 versus the stringmaster. No matter how gorgeous the sound bad tuners make me nuts. Any current opinions? Thanks.

On my Dual Eight Pro. I play Hawaiian (C6th outside neck, B11th inside neck). If Mr. Fender had cut away the body along the fretboard, like the Stringmaster, and used the wider spread leg sockets, this guitar would be absolutely perfect. I replaced the three leg sockets on mine. They give it a much better looking stance; since I always play standing.

I also own an early triple Stringmaster with the 26" scale and chrome pickups. The tone of this steel guitar amazes me. No matter how bad the acoustics of the place, how obnoxious the drummer is, or how inconsiderate the electric bass player is, the tone of this guitar will cut-through the noise, thud, and fuss.

Rick <FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Rick Collins on 13 February 2004 at 10:01 AM.]</p></FONT>

Regarding tuners,

The tuners on Dual Pro's and Customs aren't bad. They are just as good as the Klusons used on the Stringmasters.

The problem is ANY brand of tuner can get stripped out if too much tension is applied.

The Klusons used on Stringmasters can be bought from any music store in the world, since they are also used on Strat's and Tele's. The other advantage is that Stringmasters have slots next to the tuners, so a bad tuner can simply be slipped out and replaced.

On Dual Pro's and Customs, the tuning pans don't have slots next to them, making tuner replacemant difficult, but it CAN be done WITHOUT drilling slots into it. You can salvage the peg and attach it to a newer style gear. It involves a little bit of welding, but it is possible.

Basically, Stringmaster tuner replacement is just EASIER than Dual Pro replacement. But it's worth the work in my book.

So there you go, not better, different,

Chris Scruggs

P.S. Thanks Jody for the kind words. That means alot coming from you.

Thanks for all these reply's. Everyone's thoughtful meditations are wonderful. Sort of like "Zen & the art of non-pedal steel", and now everything is as clear as mud! Now for another question: What about the need for a triple-neck vs. a double-neck?

Oh that one's easy. A triple adds one more neck and a trip to the chiropractor.