Throughout ’58, Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic necks gradually became narrower at the nut until they reached the “A width” of 11/2″.
FENDER MUSICMASTER PICKUP SERIES
From the classic series of ads developed by photographer Bob Perrine, this one from ’57 shows a girl ready to throw down to keep her Musicmaster. A June ’56 ad for the Musicmaster (left). The first known production run of Duo-Sonics began in June. The control panel was finished with chrome barrel knobs, as seen on all Fender guitars except the Champ and Strat. The pickups (also used on the Champ steel) were black-bobbin single-coils with polepieces milled flat. A gold-anodized aluminum pickguard/control plate replaced the black-painted guards this harnessed the Volume and Tone potentiometers, the 1/4″ jack, and the angled neck pickup (on the Duo-Sonic, this plate also housed a bridge pickup and three-way toggle on the upper treble bout). Strings were installed from the top, and rested on three adjustable steel saddles (same found on Teles and Esquires) and topped by a removable chrome-plated bridge cover. And because they were not sealed with a clear coat of lacquer, they were less prone to yellowing compared to other Fenders of the era.Įach Musicmaster had a small, rectangular, chrome-plated metal bridge. These were finished in the beige Desert Sand, as used on many Fender steel guitars. The model name appeared under the logo, slightly to the right, in small upper-case letters framed in quotation marks.īodies were solid poplar or similar wood, usually in two or more laminated pieces, always routed for two pickups (regardless of final configuration). A silver “spaghetti” logo decal was affixed to the headstock of the Musicmaster, while the later Duo-Sonic would get a gold logo. The earliest examples (March through June of ’56) were fitted with the “no-line” Kluson machine heads. The 3⁄4 guitars also had the exact headstock dimensions of the Strat, with a single butterfly string retainer and six-on-a-side “single-line” Kluson Deluxe tuning gears with white plastic buttons. And, Fender’s 3⁄4 neck profiles mirrored the chunky V shapes of the Telecaster, Esquire, and Strat of the era, as well as the standard narrow fret wire. Like other Fender necks of the era, the truss rod was installed through a rout in the back of the neck, and a walnut “skunk stripe” filled the channel. To compensate for the first-run missteps, by May, the guitars were being made with the more-familiar ’50s appointments – one-piece, 21-fret, bolt-on maple neck with 221/2″ scale and a nut width of 15/8″. So after the initial run, guards were made of plastic. Pickguards were aluminum, which may have been chosen for its durability, but ironically, the black paint Fender applied did not wear well. Early examples differed in several ways, including having slightly thicker bodies made of ash, and some have areas that were hand-chiseled to fix mistakes in the initial tooling. Sales manager Don Randall chose the name because he thought it “sounded kind of cute” and fit with the Stringmaster and Bandmaster monikers. Production began in April on the single-pickup Musicmaster.
Here’s a year-by-year look at their history. Today, collectors are intrigued by these little guitars because they were made with the same care as their siblings even if, compared to the Stratocaster, they were an evolutionary step backward. Leo responded, and the first run of single-pickup Musicmasters was ready in early May of 1956.ĭubbed “3⁄4 instruments,” Musicmasters had much shorter scales and other features to attract a younger, more-frugal student player.
Often forgotten amongst Fender’s many classics, the Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic were conceived to capitalize on teenagers taking up the guitar in droves as Bill Haley and the Comets’ “Rock Around the Clock” rode the Billboard charts for 10 weeks in the summer of 1955.įender’s Sales division was acutely aware that nobody would be using a Champion lap steel to emulate Danny Cedrone’s guitar solo, so it asked president Leo Fender – known for his ability to devise a new product in as little as three months – to round out their Spanish-guitar offering with two beginner models. Close on the heels of the Musicmaster, the Duo-Sonic first appeared in the 1956 dealer spec sheet. 1957 Musicmaster with special-order black finish and a ’58 with anodized pickguard (right). 1958 Duo-Sonic with anodized aluminum pickguard (left).
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