Leo responded, and the first run of single-pickup Musicmasters was ready in early May of 1956.ĭubbed “¾ instruments,” Musicmasters had much shorter scale lengths and other features intended to make them attractive to a younger, more frugal student player. Often forgotten amongst Fender’s classic line of vintage electric guitars, the definitive (and diminutive) Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic student-grade models were conceived to capitalize on the fact teenagers were 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 at the time that nobody would be using a Champion lap steel to try and emulate Danny Cedrone’s guitar solo, so it asked company 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 the two beginner models. Although Fender used the term "three-quarter size" in publicizing the new student models, only the neck and the resulting scale-length were smaller, designed for younger hands that were just starting to play guitar.1957 Musicmaster with custom black finish. The Musicmaster was the single-pickup version.Despite their budget status, the student models were still playable instruments: Fender seemed to have cut the right corners" (Tony Bacon and Paul Day, The Fender Book, p. They had smaller, lighter bodies, shorter necks and basic appointments. ![]() ![]() "Fender's new 'student' guitars, the Duo-Sonic and Musicmaster, first appeared in 1956. Rumour has it that FENDER stopped marking any date because someone complained about an obscene message penciled on the neck of his new guitar!" (A.R. "After April 1959, the dating procedure was temporarily suspended for several months and then resumed in early 1960. July 1959 Musicmaster has no neck date, as usual. Housed in the original Fender light tan hardshell case with tan leather ends and orange plush lining (9.00). Complete with the original chrome bridge cover. Apart from some minor belt buckle scarring on the back of the body and a few small abrasions on the sides, this guitar is in exceptionally fine (9.00) condition. The pots are dated: "137 847" (CTS November 1958). Combined bridge/tailpiece with three adjustable threaded saddles. Telecaster-style chrome knobs with knurled sides and flat tops. One plain-top Bakelite Musicmaster pickup, angled at neck, with an output of 5.82k, plus two controls (one volume, one tone) and jack socket, all on the white plastic pickguard (with twelve screws). Four-bolt neck plate with serial number ("38480") between the top two screws. ![]() Individual single-line Kluson Deluxe tuners with white oval plastic buttons. Headstock decal with "Fender" logo in silver with black trim and "'Musicmaster'" in black below it. Solid alder body, one-piece maple neck with a medium to thin profile, and slab rosewood fretboard with 21 frets and clay dot position markers. and has a nut width of just under 1 9/16 inches and a short scale length of 22 1/2 inches. This 12-inch-wide three-quarter size "student" guitar weighs just 5.90 lbs. A Fine and Original Early "Slab-Board" Musicmaster
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