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Topic: What Guitar Is Cindy Playing? |
Dennis Burling
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 27 Jan 2009 5:01 am |
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I came across this video on youtube. What Fender Steel Guitar is Cindy playing in the video? Is this an older guitar or a newer Fender? What the cost on this model? Looks like they are promoting the Fender Steel King.
Thanks |
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Rick Alexander
From:
Florida, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 27 Jan 2009 5:44 am
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| Hi Dennis, can you post a link to the video? |
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Dennis Burling
From:
Ohio, USA
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Rick Alexander
From:
Florida, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 27 Jan 2009 6:30 am
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That's a Stringmaster.
Fender stopped making them many years ago.
They're getting harder to find and the prices are going up more and more all the time.
The 2008 Vintage Guitar Price Guide values D-8 Stringmasters from $1200 to $2000 depending on the year and finish.
But that's all relative - it's not always easy to find a clean one for sale, and they often go for more than that.
The people who have them tend to hang on to them.
_________________
BIG STEEL |
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Dennis Burling
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 27 Jan 2009 6:44 am
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Rick, thanks for the info. Is that your guitar in the photo you posted? Looks like it's brand new.
Thanks, Denny |
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Rick Alexander
From:
Florida, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 27 Jan 2009 7:04 am
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Yes it is.
That's a 1960 D-8, it's pretty clean.
On this web site, there are some photos of Stringmasters. |
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J Fletcher
From:
London,Ont,Canada
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Posted 28 Jan 2009 11:02 am
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| That's a nice looking Stringmaster Rick. I have one around that same year. By the way, your name came up in a conversation I had with Jim Chapman and Wayne (Sausage)Reed a couple of weeks ago...Jerry |
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Rick Alexander
From:
Florida, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 28 Jan 2009 12:23 pm
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Jerry, I thought my ears were burning about 2 weeks ago!
Please tell them I said hi, and I hope they're both doing well.
Okay, just so I'm not hi-jacking this thread, here's another Stringmaster pic:
This is a 57 triple neck.
Last edited by Rick Alexander on 28 Jan 2009 3:46 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Dennis Burling
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 28 Jan 2009 2:16 pm
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| Just wondering how the older Steel guitars are as far as staying in tune and electronics hold up. Do they require a lot of maintenance? |
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Rick Alexander
From:
Florida, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 28 Jan 2009 3:26 pm
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If they haven't been beat up or allowed to corrode, they hold up fairly well.
The biggest problem with Stringmasters - is the TUNERS.
If a tuner on a Stringmaster fails (and they sometimes do), you have a big problem -
because nobody makes the 4-in-line assemblies needed to replace them.
Read this thread:
http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum2/HTML/005591.html
and this one:
http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum2/HTML/009378.html
My first Stringmaster (not the one in the pic) had 2 busted tuners, which is what started me on my futile crusade to try to get Fender or anyone to make replacements.
I opted to order a Remington Steelmaster from Herb Remington - by far the smartest thing I could have done.
The Gotoh tuners he uses are bullet proof, and the guitar stays in tune through temperature and humidity changes and miles of bumpy roads.
I've put it to the test many times, and it always passes with flying colors.
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Mike Harris
From:
Texas, USA
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Posted 28 Jan 2009 5:09 pm
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Question:
with all the reissue guitars Fender makes, wouldn't it be lucrative for them to re-issue the Stringmaster? Or would it be cost prohibitive, like trying to build a '57 Chevy... |
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Rick Alexander
From:
Florida, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 28 Jan 2009 5:40 pm
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They're too busy making Squier Strats by the thousands.
The answer is - they're not interested.
And even if they were, it wouldn't be the same.
The FS52 lap steel is a piece of crap, I had one and got rid of it.
It was made in China.
Fender Japan makes or made Stringmasters, but they're very expensive, and maybe not so wonderful.
I once inquired if they would sell the tuners separately - and got the most polite "screw you" I ever saw. |
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HowardR
From:
N.Y.C.-Fire Island-Asheville
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Posted 28 Jan 2009 6:19 pm
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| Mike Harris wrote: |
Question:
wouldn't it be lucrative for them to re-issue the Stringmaster? Or would it be cost prohibitive, like trying to build a '57 Chevy... |
yup,......they'd lose money...... |
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Herb Steiner
From:
Spicewood TX 78669
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Posted 31 Jan 2009 9:57 am
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RE: the Stringmaster tuners.
If you have a 1970's era SM, the tuners might be the standard "F" Klusons they were using on Telecasters and Strats at that time. So a busted tuner could be replaced. But granted, a 70's model doesn't sound like a 50's model, nor does it have the "panache" of an older one... but it does still sound like a SM.
The Remington is a fine guitar and I've enjoyed playing the ones I've played. But bear in mind, it uses modern humbucking pickups, and it doesn't have the single coil sound that the Stringmasters have. At least the ones that I've played, including Cindy's Remington. The Remington is a great road guitar regardless, and with one you're not putting your vintage Fender in Harm's Way.
Just MHO, your mileage may vary.
_________________
My rig: Infinity and Telonics.
Son, we live in a world with walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with steel guitars. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg? |
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Terry Barnett
From:
Winnipeg Manitoba, Canada
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Posted 31 Jan 2009 10:21 am
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When I first got my Stringmaster..I took it apart and made sure everything was working properly. A high priority for me was to lube the tuners with a light grease and I've done that with every old guitar I own and they've never let me down...Knock on wood. The older Stringmasters have a great sound and I don't babysit mine. It gets well used but I'd still love to own one of Herb's guitars. I'm on the lookout. As far as maintenance of the old Stringmasters...I don't think it's much work to keep the pots clean and the tuners lubed but you should have a very good quality case...I retired the original one and let a new one protect the old guitar. BTW a friend of mine bought one of the new Fender six string lap steel and the first thing to go was the tuner for the lowest string. Replaced the tuners with an old set of tuners from a 1950s Harmony and he's good to go. Pickups on those things are also less than to be desired...  |
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Edward Meisse
From:
Santa Rosa, California, USA
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Posted 31 Jan 2009 1:21 pm
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| Rick Alexander wrote: |
If they haven't been beat up or allowed to corrode, they hold up fairly well.
The biggest problem with Stringmasters - is the TUNERS.
If a tuner on a Stringmaster fails (and they sometimes do), you have a big problem -
because nobody makes the 4-in-line assemblies needed to replace them.
Read this thread:
http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum2/HTML/005591.html
and this one:
http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum2/HTML/009378.html
My first Stringmaster (not the one in the pic) had 2 busted tuners, which is what started me on my futile crusade to try to get Fender or anyone to make replacements.
I opted to order a Remington Steelmaster from Herb Remington - by far the smartest thing I could have done.
The Gotoh tuners he uses are bullet proof, and the guitar stays in tune through temperature and humidity changes and miles of bumpy roads.
I've put it to the test many times, and it always passes with flying colors.
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My experience with the Remington guitar is the same as Rick's. Frankly, I can't see looking at vintage guitars with Herb making both 6 and 8 string models. You can get the six with or without legs. Terrific sounding E66 pup. And it does stay in tune through thick and thin. I put mine to the test. I can also vouch for the Chandler RH-2 and Studio 6. I've heard great things about Cruztone from what I consider very reliable sources and West Coast as well. Technology and know how have improved vastly since Fender made its steels. From strictly a musical standpoint, I see no reason to have a vintage guitar.
_________________
Amor vincit omnia |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 6 Feb 2009 7:08 pm
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Denny, it appears no one answered one of the questions in your original post, and you may well have the answer by now if you have done some research: I believe the last year Fender U.S.A. made the Stringmaster was 1981.
_________________
Mark |
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John Bechtel
From:
Nashville, Tennessee, R.I.P.
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Posted 7 Feb 2009 8:39 pm
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Here are some pictures of my “One-Of-A-Kind” T–10 Remington Steelmaster. IMHO, The sound is far superior to the Stringmaster!
_________________
<marquee> Go~Daddy~Go, (No), Go, It's your Break Time</marquee> L8R, jb
My T-10 Remington Steelmaster |
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Paul DiMaggio
From:
Fort Nelson, British Columbia, Canada
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Posted 9 Feb 2009 9:08 am
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| That is a kind of strange design for a headstock on the Remington.Some of those strings look like they want to pop off the end of the tuner...do they? I'm guessing that a cheaper tuner wouldn't stand the strain of being on an angle like that. |
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John Bechtel
From:
Nashville, Tennessee, R.I.P.
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Posted 9 Feb 2009 10:18 am
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That has never happened to me and I never heard of it from any other Remington owners! I can't recall the brand-name at the moment, but; Remington is not alone in it's design.
_________________
<marquee> Go~Daddy~Go, (No), Go, It's your Break Time</marquee> L8R, jb
My T-10 Remington Steelmaster |
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Herb Steiner
From:
Spicewood TX 78669
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Posted 9 Feb 2009 11:13 am
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It does look like strings 4 and 5 could come off the end of the keyhead shaft, but I think it's unlikely.
The way to alleviate that problem would be to wind the string below the hole. Also have the tab end locked by the first wrap being above the hole/tab, and subsequent wraps below the tab. Like on string 4 of the neck on the right in the photo above. However, it would put even more angle to the pull, making the string want to pop out of it's nut slot.
I'm sure it's a matter of added expense to produce, but I think the stairstep design of keyhead construction, in which the tuning machine shaft is parallel to the roller nut and changer axle, is the preferable choice. Such as Bigsby, Sho-Bud, Emmons, et al.
I never cared for the Fender design... WAY too problematic to fix those suckers! Those tuning machines can be replaced with individual klusons in a great many instances.
_________________
My rig: Infinity and Telonics.
Son, we live in a world with walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with steel guitars. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg? |
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Rick Collins
From:
Claremont , CA USA
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Posted 9 Feb 2009 11:43 am
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Herb, do you know if the individual Klusons can be disassembled and be made to fit the tuner pans pressed for the lollipop type tuners (early 26" Stringmaster)?
The vertical shaft could easily be modified to fit the round button __ but, will the pitch of the horizontal shaft and vertical shaft align with the holes in the pan?
Many thanks, Rick |
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Herb Steiner
From:
Spicewood TX 78669
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Posted 9 Feb 2009 12:57 pm
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I was referring to a mid-70's SM that Cindy had in which the tuning machines were 4 Fender "F" Klusons that fit each side, just stuck in there.
As far as repairing a lollipop plate, I personally don't know how to do it, or have the skill to do it. Might be easier just to make a new plate and fit new pegs to it.
_________________
My rig: Infinity and Telonics.
Son, we live in a world with walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with steel guitars. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg? |
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