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Topic: Engraved '55 Stringmaster |
Ron Landis
From:
Arkansas, USA
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Posted 11 Apr 2014 4:58 pm |
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I finally finished this project I've been working on all winter. All the steel parts were stripped then plated with a copper base before the engraving, then chromed.
It's a 1955 that was already stripped, but it had some holes in the bottom and in one of the pans I patched.
I used the ReRanch Fender Blonde lacquer with a clear coat over that. I also ended up having new fretboards made that match the originals really well except I had them made with a sticky back instead of the pin mounted boards.
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Eric Philippsen
From:
Central Florida USA
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Posted 11 Apr 2014 5:03 pm
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| Wow. Too cool. |
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HowardR
From:
N.Y.C.-Fire Island-Asheville
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Posted 11 Apr 2014 5:04 pm Re: Engraved '55 Stringmaster
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| Ron Landis wrote: |
All the steel parts were stripped then plated with a copper base before the engraving, then chromed.
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I love it........question.....why did you use a copper base?.....and was the copper base a plating or a patina?...... |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 11 Apr 2014 5:07 pm
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Super job! That is classy.
_________________
Links to streaming music, websites, YouTube: Links |
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Ron Landis
From:
Arkansas, USA
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Posted 11 Apr 2014 5:13 pm Re: Engraved '55 Stringmaster
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| HowardR wrote: |
| Ron Landis wrote: |
All the steel parts were stripped then plated with a copper base before the engraving, then chromed.
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I love it........question.....why did you use a copper base?.....and was the copper base a plating or a patina?...... |
It was recommended by the guy that did the plating. The copper is plated on real thick and polishes out better than steel. |
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Jerome Hawkes
From:
Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 11 Apr 2014 5:17 pm
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your gonna need a pretty snazzy nudie suit to go with that
_________________
'65 Sho-Bud D-10 Permanent • '54 Fender Dual-8 • Clinesmith T-8 • '38 Ric Bakelite • '92 Emmons D-10 Legrande II |
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Tom Pettingill
From:
California, USA (deceased)
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Ron Landis
From:
Arkansas, USA
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Posted 11 Apr 2014 5:26 pm
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Here's a few more shots. Each panel and each bridge cover is different. When I designed them I tried to keep in mind how the lines would go with the panel(s) next to it.
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Rick Barnhart
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 11 Apr 2014 5:39 pm
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Nicely done, Ron....That's the coolest old Fender ever 
_________________
Clinesmith consoles D-8/6 5 pedal, D-8 3 pedal & A25 Frypan, Pettingill Teardrop, & P8 Deluxe. |
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James Nottage
From:
Indiana, USA
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Posted 11 Apr 2014 5:40 pm
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Beautifully designed and executed! An admirable homage to Western style. It both swings and rocks.
James
_________________
Clinesmith S-8; Pettingill P6; Rick-Style Vintage 47 Amp |
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Dave Bader
From:
Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 11 Apr 2014 5:43 pm
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| That is the most beautiful stringmaster ever. Great job. |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 11 Apr 2014 5:49 pm
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Damn, Ron! An incredible piece of work. 
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Mark |
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Ken Campbell
From:
Ferndale, Montana
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Posted 11 Apr 2014 8:02 pm
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| Holy crap. Thats the stuff dreams are made of.... |
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Mitch Druckman
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 11 Apr 2014 8:41 pm
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| As if there had been a Fender Custom Shop during the Stringmaster years. Beautiful. |
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Don Kona Woods
From:
Hawaiian Kama'aina
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Posted 11 Apr 2014 9:33 pm
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| Very impressive, Ron. |
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Matthew Dawson
From:
Portland Oregon, USA
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Posted 11 Apr 2014 9:57 pm
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| Up until right now I've never seen a non-celebrity modification that added value to a 50's Fender. Bravo! |
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Cartwright Thompson
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Posted 12 Apr 2014 12:55 am
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| A "Style 4" Stringmaster. |
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Andy Smith
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 12 Apr 2014 12:56 am
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Wow! That is amazing!
Are you able to give us any more detail on the process Ron? The chrome on my stringmaster is in pretty poor shape, and while I don't think I could aspire to that level of workmanship, it could certainly benefit from a bit of cleaning up. |
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Roy Thomson
From:
Wolfville, Nova Scotia,Canada
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Posted 12 Apr 2014 4:43 am
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HANDSOME!!!
_________________
Custom Tabs Various Tunings
Courses Lap Steel, Pedal Steel |
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Chris Lucker
From:
Los Angeles, California USA
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Posted 12 Apr 2014 6:56 am
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You did a very nice job.
_________________
Chris Lucker
Red Bellies, Bigsbys and a lot of other guitars. |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 12 Apr 2014 7:21 am
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| That is beautiful! You did an outstanding job! |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 12 Apr 2014 8:58 am
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You even engraved the leg sockets that no-one sees. Did you write anything underneath the tuner pans? 
A nice job. |
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Ron Landis
From:
Arkansas, USA
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Posted 12 Apr 2014 9:02 am
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| Andy Smith wrote: |
Wow! That is amazing!
Are you able to give us any more detail on the process Ron? The chrome on my stringmaster is in pretty poor shape, and while I don't think I could aspire to that level of workmanship, it could certainly benefit from a bit of cleaning up. |
My advice is just live with it. Personally, you couldn't pay me enough money to go through what I did do deal with the chrome plating. It may be a different story if my guy was right here in town but the shipping back and forth was very costly in time and money not to mention the bill for the actual work. The first guy I went to took on the job without informing me he couldn't strip the nickel plating. Hmmm.
Through all this, I found that it's cheaper and easier to make new parts from solid German Silver and just engraving that and don't even deal with the chrome shop. Easy to do with the flat plates, but the bridge covers and tuning pans require forming dies. I'll eventually tool up to produce those. The German Silver can also just be polished and screwed right on. They'll tarnish eventually, but that can be polished out. They'll never rust.
I already had 4 pup plates made for this purpose. I have a quad in mind...
Anyway, thanks a bunch for all the nice comments, guys! Y'all made my week! |
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Ron Landis
From:
Arkansas, USA
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Posted 12 Apr 2014 9:17 am
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| Alan Brookes wrote: |
You even engraved the leg sockets that no-one sees. Did you write anything underneath the tuner pans?
A nice job. |
Ha ha! thanks for noticing the leg sockets. I didn't get too fancy with those but I was so deep into the project at that point, I figured "why not?" Only the player will see that. And yes, I did sign and date under the pan on the front neck. I also engraved my Hallmark and the date (2014) on the back neck pup plate.
I got a kick out of Matthew Dawson's comment... "Up until right now I've never seen a non-celebrity modification that added value to a 50's Fender. Bravo!"
Matthew, even though I'm a no-name hack as a steeler, I'm sort of a rock star among engravers. I'm most noted for reinvigorating the lost art of "hobo nickels". I've sold single nickels (altered five cent coins) for more than this steel guitar is worth. I don't blow my own horn much, but I am pretty proud of my career in that field, although admittedly I spend WAY more time practicing the steel in my living room than I do at my workbench which is probably why this project took so long |
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That's amazing. Beautiful work!
