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Topic: Early Fender Pedal Steel guitars. |
James Taylor
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 22 Apr 2019 10:33 am |
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Can anyone tell me when the earliest Fender pedal steel guitar was made and what they looked like?
I owned a Fender which looked like 1950s with three pedals and one knee leaver.
James Taylor |
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Malcolm McMaster
From:
Beith Ayrshire Scotland
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Posted 22 Apr 2019 10:46 am
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James, this is probably the one you had, a Fender Student, made by Shobud for Fender. I had one of these as my first pedal steel
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MSA Millenium SD10, GK MB200, Sica 12inch cab, Joyo American Sound Pedal/ Jay Ganz Straight Ahead amp, Telonics 15inch in Peavey cab, Digitech RP150, Peterson tuner.Hilton volume pedal.Scott Dixon seat and guitar flight case. |
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Ian Worley
From:
Sacramento, CA
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Posted 22 Apr 2019 11:00 am
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This is a mid-'50s 400. They were all built on wrap-around cast aluminum frames like this with a single piece wood slab top, later versions the frames were painted with a textured black finish. '50s and '60s Fenders did not come with knee levers, though some folks added them, the '70s Sho-Bud built Fenders like the student model pictured above did.
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Dennis Montgomery
From:
Western Washington
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 22 Apr 2019 12:18 pm
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Actually, the Fender 400 wasn't even released until 1958, so I prefer to call the earliest 400's "late '50s models".  |
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Ian Worley
From:
Sacramento, CA
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Posted 22 Apr 2019 3:24 pm
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| Donny, do you know what year the 1000 was introduced? It came earlier didn't it? |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 22 Apr 2019 5:39 pm
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| The first prototypes were built in 1955, but they were distributed to a very few players. They weren't offered for sale to the general public until 1957. |
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James Taylor
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 1 May 2019 11:59 pm Fender Pedal Steel---1950s ???
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[img]
This is the one I had a few years ago.[/img] Thank you all for your input and it is good to hear from you Malcolm.
I am sorry if I have taken too long to answer you all but unfortunately between old age and my wife wanting spring cleaning and bedroom painted I am " Fair faged oot " to use a local Scots term; meaning SHATTERED!!!!
I do not know the age of the one in the picture but it would be interesting to find out. It sounded like a Fender Telecaster. Thanks again and BEST WISHES TO YOU ALL. JAMES TAYLOR |
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James Taylor
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 2 May 2019 12:14 am
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 This is myself when I first got the instrument as someone asked to see the scoundrel and my wife thinks I have that criminal look about me!!!!!!
Whatever, BEST WISHES TO EVERYONE AND THANKS AGAIN .
JAMES TAYLOR |
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James Taylor
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 2 May 2019 12:22 am
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 Hope this is large enough??? JAMES |
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James Taylor
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 2 May 2019 12:23 am
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| Hope this is large enough??? JAMES |
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Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
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Posted 2 May 2019 7:11 pm
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No, your picture is 1/4 the size of a postage stamp.
Ian, the 1000 and 400 - both 8 strings (the 1000 a 2-neck) were introduced at the same time - officially 1958.
_________________
No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional |
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James Taylor
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 3 May 2019 12:51 am
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Hi Jim, Thank you it is quite some time since I used this and I'll need to refresh; best wishes.
 I do hope this is better??
James Taylor |
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James Taylor
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 3 May 2019 1:02 am Fender 400
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Hi JIM ,
Thank you so much for your input as I it appears simple once done.
Therefore, this would be a 400 around 1958 as I understand it? Yes it was eight string as can be clearly seen now with three pedals and one knee lever; so was this still regarded as an entry level student guitar at this date?
I was so glad to find it at the time and experience what I had only dreamed of.
Thanking everyone for help and information.
JAMES TAYLOR |
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James Taylor
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 3 May 2019 1:12 am Fender 400
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Hi JIM ,
Thank you so much for your input as I it appears simple once done.
Therefore, this would be a 400 around 1958 as I understand it? Yes it was eight string as can be clearly seen now with three pedals and one knee lever; so was this still regarded as an entry level student guitar at this date?
I was so glad to find it at the time and experience what I had only dreamed of.
Thanking everyone for help and information.
JAMES TAYLOR |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 3 May 2019 7:57 pm In the interest of accuracy...
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James, your model 400 guitar could have been made anywhere from 1959 to 1961, as it's a long-scale model with the rectangular pickup and appears to have the black frame. (The original blond finish on your guitar was evidently removed, and the guitar was refinished in clear.) Originally, the frames on these guitars were polished aluminum, but the switch was made in 1959 to the black "pebble finish" due to frequent casting imperfections (pin holes).
The double-neck model 1000 was introduced in 1957, and it appears in both the the Fender Spring 1957 catalog, and the Fender Fall 1957-1958 catalog. The single-neck model 400 did not appear in any Fender catalog or literature until the 1958 (full year) catalog appeared, and I was also told by Jody Carver that the 1000 was in production for a little over a year before the model 400 was available. |
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James Taylor
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 4 May 2019 8:48 am
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Thank you very much Donny for this information and the colour change too; very interesting. I appreciate what you have told me as I was completely ignorant of this.
BEST WISHES
JAMES TAYLOR |
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Jim Sliff
From:
Lawndale California, USA
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Posted 5 May 2019 7:26 pm
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Long scale (24 1/2")/black frame 400's with the rectangular pickups were made until late 1963. They appear in the 1962/63 catalog.
The short (23") scale 400 with a "Jaguar" style pickup and integrated changer fingers/saddles was officially introduced in the 1963/1964 catalog, although there were some oddball hybrid 400's and 1000's with mixed parts and sunburst finishes.
None had original knee levers nor did Fender ever install them on any of the cable-pull models. A knee lever would have ben added by an owner at a later date.
_________________
No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional |
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James Taylor
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 7 May 2019 12:20 am
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Thank you Jim for this information and I did wonder about the Knee leaver so that is helpful in understanding the instrument. I had always believed it had been around 1957 so thank you for the age too.
BEST WISHES
JAMES TAYLOR |
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