1978 Stringmaster T8 Upgraded to a Quad

Tony Oresteen · From: Georgia, USA

I bought a 1978 black Stringmaster T8 24.5" scale in 2020 that started me on a journey that I didn't expect. I took a deep dive into the Stringmaster world and I realized that 3 necks were not enough.

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=364075&highlight=stringmaster

The first two neck tunings were easy enough to determine - C6 & A6. What should the 3rd neck be? I went through a few - E7, Eb7, D7, E13. I settled on E13 but lost my rock & roll tunings ie E7 etc.

So the solution was simple to think of but very hard to do. Just add a 4th neck and make the T8 a Quad. Yikes!

My T8:

For the last 3 years I have been chasing Stringmaster parts. To avoid confusion here's how I refer to Stringmaster necks:

1st year of Stringmaster was 1953 26" scale Mark I (MkI)

Revised Stringmaster Models 1954/55 24.5" & 22.5" scales Mark II (MkII)

Neck numbers 1-4:

The neck thicknesses are as follows:

Neck 1 = 1.5" thick
Neck 2 = 1.875" thick
Neck 3 = 2.25" thick
Neck 4 = 2.625" thick

Each additional neck is 3/8" thicker than the previous neck.

So to add a 4th neck to my T-8 I would need a neck that is 2.625" thick. In 24.75" scale. In black. That didn't cost a $1,000.

From what I could find Fender stopped making Quads in 1968. I'm not sure when Fender started making Stringmasters in black but it wasn't earlier than 1966ish, maybe the 70's (does anyone know for sure?). My black T8 is a 1978 model. So the odds of finding a loose #4 MkII neck in 24.5" scale in black was zero. That meant I would be painting a neck.

After a year of looking I found a #4 neck 24.5" scale husk in blonde missing everything except the fretboard. The finish had water/moisture damage. It was made in September 1956. Yes, it had been rode hard and put up wet many times.

Next I had to find the proper MkII control plate with a blank end for no controls. Then find: Pickups. Pots. Blend knob. Tuners. Tunner pan. Nut. Proper screws. Connecting rods. Proper switching. Rod spacers. Ect.

For pickups I bought a set of Seymour Duncan Antiquities for Stringmaster. I had to find a set of pickup covers. Etc.

Six months ago I had all the parts. I sanded, patched, and painted the neck gloss black. I then let it cure for 4 months.

I then wired up the control plate. The pickups raised some issues. To have a proper Stringmaster pickup set, one pickup has to be North up, the other has to be South up. To check the polarity the best tool is the Schatten pickup polarity tool:

Stew Mac sells it:

https://www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools-and-supplies/tools-by-job/tools-for-electronics/pickup-building/schatten-magnet-polarity-tester/

The SD pickups were a proper set. Next question was, which one is the bridge pickup, and which one is the blend pickup?

I just checked my T8 to see how the pickups were placed. The bridge pickups were North up. That's how I put them in the control plate. I used the SD wiring diagram:

Note that SD says that the pickup with the yellow wire is the blend pickup. This is WRONG compared to my T8. The yellow wire SD pickup is North up so I put it in the bridge like the other three necks. That's why you need a polarity checker!

Note that the tone pot is 1,000K solid shaft, volume pot is 250K solid shaft, and the blend pot is a 250k split shaft fine spline (I used a new CTS pots). I think a coarse spine pot will work but I have not tried one.

I installed a used Fender tuner pan & tuners and a Fender nut.

With the control plate wired & tested, tuners & nut installed, the neck was ready for surgery.

Two years had passed since finding the #4 neck. Yesterday I started the surgery.

Parts need to transplant the neck are:

2 connecting rods - the bridge rod 17.50" long, the nut rod 17.0" long. I made the bridge rod out of 1/4"-20 threaded rod.

2 spacers

1 ea 4-way Tele switch

2 es 3" plastic cover plates & 8 black pickguard screws

1 ea 4" Fender logo decal

I applied the decal to new neck and set it aside to dry.

Next was the strip down of the T8. All strings have to be removed. With the strings off I pulled the the tuning pans and cleaned them as they were dirty! Once done it was time for the hard stuff.

With the control plates off of neck 3 & 4, I temporarily inserted the connecting rods to line up the necks and drilled the connecting pass-through hole into neck 3. The drill bit size is 25/64". If you don not have a 12" long 25/64" bit just push the bit through the hole in neck 4 and make the drill spot on neck 3. Separate the necks and drill the wire access hole into neck 3.

If I ever want to return to a T8 configuration, I will enlarge the hole to 1/4" and use a plastic hole plug to cover it up. Even the front row customers will not know Smile

.

I did not like the grounding plan that Leo used. Staples are cheaper that wire. I ran 22 gauge cloth covered black wire from the blend pot to blend bot to the tone pot.

I wired in the new Fender Telecaster 4 way switch. I realized that to make the toggle switch turn on all 4 pickups I would need a 3pole single throw toggle switch that I do not have. I have two on order. Right now it works that you can force on necks 1,2,& 3 with the toggle switch. When I get the new 3 pole switch I will put it in.

Once the wiring was done, I inserted the 2 spacers and new rods. The existing front T8 nuts, washers, leg sockets and diamonds were transferred to the new neck. The nuts us a 3/16" Allen wrench. You will need two of them to tighten up the connecting rods,

I had Pickguardian - Tony Dudzik make a pair pf black plastic covers for the leg socket holes that are left in the bottom of neck 3 when the leg sockets are moved to neck 4.

I reassembled everything and tested the wiring. All is good. When I was chasing parts I was able to buy a battered tweed case for a 24.5" Quad from member Bill Quinn.

Nice & snug! Thanks Bill!

I should add that I have no intention of taking the Quad out. It is for my studio. In the case it weights 48 lbs. I would need a roadie Smile

.

Traditionally the 4th neck of a Quad is a baritone neck. That is exactly as I plan to use it with a D7 tuning that is a step below the low E of an armpit guitar. The 8th string is actually tuned to the 7th - a low C.

Quads from the factory came with a baritone nut that had deeper grooves for bigger strings. I found an original baritone nut Smile

.

That low C string is a 0.074" and it needs that deeper slot.

The baritone necks also came with tuners that the bass side tuners had larger holes. I am not sure which one did or the sizes of the the holes. I was not able to find a tuner pan that was a baritone original. Not to worry. I drilled out the #8 tuner shaft hole to 0.081" using a #46 drill bit for the big bass string. All other holes were fine.

Here is the Quad all done.

I think it turned out ok. I'm guessing that there are not too many Quads out there that are black and 3/4 Original Very Happy

I do have three more String master projects to get done but this one I needed for use in my studio so it was done first.
_________________
Tony
Newnan, GA

Too many guitars, not enough time to play
'72 Sho-Bud 6139, '71 Marlen 210
'78 Fender Stringmaster Quad black
PedalMaster D8

Mike Neer · From: NJ

Good work, looks amazing.
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Links to streaming music, websites, YouTube: Links

Tony Oresteen · From: Georgia, USA

Here is a chart of all the screws used in a Stringmaster Mark II neck.

_________________
Tony
Newnan, GA

Too many guitars, not enough time to play
'72 Sho-Bud 6139, '71 Marlen 210
'78 Fender Stringmaster Quad black
PedalMaster D8

Tony Oresteen · From: Georgia, USA

Here is the string data for my Quad set up.

_________________
Tony
Newnan, GA

Too many guitars, not enough time to play
'72 Sho-Bud 6139, '71 Marlen 210
'78 Fender Stringmaster Quad black
PedalMaster D8

Brad Bechtel · From: San Francisco, CA

Fascinating work! I hop you get a lot of good music out of it!
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A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars

Bill Sinclair · From: Waynesboro, PA, USA

Neat! Thanks for the documentation (especially the screw chart), as well. Enjoy!

Bill Groner · From: QUAKERTOWN, PA

Very nice job "T".
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Currently own, 6 Groner-tone lap steels, one 1953 Alamo Lap steel, Roland Cube, Fender Champion 40

Daniel Flanigan · From: Oregon, USA

Bravo, Tony. Excellent work as always. It seems to me that Quads are far underappreciated. I think it's worth having one for the cool factor alone, if nothing else, and an all-black Quad Stringmaster is about as cool as it gets.
_________________
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Ethan Shaw · From: Texas, USA

Great job Tony! I love my quad& am sure you'll enjoy yours!

Chris Cummings · From: England

What a glorious post! Wonderful work and info wow! I have a feeling in 12 months time Tony will be celebrating Fender’s first 5 neck Stringmaster!😊😊😊

Tony Oresteen · From: Georgia, USA

Franklin Reiche · From: California, USA

You are clearly a nut case. Awesome. My kind of weirdo. This is really really awesome. You have approached this like a Marvel Super Villain.

Kudos to you a job well done.

-F

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