Stringmaster tone

Darryl Hattenhauer · From: Phoenix, Arizona, USA

What are the most important features of a stringmaster that give it its tone?

Obviously the pick ups are important, but there are a lot of other factors. I think it was Herb Steiner who said that even the kind of tuners are important. Do the walnuts sound different? Would three versus four legs make a difference? What about the placement of the leg mountings and what they're made of?

Maybe another way of asking the question is this: What alterations would change the sound the most? What are the most important things to leave the same?

If I knew, I could buy a non-original one that still sounds like a stringmaster, or I could buy a non-original one and start figuring what I'd need to restore (and not restore).

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"Drinking up the future, and living down the past"--unknown singer in Phoenix

Billy Gilbert · From: Texas, USA

Darryl,
I'm no expert but I'll give you my .02. I suggest that you pay the price and buy an original Stringmaster, and if everything works, leave it alone. I once owned a T-8 that had triagular nuts and bridges, to raise the strings a little higher. They were well made and chromed, and didn't change the sound. I have a D-8 Magnatone that is an obvious copy of a Stringmaster. Everything is very similar, except the pickups are angled 10 or 15 degrees and it has slotted pegheads instead of the metal pans, and again the sound is very close. Your mileage may vary.

Billy

Nick Reed · From: Russellville, KY USA

Darryl:
You just can't beat a Fender Stringmaster. Here's my wife's newly restored '58 model.

I had it re-painted right before Christmas, now it not only sounds great - it also looks great!
Nick

[This message was edited by Nick Reed on 09 April 2006 at 07:19 PM.]

Darryl Hattenhauer · From: Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Billy,

Interesting variations on the Magnatone. It suggests that string height, pans, and PU angle aren't that critical. How similar are the PUs to Fenders? What kind of wood is the Magnatone made of? Sounds like it might be a good alternative to a stringmaster. Would you say it sounds closer to a stringmaster than a custom does?

Nick,
IMO, that's THE color to have.

[This message was edited by Darryl Hattenhauer on 09 April 2006 at 09:12 PM.]

Jeff Au Hoy · From: Honolulu, Hawai'i

I disagree... I have a D-8 Magnatone with the Stringmaster configuration (double pickups each neck) and it is quite a different animal compared to a Stringmaster. The Magnatone (mahogany) has an inherently dark or bassier tone than the Stringmaster (ash), which is inherently bright and trebly. You can probably dial in similar tones on each by manipulating the tone control and your amp, but they are two very different sounding instruments.

Also, the Magnatone does not have a separate pickup blend knob as does the Stringmaster. The neck pickup on the Magnatone is linked to the tone control...cutting back the treble also turns on the neck pickup.

[This message was edited by Jeff Au Hoy on 09 April 2006 at 09:26 PM.]

Billy Gilbert · From: Texas, USA

Jeff,
You know much more about it than I do and you are a much better player. My Magnatone is Ser. # 49308. The wide board on the bottom is a dark wood, possibly Walnut, but the neck wood appears to be very similar to my Stringmaster neck, and has a very light stain. The T-8 that I had didn't have the blenders. They may have been left out when it was refinished. Billy

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

The early Stringmasters DO NOT have a blend control for the pickups. The pickups are also different size and wound lighter than the later Stringmasters. The early pickups are also wired in in a sort of humbucker fashion (in opposite directions).

The pickups, in conjunction with the long scale (26"), is what gives these instruments their tone. You can forget about the tuners, three legs or four and all that other stuff. That's just sooooooo much baloney! Has about as much importance on tone as what color shirt you're wearing.
Erv

Bill Creller · From: Saginaw, Michigan, USA (deceased)

WHAT ERV SAID

Darryl Hattenhauer · From: Phoenix, Arizona, USA

This is just the informative discussion I was looking for.

Jeff,
For my ear, the type of wood does indeed make a difference. I can hear the difference with teles, so I'd probably hear what you're hearing. And to me, it's the thin highs and brights I'd want from a stringmaster. (I have a Professional, and that's my fave for thick and smooth mids and lows.)

Erv,
Is it the early or later PUs that are thinner and brighter? Would the short scale be thinner and brighter? Does blend control help get the highs?

To me, the kind of tuners, number of legs, etc. by themselves don't make a difference to my ear. But when you take all of those little things togther, it might. I suspect that the more mass and density a guitar has, the fewer brights and highs it will have. Also, how much of the mass is wood and how much is metal. Maybe even the type of metal would have an effect (but I don't know if I could hear it).

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

Darryl,
I can't really answer your questions. I have a couple of Stringmasters with the blend control and the different pickups but haven't really sat down and compared the difference in tone.

The later model Stringmasters had the shorter scale (221/2" and 241/2") and I think this contributed the most to the difference in sound.
In my estimation, the longer the scale, the longer the sustain.
I pretty much cut my teeth on the 26" scale T-8 Stringmaster and in my mind's eye, that's what a non-pedal steel is supposed to sound like!!!

FWIW

Darryl Hattenhauer · From: Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Thanks Erv,

I think you did answer my question, because if a guy who knows these inside and out hasn't noticed a difference, then there probably isn't any difference that's significant.

My favorite steel tone is what I think of as a 60s Sho Bud tone, but I also like what I think of as the earlier stringmaster swing tone. So I want to get a stringmaster or something like it.

What would be the advantages and disadvantages of a 3-neck vs 4-neck stringmaster?

Nick Reed · From: Russellville, KY USA

TONE TO THE BONE! Heres a classic for you, Bobbe playing a D-8 Stringmaster without legs. Just covered his '71 Emmons P/P with bubblewrap and stacked-it on top.

[This message was edited by Nick Reed on 10 April 2006 at 11:58 PM.]

Wayne Cox · From: Chatham, Louisiana, USA * R.I.P.

I can't belittle the importance of good pickups, but experience has taught me that even great pickups can't completely compensate for poor cabinet resonance. Therefore, it is imperative that the sound be transmitted through the bridge into the cabinet. Maybe a Stringmaster does this extremely well also?
~~W.C.~~

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

Darryl,
The two BIG disadvantages with a 4 neck as compared to a 3 neck is that they're almost impossible to find and it will cost you about TWICE as much as a 3 neck!

They're as scarce as hen's teeth!!!
Erv

Jeff Au Hoy · From: Honolulu, Hawai'i

I agree with Wayne...

The legs, tuner pans, bridges, etc very well have an effect on the resonance of the instrument and therefore its tone. That's not baloney. The tone of an instrument is definitely not in the pickup and scale alone. We learned this from experiments with Rickenbachers a while back. Some bakelites sound awful simply because their body composition is different--even if we drop in a pickup from a gorgeous sounding bakelite.

Darryl Hattenhauer · From: Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Wayne,
The cabinet seems important to me too. That's why I suspect that the ash is probably more what I want than walnut. But I hadn't thought about the mechanics of how the pick ups and cabinet inter-act. I'm going to start seaching for info on that issue. Thanks for making me aware of it.

Erv,

That's what I was afraid of. And I'd need a crane to lift it. I don't think I could reach the outside neck anyway.

John Bechtel · From: Nashville, Tennessee, R.I.P.

Well, I beg to differ with most, I guess! When I owned my T-8 Custom, I found it to have an exceptional sound and it was made from Walnut! I also had one of Ash at the same time, but; it wasn't as nice sounding as the Walnut! IMHO

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“Big John”
a.k.a. {Keoni Nui}
Current Equipment

Darryl Hattenhauer · From: Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Keoni Nui,

Didn't you say somewhere that you had a quad ten?

I'm getting more curious about customs. I think about 50's Fender sound, but I really don't know when I'm hearing-- a custom or SM or what. And I sure don't know if I've heard a walnut before, much less seen one. So if I did, I might like customs or walnut more.

Keoni Oldie

Wayne Cox · From: Chatham, Louisiana, USA * R.I.P.

Maybe this should be another post, but I would like some opinions on this...Do you think a stringmaster sounds better with or without the Bridge Cover in place??? My ear can hear the difference.
~~W.C.~~

Paul Arntson · From: Washington, USA

I know my stringmaster sounds less rattly with the cover off. The rattle may decrease the sustain by a little.
One thing I did that made a HUGE difference was to replace the 51 year old surgical tubing on the pickup mounts.

[This message was edited by Paul Arntson on 18 April 2006 at 11:40 AM.]

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

There shouldn't be ANY surgical tubing on the pickup mounts. They came with springs.
Erv

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