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Topic: Found a '52 Fender Dual Professional 8! |
Keith Barron
From:
British Columbia, Canada
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Posted 3 Jul 2015 5:10 pm |
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| Original owner. Bought new in '52 Supposed to be super clean. A local find in my town on a piece like this is rare. Price is good. Leaving now with a wad of cash in my pocket. Pretty excited. Wish me luck! I'll report back later with photos. This kinda feels like Christmas when I was 6. Lol |
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Keith Barron
From:
British Columbia, Canada
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Posted 3 Jul 2015 7:22 pm
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It's home. Here's how it looked as purchased. Stickers with notes to be removed shortly. It's a beauty. SN is 3432, as read by 1/4" jack.
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Andy Eder
From:
North Florida, USA
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Posted 3 Jul 2015 7:59 pm
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| Beautiful guitar Keith! |
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Mike Spieth
From:
Santa Fe, New Mexico
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Posted 3 Jul 2015 8:06 pm
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| Good thing you jumped on that! Close-ups? |
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Keith Barron
From:
British Columbia, Canada
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Posted 3 Jul 2015 9:20 pm
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You bet I will have some close ups soon. I play to take a few things apart to look for markings. Also spray some lube in the pots.
I don't have a proper slide yet and there seems to be nothing in this town other than tube finger slides. Need to get something on the way. What do you recommend for a slide. Thanks. |
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Keith Barron
From:
British Columbia, Canada
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Posted 3 Jul 2015 9:35 pm
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Found masking tape under the volume and tone pots. Reads:
"BECK 12-16-54" Below is a photo.
Pots are stamped "250K 304424" is that 42 week of 1954?
 [/img] |
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Keith Barron
From:
British Columbia, Canada
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Posted 3 Jul 2015 9:38 pm
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Wiring and pots:
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Keith Barron
From:
British Columbia, Canada
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Posted 3 Jul 2015 10:22 pm
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I am having fun finding, and recording info here. Under the tuner plate closest to player found the "# 2" penciled in the cavity. Also a little hooked letter C maybe? See below.
Last edited by Keith Barron on 3 Jul 2015 10:39 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Posted 3 Jul 2015 10:29 pm
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Yes, 1954. It's in nice condition. Even the case is nice. A clean case is a good sign. That means the guitar was not abused, not hauled around to gigs, not played in smoky bars. And the stickers indicate that a beginner/student owned it. Again, no hard wear, no abuse. Original pots and wiring. Congrats, Keith. It's a true, one owner, closet classic!
_________________
My Site / My YouTube Channel
25 Songs C6 Lap Steel / 25 MORE Songs C6 Lap Steel / 16 Songs, C6, A6, B11 / 60 Popular Melodies E9 Pedal Steel |
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Keith Barron
From:
British Columbia, Canada
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Posted 3 Jul 2015 10:37 pm
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Maybe I am really reaching here but that little letter C under the tuner pan. I did a little more digging. Looking for Leo's signature. Have a look at this check Leo cut in 1964. He signed it C.L. Fender. Look at the letter C on the cheque and look at the C in the photos under the tuner pan....Maybe I am hoping here, real hard. LOL.
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Posted 3 Jul 2015 10:49 pm
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At first, I thought you found the check inside the guitar!  
I think that pencil writing says #2, as in neck 2. At first I thought it meant 2nd, like a factory 2nd, but I guess not.
I've seen a lot of quality control tape labels in Fender steels and guitars, including my '52 Pro, a few different names, but I never saw the name "Beck" before.
_________________
My Site / My YouTube Channel
25 Songs C6 Lap Steel / 25 MORE Songs C6 Lap Steel / 16 Songs, C6, A6, B11 / 60 Popular Melodies E9 Pedal Steel |
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Nic Sanford
From:
Oklahoma
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Posted 4 Jul 2015 5:03 am
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| Beautiful find. |
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Rick Barnhart
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 4 Jul 2015 6:02 am
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Doug, I think he means the small cane shaped mark at 5 o'clock, relative to the 2.
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Clinesmith consoles D-8/6 5 pedal, D-8 3 pedal & A25 Frypan, Pettingill Teardrop, & P8 Deluxe. |
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Keith Barron
From:
British Columbia, Canada
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Posted 4 Jul 2015 6:17 am
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| That's correct Rick. The little cane mark at 5 o'clock. |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Keith Barron
From:
British Columbia, Canada
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Posted 4 Jul 2015 8:13 am
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| You're right Doug. I never noticed that. The 2 is also very similar. Thanks for pointing that out. |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Keith Barron
From:
British Columbia, Canada
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Posted 4 Jul 2015 10:06 am
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Good point but we have learned that Leo was a tinkerer. An engineer who never stopped developing his ideas. He quite often wreaked havoc on the assembly line by asking production workers to make changes, mid-stream, to circuits that he had developed. Testers farther down the line would not know and be thrown off by these changes. He'd drive his plant managers like Freddy Tavarez nuts doing this. Leo was often found running production equipment in his oil soiled Khaki pants at all hours of the day, experimenting. His wife called it "That Darn Fiddle Factory" where Leo tinkered. He was very hands on. Leo considered his work to be one continuous improvement. Constantly evolving. He rarely documented things he developed or changed. From his Esquire to his last developments at G&L, Leo thought of his guitar work as one long journey. This is a big reason why there are so many undocumented and little differences between same model amps, guitars, whatever Fender made. They can be difficult to date as 2 same model amps from the same year, same circuit, could have differences in the circuit. Leo was in the factory for sure. Lots.
Last edited by Keith Barron on 4 Jul 2015 1:26 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Keith Barron
From:
British Columbia, Canada
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Posted 4 Jul 2015 12:34 pm
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Last night I took all neck 1 mechanical parts off, polished everything up and re-strung it to E9. Looking nicer now. Pots cleaned and are perfect. Pickups sound amazing. Here are a few close up photos of neck 1. I just pulled the strings off neck 2 and took the tuner pan off. Found another marking under there, different than under neck 1. See 3rd photo here.
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Tom Pettingill
From:
California, USA (deceased)
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Keith Barron
From:
British Columbia, Canada
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Posted 4 Jul 2015 2:05 pm
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| Great playing Doug! I will be on a steep learning curve as soon as I finish cleaning up and stringing the second neck. I have never played steel before, just standard Spanish Electric guitar. I'm going to be pouring over the learning material real soon. |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 4 Jul 2015 2:10 pm
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| @ Doug--Gloria was inside my 10/54 Stringmaster. |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Keith Barron
From:
British Columbia, Canada
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Posted 4 Jul 2015 6:50 pm
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| Good stuff. I enjoy learning more Fender history. I have a related story. I have a '71 Super Reverb. I took photos of all the marks and signatures inside and around the chassis, and posted them on the Internet. I located one of the builders who worked on and signed my amp at the factory '71. One of my proudest moments. Lol. |
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