I found and acquired a beat-up QUAD! Now what?

Alex Cattaneo · From: Quebec, Canada

Hi guys,

I recently acquired a Stringmaster Quad, almost sight unseen (pictures were bad and seller didn't know anything). It arrived this morning so I was able to make a general evaluation.

Scale: 24.5"

Legs: Dirty but not much pitting and rust. Fully functional. Should be ok once I clean up the goop.

Body: The red looked like a bad refin job when I saw the pictures, but it's kinda growing on me? Doesn't look that bad in the flesh. Some tape residue all over the place but should be allright once I clean it up.

Tuner pans: Pretty good! A couple of tuners on the 4th neck don't belong; those tuners keys have a frosted finish and don't really fit in the pan. 30 out of 32 is really not bad!

Electronics: All the pickups are there, but the wiring was a complete mess. Wires attached with masking tape! No springs or plastic spacers on any of them! More than half the plate screws are missing! The leads on the pickups are so short it's terrifying. ALL the blend wheels are GONE! One of the pickup plates is a bit bent, and they are all dirty as heck. One pickup is attached with pointy screws instead of typical pickup screws. It's an unmitigated disaster, but hey, if all eight pickups are in working order...

I only have one pickup cover.

There is no case.

I think that about covers it.

So this is what I have. Now, what should I do?

Restore it as a Quad? I play Hawaiian music and Western Swing but I've never imagined playing a Quad.

Split it? That's the most likely scenario for me, but how? A triple and a single? Two doubles? A double and two singles?

I need the wisdom and guidance of my peers.

Alex Cattaneo · From: Quebec, Canada

Joe A. Roberts · From: Seoul, South Korea

Wow that is a nice score Alex.
I dig that transparent red finish, and I'd rate that relatively high considering some of the adominable refins you see out there Laughing

One thing that is pretty visually disturbing is that someone added those yellow dots to the fretboards but left one neck intact on a middle neck.
Perhaps the virgin one would look better on one of the outer necks?

I think it would be a shame to split a quad...

You could have any number of tunings on that sucker and cover practically all the ground of Western Swing and Hawaiian

For example,
F#13th (The Speedy West/Herb Remington tuning E C# G# E A# F# d# f#)
E13th (Leon, Vance Terry or Boggs)
B11th or A6th
C6th or C diatonic if you're using A6th already

Or you could follow the advice in my thread here, and expand the arrangement to four necks:
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=399482
Winking

Landon Jarrel · From: Space

Hi Alex, first of all, congratulations on the guitar! Fender quads are pretty rare, and looks like you got one that has lived some life for sure. Regarding the wiring, have a look here for a copy of the original wiring schematic. There is a lot of documentation regarding the wiring in these, so you should be fine if you wanted to restore it to original.
http://steelguitar.com/manuals/FenderStringmaster.pdf

Also, have a look at this thread, which documents a restoration of a Fender Quad much like yours:
https://be.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=270347&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

If you choose to split it, you'd need to redo the bolts holding the necks together or get new ones fit to the size of the new guitars' width; however, the harder part would be machining leg sockets into at least one of the necks, depending on how you split the 4 extant necks.
Parts to do this are available. For instance, https://www.sillmusicsupply.com/Steel-Guitar-Legs-Sockets-Leg-Bags_c_12.html, however I am not sure that these are replicas of Stringmaster parts exactly. Jim Palenscar (Steel Guitars of North County) also has expertise with making these sort of custom parts.

Regarding the case, I know of Hatton cases, which makes, among other things, Stringmaster-specific cases: http://www.hattoncases.net/.

How you choose to restore or redo the guitar is up to you - I'd not worry about making it a "museum" example or adhering to its originality just for historical value if that is something you are worried about.

I'm excited to see what you do with the guitar!

Alex Cattaneo · From: Quebec, Canada

Alex Cattaneo · From: Quebec, Canada

Thanks to both of you for the infos and the links.

I have a question regarding neck thickness. On a Stringmaster triple, the three necks are like 1-2-3 on a Quad, on 2-3-4?

And then, same question for a double.

Neck 1 is so thin! If you look at the picture with little circles, the screws of the leg holder are sticking out into the pickup cavity and the screws actually caught the pickups! Yikes!

Leaving it as a Quad might be the simplest thing to do. All your thoughts on the matter are welcomed!

David M Brown · From: California, USA

Wow, nice...I'd also suggest to set it up as a Quad.

Joseph Lazo · From: Wisconsin, USA

Eric Dahlhoff · From: Point Arena, California

Obviously Quads are kinda rare, so keeping it as a Quad will kinda be like not cutting down a 3000 year old Redwood.
Just a thought... Very Happy

_________________
"To live outside the law you must be honest." (Bob Dylan)

Eric Philippsen · From: Central Florida USA

I’m kinda’ a Stringmaster fan and have ended up with a few. I’ve refurbished and restored them all to one extent or another. One’s a quad. They are really rare. As you mention, yours is a long-scale which is even rarer and, to some, more desirable still. The push-button ones were very early but those switches can be pesky.

Of course, you’re free to do with it as you see fit. You’re the owner. But splitting it up would have you telling everyone, “Yeah, it used to be part of a four-neck Quad but I split it up.” Then everyone would ask, “Why’d you do that?”

Yeah, the refin is what it is but I’d be pretty pleased with getting what appears to be most of its parts and hardware.

The masking tape you see on the wiring was what was used by Fender back in the fifties. When I first looked at your pics I thought you were missing the outside “bass” neck’s nut but saw later it was with all the parts. That’s a biggie because if you look carefully its string grooves are bigger to accommodate the bigger gauges used on that neck. I’m amazed, too, that the two original tele-style knobs are still with it.

As you know there are guys on the Forum here who can help. The original wiring schematic can be found online. Doug Beamier really knows a LOT about them.

Alex Cattaneo · From: Quebec, Canada

Keeping it as a Quad would probably be the easiest thing to do. I understand the significance and the rarity of the instrument. At the same time, I'm not a collector, I want to play it, and a Quad is overkill for me. It would be like having a museum piece rather than a tool I use for music. So I guess the short answer to the "why" is, from a player's perspective, I'd rather have a triple and a single, which would both get used more than a Quad.

But IF I decide to split it, I would not modify any of the existing hardware and make sure the split is completely reversible. Also, there might be someone out there with parts for a single or a triple that would want to trade with me for Quad parts, such as the rods to tie up the neck or the control plates. Hopefully Jeff Mead reads this, hahaha! I would be more than willing to help revive another Quad. Also, I want to stress that I'm in no hurry here. You will NEVER see any part of this on eBay.

I didn't know about the outside neck being a bass neck, but I did notice the tuners in the outside neck pan had larger holes in them, which reminded me of my baritone guitar. I just figured somebody messed with it. This is significant information!

All your comments are helping me figuring this out, so thank you. For now, I'll have my hands full cleaning everything up, and I'm sure I'll have many more questions soon! Keep the opinions and suggestions coming!

p.s. any idea on dating the instrument? I'll post the pot numbers soon. I'm not sure they are original though.

Tony Oresteen · From: Georgia, USA

Keep it a Quad! If you can haul a T8 then you can haul a Quad.

I have a worse condition 24.5" Quad that I have been chasing parts for 2 years now. It was just a husk. I am getting close to the end Smile

.

My plan is to use it in my studio with tunings that I use but not that often.

When you split up a Quad you will have to deal with the leg issue. You will need another set of legs. You can not get them from Fender.

You will need a set of sockets, a set of legs, and some special tools. The #10 x 1" flat head screws are available at Lowe's or Home Depot. Trying to find a set of used 3/4" screw legs & sockets will take time and will be very expensive. The best alternative is to get a set of 1/2" screw legs and sockets from Gary Sill.

https://www.sillmusicsupply.com/Steel-Guitar-Legs-Sockets-Leg-Bags_c_12.html

I've bought a number of legs & sockets from Gary and they are first class. He is a member here.

You will need a 3" Forstner bit and a good one at that. I use this one:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/304912168804

That will cut the wide hole in the bottom of the neck. Then you will need a 1.25" Forstner to drill the the center hole. You will need a heavy duty drill press to cut the 3" hole. Practice on a 2x4 first!!!!

You will also need to get the special nuts, washers, and bushings for new connecting rods. Hard to find. George Boards can 3D print a set of bushings for you and they work fine.

Lastly you will need a set of 4 diamonds (2 large, 2 small) that cover the connecting rod holes. These are also hard to find.

You can make the connecting rods using 1/4" 20 threaded rod.

Good luck!
_________________
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

Bill Sinclair · From: Waynesboro, PA, USA

Yeah, quads are rare but players who are willing to lug one to a gig are even rarer. If it's just going to be a music room guitar, by all means, keep it a quad. Of the options you've considered, the one I like best is removing the inside neck and making a triple and a single. You'd need the Forstner bits that Tony described so you could shift the leg sockets from the inside neck to the next one. You might be more likely to gig with a triple than a quad and you could always return it to a quad if you like. Since it's already been refinished, having an extra set of leg socket holes wouldn't be so much of a desecration. By the way, if you decide to make a D8, necks 2 and 3 are the correct thickness for a D8 Stringmaster. The front neck was added for the T8 and the back neck added to that for the quads. Whatever you decide, have fun with it and keep us updated.

Alex Cattaneo · From: Quebec, Canada

Thanks Bill.

It just occurred to me that I could remove neck 3 and make a triple with necks 1,2 and 4. No need to add or remove leg sockets and neck 3 could be used like a lap steel. That would be an easy and reversible way to do it.

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

If you eliminate the 3rd neck, there would be quite a jump from the 2nd neck to the 4th.
Erv

Alex Cattaneo · From: Quebec, Canada

Bill Sinclair · From: Waynesboro, PA, USA

Alex Cattaneo · From: Quebec, Canada

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

Tony is correct, I've gotten legs and sockets from Sill Music and they're different from the ones you are looking for.
I put the ones from Sill Music on a couple of Gibson Console Grandes.
Erv

Mike Harris · From: Texas, USA

You may be able to turn it into a double and two singles (the singles would not have volume/tone controls) in such a way that it could someday be restored to "quadness" with no visible signs of alteration. I've seen it done with a T-8 (a double and one single).

Joe A. Roberts · From: Seoul, South Korea

Alex Cattaneo · From: Quebec, Canada

Thanks Joe, I really enjoyed your Aloha Tears video. Definitely feeling the pull of the 8|string tunings rabbit hole, hahaha! Great stuff.

I think I’m set on putting it back together as a Quad and not messing with it. That was the first big decision.

Now, second dilemma: refin or not refin?

I’m thinking vintage blonde, obviously. Or would I dare go Surf green? Having the only surf green Quad in the solar system would be pretty rad I think. But if I’m going to get it refinished, there will never be a better time.

Tony Oresteen · From: Georgia, USA

Vintage Vibe legs will work. They sell two types of legs - adjustable and non-adjustable. Make sure you get the adjustable FRONT LEGS. I tried to order some a year ago and they were out of stock. I have never tried their sockets which are 3/4" x 10 TPI.

A set of 4 front legs and 4 sockets will cost around $405 plus shipping.
_________________
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

Tim Whitlock · From: Colorado, USA

Seems to be missing the pickup balance wheels, or did I miss them? Unless you can find replacements it means both pickups will be full on. Not my favorite tone from a SM but still workable. It will simplify the wiring and you will benefit from some humbucking effect. Good that the pickups are all fine. Rewinding or new pickups run about $125 each. I quite like the refinish. It was done translucent style, like the original finish.

I would hate to see a rare quad split up but it's certainly your call. Good luck whichever way you go!

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