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Post subject: Help and advice re a 1973 Musicmaster Bass
Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 2:59 pm
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Hi People

Hope you are all fine and dandy.
I am hoping that you guys may be able to give me some advice regarding my 1973 Fender Shortscale Musicmaster Bass.

I bought the bass a number of years ago and have just left it untouched since then.
It had been stripped of all paint when I bought it and I was wondering if you would recommend leaving it as it is or re-painting it. I have a decent amount of experience in spray painting as I occaisionly need to do some at work.
Also does anybody know where can get a decal for it as the original isn't on it.
I also require a machine head and cannot find one anywhere. The existing ones only have three mounting screws as opposed to the more common four.

Hopefully there should be a picture here:

http://cid-cf940490a16161c0.skydrive.li ... a=82023004

Peace

Andrew.


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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 3:13 pm
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I can see from your picture that you have a cool looking Musicmaster bass. Refinishing a stripped bass can be a little involved if you want to do like Fender originally did. There are a number of steps but I am not sure if they followed all of the finishing layers on a Musicmaster.

IMHO if you us a white primer and then paint it Dakota Red or Sonic Blue, you willhave a pretty legit looking Musicmaster Bass.

The 3 screw machine head is a German made one I think. They are actually quite nice but they will be hard to find. Perhaps a repair shop may have some laying around that came off another Musicmaster Bass.

The decal for the neck would have to come from Fender AFAIK.
You may have to send a photo and the serial number to them so that they can see that you are restoring an actual Fender bass, and not some copy.

BTW- The original pickup on a 70's Musicmaster bass is a guitar pickup! It has 6 pole pieces just like a Stratocaster pickup.
The newer Squire Musismaster Basses have a bass pickup wih four pole pieces.

Good luck with your bass.

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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 3:28 pm
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Thank you for the advice. It is much appreciated.

Regarding painting, I was thinking along the lines of rubbing the existing varnish down with very fine wet and dry until it is totally smooth. Then primer, then a few layers of paint. Then a couple of layers of clearcoat flattened off with 1200 wet and dry and then unleashing my secret weapon on it.
I have a special multi-mop polishing kit with different grades of polish that is primarily used to restore pinball playfields.
When used correctly the finish is like glass !
There are some machine heads on ebay at the moment but it would mean buying 4 when I only need one.
I think I will follow your advice and e-mail some repair shops.

Thanks for the heads up on the decal. I will contact Fender with a picture of the serial number plate.

Mant thanks,

Andrew.


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Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 7:19 am
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The whole issue of paint is gonna be based on what are your intentions. Are you painting it as a resoration project or to your taste?

My Musicmaster is a 78 and it's not a museum piece, it's an ultra-dependable workhorse that I play all the time. As such, my paint choice was based on my personal taste and was not necessarily based on what the original color was.

When I got mine, it had been recovered from a loft in a barn and was in saaaaaaaaad shape so refinishing of some type was mandatory. I stripped it to the wood, primed it and took it to a local auto shop for painting. I knew the owner and he gave me a pretty good deal.

This is from about a year ago. Since than the pickup has been upped to a Seymour Duncan Basslines pickup, and I took out that original Strat pickup that was in there.

Image


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Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 1:09 pm
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Hi Guys

A quick update for ya.

I have decided to paint the bass a very dark green and then give it lots of coats of clear.
I may have a lead on a new machine head (fingers crossed).
I am going to contact Fender regarding the decal.
I will post some piccies when I have made some progress.

Peace,
Andrew.


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Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 2:30 pm
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Hi Peeps

A further update for you. The bass is now painted with 4 coats of a very dark metallic green. It has about 10 coats of clear on it which I am leaving for a week or two to harden. It will then be wet sanded until the finish is totally flat and then polished up with my pinball playfield polishing kit.
It is looking great already, should look brilliant when finished.
I am going to make a new scratch plate (machined at work :wink: ) but have not decided what colour yet (leaning towards a dark color possibly with a pearl finish).
No joy with the machine head, so it looks like a new set will have to go on.
Fender no longer make the decal so I have bought a decal from a shop in the USA that says Fender Musicmaster. Should look good when installed.

Peace,
Andrew.


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Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 3:05 pm
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That sounds like a great bass you have coming together. I would love to see a picture when you finish reassembling it. Metallic green with a white pearl pickguard would look very nice!

bassman Bill

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Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 3:37 pm
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Hi Bill

Thanks for the encouragement. I will probably choose from one of these for the pickguard.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ELECTRIC-GUITAR-S ... m153.l1262

I will machine two at the same time and then maybe make one available on here.

Peace,

Andrew.


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Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 11:31 am
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Hi People.

Here is where I am so far. The bass which was green is now metallic burgundy (there was an incident involving the bass, a weak hook and gravity).
I have not done the neck yet although I do have a decal for it. I am still unable to locate a machine head for it.
The scratch plate and paintjob is done. Let me know what you think.

http://cid-cf940490a16161c0.skydrive.li ... usicmaster

Peace,
Andrew.


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Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 2:05 pm
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XP50, NICE JOB! You are almost there! That looks nice to me.


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Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 2:12 pm
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That looks beautiful, nice smooth finish.

Much nicer looking than the wood look. That pearl pickguard looks great on there too.


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