1978 Fiesta Red Musicmaster Project(Pics/Video pg7)

[taylornutt]

I got the Tru-Oil at Academy. Guitar Center had string trees, but didn't have pickup mounting screws. They carry nothing in their stores. I went to Lowes and found two screws that should work, though one of the holes on the pick seems slightly worn larger so there is a little wobble when screwing it in. I am just concerned that being under tension could pull it through, so I may but put some tape on the threads. And I also go some Krazy glue for a temporary fix for the broken nut.

So here is the plan:

Neck
-glue the nut back together
-sand down those black dots
-Use Tru-oil on the neck
-Mount the String Tree and the F-Tuners
-Remount the neck and F-neck Plate.

Pickguard
-mount the wiring harness
-mount the pickup
-Solder all connections
-Install Bronco Knobs
-Reattach the pickguard

Attach the bridge (careful to make sure the ground makes good contact)
Put the strings on
Intonate and adjust the saddles
Adjust pickup height
Rock Out.

Lots of little stuff but it should be doable. My kids didn't take naps today (or let me take one) so they will be going down early tonight. I will keep you updated.

[Haze]

fuck i didn't put the bag with the screws/string tree in there. fuck all. god forbid i remember the snackumms but not the important bits. fuck. alll. my bad homie

[taylornutt]

fuck i didn't put the bag with the screws/string tree in there. fuck all. god forbid i remember the snackumms but not the important bits. fuck. alll. my bad homie

It was a good snackumm too. Anything that starts with the word "Reese's" is guaranteed to be good.

[hotrodperlmutter]

lol @ Reese's Ball Chud being good.

[taylornutt]

I am done with the neck for now it. That Tru-Oil is amazing. I went over it about 3 times and it looks spectacular. I need to let it sit 2 hours before applying more coats but unless it loses some of the tint, I will leave it as is and then install the tuners and string tree.




Unfortunately my worst fear came true. One of the screws pulled through on the pickup due to a worn out mounting hole. Luckily I was able to make some nuts using 2 strat saddles from my old Jagmaster. Now height adjustments requires removing the pickguard but at least I can continue forward. I am proud of myself. I actually soldered both wires with very little effort for once. Installed the Bronco knobs and it looks amazing.





Unfortunately I am going to have to dremel out the body because the harness won't sit in. Weird uneven rout. Once I get it to fit I can run the ground wire and install the bridge. The neck should be ready to handle and get this thing going.

[taylornutt]

Put a fork in her. She's done. I just finished giving her a quick test drive after stringing her up and tuning several times. Wow What a beast! The action is low and intonation almost perfect and I didn't make one adjustment. The advantages of buying a vintage bridge. The neck is just heavenly after the Tru-Oil treatment and the Bronco Knobs complete the amazing look. The neck went from ugly duckling to Liv Tyler that's for sure. The vintage pickup sounds really good. It's very full but a nice ringing trebly sound. Haze, the treble bleed sounds awesome. I don't lose hardly any treble as I back off the volume, only when I back off the Tone control. I might have a small grounding issue. I noticed it made noise when I wasn't touching the strings or bridge, but I was using my Musicmaster Bass amp so I want to test on my Marshall before I check it again.

► Show Spoiler

[Haze]

Fuck yea bro, an demo duu

[cooter]

Nice job. Looks really cool.

[taylornutt]

I will demo later. I was up until 3:30am finishing so I need to rest some first.

[lorez]

it looks great taylornutt, looking forward to the demo

[taylornutt]

I tried the guitar through my pedals and my Marshall JTM 30. It' sounds so clear and bright! Sounds good with dirt and Small Clone Chorus. The size is perfect and so much better than my CV Duo Sonic I used to own. The small buzz is still there. The buzz occurs only when I am not touching the strings or the bridge. Is this just the single coil or a bad ground? My guess would be the copper ground wire sandwiched under the bridge may have pushed into the wood and not touching the bridge plate. The old ground wire was aluminum wire so it frayed and flattened as opposed to the solid copper wire. Could I put a dabb of solder on the tip of the copper ground wire to give it more contact surface? I just want make sure it's not something else before I have to take the guitar apart again.

[paul_]

Guitar Center had string trees, but didn't have pickup mounting screws. They carry nothing in their stores.

Oh dude, forget about it. Since their "format change" they've been hopeless, I went in for strap buttons and the girl didn't know what they were (before realizing they just didn't have them), Robroe went to buy string trees and the kid at the counter had no idea what they were, my parents got me a THD Hotplate Attenuator a few christmases ago and they told me the guy was like "WE SELL HOTPLATES???" probably wondering why they weren't having little fry-ups in the breakroom.
When I first started playing guitar in about '95 or '96, Guitar Center was GREAT... you'd walk in on a busy day and some guy would greet you with a cable and a pick and turn you loose. Their selection was far better as well, and they had the whole floor-model + stockroom thing going on... now the one you see is the one they got, unless it's a big seller, then the TWO you see are the TWO they've got. And they had loads of stuff in the parts department too, every little screw or spring you could want. They were a real music shop back then.

They say the internet is killing physical music shops, but I don't think the shops are helping either. Especially not the guys at GC who've told me to "go on the internet" in defense of them not carrying something.

[blacktaxi]

I don't think you can solder anything to that bridge, it looks chromed, can't solder to that shit. But yeah, I'd call it a bad ground. Had same thing in my 72 Tele, and I couldn't fix it, it was getting on my nerves. So I payed a tech to do it.

[taylornutt]

I don't want to solder the wire to the bridge, just put some solder on the tip of the ground wire to create a larger contact surface.

[stewart]

my jag and duo both buzz, it's not something that bothers me though. it goes away when you start playing.

[TexasSwede]

Oh dude, forget about it. Since their "format change" they've been hopeless... They were a real music shop back then.

Really? You mean being bought out by Toys R Us changed them in some way?!? Be thankful they weren't bought by Victorias Secret.

I give my business to the local shops whenever I can. Before I order anything off the internet, I always ask what they can for me first. I even have my local shops order from AllParts for me. It's win-win, they get a 10-30% markup over cost, and I get 10-30% savings over the full list price I'd pay if I ordered it myself.

BTW, this build is very well done, Taylor.

In case you don't have one already, you can download a Musicmaster Owners Manual HERE.

Just don't forget to tell Fender what your two favorite magazines are! (last page) LOL!

[taylornutt]

Got some Schaller Strap locks yesterday. Stuck at home due to snow/ice storm so I will try to get them installed today and maybe experiment with my video setup so I can do a demo of the Musicmaster soon.

[Haze]

My musicmaster hs the samn issue but it isn't there 90% of the time. When I stop playing I roll the volume off by habbit.

[taylornutt]

Straps locks are on. The existing holes were already big enough, so that was easy. That buzz is so small I am going to leave it and not worry about it. I am going to try to combine Garageband and my FlipVideo camera to see if I can use that for a video setup for this. I need to demo this along some other things as well so maybe that will work. The tuner for the "A" String seems a little tight for some reason. not sure why. If I get the video situation worked out then the flood of demos can follow.

[taylornutt]

I think I got my demo software figured out. Can record audio with Garageband and video with my flip camera or Photobooth on my laptop. No school tomorrow so I will try to get a demo done.