The main pro is that the neck is fantastic! Profile is awesome. The body has been refinished and planed down, making the neck pocket shallow - causing the bridge saddle height screws to be too short (some longer screws have been added). Wiring was all screwed (one pot is bad for sure - seized - the other I haven't bothered checking). Neck pup is fine (although the bobbin is worn way down as it was played without a cover for a looong time) - bridge pup needs a repair and appears to be inop for the moment. Switches are good, pickguard is original and intact. I think I'm going to end up getting a donor body for this thing.
In the mean time, I pulled the 24" scale neck from the Duo and put it on my '64 Musicmaster (which is 22.5") - talk about an improvement! The MM didn't even need minor tweaks w/ the new neck - it was ready for it and the setup is still spot on with a minor intonation job.
I've currently got the 22.5" scale neck getting ready to go on the Duo - and will re-wire it and use it as an around the house beater. The Musicmaster w/ the Duo neck is now in the gig rotation.
A few pix ('64/66 MM and Duo, '65 Mustang, '65 Jag, Gibson 58 RI, and '69 Gibson LP):
Last edited by Dice on Fri Jun 26, 2009 4:49 am, edited 1 time in total.
Thanks, brother! I got it from a forum buddy at a great price. He wasn't aware that it had been planed down during the refin (nor was I), so that was a downer. I was hoping to do a full restore. I'm very happy w/ the neck - strong frets and well broken in finish - solid tuners. The goal was to have a 2nd 24" student model to gig with - so I got that wish regardless. I do have my work cut out for me with the rest of the project, though. The neck alone is worth what I paid for the whole thing, so I'm definitely very happy overall. I was hoping to do a daphne blue refin so that I'd have one in each color - but I think I'm just going to hold off and find an original daphne MusicMaster down the road.
(To be completely honest - I prefer the MusicMaster to the Mustang and Duo-Sonic - I love the neck pickup tone on these guys, and those switches get in my way. Not a fan of the Mustang trem either - although the bridge is excellent.)
As for the 2nd part of your post - I mostly agree. I also think that it was done quite a while back, when the guitar was worth nothing (not that the short scale student models are worth a whole lot even now). The guy who my buddy got it from had it for quite a while, and bought it after it had been refinished. The refin job is decent - very thin poly. If the body hadn't been messed with, I would have done the full restore. For now, I think I'll just make it a 22.5" player. Thanks again for the compliment - and the MusicMaster is just incredible at the moment. Probably my favorite of the 3 Fenders in the pic.
Another downer regarding the planed body is that the control cavities are shallow now - so regular length pickup screws won't work as they bottom out. It'll also be tough to get the wiring stuffed in there when I redo it. Grounding plates are still there, thankfully.
Thanks! I've really narrowed down my tastes and gotten rid of a bunch of gear lately. The short scale Fenders and P90 Les Pauls are where it is at for me. I was mostly surprised at how affordable the mid 60's Duos/Mustangs/MusicMasters are when compared to the rest of the vintage market. If you see one for sale locally - be sure to check it out!
silly_rabbit_band wrote:I'll trade you my soul mustang for your jaguar mustang.
Lovely gear, especially love those tweed amps. Also, what kind of stand are you using?
I could use a good untainted soul!
Not sure on the brand of the stand - I took the floor model and it is tagless. I like it, but don't love it. I haven't had any luck finding anything better, though. It is decent for sure - but not very heavy duty. I wouldn't gig with it (as in break it down and set it up repeatedly - I don't think it'd hold up).
The amps are Peavey Classics - Classic 30, Classic 50 (4x10), and two Classic extension cabs (115 and 410). I really like them - pretty rugged and CHEAP tube amps. I'm working on selling some other gear (Laney full stack and some odds and ends) to fund a Dr. Z MAZ SR - 38 watt 1x12" combo w/ reverb (heavenly - amazing cleans w/ tons of headroom in a small package.)
Anyways - Thanks much. I wish I was savvy enough to do a refinish myself, because I don't think that this body is worth paying to have redone. Enough people are gutting these beautiful old Fenders and parting them out on Ebay - I'm sure I could find a body for a couple hundred bucks if I look around some...
i would bust nut to get a les paul like that. i love p90's, definitely my pickup of choice. is it a deluxe?
i have the same feeling for guitars, the p90's and shortscales are top of my playing list.
nice collection
Fender Classic Player 60’s Stratocaster>East Coast T1 Tele>
Epiphone Les Paul SL>Ovation 12 String acoustic>Peavey Strat DIY Relic
Marshall Origin 20H>James’s old purple 2x10
Marshall MG10 Combo
Progrockabuse wrote:i would bust nut to get a les paul like that. i love p90's, definitely my pickup of choice. is it a deluxe?
i have the same feeling for guitars, the p90's and shortscales are top of my playing list.
nice collection
Thanks brother - I got it cheap! Its a 1969 refinished Deluxe (Nitro refin - the "story" is that it was a Gibson refin in the early 70's - regardless, it is very good and an old refinish). It is from the "transition" period in '69 - it has one of the very last one piece bodies (prior to the pancake switch), one of the very first 3 piece necks (nice slim profile), and a transitional long neck tenon. It weighs 8lbs 14oz. One pot was replaced in the 70's, but the rest of the guts other than the P90's are original. I picked it up for $3k w/ the original case - and immediately sold the original "rolled" pickguard to a guy on another forum I frequent for $950 + a reproduction guard (one of those collector types who was dead set on making his '69 all original!). Those rolled guards go for $1.5k all the time - so we both were happy. Long story short is that I've only got $2k invested in that guitar, and it is without a doubt the best playing and sounding guitar I've ever laid hands on! Here are a couple more shots of it. Thanks for the compliment! (If you're ever passing through Missoula MT - hit me up and come play it!).
While the pickguard was off...
And, the pickguard that paid for 1/3 of the guitar!!
so, did your deluxe originally have mini humbuckers in it? did install the p90's yourself?
if i was able to find a deluxe at a reasonable price, i would sell as much gear as i could get away with to get it. they just sound lighter and more open than a standard les paul. my goldtop has been my main guitar recently and whilst there's nothing wrong with epiphone guitars, i'd love to get a gibson goldtop/dleuxe.
Fender Classic Player 60’s Stratocaster>East Coast T1 Tele>
Epiphone Les Paul SL>Ovation 12 String acoustic>Peavey Strat DIY Relic
Marshall Origin 20H>James’s old purple 2x10
Marshall MG10 Combo
my friend's dad has a fifties goldtop, either a '56 or a '58 (can't remember) that's pretty cool. i've only ever played it unamplified so couldn't say how it sounded plugged in, but it felt quite nice. either way, it looks good.
Prog - P90's were added before I got it. AS for top wrapping, it doesn't work on a lot of LP's as it reduces the break angle of the strings over the bridge too much - strings pop out of saddles, etc. The Deluxes are cool guitars though - definitely pick one up if you can!
Robert - P90's are fantastic - my favorite pickup for cleans. I break strings more often on LP's than Fenders - the nature of the beast, though.
Stewart - must be a '56 or a very very early '58 (went to Sunburst early '58). If it was a '56, it would have P90's, the '58 would have PAF Humbuckers. Either way, it is worth $60-150,000.00.
Dice wrote:must be a '56 or a very very early '58 (went to Sunburst early '58). If it was a '56, it would have P90's, the '58 would have PAF Humbuckers. Either way, it is worth $60-150,000.00.
it has humbuckers of some sort in it, they're old but not original. they'd been replaced when he bought it in the 60s or 70s.
Dice wrote:must be a '56 or a very very early '58 (went to Sunburst early '58). If it was a '56, it would have P90's, the '58 would have PAF Humbuckers. Either way, it is worth $60-150,000.00.
it has humbuckers of some sort in it, they're old but not original. they'd been replaced when he bought it in the 60s or 70s.
Right on. Those 50's Gibsos are about the b est investments out there. Hopefully it wasn't a P90 model chiseled out for Humbuckers. I'd love to get my hands on a 50's GT - even just to play it. I've had a '56 in my hands, but it was in the middle of a restore and not playable at the time.
I really see these MM's/Duos/Mustangs from the 60's as being great players and safe investments. Nothing else feels like a nicely broken in 50's/60's Nitro finished Fender neck...
i'm not sure if it had been routed for the humbuckers, it's been a while since i've seen it. it's still worth a fortune even with original pickups. he has some amazing guitars, stuff you wouldn't believe.
i agree with you about 60s fender necks, they're lovely.
