1976 Musicmaster guitar refin

Discussion of vintage Jazzmasters, Jaguars, Bass VIs, Electric XIIs and any other offset-waist instruments.
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infiniteposse
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1976 Musicmaster guitar refin

Post by infiniteposse » Wed Apr 24, 2019 5:48 am

This just popped up on CL this weekend with a horrible single photo and the ominous, "make an offer." I got an idea of the ballpark the guy wanted and went over to check out the guitar. It was literally the lightest electric guitar I've ever picked up. It needed a little setup work, but otherwise it was in good shape and the neck was amazing. It turns out it's 24.25" scale, which I hadn't been expecting. The refin was done some time ago and the work isn't pro, but it's fine at a distance and I love this shade of green. The stamps on the neck are interesting. No date stamp at the heel and nothing I was able to find other examples of in the wild. Maybe someone here knows more about them.

The body only has the single neck route, so modding with a second pickup isn't an option. Has anyone played with different pickup choices?

https://imgur.com/a/YljuNxB
Lee

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601210
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Re: 1976 Musicmaster guitar refin

Post by 601210 » Wed Apr 24, 2019 5:53 am

Looks pretty cool to me, didn't know they came in 24.25".

Con-Tiki!
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Re: 1976 Musicmaster guitar refin

Post by Con-Tiki! » Wed Apr 24, 2019 6:27 am

excellent.
i don't know about the scale. Could be, the intonation is way off when you get it strung.
It should be 24".
I have a '75 Mustang and it has the same weird collection of markings on the heel. If there's a way to decode them, I haven't found it. Serial # on the headstock tells you most of what you'd need to know.
(Christopher, also)
I've been to one World's Fair, a picnic, and a rodeo, and that's the stupidest thing i ever heard come out a pair of headphones.

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Re: 1976 Musicmaster guitar refin

Post by infiniteposse » Wed Apr 24, 2019 6:36 am

Con-Tiki! wrote:
Wed Apr 24, 2019 6:27 am
excellent.
i don't know about the scale. Could be, the intonation is way off when you get it strung.
It should be 24".
I have a '75 Mustang and it has the same weird collection of markings on the heel. If there's a way to decode them, I haven't found it. Serial # on the headstock tells you most of what you'd need to know.
Scale length might just be 24”. Intonation was great, so I was likely just off base on my measurement. What else would this neck work on? It’s an amazing neck. It’s got quite a bit of girth to it.
Lee

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Re: 1976 Musicmaster guitar refin

Post by Con-Tiki! » Wed Apr 24, 2019 8:31 am

duo, mustang, jaguar
sometimes the heel width isn't perfect, but the scale will work.
(Christopher, also)
I've been to one World's Fair, a picnic, and a rodeo, and that's the stupidest thing i ever heard come out a pair of headphones.

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Re: 1976 Musicmaster guitar refin

Post by infiniteposse » Wed Apr 24, 2019 8:44 am

Con-Tiki! wrote:
Wed Apr 24, 2019 8:31 am
duo, mustang, jaguar
sometimes the heel width isn't perfect, but the scale will work.
Cool. Thank you. It's an awesome guitar as-is. I don't know what the market looks like for these, but I got a pretty good deal on it, so I think I'll just use it as is for a while and see how much we bond.

I'm still interested to hear if anyone has had any luck swapping out the pickup with something else that would drop in. I've got a set of zexcoil pickups I'm not using and one of those might be cool in there. Noiseless and maybe a little extra output. The OG grey-bottom pickup sounds great though, so that may never happen.
Lee

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Re: 1976 Musicmaster guitar refin

Post by Trout » Wed Apr 24, 2019 9:39 am

Try a Curtis Novak lipstick. Love it!

Image
#sitdownrock at https://staffanandersson.bandcamp.com/album/det-hemliga-namnet

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Re: 1976 Musicmaster guitar refin

Post by shshsh » Wed Apr 24, 2019 6:35 pm

Love that shade of green! Nice find.

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Re: 1976 Musicmaster guitar refin

Post by mgeek » Thu Apr 25, 2019 1:01 am

infiniteposse wrote:
Wed Apr 24, 2019 8:44 am

I'm still interested to hear if anyone has had any luck swapping out the pickup with something else that would drop in. I've got a set of zexcoil pickups I'm not using and one of those might be cool in there. Noiseless and maybe a little extra output. The OG grey-bottom pickup sounds great though, so that may never happen.
On a one pickup guitar with the pickup in the neck position like this, imo you don't want anything too hot, because hot + neck = muddy/wooly.

I'd leave it alone.

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Re: 1976 Musicmaster guitar refin

Post by infiniteposse » Thu Apr 25, 2019 11:44 am

Noted. I tend to just sit with things for a while and discover what they do, as-is. I'll sit back and just enjoy this for a bit.
Lee

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Re: 1976 Musicmaster guitar refin

Post by Trout » Thu Apr 25, 2019 12:05 pm

infiniteposse wrote:
Thu Apr 25, 2019 11:44 am
Noted. I tend to just sit with things for a while and discover what they do, as-is. I'll sit back and just enjoy this for a bit.
That is a good tactic. No need to rush things!
#sitdownrock at https://staffanandersson.bandcamp.com/album/det-hemliga-namnet

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