Under the Hood of Pre-CBS Offsets... (Vintage Markings)

Discussion of vintage Jazzmasters, Jaguars, Bass VIs, Electric XIIs and any other offset-waist instruments.
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Ursa Minor
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Re: Under the Hood of Pre-CBS Offsets... (Vintage Markings)

Post by Ursa Minor » Wed Jan 13, 2016 11:50 am

^ Super cool! Thanks for sharing gut shots of this one. How's she playin'?
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Re: Under the Hood of Pre-CBS Offsets... (Vintage Markings)

Post by Axolotl » Sun Jan 17, 2016 5:00 am

kosmonautmayhem wrote:^ Super cool! Thanks for sharing gut shots of this one. How's she playin'?
She plays amazing after the refret! I've been meaning to post a thread about her, with sound clips and all now that I know her better :) . Will get around it sometime this week.

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Ursa Minor
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Re: Under the Hood of Pre-CBS Offsets... (Vintage Markings)

Post by Ursa Minor » Sun Jan 17, 2016 6:08 am

^that would be awesome!
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Re: Under the Hood of Pre-CBS Offsets... (Vintage Markings)

Post by Dr. H » Wed Jan 20, 2016 8:09 pm

With the number of Latinos working at Fender during the Golden Age, “Esper” may be short for Esperanza. Perhaps another fabled character in Fender lore, and possibly a name for your coveted vintage Fender! ;)

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Re: Under the Hood of Pre-CBS Offsets... (Vintage Markings)

Post by Axolotl » Thu Jan 21, 2016 3:53 am

Dr. H wrote:With the number of Latinos working at Fender during the Golden Age, “Esper” may be short for Esperanza. Perhaps another fabled character in Fender lore, and possibly a name for your coveted vintage Fender!
Hah! You may be onto something. Several times I remember reading speculations about "Esper" (some say it could even be Leo's wife Esther). Your Esperanza theory sounds the most plausible to me.

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Re: Under the Hood of Pre-CBS Offsets... (Vintage Markings)

Post by niandra3 » Wed Nov 16, 2016 10:06 am

Mine's a CBS (1976 Mustang), but figured I would post it anyway. Haven't seen many "L"s. In the middle of a refin at the moment.

PG:
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Control plate:
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Rest of the album: http://imgur.com/a/8nkYn" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: Under the Hood of Pre-CBS Offsets... (Vintage Markings)

Post by otis » Sat Apr 22, 2017 6:02 am

'Mell' took care of my 1964 Fender Jazzmaster
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Re: Under the Hood of Pre-CBS Offsets... (Vintage Markings)

Post by bencrit » Sun May 28, 2017 2:50 pm

Image Here's my "mell". Looks like the name is written on one of the small pieces of tape holding the wiring to this 1959 jazzmaster gold anondized pick guard.

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Re: Under the Hood of Pre-CBS Offsets... (Vintage Markings)

Post by Ursa Minor » Mon May 29, 2017 4:33 am

Cool! Thats the first time I've seen a name on the masking tape like that. Any other markings worthy of note? I don't think there have been too many gold guard closeups these days.
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Re: Under the Hood of Pre-CBS Offsets... (Vintage Markings)

Post by PorkyPrimeCut » Mon May 29, 2017 4:59 am

I've thought this for years but never said it out aloud...it's amazing that most of the tape you see holding wires in place on these per-CBS guards hasn't deteriorated. At the very least I'd have thought it would've lost its adherence.
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Re: Under the Hood of Pre-CBS Offsets... (Vintage Markings)

Post by Ursa Minor » Mon May 29, 2017 7:39 am

PorkyPrimeCut wrote:I've thought this for years but never said it out aloud...it's amazing that most of the tape you see holding wires in place on these per-CBS guards hasn't deteriorated. At the very least I'd have thought it would've lost its adherence.
Truth!
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Re: Under the Hood of Pre-CBS Offsets... (Vintage Markings)

Post by BoringPostcards » Mon May 29, 2017 8:24 am

Sweet. Great thread.
Det er mig der holder traeerne sammen.

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Re: Under the Hood of Pre-CBS Offsets... (Vintage Markings)

Post by BCbassman » Mon Sep 04, 2017 1:21 pm

I'm sure that i am preaching to the choir here -but you guys know that these markings were because the Fender workers were paid in part on how many pieces of work they completed for a given day.
Every assembly line worker had to come up with a unique signature or moniker that was their own so that they could get the bonus or base pay for all that they completed in a workday.

Mell could be an acronym for someone's first and last name.

Esper was definitely for Esperanza. etc. 8)

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Re: Under the Hood of Pre-CBS Offsets... (Vintage Markings)

Post by Howlin_Wolf! » Sat Mar 17, 2018 1:11 pm

Bumping an old thread but here is a 'Pilar' signature on my '61 Strat shielding.

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Re: Under the Hood of Pre-CBS Offsets... (Vintage Markings)

Post by gringopig » Sun Jul 15, 2018 7:47 am

OK, old thread but it might help. My 1964 Fender Duo-Sonic:

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