my new fender musicmaster bass!

[Saf]

yesterday the mailman came with a large package all the way from australia...

 I'm so excited. It's my thirt lefty fender musicmaster bass and isn't she a true beauty? She's born in '77. Have put just after taking the picture some new strings on it. now strung the right way up. She sound really great. I only have an small fender musicmasterbass combo at home currently so I have to wait a little longer to hear on my main stack.

pics of the new beauty in our house:





The other two:

This one my first self payed for bass, and from that time on is always been my main bass. She's was born somewhere in '73 - '74


This one I got out of germany some years ago. It had an fender telecasterbass humbucker in it when I got it.  Wich I pulled out (don't like the sound of those HBs) It now has an GFS lipstickhumbucker in it. That can be coil splitted, in and out phase, serie/parrellel and has an variotone installed witch can be by passed. It sounds great now. She was born in '75


The three sisters together:



This one started life as an '77 - '78 musicmaster bass, By the time I got her, her body was all cut up and totally useless. Together with my father I had this body made out of an slab of hardwood. It was intended to be bright red with an black binding. Unfortunatly my dad died while we were still in the process of putting it together. Haven't changed it since the day he died. It has seen a lot of stage's of the last 4 years.



I'm have get my hands on a lefty tele thinline body, that will be married with an squier bronco neck and hardware to create another  great bass.


The five together to finish this post off...



I have owned a couple of righthanded musicmaster basses as well. an '77 and a '78 both white/yellow. I also have had three squier vista series musicmaster basses, an white, an black and an white one. My wife plays bass on an Squier bronco batz maru bass and yesterday sold her old black squier bronco bass.

Are there some more musicmaster bass owner here?

[Chris P.]

Cool!!

[Bart!]

Nice collection Saf!

I just bought a Squier Vista musicmaster, that the previous owner painted in a quite thick layer of dark green , because he didn`t like the sonic blue.  It`s a really bad paintjob, done with a brush and he didn`t care not to hit the tuners neck,or neckplate. I`m not sure if I can get the green paint off nicely. I`m thinking about a Fiesta refin now, to make it match my P-bass.

[exiledarchangel]

Hey, those basses are upside-down!!! 
VERY cool collection! Can you post some clips with that lipstick in series/parallel/singlecoil mode? I have 2 of those pickups in my lespaul guitar, I am interested about their sound on a bass! 

[Blazer]

Nice collection Saf!

I just bought a Squier Vista musicmaster, that the previous owner painted in a quite thick layer of dark green , because he didn`t like the sonic blue.  It`s a really bad paintjob, done with a brush and he didn`t care not to hit the tuners neck,or neckplate. I`m not sure if I can get the green paint off nicely. I`m thinking about a Fiesta refin now, to make it match my P-bass.

Try using acetone or thinner, they will remove that brush applied paint without removing the original finish.

[ilan]

Cool! Another a big fan of Musicmasters here. I have two '78's - one in black and one in Olympic white. IMO they sound better than Mustangs. I wish I could get a long scale bass to sound like my black '78. It's my #1 bass for recording. For live/practice/rehearsals I use the Rics, P's or J.

[Dave W]

Nice collection.

Most original Musicmasters I've heard sound better than Mustangs to me. I guess it must be the pickup, I can't imagine the different bridge having that much effect. Low output guitar pickup but has plenty of bottom end on a bass.

[ilan]

I guess it must be the pickup, I can't imagine the different bridge having that much effect.

I agree.

[Saf]

@bart, like said before. try stripping the old paint of, by using thineer. If the bass was painted with a brush you have a change that you will be able to get the first paint back. Take the hardware and electronics out of the bass. And wrap her body in rags that are drenched in thinner. Keep them on for a couple of minute or half an hour something like that. Keep them off. and in most cases you can now see the paint start to come off. Wipe it off. And then repeat the whole thing. till you hav estripped off all the paint, and you keep the first paint.

It's has worked for me on a couple of occasions. It only works when the painter hasn't sand the orginal paint very well.


The sound of these musicmaster is really the best for me, and it's nothing mor then a regular stratocaster 6 pole single coil and a volume and tone pots. Less is more! I do believe these basses are often ignored and make fun about. But most people just don't know or maybe don't wanna know who great these little basses are.

[Bart!]

Thanks for the good advice, I wouldn`t have thought of using thinner to remove that paint. I`m just hoping he didn`t use sandpaper. But it would be a suprise, as he did such a messy job of painting in the first place.

[ilan]

and it's nothing mor then a regular stratocaster 6 pole single coil

Actually that's not a Strat pickup, it's a Musicmaster guitar pickup. The magnet slugs are flush with the bobbin, I don't know about other specs but I think it's less output than a Strat's.

[Saf]

I heard that one to, I've seen picture of musicmaster basses. both orginal (the owner claimed) both with a slightly different guitarpup? maybe they did make them with musicmaster and strat pup. Or maybe they are different the first version (pre 76 and the second version post76?
 I don't mind really what  I know is that I simply love them