One of the Last Musicmasters

This 12 1/4-inch-wide "student" guitar in the custom color "see-through" Wine Red weighs 7.70 lbs. and has a nut width of 1 5/8 inches and a scale length of 24 inches. Solid alder body, maple neck, and rosewood fretboard with 22 frets and pearloid dot position markers. Headstock decal with "Fender®" logo in black with gold trim, with "SERIAL NUMBER S 811981" in black beneath it and "MUSICMASTER™" in black beside it, and with "MADE IN U.S.A." in black in small letters beneath that. Single "butterfly" string tree. Individual Fender "F" tuners with octagonal metal buttons. Four-bolt neck plate with the large Fender backward "F". One black plain-top plastic Musicmaster pickup, angled at neck, with an output of 5.82k. Three-layer (black/white/black) plastic pickguard with fifteen screws. Two controls (one volume, one tone) and jack socket, all on pickguard. Black plastic knobs with white markings. Combined bridge/tailpiece with three adjustable saddles. The pots are dated: "137 80 29." (July 1980). The bottom of the neck has "H. GASTELLUV [?] FRR20 4702S." The neck pocket has the same serial number on a printed label (as does the original hang tag) and "FRR 40." The pickup cavity has a printed ticket dated "01.12.81." This guitar is in near mint (9.25) condition, with only a few minuscule finish marks on the body. The grain of the body shows beautifully through the custom color Wine Red finish. Housed in the original black Fender hardshell case with burgundy plush lining (9.00). With the original hang tag.

"Fender's new 'student' guitars, the Duo-Sonic and Musicmaster, first appeared in 1956. They had smaller, lighter bodies, shorter necks [22 1/2 inch scale] and basic appointments. The Musicmaster was the single-pickup version...Despite their budget status, the student models were still playable instruments: Fender seemed to have cut the right corners" (Tony Bacon and Paul Day, The Fender Book).

This is one of the last Musicmasters made. The second version appeared in 1964 and at that time the choice of either a short 22 1/2-inch scale or a "Jaguar" 24-inch scale (as this one) was offered. The model was eventually discontinued in 1982.