1. Musicmaster Guitar
2. Musicmaster Fender
3. Music Masters Degree

Musicmaster Guitar

MusicMaster's highly scalable design and intuitive user interface are the cornerstones of its success in the radio and music-television scheduling market. Capable of meeting the needs of small-market stations and top 50 market clusters and networks alike, MusicMaster has the right solution and can be deployed quickly and easily.

The Fender Musicmaster is a solid bodyelectric guitar produced by Fender. It was the first 3/4 scale student-model guitar Fender produced.A Musicmaster Bass model was also put on the market. Musicians such as David Byrne and Liz Phair used a Fender Musicmaster.

History[edit]

1955–1963[edit]

Design work on the Musicmaster-and its two-pickup variant Duo-Sonic-began in late 1955 following a request from Fender Sales. Prototypes were made in early 1956, followed by sales literature announcing both models. Production of the Musicmaster began in late April of that year, using a body routed for two pickups to be common to the Duo-Sonic, which followed a little more than two months later. The Duo-Sonic and Musicmaster also shared a single-piece maple neck and fingerboard, with a 22.5 inch scale length and 21 frets.

There was one major redesign of these two Musicmaster-bodied guitars, in 1959 when the entire Fender catalog was updated. At this time, the Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic both received a plastic pickguard in place of the previous anodized aluminum one, and a two-piece maple neck with a rosewood fingerboard.

1964–1982[edit]

In 1964, following the release of the Fender Mustang, both the Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic were redesigned using Mustang neck and body blanks. The Mustang body was larger and slightly offset, and was fitted with a plastic pickguard but with the volume and tone controls mounted on a separate metal plate. The headstock was also enlarged. All three models were offered with the option of a 24-inch scale and 22-fret neck or a 22.5-inch scale and 21-fret neck; all three models were also offered with the choice of 'round-lam,' or veneered, rosewood or maple fingerboard. The 24 inch scale proved to be the most popular of these options. The redesigned Musicmaster was named the Musicmaster II and its stablemate the Duo-Sonic II, both using the Bronco body and pickguard shapes, although decals with and without the II designation were used without any real meaning.

The Shawn Mendes Foundation Musicmaster is a one-of-a-kind guitar that complements Mendes' unique style – combining classic Fender tone and exquisite vintage inspired art in one striking instrument. The history of the Musicmaster stretches back to the mid-'50s, when it was introduced as one of Fender's first-ever 3/4 scale student model guitars. VG Overdrive is sponsored by SonoTone Premium Guitar & Bass Strings! 1957 Musicmaster with custom black finish. Guitar photos courtesy of George Gruhn. Often forgotten amongst Fender’s classic line of vintage electric guitars, the definitive (and diminutive) Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic student-grade models were conceived to capitalize on the fact teenagers were taking up the guitar in droves.

Certain models of the Musicmaster, especially from between 1978 and 1980, were finished with a coat that reacted negatively with the base coat. This causes many modern surviving Musicmasters from this period to suffer from paint flaking off the body.

The Musicmaster was produced until 1982 when both it and the Mustang were dropped in favor of the newer Fender Lead models.

The Fender Swinger, another 22.5 inch scale guitar, was produced using the Musicmaster bridge, electrics and scratchplate but with a modified Fender Bass V body.

In 2020, Fender released a special version of the Musicmaster for the Shawn Mendes Music Foundation. It features 2 pickups, a single coil and a humbucker, and is the same as the 2020 Duo-Sonic other than the pickup configuration. Unlike the Duo Sonic, the neck pickup is a humbucker and the single coil is the bridge pickup.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

• 'Fender's 3/4 Scale Guitars', a two-part article by Tim Pershing in 20th Century Guitar, December 1996 and January 1997.
• 'Little Brothers Turn 50', an article by Terry Foster and Tim Pershing in Vintage Guitar, July 2006.
• Fender: The Golden Age, 1946–1970, a book by Martin Kelly, Terry Foster, Paul Kelly. London & New York: Cassell ISBN1-84403-666-9

External links[edit]

Musicmaster Fender

Music Masters Degree