'76 Musicmaster on Ebay

[Matt R.]

Nice

http://cgi.ebay.com/76-Fender-Musicmast ... 500wt_1156

[bigevilrobot]

Been watching this, but I guess the seller won't ship outside of the US

[cangaroo]

am i wrong or that logo on the headstock looks suspicious ?

shouldn't be a 76 with black logo and the "musicmaster bass" ?

[slybass3000]

am i wrong or that logo on the headstock looks suspicious ?

shouldn't be a 76 with black logo and the "musicmaster bass" ?

Humm You might be right about the logo.

First, I own three Fender from the mid-70's and another p-bass neck and they all have only the Black Fender logo, not gold.

Second, I find the headstock pretty big but this might be typical for a small bass. I'm not a MusicMaster expert but I did have a 75 Mustang and I don't recall a big headstock like this one.

Third, There is the missing filled hole on the back of the headstock that is typical (in my knowledge) for Fender basses.

[blankrider]

On Arni's site, the banner bass at the top is a red ?mustang? bass. The headstock is shaped exactly like this bass, as well as having a gold fender logo in the same placement.

[ptbass]

The tuning machines on the Musicmaster are different from the Mustang, and these look more like the Mustang and the headstock doesn't say Musicmaster. They may have changed tuning machines and stickers in 76 I'm not sure.

[Matt R.]

Here's the headstock of my '78 Musicmaster. It's definitely possible that the decals could have changed. It happened on P & J Basses.

[PunkRockBassist]

i mean it is a mid 70's cbs era fender and a student model could fender just have put a mustang neck they had laying around on to save the cost of making a new neck? wouldnt suprise me but if thats the case here any major issues that this bass could have from that?

[pjmuck]

am i wrong or that logo on the headstock looks suspicious ?

shouldn't be a 76 with black logo and the "musicmaster bass" ?

'76 was the transition year for the headstock logo change from TV design to the black logo you mention. I've never seen any (legitimate) lefty Fender with a TV logo, as they opted to just use the Fender name only since the TV logo typeface doesn't work well on a lefty headstock (Think about it: Types reading left to right would read from narrower headstock tip to wider headstock heel, whereas a righty headstock is visa versa and offers more real estate for the larger Fender logo). So this could very well be an earlier neck prior to transition. BUT! Come to think of it, I've never seen a TV logo design on a righty Musicmaster either. Look at the "musicmaster" types on this 1971 righty as an example:

http://www.guitar-museum.com/guitar-123 ... -condition

It would appear that Fender continued using the earlier 60's typeface design on the Musicmasters until changing to the more slanted typeface in '76. My guess is "Musicmaster Bass" in a TV logo style would just be too many characters to squeeze on to a little headstock. So that raises yet another question: if Fender had to resort to using an earlier smaller logo style on righties as well then why not include it on lefties since it would have fit fine? After all, pre-TV logo lefties can be found with the full model name intact.

[Addison]

This is the guy who was doing the Fender logo applications in the 70's...



Any questions?

[slybass3000]

Here's the headstock of my '78 Musicmaster. It's definitely possible that the decals could have changed. It happened on P & J Basses.

Hey Matt,

Just curious, do you have the "beauty mark" in the back of the headstock?

[slybass3000]

Chris,

You're funny !!!! Good one.

[Matt R.]

Sly, I will let you know this evening when I'm back in my bass room. Can't remember off the top of my head.

[pjmuck]

This is the guy who was doing the Fender logo applications in the 70's...



Any questions?

No joke - A few years ago I had my old guitar tech do a setup on my '72 J. When he removed the neck, he found in the neck pocket a clipping of some clothing ad from some early 70's magazine with some dude that looked just like that. Somebody apparently had stuck it in there as a shim way back when. I still have it in there. (I'll have to take a picture of it and post it).

[Matt R.]

Just curious, do you have the "beauty mark" in the back of the headstock?

No sir it isn't there.

[slybass3000]

LOL

Did you buy the bass from Addison?

[slybass3000]

Just curious, do you have the "beauty mark" in the back of the headstock?

No sir it isn't there.

Ah Ok. May be the Musicmaster wasn't build like the other Fenders. I asked because on the pic I couldn't see the "beauty mark".

All my vintage Fenders have that mark which is part of the way the necks were build. I don't know if it is only on lefties tough.

[Matt R.]

Just curious, do you have the "beauty mark" in the back of the headstock?

No sir it isn't there.

Ah Ok. May be the Musicmaster wasn't build like the other Fenders. I asked because on the pic I couldn't see the "beauty mark".

All my vintage Fenders have that mark which is part of the way the necks were build. I don't know if it is only on lefties tough.

My 74 Jazz has the mark, and a lot of 70s Fenders I've owned have had the same thing.

[slybass3000]

Thanks for the answer. I wonder if it is only on lefty basses?

[PunkRockBassist]

what would be a good price to pay for one of theese?