There were no less than four variants made including Shaded Sunburst and white finishes with a tortoiseshell or, rarely, a brown ’guard. “In the summer of ’61, Fender changed the colour to Shaded Sunburst, probably because the sales team said, ‘Let’s make them look even more like a Stratocaster.’ But it’s not the same sunburst as a Strat – it’s like the maroon colour from the side of Tele Customs – and it’s opaque, so you can’t see the wood underneath. There were no less than four variants made including Shaded Sunburst and white finishes with a tortoiseshell or, rarely, a brown ’guard In ’59, when rosewood ’boards appeared, the finish changed to an unnamed pink-y brown and the pickguard went to a cream-coloured plastic with brown pickup covers. “These guitars were finished in a Desert Sand beige and had gold anodised pickguards with cream-coloured pickup covers. At this point, the body changed from ash to alder and was a little thinner, but the shape and the routing stayed the same until 1964. “The second run started in June and included both Musicmasters and Duo-Sonics. “It’s basically a double-pickup version of the Musicmaster…” In May they decided to retool in order to be able to route the bodies the same for both the Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic like single-pickup Esquires and dual-pickup Teles they were routed the same under the ’guard, so the bodies could be used for either model.” Duo-Sonicįender Duo-Sonic II (Image credit: Paul Kelly) They had an aluminium scratchplate that was painted black. “The first production run of Musicmasters Fender did was in April 1956, and they’re extremely rare. The tuners were Klusons with plastic buttons, to try and keep the cost lower. It also used the same knobs and steel saddles as the Telecaster. The initial run had a thicker ash body and a maple neck, and it used the same pickup and pickup cover as the Champ steel.

“When Leo started putting together the Musicmaster, he was using the same high-quality materials they were already using for the other guitars. It was always a constant evolution for Leo – he was always moving forward. You start to think, ‘What is the intention behind constantly tweaking it?’ And in some ways that can be explained, but sometimes it makes no sense at all. “As a collector, I had every single one of the 22 variations of Musicmaster that Fender made. “It’s essentially a mini Stratocaster with one pickup…” Fender Musicmaster & Duo-Sonic (Image credit: Paul Kelly) Musicmaster

1976 fender musicmaster bass guitar