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Fender Experts; is this Fender Musicmaster worth it?

#62
this is a nice early 70s, probably 1972 musicmaster and the neck, bridge, pickguard, knobs and thumprest are original. it happens to own one of the same year. change the bridge, put flats and add some gritt with your amp or a pedal. this is an awesome bass if you're looking for shortscale vintage tones! plays great with pick and fingers! i bought mine for 200 and won in comparison to my classic 50s precision for that vintage type of sound. i can understand though why so many fellow players don't like them. it's not for everybody or for modern stuff
 
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#63
Tommy V said:
who did that orange peel paint job? Earl Scheib??
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c38c0c085dc2eabb1da78b14a004c3f5.jpg
 
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#67
$350 is a major score for this IMHO - assuming it is serviceable. I've had a couple of late '70s ones and while the bridge & tuners were pretty cheap, the overall vibe was killer.
If you want to try a different pickup, you can get a pickguard from WD Music:
Invalid Link Removed
There are some high quality bass pickups available in the original Strat shape. (I had the Aero and it was awesome. Delano and others also have Musicmaster models and some guitar pickups also work great - my current one has a red Lace Sensor that roars like a lion.)
But if that Guild pickup is genuine and you like the response, you are all set. #braggingrights
 
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#69
Run Forrest! run! ... Dude you said you always wanted a Fender .... but there are too many red flags on that Ax the decal may say Fender but in the long run I believe you will be disappointed because you paid $600+tax for a Fender decal. Which seems to be the only Fender part on that ax. Save your cash & use it on one of those new Fender Squier Precision Bass I-really believe you will be more Happy with. in the meantime save your money for a real Fender. Good luck
 
#70
Jefenator said:
$350 is a major score for this IMHO - assuming it is serviceable. I've had a couple of late '70s ones and while the bridge & tuners were pretty cheap, the overall vibe was killer.
If you want to try a different pickup, you can get a pickguard from WD Music:
Invalid Link Removed
There are some high quality bass pickups available in the original Strat shape. (I had the Aero and it was awesome. Delano and others also have Musicmaster models and some guitar pickups also work great - my current one has a red Lace Sensor that roars like a lion.)
But if that Guild pickup is genuine and you like the response, you are all set. #braggingrights
Click to expand...

I'd concur on WD, got some guards from them over the years with no issues.

And in reference to the pup, I put a Nordstrand custom 17mm string spaced single coil in mine and it's great. Just another option.

Sentell also has some Musicmaster choices.
 
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#71
Treedsman said:
I've always wanted a Fender bass, but I don't know very much about this model. Are there any Fender experts who know more that could fill me in? Pawn shop wants 600$ for it, should I go for it?
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Musicmasters go for a lot more than $600. Its rare to find one listed on Reverb for less than $1000, and lately they've been creeping up to $1500 and even more. But that one has a nonstandard Pickpup and looks to have been refinished badly. The original PuP was weak, so its typical to change it. But personally I'd prefer to change it to one of the drop in replacements that are available in order to maintain the original look. And the refinish looks bad. Hard to say what its worth given these two things. Here are some on reverb for reference.

Fender Musicmaster Bass 1972 - 1981 | Howlin' Sound Boxes | Reverb

Fender Musicmaster Bass 1971 Green(formerly Blue) | Mike's Music | Reverb

Fender Musicmaster Bass 1971 | Metro Gnome Music | Reverb
 
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#73
I love these threads. It funny how many people are living in the past and don't have a clue.

The neck with neck plate and tuners alone are worth 500$.

You got a killer deal. Probably a fun bass to play.

Mustangs and Musicmasters have gone up in price more than any vintage instrument out there.
Competition Mustangs are selling for 2500$ and up.

Vintage stuff is very scarce up here in Montreal and that Musicmaster would sell for a heartbeat for 1000$.
Clean ones are getting close to 2k cdn.
Try a bit of paint stripper and see if the black comes off easy.
Enjoy!
 
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#75
Treedsman said:
I've always wanted a Fender bass, but I don't know very much about this model. Are there any Fender experts who know more that could fill me in? Pawn shop wants 600$ for it, should I go for it?
Here are some pictures of it. Thank youView attachment 4392164 View attachment 4392165
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dalkowski said:
I could be wrong but my spidey-sense is tingling in response to:
  • Headstock shape - looks bulbous esp. around the G tuner
  • Nut appears to be listing to starboard (camera angle?)
  • Neck plate is crooked
  • Finish looks like bedliner
Pickup is definitely an upgrade from the anemic stock component. Not $600 or even in that time zone, IMHO. Responsible opposing viewpoints are welcome.

Paging @WI Short Scaler!
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J Wilson said:
$250 all day long, unless you can beat 'em down to $200. For gosh sakes, look online or in regular stores for what 600 bucks will get you, WAY past that thing. BTW, what the hell kind of keys are those ?

Been a long time since Musicmasters were re-issued, but you can buy brand new Squier Mustangs for less than $500 bucks, and Fender's excellent Mustang with real P/J pickups in the $700 range, both brand new, used for less.
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The headstock is authentic. The tuners are original stock tuners for that era of Musicmasters. Yeah, we need a better picture of the nut. The neck plate could be Fender inconsistency of this era. Oh, God the refin - makes it look like a canoe oar. The pickup is a nice upgrade, if it has been wired correctly. I'd like to see under the pickguard to see if it still has its original wiring: a .05 tone cap, plus the additional hardwired .02 cap to permanently take the top edge off the tone.

Personally, I would instead spend $150 on a Mitchell short scale P/J, and upgrade the pickups at will. I have one for my travel bass when my band does its annual gig trip to Mexico. Wayyyy better price/value ratio, with Schecter QC (Mitchell is the Schecter store brand, kind of like Gibson/Epiphone or Fender/Squier). I did change the bridge to a narrower 4-saddle bridge and upgraded the pickups to a Nordstrand Mustang and Duncan rail J-stack, and had my luthier smooth out some fret sprout, and I still have only @ $350 in a gigging instrument (I got mine on sale for $100) that holds up to international travel.

I respectfully disagree with the posts that talk about vintage collectibility value, since the instrument is modified, and not in original good condition. I don't think it's worth, even parted out, what is speculated above. YMMV, where reasonable players may differ.
 
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