Hey All, I hope everyone is doing well and staying healthy! I’m baffled by conflicting numbers and codes on my Musicmaster and wondering if anyone can help. Serial # is 273749..Research on this initially dates this to 1969? I thought Musicmaster basses did not ship until 1970..Hmmm…pot codes are 032367. pickup is stamped 9460..the usual 6 pole strat type..No neck date or stamp only a # “8” written in pencil..Whaddya think?
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What year is my Musicmaster?
- Thread starter Fstnblbs
- Start date
You're right, no Musicmasters in '69 (unless it was a prototype?).
I reckon it's either an old neck plate that was already stamped or someone has swapped it out for the original 70's one.
Pics would help us date the bass.
I reckon it's either an old neck plate that was already stamped or someone has swapped it out for the original 70's one.
Pics would help us date the bass.
Thanks for the reply mcrawford! New pics posted. Not original color of course. Bass has been repainted.
Attachments
Is the pickguard original?
I found this: "Some very early issues were Daphne Blue with pearl pickguards."
I found this: "Some very early issues were Daphne Blue with pearl pickguards."
Yes pickguard is original. Not pearl though. 3 ply white black white..thanks for the reply!
You may want to post here if this thread doesn't get more response.
Th Official Fender Musicmaster Bass Club
Th Official Fender Musicmaster Bass Club
Early to mid 70s probably a 73/74/75 thumb test jumps around those years and the tuners are still tulips, late 70s and 80s are clover tuners.
Give him back his original pickup! Put a strat middle pickup back into that bad boy! Bring him back to the way CBS intended him to be! All that beautiful bouncy lack of sustain!
Musicmaster serials are almost nonsensical so I wouldn’t bother with that, they’re notoriously hard to date too. Any time you see one for sale it usually has a range based on what kind of tuners it has, what kind of headstock decal, and where the thumb rest is or isn’t. Later musicmasters have very clear serials, so if you’re serial search doesn’t sound likely, it’s older than the 80s usually
Give him back his original pickup! Put a strat middle pickup back into that bad boy! Bring him back to the way CBS intended him to be! All that beautiful bouncy lack of sustain!
Musicmaster serials are almost nonsensical so I wouldn’t bother with that, they’re notoriously hard to date too. Any time you see one for sale it usually has a range based on what kind of tuners it has, what kind of headstock decal, and where the thumb rest is or isn’t. Later musicmasters have very clear serials, so if you’re serial search doesn’t sound likely, it’s older than the 80s usually
Earlier, rather than later. That's about all that can be said. The rest position, the w/b/w guard color, and the style of tuners point to '75 or earlier.
I have a White '75, with a w/b/w guard, an upper rest, and the early tuners. I believe the change to black guard happened during that year, and perhaps the change to cloverleaf tuners happened along with it.
I also have an earlier Blue one with w/b/w guard and a lower rest, and the early tuners. Some early blue ones had a pearloid guard, but IMO, it's hideous. The blue with w/b/w is much classier to me.
I have a White '75, with a w/b/w guard, an upper rest, and the early tuners. I believe the change to black guard happened during that year, and perhaps the change to cloverleaf tuners happened along with it.
I also have an earlier Blue one with w/b/w guard and a lower rest, and the early tuners. Some early blue ones had a pearloid guard, but IMO, it's hideous. The blue with w/b/w is much classier to me.
Beautiful bass I love the gold Refin. Are the pots original? Those have a code that should be more accurate. Definitely 1970-1975 era on neck logo and tuners and pickguard shape. Looks just like mine which is a 1971.
Thanks guys! She is a beaut and real joy to play! As I'm sure you know these basses have been flying under the radar for years. With the short scale explosion, the word is out and vintage Mustangs and Musicmasters have skyrocketed! This one was a Pennsylvania yard sale find, my older brother paid $35 bucks for it! I paid him back of course... Thy body had a bad rattlecan refinish and needed a bit of Love.. The Sherwood gold refin was done by Wilkins and I can't say enough about the quality of the work. All pots and wiring are original so far as I can tell. Pot codes 062367. Any intel on this code would be greatly appreciated. Great to connect with some other Musicmaster fans!
Boy, I'm no expert. But my best guess is range 70-73 based on the headstock decal and the tuners. The pot code 062367 returned the result.....
"The first 3 digits on a pot are the manufacturer code. The last 3 or 4 digits are the date code. With 3 digits, the first digit is the last digit of the year, and the last digit is the week number."
Probably not much help. As has been said the numbers are hard to track in dating these things and I was led to believe that was partly because these were made with 2nd's Mustang bodies and necks.
pickups got changed along the line, if you want it to sound like it originally did, which I think is better, all you gotta do is put in a strat middle pickup.
the poles end up lining up in a way that makes it sound very good, the e has a pole below the string, a and d have a pole in between each string and g has a pole below the string. It ends up being that the lowest lows have a lot of sustain and the highest highs sorta so but not really as much and all the others have a really nice thump to them
people say it sounds thinner but they’re deaf and just projecting “it’s a guitar pickup” into the pickup. Plenty of basses have the same pole sizes as guitar pickups and pickups are relatively simple technology. The fact that it’s a “guitar pickup” isn’t going to make it sound thin.
Mrtoo, thanks for the insights and I agree. There is nothing wrong with the stock Musicmaster pickup. I had fitted a new Aero just to see if it would fit the guard without any mods. The original harness and pickup are still intact. the only down side to me of the stock pickup was output. I solved this by adding more horsepower from the amp side. Believe me playing a Musicmaster through an Ampeg V4B and occasionally a Fender 400PS was a joyous sonic onslaught!! Yep, I'm vintage too.. I never had trouble leveling to the mix and occasionally dominating it..Heh!! Plus the Musicmaster is just so much fun to play.. One volume, one tone and lotsa watts..Big fun!!
I honestly don't think it's just projection, hearing the original 6 pole pickups as thinner - when I got mine (it's a late 70's), many years ago I immediately and consistently heard it as "thin", long before I had any idea what was "under the hood" with the pickup. It's a weak sounding pickup, imo - not sure that's just the pole pieces, maybe it's the winding too. Anyway, sounds much better to my ear with a pole-less or 4 pole, more robust replacement pickup. Ymmv, etc. Anyway, off topic.
Cool looking bass. Earlier rather than later, as folks have said. Nice!
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