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Author Topic:   Remember the Letter To Fender ?
Rick Alexander
Member

From: Florida, USA

posted 20 June 2006 09:22 PM     profile   send email     edit
About replacement Stringmaster Tuners . .

I mailed it almost 2 years ago - it's all in the Letter To Fender about Stringmaster Tuners thread.

Imagine my surprise when I received this email today from Rose Bishop, the Senior Administrator of Marketing for Fender Musical Instruments:

quote:
Hi Rick:

Your letter addressed to our Consumer Relations Department has found its way to my desk and I apologize if this response is delayed. I'm not sure when you wrote the letter as I cannot find a date and I wanted to ask if anyone from FenderŽ has contacted you regarding the replacement 4-in-line tuning assemblies for the Stringmaster D8? Unfortunately, I cannot address your concerns, however, I do have access to the marketing managers who might be able to help but needed to determine if it is still necessary to involve them.

Please let me know if this is still an issue and I will see what I can do. Thank you for your loyalty to Fender and its products.

Sincerely,

Rose Bishop
Sr. Administrator/Marketing
Fender Musical Instruments


and here is my reply:

quote:

Hi Rose,
Thank you for the email. I wrote that letter almost 2 years ago. Finding replacement tuners for Fender Stringmasters is still an impossiblility - nobody makes the 4-in-line assemblies to fit them. The only solution is to find a "parts" guitar and rob it. Every time somebody does that there is one less Stringmaster in the world.

There is a big resurgence of non-pedal steel guitar, and the Fender Stringmaster is generally considered the holy grail of this type of guitar. I have several of them, and I use them extensively for recording and live performance.

Many of us steelers feel that Fender should support its products and manufacture replacement tuners for these wonderful historic steel guitars. The reply I received at the time gave little hope of that. The existing tuners tend to give out with use, and many a Stringmaster player has found himself in a bad situation because of it. I eventually managed to find tuners on eBay that came from a parted out Stringmaster, but I would rest a lot easier if I could purchase a couple of extras. I know for a fact that there is a significant demand for them. I frequently receive emails from desperate Stringmaster players. This thread about the letter on The Steel Guitar Forum tells the tale.

Fender Japan makes Deluxes and Stringmasters, but they won't sell tuner assemblies seperately. If anyone at Fender cares enough about us Steel Guitar Players to facilitate a solution to this ongoing problem, that would be wonderful.

Thank you for your kind attention,
Rick Alexander http://rickalexander.com

What do you think of that?

Rose Bishop's email is deleted@fender.com
Now might be a real good time to let Fender know that there is definitely an ongoing need for replacement Stringmaster tuners. I don't know if it'll do any good, but I do know nothing will happen if we don't try.

[This message was edited by Rick Alexander on 21 June 2006 at 05:45 PM.]

Gary Boyett
Member

From: Colorado

posted 21 June 2006 03:37 AM     profile   send email     edit
I will be glad to send an email requesting the pans. If they are being used in Japan then Fender should be able to get them easily.

String covers would be nice too. And while they are at it why not just make NEW STRINGMASTERS! I mean, after all, now they have the parts..........

Rick Alexander
Member

From: Florida, USA

posted 21 June 2006 08:05 AM     profile   send email     edit
Alright G-Man! A flurry of emails clearly stating that there is an ongoing need for replacement Stringmaster tuner assemblies (upper and lower) might spur some action.
So all you Stringmaster players, here is your opportunity to be heard. This is the most interest Fender has ever shown about this problem.

It would give Ms. Bishop something to show the marketing managers.

[This message was edited by Rick Alexander on 21 June 2006 at 08:06 AM.]

Bill Leff
Member

From: Santa Cruz, CA, USA

posted 21 June 2006 08:12 AM     profile   send email     edit
OK, I'll drop Rose a line as well about this.

Bill

Andy Sandoval
Member

From: Bakersfield, California, USA

posted 21 June 2006 09:35 AM     profile   send email     edit
Rick, I bought a Fender Deluxe 8 last year and also had to find some better tuners on eBay so this is great news! I think few letters from our Stringmaster bros here might just have an impact on this issue.
Bill Hatcher
Member

From: Atlanta Ga. USA

posted 21 June 2006 09:55 AM     profile   send email     edit
We will be awaiting the answer two years from now!
Ron Victoria
Member

From: Metuchen, New Jersey, USA

posted 21 June 2006 09:59 AM     profile   send email     edit
email sent

Ron

basilh
Member

From: United Kingdom

posted 21 June 2006 10:11 AM     profile   send email     edit
Likewise.
Baz
Jason Weaver
Member

From: Topeka, Kansas, USA

posted 21 June 2006 10:20 AM     profile   send email     edit
WOW Rick, I had no idea Fender Japan was making steel guitars. All I could find on Fender Japan's site was this Deluxe 8.

It is 189,000 yen, which is currently about $1,640. Too bad they are so pricy. I have seen some Tokyo-based shops selling Fender Japan guitars on eBay, maybe they could get tuner assemblies?

Just a thought,

Jason

Rick Alexander
Member

From: Florida, USA

posted 21 June 2006 11:04 AM     profile   send email     edit
Okay, I just got another email from Rose:
quote:

Hi Rick:

I am trying to find out what I can about this situation but I would greatly appreciate it if you would refrain from giving out my e-mail address to the rest of the Stringmaster community. I am getting bombarded with e-mails and while I would like to, I am not in a position to respond to everyone.

Thank you for your understanding.

Rose


and I replied:

quote:

Okay Rose, sorry about that. I just figured if you had some corroborating emails to show the marketing execs it might provide a clearer picture of the situation. That way they wouldn't have to wonder if it's just an isolated situation.
The fellers don't expect individual responses, they just wanted their voices to be heard.
We appreciate your concern very much. I'll ask them to stop.

best,
Rick


So essentially, the point has been made.
Now if she chooses to, she can tell them about the response to this.
Thanks fellers!

Earnest Bovine
Member

From: Los Angeles CA USA

posted 21 June 2006 02:36 PM     profile   send email     edit
If you pay for a thousand of them, Fender will probably make them.
Rick Alexander
Member

From: Florida, USA

posted 21 June 2006 03:07 PM     profile   send email     edit
Rose just anwered:
quote:
No problem and assure them that their concerns have been heard.
Thanks,
Rose


I thought that went well . .

John Bushouse
Member

From:

posted 21 June 2006 04:53 PM     profile   send email     edit
How about removing her e-mail address in the original post?
Rick Alexander
Member

From: Florida, USA

posted 21 June 2006 05:55 PM     profile   send email     edit
We're good. Nobody needs to email her anymore now the point has been made.
This is the closest we've ever come to having this ongoing concern actually addressed by anyone at Fender.
It'll be interesting to see if anything comes of it . .
Bill McCloskey
Member

From:

posted 21 June 2006 06:03 PM     profile   send email     edit
A marketer has an opportunity to hear from potential customers, capture their email addresses and use it to continue to market to them. And she cuts it off?????

What an amazingly boneheaded move on Fender's part.

What she could have done was capture everyone's email address and then sent them a mailing on the new tuners and info on new lapsteel products.

Quite honestly, I'm stunned at the lost opportunity.

Jody Carver
Member

From: The Knight Of Fender Tweed. Dodger Blue Forever

posted 21 June 2006 08:54 PM     profile     edit
Bill
All is not lost,Fender has a golden opportunity to do what they do best, keep the faith my friend. The time will come.
Mark Eaton
Member

From: Windsor, Sonoma County, CA

posted 21 June 2006 10:26 PM     profile   send email     edit
Jody - and I'm not being a smart aleck here - what exactly is it that they do best?

And as a sidebar, if for example, they were going to start building American made Stringmasters again, I wonder how many they would have to sell in a year for it to make sense to the bean counters?

------------------
Mark

Loni Specter
Member

From: West Hills, CA, USA

posted 21 June 2006 11:03 PM     profile   send email     edit
Mark,
How many Stringmasters? Hummm, I'm guessing 5,000 single necks, 2,500 doubles, 1,000 triples and 250 quads. Do you think there are enough players out there to warrant such a production? Hey how about stretching the time table to have that production run spread over 10 years. Do you think Fender would step up to the plate?
Just how many steelers are there anyway?
Oh yes. What would a triple neck need to sell for? Maybe $3,000. street?
Hey Jody. What do you know oh great Knight of Steel. Shed some light on the faithful.
Look at it this way. At 56 years of age, I'm one of the youngest people I know (outside the Forum) who even knows what a Stringmaster is.
Maybe if some of you who are still creating original music would record some "Hula Hip-Hop" and get a record deal...
Mark Vinbury
Member

From: N. Kingstown, Rhode Island, USA

posted 22 June 2006 01:31 AM     profile   send email     edit
I agree with Loni.
Stringmasters would be an expensive instrument to tool up and build.I just don't see the market for it.
My guess is a good percentage of the steelers out there are members of this forum (about 5,700).We would all have to buy one to make sense to Fender.

[This message was edited by Mark Vinbury on 22 June 2006 at 01:34 AM.]

Ron Brennan
Member

From: Edison, New Jersey, USA

posted 22 June 2006 06:48 AM     profile   send email     edit
Rick,

Excellent strategy!!!

And thank you for pushing the boulder's up a Colorado Mountain and a hot summer day!!! TX
Rgds,
Ron

------------------
JCFSGC member 2005 "Be of Good Cheer"
"55" Stringmaster D8,
"67" Telecaster,
"60"Fender Concert Amp 4-10's

Rick Collins
Member

From: Claremont , CA USA

posted 22 June 2006 08:36 AM     profile   send email     edit
Fender should have no problem finding market volume for the tuners, if they are constructed exactly as the original ones __ and of the same materials. They'll have to be changed on every third string change.
Mark Vinbury
Member

From: N. Kingstown, Rhode Island, USA

posted 22 June 2006 08:51 AM     profile   send email     edit
Can someone post some closeup pics of these tuners?
What about the Kluson tuner replacement that was mentioned in another post?

[This message was edited by Mark Vinbury on 22 June 2006 at 08:54 AM.]

Rick Garrett
Member

From: Tyler, Texas

posted 22 June 2006 09:05 AM     profile   send email     edit
Fender could maybe hire a small guitar shop to build Stringmasters and associated parts. Fender would get their cut, the luthier would get his cut and we'd all be posting pictures of our brand new Fender Stringmasters. Sounds like a plan to me!

Rick

Mark Eaton
Member

From: Windsor, Sonoma County, CA

posted 22 June 2006 09:09 AM     profile   send email     edit
Back to how many Stringmasters.

I think for Fender sales and marketing to get behind a revival of the Stringmaster, it would have to be based on the idea that along with folks who are members here, there would be new blood brought into the equation.

It wasn't from the Oahu people, but as a 10 year old back in 1964, I was probably on the very tail end of that era where my parents signed me up for lap steel lessons from a door-to-door salesman. I still have my Supro from those days, but within a few years that company was out of business.

Due to a number of factors that most of us are aware of, lap or non-pedal steel was going through a decline in popularity in those days.

Didn't Fender still produce Stringmasters up until about 1981? If I have my date correct, I am actually amazed that they kept production going that long.

If the instrument was losing popularity in the 60's, I'm surprised Fender kept them going until '81.

It's a whole different ballgame nowadays. The instrument has enjoyed its greatest popularity in years, and the quality guitars are being produced by small builders, in the same way the dobro is becoming increasingly popular, and the waiting lists from the top dobro luthiers are getting pretty lengthy.

The big player, Fender, has the goods on what is arguably the most coveted non-pedal of all time. It sure hits me to strike while the iron is hot.

Jody Carver
Member

From: The Knight Of Fender Tweed. Dodger Blue Forever

posted 22 June 2006 09:57 AM     profile     edit
Mark
I undertand your comment, what has Fender done? Look at the revolution and sucess Fender has enjoyed over the past years. I am
myself trying to help this cause. I am trying as best as I can.

Loni, Good to see you posting again my friend
Ron Brennan, Keep em flying buddy. Dont ever give up the faith. Please bear with those like Rick who is the spearhead in this situation and I have promised Rick I will do all I can.

Jody PS I'm all shook up. Wait, I am in touch with those who can offer some explanation as to a YES or NO.

[This message was edited by Jody Carver on 22 June 2006 at 10:00 AM.]

Jody Carver
Member

From: The Knight Of Fender Tweed. Dodger Blue Forever

posted 22 June 2006 10:44 AM     profile     edit
Mark Easton posted and I quote.

USA Dodger Blue Forever.
posted 21 June 2006 08:54 PM profile edit
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bill
All is not lost,Fender has a golden opportunity to do what they do best, keep the faith my friend. The time will come.
Mark Eaton
Member
From: Windsor, Sonoma County, CA
posted 21 June 2006 10:26 PM profile send email edit
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jody - and I'm not being a smart aleck here - what exactly is it that they do best?
And as a sidebar, if for example, they were going to start building American made Stringmasters again, I wonder how many they would have to sell in a year for it to make sense to the bean counters?

Mark, I have been promising a Fender book based on my life with Fender which has spanned for many many years.I have been dragging my feet on this due to health issues and personal problems, and yet I am still trying to make my promise come true, The frets of life are catching up to me and there is nothing more for me to be proud of to see this dream come true before I buy the farm.. This means much to me and I will do all I can to see your dream and my dream come true as well.

edited Dont give up on FENDER!!!

Thank you.

Jody

[This message was edited by Jody Carver on 24 June 2006 at 08:39 AM.]

Mark Eaton
Member

From: Windsor, Sonoma County, CA

posted 22 June 2006 10:56 AM     profile   send email     edit
Any tiny thing that I can do to help Jody, count me in.

But I will follow Rick's advice and not send an e-mail to the lady at Fender, since she has already gotten that message loud and clear.

And I sure would like a signed copy of your book when it's ready to go!

Please don't use Dodger Blue ink. I would prefer mine to be signed in Giants Black.

------------------
Mark

[This message was edited by Mark Eaton on 22 June 2006 at 10:57 AM.]

Jeff Mead
Member

From: London, England

posted 22 June 2006 11:29 AM     profile   send email     edit
Hi guys,

I am fairly new here and may be missing the point, but when I owned a Stringmaster, I replaced a strip of tuners with 4 individual guitar tuners (Kluson clones). The only modification I needed to make was to drill a hole through the shaft of each one to put the string through. They fitted right into the pan and worked perfectly.

As far as I am concerned, tuners would be the least of my worries.

Now, the push button neck selecter - there's another story.

[This message was edited by Jeff Mead on 22 June 2006 at 11:31 AM.]

Rick Alexander
Member

From: Florida, USA

posted 22 June 2006 11:43 AM     profile   send email     edit
Rick Alexander
Member

From: Florida, USA

posted 22 June 2006 05:32 PM     profile   send email     edit
I was thinking back to when I was having tuner problems with my first Stringmaster. I had already been eyeballing Remington Steelmasters and I was seriously considering ordering one. When tuners on both necks failed that clinched it. I looked at the pics of those bulletproof Gotohs and I called Herb Remington and ordered a Steelmaster T8. I'm really glad I did that, because the Steelmaster is a great guitar - solid and reliable. I've used it for recording and live performance and it has never let me down. It stays in tune and it has a fat beautiful tone with lots of sustain. I also have a black D8 I got on eBay. I would heartily recommend Remington Steelmasters to anyone who wants a great sounding accurate reliable steel guitar. If one of those Gotohs did fail, which is highly unlikely - it could be easily replaced. And being able to pick up the phone and talk to the man who makes them - priceless!


But for all their idiosyncracies, I love Stringmasters and I just wish someone would make replacement 4-in-line tuner assemblies - the correct configuration for these guitars.

John Lang
Member

From: Shelby Twp., Michigan

posted 22 June 2006 05:38 PM     profile   send email     edit
I would guess that most folks that visit this thread would have seen this recent post from April:
http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum2/HTML/008993.html

..that dealt with finding a way to repair, rather than replace tuning pans and components. If you own a 1955 or earlier Stringmaster and run into tuner problems, you will find a much more primitive mechanism than the four on a strip setup that you will have to deal with. String changes on these antiques must be approached with a degree of caution similar to brain surgery!

Norman Evans
Member

From: Tennessee, USA

posted 23 June 2006 05:46 AM     profile   send email     edit
Have you checked with Kluson? They are still making tuners. Their web address is www.kluson.com.

Fender D-8 Stringmaster

Mark Vinbury
Member

From: N. Kingstown, Rhode Island, USA

posted 23 June 2006 06:34 AM     profile   send email     edit
From the pics it looks like the tuner part of the 4 on a strip tuners were Klusons that were made for "slot head "guitars, like a classical.They have longer posts and the string hole is near the middle.
Maybe these or a knock-off are still available.

[This message was edited by Mark Vinbury on 24 June 2006 at 08:37 AM.]

Mark White
Member

From: Michigan, USA

posted 23 June 2006 02:33 PM     profile   send email     edit
Does anyone know if the six on a plate with two tuners cut off would fit?
Nick Reed
Member

From: Springfield, TN

posted 24 June 2006 07:36 AM     profile   send email     edit
We sure like those Stringmaster's!
Rick Collins
Member

From: Claremont , CA USA

posted 24 June 2006 08:48 AM     profile   send email     edit
It would seem, that in repairing an "individual" tuner on the strip, one could replace the vertical shaft (with the worm gear) and the pinion matching the worm. If you use the old screw to hold the new pinion gear, old button, frame, and reel shaft why would this not suffice?

With the wide selection of new open tuners, it seems new gears and vertical shaft could be found that would fit.

Jackiso
Member

From: Yokohama, Japan

posted 24 June 2006 07:57 PM     profile   send email     edit
One comment from the Far East: I recently went through a project to fix the Stringmaster tuner whose vertical shaft was broken. At first I just dropped in the whole tuner assembly which I had bought a while back as cautious mind dictated. Easy job but it left in a parts bin a bulky tuner assembly with only one bad tuner and seven good tuners. Waste of rare parts.

Then I read this thread, http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum2/HTML/008993.html and ordered Gotoh TK0875. To do as instructed here, however, you would have to cut off the base strip and I hesitated to spoil its originality to that extent.

I opened the back cover of the bad tuner to find the star gear was OK but couldn't be pulled off. If I could get a good worm gear with shaft and button intact, I could reassemble the tuner on the original base strip. I sent an SOS on WTB section which was responded with a suggestion (Ron, you were a great help!) that I would disassemble a stock Kluson to get the worm out and put it together with the original Stringmaster star gear. Excellent idea! Unfortunately this didnft work because of the different size of the gears and different ratio.

This prompted me to advance the surgery one step further: remove the original star gear from the base strip by cutting it off from the post and install Gotoh tuner parts. This worked! Only the difference from the original is the shape of tunerfs post and location of the hole on the post. Who cares on these differences as long as it works and looks almost identical ? You got a 4-in-line tuner perfect fit for the Stringmaster tuner pan.

Now do I still need a 4-in-line replacement tuner? Oh, yes, absolutely. Although above surgery worked, it was rather a tough task for an ordinary steeler who has no more tool than some screw drivers and a couple of pliers.

In going over the Kluson or Gotoh parts, it should not be a big deal for Kluson or Gotoh to make a replacement tuner as the major parts are already there. They would have to newly make the post and the base strip but many of us wouldnft complain much about the stock post as long as it does its job:winding. Cutting a piece of metal sheet to make the base strip and stamp some holes out wouldnft cost you much. Those parts manufacturers are in the better position than Fender as the supply of parts is their core business.

Rick Alexander
Member

From: Florida, USA

posted 29 June 2006 05:02 PM     profile   send email     edit
I just received an email from Rose:
quote:
Hey Rick:

One of our technicians responded with this suggestion:

I play lap steel and sympathize with the consumer concerning parts availability. (I have a 1937 Oahu 6-string that I had to modify to accept a modern pickup.) When I have steel guitar questions I usually get some kind of direction from a web page called “Brad’s Page of Steel”; they have a Resources tab that has links to several vendors for amps, steels, parts, etc.

I hope this has been helpful,
So, as you can see, our own employees also have difficulty getting these parts. Fender does care about its customers but, unfortunately, some things are out of our control. In one last attempt to see if there is another option, I forwarded your message to one of our employees in Japan asking if he had any suggestions but he has been traveling and has been unable to respond. If he responds with any additional information, I will forward it to you.

Thanks again for your loyalty to Fender. On Fender's behalf, I apologize that we have been unable to offer further assistance with this situation.

Rose


Nathan Hernandez
Member

From: Riverside, California, USA

posted 30 June 2006 07:22 PM     profile   send email     edit
I brought this up to a friend of mine who used to work at fender in Corona, Ca., and was in the know there. He had told me that all the tooling is there, in Corona, for the stringmaster stuff. He had seen this stuff with his own two eyes and couldnt beleve it was just sitting there along with other types of tooling equipment,,,,going to waste!
Rick Alexander
Member

From: Florida, USA

posted 01 July 2006 12:04 AM     profile   send email     edit
This is my reply. I took the liberty of quoting Nathan's timely post . .
quote:
Hi Rose,
Thanks for the email and for your efforts. I've known about Brad's page of Steel for some time, he's one of the moderators on the Steel Guitar Forum. There are only a few thousand Steel Players in the world (compared to a few billion guitar players) and as a result it's a fairly tight-knit community. We share info, experience, tips etc - we buy and sell gear to one another and so on. So most Steel Guitar resources are known to all. If someone has a gripe, everybody knows about it. And they're all waiting to see what comes of this.
It would be easy to tool up and fasten tuners to metal strips to fit Stringmasters. The projected profits might not be huge enough to merit such a project being authorized by Fender. However it would go a long way in promoting good will among Steelers, many of whom are currently wondering whether to buy Fender Steel King amplifiers or Peavey NV112s (one of those ongoing debates)

This is from a post on the Steel Guitar Forum by Nathan Hernandez of Riverside CA:

"I brought this up to a friend of mine who used to work at fender in Corona, Ca., and was in the know there. He had told me that all the tooling is there, in Corona, for the Stringmaster stuff. He had seen this stuff with his own two eyes and couldnt believe it was just sitting there along with other types of tooling equipment,,,,going to waste!"

If you'd like to see the thread about this, it's: http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum2/HTML/009378.html
Whether Fender ultimately supports its beloved vintage Stringmasters or not, we very much appreciate your time and interest in our ongoing predicament.

all the best,
Rick Alexander


[This message was edited by Rick Alexander on 01 July 2006 at 03:40 PM.]


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