Musicmaster Pickguard

[cgg199 12]

I'm about to start work on getting my 1978 Musicmaster bass back up to a gigging standard. It needs a new pick guard amongst other things, however having seen the price of these online, I'm looking for a cheaper alternative. I was wondering if anyone else with a Musicmaster would be able to trace and scan their pick guard for me.

My bass appears to have the pick guard design that hugs the bottom of the neck, similar to the photo below,  as I know two pickguard designs were used.

 

Any help would be much appreciated!

[hooky_lowdown 848]

Why does it need a new pickguard? Looks fine to me.

[cgg199 12]

The bass pictured isn't mine, that was just an example of the pickguard shape, as musicmaster basses came with two subtly different designs. A previous owner cut it down to just a small control plate unfortunately!

[tony_m 45]

I'm away at the mo, but will do you a copy of my S8 serial Musicmaster p/g when I get home in a couple of days. Give me a nudge at the weekend in case I forget! 👍

[cgg199 12]

14 hours ago, tony_m said:

I'm away at the mo, but will do you a copy of my S8 serial Musicmaster p/g when I get home in a couple of days. Give me a nudge at the weekend in case I forget! 👍

That's perfect thankyou! Mine's an S8 aswell so it should be spot on!

[police squad 513]

I wish I still had mine. I sold it in about 1985 when I bought a manson. Mine was black. I have GAS lol

[tony_m 45]

Okey-dokey @cgg199, here you go. I've done a trace and a scan of the actual thing in case that's useful, in both pdf and jpg form. Hopefully you can download them from here, if not PM me your email and I'll send them to you.

 

As an aside, while I had the thing apart, I had a look at the pickup. After Bassist mag did an article about restoring / upgrading a Musicmaster and mentioned installing a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails pup, I decided to do the same. In fact, I can remember exactly when I did it - it was during the Euro '96 match between England and Holland! Fast forward to today and at some point between then and now, I obviously must have had a change of heart and replaced the Hot Rails with the original Strat pickup - how odd, I don't remember doing that!!! Sounds remarkably good all the same... 🤣

 

Right, files...

Musicmaster pickguard actual pdf.pdf Musicmaster pickguard pdf.pdf

Edited June 7, 2019 by tony_m

[cgg199 12]

That's brilliant thanks Tony, a massive help! I believe mine still has all the original electronics, however what with uni I've only been able to look over it very briefly. A previous owner (who also stripped the finish) thought it would be a good idea to the pickup and control knobs navy blue so that's another job for summer. It appears they even tried to paint the bridge!

Here's a picture of it for reference.

 

Edited June 8, 2019 by cgg199

[Trueno 487]

Disregarding pickguard issues... that bass looks great!

[tony_m 45]

9 hours ago, cgg199 said:

That's brilliant thanks Tony, a massive help! I believe mine still has all the original electronics, however what with uni I've only been able to look over it very briefly. A previous owner (who also stripped the finish) thought it would be a good idea to the pickup and control knobs navy blue so that's another job for summer. It appears they even tried to paint the bridge!

Here's a picture of it for reference.

 

 

You're very welcome! That looks quite cool stripped / natural like that - mine's white, or at least I presume it was when it was new. It's now gone a rather manky creamy colour, which for some reason the camera simply refuses to capture, and insists on making it look a lot better than it really is! 😂

Edited June 8, 2019 by tony_m

[cgg199 12]

It looks very clean in that photo! I'll hopefully be able to post some progress pictures as I work on the bass!

[tony_m 45]

Ha ha, photos can be deceptive! To be honest, it probably isn't as bad as I've made out, it's just that the finish hasn't gone that lovely rich creamy yellow that might be considered "vintage cool", but is a bit nondescript. That said, I guess it's in reasonable condition overall, and I'm intending to take it out for a blast at our next rehearsal (if we ever have one, given our apparent inability to attract or retain guitarists... 🙄 ).

 

Good luck with your restoration, look forward to seeing how it goes. 👍

[NHM 50]

I bought a new pickguard for my MM a few years ago - I think it was from WD, and not too pricey. If you want me to check when I get home....

[cgg199 12]

That would be great if you could check!

[NHM 50]

here's the link:

https://www.wdmusic.co.uk/pickguards-c62/fender-basses-c111/musicmaster-bass-c149

[tony_m 45]

Nice selection of pickguards, though it looks like they've opted for the earlier "straight across the neck heel + extra screw" style rather than the later "shaped around the neck heel + truss road access" version which would be correct for an S8 serial bass.

[cgg199 12]

Cheers for sending that link, but unfortunately Tony is right. I'll have to stick with my previous plan!

[NHM 50]

I hadn't realised the shape changed with later models. Mine's a '71.

you live and learn...

[cgg199 12]

Got a few more questions as I dig deeper into this rebuild. Should the pickup have foam underneath, as they do on other fender basses? And are the pickup screws standard pickup screws as found on a P or J bass?

It seems one of the things that was done to the bass was attach the pickup to the body using two of the left over pick guard screws!

[AndyTravis 6,740]

48 minutes ago, cgg199 said:

Got a few more questions as I dig deeper into this rebuild. Should the pickup have foam underneath, as they do on other fender basses? And are the pickup screws standard pickup screws as found on a P or J bass?

It seems one of the things that was done to the bass was attach the pickup to the body using two of the left over pick guard screws!

Re Foam - nope

[cgg199 12]

Perfect thank you Andy! Just one more quick question, how is the pickup attached to the pick guard, do the screws go all the way into the body?

[AndyTravis 6,740]

1 minute ago, cgg199 said:

Perfect thank you Andy! Just one more quick question, how is the pickup attached to the pick guard, do the screws go all the way into the body?

I can’t remember, I know I need a musicmaster back in my life.

[ikay 273]

1 hour ago, cgg199 said:

Perfect thank you Andy! Just one more quick question, how is the pickup attached to the pick guard, do the screws go all the way into the body?

The pickup is attached to the pickguard using two machine screws which screw into the flatwork of the pup with a spring in between (like a Strat). The screws are not the same as regular P or J screws which tap into the bodywork. Here's a pic of my old Musicmaster which had the later pickguard shape, same as yours.

Edited June 14, 2019 by ikay

[NHM 50]

yup, the pick up on mine fits the same as Ikay's. No foam. all held by the pickguard.

When I replaced the original pickguard which was broken around the jack socket,  I added a couple of extra screws around the socket - heresy I know, but it gives the pickguard better support and doesn't look out of place.

[tony_m 45]

Just to add my twopenn'orth, my S8 doesn't have springs between the pickup and the pickguard, it has a couple of rubber grommets which go from squished to not-squished depending on how you have the pup adjusted...