All three models were offered with the option of a 24-inch scale and 22-fret neck or a 22.5-inch scale and 21-fret neck the 24-inch scale proved to be the most popular of these options. The Mustang body was larger and slightly offset, and was fitted with a plastic pickguard but with the volume and tone controls mounted on a separate metal plate. In 1964, following the release of the Fender Mustang, both the Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic were redesigned using Mustang neck and body blanks. At this time, the Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic both received a plastic pickguard in place of the previous anodized aluminum one, and a two-piece maple neck with a rosewood fingerboard. There was one major redesign of these two Musicmaster-bodied guitars, in 1959 when the entire Fender catalog was updated. The Duo-Sonic and Musicmaster also shared a single-piece maple neck and fingerboard, with a 22.5 inch scale length and 21 frets. Production of the Musicmaster began in late April of that year, using a body routed for two pickups to be common to the Duo-Sonic, which followed a little more than two months later. Prototypes were made in early 1956, followed by sales literature announcing both models. This bass guitar is in very good condition with only very minor cosmetic signs of play wear to the finish. This guitar has been given a full service by our luthiers at the Vintage Instrument Workshop, and includes a 3 year warranty.Design work on the Musicmaster-and its two-pickup variant Duo-Sonic-began in late 1955 following a request from Fender Sales. The electronics and other hardware are original and correct, including the pearl pick guard that is only found on first year Musicmaster Bass examples. It is our opinion that this guitar was most likely refinished at some point in its life and the finish is in fact non original, however it certainly looks fantastic and lends a real unique quality to the instrument. As such, it is particularly difficult to authenticate these finishes in terms of their originality, as the same processes used on standard Fender custom colour finishes are not present. Fender did offer custom colour sparkle finishes, although these were outsourced to a local garage for spraying, with the finish not being applied in the Fender factory. Musicmaster bass guitars were original offered in flat Red, White & Blue finishes. The beautiful Red Sparkle finish is the real draw on this particular instrument. These basses are renowned for their punchy, rounded sound and are often praised for the way they cut through the mix in a recording setting. With an Alder body and Maple neck with Rosewood fingerboard, the Musicmaster Bass features a single coil pickup as opposed to the split coil found on the Mustang bass, along with a shorter 30" scale length. This 1971 Fender Musicmaster Bass is a fantastic and unique example of the model from the first production year. The Fender Musicmaster Bass was introduced in 1971 to serve as a stripped down, entry level version of the Mustang bass, much like the 6 string Musicmaster guitar had been in the 1960's.
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