1965 Fender Musicmaster Partscaster Electric Guitar

My pal Steve sent this up here as a parts jumble. It's all 1965 Fender parts except for the wiring harness and Duncan Antiquity pickup. The Duo-Sonic body had been refinished black at some point (and then used heavily) and the neck had a pretty thick coat of poly overspray. The neck is a 24" scale, A-width (narrow) Mustang neck. I guess that makes this a Mustymaster? Or maybe it makes it a Stangmaster? Or maybe a Mustasonic? It's time to weigh-in, Steve-man!

I assembled it for him as a Musicmaster with Ancel's help -- Ancel did the fret level/dress and wiring work (after a primer) and I put it all together and set it up with the requested "old, bigger strings." The neck was improved by way of light sanding/buffing-up of the finish to tame it down to the same sort of look and feel as are found on my own Wildwood I guitar.

Post-work, it of course sounds and feels like a million bucks. It's an old Fender! I'm always mildly-jealous of Musicmasters, too, when they're around. I like the simplicity.

Bonus points on this guitar are awarded to the tuner buttons (which have "pearled" as they aged), the saddles (which have enough loosey-goosey-ness to "tilt" into good compensation), and the frets (which were replaced with bigger, kinder stock at some point).