I just received this '51 Custom. I bought it on Reverb.com at what I consider a player grade price. Because guitar and case are both immaculate I hoped I had found a closet queen but on further inspection it looks like a refinish. Still I'm very happy!
The pots are 1950 Stackhouse, so it's possible it was made in 1950. The pickups have that beautiful deep, clear trap voice. They sound glorious through my tweed Vibrolux, though they are not volume balanced. I'll need to sort that out. Two read 10.8k ohms and the other reads 5.4k. One of the 10.8k pickups is twice as loud as the other two. Wondering if it is not wired correctly. I have found the wiring diagrams for the Stringmaster T8 and the Dual Pro, but can't find one for the Custom T8. If anyone can provide a link I'd be grateful.
There are no legs so if anyone has a set I'd love to buy them. The OD for the threads is 3/4".
Only Blonde Customs from 53-55 are ever that pale. The earlier ones are seemingly invariably more yellow, and also have blue grip felt underneath.
Good luck with the guitar!
The legs are the same as the Fender Rhodes electric piano rear legs. They are available from Vintage Vibe, and are available individually on their site. (The front legs in a set are nonadjustable.)
Andrew H. Brown wrote:The legs are the same as the Fender Rhodes electric piano rear legs. They are available from Vintage Vibe, and are available individually on their site. (The front legs in a set are nonadjustable.)
Thanks for the heads up. I looked at those. About $250 for three of the adjustable legs. Not too bad. I'll call them to confirm it's a 3/4" thread and probably go with them.
Still looking for a wiring diagram if anyone knows of one. I have looked inside and will draw the existing one. Someone clearly re-wired it at some point. The selector switch is backwards and one of the pickups is twice as loud as the other two. I can see where the pickups were grounded to the plate at one time but are now grounded through the switches.
Forum member Michael Brebes redid the wiring on mine - had also been reworked in interesting ways, but did not have the pickups issue that you have. He did a great job and may be able to help you out with a wiring diagram or description.
Good luck with it!
Joe A. Roberts wrote:Only Blonde Customs from 53-55 are ever that pale. The earlier ones are seemingly invariably more yellow, and also have blue grip felt underneath.
Good luck with the guitar!
I'm revisiting the idea that my blonde Custom may not have the original finish. Look at these photos from the 1950 Fender catalog. The photos are black and white, but those steels look to be blonde to me. I have pulled the pans, pickups and controls off of mine and there is zero evidence that it was ever any other color. If it is a refinish, they did a remarkable job of sanding away every spec of the original color. The store in Seattle that I bought it from said they got it from the estate of the original owner.
I have a 53 Custom. Original finish and mine seems to me to be a little different color. Mine has the bluish grip felt on the underside as well. Its really hard to tell the difference in colors by photos especially online, but here's a colored pic of mine:
BTW, I thought Fender used a lighter shade on their finishes later on, maybe the 1960s or early 70, I could be wrong, might have to dig up my Fender books.
Yours reminds me of that shade for some reason...
The pickups have that beautiful deep, clear trap voice. They sound glorious through my tweed Vibrolux, though they are not volume balanced. I'll need to sort that out. Two read 10.8k ohms and the other reads 5.4k. One of the 10.8k pickups is twice as loud as the other two. Wondering if it is not wired correctly. I have found the wiring diagrams for the Stringmaster T8 and the Dual Pro, but can't find one for the Custom T8. If anyone can provide a link I'd be grateful.
It is suspicious that one pickup position is reading exactly half, could it be that two pickups are wired in parallel at that position, not just one neck in isolation?
It is suspicious that one pickup position is reading exactly half, could it be that two pickups are wired in parallel at that position, not just one neck in isolation?
That was my first thought as well. When I inspected the wiring it looked right. Then when I pulled the pickups out the weak one still read 5k. Maybe a short or maybe the magnets have discharged over time. I sent them to Nick Fryer for a rewind and remag so I'm confident that will fix the issue.
Duane Becker wrote:BTW, I thought Fender used a lighter shade on their finishes later on, maybe the 1960s or early 70, I could be wrong, might have to dig up my Fender books.
Yours reminds me of that shade for some reason...
Lovely guitar Duane! I see a lot of the yellowish Customs and Dual Pros in the 52-54 range. The pots on mine date it to 1950 and it does not have the Fender logo on the front, just as the ones in the 1950 catalog do not. Those guitars look blonde to my eye and identical to mine. If they were the butterscotch color there would be some shading. I'm thinking I found a closet queen. The finish, hardware and case are all immaculate, outside of one tiny nick on the body.
Last edited by Tim Whitlock on 13 Dec 2023 7:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
Tim, mine doesn't have a Fender logo on the front as well. I wonder why? Actually my 3 neck with a date of 1954 underneath the tuner pan doesn't have a decal on it either.
