The coolest Mustangs are the late-60s racing-stripe ones with matching headstocks – the Competition Mustang “Like the Mustang, they had a longer 24-inch scale length, a restyled offset body, a wider headstock, a chrome control panel, and came in either a Dakota Red, Olympic White or Daphne Blue finish (advertised as simply Red, White, and Blue). At some point, Randall would’ve said to Leo, ‘We need a student model with a tremolo,’ and Leo responded with the new Mustang tremolo design.” Later in ’64, the Musicmaster II and Duo-Sonic II came out. “It’s really just a Duo-Sonic with a tremolo…” There was also a transparent red, initially made with a mahogany body – much like an SG Junior! – and then, by ’64, with a poplar body.” Mustangįender Mustang (Image credit: Paul Kelly) There were no less than four variants made including Shaded Sunburst and white finishes with a tortoiseshell or, rarely, a brown ’guard. “In the summer of ’61, Fender changed the colour to Shaded Sunburst, probably because the sales team said, ‘Let’s make them look even more like a Stratocaster.’ But it’s not the same sunburst as a Strat – it’s like the maroon colour from the side of Tele Customs – and it’s opaque, so you can’t see the wood underneath.

There were no less than four variants made including Shaded Sunburst and white finishes with a tortoiseshell or, rarely, a brown ’guard In ’59, when rosewood ’boards appeared, the finish changed to an unnamed pink-y brown and the pickguard went to a cream-coloured plastic with brown pickup covers. “These guitars were finished in a Desert Sand beige and had gold anodised pickguards with cream-coloured pickup covers.

At this point, the body changed from ash to alder and was a little thinner, but the shape and the routing stayed the same until 1964.

“The second run started in June and included both Musicmasters and Duo-Sonics. “It’s basically a double-pickup version of the Musicmaster…” In May they decided to retool in order to be able to route the bodies the same for both the Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic like single-pickup Esquires and dual-pickup Teles they were routed the same under the ’guard, so the bodies could be used for either model.” Duo-Sonicįender Duo-Sonic II (Image credit: Paul Kelly) They had an aluminium scratchplate that was painted black. “The first production run of Musicmasters Fender did was in April 1956, and they’re extremely rare. The tuners were Klusons with plastic buttons, to try and keep the cost lower. It also used the same knobs and steel saddles as the Telecaster. The initial run had a thicker ash body and a maple neck, and it used the same pickup and pickup cover as the Champ steel. “When Leo started putting together the Musicmaster, he was using the same high-quality materials they were already using for the other guitars. It was always a constant evolution for Leo – he was always moving forward. You start to think, ‘What is the intention behind constantly tweaking it?’ And in some ways that can be explained, but sometimes it makes no sense at all. “As a collector, I had every single one of the 22 variations of Musicmaster that Fender made. “It’s essentially a mini Stratocaster with one pickup…” Available in Ebony and Bone White gloss finishes.Fender Musicmaster & Duo-Sonic (Image credit: Paul Kelly) Musicmaster Gold hardware, including locking Grover® Rotomatic® tuners with Tulip buttons, and classic Les Paul Custom cosmetics make this a standout guitar on-stage. The maple-capped mahogany body has modern weight relief for hours of comfortable play, and the mahogany neck has a fast-playing SpeedTaper™ D profile and a contoured heel for exceptional upper-fret access. These tonal options are selected with push/pull volume and tone pots. The Ceramic bridge pickup offers a choice of modern, active, high-output ceramic humbucker tone, high-output passive ceramic humbucker tone, and a cutting, overwound single coil tone. The Alnico neck pickup provides a modern, active, high-output Alnico humbucker™ sound, a crisp, clean, and fluid neck humbucker sound, and a glassy, scooped, hi-fi single coil sound. It features a pair of custom-voiced Fishman Fluence® pickups. The short scaleĮpiphone is proud to present the third signature model designed in partnership with Trivium’s extraordinary talented Matt Heafy - the Matt Heafy Les Paul™ Custom Origins. In 1955, Fender Sales decided the companyĬolored bodies, and 22-½' scale, one-piece

Musicmaster guitar