This baby is an excellent example of a vintage mid-1960's Fender guitar. This unit is the entry level Musicmaster II in its original Daphne Blue finish. This guitar was produced in 1966 at the original Fender factory in Fullerton, California U.S.A. It was purchased new, then put away. It is in basically unplayed condition and it is 100% original. It is near mint; not perfect-but pretty close. It has been professionally set up and it is ready to go, it needs nothing.
The slab body is clean with minimal handling evidence. There are a few tiny dimples on the sides, and a small area near the front horn along the edge-see photos. The face is really clean and the blue finish is unfaded, brilliant and bright. The back of the guitar was resting on some sheet music, the original instrument cable and a strap for years, so there are a few small marks from those things on the backside-see photos. The finish presents excellent, and it is shiny. The neck joint is clean.
The neck itself is smooth and feels very nice. The profile is best described as a 60's vintage U and it measures 1.47" wide at the nut. The neck depth measures .836" at the 1st fret and .910" at the 12th fret. The tuners are all in very clean condition and function as designed. The headstock and logo display excellent with a few thin check lines in the clear finish. The headstock is the earlier Pre-CBS "small-ball" shape. The Brazilian rosewood fingerboard is high-contrast and beautiful. It is super clean and feels soft and smooth. The frets are in perfect, original condition. They look exactly as they did when they left the factory in 1966-see photos. The action is set low for an easy playing experience. Currently, the string height is .010" at the 1st fret and .055" at the 12th fret. The guitar plays easily up and down the fingerboard.
The pickup has an excellent signal and great tone. It has the classic vintage Fender "bell" tone. The pickup reads 5.69 ohms. The pickup is a grey bobbin and has a date of 9-1-66. The entire wiring harness is mint with untouched solder joints and original tape still present underneath the pickguard. The original CTS potentiometers date to the 18th week of 1966. I did not remove the neck for an ink stamp inspection; it has never been touched and I elected to keep it that way. The pickguard is nice and flat with minimal shrinkage-no cracks, no splits nor lifts. The bridge and saddles all function and look to be in excellent condition.
The guitar is extremely lightweight, it only weighs 6.61 lbs. It is very fun to play and feels great on a strap or in your lap. The offset body design makes for a very comfortable playing position.
Comes with the original salt & pepper hard case, which is very nice condition also.
