1954 Fender Stringmaster Tuners

[Tim Ports]

Hi - I have a 1954 Fender Stringmaster that is giving me some trouble with the tuners. A couple of them won't engage and the string just slips continuously. Others are very difficult to turn. These are the original lollipop tuners. Is there a remedy or a replacement than anyone can suggest? I am not that concerned about it being vintage correct, but rather that I can get this steel playable. It does sure sound good! Thank you in advance.

Best Regards,

Tim

[Michael Kiese]

Aloha Tim,

You can search for replacement parts on eBay. Some people get these old steels and disassemble them and sell them as parts and make more money that way. It is what it is. So if you want a genuine "like" replacement, that's the way to go.

Other than that, Kluson makes new Fender steel parts that are drop-in replacement. Just do a google search for Kluson Fender Stringmaster Tuners and you'll be able to find what you need.

Hope that helped!

Enjoy!

[Cartwright Thompson]

Unfortunately the Kluson plate/tuners don’t fit in the first version of the Stringmaster without carving it out. There are ways to repair the lollipops though. This subject has been discussed quite a lot here on the forum, do a little searching and you’ll find some repair methods, or maybe someone with experience in this will chime in here. Those tuners were also used on the earlier trapezoid pickup models.

[Tim Whitlock]

Here is thread you might find useful. I used the info to repair the lollipop tuners on my Fender Custom:

viewtopic.php?t=256969&highlight=lollipop

[Tim Ports]

Thank you everyone for your help. I did find a salvaged plate with tuners. I am hoping to get the old one fixed and save as a spare.