1956 Fender Musicmaster Desert Sand Anodized Guard!

First year of issue 1956 Fender Musicmaster short scale guitar with the rare “anodized” guard.
A great example with enough natural playwear to give it an aged look, and a fretboard that shows wear to the upper frets, but is still clean and not stained from use. All original guitar with exception of slightly later knobs and tuner buttons. The case is tan lined version which is a few years later than the guitar.

The Fender Musicmaster was issued in April of 1956, making this November ’56 a rare “First year of issue” model. Features the rare anodized gold pickguard and a nicely shaped “V” neck of dense maple & the original bridge cover, usually lost over the years. Weighs 6lbs 2oz’s. A fun 22.5” short scale guitar with the maple neck feel.

Tone pot has 1956 date code. This was purchased locally and did not have the original knobs on it. In 1956, Fender changed from 31 gram brass knobs to 13 gram knobs. This Musicmaster has a set of 1963 Musicmaster 13 gram knobs on it now. The tuner buttons were also rotted and unusable.

Maple neck Musicmasters are a step back in time & a case study of Fender techniques back in the early days. This example has the same clamp “pin holes” under the guard, & the same “router plugs” in the back of the body as is big brothers the Strat and Tele. The hard rock maple neck lets you know where the term “hard rock maple” comes from.