The story of the Dump
Master was originally
told in the 1997 4th Edition
of
Blue Book of Guitars.
This heavily worn Fender
Jazzmaster belongs to Zebulon
“Zeb” Cash-Lane, and anyone
who has attended either the
Dallas Guitar Show or the
Arlington Guitar Show in the
past two decades should be
familiar with the former guitar
show head of security with a
heart of gold. Cash-Lane rescued
this guitar from a junkyard.
Here is the story as it
originally appeared, as told by
the owner himself:
And my eye kinda stuck
to this one particular spot in
this junkyard. I turned away
from it, and I swear my eyeball
snuck right back there—just
like it had a mind of its own.
Well, I kept a lookin’, trying to
figure what was grabbin’ my
attention. It was almost like
it was screamin’, “Here I am,
see me. Hey stupid, I’m right
here!” That one must have gotten
through the usual fog, for
at once I recognized one of the
most familiar pegheads in the
world. I let out a holler, “Hot
damn—Strat,” and jumped,
not really knowin’ or carin’
what I was going to land on.
Glidin’ over the junkyard’s
lower remains to the Strat sighting,
I said, “Self, what we got
here is a godsend,” and went
to work. Now feeling like an
archeologist on a mission, about
a half a day later I pulled out
the most damnable sight you
ever saw—the early ’60s sunburst
Jazzmaster (SN# 55489)
was reborn sideways, and
appeared almost exactly like you
see it now, minus the bridge,
my name carved in it, and the
one fret that had to be changed
after it got hooked on a nail
when I dug it out.
Much like me, The “Dump
Master” had been used, abused,
and discarded. What could be
more natural than a junkyard
hookup? This axe sure does sound
sweet to me. —Zebulon “Zeb”
Cash-Lane, 1997
Found in a junkyard, the Dump Master is an early ’60s Fender Jazzmaster
that has been naturally relic’d. Its serial number is 55489 and it’s
seen some hard times, but it’s now in good hands.
Curious readers probably
have many questions
about the story of the Dump
Master. Did this guitar start
Fender’s Relic series? Should
the guitar be refinished? Did
Zeb’s discovery mark the
beginning of what is commonly
known today as “picking”?
What is a guitar this
beat-up actually worth?
Zeb’s Dump Master was
discovered during the relic
craze of the mid 1990s, but
Fender started working on
relic instruments in their
Custom Shop circa 1994.
Based on the techniques that
Fender has used to artificially
age its instruments (that is,
sanders, belts, nails, and
more), the Dump Master and
a Fender Relic are similar.
The serial number indicates
that the guitar was built
in 1960 or 1961 (carefully
removing the neck and locating
the neck stamp date will
further aid in determining
production date), and it was in
mint, original condition. The
instrument is worth between
$6000 and $7000 today.
Obviously, the condition is a
bit lower than mint. In fact, a
guitar in this condition (lower
than 60 percent) is not commonly
valued in the
Blue Book
of Electric Guitars, because
instruments in this poor shape
should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. The guitar plays
beautifully and is, for the most
part, fully intact. Based on
this, Zeb has a $1500-$2000
early 1960s Jazzmaster—which
he found in a
dump. Needless
to say, this is a treasure anyway
you look at it.
To Zeb, the guitar is worth
more in the condition that he
discovered it. However, many
players would appreciate the
guitar more if it looked showroom
new, and there are talented
luthiers who could whip
it back into shape. Vintage
Jazzmasters have a lot of what
I call “collector value”—that
is, much of the value of this
instrument has been created by
collectors having a strong interest
in it. Today, a guitar’s original
condition is the number-one
factor in determining its
value. Once the guitar has been
altered from its original configuration,
the value will drop
significantly. Even if Zeb were
to have this guitar refinished
to mint condition, it would be
worth approximately 50–60
percent less than the same guitar
in mint original condition,
or $2500–$3500.
Flip through the cable channels,
and you’re bound to find
a number of reality shows on
collectibles, such as
Antiques
Roadshow,
American Pickers,
Storage Wars, and
Pawn Stars.
What the creators of these
shows have done is capitalize
on Zeb’s pastime of rummaging
through other people’s
junk, identifying it, and determining
if it has any value to
a captive audience—after all,
it
is often fascinating! While
I don’t endorse the idea of
stumbling through a junkyard
in pursue of the Holy Grail
(nobody wants a rusty nail
through their big toe), I do
encourage collectors to keep
an eye open—you never know
what you’ll find!
Zachary R. Fjestad
is author of
Blue Book of
Acoustic Guitars,
Blue Book
of Electric Guitars, and
Blue
Book of Guitar Amplifiers.
For more information, visit
bluebookinc.com or email
Zach at
guitars@bluebookinc.com.