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.
Today, a guitar’s original condition is the num-ber-one factor in determining its value. Once
the guitar has been altered from its original
configuration, the value will drop significantly.
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 chan-
nels, 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 rummag-
ing through other people’s
junk, identifying it, and deter-
mining 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.
