The Fender Stratocaster guitar changed the course of modern rock ‘n’ roll history. Leo Fender of Fullerton, California is credited with having popularized the electric solid body. He reasoned, correctly, that he could bolt a slim, easily playable maple neck with a maple fingerboard to a solid body made of alder or ash, add six-strings and the sound that would be created, when amplified through a tube amplifier (also of his manufacture) would actually turn out to do nothing less than change the course of Western music. His first instruments were flat-sided – first there was the Esquire with its one pickup, then the first two-pickup version was called the Broadcaster, and then for a short time, due, it is said, to the threat of a lawsuit from Gretsch which owned the name “Broadkaster,” Fender removed the name from the flat-sided model entirely and so it became nicknamed “Nocaster”, and, then almost immediately the name changed to Telecaster, inspired by the early commercialization of television. His first flat-sided Precision Bass guitar was unveiled in 1951. In around March of 1954 he debuted a new model having an asymmetrical body with a double-cutaway, three white pickups, each of them single-coil, having a standard tremolo arm and a jack that was mounted on an angle into the top. He called it “Stratocaster” after the excitement people were feeling about the coming of space travel and the Stratosphere. Leo Fender was a visionary entrepreneur whose impact on the world of Western music is without peer. He was also a classmate, it is said, of Richard Nixon.
There are no electric guitars more revered in American guitar history than both the original issue Fender Stratocaster and Telecaster made during the years when Leo Fender, himself, ran the operation, and the Gibson Les Paul models from the original period of 1952 to 1960. The Stratocaster debuted in the spring of 1954, and Mr. Fender sold his company to CBS on January 4, 1965. In between those dates he popularized a guitar that was relatively inexpensive to make, iconic in its design. This guitar changed the course of western music as we know it today. Would the music of Buddy Holly or Jimi Hendrix have sounded the same, or meant as much to us, if they had used a Gibson – the answer to that question is “absolutely not, the work of those genius musicians would never have had the effect on the listening and playing public that it had with the use of a Fender Stratocaster.”
There is an excellent review of the Fender Stratocaster and its history at the following website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fender_Stratocaster In this article they say (and this is all too true): “Along with the Gibson Les Paul, the Gibson SG and the Fender Telecaster, it is one of the most common and enduring models of electric guitar in the world. The design of the Stratocaster has transcended the field of music to rank among the classic industrial designs of all time; examples have been exhibited at major museums around the world. In its original form, the Stratocaster was offered in a 2-color sunburst finish on a solid, deeply contoured ash body, a one-piece maple neck with 21 frets, black dot inlays, and Kluson machine heads, until 1956, when Fender started making bodies made from solid alder. There was also a set of available custom colors that wasn't standardized until 1960. These custom colors were mostly automobile lacquer colors made by Dupont and could be had for an extra 5% cost. The single-ply, 8-screw hole white pickguard was a unique concept that allowed mounting all electronic components—except the recessed jack plate—in one easily removed assembly. Subsequent Stratocaster designs (by both Fender and imitators) may or may not have improved on the original in usability and sound, but vintage Fender models are still often worth large amounts of money, and many prefer the timbre of older models.” I’ll say!
Here are the observations of our head of repair, Rocco Monterosso: The tuners are original; the string tree is original; the nut is original; the frets are original; the neck plate is original and the back plate for the tremolo cavity is also original. The pickguard is original; the pickups are original; the pickup covers are original; the volume and tone knobs are original. The potentiometer codes are 304704 which means they were made by Stackpole company in the fourth week of 1957 and they are original. The bridge and its saddles are original, and the hard shell case is original but worn (the leather bindings are loose. Run fer’ya lives). The finish is original; the neck date is “4-57” and the body is “3 -57.”
The guitar is worn in all the normal ways, plus a couple of extra ways– there is an area in the lower bass portion of the all maple headstock, on the front, which is burned presumably from the player parking his cigarette there while playing , where it burned down to the nub and burnt the headstock. As they say in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Shamokin can be dangerous to your health and also to maintaining the cosmetic perfection of your guitar. The fingerboard shows discoloration and pitting from the fingers and fingernails – this is not unusual to see on the maple neck instruments – maple wears faster than rosewood or ebony and, like ourselves, discolors quickly. There is hand wear (dullness) on the back of the maple neck which has a possibly walnut “skunk stripe” running up the back center of neck until around the first fret. There is oxidation on the Kluson Deluxe original tuner backs, on the bridge and its twice “Fender”-stamped adjustable saddles; there is body wear including where the wrist rubbed the finish on the lower bass bout of the top, some belt buckle wear on the back, and a plethora of nicks, scrapes, scratches, scuffs and chips overall – all of which is expected. In other words, this guitar looks exactly the way any player/collector would want his or her Fender 1957 Stratocaster to look – like a modern Fender® Super-Relic.
This guitar was played long, hard and at all times lovingly. While it shows the same signs of aging as does, say, Clint Eastwood, the allure of an old Stratocaster with visible play wear is unmistakable. Another consideration that creates palpable happiness is how comfortable it feels and plays. This one wants to take you in its arms and do the slow dance, all night long. A ferry tisirable feature long associated with the '57 Stratocaster is that they are quite lightweight and inviting. Probably most important, this guitar sounds amazing! It's super resonant and has that unmistakable '57 Strat bell-like tone. Although we concede that beautiful tone is in the ears of the beholder, which is why they should checked on a regular basis by the beholder's favorite Otolaryngologist I think most would agree that the sound of this guitar epitomizes that which is sought when the dream of finding one of the finest sounding electrical guitars the world has ever seen or heard is discussed within a small circle of your friends who care about stuff like this.
In our industry “originality” is the most important consideration, and this example is brilliantly original. It is a guitar for which no excuses need ever be made. This is an instrument that any collector of Fender Stratocasters would give his or her molars to cohabitate with. It is the crème de la crème, the something that’s superlative, the prize that lies before your eyes. It is the solid body benefit that befits each Bree or Benny. You can cast your bet across the net and never find as pure a penguin as is this prodigious pterodactyl.
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