Dating a Strat Body

Howdy gurus. I have a strat that in its heart is from the 70s. I have dated the neck from 73 and the serial is 519*** which seems to me to be a range from 73-75. I am stumped by the body though. It is heavy ash I believe. At first I thought that was pretty standard for 70s strats, but every other strat I have played from the early 70s is considerably lighter. Not much to go on from the body, because at some point someone "routed" out the cavities with what I assume was a hatchet. Only identifying marks left on the body are in the neck pocket. Just thought I would post some pics and see if anyone could find any meaning in the hieroglyphics. Thanks in advance!

Back when I was younger...I used to date women, but times are a changing I guess.

Back when I was younger...I used to date women, but times are a changing I guess.

Meh you just have to have the right PICKUP line.

I suppose I was asking for that.

I suppose I was asking for that.

Yeah :mrgreen: , I'll bump this thread so that hopefully someone with more intelligence than me will see it.

I'm not a dating expert (cuz I'm married) but the Strat looks 70s era. I like the wood darkening going on there.

What makes you think the body and neck weren't original equipment on the same guitar? Nice piece of wood BTW.

The "hatchet job" looks like it was done by a chisel.

I once hired a luthier to install a third pickup in a Charvel double fat strat, and he used a chisel. According to this guy, a chisel "preserves the original tone of the wood" better than a router. Apparently, it's a pain the neck too, and very time consuming.

In other words, someone thought it was worth spending a lot of extra time to do it that way... Either that or they just didn't have a router! :razz:

Seriously, I bet that chisel work was done like that out of respect for the original piece of wood.

Sorry I can't be more help with the date!

Aaaahhh....a woman with a strat shaped body...(daydream)

Thanks for the encouragement JayFreddy. I will have to remember that for the marketing material if I ever decide to get rid of this! The only reason I suspected that they might be from different times is that I would consider the body "super" heavy and I was under the impression that they didn't get really heavy until the later 70s. All the early 70s strats I have ever picked up have been much lighter. But, really, I don't have much else to do on. I thought it was interesting that the pocket seemed to say "odd" but I don't find any reference to that anywhere on the internet.

"Super" heavy could apply to any era of Strats, especially anytime during the '70s. Nice Strat.

Looks like a 70's Fender ash strat body to me. With a three bolt, micro tilt neck and ash body, it can't be a 50's or 60's strat. 70's ash Fenders are notorious for being heavy.