79 Strat neck?? Help!!

[matt3310]

I have a chance to buy a 1979 Strat neck. Its got some weird hole and wires in it. I've never seen this before. Is this a legit 70's Neck thats been modified? Or is it a fake or reissue? Any clue what the wires might be? They run from the base of the neck to the tuners.

[matt3310]

Did they have maple cap fretboards then? I thought they had gone back to solid maple necks.
Also whats it worth?

[Doorlord]

my 79 has a solid maple neck, no cap. maybe others were capped? maybe they milled off the fingerboard and routed a channel for the wires, then added a new fingerboard? Its not some sort of Guitorgan deal is it?

[milocj]

The headstock and decal look correct, but I also thought they were all one-piece if they were maple. It looks like maybe it was rosewood (or milled) and had a flamed maple fingerboard added.

I wonder if the wires were for LED side markers? I sure wouldn't have routed through the tuner holes, though.

[lewis]

Ditto the replaced fretboard.
The chicken scratch on the bottom of the heel looks like it IDs the different wires.

[Oldschoolwax]

Looks like it's legit but heavily modded to get those wires in plus the botched/patched/corrected neck screw holes. Unless it's cheap I'd back away. Unless you just want it for the way it looks and plays.

[Wally]

I see no value there for me. OF course, those tuning machines....albeit the worst that FEnder has ever used....are worth something to someone who needs them for vintage accuracy.