question

[Maestro]

I was going trough ebay and came across this

Long LINK mysteriously shortened somehow so it doesn't make the page too wide...

He says it is an original but on the head stock it says it an original contour body. did they already put that on in 1957? the body was only 3 years old back then. did they have that much trouble with ppl copying the design?

[Stratosaurus]

I'm not that savvy as far as vintage stuff goes. With that said:

I wouldn't know about the "Original Contour Body" decal, but I thought they didn't use that kind of string tree until the 70's or something.

But as stated, I don't know much about that stuff. I was born in '81.

[maestrovert]

i'm definitely no expert by any means, but just off the top of my head, there are a few things i have questions about:

1 the nut ? (ties in with q 2)
2 quite a bit of wear on the fingerboard in the 1st position.....commensurate fret wear ?

3 is the seller willing (apparently they're able)to post pics of the pots, neck pocket and neck butt ?

4 Pix also of the bridge block, claw and springs ?

5 There's "strum wear" over the end of the fingerboard/last few frets.....commensurate wear over the neck pup and pickguard ?

6 headstock color


if it's truly a vintage Strat, it'll stand the scrutiny....

caveat emptor

[Jack Wells]

They put that on the headstock from the very beginning.......... in 1954. Take a look at this link to see Strat decals from 1954 to 1966.

http://guitarhq.com/fender/dstrat.jpg

If you want to learn about early vintage Fenders go here.

http://www.provide.net/~cfh/fender.html

Stratosaurus............... the string tree is correct.

[red57strat]

I don't know enough about vintage guitars (I've got a '57 Strat but it's been refinished and the neck pickups and bridge have been replaced) to judge this guitar, but it sure does look great!

[GTO]

If the actual guitar is a fake its the best I have seen, and a better relic job than the Custom Shop could do. The headstock looks accurate in every detail, to me, down to the 'single line' (part of the pattern stamped into the rear tuner covers) branded Kluson tuners, the string tree, decals, colour etc. Obviously, the dates on the neck and pots are crucial but the whole guitar looks in the ballpark for '57.