1955 neck date

[poorplayer]

Anyone ever see XA or other initials written on top of the date such as this? This is from a 1955 strat I'm looking at.

[Sunburst Island]

No... But I wouldn't rule it out. I've seen so many more markings in Strat's and their body cavities from '54-'59, that are more the norm than Tele markings, dates, initials, and such.

[poorplayer]

Sorry - are you saying that you've seen more variety in strat markings or in tele markings?

[Sunburst Island]

Definitely, more variety in Strat markings.


I can't tell, is the overwritting pencil, or ball point pen?

[5965]

I really haven't seen enough early '50's necks to have a baseline, but it's possible the date and initials were done by separate people.

The month appears to have been started while holding the neck in the other hand, and then when that proved unwieldy, the year was added after bracing it against something.

It's possible the initials might even be post-sale, e.g., a repair service or an owner identification mark. They look like a different pencil lead.

These things are worse than Rorschach tests.

Good luck.

[poorplayer]

thanks - I'm going to pass on this one - even if it's real, it's still gonna be hard to defend later on

[dinobyte]

poorplayer... I can appreciate your logic. I am certain there are many original vintage guitars in existence which have been cited as a forgery but are indeed authentic. It is entirely possible that the neck is right. If there is any notable deviation from the norm, it is probably best to have some provenance to back it up.

I have seen many authentic early Fender guitars over the years with initialed & dated necks, neck pockets, PU cavities, trem cavities and all have variation to some extent. Tadeo Gomez has initialed many early Fender guitars and he wasn't that consistent with the way he penned his initials and numerals. There are variations in the style of script and numerals, as well as the color of pencil used. There are variations in the placement or even absence of dashes. I believe the initials were in some way a method of quality control and accountability. If a part was found to be flawed, it could be returned to the craftsman who tooled it. I'm certain there could be several explanations for the XA (a well documented and legitimate initial). Most importantly, it must be under the finish. Here's an example of TG's initial on my early '54 strat...

http://www3.telus.net/~dinobyte/1954...20Strat/7a.jpg

On a sad note... I can no longer afford to keep my own '54, so everybody keep your eyes open on ebay over the next little while.

My first post on this particular Fender Forum! Pretty interesting reading.

-Terry

[customtele]

XA is a correct marking. I had one marked XA a long time ago. I was suprised I didn't see one in the BG book.