So what do we have here...

[flyingbanana]

Back story...
Bought this rosewood strat body a few years back from a guy not far from me here in southern Calif. He mentioned working for Fender.

He told me a lot of stories over about an hour or so, but he said this particular rosewood body was supposed to be part of a strat build for George Harrison. I have no way of confirming this obviously, but it is a cool story.

Body is 8 lbs. Just got it weighed at the post office. Fender necks fit the neck pocket perfectly and with just enough tightness to almost lift the body. Pickguards also fit perfectly. The string through holes were obviously made using a drill press and a template. This was no backyard amateur build. Even the hole for the ground wire to bridge looked exactly like Fender would do. I did clean it up a bit and applied some True Oil to preserve what is already an oily wood. I did preserve the aging in the cavities however. You can clearly see it's from way back...

Maybe the body simply ended up being too heavy to be used. Anyway, that is all I really know about it. I just wanted to share a cool story about a cool guitar body that may or may not be an original Fender rosewood strat body. I'm hanging on to it for sure. In light of world issues, I don't think it would be easy to find a piece of lumber like this ever again. In the last pic, I threw one of my test necks on it. Fits perfectly.

Thoughts?

 

[KeithDavies 100]

Well, there have been rosewood Strats. Less common than the rosewood Teles, but they exist. Not sure why anyone would dismantle one though, or why Fender would just shift the parts. They were real limited edition things. My guess would be that it was made by another manufacturer, but who knows?

Fender Custom Shop (Masterbuilt) Custom Rosewood Stratocaster John English 2004 Rosewood Guitar For Sale 440hz.it

Fender Custom Shop Masterbuilt John English Custom Rosewood Stratocaster Mint Condition! The Masterbuilt line is the creme-de-la-creme of modern Fenders and perhaps the most well-known

www.vintageandrare.com

 

[hemingway]

I think you might have misremembered the weight. A guitar body 15-18 lbs would need to be made of concrete.

I have a hardtail zebrano strat, and the whole guitar is only 9.5.

 

[flyingbanana]

I think you might have misremembered the weight. A guitar body 15-18 lbs would need to be made of concrete.

I have a hardtail zebrano strat, and the whole guitar is only 9.5.

Well, took it to the post office. The body actually weighs right at 8lbs. I guess its deceiving, considering a whole guitar normally weighs around that...

 

[teleplayr]

I have a custom made Strat style guitar (HSS & Floyd) that the body is made out of Bolivian Rosewood (Pau-Ferro) that weighs 11 lbs!

It's heavy & beautiful, but it sounds great.

 

[Rbert0005]

My thought is, why haven’t you finished the build?
That would make a killer axe.

 

[flyingbanana]

My thought is, why haven’t you finished the build?
That would make a killer axe.

Well that's a long story. 6 years ago I went through some life altering stuff. So it's just been sitting around. I'm not really sure I'll ever get to it tbh. But all it would need is a solid rosewood neck. Not very difficult to get one together. The rest is just parts. Just a ton of other things to deal with, and now trying to get prepared for other things coming down the pike in the next year or 3. Priorities.

 

[FuncleManson]

Well, took it to the post office. The body actually weighs right at 8lbs. I guess its deceiving, considering a whole guitar normally weighs around that...

Yep, an 8-lb. hardtail Strat body will probably end up around 10.75-11 lbs. as a finished guitar.

 

[Wound_Up]

Well that's a long story. 6 years ago I went through some life altering stuff. So it's just been sitting around. I'm not really sure I'll ever get to it tbh. But all it would need is a solid rosewood neck. Not very difficult to get one together. The rest is just parts. Just a ton of other things to deal with, and now trying to get prepared for other things coming down the pike in the next year or 3. Priorities.

I think I'd look for one of those rosewood channel bound necks with the inlaid maple fretboard. If it's that special of a body, it deserves a special neck.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd owns 2 of the 4 prototypes that Fender built. I know there are other places selling them now. I think Fender only sells the maple channelbound necks with the inlaid rosewood fretboard. One of those would look really good on it, also.

 

[2HBStrat]

Well that's a long story. 6 years ago I went through some life altering stuff. So it's just been sitting around. I'm not really sure I'll ever get to it tbh. But all it would need is a solid rosewood neck. Not very difficult to get one together. The rest is just parts. Just a ton of other things to deal with, and now trying to get prepared for other things coming down the pike in the next year or 3. Priorities.

I would put a maple neck on it.

 

[chucker]

honestly a maple neck would be a cool contrast. don't be afraid of mixing wood species.

 

[touch33]

My thought is maybe you should just send it to me — I’ve got some time to build it out righteously and would love to play it every day…

I’ll pay the postage.

 

[Jay Jernigan]

Birdseye maple neck. Roasted, if possible, or at least a dark amber. And since there is no real provenance as to its origin I might be tempted to rout out as much wood as possible. Might even lighten it by as much as 24-32 ounces. My $0.02.

 

[myfenderissues]

Back story...
Bought this rosewood strat body a few years back from a guy not far from me here in southern Calif. He mentioned working for Fender.

He told me a lot of stories over about an hour or so, but he said this particular rosewood body was supposed to be part of a strat build for George Harrison. I have no way of confirming this obviously, but it is a cool story.

Body is 8 lbs. Just got it weighed at the post office. Fender necks fit the neck pocket perfectly and with just enough tightness to almost lift the body. Pickguards also fit perfectly. The string through holes were obviously made using a drill press and a template. This was no backyard amateur build. Even the hole for the ground wire to bridge looked exactly like Fender would do. I did clean it up a bit and applied some True Oil to preserve what is already an oily wood. I did preserve the aging in the cavities however. You can clearly see it's from way back...

Maybe the body simply ended up being too heavy to be used. Anyway, that is all I really know about it. I just wanted to share a cool story about a cool guitar body that may or may not be an original Fender rosewood strat body. I'm hanging on to it for sure. In light of world issues, I don't think it would be easy to find a piece of lumber like this ever again. In the last pic, I threw one of my test necks on it. Fits perfectly.

Thoughts?

I read fender made 2 rosewood body guitars as promo gifts. A strat for Hendrix and the tele for George. Hendrix died before they could gift it to him anyone who knows if this is flub or can support it with references sound in. Let's remember epi gave the Beatles 2 or ,3 casinos and has gotten a lot of free marketing off it over the last50 years. But that this body here was made for Harrison sounds suspect. As a realistic matter a rosewood body is too heavy unless there's weight relief chambering. There are lots of aftermarket r wood bodies floating around. Fender outsourced rosewood bodies to Japan 40 years ago. The body here looks like it was stripped of a blue finish. I seriously doubt this body was cut in Anaheim back in 1967ish for a guitar for George harrison. You could pay for an expert appraisal though. If it is the real deal that would far pay back the 350 to 500 dollars spent for a recognized expert's opinion

 

[Scotty2Hottie]

yes that guitar needs to be finished. If you can afford it, a rosewood neck with an ebony fretboard would be the ticket imho. maybe some sort of wooden pick guard. the weight is going to be what it is. have fun picking out the pick ups.

 

[plusorminuszero]

Too bad about the supposed provenance.
Otherwise you could thin the body a bit.

 

[flyingbanana]

I read fender made 2 rosewood body guitars as promo gifts. A strat for Hendrix and the tele for George. Hendrix died before they could gift it to him anyone who knows if this is flub or can support it with references sound in. Let's remember epi gave the Beatles 2 or ,3 casinos and has gotten a lot of free marketing off it over the last50 years. But that this body here was made for Harrison sounds suspect. As a realistic matter a rosewood body is too heavy unless there's weight relief chambering. There are lots of aftermarket r wood bodies floating around. Fender outsourced rosewood bodies to Japan 40 years ago. The body here looks like it was stripped of a blue finish. I seriously doubt this body was cut in Anaheim back in 1967ish for a guitar for George harrison. You could pay for an expert appraisal though. If it is the real deal that would far pay back the 350 to 500 dollars spent for a recognized expert's opinion

I didn't bring up Hendrix because his name didn't come up in the story the seller told me, and I've never heard or read any info suggesting Fender was working on a rosewood strat for him.

 

[flyingbanana]

yes that guitar needs to be finished. If you can afford it, a rosewood neck with an ebony fretboard would be the ticket imho. maybe some sort of wooden pick guard. the weight is going to be what it is. have fun picking out the pick ups.

At some point, I am going to finish it. It's going to have a nice solid rosewood neck....maybe gold hardware. Not sure yet. But it will get done and it will be cool.

 

[Solaris moon]

You can get or at least you could get a rosewood body from just about any aftermarket maker for the right price. It sounds like the guy you bought it from was just looking for a cool although B.S. story about it to make the price higher than normal. I would spray it with an oil finish like tung oil and let it dry to keep it from being affected by moisture until you get a finish over it.

 

[pbenn]

Were Rosewood Strats hardtail or vibrato?