It is currently Tue Mar 17, 2020 2:35 am

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 13 posts ] 
Author Message
Post subject: History of a 1955 stratacaster
Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 3:40 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2008 3:24 pm
Posts: 4
I am trying to find out the history of ownership of a 1955 stratacaster, serial # 8571. Can any one help me do this :?: :( :idea: :arrow:


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject:
Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 5:15 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:44 am
Posts: 7282
Location: Washington
Do you know where it is?

It was stolen from me in 1979 ...

_________________
Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Image


Top
Profile
Post subject: More information on strat history
Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 6:53 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2008 3:24 pm
Posts: 4
orvilleowner wrote:
Do you know where it is?

It was stolen from me in 1979 ...


I know where it is, please contact by email at danielrobertsondw@yahoo.com with more information. This strat was bought from a music store by present owner. Since it is obviously an older one we have been trying to find out it's history. Thank You.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 9:44 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jul 26, 2007 4:57 am
Posts: 13164
Location: Peckham: where the snow leopards roam
orvilleowner wrote:
Do you know where it is?

It was stolen from me in 1979 ...


Good grief, is that for real?

What are the laws on that in the US? Does someone get their stolen guitar back 29 years later if they can prove it was once theirs?

Lots more info, please, if you feel like talking about it...

Cheers - C


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 9:48 am
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:44 am
Posts: 7282
Location: Washington
Ceri wrote:
orvilleowner wrote:
Do you know where it is?

It was stolen from me in 1979 ...


Good grief, is that for real?

What are the laws on that in the US? Does someone get their stolen guitar back 29 years later if they can prove it was once theirs?

Lots more info, please, if you feel like talking about it...


Naahhh, I was just taking the ... you know what I mean. The chances of getting real information on a particular 50+ year old guitar from a Forum, even Fender's Forum, are very SLIM. Would you really believe what anyone on the web would have to say about it without serious documentation?

Good luck to the OP though. I hope you can find out something. Your best bet is to try to track down previous owners and work your way back in time.

_________________
Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Image


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 9:54 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jul 26, 2007 4:57 am
Posts: 13164
Location: Peckham: where the snow leopards roam
orvilleowner wrote:
Ceri wrote:
orvilleowner wrote:
Do you know where it is?

It was stolen from me in 1979 ...


Good grief, is that for real?

What are the laws on that in the US? Does someone get their stolen guitar back 29 years later if they can prove it was once theirs?

Lots more info, please, if you feel like talking about it...


Naahhh, I was just taking the ... you know what I mean. The chances of getting real information on a particular 50+ year old guitar from a Forum, even Fender's Forum, are very SLIM. Would you really believe what anyone on the web would have to say about it without serious documentation?

Good luck to the OP though. I hope you can find out something. Your best bet is to try to track down previous owners and work your way back in time.


Hahaha :lol: ! I walked right into that! A case of wishful thinking, if ever there was one.

Chastened (but not very) - C


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 10:00 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:08 am
Posts: 9034
Location: Louisiana
I lost mine too!!! It was just like that one. Please send!! I'll pay shipping and a small finders fee. 8)


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 4:48 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2008 3:24 pm
Posts: 4
orvilleowner wrote:
Ceri wrote:
orvilleowner wrote:
Do you know where it is?

It was stolen from me in 1979 ...


Good grief, is that for real?

What are the laws on that in the US? Does someone get their stolen guitar back 29 years later if they can prove it was once theirs?

Lots more info, please, if you feel like talking about it...


Naahhh, I was just taking the ... you know what I mean. The chances of getting real information on a particular 50+ year old guitar from a Forum, even Fender's Forum, are very SLIM. Would you really believe what anyone on the web would have to say about it without serious documentation?

Good luck to the OP though. I hope you can find out something. Your best bet is to try to track down previous owners and work your way back in time.




Quote:
I knew that as my friend bought the strat almost new but used in 1955. It did have a previous owner and we are curious as to who that might have been as there are some markings and things that point to it possibly being owned by Buddy Holly. Personally I don't think so as it would have been the first one he owned but he owned that one for approximately 2 yrs before it was stolen near Detroit. But to bhuy a fender strat in those days one had to be either very rich are extremely into music, so it would be nice to know who the first owner was before my friend bought it from the music store where he purchased it.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 8:22 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:44 am
Posts: 7282
Location: Washington
hilltop wrote:
My friend bought the strat almost new but used in 1955. It did have a previous owner and we are curious as to who that might have been as there are some markings and things that point to it possibly being owned by Buddy Holly.

Personally I don't think so as it would have been the first one he owned but he owned that one for approximately 2 yrs before it was stolen near Detroit. But to buy a fender strat in those days one had to be either very rich are extremely into music, so it would be nice to know who the first owner was before my friend bought it from the music store where he purchased it.


Hilltop, that's a good story, but probably an impossible quest. Is the music store still open? What are the things that suggest it might have been owned by Buddy Holly? Have you checked with Buddy Holly experts?

Finally, no more questions or smartalecky comments, but a request: Please post some pictures of your friend's guitar!

_________________
Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Image


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 9:59 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2008 3:24 pm
Posts: 4
orvilleowner wrote:
hilltop wrote:
My friend bought the strat almost new but used in 1955. It did have a previous owner and we are curious as to who that might have been as there are some markings and things that point to it possibly being owned by Buddy Holly.

Personally I don't think so as it would have been the first one he owned but he owned that one for approximately 2 yrs before it was stolen near Detroit. But to buy a fender strat in those days one had to be either very rich are extremely into music, so it would be nice to know who the first owner was before my friend bought it from the music store where he purchased it.


Hilltop, that's a good story, but probably an impossible quest. Is the music store still open? What are the things that suggest it might have been owned by Buddy Holly? Have you checked with Buddy Holly experts?

Finally, no more questions or smartalecky comments, but a request: Please post some pictures of your friend's guitar!


Quote:
My friend has gone to bed so will see about pics tomorrow. The most aparent thing that suggests that it might have belonged to Buddy is the crack by the third pickup that resembles one I have seen in photos of Buddy and his guitar. That and the fact that the serial number places it on the market about the time thatBuddyborrowed some money from his brother and bought his first strat. Yet I have not been able to get the serial number of that guitar anywhere.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 9:02 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jul 26, 2007 4:57 am
Posts: 13164
Location: Peckham: where the snow leopards roam
My moment of wide-eyed gullibility (above) should serve as an excellent lesson to anyone looking into the world of “vintage” guitars. Compared to other high value items, such as antiques or works of art, old guitars are much easier to fake. There are already significantly more 1950s Les Pauls in the world than Gibson ever made in that decade, for example. Setting out into those dangerous waters you need to leave wishful thinking at home and keep your wits about you.

If Hilltop’s Strat is genuinely from 1955 then it is worth a stack of money. If it could really be substantiated to have belonged to Buddy Holly then that stack would turn to a truckload.

Mr Hilltop (or his friend) needs to consult a dealer in rare guitars, at the very least. Better still, if he seriously believes the Buddy Holly connection, he needs to take that guitar along to Sotheby’s or Christie’s auction houses, where they have experts in such things who will be keen to help verify that link, if it can be done – it would be well worth their while, after all!

Everyone else – take care…

Cheers - C


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 10:12 am
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:44 am
Posts: 7282
Location: Washington
I found this history re: Buddy Holly's strats

Quote:
Buddy managed to go through at least four to five Stratocasters from when he bought his first in 1955 to his death in 1959. Here is a look at each of the Stratocasters that Buddy owned. Note how quickly some managed to disappear:

Stratocaster #1
This was a 1954-5 Stratocaster that Buddy bought via money borrowed from his brother Larry just prior to his recording with Decca records. It can be seen in various early shots of Buddy performing around Lubbock when he was still performing with Bob Montgomery, as well in pictures performing with Sonny Curtis, straight through the first Biggest Show of Stars tour in September 1957.

Stratocaster #2
This guitar was a replacement to the first Stratocaster that Buddy owned for close to two years. The first Strat was stolen on the 80-day tour the Crickets did in the fall of 1957, "Biggest Show of Stars." Bus driver Tommy Tompkins said in an interview with Reminiscing magazine in 1986 that "Buddy came up to me and said, ‘Gee Tom, I don’t know what to do’. He told me his electric guitar was stolen. This was about two or three in the afternoon and we had a show that evening. So I suggested that he go to Detroit… he went into Detroit and was back with a new guitar in time for the show." This is the guitar he had with him on his surviving television performances on Ed Sullivan, as well as the Arthur Murray performance. This is also the guitar Buddy had with him on his trip to Britain. You can see the visible signs of wear this guitar got in the few short months that Buddy owned it by the time he took it with him for his tour of Britain, as the cover to the middle and neck pickups have cracked off on the bottom.

Stratocaster #3 & 4
These Strats followed one another in rapid succession during the middle of Alan Freed’s Big Beat tour in the spring 1958. According to Bill Griggs’ Buddy Holly: Day By Day series, evidence that Strat #2 was stolen on April 9 comes from the surviving itinerary sheet from the tour, which has the word "stolen" penciled by this date. That Strat was then stolen less than a week later on April 15 in St. Louis. Evidence of a new Strat is visible is in the photo by Dick Cole from the Crickets show in Waterloo, IA on April 22, where you can clearly see that Buddy has yet to remove the chrome bridge cover from the guitar, as you see has been done in most of the other photos of him playing a Strat. (SIDENOTE: For guitarists not in the know, its interesting to note that early on, Fender must have considered the bridge of their guitars a cosmetic error, as they had chrome-plated bridge covers over top of them. Fender apparently quit putting them on their guitars once enough players complained to the company about how much harder it was to replace strings with this cover on, not to mention the people at Fender noticed everyone taking the covers off!)

Buddy's classic sunburst Strat that is on display at Lubbock's Buddy Holly Center has the serial number # 028228.

Stratocaster #5
According to an interview with Guitar Player magazine, Tommy Allsup, who by 1958 played on most of Buddy’s remaining studio sessions in Clovis, said that he had a friend at Fender who got Buddy and Tommy an endorsement with the company and Fender sent them "two new Stratocasters and two Twin Amps." Given that Tommy did not start working with Holly in the studio until May 1958-after the Alan Freed tour - it seems as though this would make a fifth Stratocaster for Buddy Holly. Where this guitar would have come into play is a little hazy. Also mentioned in the Guitar Player article, according to Henry Goldrich of Manny’s music shop in New York, Buddy bought a pair of white Stratocasters during one of his many visits to the store. As to why he would have bought a pair of white Strats, and if he did, exactly what happened to them is unknown.

_________________
Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Image


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 10:19 am
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:08 am
Posts: 9034
Location: Louisiana
Great post!! Thanks from the rest of us man!! 8)


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 13 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot], jmallard and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: