I'm not actually really doubting it. I am curious on how you would go about authenticating it though.

_________________
I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

Huh? What I am suggesting is that if someone wanted to authenticate 53 strat's guitar, and the original photos are, in fact authentic, it would would be relatively easy to do using photo overlays.

_________________
“All music is folk music, I ain't never heard no horse sing a song.” Louis Armstrong

So much of the story of this old Strat has been told so many times on the net and in Vintage Guitar magazine I forget there are lots of people that don't know the story. Non of the history of this guitar has ever been hidden or slanted. It is what it is. It was a prototype when it was built. They probably tried lots of different parts on it as it progressed through testing and we only have the photo record that leo took that day and what it looked like that day to refer to. In another picuture of it it shows a black guard with white knobs. When my dad got it 54 it had a white guard and white knobs with white pup covers. The guitar didn't have a Fender logo on it in Leos old pics and didn't have the logo when my dad got it. In Richards book he said that decals weren't even listed on the end of year 53 inventory sheets.
The Fender custom shop had the guitar for a few days in 07 and most of the guys there had a look at it and all agreed it was the same guitar that was pictured in the book. The original pictures Leo took are still in his old fileing caninate at G&L guitars. If you know someone over there you could probably get to see them. I have had no success in that endevor.

The guitar was considered a cast off from the factory for many years and was treated as such. The neck was changed to another guitar and later sold. When parts wore out they were replaced . The pup covers, knobs and pots have been replaced. Two of the pups have been replaced and the body has been finished and sanded 2 times but somehow I see all this as something Leo would have done if he had kept working on it. Many times it has been written Leo was never satisfied with some of his guitars even as they went into production.
The guitar is a bastard now and was when Leo built. Some say its a holy grail and some say its really neat old body and bridge with some old and some not so old parts. I have no great expectations as to what its worth. If I get a big check for it {and by the way, that comes with a 1099 for tax collections purposes} fine, If I don't thats fine to. I have been in possesion of it for over 50 years and could keep another 20 or so with no problem.

My sentiments exactly, except I would throw a little travel in there as well.

Very cool. i am a bit surprised that G&L won't set up access to those photos. I understand their wanting to be careful with them, but they could set it up, with their key people to oversee it. I mean, a company with such strong ties to Leo, and no one is curious enough to make a comparison?(This isn't to cast doubt on your story, but if i were them, I'd do it, just to get a good look at your guitar.)

_________________
I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

Thats pretty cool then I must say. How did your Dad aquire it back in 1954?

_________________
The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

I think i'm with the 'strat of all strats' or 'daddy strat' camp.

Way cool guitar. Way way way cool. Just think its entirely likely that all of our strats were designed on that body amongst others.

_________________
No no and no

Yes, very cool.

I'd like to see the bodies that came before it. There are no pictures or remaining parts of the first tremolo system that Leo designed for the Strat. Supposedly, it was more along the lines of the Jazzmaster tremolo. Fender had trouble getting it work and sound right, so it was junked in favor of what became the Strat's tremolo system.

_________________
Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Could you imagine those first tremolo's? I thought they were bigsby derivatives. Imagine being privy to the design process, seeing genius in action.

_________________
No no and no

Thanks to you all for all your kind support. The guitar was given to my father by a friend of his that worked at Fender. The story was that he got it to do some field testing but he got it in 54 and the design had been changed and production had already started so I can't imagine what he was testing., maybe pickups?

Did your Dad pass the name of the Fender employee on to you and was he paid for doing testing? It facinating tracking the historic Providence of these thing.

_________________
The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

I saw a 72 lefty strat with 3 original 1968 pickups staggered right handedly, and bigsby bridge for sale on ebay today for $2,300.

Boy it looked like an 18 wheeler.

_________________
One of God's own prototypes. Too weird to live, too rare to die.

I watched as my dad and his friend {he perfers to remain nameless but is one of the only ones left from that time} assembled the guitar on our kitchen table from a box of parts.They heated up an old time soldering iron on the kitchen stove and put all the wireing together. When it was strung up, him and my dad had a little jam. Wildwood Rose as I remember.
Back then nobody got paid for endorsements or testing, they were just happy to get to play the guitar and maybe keep it.

I know this discussion is really getting away from the original topic, but I love these historic musings. Anyway, here is one of Leo's patents, this one for a tremolo device filed in August 1954.

_________________
“All music is folk music, I ain't never heard no horse sing a song.” Louis Armstrong

I'm going to change this topic title to Rare Strats, it'll fit more. Hehe.

_________________
One of God's own prototypes. Too weird to live, too rare to die.