Hi

I wonder if I could have some advice, I am negotiating to buy a player 1959/1960

the guitar has unfortunately had a body & neck refin and pickups swapped out, but the Neck is maple and the seller is convinced the neck is an original ?

the date on the body is 11/59 and the neck is 8-59 and there is "DEMO" written on it ?

I know in mid 59 the necks changed to rosewood, but this is dated later, the demo is also strange and obviously added later.

The Maple neck is also not like the option neck with a maple board its solid
with the skunk strip like the earlier necks.

I am no expert so does anyone have any thoughts on this ???

the neck I am told has original frets, but the neck looks to clean....

I attach some photos ....

I agree, the neck looks way too clean, especially if the body had gotten worn enough to require a refinish. Have you seen a picture of the tuners? Here's a picture showing where the truss rod nut ought to be. It looks too low on that neck, indicating a "reissue" to me.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Thanks for your reply, I thought the truss rod was also low you can see where the pickguard has been made larger to help with adjustment ?

So I assume this neck has been on the body some time to make these alterations.

the tuners actually look fine ..... see below

Yes, I noticed that overly large "cut out" on the pickguard.
The tuners do look authentic. IMO, it looks like they were placed on a newer replacement neck which was doctored to look like an older one (by penciling in a late '50s date). I can't explain that word "DEMO" ... it's certainly not from the late '50s.

Can you find the dowels in the body? Are there nail holes?

I hope the price is low enough for you!

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

It looks like a real Fender neck because I noticed the nail hole above the D tuner, I read these were tooling holes that were placed up until 1965 as I remember reading. It is as mysterious as my Lonely Boy fake fender 1962. Demo looks new recently added. Would have to see inside the body cavity is that possible ? If the body has no nail holes forget it pleased to meet you interesting guitar indeed

I'm not convinced from what I've seen and read so far.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

I don't know when they stopped with that tooling hole on the headstock, probably when they stopped with the tooling holes on the body. I have a 1971 Strat with the headstock tooling hole. I haven't checked for it on later '70s strats.

The Custom Shop puts all of these old tooling holes (body and headstock) on their Time Machine Series ... for completeness sake I suppose ... so the neck could be quite recent. I do think it's a real Fender neck.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Thank you everyone for your comments, I think also the neck is a reissue there is no way its a 60s neck, so i will see how the deal goes.
I think maybe the seller will want more than i am prepared to pay, Still
there is always another ............

Thanks again

Did 59 or 60 Strats have 11 screw pickguards?

A real 59 / 60 original strat is worth about 21k USA dollars

The guy actually wanted $10000, when I questioned the neck etc
he asked for offers but still around that price !

I have seen a couple of refinished guitars like this one with non original parts but the correct neck for $10K so I dont think its worth it !!!

I have passed on it but again thanks for all your help

Wise choice to always walk away when in doubt.

No be a dill like Vinny Pop buy a fake get ripped off then become famous at Fender.com is another option blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa and twaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Glad you made the absolute right move. A refin cuts the price in half of a vintage ax right off the bat. Then you have the pickups replaced which is as extreme a replacement you can have. And there is something deffinetly not right with that neck. The numbers looked penciled in and the word demo looks like it was done with a sharpie. It is a Fender neck but not from that time period I would say. You said the seller is convinced the neck is authentic.Well a lot of people would be convinced of a lot of things to put 10K in there pocket . What proof does he have. For 10 grand you can find a great collectors piece or two or three especially in todays market. I Would believe you wanted it as a collectable piece shop around 70s axes are hot right now and you could grab 3 of them for a little more than that or check out Gbase where your dealing with reputable dealers for something vintage or keep searching for that prize at the bottom of the $@!&#* Jacks box there out there .But the last thing you want is to be had for 10 grand for something worthless. PATIENCE IS KEY.

Thank you all for your "words of wisdom"

Kind regards .....