How did Hendrix have an olympic white strat with a maple neck in 1969 at Woodstock?

I have not been able to find any of this color combination with a maple neck on a strat anywhere. I want to buy one with 9.5 radius (not 7.25), maple neck with vintage tint, large headstock if possible, with the rest of the specs conforming to the 62 model or 57 models.

Any suggestions on where I can find one (not an actual one, way to expensive) but a reissue or something.

I'm not sure if they make anything that matches those specs. I wanted to suggest the Custom Shop '69 strat...

OOH! Search on ebay for a '60s reverse headstock strat. That should get you there.

IF YOU CAN'T FIND THAT, START YOUR OWN PROJECT! Warmoth is a good place for parts. If you can find any guitar that comes close to your specs but lacks one or two specific details, there are plenty of aftermarket guitar parts on the web.


-The Screamin' J

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CURRENT RIG:
2008 Squier bullet stratocaster modified with Rumpelstiltskin pickups -> Dunlop GCB-95 Original Crybaby -> Fender Vibro Champ XD

"Could you take the stain from this pair of pants, and put in on this pair of pants?"

Fender Japan makes a 68 reissue. Pretty nice guitars, but it has a period correct 7.25 radius

how did hendrix get one? what year did fender make that model with those specs? I am guessing hendrix's guitar had a 7.5 radius, but I could deal with that I suppose if all the colors and hardware was right to my specs

They were not uncommon. Cbs started using maple on strats pretty much as soon as they took over(65/66), didnt they? White has been a mainstay of the colour options since the mid 50's. 9.5" radius didnt come in till the 80s though. His woodstock guitar was either 7.25" or modded after purchase.

Customshop will build you what you want.

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No no and no

whats this idea that CBS guitars starting in 65 were not good quality. Didnt hendrix play these era guitars just fine?

You seem pretty new to Fenders. But that's okay, you came to the right place to learn. I learned a bunch here.

CBS started using maple fretboards in 1967 and switched to the big headstock in late '65/'66. CBS wanted to cut costs and increase profits, so some of the quality has gone down during that period of time. But remember, it's the player, not the guitar, that makes the music. Hendrix could've played a Squier SE special, and guess who he would still sound like.

If you could find a Fender Japan guitar, they are very fine instruments (as good as MIA guitars today, no exaggeration), and BTW, keep this between us, people will call you POSER! LOL j/k

I think the big things from his sound were his pickups, effects, and his Marshalls.

Also, a little factoid, his '69 Woodstock guitar was actually a '68. And so was his Blackie. A lot of his guitars were '65s and '67s.

-The Screamin' J

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CURRENT RIG:
2008 Squier bullet stratocaster modified with Rumpelstiltskin pickups -> Dunlop GCB-95 Original Crybaby -> Fender Vibro Champ XD

"Could you take the stain from this pair of pants, and put in on this pair of pants?"

Olympic White was first used on Fender guitars in 1960. It is an automotive paint first seen on Cadillacs in 1958. From the beginning it was an acrylic, not nitro lacquer.

So many of the early colors were automotive colors.

My Stratocaster is Teal Green Metallic, first used on the 1963 Ford Thunderbird.

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James Burton Upgrade Telecaster
Hot Rodded Am Fat Strat Texas Special (now featuring Kinman Traditional II pickups)
Fender Blues Jr.
SWR California Blonde
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He sure did. the issue with CBS early on was more with the changes to amplification, made by engineers, with an eye toward efficiency rather than an ear toward sound.

later CBS started making changes to the strat to cut costs. The whole CBS era now has a cloud hanging over it. A big part is they had higher production numbers, and seemingly lower QC, so the perception is that more dogs got through. But certainly the feeling is that quality declined during the CBS years, and that it was markedly worse toward the end of their involvement than the beginning.

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

The first years of CBS strats are of decent quality. The low point came in the early '70's when they switched to the 3 screw neck and diecast saddles lasting through the early '80's. (Although many of even those strats are fetching decent prices these days) The weak point on many of the late '60's strats were the tuners, which were pretty cheaply made and haven't withstood the test of time very well. I wasn't around then, but back then they may have been more stable due to just being new. Of course, it wouldn't surprise me if JH and/or many other strat players of the day changed the tuners out. It was '68 or '69 when they stopped using Klusons. It was also around that time they started using poly finishing.

The Fender Japan ST68-TX is about as close as you can get in a current reissue. But the color is Vintage White and not Olympic White.

If you want a lefty-strung-righty, Fender Japan offers a ST68-JH model, for the truest Hendrix vibe.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Who`s Hendrix?

Johnny Hendrix. You never heard of him? He was big in the 80's.

_________________
James Burton Upgrade Telecaster
Hot Rodded Am Fat Strat Texas Special (now featuring Kinman Traditional II pickups)
Fender Blues Jr.
SWR California Blonde
Pedals Pedals Pedals

Jimi over the years went through lots of Strats and quite a few got broken and his equipment manager(Gerry Stickles?)often pieced together unbroken parts.Jimi even used a Strat with a Tele neck at least at one concert.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.