Hi folks. I have a question about my old strat, serial # L01855. I've had this friend since 1964, when I bought it from a young player who decided to be a drummer. It came with a completely NATURAL finish. When I queried the original owner he said "it came that way." I've never seen another one like it. Did Fender make a natural strat in 1960-1963? I'm hoping someone out there knows the truth!

Thanks,
J. Shulman
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I've never seen a clear tinted strat of that age. The nearest I've seen to it would be a sunburst.
There could be a number of reasons for that. Maybe their extremely rare, maybe the burst faded, maybe the previous owner took the finish off.

A picture or two would be advantagous to ascertain whats gone on with it. If you can upload one to a photobucket account. You'll see a group of codes underneath the picture when you hover the cursor over it. Select the one that begins [img]and%20ends[/img] and paste it into your reply. That should get your picture up.

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No no and no

I've never seen or remember that as an option.

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The blues ain't nothin but a good man feelin bad.

According to my records your Strat was most likely made Feb.-Mar. 1963 custom colours and finishes were rare in 63 and originals are worth quite a bit more.An Ex.Cond. sunburst 63 would be worth $20,000-25,000 a common colour $25,000-30,000 but a rare colour $30,000-50,000 depending on numbers made of a particular colour or finish.

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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.