What a beatuful guitar. You don,t happen to have a real 59 Bassman layin around anywhere. Id love to here it through the super

Yeah that guitar is beautiful. Nice pattern, and in really great shape.

I love the grain on that!

Thanks for posting the pics.

You are lucky if it's got all it's original parts (plastics and pickups in particular).

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Well, there's the classic conundrum again. We went through this with the '88/'89 Claptons. Which calls it? According to Mike Eldred, Fender has been known to mate guitar parts that are close in manufacturing dates. What is the determining factor here. You have a 10/54 body on the shelf, mated to a 1/55 neck and thus, a finished instrument, each component reflective of the characteristics of the period. You can't go by a purchase date, that's for sure. Why does the neck take precedence? Realistically that the build date would have to follow the later date of either the body or neck.

In any event, a well preserved specimen and entry into that contest on the other thread...'the oldest Strat'!

Thanks for sharing

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"Another day in paradise!"

Here are a few more pics:









Thanks for all the kind words...she is a beauty and the Queen of my...fleet(?).
I was wrong on two things: The pickup covers in the pix are not the originals. I do have the originals, but they are kind of beat up. The controls knobs also are not original. I do have the cover for the bridge, and what appears to be an old Fender strap.
I'm so glad I got it refretted...I was worried about hurting the value, but what good is a guitar you can't enjoy? It is so cool to play, very resonant.
I will be posting a video soon.

A wonderful instrument as well as a piece of history. Likely the oldest strat any forum regular here has.

I'm happy for you for owning such an amazing guitar!

(ps regarding the refret: I'm no expert but I believe among vintage guitar collectors a refret is widely accepted, as it's basically maintenance to keep the guitar playable.)

I agree. I believe an instrument should be marked on its playability too. If it's old, thats one thing. BUT if it's un-playable, then thats another.

I cannot think of any other strat that commands as much integrity and respect as this one.

As for the audio samples, this guitar is like a very old bottle of fine matured whiskey. Best sampled straight.. I would like to hear some bluesy stuff if you'd be so kind to us all please mate It would be an honour for me to hear what a real 54/55 sounds like

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Refretting is almost like just putting new strings on it. Can't play with old broken strings, and you can't play with busted up frets. You're good to go.

Any chance of recording some stuff direct into a computer and posting the files so we can mess with it with modeling amps? It's not everyday we have a chance to hear what a vintage Strat sounds like, much less play one. Any blues songs you are good at?

On the flip side I myself have access to a 1958 Les Paul Special. If there's anything you would like me to play on, I can do likewise.

WOW That is the holy grail! What a beautiful ax and it is in great condition with the neck broken in like a great pair of shoes.lol Good thing you listened to your tech and went with the correct fretwire. The vintage collectors have become a lot more liberal about re frets in recent years but different wire could of drastically affected the value. Smart for listening and many years of licks with that bad boy.

beautiful guitar....it goes to prove that good design never goes out of fashion.

where i'm from there's a saying "The older the fiddle..the sweeter the tune" (i'm sure you heard it before) i think it should apply to classic guitars like this one too!

just wondering if there were any other fingerboard or colour options (the sunburst finish on this guitar is fantastic) on strats in the years '54/'55?

'54 or '55, it doesn't matter a bit. What you have is essentially a '54 due to the electronics and body.... If Tadeo Gomez wasn't your neck signer, I'd tell you to erase it!

Tadeo Gomez is a man amongst men.

Congrats.

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Some Guitars played through an amp...

she is so beautifal

[quote="arnie guitar"]...well the body says 10/54, the neck says 1/55...so it's really a '55.
I always thought it was a '54 because of the body cavity date, then I took the neck off...

I've owned it for about 30 years. It was advertised in our local paper.
Recently, it became unplayable because of fretwear, so I had it refretted. Thankfully I listened to the luthier and had him use the correct fretwire, I was tempted to use a little bigger fret.

Other than that, it is stock. Since the refret, it's a fabulous player. I own two other Strats, a '74 that I...well, my Parents bought it for me brand new, and an '08 Highway One.

Of my 3 Strats, the '54 easily the lightest.]

Just like many instruments out there, the necks were faster and easier the make then the bodies. So they probably had a stock pile of necks waiting for some more bodies... Then again, maybe its a "parts"ocaster...

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"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


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