Hello, Just joined your forum - very neat indeed. I have a question some or all forum members may be able to answer. I purchased an old Stratocaster about 15 years ago and it was/is a bit of a mess so I got it relatively cheap. The neck and tuners are very nice but the body went through a very destructive alteration. The good news is that it is still playable and I guess that is all that matters. I still have most of the original parts (switch, switch tip, knobs, pick guard, saddles, bridge/tremelo, claw and springs) although the pick ups are from the early 70's. The body is unbelievably light (mind you there has been some serious routing) and the color looks original however I have never seen a Stratocaster this color before. I will post some pics and perhaps I could get some info as to is it real? Many thanks, Len

PS - If tyhe pics don't show up and you would like to see the pics just send me a message and I will send them to you. Cheers!

Amen on the sophisticated precision routes! The paint looks old and has the expected cracking/crazing that I have seen on other vintage bodies. The body contours also seem a bit different?

As for the neck - definitely has clay dot position markers and it looks OK to me?

Hi fab4, welcome to the Forum.

Despite the hatchet job routing the outer pickup cavities for humbuckers I think we'd still expect to see the remains of the worm route in the bridge cavity if it was a 1960 body. Someone will be able to tell us when the worm route disappeared, but I know for sure it was still there at the very least to the mid-'60s.

Those humbucker cavities don't seem to go significantly deeper than the middle cavity, so I doubt it could be argued that the worm route has been obliterated by wood removal from the bottom of the cavity. (You can see the work has indeed been done with a router - but used by someone who has literally never handled one before! Ew...)

So at a shaky guess I'd be doubtful this is a vintage body. But that is wildly speculative on the basis of one photo. We need to see much more to stand a chance of helping on this - and frankly I'm doubtful there is enough information to be found about this bod. Could be almost anything, given the state it's in.

It sure ain't valuable. That much I will stick my neck out on! Sorry...

Cheers - C

See the neckpocket hole? Thats not a fender body.

I'd like to see the underside of the neck heel too, to see exactly whats going on with those cracks in the maple.

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No no and no

The one pickguard mounting hole isn't in the correct place for a 1960 body.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Hmmm - many thanks for the input! Looks like the body could be a 1960 doorstop!! Hope the neck fares better. I have added more pics including the switch that I removed when I bought the guitar as it wasn't working. Many thanks to all who have replied. Len

Hi again fab4: looking at that new pic of the control cavity makes me now ask out loud what I'd been wondering before. Can you actually see any grain on the wood this body is made from?

At least from your photos it looks mighty like MDF or something similar. Which would kinda prove positive it ain't a '60 Fender...

Others here more expert on the switch, so I'll leave that to them.

Far as the neck is concerned, how do we account for the obvious leftward movement in the bottom E tuner? Did it start out too far away from the others? Legit or not, that ain't good to see.

Those cracks in the heel are fixable - though not with filler as someone appears to have attempted! Question is: is it worth the effort?

More than one doorstop, perhaps?

Cheers - C

Excellent questions - you can see grain in the top of the guitar but not so much in the cavities. Looks like a veneered top if that makes sense? As for the movement on the E tuner that was done by me when I took the guitar apart and messed up on the reassembly. The crack in the heel was there when I got the guitar and it looks stable. I don't think the previous owner tried to fix it with wood filler although nothing surprises me anymore.

OK, so then a veneer on a composite material base. Add to that the DIY paint job where someone thought you produce a sunburst by sanding the paint off the middle with very course sandpaper... So I'm thinking an especially cheap Far East copy that has then been treated amazingly badly.

What I'm getting to - do you heat your home with a furnace or open fire that could be useful at this point? I'm not sure this bod is good enough for a doorstop...

On the other hand, all of that is purely aesthetic. If this has been your pride and joy for 18 years then by all means reassemble it and carry on. I've seen good music made on far worse. We're not snobs round here: if it plays, that's all that counts.

Cheers - C

Yeah no open flames unfortunately - and funny as it may sound it really does sound good - mind you that might be a factor of me thinking it was a vintage body! If the neck check outs maybe I'll pick up a legit Fender body and give that a go. Many thanks for the education. Sometimes stating the obvious is all it takes.

L

Fab4

I think the only reason Ceri is talking of furnaces is that his current project is coming to a close and he knows he's going to be thumb twiddling soon.

In truth if the guitar plays and sounds to your liking why worry. Theres plenty of people around capable of refinishing the guitar and repairing the neck, if you dont want to do it.

If I may be so bold, how much did you pay for it?
Is that a repair near the trem cavity?

I just like looking at the innards of the things.

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No no and no

I am pretty sure I paid $550 Cdn for the guitar. From memory it was advertised as a project guitar and it came from California.

That was probably a repair to change from the import-tremolo-screw spacing to the American-vintage-tremolo-screw spacing.

As for the neck and tuners, the pictures aren't good enough for me to get an opinion as to their source. Could be real or could be a redecaled old MIJ neck.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

The tuners are single line Kluson Deluxe with the correct stamping on the underside - the pics don't really show that but they are original. The button shaft also sticks out of the casing. Other than that let me know what pics you would need to see and I will see if I can take them and post them. L

I guess I really need to check further on the neck to be sure it is what it is or more importantly to ensure it is what it isn't

I guess my first question would be do all the 60's reissue series necks use clay dot position markers? If the answer to that question is yes is there a way to tell the reissue from the original? Cheers, Len