One of the privileges of getting 'old' (er!) is seeing something once common place suddenly elevated to 'Vintage'. So too my trusty Strat it seems. Bought in 1974 in a shop sale for £195 (as is a Hard Tail) from money saved from paper-rounds and weekend work as a student - I was 16...

I have just got it back from my Tech (well actually is Ronnie Woods' Tech!) for nothing more than fret dress and clean up and he says is the best of its era he has laid hands on (is a 1973 model). Value?? £3500...!

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Pretty guitar! I love the natural with the tort!

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[quote="57deluxe"]One of the privileges of getting 'old' (er!) is seeing something once common place suddenly elevated to 'Vintage'. So too my trusty Strat it seems. Bought in 1974 in a shop sale for £195 (as is a Hard Tail) from money saved from paper-rounds and weekend work as a student - I was 16...

I have just got it back from my Tech (well actually is Ronnie Woods' Tech!) for nothing more than fret dress and clean up and he says is the best of its era he has laid hands on (is a 1973 model). Value?? £3500...!

Nice!!! Great looking guitar. Thanks for sharing....

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Eric Johonson Strat Blonde
Martin OM-1
Martin OO15 (1941)

Great looking axe............. Mike

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

Hi 57deluxe: a thing of beauty indeed! Nice timber.

Trying to work out who that tech is. A gentleman in Hampton Wick, by any chance, or am I barking up the wrong tree?

Cheers - C

She's almost too pretty to play and the finish has taken on a beautiful shade.Is that an ash body?It looks like ash anyway.

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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.

Beautiful guitar !!!

And to think I am old enough to have bought some of the vintage guitars when they were new. Back in my day (70s), an early 60s went for about $600 but the philosophy was "why buy something that old when you can get new for so much less . . ." Oh well, live and learn.

Once again, sweet looking guitar.

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Support your local guitar shop.

The color of my '79 keeps getting better with age!

Gorgeous Strat you got there 57! Mine is also a hardtail...

Classic Strat and a Blackface Fender Amp. What could be nicer?

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Fender Highway & Classic 60s Strats, Fender Toronado, Telecaster, Gretsch Projet, Charvel 3, PRS SE Soapbar II & Custom 24, Burns Batwing and many others!

Beautiful!

-T

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-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield

Rockstar:
Tech is Joe White in Ash near Guildford - is nothing he doesn't know bout guitars...

guitslinger: Yes is Ash body.

Cedarblues:
In 80's I nearly 'Tuxedo' finished mine the same as yours! A certain John Oates had one and I envied the cool 'modern' look! BUT that was when the tone of the wood was more Blonde. I remember the one niggle I had when mine was new was that the headstock, rear of neck and body were all different tones! Now, they are all the same.

One thing to mention too, is that the Hard Tails have a more middier tone - great for rhythm work and those Richie Blackmore driven sounds! But the one revelation I had was when I plugged my Strat into my first real tube amp - only as little as 3 years ago, when the postman turned up with a big, big box... inside was a 59 Bassman LTD...! Sadly the love affair didn't last as the unit was faulty and after 5 months waiting for it to be repaired at Fender I canceled and went for a more handlable 57 Deluxe and by then got the Tube bug and added a Blonde Supersonic 60 combo, then a Cornford, oh and a Pignose G40V with 6L6's (sounds the same as the bassman warm!) and even a Super Champ XD. But is no denying the oldest amp I have and used for years - a Session Rockette 30, does sound mighty good with the Strat for Jangliness!

Thanks for looking guys, is nice to hear opinions.