Visited one of my favorite shops today Wakefield Music, picked up 2 pups, a Seymour HB and a Noiseless N3 HB.

But the best was, when a gentleman came in for a fret possible refret question.
WITH... a 73 Strat in a two tone sunburst, hardtail bridge, 3 screw with micro adjust plate maple neck, parchment white guard, knobs, absolute mint condition, has had it since he was 12, present from his Dad.

Any one know if those are unusually rare ?
NO !! he is not selling it, it is going to his daughter who plays.

Sorry no photo's, left camera home will ask to snap a few pics next time. He's a regular there.

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

Same sunburst, but the E-bay looks trashed in comparison, No.. The one today was in mint condition with light wear marks, a maple neck and a bit of fretboard wear and in a black shell orange/red interior case.
This was the nicest vintage strat I've seen.

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

Hardtails seem to be more prevalent within the years of the micro-tilt/three-screw neck CBS era. I've seen dozens like you've described. Nice ones command a premium -- the beaters, less so. The ash used back then for Strat bodies was frightfully unpredictable in terms of weight. Many of those guitars tipped the scales in excess of ten pounds, others at seven or eight. As well, the "thick skin" finish wasn't one of FMIC's brighter ideas......the paint on some of those guitars looked like fifteen layers of spray-on Plasti-Kote. The notorious bridge and pickup problems have been well documented elsewhere.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

I had a 70s hardtail, three bolt Stratocaster. It was a nice players guitar. It was stolen from my garage 2/14/06. I realize the chances of getting it back are remote however I do not discount the possibility. Here are some pics, description and a link if you care to see the other two guitars that were stolen.

Description: 1) Fender decal on headstock scraped off, 

2) picture of a guy playing bass glued to front of guitar body near neck pickup, 

3) label "Robin Henkel 858 536-8944" on the back of the guitar. 



http://www.robinhenkel.com/guitars4.html





The best to you all and thanks,

Robin Henkel