Ok guys Im putting together a 50's Parts-caster!!! Ive been gathering parts for a while and now have almost everything to do this. I have a 58 body and 57 neck. I want to make sure everything is legit, so thats where you guys come in.

The body is in great shape overall. It has a little weather checking, but overall not bad. Once I buffed it it shined up fairly well!! I put a set of Shaller strap locks on it because every strap I have has those!!!

The neck is a basket case! Someone reamed the tuner holes to have sperzel's installed. I have a set of adapter bushings to fix the reamed holes, and have filled all the screw holes on the back. Hopefully when the tuners are on it will look ok!! The nut is a new bone nut. Im not sure about the frets. There in good shape, but maybe a re-fret???

The bridge is original saddles of my buddies 58. the trem block is a new fender piece, and the top plate is ???

Original knobs from a 59 strat!

So tell me about these parts. What do ya think? Ill update everything as I go.















[IMG]http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb15/matt72401/DSC_0075.jpg[/IMG

Original '58 saddles, huh......?

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 don't have enough experience to be a "vintage strat guy" but it looks good to me so far .

If I had an original '58 Strat, I wouldn't loan you my saddles . Your buddy must be a heck of a nice guy ........ just kidding.

Can't wait to see how it turns out.

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"Damn Right I Got the Blues"

I am not an expert, but to me the only parts that look like they are actually from the 50s are the knobs, and I wouldn't swear that the knobs are real. The body and neck don't look like 50s, wrong routing and reliefs for 50s body, and they both look like they are poly finished. And, didn't the saddles in 58 say "Pat Pend" on both sides?

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

The imprint on the saddles is correct. But I'd expect a set of fifty-five year-old set of saddles to have at least some corrosion, staining, and/or pitting. Those look just like the NOS-style repros from Crazy Parts that I have on several of my own vintage clones......



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 dont think the body is original at all- there is something not quite right about it. the strap buttons arent original. Im thinking this is a AVRI or a Japanese body myself. The neck poket is far too clean to be original

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Thanks Retroverbial, you are correct. I found a picture of one of the first versions with the straight-blade screwdriver height adjustments, and they are like you said. Yeah, these do look like brand new.

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

If you read closely, he tells ya that he put the locking strap buttons on himself.

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"Damn Right I Got the Blues"

I did put the strap buttons on. There for my locking strap. The body was refinished, un fortunately i poly. I really dont mind, Its going to stay that way!! The neck is a mystery. I was told by Gruhn it was the real deal, so Im going with that.

The saddles are real, and in very good shape. The came of a friends 58 strat that was stored for years. The only reason he doesnt use them is some jerk put a floyd on his several years ago. His 58 is butchered!!! Someone replaced the pots, pickups and bridge. I have his old pots and they will go in this one. There not the originals, ut there old. And Im using a modern switch.

If George Gruhn tells you something is real,I would go with it too.....not to be singing his praises but he has had the opportunity to examine hundreds if not thousands of vintage instruments.
But I would always take something to him and let him look at it in person.
Likewise there are guys at the Fender Custom Shop who have had their hands on priceless instruments....and they are not the only ones.
In my opinion,the more "original guitars" you examine,the better you should become....and then there are all the "internet experts".

And as always lots of good info and pictures on http://home.provide.net/~cfh/fender.html

Looks like one very cool project to me.

Yeah, they should look like this (nicely worn 1954):



or like this (cleaner 1964):

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.