Hi guys,

Just a couple of questions-

What kind of pickup selector should there be on a 1976 USA STD strat, 3 or 5 way?

Also the guitar is a cream colour with black guard, knobs and pup covers... Should the trem arm tip and backplate be black as well?

Cheers, Ian.

I'll get some photos up ASAP.

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Fender USA Stratocaster 1976
Fender USA Stratocaster 1998
Fender USA Stratocaster 2007
Fender USA Telecaster 2007
Fender Mustang 1966
Fender Musicmaster 1978
Fender Bronco 1978

Fender US Jazz Bass 2005
Rickenbacker 4003 Bass 2003

Fender Bassman 50 1971

I had a 1975 Strat, once upon a time, so I assume that the '76 model was very similar. Mine had just a 3-way switch on it. Fender didn't start putting 5-way switches on Strats as standard equipment until 1977.

As for the color scheme, I would think that the trem arm tip should be black as well, but the trem cover on the back would likely match the paint on the body. What you probably have is a factory "aged" finish (slightly yellowed) and they make a trem cover to match that. I think they call it "parchment."

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"It's about sound and sound alone. Looks are irrelevant. You can have the best-looking guitar on earth, but if the sound isn't there it is nothing more than a beautiful piece of trash. The sound it makes is the soul of any guitar."

Yes, 3 way is correct. Plastics are in a transition period to black during 76.

Pics-















There are a couple of niggles with the Strat...

The tone pots don't seem to do anything (are they original? They dont look it to me)
Someone has put in a 5-way switch, but not wired it up correctly... I'm planning on putting it back to a 3-way)

Any idea of a value for it for it? No case, but has trem arm and a rather funky Fender strap the is black with dayglow orange writing and lime greem headstocks on it!

Cheers, Ian

_________________
Fender USA Stratocaster 1976
Fender USA Stratocaster 1998
Fender USA Stratocaster 2007
Fender USA Telecaster 2007
Fender Mustang 1966
Fender Musicmaster 1978
Fender Bronco 1978

Fender US Jazz Bass 2005
Rickenbacker 4003 Bass 2003

Fender Bassman 50 1971

Congrats, absolutely great guitar. Very cool faded white.
Here in Germany I think they go for about 1200€-1500€ (for a good 77).
Regarding the trem cover and the trem tip, I think in 77 they would have put on a white trem cover and tip as well if they had one laying around.

Cheers,
Robin

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http://www.youtube.com/robinstrower
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Forgot to ad the other pics-

The black tipped arm is from my Bronco, just for comparison with the strat one.

Also does the backplate look original? It certainly looks old enough to be.

What do you reckon to the strap, I LOVE IT! Any ideas of age?

_________________
Fender USA Stratocaster 1976
Fender USA Stratocaster 1998
Fender USA Stratocaster 2007
Fender USA Telecaster 2007
Fender Mustang 1966
Fender Musicmaster 1978
Fender Bronco 1978

Fender US Jazz Bass 2005
Rickenbacker 4003 Bass 2003

Fender Bassman 50 1971

Cover and tip look original to me. The strap isn´t, to the best of my knowledge all of them had chrome not plastic parts.

Cheers,
Robin

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_________________________________
http://www.youtube.com/robinstrower
_________________________________

The strap probably should be that thin black leather.

+1

That's a modern-style strap, similar to the one I bought a few years ago. Strap that came with my old '75 Strat was a very narrow leather strap, with a sliding, wider shoulder pad. They came bundled with the guitar in those days. You can still find old-style straps like that if you look hard enough, but as far as I know, Fender no longer makes one with their logo on it.

@Ian, why do you want to put a 3-position switch back in your Strat? The 5-position one makes it much more versatile than the older switch. Many guitarists had 5-position switches installed long before 1976; that's the reason Fender FINALLY started putting the 5-pos in Strats at the factory (although it took them more than 25 years to do it).

_________________
"It's about sound and sound alone. Looks are irrelevant. You can have the best-looking guitar on earth, but if the sound isn't there it is nothing more than a beautiful piece of trash. The sound it makes is the soul of any guitar."

It was just to put the Strat back in an 'as original as possible' state.

Regarding the strap, it must be a few years old, as the headstocks are the larger type, whereas nowadays the straps feature the modern smaller headstock.

Any ideas on the pots? Im sure that they have been changed in the past, but fingers crossed they are original.

_________________
Fender USA Stratocaster 1976
Fender USA Stratocaster 1998
Fender USA Stratocaster 2007
Fender USA Telecaster 2007
Fender Mustang 1966
Fender Musicmaster 1978
Fender Bronco 1978

Fender US Jazz Bass 2005
Rickenbacker 4003 Bass 2003

Fender Bassman 50 1971

If you post some pics of the pots with the EIA manufacturer's codes clearly legible, we can tell for sure whether they're OEM or later replacements.

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 believe you said that the pots didn't do anything and you mentioned that the 5-pos switch wasn't wired correctly. That's the likely culprit right there. Get the switch and the correct pots and let a good guitar tech wire it all up right for you, if you can't do it yourself.

_________________
"It's about sound and sound alone. Looks are irrelevant. You can have the best-looking guitar on earth, but if the sound isn't there it is nothing more than a beautiful piece of trash. The sound it makes is the soul of any guitar."

The pics of the pots in the previous post shows all there is to see. There isn't any codes as at as I can see, just a 250k value and a 'made in ...' you can't read where as it's covered in solder.

_________________
Fender USA Stratocaster 1976
Fender USA Stratocaster 1998
Fender USA Stratocaster 2007
Fender USA Telecaster 2007
Fender Mustang 1966
Fender Musicmaster 1978
Fender Bronco 1978

Fender US Jazz Bass 2005
Rickenbacker 4003 Bass 2003

Fender Bassman 50 1971

In that case, go with a new standard Strat wiring kit from Angela Instruments or The Parts Guru and have a qualified tech install it. The choice of switch type is yours but the 5-way will give the guitar more tonal options.

HTH

Arjay

_________________
"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

Most likely, pot codes should read something like: xxxx6xx where 6 is for the year 76.