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Post subject: Rare Sahara Taupe 1981 Natural Finish Pre Dan Smith
Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 6:20 pm
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehKvS8zpECg

Thanks for all your help especially Johnc in helping me work this out.

The Sahara Taupe released in 1981 was a production model of the 25th Anniversary left over parts. It is an iconic model pre Dan Smith featuring 4 bolt neck no bullet large headstock...the last of the seventies large headstocks until the 2007 Highway1 model.
My guitar was a mystery to me for a while but Johnc put me on track. This guitar has been sanded back to natural finish. It has the original black scratch plate and black pic ups of the
Anniversary model. All the parts on this guitar are dated from 1979 - 1980 it is totally authentic except for the schaller machine head tuners


Last edited by vinnypop1 on Tue Feb 21, 2012 3:29 am, edited 17 times in total.

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Post subject: Re: 25th Anniversary Neck Question
Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 7:57 pm
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Vinny...Pics would help, but as far as the serial numbers go on the 25th Anniversary, they all started with 25XXXX. The neck plate also read 1954 1979 - 25 Anniversary

The first one produced had serial number 000000, so doubt yours is a prototype. Also the first batch of 500 or so produced were sprayed with a White perloid finish as used by the Huffy Bicycle Company but as most water based finishes at the time it cracked and pealed very badly. They then switched to a Silver metallic paint used by the Porsche automotive company. About 10K of them were made and each came with a numbered certificate. All of the 25 Anniversary guitars had the four bolt neck connection and were made from 79 into 1980.

HTH

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Post subject: Re: 25th Anniversary Neck Question
Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 10:02 pm
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I know all that I have an authentic Fender USA 79 large headstock 4 bolt neck with serial numbers not of the 25th Anniversary it does not exist in any production models will post pics, the guitar is authentic folks not a fake this mystery needs to be solved


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Post subject: Re: 25th Anniversary Neck Question
Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 10:26 pm
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vinnypop1 wrote:
...The neck I have is maple 4 bolt large headstock serial numbers 090280xx the body reads E0xxxxx. A dealer has authenticated it is an actual 1979 USA guitar with an anniversary neck...


Those two serial numbers don't match anything made in 1979, they didn't use E serial numbers in '79, and certainly not on the Ann models, and no serial numbers on the headstock were ever "090280xx" or anything close to that. If the dealer was pulling your leg about the neck, and clearly they did, I wouldn't trust any authentication by them. Possibly a newer 4 bolt '80 neck on a '79 body? You can see if the '79 Strat body has the three-bolt pattern and new screw holes under the neck plate or not.

No pictures necessary to know that it's not an Ann neck, but pics would be nice to see what the guitar really is.

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Post subject: Re: 25th Anniversary Neck Question
Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 11:11 pm
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Gday Shimalou firstly I have the pics click link. There are no numbers on the headstock its on the butt end as you will see.

Fender Products states EO guitars were issued from 79 to 81 so it fits. There were no 4 bolt large headstocks ever released after the anniversary if you can show me where they were released it would solve this mystery but I cant find anything...the body is a 79 also look at serial number markings, its clearly an anniversary neck.
The back has the normal f plate, there is no filling or tampering of the 4 screw holes.

Somebody from Fender has assembled a 79 stratocaster as a normal production line model using an anniversary neck am I correct ?and stamped and numbered it. Or its a custom job because a name is actually present ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehKvS8zpECg


Last edited by vinnypop1 on Mon Feb 20, 2012 7:39 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Post subject: Re: Brad Traweek Dan Smith Prototype Discovered ? Please Hel
Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 4:32 am
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PS this is the best strat I have ever played, super low silky smooth neck and a full powerful sound, the guitar is ash was originally candy apple red as I saw some red inside sides where label is, it weighs about 10 pounds I checked that 09 stands for stratocaster and 02 for maple neck maple fretboard it looks like an X separates the other 4 numbers at butt end these I have covered but date it to 1979 neck if this helps


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Post subject: Re: Brad Traweek Dan Smith Prototype Discovered ? Please Hel
Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 8:42 am
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Vinnypop1 - you're actually wrong about there being no large headstock/4-bolt necks after the 25th Anniversary run was done. The Sahara Taupe 1981 "International Colours" Strats had the big headstock, no bullet 4-bolt necks. I suspect that those 1981s were using up some left over parts. See this notation on the Stratcollector site:

http://www.stratcollector.com/scn/base/81.html

Plus they show a really odd natural finish Strat with both the large headstock/bullet truss rod and a 4-bolt attachment that they claim is factory original.

I'm thinking your guitar might have been an employee's guitar built from left-over parts circa 1980-81 instead of being a prototype or anything like that given the lack of serial numbers. Unless things were really falling apart in the late 1970s I would think that CBS/Fender would still have clearly marked prototypes as such on the body and/or neck somewhere.


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Post subject: Re: Brad Traweek Dan Smith Prototype Discovered ? Please Hel
Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 3:11 pm
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International Color Stratocasters Special custom colors: Arctic White; Morocco Red; Monaco Yellow; Maui Blue; Capri Orange; Sahara Taupe; Cathay Ebony; Sienna Sunburst; and, Cherry Sunburst. Note: unlike the other eight, the Sahara Taupe has a four bolt neck and non-bullet headstock, considered by many to be made from left over parts of the Anniversary Stratocaster..

This is from a Fender Dealers website

JohnC thankyou my friend you have solved the mystery its a Sahara Taupe which has been sanded back to natural finish and sold in 1981 made by left over parts of the Anniversary.

I came very close thinking it may have been a Dan Smith prototype, this is a special guitar though once again thankyou JohnC


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Post subject: Re: Brad Traweek Dan Smith Prototype Discovered ? Please Hel
Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 4:27 pm
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For a moment there I thought this could have been a long lost relative of "Lonely Boy"...

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Post subject: Re: Brad Traweek Dan Smith Prototype Discovered ? Please Hel
Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 8:46 pm
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Gday mhainz the Lonely Boy fiasco will never leave me, I am happy this one has worked out.
I have upgraded Lonely Boy, the picups and electronics went on it so I transfered picsups and electronics from a Fender Squire. I also scraped off the fake Fender logo, its now a complete no name. It looks nice and sounds great, the squire picups have done a treat


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Post subject: Re: Brad Traweek Dan Smith Prototype Discovered ? Please Hel
Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 9:32 pm
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Gday, mate.


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Post subject: Re: Brad Traweek Dan Smith Prototype Discovered ? Please Hel
Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 3:54 am
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Gday GTG good to see you how are you ? Im going to delete the link now dont want these images serial numbers up seeing my mystery guitar has been solved thanks all for your help this is truly a site full of the best minds in Fender guitars. I did learn my lesson from the Lonely Boy fiasco when purchasing this guitar I made sure to check the markings and info on the body and neck butt.

The Sahara Taupe must be a rare guitar as I dont think there were that many left over parts from the 25th Anniversary Hi to all the gang my Vinny Pop band is still struggling to find permanent members. Ive jammed with some great session musos who like my sound. If theres any musos from Sydney who play bass or drums please message me here or at youtube Vinny Pop channel thanks


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Post subject: Re: Brad Traweek Dan Smith Prototype Discovered ? Please Hel
Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 7:53 am
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Delete the link? The last few digits of your "serial numbers" are already covered up, why hide anything? This could be valuable in the future for others.

You keep saying "leftover Anniversary parts", when it is clear that your guitar is not marked as anything anniversary in any way, and apparently possibly not even a '79, but more likely 80-81. To say that "many believe..." doesn't confirm anything, it's a vague statement. Who are these "many", and why do they "believe" that?

If there were enough left over parts to last a couple of years, they can't be that rare. Even if the finish was rare, it's gone now, so it doesn't matter anymore as there are plenty of Strats from that time with the finish sanded off.

Maybe you have the "Strat of Turin" :lol:

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Post subject: Re: Brad Traweek Dan Smith Prototype Discovered ? Please Hel
Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 8:25 am
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Keep trying Vinny, maybe one day you'll find that rare guitar you seek. Good luck my friend!


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Post subject: Re: Brad Traweek Dan Smith Prototype Discovered ? Please Hel
Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 9:00 am
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shimmilou wrote:
Delete the link? The last few digits of your "serial numbers" are already covered up, why hide anything? This could be valuable in the future for others.

You keep saying "leftover Anniversary parts", when it is clear that your guitar is not marked as anything anniversary in any way, and apparently possibly not even a '79, but more likely 80-81. To say that "many believe..." doesn't confirm anything, it's a vague statement. Who are these "many", and why do they "believe" that?

If there were enough left over parts to last a couple of years, they can't be that rare. Even if the finish was rare, it's gone now, so it doesn't matter anymore as there are plenty of Strats from that time with the finish sanded off.

Maybe you have the "Strat of Turin" :lol:


shimmilou - vinny probably picked that "left-over 25th Anniversary parts" bit from me. I was certain that I read that somewhere; I thought it was on Stratcollector.com but I couldn't find any reference about that currently on their site.

I've kind of agreed with the speculation because it just never made sense to me that only the Sahara Taupe International Colours Strats had the big headstock/no bullet/4-bolt necks while all the other colors had the typical bullet/3-bolt necks. It just never made business sense to me that Fender would retool for only one color of the guitar, then retool again for the Smith Strats but you never know. There were some strange things coming out of Fullerton back then.

I still remember an oddity I turned up back in 1985 - it was a parts strat-style. The body was of unknown origin, the hardware was all Schecter (tuners, pickup assembly, Schecters "Trem Lock" trem system) but the neck was a "Genuine Fender Replacement Part". The neck had the Fender medallion under the finish on the back of the headstock, but it was a real oddity - it had the small Smith Strat-style headstock with the large log but it also had the bullet truss rod adjuster. Very strange; I have in the past two years seen another 1-2 necks like this. Again, strange things coming out of Fullerton back then.

The summer of 1985 was tough one for me guitar-wise: I passed on getting a '67 Strat pretty cheap because (in my limited knowledge) I assumed only the pre-CBS Fenders were really worth more than any other "late model" used Fender. Of course the early CBS Fenders really took off in value over the next 2-3 years. Then by the time I decided to pull the trigger on this parts Strat it was also gone.


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