Hey all,

So I was wondering, when did Fender ever produce Strats that were painted with the nitro lacquer with no Fullerplast, Homoclad, polyurethane, or polyester coat underneath it? I know everyone sort of makes a fuss about modern Fenders not being pure nitro. In particular, the OLD American Vintage series, Highway One series have a type of polyurethane base coat (yes, some thick and some thin, but it's there) ...I think just about the only ones that are pure nitro are the thin skin Strats and Custom Shops when I think about it unless I'm misinformed. It's late right now, and I hope I'm getting my facts straight.

But really, can anyone help or point me to a source that will show which years or time periods Fender produced purely nitro Strats?

They've always used Fullerplast

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No no and no

From the early/mid 50's they used Sherwin Williams' Homoclad as their sealer, they transitioned to Fullerplast later, by 67/68 Fullerplast was on everything.

The only possible Nitro-only Stats would be the very first few in '54, with the one tone burst (the bodies weren't dyed or coloured yellow, only the dark band around the edge was shot.)
And I only say possible because it is not documented how or if these were sealed before the lacquer was sprayed, it is very possible they used Homoclad for these too.

as far as I know the "Thin Skin" is still applied over a polyester sealer.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

12B as a complete aside, we've a new album out soon. Very melodic 77 style.
Want me to get a copy to you?

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No no and no

Fender Strats were all nitro up to about '63.

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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.

Aside from the Homoclad sealer.
the Custom Colours (basically every colour actually,) were mostly Acrylic lacquer.
the all Nitro finish Strat is a myth at best.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

According to A.R. Duchossoir, Fender used Du-pont automotive nitro cellulose lacquer paint up to 1968. The "Fullerplast" was used as an undercoat for the first time around 1961 experimentally, and not standard until 1963. Some custom colors were done in acrylic, but Fender continued to use largely nitro. At some point after CBS took over, they began to use polyester (1968?), and then by 1981 they started using polyurethane.

Again, this is all according to A.R. Duchossoir, do you have a source that contradicts this info?

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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 Stratocaster Chronicles by Tom Wheeler, he specifically talks with Mark Kendrick, a master builder in the CS about it. see pages 100-101.

If there is a sealer other than Nitrocellulose (and there always was,) then it is not a Nitro only finish, like Gibson did on various models, where many layers of clear lacquer were used to seal the instrument.

fender used mostly DuPont DuCo Nitro lacquer, and/or DuPont Lucite acrylic lacquer (on the custom colours.)

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

Hi StratLovesLenny: in addition to the sources already cited, there are two long and useful posts by Fender's Mark Kendrick towards the bottom of this page:

http://www.fenderforum.com/forum.html?d ... mber=50113

Although he's specifically talking about how they did/do the Vintage Reissues he also discusses the history of Fender's finishing process. He doesn't quite answer every last possible question - but it's pretty good material!

BTW: Mark mentions that in his first year at Fender he personally sprayed around 46,000 guitars. Wow!

Cheers - C

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that's an astounding number!!

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

And that was in one afternoon!

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Bill