I revently acquired a 79 strat with a 3 way switch anyone know anything on this?

So far we know that you have a '79 Strat with a three-way switch.

I thought that by '79 Strats came with a five-way switch, but it's possible that some came with a three-way, or that someone removed the five-way and installed a three-way.

It doesn't really matter. If you want a five-way, it's easily do-able. If you like the three-way, enjoy.

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Thanks! I'm perfectly fine with the 3 way I'm just wondering because they said it was 100% stock

Checking my Fender book, 1977 was the first year that the five-way switch was introduced. Fender wasn't consistent with the switches and the three-way switches were still used on guitars made after '77. It wouldn't surprise me if some Strats as late as 79 still had the three-way switch. It is also not uncommon to have an earlier body mated to a later neck from the factory. The serial number on the headstock can give a clue to the year made, but the date on the heel of the neck, and date on the body (if any) can often more precisely date the instrument. Is it possible that your Strat is even earlier than '79? Does your headstock serial number start with "S9" followed by 5 or 6 digits? Interesting to note that the serial numbers beginning with "S9" were used up to as late as 1981.

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yes heres a pic of my head stock as well as pots

As I answer to your other post about same guitar , this could be a 1978 to 1981 Strat.

It looks like that pot is a CTS and dates to the 51st week of 1974. Not unusual for the dates for various parts of the Strat to be different and far apart in time. Very cool! How about a shot of the whole guitar?

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I did post on your other thread but I'll also post here:

It appears that at least the pickguard assembly is from an earlier Strat than the neck - the white plastic and the 3-way would be consistent with a Strat from 1974-1975 which would fit the pot dates - in fact since the factory pot date is the 51st week of 1974 it's most likely the pickguard assembly is from 1975 - explaining the 3-way and the white plastic parts.

The neck is definitely from the late 1978-1981 era - but a Strat from that era would have had a 5-way switch and most likely black plastic hardware. The black plastic was used pretty exclusively from 1978 into early 1981; during 1981 they would start mixing in white but it was typically a white pickguard with black knobs and covers. All white plastic would be back at the very end of 1981 and on into 1982, but you would still find the all black plastic on natural finish "Smith" Strats from 1982.

There are 2 likely explanations:

1. It's the body of a circa 1975 Strat with the neck from a later (late 1978-1981) Strat.

2. It's the body and neck from the circa 1978-1981 Strat with the pickguard assembly from a circa 1975 Strat.

Awesome Replies! here she is!

Looks like the bridge is not original to either '74 or '79. Unless they used different parts for the HT, the saddle pieces should be cast and not bent steel as you have.

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with the saddles the person i bought the guitar off of sent them in the case they look like the ones on this page with the numbers stamped onto them in a bag http://www.strat-central.com/70sstrats/index.htm

new evidence the neck stamp says 0900x0204 which leads me to believe its from 1980

is your 1979-80 strat very heavy

your 1979 strat looks like northern straight grain ash very beautiful guitar i have one also in pieces

Hey Tamey75 - what about the neck plate? Does it have a stamped serial number up at the top of the plate? Or does it only have the F and the other (patent) numbers up and down the sides of the plate? Also what stamps/codes are in the neck cavity of the body?

As I've said in my posts the white pickguard/3-way/74-ish pots lead me to think that the pickguard assembly at the very least is from an earlier Strat (circa 1974 when they went to flat polepiece pickups) to early 1976 (when they started with the "Tuxedo" look of a black pickguard with white pickup covers and knobs); of course 1977 is when they changed to the 5-way switch and finally went to all-black plastic parts (not sure if that happened simultaneously).

My thoughts - if the neck plate also has a serial number then the body/pickguard is from an earlier Strat than the neck. If the neck plate doesn't have a serial number than either:

(a) only the pickguard was changed or
(b) the neck and neck plate were changed.