Hi everyone, I'm looking for an affordable pre-CBS strat, so I tourned to a player. Can you tell me your opinion on this 61 strat. What is your opinion about the neck? I never saw a neck date like that. The body is a refin but the lacquer is so thick that is difficult for me to id the body. I have questions on the bridge pickup too. It was rewind or changed in the late 60's according to the seller. But the cables were reversed because the pickup was out of phase with the middle one... I don't explain that. Thank you for your help.
The only two things that could be verified as vintage, bridge and electronics, we don't have better pictures of. As for the body, it's been butchered and it could be just about anything. Heck let's say it's was hand made by Leo fender himself, no way to prove it one way or the other. The neck, I don't know, the finish isn't original. It could be a repro with braz board. Never seen a date like that scribbled like it was done by a 6 year old. In summary, too many red flags. I'd stay away.
Unless it's the same price as a 60s MiM, I'd avoid it. The date markings are not Fender, the refin on both neck and body have destroyed any evidence of originality, and the guitar probably won't play as well as a Mexican or AVRI. So I don't see any upside to buying the guitar. I think people need to remember that the value of a vintage guitar is either 1) it's a great player, in which case the finish can be a bit rough or 2) it's an investment, in which case originality and provenance are essential. In all other cases, modern guitars will be better.
Thank you for you two opinions. That's confirm what I as thinking. It is on sale on a UK shop but I have to many questions about it's authenticity.
Quoted for truth. The multi-thousand dollar prices of vintage guitars is almost all collector value. At the end of the day you get a guitar that, if you're lucky plays as well as a $350 classic vibes Squier, all the rest of the price is collector value. No baseball card collector would pay a million bucks for a copy of a Mickey Mantle baseball card. A copy is worth a couple of cents maybe. If it's not original and genuine, the collector value isn't there.
That's sure.But with the age it's sometime difficult to ID at 100% a part of the guitar. Mostly on player grade guitar. And that's where it's difficult
Yes, very difficult. If this is a copy it's an old copy and very well done, but that neck date...looks like no Fender date I've ever seen. I think that date is fake and I wouldn't pay more for this than I would pay for an AVRI--unless it absolutely captures my heart when I play it. If the owner screws up all the markings that identify a guitar as being a valuable collectible in an attempt to make it appear to be an even more valuable collectible, I don't see why we ought to feel sorry for them.
For information the shop sell it 11k$... About this, someone knows a good vintage guitar shop in UK ?
11k is way, way too much. Guitar Village in Farnham have several refins for less than that. For instance - https://guitarvillage.co.uk/products/fender-stratocaster-sea-foam-green-refin-pre-owned-1962-vg Just realised that is sold, but they have others at 10-11k that are much better than the one you've shown. Like this - https://guitarvillage.co.uk/products/fender-stratocaster-sea-foam-green-pre-owned-1962-vg Theres also a 69 for £7k which looks better.
Yep Guitar Village have 2 nice refin strat. It looks like a serious shop nutball73, do you know other vintage guitar shop in UK?
11k is what a 62 refin would sell for. But that guitar has too many issues. The heal of neck looks cut wrong too. I have seen neck dates that look like that. Not many, ....by 1962 Fender was backlogged under 1000s of guitars -and was cranking out strats, teles, bass, etc. hence the fast scribling of the date. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
How's about this.. 1962 https://www.vintageandrare.com/product/Fender-Stratocaster-PRICE-REDUCE-1962-72179
Im saying complete fake on this one , probably based on a law suit Japanese brand , head stock at the ball end is to big for a start, none of the routes are correct either .
Fretboard re-shaped up to 9″ radius Neck refin Body refin twice + extra hole + Trem block cavity widened It's too many changes in my opinion for the price
If I were you, I'd rent a 60s Strat for a month, from any shop that rents instruments to local recording studios. These are always solid instruments, that are 100% working and properly set up. After a few weeks, you will know if the hype matches the price. You will see if you can live with the higher action that a 7.25" radius requires. You will see if the limited switching options on the pickups is something you like. The rental fee might save you serious cash, and you won't have the risk of all those fakes that even fool the experts.
It always intrigues me that refinished preCBS strats (of like originality of parts) sell for 10,000 US dollars, or 10,000 pounds despite the quite different exchange rates of the currencies.... I guess just more scarce in the UK?
These guitars are more scarces you are right. In France it's worse.. https://reverb.com/item/29612826-fender-stratocaster-1963-dakota-red For 10k euros you have a player with many issues...
It's probably just Brexit. There is no lack of early 60s Strats, they are making more of them every day.