Hey there,
I wondered, if you may be able to tell if it's a true 70s Fender Body or not? It was given to me with the info that it should be a 70s Fender Body. It was heavily tinkered and sprayed with disgusting green paint. That wasn't me, I swear! ;-)
https://1drv.ms/i/s!Ao_8olsziXgDa5ep...CXWjM?e=E8MkX6
https://1drv.ms/i/s!Ao_8olsziXgDbA3m...Keu0s?e=rlJMnC
https://1drv.ms/i/s!Ao_8olsziXgDbVal...25qAo?e=Wm0Ksm
I hope these pictures are useful and now I am curious. ;-)
Thanks in advance
Raim&
Appears to be a hardtail Stratocaster
"No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim
Looks to be an extremly boogered but authentic (ash?) Fender Strat body. I don't think anyone is going to try to fake that neck adjustment mechanism.
The poly finish that was on there is notoriously difficult to remove. Its possible that someone stripped or sanded it unevenly. If it were mine, I'd give it a good once over w/a sanding block to make sure the surface is level.
Just curious, I've only had a few Strats, and none had the "swimming pool" for the bridge/middle pickups. Well the Squire did! Was this something they did in the 70's? (My "70's Reissue" had indivudual single coil cutouts, but a 3 screw neck.)
I believe that humbucker routing for the bridge pickup was done "after the fact". FMI was not yet installing humbuckers in the Strat.
"When injustice becomes law then rebellion becomes duty."
Of course, yes.Originally Posted by Offshore Angler
You are right about that. ;-) That neck adjustment mechanism is not really worth copying it.But it's original and therefore perfect.
Oh, a luthier I know said probably alder body.
Oh, I guess that the owner before had some fun with a hammer and chisel! It was surely 3 chambered. Looks aweful though.
You're right about that.
FMI began using ash for all Strat bodies in the early '70s and continued to do so until circa 1979.
"When injustice becomes law then rebellion becomes duty."
That's a good point. I guess you're right that it might be an ash body!
Alder doesn't feature such a dramatically-figured grain.
How much does the body weigh?
"When injustice becomes law then rebellion becomes duty."
Sure looks like ash to me.
So what I see is an ash hardtail with a three bolt neck and a micro-tilt that appears to have been cobbled to take humbucker and had an ill-fitting pickguard that required the holes to move. Those are the dating clues. It looks usable.
That said, the ash hardtails were a bit "unique" in how they sounded. I owned a beautiful blonde one that's now on display at the HOG and it never was "right" as a player. It's definitely an acquired taste. Were that mine I'd be considering routing it for a trem, provided the humbucker route isn't too deep.
Chuck
"No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim
Oh, I guess 2.9 kg! Heavy!
Last edited by Raim&; 08-04-2023 at 12:38 PM.
Well, I thought about a tremolo two, but I believe, the 'cut out' area is too deep. And I decided anyway to leave it as is.
The amateurish routing for the humbucker precludes an accurate restoration but it could still be rebuilt into a 'player-grade' utility guitar. Many of those projects turn out surprisingly nice.
"When injustice becomes law then rebellion becomes duty."
I agree. There are some nice 'refinished' ones out there.
Yup, that a 70's Strat body.
If you're bored, you're not groovin'.
Six and a half pounds is about typical for those bodies though I've seen a few that were significantly heftier.
"When injustice becomes law then rebellion becomes duty."
Great, thanks! 🙏👍🤘
🙏👍🤘😉
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