Vintage 1961/1963 Fender Stratocaster Candy Apple Red Electric Guitar With OHSC

Truetone Music has been selected to take in a special collection of instruments from a very special long-time customer and friend of ours.  A collector of only unique, rare, vintage and high-end guitars & amps, he amassed a serious collection of these years.  For the first time, these pieces are available on the market for the first time.

This was a guitar that we had a few years ago - it came from a family whose father had passed, leaving them a collection that we took in to sell on their behalf.  He had owned it for decades, and was believed to be just the second owner of the guitar.  A longtime customers and close friend of Truetone happened to come in just after this, and bought the guitar on the spot, before we ever had a chance to put it out.  Sadly, he passed as well, and his family brought his collection to us, which includes this vintage Stratocaster.

Now that the background and history has been presented, let's get to the guitar itself...

We've determined that it is a '61 neck that was refinished, and a '63 body that was refinished in Candy Apple Red.  Thankfully the pickups, hardware and other parts are all original.  It appears that the refinishing jobs were done at different times, since the wear on the body is much greater than on the neck.  So, we believe the body was done in the mid 60's (after Fender debuted Candy Apple Red as a color in 1963), and then the neck was done much later, once it had been played a lot.  Obviously the timelines and full scoop cannot be nailed down, as all of this happened decades ago.

Upon examination, we were thrilled to see how great shape it was in, including the neck - the frets have a lot of life left in them.  The refinishing work was done by an expert very well.  It's not obvious that it's a refinished guitar; many may not even claim it (we believe in full disclosure, so we wanted to present all that we could know about the guitar and be straight up).

This Strat is super resonant, and has all of the vintage tone you would expect.  The neck is super comfortable and easy to play - this is not one you'll have to fight.  It's been setup to play perfectly, and was vetted by the main vintage expert and head luthier here.  We love how the Candy Apple Red color has faded slightly, and overall the guitar has a great vibe.  It's aged perfectly over the last 6 decades, and is ready for it's next 6 decades.  

• Pre-CBS, 1961
• Alder body
• "C" shape Maple neck with slab Rosewood fretboard (7.25" radius)
• Patent numbers decal on headstock
• Dot inlays
• Original pickups, pots and electronics
• Original pickguard
• Original tuners and bridge
• Original case
• Serial # 74770