Fender Stratocaster Solid Body Electric Guitar (1968)
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Fender Stratocaster Model Solid Body Electric Guitar (1968), made in Fullerton, California, serial # 234524, sunburst polyester finish, alder body, maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, original black tolex hard shell case.
This is a nicely original sunburst "Hendrix Era" early CBS Stratocaster, made in late 1968, a period when a lot of changes were going down at Fender. It has transitional features of this specific time, when the character of the instruments was changing from the old "Leo" style towards the slicker '70's pure CBS look. The ultimate avatar of the Stratocaster Jimi Hendrix mostly played then-new models built at this time; that has given the guitars of this period a special appeal in the ensuing years. While no longer truly Pre-CBS in feel, these transitional late 1960s Strats still hold a strong fascination for many players, redolent of what many feel was a special time in music and cultural history.
This guitar's rosewood fingerboard neck is stamped 22 OCT 68 B. Internally the guitar retains all the original components; the pots are dated to the 8th and 10th weeks of 1966, as the huge CBS pot order made that year was still being used up! The grey-bobbin pickups are leaded with the 1968 and earlier cloth-covered wire, with matching coded stamps dating to that year on all 3. The white plastic pickguard is typical of the later 1960s, as it the larger headstock with the then-new bolder logo decal and "F" marked Fender-made tuners.
While finished in the new-for-1968 Poly, this guitar still feels more natural than the later 1970's "Thick Skin" Strats, which can look like they were dipped in plastic. This guitar plays well and sounds great, exactly as expected. It has survived the years better than many, with some dings and dents but escaping the refinishes, jumbo frets, humbucker routs, locking trems and other pitfalls of the '70's and '80's. Overall lovely 55+ year old Stratocaster, retaining all the original character while played in enough to gig without worry.
Overall length is 39 3/4 in. (101 cm.), 12 3/4 in. (32.4 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 3/4 in. (4.4 cm.) deep. Scale length is 25 1/2 in. (648 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5/8 in. (41 mm.).
Overall this is a relatively clean guitar showing some typical fairly minor wear with no repairs or major alterations. The body has some typical chipped through edge wear, mostly on the back edge and lower side often seen on older Fenders. There is a deep scraped spot on the wood on the bottom of the lower horn. The top is comparatively clean with some minor dings and dents. A few tiny spots have been touched up along the edges. The back has a couple of deep dings but is really pretty clean as well. The neck finish shows very little wear, which was after all the point of the new Polyester finishes. There is one small feelable ding behind the second fret area.
This Strat remains nearly all original inside "Under the Hood' with a matched set of three original dated pickups, original pots, cap and switch with the masking tape securing the leads and original solder joints intact. For some reason someone wrapped a layer of electrical tape around the pickup coils inside the covers (probably a misguided attempt at shielding) but this causes no ill effects. The solder joints at the jack were frayed loose so those have been redone.
All hardware is generally clean except for some typical minor wear, most notably corrosion on the steel bridge saddles and screws. The screws securing just the neck pickup have been changed and the trem cover on the back is missing, otherwise the guitar is original and complete, except the usually discarded snap-on bridge cover is gone as well. The pickguard shows some light shrinkage but there are no broken or missing tips.
The original small frets and fingerboard show some wear mostly in the lower positions but still play well. This Strat has been mostly unused since the early 1980s, gifted to a teenager in 1978 by a relative and put away after a fairly short time. It is a nice survivor of the Woodstock era, used but not abused with lots of stories still to tell. It is housed in the original black Tolex HSC, with the logo missing from the lid but otherwise pretty well preserved. Overall Excellent - Condition.
This is a nicely original sunburst "Hendrix Era" early CBS Stratocaster, made in late 1968, a period when a lot of changes were going down at Fender. It has transitional features of this specific time, when the character of the instruments was changing from the old "Leo" style towards the slicker '70's pure CBS look. The ultimate avatar of the Stratocaster Jimi Hendrix mostly played then-new models built at this time; that has given the guitars of this period a special appeal in the ensuing years. While no longer truly Pre-CBS in feel, these transitional late 1960s Strats still hold a strong fascination for many players, redolent of what many feel was a special time in music and cultural history.
This guitar's rosewood fingerboard neck is stamped 22 OCT 68 B. Internally the guitar retains all the original components; the pots are dated to the 8th and 10th weeks of 1966, as the huge CBS pot order made that year was still being used up! The grey-bobbin pickups are leaded with the 1968 and earlier cloth-covered wire, with matching coded stamps dating to that year on all 3. The white plastic pickguard is typical of the later 1960s, as it the larger headstock with the then-new bolder logo decal and "F" marked Fender-made tuners.
While finished in the new-for-1968 Poly, this guitar still feels more natural than the later 1970's "Thick Skin" Strats, which can look like they were dipped in plastic. This guitar plays well and sounds great, exactly as expected. It has survived the years better than many, with some dings and dents but escaping the refinishes, jumbo frets, humbucker routs, locking trems and other pitfalls of the '70's and '80's. Overall lovely 55+ year old Stratocaster, retaining all the original character while played in enough to gig without worry.
Overall length is 39 3/4 in. (101 cm.), 12 3/4 in. (32.4 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 3/4 in. (4.4 cm.) deep. Scale length is 25 1/2 in. (648 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5/8 in. (41 mm.).
Overall this is a relatively clean guitar showing some typical fairly minor wear with no repairs or major alterations. The body has some typical chipped through edge wear, mostly on the back edge and lower side often seen on older Fenders. There is a deep scraped spot on the wood on the bottom of the lower horn. The top is comparatively clean with some minor dings and dents. A few tiny spots have been touched up along the edges. The back has a couple of deep dings but is really pretty clean as well. The neck finish shows very little wear, which was after all the point of the new Polyester finishes. There is one small feelable ding behind the second fret area.
This Strat remains nearly all original inside "Under the Hood' with a matched set of three original dated pickups, original pots, cap and switch with the masking tape securing the leads and original solder joints intact. For some reason someone wrapped a layer of electrical tape around the pickup coils inside the covers (probably a misguided attempt at shielding) but this causes no ill effects. The solder joints at the jack were frayed loose so those have been redone.
All hardware is generally clean except for some typical minor wear, most notably corrosion on the steel bridge saddles and screws. The screws securing just the neck pickup have been changed and the trem cover on the back is missing, otherwise the guitar is original and complete, except the usually discarded snap-on bridge cover is gone as well. The pickguard shows some light shrinkage but there are no broken or missing tips.
The original small frets and fingerboard show some wear mostly in the lower positions but still play well. This Strat has been mostly unused since the early 1980s, gifted to a teenager in 1978 by a relative and put away after a fairly short time. It is a nice survivor of the Woodstock era, used but not abused with lots of stories still to tell. It is housed in the original black Tolex HSC, with the logo missing from the lid but otherwise pretty well preserved. Overall Excellent - Condition.