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Up for auction is an original and rare January 1970 Maple Cap Stratocaster neck. The maple cap Strat necks were only produced during 1968-1970, and in very small numbers. The maple cap was preferred by none other than Jimi Hendrix! Maple cap Strats almost never come up for sale. Instead of the usual one piece neck, the fingerboard is a separate piece of maple glued on a maple neck in the same style as a rosewood fingerboard board. This came to me installed on a '66 Jazzmaster, same owner since the late 70s. The tone all around was very warm, and the neck pickup had great character. The profile is full/medium C that is perfect, neither too full or thin. Excellent condition for it's age. There are no cracks, breaks or repairs. The lines you see is checking in the clear-coat only. The truss rod functions properly and the neck is straight, no issues. The frets are original and are somewhat worn, but still very playable. The nut appears to be original and in great shape. I'm unsure about the originality of the "Fender" part of the logo. The "offset contour body" has obviously been added, most likely due to the Jazzmaster pairing. However, the logo is old and has been on the guitar since the 70s. I personally think it looks great and would leave it alone. This is a standard B width neck with the nut width measuring 1 5/8". There are no extra tuner holes drilled. Two of the mounting holes have been stripped and will need to be filled, a simple and common fix. My luthier offered to dowel the neck for $20 but I opted to leave it original so the buyer could go to his personal luthier. Don't miss out on this rare relic of Fender history!
