Fender Stratocaster Model Solid Body Electric Guitar (1957), made in Fullerton, California, serial # -19757, sunburst lacquer finish, alder body, maple neck, original tweed hard shell case.

This very well-worn Stratocaster dates to mid-1957, several years after the model's introduction but when it was still the most futuristic fretted instrument on the market. This guitar shows signs of a lot of use over the decades with some evidence of minor repair and alterations but still stands as a largely original guitar and simply a great sounding Strat.

The alder body sports the older 2-color color sunburst lacquer finish which would be supplanted the next year by the flashier 3-tone 'burst. The great-feeling maple neck is pencil dated 5-57; it is heavily worn down on the back and has a much subtler "V" profile than many from this period, with some dress-away from the round to the sides but no hard spine along the back. The maple fingerboard was refretted and oversprayed, then worn through again showing the typical finger patterns in the maple seen on well-played 50's Fenders. The well-worn body is also dated 5-57 in the trem cavity; the spring claw must be removed to make this visible. It exhibits particularly nice sweeping contours on the back; these were all done by hand on a belt sander and there is a decent amount of variation even in a given year.

"Under the hood" the guitar remains largely original; it looks like another pickguard assembly was mounted at some point long ago, but the original has been reinstalled. This left some small extra screw holes under the pickguard, but nothing visible when the guitar is assembled except one patched hole in the original pickguard just on front of the bridge. The pots are an original matched set date coded to the 15th week of 1957, the wiring and solder joints appear to remain as they left Fullerton although likely the jack was unsoldered for the pickguard swap at some point. All three pickups are original and sound great, some of the rubber grommets under the screws have been replaced. The original three-way switch has a very solid feel selecting the "in-between" tones easily for some truly righteous Strat sounds.

This guitar has seen heavy use and some adventures along the way but has managed to avoid the more serious indignities visited on many old Fenders; refinishes, humbucker routs and locking tremolos. Through decades of use it remains as Leo and his crew intended, a versatile tone machine par excellence. This is simply a wonderful-feeling 7 1/2 pound guitar, a genuine Fender relic and a great reminder why the world fell in love with the Stratocaster in the first place!

Overall length is 38 1/4 in. (97.2 cm.), 12 1/2 in. (31.8 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.)., 7.52 lbs.

This "Real Relic" Stratocaster shows the results of many decades' heavy use with obvious wear including fine lacquer checking and dings, dents, scratches and scrapes to the body finish just about everywhere, including a large spot on the upper face where the arm wear appears to have been sanded down to the wood and a considerable swath of belt buckle wear to the back.

The body wood has one repair not visible when the guitar is assembled; there is a small cracked piece on the back wall of the neck cavity, with the section glued back in solidly but visibly. This is likely related to a small trough cut out of this area for better truss rod access, also not visible with the pickguard mounted. There are several small extra screw holes under the pickguard, the likely explanation is a later style guard was probably mounted to the body at some point but the original was subsequently restored. This is also not visible except when the guitar is dismantled.

The back of the neck has wear down to the wood for practically all of its length; the fingerboard been refretted (probably more than once) with somewhat larger wire than the original, though not as heavy as '80s "metal" spec. The bone nut is also a replacement. The worn fingerboard oversprayed with lacquer long ago, which now has finger wear again down to the wood in the lower positions, with shadows of older dark wear spots under the finish. The face of the headstock shows a plugged hole from a second string tree and a fairly heavy lacquer overfinish; the decal had flaked noticeably before this overcoating was done, possibly the reason another coat of finish was added there. There is a large chip and/or cigarette burn below the low E string tuner.

The original single-layer pickguard has warped a bit with one crack in the common spot above the neck pickup; there is also a small burn mark off the lower waist. There was a small extra screw hole added to the pickguard in front of the bridge, probably as it is warped up just a bit in this area. That has been filled in but is still visible.

The hardware is practically all original including the pickups and electronics, pickup covers, knobs, bridge and trem assembly, Kluson Deluxe tuners, string tree and strap buttons. The trem arm appears original; the switch tip looks like a replacement. Internally the pickup and wiring rig connections appear untouched, with the original matched set of pots, cap, switch and solder joints except likely the jack attachment to the volume pot. Some of the rubber mounting grommets for the pickups were replaced. The bridge is original with noticeable corrosion to the steel saddles; the height screws appear correct but may be old replacements as they are not as rusted; all still work fine. The trem is set up with three springs, the plastic trem cover plate is long gone.

Worn, played, loved, and OK even lightly abused "Real Relic" old Stratocaster is still a marvelous instrument, with a lot history written into its battered looks. It plays very well and most important still sings with the magical sound of its two-tone maple neck breed, conjuring up the spirits of Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Otis Rush, Magic Sam, Richard Thompson or any of a number of early Strat-slinging idols. The original "Knuckle Buster" tweed case is included, noticeably worn but still functional. Overall Very Good Condition.