I am offering a Fender Dan Smith Era 2-Knob Stratocaster from 1983, one of the manufactured in Fullerton, California (USA), early versions of the Fender US Standard Stratocaster with a solid alder body, bolt-on maple neck with “V” neck profile and 42.8mm nut width, elegant rosewood fingerboard with white dot inlays, three wire-wound hot Fender USA singlecoil pickups, special electronics with only one volume and tone control and output jack on the pickguard, high-quality Fender USA die-cast tuners and Fender Freeflyte tremolobridge in a glossy black high-gloss finish with single-ply white pickguard and chrome hardware in excellent condition, including original 1980s Fender Vintage hardshell case, manufacturer's papers (!), and professional setup with 10-gauge Ernie Ball strings.

This is the standard version of the Fender US Stratocaster reintroduced by Dan Smith in the early 1980s, when Fender returned to various design features from the pre-CBS era, including the 4-bolt neck construction, the smaller headstock design, and the 12-hole pickguard. At the same time, however, the guitar also has a number of features never before (and in some cases never again) seen on a Stratocaster, making it one of the more curious Strat models in Fender history.

One of the special features of the Dan Smith era Stratocaster is the special electronics with the output jack moved to the position of the second tone pot, leaving the guitar with only one master volume and one master tone control (“2-knob”). The visually striking Freeflyte tremolo system also differs significantly from earlier Stratocaster tremolo designs. All routing is done from the front of the guitar, and a cavity was created for the spring system, which was connected to the underside of the tremolo. The result was a system that many conservative Strat players considered unwieldy, and it was ultimately not accepted.

A sound sample of the model (only with maple neck) can be found above at the end of the photo gallery.

In short, this is a special vintage US Stratocaster with excellent workmanship and solid sound qualities that you don't have to skimp on!

Technical specifications:

• Origin: Fullerton, California, USA
• Year of manufacture: 1983
• Body: Solid alder
• Neck: Maple with walnut skunk stripe, 4-bolt screwed
• Neck profile: “V”
• Fingerboard: Rosewood with white dot inlays
• Fingerboard radius: 9.5"
• Frets: 21
• Nut: 42.8mm
• Headstock: Smaller pre-CBS headstock
• Pickups: 3x Fender USA singlecoil pickups
• Electronics: 5-way switch, 1x master volume and 1x master tone control
• Tuners: Fender USA die-cast tuners
• Bridge: Fender Free Flyte tremolo bridge
• Hardware: Chrome
• Pickguard: White, 1-ply
• Finish: Black, high gloss
• Scale length: 648mm
• Weight: 3.65kg
• Special feature: Output jack on pickguard instead of second tone pot
• Serial no.: E333550
• Includes original Fender '80s vintage hard shell case, manufacturer's papers, straplocks, and tremolo arm

The Fender Dan Smith 2-Knob Stratocaster was only manufactured in the early 1980s and is rare, especially in such great original condition.

This Fender Dan Smith 2-Knob Stratocaster is in excellent, well-maintained original condition and is technically flawless. Visually, there is only little age-related wear, which blends in well with the vintage patina of the instrument (see photos). The frets are in top condition.

The instrument has been professionally set up with 10-gauge Ernie Ball strings and I (a long-time guitar teacher) will ship it fully insured with DHL for €29.99 within Germany or €69.99 within the EU. Worldwide shipping is possible – individual shipping costs available upon request.

All photos shown are of the actual instrument for sale.