1956 Fender Stratocaster Vintage Guitar One-Piece Ash, Blonde w/ V Neck & Tweed Case

Up for sale, a 1956 Fender Stratocaster in excellent condition, retaining its original Blonde nitro lacquer finish and complete with the original tweed case. Produced early in '56, this Stratocaster embodies everything that makes Fender's Pre-CBS golden era a truly magical time for electric guitars, and specifically for a pioneering, space-age instrument like the Strat. Featuring original pickups, hardware and bakelite plastics, this Stratocaster boasts a particularly resonant one-piece ash body, and a prominent V-shaped neck profile carve, delivering the goods on every level.

Acoustically, the entire body vibrates with liveliness, warmth, and sonic authority. Building upon the resonance of the one-piece ash body, all pickup positions have a certain heft and note attack, in-line with the tonewoods. The original pickups feature stock windings in the bridge and neck positions, with the original middle pickup rewound RWRP. The bridge pickup has a bouncy, sparkling sound with a round, textured quality, while the neck pickup has a throaty cut. Engaging the middle pickup in positions 2 and 4 yields a slightly spankier cut (and hum-cancelling functionality), yet these settings have a bit more overall fatness than most Strats. Weighing 8lbs 5oz, this Strat benefits from a professional setup here at Mike & Mike's Guitar Bar with 10-46 strings, low action and accurate intonation.

Neck Specs:

• Wood: One-piece maple
• Shape: V, full and inviting with rounded fretboard edges, measuring .890” 1st fret, .999” 12th fret
• Fretboard: Maple, 7 1/4“ radius
• Frets: Original slender, leveled and crowned, light wear on frets 1-5
• Scale Length: 25 1/2”
• Nut: 1.650”, bone (replacement)
• Headstock: Original decal, round string tree
• Tuners: Kluson Deluxe single-line
• Neck Heel: 10-56 grease pencil date

Body Specs:

• Wood: Ash, one-piece
• Pickups: Original black bobbin x3 (middle pickup rewound RWRP), 5.7k ohms bridge, 6.45k Middle, 5.9k Neck
• Harness: Replacement CTS pots, five-way switch, original "phone book" tone cap
• Controls: Volume, Tone x2, Five-way pickup selector
• Hardware: Vibrato with original arm/block, “ashtray” bridge cover, replacement height adjustment screws
• Plastics: Bakelite pickup covers/knobs, one-ply pickguard
• Body date: 1956 pencil date (month obscured) present in tremolo cavity

The body retains its original Blonde nitro lacquer finish. The finish is oversprayed (more heavily on top with limited translucency), with natural playwear down to the original finish on the body contours and in a larger area where the forearm crosses the top. The back is more lightly oversprayed, better highlighting the grain of the one-piece ash body, and the tremolo cavity fluoresces more prominently under blacklight indicative of the stock finish. The body exhibits various marks of honest use, with wear down to the bare ash on the back of the bass-side body horn in particular. The neck retains its original nitro lacquer, with prominent wear to the bare maple on the fingerboard and lighter wear on the treble side of the profile carve.

The original tweed "knucklebuster" hardshell case with central latch beneath the handle is included. The case features a gold interior, functional latches and the original handle.