~1979 Fender Stratocaster Natural

Good condition featuring double cutaway contoured ash body with natural finish, multi-ply black and white plastic beveled edge pickguard, three single coil Stratocaster pickups with white plastic pickup covers, five way pickup selector switch with white plastic switch tip, aftermarket tremolo bridge with six individual adjustable steel block saddles, pointed oval shaped output jack plate mounted to the top treble side of the body, bolt on maple neck with walnut skunkstripe, maple fingerboard with black dot inlays starting at the third fret, large Stratocaster peghead shape with black and gold Fender logo and Stratocaster logo, bullet truss rod adjustment nut, six in a line F stamped tuning machines, three bolt neck fastening plate with Micro-Tilt adjustment, single ply white plastic tremolo cavity cover plate, two metal strap buttons, chrome plated metal hardware and unoriginal rectangular hard shell case with camouflage covering. This guitar weighs 9lb 5oz.

This Stratocaster is in good cosmetic condition showing signs of play wear throughout (see photos). This guitar is a composite instrument consisting of a 1972 Fender Stratocaster neck (dated June 1972) and a 1979 Fender Stratocaster body. I believe the body was a hardtail because of the round factory rout in the bridge pickup cavity - the trem cavity does look professionally done though. This body has also been routed in the neck and middle pickup position and there is a small wire route in the middle, probably for a mini toggle and at one point. It was painted white and then stripped and clear coated. The white paint still remains in the cavities (see photos). The bridge is a heavy duty non-Fender replacement. The pickguard is a later replacement. The pickups and wiring harness are modern Fender Custom Shop units. The fingerboard has been refretted with medium jumbo fret wire. The nut has been replaced and there are two very small holes in the peghead face from two extra string trees.

The neck on this guitar has a very nice chunky U shaped profile that feels very good and comfortable. The finish has been played off of the fingerboard for the most part. There is still some shiny finish remaining in the upper register. The frets are in good shape and don’t show much wear at all and the guitar plays well up and down the fingerboard with low action. The truss rod is functioning properly and the original tuners are in great working order. The Custom Shop pickups sound great and offer up some quintessential Stratocaster tones that sound great with a clean or overdriven amp and... since this guitar has been pretty well bastardized, you could always throw whatever kind of pickups you want into it without hurting the originality or value. I’m not sure who manufactured the bridge and we don’t have a trem arm for it, but it is hefty and it does intonate well. If you are looking for a cool vintage Stratocaster to customize or just to play like it is, this guitar is a great candidate.