1961 Fender Stratocaster Sunburst

Summary: Slab board fingerboard, clay dots, weather checked 3-tone sunburst and a figured maple neck, it hardly gets better than this 1961 Fender Stratocaster! This Strat was played in its day but it was never abused and clearly cherished and cared for. The original frets are a little worn but the neck feels and looks beautiful with tremendous playability and unrivaled vintage tone from the original pickups. Our in-house guitar tech has just inspected, setup and restrung this beauty with a new set of 10s, low action and a straight neck. It even ships in its original brown hard-shell case which is in phenomenal shape with original bridge cover and whammy bar.

Body: Alder body with the original 3 tone sunburst finish, lots of beautiful weather checking and topped off with the original 3 ply mint guard with metal shield underneath.

Neck: One of the finest feeling maple necks one can hope to play, deep intricate grain lines and some figure, slab board rosewood fingerboard with clay dots, original frets which have some wear but are still plenty playable, 1.67” nut width and 25.5” scale length.

Pickups/Hardware: 3 original single coil pickups with 3 way switch, all original hardware, 1 volume, 2 tones, “synchronized trem” with 6 bent steel saddles, 3 springs in back, bone nut, Kluson Deluxe tuning keys and original strap buttons.

Cosmetics: This Stratocaster is in very good vintage condition with lots of elegant finish checking, some significant wear through the finish on the horns and bottom side, various minor chips, nicks and dings one would expect to find on a well-worn instrument form 1961. There’s some rust on the saddles, a small crack in the pickguard by the neck pickup adjustment screw, some divots worn into the fingerboard in a few spots and a fair amount of fretwear. The nut has a chip in the bass side but it doesn’t affect playability.

Playability: Our in-house guitar tech has just inspected, setup and restrung this guitar with a new set of 10s. The neck is straight, the truss rod is fully functioning and the action has been setup low and comfortable. The original frets are fairly worn but still quite playable without choking out or sounding dull. The last four frets have been worn pretty low on their farthest outer edges but retain playability.

Modifications: The back of the neck has been resprayed in a vintage appropriate nitrocellulose lacquer so it feels very nice and smooth like you would expect a 1960s Fender to feel if it hadn’t been played much. It does not feel or look terribly out of place on this beautiful instrument.

Weight: 7 lbs, 9 oz.

Case: This Stratocaster comes with the original hard-shell case which is in outstanding condition for its age with all the latches and tolex in-tact & we will ship it professionally packed and fully insured! There are some springs, original bridge cover, couple of old stripped out saddle-height screws, original whammy bar that snapped at the threads, replacement whammy bar and back-plate with screws included in the case.