1962 Fender Stratocaster Sparkle Blue

It's October 1962 and the California hot rod and surf culture is creeping into the national consciousness. The Beach Boys have just released "Surfin' Safari" and what we now call "surf music" is on the upswing. The Beatles won't be here for another year and the Wilson Brothers own the airwaves. Cars and surfboards needed to be flashy and the hot rod shops of Southern California would paint your "deuce coupe" (32 Ford) in a sparkly finish called "metal flake" and Fender was getting requests for guitars finished to match. But Fender didn't have the equipment to do metal flake so they farmed out these special orders to some local hot rod painters. This is one of those guitars. There are loads of fakes out there and very few correct "original" sparkle Fenders. Two experts have authenticated this Stratocaster as original. It shows no signs of having been painted another color and no signs of disturbed solder. Feel free to argue that it isn't a factory finish because no factory sparkle Strats made before 1966 exist. Fender acquired the gear to do these custom finishes at that time. This is a 100% original 62. It has its original "ash tray" bridge cover, strap, polishing cloth and trem arm and comes in its original brown case.