1963 Fender Stratocaster
An Exceptionally Fine Pre CBS 'L Series' Custom-Color Stratocaster
This pre-CBS 'L Series' custom-color Stratocaster weighs just 7.50 lbs. and has a nice, fat nut width of just under 1 11/16 inches and a scale length of 25 1/2 inches. Solid alder body, contoured on back and lower bass bout, one-piece medium-profile maple neck with a wonderful swirly Brazilian rosewood fretboard with 21 frets and clay dot position markers. Small headstock with decal with "Fender" 'Spaghetti' logo in gold with black trim, "Stratocaster" in black beside it, and "With Synchronized Tremolo" and three patent numbers in black below. Single "butterfly" string tree with metal spacer. Individual "single-line" Kluson Deluxe tuners with oval metal buttons. The neck is dated "2 DEC 63B." Three black-bottom white plastic-covered single-coil pickups with staggered polepieces and outputs of 6.01k, 5.91k, and 5.99k. Three-layer "minty" (white/black/white) plastic pickguard with eleven screws. Three controls (one volume, two tone) plus three-way selector switch, all on pickguard. The pots are dated "304 6403" (Stackpole January 1964). White plastic knobs with green lettering. Jack socket in body face. Fender "Synchronized Tremolo" combined bridge/tailpiece. Complete with the original tremolo arm and bridge cover. The Candy Apple Red finish is bright and vivid and shows none of the usual fade associated with this color. There is a small area of paint loss on the top bass bout measuring approximately 2 1/2 x 1/4 inches, a miniscule amount of belt buckle wear on the back with just one tiny area of paint loss (1/2 x 1/4 inch) and a few other minor edge marks or surface chips. Overall this forty-four year old custom-color Stratocaster is in exceptionally fine (9.00) condition, and is certainly one of the finest examples that we have ever seen. Housed in it's original Fender cream hardshell case with black leather ends and dark orange plush lining (9.25)
'63 Stratocasters in Candy-Apple-Red are fairly rare; it wasn't until '64-up that Fender really ramped up on that color. This is the "good" Candy-Apple too; NOT over sunburst, but over Silver - which gives it a really rich color. '63's Strats have some of THE best neck profiles and are some of the best-sounding Strats ever! Outstanding condition original decal, swirly Brazilian fretboard with original frets and nut, uncracked pickguard (impossibly rare to find an original, uncracked 'guard), tight tuners, all the metal is shiny, original three-way switch. Nice light weight at 7 pounds, 8 ounces, original tremolo arm, bridge cover, and tremolo spring cover, 5 tremolo springs, and near-mint cream case (the coolest case Fender ever put out!).
Unmolested, all-original-to-the-same-guitar-parts Custom Color Stratocasters are impossibly rare, hard to find, and/or, prohibitively expensive - this is a two-owner guitar from Minnesota; a music teacher bought it new and sold it to one of his students in the '80's - and he's had it since. One of our best friends is good friends with the second owner, who finally and reluctantly sold it…
This pre-CBS 'L Series' custom-color Stratocaster weighs just 7.50 lbs. and has a nice, fat nut width of just under 1 11/16 inches and a scale length of 25 1/2 inches. Solid alder body, contoured on back and lower bass bout, one-piece medium-profile maple neck with a wonderful swirly Brazilian rosewood fretboard with 21 frets and clay dot position markers. Small headstock with decal with "Fender" 'Spaghetti' logo in gold with black trim, "Stratocaster" in black beside it, and "With Synchronized Tremolo" and three patent numbers in black below. Single "butterfly" string tree with metal spacer. Individual "single-line" Kluson Deluxe tuners with oval metal buttons. The neck is dated "2 DEC 63B." Three black-bottom white plastic-covered single-coil pickups with staggered polepieces and outputs of 6.01k, 5.91k, and 5.99k. Three-layer "minty" (white/black/white) plastic pickguard with eleven screws. Three controls (one volume, two tone) plus three-way selector switch, all on pickguard. The pots are dated "304 6403" (Stackpole January 1964). White plastic knobs with green lettering. Jack socket in body face. Fender "Synchronized Tremolo" combined bridge/tailpiece. Complete with the original tremolo arm and bridge cover. The Candy Apple Red finish is bright and vivid and shows none of the usual fade associated with this color. There is a small area of paint loss on the top bass bout measuring approximately 2 1/2 x 1/4 inches, a miniscule amount of belt buckle wear on the back with just one tiny area of paint loss (1/2 x 1/4 inch) and a few other minor edge marks or surface chips. Overall this forty-four year old custom-color Stratocaster is in exceptionally fine (9.00) condition, and is certainly one of the finest examples that we have ever seen. Housed in it's original Fender cream hardshell case with black leather ends and dark orange plush lining (9.25)
'63 Stratocasters in Candy-Apple-Red are fairly rare; it wasn't until '64-up that Fender really ramped up on that color. This is the "good" Candy-Apple too; NOT over sunburst, but over Silver - which gives it a really rich color. '63's Strats have some of THE best neck profiles and are some of the best-sounding Strats ever! Outstanding condition original decal, swirly Brazilian fretboard with original frets and nut, uncracked pickguard (impossibly rare to find an original, uncracked 'guard), tight tuners, all the metal is shiny, original three-way switch. Nice light weight at 7 pounds, 8 ounces, original tremolo arm, bridge cover, and tremolo spring cover, 5 tremolo springs, and near-mint cream case (the coolest case Fender ever put out!).
Unmolested, all-original-to-the-same-guitar-parts Custom Color Stratocasters are impossibly rare, hard to find, and/or, prohibitively expensive - this is a two-owner guitar from Minnesota; a music teacher bought it new and sold it to one of his students in the '80's - and he's had it since. One of our best friends is good friends with the second owner, who finally and reluctantly sold it…
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