This all-original 1957 Fender Stratocaster is simply one of the finest examples we have come across to date, with fantastic tone to match its impeccable condition. This instrument comes to us from the second owner, who has owned the guitar since 1968. He received it in trade from a friend who was mainly interested in Chet Atkins style playing, giving him a Mosrite Celebrity with two P90 pickups and a vibrola in return. After moving on to mostly bluegrass music, he loaned it to friend Jimmy Henderson, the second guitar player in the band “Black Oak Arkansas”, to play on the road for a short time. It was returned with the wear on the back, put there by 70’s rock ’n roll stage attire. It has since been in storage, waiting to be unearthed again.
The guitar itself is in 100% original condition. The 3-way switch was removed at one time in favor of a 5-way, but was put back in the guitar at some point in the past. The pots, pickups, plastic, trem arm, ash tray cover, tuners, and tone cap are all original to the guitar (304723 on the middle tone pot, 27th week of 1957). The pickups all read healthy at 5.53k, 5.43k, 5.48k, respectively. The body is interesting in that there is no date in the usual places (middle pickup cavity or under the tremolo claw), but all the tell-tale signs of an original Fender finish are present, as well as correct neck pocket markings, dowel holes, nail holes, and “router fuzz”. The neck dates to 8-57. The only thing changed out on the guitar are the bits of surgical tubing used under the pickup height adjustment screws; after these hardened they were replaced with small springs. Even the original frets still show plenty of life! The guitar comes housed in the original Koylon-branded tweed case, also in fantastic shape, with the original Stratocaster spec sheet and Tremolo Adjustment instructions.
Not only is this one of the finest collector-grade 1957 Strats we’ve found, it’s without question one of the best-sounding! The pickups have an almost three-dimensional quality that is hard to describe or capture, but we'll have a new demo video coming soon!
