This is a vintage Strat with a unique provenance and history. Date codes span from Nov 1963 to early 1964, so it’s more accurate to call it a 1963/1964 Strat, especially with a neck date of NOV 63(taking a page from the George Gruhn book of dating a guitar based on the neck date).
This guitar was previously owned by the great Elliot Easton. In fact, a good customer of mine flew from Germany to Malibu to purchase this guitar from Elliot. It was partially refinished by Jay Black, one of the founders of the Fender Custom Shop, somewhere around 1991. Then legendary Tom Murphy, who does the aging/relicing for the high-end Gibson Historic Les Pauls, refinished and reliced the guitar somewhere around the mid-1990s. I’ve only seen perhaps a half dozen lefty Gibsons that Tom has worked on, including the four lefty Rossington Les Pauls(I owned two). And I’ve seen very few Fenders that Tom has worked on, let alone a vintage lefty Strat, so this is a truly unique vintage lefty which has been refinished and reliced by the best in the business.
The result is really, really impressive. The finish and aging looks very similar to a 1963 original Olympic White Strat I sold last year. The color has nicely creamed over the years, with some mild arm color fade and checking giving it a beautiful vintage vibe.
The electronics are all original except that a 5-way switch has been installed, with the original CRL 1452 3-way in the case. The case is a white Tolex, which Fender made from approximately mid-1963 to mid-1964. It is actually a righty case, but based on the fact that I have never seen a lefty white Tolex case and all of the 1963-1964 Strats I have owned either came in a Brown or No-Logo black case, I would conclude that this is the original case to this guitar. The wear pattern inside the case would also indicate that there was never another guitar in this case, supporting my conclusion.
Date Codes/Specs:
Neck: 2NOV63B
Pickups: APR 23 64
Pots: 137 6422
Neck Plate: L35360
Neck PUP Output: 6.69K
Middle PUP Output: 6.60K
Bridge PUP Output: 6.31K
Neck Depth: .81/1st Fret
Neck Depth: .96/12th Fret
The pickguard is crack-free and in very nice condition. The neck plays really well, and this is probably the best playing of my pre-CBS Strats. It has a DARK Brazilian rosewood for that classic vintage Strat look. And, of course, it sounds like an old Strat should!
Includes trem bar, trem cover, bridge cover, and original Fender polishing cloth.
In summary, this is what a pre-CBS Strat is all about, and with the rarified provenance and Hendrixian Olympic White color, this is one amazing lefty vintage Strat!
