This is a lefty Strat from 1979 which has a lot of potential, and is priced accordingly. The main concern is the finish: During the late 70s, Fender was asked by the EPA to modify its spraying installation and to find a less polluting finishing method. Fender decided to try water-based finishes, which could be electrostatically sprayed on bodies. The new set-up was first used in 1979, but it soon turned into a disaster as finishes were prone to cracking, bubbling, and falling off after only a couple of weeks or months! Needless to say, this unfortunate development resulted in numerous claims from dealers and customers, after which Fender decided to return to polyester finishes.
This particular guitar is an example of that water-based finish, as seen in the pics. It would be a good candidate to have the finish removed down to the wood and oversprayed, or to be refinished in a color of your choice. The neck is actually in very nice shape, so only the body needs attention.
At some point, this guitar was professionally converted from its original 3-bolt neck to a 4-bolt neck. The 3-bolt configuration was a design feature introduced in late 1971, and subsequently dropped in late 1981, when Fender went back to the much more popular and stable 4-bolt neck configuration.
The neck pickup reads 2.84K and needs to be rewound to bring it in balance with the other 2 pickups. It is audible and playable, however.
Specs:
• Neck Depth: .89/1st fret; .93/12th fret
• Pots: 137 7901
• Pickup Dates: 51379
• Pickup Outputs: neck/2.84K, middle/5.59K, bridge/5.65K
• Weight: Approximately 10 lbs
• Serial #: S868652
The guitar comes with a trem arm, an earlier 70s white back trem cover, and a newer Fender molded case.
