1973 Fender Stratocaster, Sunburst
This is one cool looking Strat with some really attractive wear courtesy of decades of play. Paired with a great-feeling chunky maple neck it's a hard guitar to put down! These early bullet truss rod, 3-bolt, big headstock, staggered pole Strats have developed a strong following in recent years, and with this one it's easy to see why.
The maple neck is date stamped JAN ’73, along with the expected bullet truss rod, two string trees and bold black logo. The neck has a really comfortable chunky C profile that feels substantial in the hand without being oversized, measuring 40.5mm at the nut, 21.8mm deep at the 1st fret and 24mm at the 12th. It has been refretted and the nut has been changed, both sensible upgrades from a playing perspective, helping make it a very usable vintage Strat today.
Cosmetically it presents in a really vibey, worn 3-Tone Sunburst finish with some fine lacquer checking and wear through to the Alder in a few places. Finishes vary in this period, and the fine lacquer checking and patchy wear appears consistent with a Poly undercoat and Nitro top coat as is documented during this period.
Under the hood, the guitar remains broadly correct, although the wiring has clearly been disturbed over the years as you'd expect from a well used instrument of this age. The switch has been changed to a 5-way, and there is some untidy soldering on the volume and bridge tone pots, making the pot codes hard to read. The neck tone pot dates to 1973, and the wiring itself shows the expected black-and-white PVC type for the period.
It has the correct staggered pole, grey bottom single coil pickups. The neck and middle are both ink stamped 9420, while the bridge pickup is a slightly lighter shade of grey with a faded stamp. All three retain the correct plain enamel burgundy wire associated with the period. Bridge/trem block is the correct one-piece Mazak type with part number stamped to the underside, complete with the correct die-cast block saddles.
Overall, this is a very appealing and characterful early-'70s Stratocaster with the right look, a strong set of core original features, and a lovely substantial neck that should make it a very enjoyable player. A cool, honest vintage Fender definitely worthy of stage or studio!
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Shipping & Returns
Shipping & Returns
Description
This is one cool looking Strat with some really attractive wear courtesy of decades of play. Paired with a great-feeling chunky maple neck it's a hard guitar to put down! These early bullet truss rod, 3-bolt, big headstock, staggered pole Strats have developed a strong following in recent years, and with this one it's easy to see why.
The maple neck is date stamped JAN ’73, along with the expected bullet truss rod, two string trees and bold black logo. The neck has a really comfortable chunky C profile that feels substantial in the hand without being oversized, measuring 40.5mm at the nut, 21.8mm deep at the 1st fret and 24mm at the 12th. It has been refretted and the nut has been changed, both sensible upgrades from a playing perspective, helping make it a very usable vintage Strat today.
Cosmetically it presents in a really vibey, worn 3-Tone Sunburst finish with some fine lacquer checking and wear through to the Alder in a few places. Finishes vary in this period, and the fine lacquer checking and patchy wear appears consistent with a Poly undercoat and Nitro top coat as is documented during this period.
Under the hood, the guitar remains broadly correct, although the wiring has clearly been disturbed over the years as you'd expect from a well used instrument of this age. The switch has been changed to a 5-way, and there is some untidy soldering on the volume and bridge tone pots, making the pot codes hard to read. The neck tone pot dates to 1973, and the wiring itself shows the expected black-and-white PVC type for the period.
It has the correct staggered pole, grey bottom single coil pickups. The neck and middle are both ink stamped 9420, while the bridge pickup is a slightly lighter shade of grey with a faded stamp. All three retain the correct plain enamel burgundy wire associated with the period. Bridge/trem block is the correct one-piece Mazak type with part number stamped to the underside, complete with the correct die-cast block saddles.
Overall, this is a very appealing and characterful early-'70s Stratocaster with the right look, a strong set of core original features, and a lovely substantial neck that should make it a very enjoyable player. A cool, honest vintage Fender definitely worthy of stage or studio!
