HOW TO BUY A VINTAGE STRAT
The demand for vintage Stratocasters has never been higher, and neither have the prices. Authenticating these guitars is also fairly complex and even if you can verify the constituent parts, there’s no guarantee that they all left the Fender factory on the same day and on the same guitar.
Ideally a vintage Strat will come with provenance, and perhaps photographs taken over the decades, but it’s rarely the case. Serial numbers cannot be relied on without corroborating evidence, and it’s important to check if all the features correspond with the supposed manufacturing date.
From a player’s perspective, so long as you are clear about what you’re buying and the guitar is priced accordingly, there’s nothing wrong with ‘assembled’ or refinished vintage Strats. But whether you are in the market for a player-grade example, an all-original collector’s piece or simply searching for vintage parts for restoration purposes, this guide will help you identify the key features.
NECK CONSTRUCTION
The ‘one-piece’ maple necks of 1954-59 have truss rods installed via a channel routed in the back. A strip of walnut was used to fill the channel, with a walnut plug on the front of the headstock.
In 1958, Stratocaster necks acquired slab rosewood fretboards and front-loaded truss rods with no walnut strip or plug. The maple’s upper surface was left flat and the fretboard was radiused after being glued on top. The slab should just skim the top of the trussrod nut hole and if there’s any maple between the hole and the join
