This is a really Killer vintage guitar loaded with rare and desirable features. It is a very early 1973 model according to the low 5xxxxx serial number. The latest date code I can find is 49th week of 1972, on one of the potentiometers. This Stratocaster was produced a the original Fender factory in Fullerton California, U.S.A. It has a factory "Herb G." stamped neck and the original fingerboard is high contrast, open grain Brazilian rosewood. The pickups are black-bobbin, staggered pole piece units. The guitar is very lightweight and super comfortable. It is very nice, very original, and needs nothing-it is ready to rip!
The original 3-color Sunburst is vibrant and glossy with some handling evidence here and there. There are a few nicks and dimples, overall the guitar was very well cared for its entire life. The contoured body is nice and comfortable and has a clean feel. It does appear to be an alder body and the majority is all one piece. If there is a joint-it is hidden very low and indiscernible. The neck joint is a good fitment with no issues whatsoever. There are the typical Fender factory inspection ink stamps in the neck slot.
The neck itself is very special...This neck has "Herb G" ink stamped on the bottom. Herb is a long-time Fender employee who found his calling profiling the necks. He made the necks on Jimi Hendrix's Strat, Eric Clapton's Strat, Jeff Beck's Strat, and Ritchie Blackmore's Strat. He also made the neck on my Strat, but no one seems to care about that endorsement...just you wait til I get my big break. But anyway-Herb Gastelum was the man. This neck, like many early 1970's Fenders has an order code that does not follow the more common date stamp. It is a batch code with an extra digit written in ink on the end. The neck width is 1.59" at the nut and measures .854" at the 1st fret and .917" at the 12th fret. The neck has the classic vintage soft-C profile, just like a '69 strat. The neck is straight the and truss rod functions well. The original "f-key" tuners all work smoothly and the guitar stays in tune like a champ! The headstock and logo both display excellent with a nice touch of patina; just enough so that no one is going to confuse this with some sort of 'reissue' guitar. The Brazilian Rosewood fingerboard is very odd-as Fender transitioned to using Indian Rosewood a few years prior to this guitar. I have had several other Fender guitars from 1972-1978 that had Brazilian rosewood as well, so it isn't unheard of-just very unusual. The fingerboard is a beautiful piece of high-contrast grain with a velvety-soft feel. It is very clean. The frets appear to be original, but are also just slightly larger than the late 1960's and taller as well. I have had some Telecaster customs from this era that have these style of frets. They appear to be factory frets, but I could be mistaken...There is zero evidence of a refret; the fit is clean and free of any other signs of after-market work. They are in excellent conditioned and have been professionally leveled, crowned and polished. The action is set low for an easy playing experience. The string height is currently set at .010" at the 1st fret and .050" at the 12th fret. The guitar plays great up and down the fingerboard with no dead spots whatsoever. It fells really nice all over the board. If you bend strings, this one will really surprise you how much it can scream-the strings through body bridge really adds a lot of resonance.
The pickups all have an excellent and balanced signal. The neck measures 5.82 ohms, the middle measures 5.63 ohms and the bridge measures 5.70 ohms. The pickups have the quintessential vintage Fender " bell" tone with bright brilliance and definition. The non-trem models always have a bit more sustain as well as resonance and they just sound like a Stratocaster turned up to 11. The pickups are the original and very rare Black-bobbin units. They have the very desirable staggered pole piece pickups and are in excellent condition. They do indeed have vinyl leads and no date code on them-because black ink doesn't show up on black! Why do some 1972-74 Stratocasters have black bobbins instead of the grey ones? The true answer remains unknown-but it is most likely that either Fender decided to return to the black bobbins, or the supplier possibly ran out of grey for a while. The other theory is that these black bobbin pickups are old leftovers from the mid-1960's...anything is possible, but I know that in 1964, when they wound pickups the employee would initial or stamp (in yellow ink) a date as soon as they were completed and I have never seen a 1960's date on one of these. They also appear commonly on Precision basses as well as Mustang guitars...at any rate-they always have a wax potting and contemporary vinyl leads as well as the purple coil wire like a 1960's Fender would have. I have seen a white ink stamp code on a 1972 Stratocaster pickup (only the bridge, the other two were un-coded). What is known for sure is that these pickups sound amazing. The controls all function smoothly and quietly. It does have a later 5-way position switch and the middle tone potentiometer is a later unit also. The pickguard is in really nice condition and the bridge and saddles area also very clean and fully adjustable.
This guitar is very lightweight-it only weighs 7.09 lbs. It is comfortable in your lap or on a strap or upside down on your back. Seriously.
It is incredible fun to play and you won't want to put it back down, once you pick it up. The original Fender hardcase is included and it has the earlier 'duck foot' pull tab on the pocket with orange liner.
