1959 Fender Stratocaster

Very good condition featuring double cutaway contoured alder body, three single coil pickups with white plastic pickup covers, one volume control and two tone controls with plastic skirted knobs, three way pickup selector switch with white plastic tip, multi-ply “mint green” beveled edge 11 hole pickguard, pointed oval shaped output jack plate mounted the top treble side of the body, Fender tremolo bridge unit with six individual adjust Fender PAT PEND. saddles, bolt on maple neck, slab Brazilian rosewood fingerboard with clay dot inlays starting at the third fret, bone nut, small Stratocaster peghead shape, Fender spaghetti logo and Stratocaster logo, single butterfly string tree, six in a line Kluson single line tuning machines, four bolt neck fastening plate with serial number, single ply white plastic tremolo cavity cover plate, two metal strap buttons, nickel plated metal hardware, stripped natural finish and original Fender tweed hard shell case with gold plush lining. This guitar weighs 6lb 6oz.

This 1959 Fender Stratocaster is in very good cosmetic condition showing signs of play wear throughout. The body of this instrument has had the original sunburst finish removed some time ago using a stripping agent. This was performed while all the parts were still on the guitar so there is original sunburst finish under the guard, in the trem cavity, under the neck plate and in the neck pocket. A clear varnish was added to the body, also with all the parts still on. The neck finish is original and the original decal is intact and in great shape. This instrument does not appear to have been sanded and would make a great candidate for a pro refin. There is a date of 10/59 written in pencil in the trem cavity that I have photographed and the “nail holes” are present on the back of the instrument. The original tuners work great as does the original bridge that retains all six original saddles and the original trem block and trem arm. All electronics are original with the exception of the bridge pickup which I believe is a Lindy Fralin. The original pickup cover was installed on this pickup. All solder joints look to be untouched with the exception of where the bridge pickup was installed. The neck position pickup and middle position pickup retain their original windings and rubber height bushings. The three pots bear the code 304920 which date these components to the 20th week of 1959. The original white capacitor is present and the original three way pickup selector switch works perfectly. The original single ply white plastic tremolo cavity cover plate is also present and not cracked though three of the screws holding it to the body are replacements. There is sunburst finish transfer on the back of the neck heel where it bolts to the body and the sunburst finish is present in the in whole of the neck pocket cavity (see photos). This guitar has no neck date on the bottom of the neck heel which is correct for Fender instruments of this time period. The original frets on this guitar are in pretty good shape and the thick slab Brazilian fingerboard is in excellent condition and retains all of its material so if you are looking to refret this guitar down the line it would make a superb candidate. The neck profile on this Stratocaster is of the very thin variety that I have seen on most of these guitars starting around 9/59. The original “mint green” multi-ply guard has some minimal shrinkage but is in tremendous condition compared to many others that I’ve encountered. There are no cracks and it lays very flat. It also retains its original bottom shielding. This Stratocaster is housed in an original tweed covered Fender hard shell case with gold plush lining. All three latches work great and it is very solid although the interior shows some signs of wear and age. Many of these Pre-CBS Fender guitars were heavily modified by their owners in the 1970s and 1980s - after all, at that point these were just “used guitars” with no significant value. Fortunately, this example was not modified in such a way. This Stratocaster is 63 years old and besides the changes to the body finish and the bridge pickup, its owner decided to keep the rest of it original and intact. It’s belonged to the same owner since he was 9 years old and was originally purchased at a local music store right here in Clarksville, Tennessee.