54 Strat

Larry Shaeffer · Post by **Larry Shaeffer** » 23 Jun 2005 6:09 pm

Hi!
I have a 54 Strat that was made in August 54 the pots however were made in March of 55. Are thse pots original to this guitar?

BTW....I know this is a steel geetar forum but MAYBE someone will gimmie a hand. Thanks!

Stu Schulman · Post by **Stu Schulman** » 23 Jun 2005 6:15 pm

How do you know the pots are from 1955?I've never seen pots with the date on them.

Larry Shaeffer · Post by **Larry Shaeffer** » 23 Jun 2005 6:24 pm

The pot codes are 304517

which means 304-(stackpole the company that made them), 5-(the last digit of the year) and 17-(the week the pots were made)

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 23 Jun 2005 6:41 pm

Leo Fender had no up to the minute perfect parts flow. Seems they would just buy parts and throw them in bins and take them out when needed and use up old parts on new designs until they were gone and then start using new parts. 7 months difference is not a lot. I would look at other issues like the soldering etc. to determine if they were original. If everthing else on the guitar is original then the pots probably are too.

An original 54 Strat in great condition with the original case is worth what???---$10-20K.

Edit. Larry is right about the code number on the pots. The majority of pots have this code number on them. 137 is the CTS company, 302 is Stackpole etc.[This message was edited by Bill Hatcher on 23 June 2005 at 07:44 PM.]

Bob Carlucci · Post by **Bob Carlucci** » 23 Jun 2005 7:07 pm

What Bill said... I have seen original vintage Fenders with a two year parts spread..bob

Larry Shaeffer · Post by **Larry Shaeffer** » 23 Jun 2005 7:24 pm

Thanks a ton for all of your help. It really clears things up. Thanks Again.....Larry

Marty Pollard · Post by **Marty Pollard** » 23 Jun 2005 7:50 pm

All that aside, the instrument can be no older than it's newest ORIGINAL parts.

In other words, it HAD to be put together AFTER March of '55.

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 23 Jun 2005 8:07 pm

The date code on the neck is the date used, not the date on the pots.

Bob Carlucci · Post by **Bob Carlucci** » 23 Jun 2005 8:11 pm

Marty and Bill.. Both correct... The Guitar was apparently assembled in 1955,with neck and body from 6/54.. To a vintage collector this IS a 1954 Strat.. [back then nobody was counting

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Steve Hackney · Post by **Steve Hackney** » 23 Jun 2005 8:16 pm

Since we're talkin about fender guitars, just wondering if anyone knows if a 1970 telecaster is worth anything.

------------------
They call me Mongo.

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 23 Jun 2005 8:42 pm

To add to what Bob said, the Les Paul reissue of 1968 is put together with parts from the late 50s early 60s. I am talking about the Les Paul goldtop with P90s. The wooden necks and bodies were stored at Gibson for all those years and Les Paul guitars were made during that time on a custom basis from those parts--not many were made because there was not much demand in the early 60s for them. So in 68 when the guitar was reissued, it was not touted as being late 50s or early 60s but as made in 68. I guess since the necks and bodies were never assembled as one unit and stamped with a date code then it was not considered an official Les Paul until that was done. Quite a gap there date wise on those parts.

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 23 Jun 2005 8:46 pm

Steve. Not nearly as much as a 50s or early 60s model but it has to be worth a respectable amount. Looking at some of the vintage sites, a 70 Tele might be worth $1500-3000+ if it is in great shape, original with the case. Aren't you glad you hung on to it?!

Stephen Gambrell · Post by **Stephen Gambrell** » 23 Jun 2005 9:02 pm

Bill, if you'll read up, there was a significant change in the Les Paul body shape in 1961---to the guitar we now know as the SG. The first SG's were still called "Les Pauls". After protest from Les Paul himself, Gibson began calling the guitars "SG," which stands for "solid guitar."
After the Beatles hit, the demand for solid body guitars dropped WAY off---to the point where Fender reportedly considered discontinuing their solid body lines.

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 23 Jun 2005 9:22 pm

SG--your initials!

I am talking about the 68 Les Paul goldtop--the same guitar as a 57 gold top with P90s. That was the first reissue Les Paul instrument from Gibson of which the very early ones are made from left over bodies and necks from the late 60s early 60s. Small headstock and a nice deep dished out body. HUGE neck and a great sound. Wish I still had mine.

Funny that Les Paul bitched about the guitars---there are plenty of Gibson pics of him and Mary Ford playing these. Basically the Les Paul original model had totally fallen out of what limited favor it had among players. It was too heavy and the next version of the small flat bodied Les Paul guitar did not set the woods on fire. Isn't the SG design the third version of the Les Paul guitar. I doubt if he had too much input on it. It is a pretty little guitar. I like the SG instruments.

I think it is safe to say that the Les Paul guitar popularity had totally played out by 61 and the style of music is what really brought it back. Mike Bloomfield can be totally credited with the resurgance of the Les Paul guitar. I was in high school when my buddies in Alabama started dragging out these old Les Pauls out of pawn shops and old music stores and talking about how they sustained and such. I remember several $75 sunbursts from 58 and 59 that my friend used to bring to our garage band gigs. We just thought of them as old guitars?!?!?!

I do have my 64 SG Standard that I bought brand new. Funny, that it came in a Les Paul SG case. You can still see where the sideways Les Paul tailpiece made contact with the top of the case.

Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 24 Jun 2005 3:44 am

Hey, Larry,
What, it's not a lefty? (I wonder how much that would bring....)

Since your thread has already been hijacked, go to http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum15/HTML/009621.html
to hear my latest tune. I'm playing the sweetest Danelectro Innuendo; I defy you to come up with a Strat that's better.
Leave a note for me there, would you?
I'd like a bump.
Charlie

Bob Carlucci · Post by **Bob Carlucci** » 24 Jun 2005 4:14 am

Charlie.. I had a Dano Innuendo.. It was a SWEET guitar.. as good as any strat I ever owned.. Like an idiot I swapped it for some piece of junk and regretted it.. Bought a different Innuendo on ebay and it was a DOG.. Wish I still had that first one... $200 out the door, NICE axe!! bob

John Daugherty · Post by **John Daugherty** » 24 Jun 2005 4:36 am

I think I'm gonna get sick !! The first new guitar I bought was a 54 strat serial# 4?? .
I bought it in a music store in 1954. I wore the neck out in 2 years and traded it off. I never did like those guitars but evidently somebody does.

Howard Kalish · Post by **Howard Kalish** » 24 Jun 2005 7:31 am

Funny coincidence. Just last night I was duping a VCR tape to DVD of Eldon Shamblin showing how he played all those great moving chords on the Bob Wills records. The tape was made in 1991 and he was playing a G&L Strat-like guitar. He told the story about how he went by the Fender factory in 1954 and Leo gave him one of the first Strats and an amp. Eldon said, "Someone with more money than brains bought that guitar from me a few years ago".

Makes one wonder how much a guitar's price might increase if it can be shown that it was owned and played by a notable player.

I know Strats are associated with Jimi Hendrix and obviously make for great R&R instruments. But Eldon sure could make it sound pretty.

Bob Smith · Post by **Bob Smith** » 24 Jun 2005 8:21 am

Look what someone paid for E.C.,s strat
few years ago, I think it went for just under a million! I think he donated the $$ to a good cause,so what the heck? Bob

Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 24 Jun 2005 9:16 am

Larry, was it you bought that guitar off Eldon?

Jim Phelps · Post by **Jim Phelps** » 24 Jun 2005 12:04 pm

Here's one at Gruhn Guitars:

Fender Stratocaster, 1954, VG, 6-54 neck date, 6-15-54 body date, two tone sunburst finish, modern Fender HC......$35000

HERE

Well I see why it's worth so much, it's two months older than Larry's.

Here's another at Gruhn:

EF7032 Fender Stratocaster, 1954, VG+, neck date 5-54, body date 6-2-54, replacement tone and volume knobs, replacement tremolo cover backplate, HC......$40000

HERE

Don't everybody fight over these now!
[This message was edited by Jim Phelps on 24 June 2005 at 01:10 PM.]

Dave Brophy · Post by **Dave Brophy** » 24 Jun 2005 1:17 pm

I remember going to a vintage guitar shop in 1980 with a buddy.I'd told him I preferred Teles to Strats.As we were trying out different axes,he handed me a '57 Strat in like-new condition.Nice guitar,but I was just outraged that the asking price was $1,000.
To put it in perspective,6 years earlier I'd bought my first "used" Tele for $167.50.It was a '59.

Jim Phelps · Post by **Jim Phelps** » 24 Jun 2005 1:40 pm

I bought my '54 Tele in near-mint condition in 1982 for $1200 and thought that was a lot at the time. Sure wish I'd kept it.

Insteresting to me that on Gruhn's Fender page the whole list of inventory is all Strats and only 3 Tele's, an '80's MIJ blue floral reissue, a '52 reissue and a custom shop Tele. No old ones.

[This message was edited by Jim Phelps on 24 June 2005 at 02:41 PM.]

Dan E. Hoff · Post by **Dan E. Hoff** » 24 Jun 2005 3:59 pm

The third new guitar I ever purchased was a 1963 strat from a music store in Lebanon, Mo. Unlike some of the other guitars I have gotten rid of, for some reason or another, I have held on to this one.

Jim Phelps · Post by **Jim Phelps** » 24 Jun 2005 4:05 pm

Wise (or lucky?) move, Daniel. I usually had to sell or trade a guitar in to get another one but there were a few years I didn't, and I had several very nice guitars at the same time. I didn't use too much foresight, though... one by one I got rid of them, sold or traded for something else and I always said, "If I miss it that much I can always just get another one".

How wrong I was.