Scruff's Vintage Guitars is thrilled to be able to offer this gorgeous, incredibly rare 1960 Fender Stratocaster in factory Fiesta Red, with factory gold plated parts. These are incredibly rare guitars.
The Fiesta Red Finish is applied over a darker red over a beige primer. It is showing a vibrant, almost coral like hue that simply looks stunning. Finish details inside the cavities and under the pickguard reveal all the fine details of a factory original finish, including the fine wood fiber "hairs" around the wiring "worm rout" that are undisturbed.
This guitar is 99% original, with unbroken, original solder joints. It has a CRL #1454 3-way switch installed from the factory, which is a somewhat rare, but documented variation from the more commonly used CRL #1452 switch. Both are identical in appearance, with the only difference being that the #1452 is a "make before break" switch, and the #1454 is a "break before make" switch. This means that on the more common #1452 switch one pickup stays connected while the next one is being connected. This allows the user to "park" the switch between pickup positions and get the "in-between" #2 and #4 sounds. The #1454 switch disconnects one pickup before it connects the next, so you only can get the individual pickup sounds. Since Fender never intended for two pickups to be used together, this would have been a non-issue at the time, and #1454 switches were used occasionally depending on available supplies. We will leave it to the next caretaker of this beautiful Strat to decide if they want to change the switch.
This guitar sounds as good as it looks, with that typical, strong midrange of a slab board Strat. All three pickups are strong and punchy. The neck is a good, medium size that feels great in the hand, not as small as some 1960 Strats can be.
Everything on this guitar is original, except for a fairly recent refret by Holger Notzel (#hogyfrets) and a new bone nut. Fret wire is Jescar nickel silver .090 wide by .047 tall, a nice medium size wire that make string bending a breeze. The guitar is perfectly set up with .010s and a floating tremolo.
This guitar comes with its original brown Tolex case with gold interior.
