Browse Dave’s Collection

Lake Placid Blue, Serial # 170745

Paisley Red, Serial # 224483.

The “hippie” youth movement of 1960s began influencing mainstream society after the “Summer of Love” in 1967. By 1968 major companies realized there was money to be made by appealing to this large group (Baby Boomers).  Fender (owned by CBS) was no exception.

Fender’s original solidbody, the Telecaster, was picked to receive the “Flower Power” treatment with two new finishes: Paisley Red, and Blue Flower. These finishes were accomplished by sticking patterned wallpaper to the bodies and spraying clear polyester over the top. The original Fender ad copy also had a hippiesque tone: “Paisley Red Pulsates with every beat and swirls in a blinding carousel of color forms and tones.”

As groovy as these guitars were, they never caught on with the psychedelic rockers they were intended for. Ironically, the most visible guitarist to use a Paisley Tele was rockabilly/country session great James Burton.  The ’69 Paisley Tele remained his main stage guitar until his signature model debuted in 1990.

Those wanting to hear Burton’s Paisley Tele in action can check out “Elvis as Recorded at Madison Square Garden” and Gram Parson’s “GP” and “Grievous Angel” albums.

Blond, Serial # 123729.

Sunburst, Serial # 38876.

Sunburst, Serial # 40947.

Blond, Serial # 44894.

Candy Apple Red, Serial # 140554.

Walnut, Serial # 109827.

Olympic White, Serial # L61632.

Natural, Serial # 396923.

Blue Flower, Serial # 248410.

The “hippie” youth movement of 1960s began influencing mainstream society after the “Summer of Love” in 1967. By 1968 major companies realized there was money to be made by appealing to this large group (Baby Boomers).  Fender (owned by CBS) was no exception.

Fender’s original solidbody, the Telecaster, was picked to receive the “Flower Power” treatment with two new finishes: Paisley Red, and Blue Flower. These finishes were accomplished by sticking patterned wallpaper to the bodies and spraying clear polyester over the top. The original Fender ad copy also had a hippiesque tone: “Paisley Red Pulsates with every beat and swirls in a blinding carousel of color forms and tones.”

As groovy as these guitars were, they never caught on with the psychedelic rockers they were intended for. Ironically, the most visible guitarist to use a Paisley Tele was rockabilly/country session great James Burton.  The ’69 Paisley Tele remained his main stage guitar until his signature model debuted in 1990.

Those wanting to hear Burton’s Paisley Tele in action can check out “Elvis as Recorded at Madison Square Garden” and Gram Parson’s “GP” and “Grievous Angel” albums.

Candy Apple Red, Serial # 377762.

Candy Apple Red, Serial # L70149.

Lake Placid Blue, Serial # 394818.

Sunburst, Serial # L97810.

From 1950 until 1959, a Fender guitar had a radical (for the time) one-piece lacquered maple neck. Due partially to the unattractive fingerboard wear that showed easily on these necks, separate rosewood fingerboards were introduced in 1959.

Since many players (especially Tele players) still preferred the feel of maple fingerboards, Fender allowed special order maple fingerboards as an unofficial option beginning in the early ‘60s. Because the machinery at the factory was set up for separate rosewood fingerboards, separate maple fingerboards were installed the same way. This is why two-piece ‘60s maple necks don’t have a skunk stripe on the back, or a walnut plug on the headstock like their one-piece ‘50s counterparts. Maple fingerboards did become an official option in 1967, and one-piece necks were finally reinstated in 1969.

This example not only has a maple-cap fingerboard, but it also has a rare sunburst finish usually reserved for Custom Telecasters. Typical Teles were blond with ash bodies, while the sunburst ones had bodies of alder. 

Paisley Red, Serial # 224066.

The “hippie” youth movement of 1960s began influencing mainstream society after the “Summer of Love” in 1967. By 1968 major companies realized there was money to be made by appealing to this large group (Baby Boomers).  Fender (owned by CBS) was no exception.

Fender’s original solidbody, the Telecaster, was picked to receive the “Flower Power” treatment with two new finishes: Paisley Red, and Blue Flower. These finishes were accomplished by sticking patterned wallpaper to the bodies and spraying clear polyester over the top. The original Fender ad copy also had a hippiesque tone: “Paisley Red Pulsates with every beat and swirls in a blinding carousel of color forms and tones.”

As groovy as these guitars were, they never caught on with the psychedelic rockers they were intended for. Ironically, the most visible guitarist to use a Paisley Tele was rockabilly/country session great James Burton.  The ’69 Paisley Tele remained his main stage guitar until his signature model debuted in 1990.

Those wanting to hear Burton’s Paisley Tele in action can check out “Elvis as Recorded at Madison Square Garden” and Gram Parson’s “GP” and “Grievous Angel” albums.

Ice Blue Metallic, Serial # L87495.

Blond, Serial # 60312.

What do Steve Cropper, Jimmy Page, Michael Bloomfield, and Robbie Robertson have in common? Besides being some of the most influential guitar players of all time, each did some of his finest work on a rosewood fingerboard early ‘60s Fender Telecaster.

Why did so many great players choose this type of guitar? It could be because of its gritty biting sound, or its durability and simplicity. It was also affordable. Especially second hand, a Tele would be within the reach of a young player at the start of his career who needed a reliable inexpensive tool. The reasons don’t matter as much as the fact that so much great music was made on these unadorned utilitarian planks of wood. 

This example from the collection has all the features common to early rosewood fingerboard Telecasters.

It has a Brazilian rosewood “slab board” fingerboard on a slim maple neck (seen until mid-1962), clay dots (seen until 1964), Single ply white pickguard (seen until 1963), and an ash body with an almost opaque creamy blonde finish.

When examining the metal bridge plate, six extra holes can be seen at the end near the bridge saddle screws. These holes were originally intended to hold the strings on the unpopular top-loading bridge used from mid 1958 to mid 1959. Since Leo Fender never wasted a usable part, these bridges were converted back to the original string-through design when the top loading system was abandoned. These top-loading bridges can be seen from 1959 as late as 1962.

The original owner of this Tele decided to buy it with the less expensive plastileather padded bag instead of the typically seen brown tolex case.

Candy Apple Red, Serial #173125. Maple fingerboard - a rare combination! This nice one came from Reeve Little!

Blond, Serial # 89802.

Serial # L20086.

Candy Apple Red, Serial # L73504.

Sunburst, Serail # L27206.

Known unfficially among Kinks fans as the "Ray Davies Model".

Sunburst, Serial # 6779.

Sunburst, Serial # 8201.

Blonde, Serial # 29411.

Blonde, Serial # 37809.

Sunburst, Serial # 177050.

Sea Foam Green, Serial # L48186.

Sunburst, Serial # 177029.

Blond, Serial # 51512.

Firemist Gold, Serial # L52085.

Black, Serial # L50480.

Lake Placid Blue, Serial # 225899.

Sunburst, Serial # 160488.

Sunburst, Serial # 242501.

Desert Sand, Serial # 36349.

In 1955 Fender Sales decided the company needed inexpensive student electric guitar models added to the existing lineup which included The Esquire, The Telecaster, The Stratocaster, and the Precision bass.  These beginner electrics were introduced by 1956. They were called the Musicmaster (one pickup) and the Duo-Sonic (two pickups). These short scale guitars were designed for young beginners with small fingers.

The Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic shared the same double- cutaway Desert Sand colored bodies, and 22 and ½” scale one-piece maple necks.  The Musicmaster had two Telecaster style volume and tone knobs for its one neck position single-coil pickup. The Duo-Sonic was the same except for an added bridge position pickup and a 3-way selector switch. By 1959  separate rosewood fingerboards were added (matching the change to the rest of the Fender line). Thick single ply white pickguards replaced the original gold anodized guards, and sunburst finish became an option. The models received makeovers in 1964 to coincide with the introduction of the Mustang. The short scale Duo-Sonics and Musicmasters were offered through 1969.

Both Michael Bloomfield and Jimi Hendrix played Duo-Sonics in their early careers before working their way up to the “big boy” Fenders and Gibsons.

Desert Sand, Serial # 18420.

In 1955 Fender Sales decided the company needed inexpensive student electric guitar models added to the existing lineup which included The Esquire, The Telecaster, The Stratocaster, and the Precision bass.  These beginner electrics were introduced by 1956. They were called the Musicmaster (one pickup) and the Duo-Sonic (two pickups). These short scale guitars were designed for young beginners with small fingers.

The Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic shared the same double- cutaway Desert Sand colored bodies, and 22 and ½” scale one-piece maple necks.  The Musicmaster had two Telecaster style volume and tone knobs for its one neck position single-coil pickup. The Duo-Sonic was the same except for an added bridge position pickup and a 3-way selector switch. By 1959  separate rosewood fingerboards were added (matching the change to the rest of the Fender line). Thick single ply white pickguards replaced the original gold anodized guards, and sunburst finish became an option. The models received makeovers in 1964 to coincide with the introduction of the Mustang. The short scale Duo-Sonics and Musicmasters were offered through 1969.

Both Michael Bloomfield and Jimi Hendrix played Duo-Sonics in their early careers before working their way up to the “big boy” Fenders and Gibsons.

Sunburst, Serial # 025698.

Blonde, Serial # 39470.

This '59 Strat neck is paired with a '56 Strat body.

Sunburst, Serial # 82936.

Sunburst, Serial # 20185.

Sunburst, Serial # 025757.

Blond, Serial # 58699.

Sunburst.

Blonde, Serial # 7553.

Lake Placid Blue, Serial # 224909.

Natural, Serial # 354794.

Natural, Serial # 419229.

Candy Apple Red, Serial # 302431.

Blonde, Serial # 7831.

Blonde, Serial # 11093.

Sunburst, Serial # 40771.

In mid-1959 Fender introduced lavishly appointed new versions of its original solid bodies the Telecaster and Esquire.  The models were named “Custom Telecaster” and “Custom Esquire” (perhaps influenced by Gibson’s Les Paul Custom). These guitars retained the basic characteristics and functions of the standard versions while showing a polished “classy” new look.  

This guitar has the classic appointments of a late 1959 Custom Telecaster, which include an alder body finished in 3-color sunburst, white binding around the top and back, a three ply greenish pickguard, and a gold Fender logo with “Custom Telecaster” written below.  The rest of the features match those of a standard late 1959 Telecaster. These consist of a “slab board” rosewood fingerboard with clay dots, a slim neck profile, and single line Kluson Deluxe tuning machines.

Unlike many other late ‘50s Fenders finished in three-color sunburst, this guitar has retained most of the red tint originally applied. The unstable red stain used by Fender at that time would very often fade when exposed to sunlight, leaving only the black to yellow part of the sunburst. Evidence of some fading on this example can be seen when observing the three dark rectangles on the upper bout. As was customary at the time, the original owner had his initials stuck to the guitar with mailbox letters. This shielded those areas from light for more than three decades.

Fiesta Red, Serial # 79584.

Sunburst, Serial # 103833.

Dakota Red, Serial # 263366.

Antigua, Serial # 235002.

Lake Placid Blue, Serial # 501108.

Wildwood I Finish, Serial # 214758.

While Fender had pioneered the solid body guitar in the 1950s, the changing trends of the 1960s caused the company to switch gears and try to expand into other areas of the electric guitar market. The British Invasion bands popular at the time were using hollow, and semi-hollow guitars offered by Gibson (ES-330, ES-335), Epiphone(Casino), Gretsch (Country Gentleman), and Rickenbacker(330, and 360). Fender’s double cutaway hollowbody was released in 1966 and was known as the Coronado.

The Coronados were designed by Roger Rossmeisl, who had been hired by Leo Fender a few years earlier to design a flat-top acoustic. Rossmeisl had experience with these types of guitars as he had designed the Rickenbacker Capri line in the 1950s.

The Coronados were produced at Fender’s separate acoustic guitar plant. The line initially consisted of the Coronado I with one pickup, and the Coronado II with two pickups and optional tremolo. The pickups were made by the DeArmond Company.

The guitars were originally offered in Cherry and Sunburst finishes, but by 1967 Wildwood I (Rainbow Green), Wildwood II (Rainbow Blue) and Wildwood III (Rainbow Gold) also became available. These Wildwood finishes were obtained by injecting colorful dyes into beech trees. In 1968 the Antigua finish was also offered.

The Coronado did not prove popular, and was discontinued by 1972.

Sunburst, Serial # 0756.

Sunburst, Serial # 8154.

Sunburst, Serial # 13673, Body date of 12/56.

This one was purchased from the son of the original owner. It would be safe to say that this guitar did not see too many smoke filled bars or dance halls over the years. The neck shows very little wear and the lacquer has not yellowed.

Sunburst, Serial # -17439.

Taos Turquoise, Serial # -20869.

A very rare to ever see Custom Colors from the 50's. There were very few of these that were done in this color to match the automobile colors that were coming out of Detroit at that time. Check out the Desert Sand base coat!

I bought this one from a PA store in Iowa after my good friend John Riniker passed on it. He was kind enough to swing it my way. Can you believe that this guitar was traded in for a set of horns? This is the guitar that I have owned for the longest time in the collection.

Sunburst, Serial # 024384.

Blonde, Serial # 36315.

Sunburst, Serial # 026665.

The space age looking maple neck Stratocaster was favored by many innovative rockers of the 1950s era, including Buddy Holly, Johnny Meeks (of Gene Vincent’s Blue Caps), and Ike Turner. It went through a few minor changes from the time of its debut in 1954, to mid-1959 when the one-piece maple neck was discontinued in favor of a maple neck with a separate rosewood fingerboard. The body was originally ash with a black to see-through yellow sunburst. The standard body material was changed to alder in mid-1956 (ash was retained for custom color blonde Strats). The sunburst color remained the same until early 1958 when red was added in between the black and yellow. This guitar shows a good example of a non-faded 1958 3-color sunburst.

The neck shape of the Stratocaster also changed subtly between 1954 and 1959. The big “U” shape neck profile gradually changed to a “V” shape around 1956. By the time this example was made in 1958, neck profiles were a slim “C” shape.

Diabolical guitar virtuoso Greg Koch brought this very guitar out of retirement for the recent recording of the companion CD to the New Fender amp book. He picked it to represent the archetypal “Strat” sound over five other vintage maple neck models in the collection. He used this Strat to record through dozens of Fender amps for the upcoming CD. We were honored to have him here and to have the guitars & amps from our collection used for the project. We’ve had this one in the collection for at least 10 years and none of us can remember where we got it from! 

Sunburst, Serial # 38098.

In 1959 the Fender electric guitar line was revamped to include rosewood fingerboards attached to the one-piece maple necks. Rosewood fingerboards were standard on most other brands, and were thought to give Fender’s space-age oddities a more traditional “classy” look.

This Strat, with a neck date of 7/59, is one of the rare transition models with combined features of the maple board and rosewood board eras. Like the maple neck Strats of ’58, it has a 3-color sunburst finish with a single ply pickguard (instead of the 3-ply guards seen on most rosewood board Strats). The pickguard has 10 screws instead of the 11 that would soon be seen on the 3-ply guards. The fingerboard is the thick rosewood “slab” that would be used until 1962. This guitar is also a non-trem “hardtail” which makes it even rarer (but not necessarily more desirable).

Dave’s notes: “After telling me for years that he had this especially rare Stratocaster belonging right in the middle of my collection, my friend Jack Stowe finally brought it up to La Crosse. We made a deal to put it on my wall.

Sunburst, Serial # 43228.

Firemist Gold, Serial # 103581.

This guitar was rescued a number of years back. This Strat was actually out for sale in the shop as a refin and tagged accordingly. Dave and Steve Paetow were at the shop on a Saturday afternoon and they were looking at this guitar. They noticed what appeared to be gold under the refin and brought it to my attention. They had suggested trying to remove the white finish to see what was underneath. Now obviously they could have not said a word and bought the guitar at a bargain price and done the work themselves, but they were way too honest to even consider such a thing. The job wasn't fun, but our friend and employee at the time Dave Reinders, painstakingly wet sanded the white finish off to reveal the original Firemist Gold that was underneath, and it ended up turning out pretty good considering. Also, please notice the missing string tree. It came from the factory this way. Nice guitar, and it is nice to see a rare custom color brought back to life.

Antigua, Serial # S835555.

Serial # 346098.

It is widely accepted that the quality of Fender instruments suffered a gradual decline after the CBS buyout of 1965. While this is true, the early CBS period of the mid to late 1960s was also a time of great creativity. The recipient of much of this energy was none other than Fender’s original solidbody: the Telecaster.

No fewer than four new versions of the Telecaster were added to the Fender line in the late sixties, including the Paisley and Blue Floral Teles, inspired by the psychedelic scene popular at the time. German master builder Roger Rossmeisl designed the other two Tele innovations: the Thinline Telecaster, and the Rosewood Telecaster. Rossmeisl, who had been responsible for the unique and enduring Rickenbacker electric guitar line of the late fifties, was hired away from Rickenbacker in 1962 by Leo Fender to be in charge of designing Fender’s new acoustic guitars and archtop electrics.

The first Rosewood Telecaster was a gift to Beatle George Harrison for use in the movie ‘Let It Be’.  Rossmeisl and Phillip Kubicki (employed by Fender at the time) made two prototypes and chose the best for Harrison. The guitar body was made with a thin layer of maple sandwiched between a solid rosewood back and top. The rosewood neck had a separate rosewood fingerboard glued on. The whole guitar had a special satin polyurethane finish (for more info read “Beatles Gear” by Andy Babiuk).

The Rosewood Telecaster was added to the regular production line in 1969 at $375. Production models differed from George’s slightly. They were made with a one-piece rosewood neck, and had gloss polyurethane finishes. While early examples were

solid, like George’s, the guitars were eventually lightened by hollowing out the two body halves.

Large numbers of Rosewood Teles were never produced, and by 1972 it was discontinued. Fender Japan reissued the guitar in the eighties, and the Fender Custom Shop makes occasional runs today (for more info read “The Fender Telecaster” by A.R. Duchossoir).

There are a couple of DVDs available if you’d like to see and hear Rosewood Teles in action. The first is ‘Let It Be’ showing the Beatles recording and playing live. The second is ‘Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story’. ‘Respect Yourself’ includes footage of Booker T. and the MGs playing live in 1970. Steve Cropper wields a beautiful Rosewood Tele while wearing a matching brown corduroy suit.

Blond, Serial # 168060.

Blonde, Serial # 0390.

Blonde, Serial # 2580.

This one is nice and clean. There is just a hint of fingerboard wear. I purchased this one back during the days when an Esquire was still selling for less than $1000.

Blond, Serial # 236389.

Natural, Serial # 230818.

Sunburst, Serial # 241136.

Blond, Serial # 205513, Neck Date September '67.

In the summer of 1967, Fender experimented with ways to make a Telecaster lighter. Large cavities were routed underneath the pickguard to lighten the guitar without changing the way it looked. These are unofficially known as "Smuggler's Tellies".

Blonde, Serial # 3032.

Blonde, Serial # 4123.

This one was acquired in a trade deal with Larry Hendrickson back around 1980. I have to say that this is one of my favorite Teles.

Black, Serial # 222373, Neck Date July 1968.

Black, Serial # 319156.

Black, Serial # 526177.

Sunburst, Serial # 206721, Neck Date October 1967.

Blonde, Serial # 4238.

This is really one of the cleanest black guard Telecasters that I have ever seen! I remember having to pay $10,000 for it many years ago. At the time that was well above the going rate for these. I have never regretted this purchase.

Candy Apple Red, Serial # L20266.

Lake Placid Blue, Serial # L59451.

Dakota Red, Serial # L64322.

This one has been in the collection for a very long time and was purchased back when clean custom color Strats were affordable, This one does have the previous owners social security number engraved on the neck plate and the fingerboard still has the grime from when it was out being played. What a great guitar indeed!

Olympic White, Serial # L86093

Sunburst, Serial number L90333, This Strat has a maple cap fingerboard and it does not have the walnut skunk stripe on the back of the neck. We have seen this same fingerboard and neck configuration on a few Tele Customs from the same era. It would be safe to say that there are not many of these out there. This is certainly one rare and cool guitar!

Lake Placid Blue, Serial # 101113.

Ocean Turquoise, Serial # 107632, This is a nice custom color Strat with some honest playing wear. It is pictured on page 41 of the Vintage Guitar Book by Mac Yasuda.

Charcoal Frost Metallic, Serial # 107518.

Candy Apple Red, Serial # 116384.

Sunburst, Serial # L36630.

Lake Placid Blue, Serial # L20674.

 This guitar is a gorgeous custom color Fender Strat. Besides having a stunning Lake Placid Blue finish, this February 1964 guitar has other features that make it very desirable: Spaghetti Logo (phased out in ’64), clay dots (replaced by pearloid dots in ’65),  single line Kluson Deluxe tuning machines (replaced by double line Klusons during ’64),and a greenish celluloid pickguard (replaced by white in ’65).

The guitar’s previous owner acquired it in 1967 while serving in the U.S. Marines.  His Commanding Officer had a gambling problem and was forced sell the Strat and an Epiphone amp for $175 to help settle his debts. The guitar has been played quite a bit since then, but was also very well taken care of.

Black, Serial # L27250.

Blond, Serial # L19865.

Refinished in Natural, 2 piece Korina body, Serial # L14737.

We know that Fender was experimenting with woods during this period, and we've seen some Mahogany body Strats & Teles from that era. Now here is proof that Korina was also used. You can also see the tooling holes on the back of the body. A guy had called me a long time ago and said that he had an old Strat but it wasn't put together. The body was stripped and he was going to refinish it but he just never got around to doing it. He had all the parts in a box and he asked if I was interested. We agreed on a price and I bought it. I just sprayed a clear coat over the body and played this one for a few years.

Burgundy Mist, Serial # L11394.

Purchased locally from the wife of the original owner. He was kindly gentleman who brought this guitar into my first store back in '82 for a restring & set up. I flipped when I saw the guitar and I told him if he ever wanted to part with it to please think of me. He said he'd never part with it as it was the best playing guitar he ever had his hands on. Over the years he became a good customer & friend and he would drop in often just to say hi. Then I got the call from his wife telling me that he had passed. It was a sad time for me indeed. The one thing that he made clear to his wife was that he wanted to make sure that I got the guitar after he was gone. I'll treasure this one till my dying day, just like he did.

Fiesta Red, Gold hadware, Serial # 74434.

Very figured Maple neck, A fellow brought this one in to the shop about 17 years ago and just wanted to know what it was worth. He said he'd had it forever and he'd never sell it. When I told him the dollar amount, he just got quiet for a bit, then said "Well, I'd sell it for that"!

Sunburst, Serial # 60492.

Tahitian Coral, Serial # 59930.

Nothing conjures up images of a ‘60s Rock n’ Roll beach party like a cool custom colored Fender Strat. Custom colors don’t get much hipper than this example.

This Strat has a penciled neck date of 3-61, and has all the features typical to Strats that year. These include: a “slab” Brazilian rosewood fingerboard with clay dots, a small headstock with “spaghetti” decal including 2 patent numbers, and a greenish Nitrate 3-ply pickguard with a metal shielding plate underneath. The neck profile is very flat and comfortable like most of the early “slab board” necks.

Besides having all the classic characteristics that make early ‘60s Strats appealing to players and collectors, this one has an ultra-rare color. According to an old piece of masking tape attached under the pickguard, the color is Tahitian Coral (a color of the same name was used by Chrysler in the late ‘50s). This non-standard color was not mentioned in any Fender catalogs (The closest official Fender color at the time was Shell Pink listed from 1960-1963).  An undercoat of Desert Sand can be seen where the top color has worn off. Proof that this color is factory original can be seen after unscrewing the neck. An area of paint from the body has stuck to the neck leaving a bare spot in the neck pocket that is an exact match to the glob stuck to the neck.

Fiesta Red, Serial # 49005.

When the Fender Stratocaster was introduced in 1954, one of the main special features was a built in vibrato unit called the “Synchronized Tremolo”.  A non-tremolo version was also available at about $30 less. A non-tremolo Strat (nicknamed “hardtail”) had the same string through the body set up as a Telecaster, except it kept a six-way bridge for better intonation.

Custom Color Strats were available almost from the beginning, but a standardized color list didn’t appear until 1961. The Custom Colors resembled the colors offered on automobiles at the time.

The example from the collection shown in this article is a Fiesta Red Hardtail Strat dating from 1960 (George Fullerton mixed up the first batch of Fiesta Red at a paint store in 1957).  According to an early ‘60s Fender pricelist, a non-trem Strat cost 259.50. There was a 5% up charge for a Custom Color, so this Strat would have been about $272.47 (still $17 less than a sunburst tremolo version).

This Strat has a beautiful early “slab” fingerboard of Brazilian rosewood. The Kluson tuners on the headstock were replaced at some point with “double line” mid-‘60s Klusons.  The undercoat below the Fiesta Red (seen through the scrapes and dings) is the color Desert Sand, which was the color of Duo Sonics and Music Masters. This color was often used as an undercoat for Custom Color guitars in the ‘50s and early ‘60s.

Hardtail Strats are seen less often than the tremolo versions, and are favored by Bluesman Robert Cray, and Rocker Ron Wood.

Candy Apple Red, Serial # L83602.

Sunburst, Serial # 259125.

Lake Placid Blue, Prototype.

Cherry, Serial # L29571.

Lake Placid Blue, Serial # 269107.

Blonde, Serial number 7553, I love the Blonde on this one. It is VERY transparent. The Blonde finishes from this era do seem to stand out. It looks like the folks at Fender really took their time during this period to make sure that the grain of the Ash really jump out from under the finish. 

Butterscotch Blonde, Serial number 0390, The original owner had his initials engraved in the Ash tray bridge cover. Just a wonderful example of a No Caster. This one has been in the collection for longer than we can remember.

Natural, Serial number 230818, Ash body, Just a nice representation of this classic guitar.

Lake Placid Blue, Serial number 101113, Here is a good example of this classic custom color. A previous owner did install one of the Fender clear body guards on this one. It has since been removed. The body does have a few wear spots from when the rubber on the guard reacted with the lacquer. Sadly, in most cases the guards did more harm than was ever intended.

Olympic White, Serial number L86093, A customer came into my shop with this one close to twenty years ago and wanted to sell it. I asked him who did the refinish work, as it was way too clean. He had a confused look on his face and said that he did not understand what I was asking. As it turned out, he was the one and only owner. This Strat was hanging in the store where he took lessons for 6 years before he bought it in 1971. He just never played it after that. This one also has all of the Fender hang tags, and the manual. This guitar looked brand new when it came in, and it still looks new today. They do not get any cleaner than this one!

Candy Apple Red, Serial number L20266, This one reminds me of the time when I was 15 years old and had a chance to buy a 1963 Red Sparkle Strat for $175. At that time we all thought that they used the bad wood for the custom color guitars. I do remember closing that case and saying I would buy it if it was Sunburst. What was I thinking?

Sunburst, Serial number L36630, This one has been in the collection for a very long time and the "red" is starting to fade on the front.

Black, Serial number L27250, Although you wouldn't think it, Black is a pretty rare and hard to find Custom Color. My good friend Chris Trider found this one for me years ago.

Burgundy Mist, Serial number L11394, Purchased locally from the wife of the original owner. He was kindly gentleman who brought this guitar into my first store back in '82 for a restring & set up. I flipped when I saw the guitar and I told him if he ever wanted to part with it to please think of me. He said he'd never part with it as it was the best playing guitar he ever had his hands on. Over the years he became a good customer & friend and he would drop in often just to say hi. Then I got the call from his wife telling me that he had passed. It was a sad time for me indeed. The one thing that he made clear to his wife was that he wanted to make sure that I got the guitar after he was gone. I'll treasure this one till my dying day, just like he did.

Blonde, Ash body, Serial number L19865, Fits right in with the Blonde '58 Strat!

Fiesta Red, Serial number 49005, Hard tail, This one is a little beat up but it is just a wonderful guitar in a pretty rare color!

3 Tone Sunburst, Serial number 026665, This is one of the guitars that Greg Koch used to record the CD that goes along with the Tom Wheeler Fender Amp Book. Greg also used many of the Fender amps that are part of the collection we have here at the shop.

Sunburst, Ash body, Serial number 8154, I think I bought this one at the peak of Stratomania back in 1987 for $6000. At the time I did think I was crazy for doing it, but I just really liked this guitar.

Sunburst, One piece Ash body, Serial number 0756, I bought this one in the mid-eighties from my good friend Bill Nix. Bill's store was called Somewhere in Iowa Guitars. I remember doing many deals with him over the years.

Blonde, Ash body, Serial number 36315, This guitar was purchased from the late Reeve Little at a guitar show in Dallas, Texas back in the early 90's. You could always trust that whatever Reeve had for sale was going to be 100 percent straight. I miss him and think of him often.

Sunburst, Alder body, Serial number 024384, I bought this lovely '57 Strat along with a matching Tweed Super many years ago. This pair came from the "north woods" of Wisconsin. I remember paying what I thought was top dollar for these back then, and they sure are clean!