1961 Fender Stratocaster

Slab fretboard – one owner – in super-clean condition.

This is an exciting guitar. The days of finding one-owner pre-1965 guitars are coming to an end. The original owner of this one told us the story of buying it new in early 1962 in Menomonie, Wisconsin. He has the invoice to prove it. Of note is that he was disappointed because he was hoping for a Jazzmaster or Jaguar. He got lucky.

“I’ve never turned a screw on that guitar. Even the backplate has never been removed. I request that you not take anything apart.”

Wait, what? You have not taken the pickguard off again and again to carbon-date the solder joints? We are aghast.

The serial number is late 1961. It has a big fat neck unlike the early 1961 “blade” necks. 1 & 5/8” nut width, first fret depth is .827” and it’s .962 at the twelfth. The Brazilian rosewood board is a dark chocolate brown color, looking almost like ebony. Very rare these days. We see almost no fret wear. (“I mostly used flatwounds” the owner said.)

The plastic looks new. No wing cracks. No issues. The body looks 5 years old, not 65. Compare this to any other slab-board strat for sale today. A few light dings, not at all obvious, and light finish checking if you catch it in the light.

Most people would call this near-mint. It’s stunning. Now – tone. Wow! The measured output of the pickups is a perfect match. Bridge is .599k, 5.98k in the middle, and 6.02k in the neck. When in the middle position the out-of-phase sound is so great. You only get that great “classic” Strat wound when the pickups are this perfectly matched. Dream of the perfect Strat tone and then try this. Your new pre-CBS dream

The brown case is also clean and comes with the original bill of sale and original black leather Fender strap. The only nitpick is the trem arm, which we believe is newer.
This gorgeous slab-board Strat is consigned from someone we’ve known for 27 years. He’s reached that point where it’s time.

Please note – this has never been opened. We can open it after you own it at your request. We advise for investment purposes never be the first to turn a screw.