Here's a great playing, looking and sounding '70s vintage Fender Stratocaster hardtail in what I think is one of Fender's coolest custom colours - Olympic White. I am a real fan of the hardtail Strats, as they are as stable as their Telecaster brothers, yet have the full Strat sound. If you break a string during a bracket, or bend your strings a lot, it doesn't matter - this baby will stay in tune to the end, where its tremolo-equipped Strat brothers will be way out of tune.

The guitar has been played carefully through its life, as can be seen by the little wear the guitar possesses. The neck finish is still good, and not worn through, while the body has a few edge chips, marks and wear marks as you'd expect. The body is Ash, and the guitar weighs in at 4.4kg (9.7 pounds). I love Ash for Fenders (Teles, Strats and the basses), as it gives that great, strong, defined tone.

Serial number on the headstock is 7669889; serials moved from the neck plate to the headstock during 1976, with the first guitars bearing the 76XXXXX numbers (not S6 as popularly and incorrectly thought - the S6 numbers came later). The date code on all three potentiometers is 1377645 (45th week 1976), and pickups are stamped 11376, indicating a 1976 manufacture.

The guitar is virtually dead original, including the hard shell case. Pots, pickups, 'F' tuners, and hardtail bridge are all original, and the selector switch has been changed for the 5-position switch as introduced in 1977 - see the detailed photographs in the 'more pictures' link below.

All in all a fantastic '70s Strat in one of the most popular custom colours - Olympic White - which has yellowed beautifully over 34 years to give a genuine vintage patina. Action and intonation are fantastic, and the original frets have not long been dressed and have plenty of life left in them.

$ not recently valued for the present market but feel free to make a serious offer.

sold items home