Although the history of one instrument necessarily shares some of the history of all instruments of that particular type and vintage, the purpose of this tale is not to tell the story of the Fender Stratocaster in general, because that story is told in many other places by many other people. The purpose of this pictorial is to tell the story in detail of one very special Fender Stratocaster.
The author once had a dream in which he saw a white Stratocaster hanging on a wall in a music store that he had never actually been to. When, by chance, he found himself in that same store and saw the same guitar hanging in the same place on the same wall as in the dream he knew that that particular guitar was for him. This is the best playing and best sounding Stratocaster that the author has played in 40 plus years of being a Stratocaster fan. The bridge pickup has more bite than that of any other Stratocaster the author has ever heard after playing and owning many Stratocasters over the years.
This one has always been the author's favorite of them all...
The author has owned it since the late '70s, and while there is no documentation that proves the story of this guitar, the now common practice of forging rare and expensive instruments was not a worry when it was purchased. Also, there were no manufacturers of clone replacement parts for Fender instruments at the tine. It came from a very reputable source who bought it from the estate of the original owner. A few years ago it was examined by a Master Builder at the Fender Custom Shop in Corona and the author was told something to the effect of, "This looks like something Leo would do," but no one there was willing to put anything in writing.
It was born in January 1955 and the first owner was a Gospel player who lived in Fullerton, California. According to the story that came with it when it was purchased, it was repainted white including the back of the neck and the headstock at the Fender factory for the original owner to accommodate his Gospel image. In the descriptions the term "overspray" is used rather than "refinish", because the original sunburst finish was not stripped before the white finish was applied and is visible under worn spots in the overspray. The headstock decal has two patent numbers. If this decal was applied at the same time as the white finish it would indicate the overspray was done in 1961 or 1962.
When the author acquired it, the original frets were worn to the fretboard and the original volume potentiometer and the original nut were completely worn out, so it was professionally refretted and the volume potentiometer and the nut were replaced. The original whammy bar was broken off and missing, as was the original selector switch tip. The original center pocket case was completely split down all four sides so it, unfortunately, found its way into a dumpster. The author was fortunate enough to find a undamaged side pocket replacement case of appropriate vintage. It also received a 5 way switch, a new output jack, a few pieces of damaged wiring were replaced, and the cavities and pickups were shielded with copper tape. The original single ply pickguard was cracked so it was replaced with a 1960s vintage Fender tortoiseshell pickguard. The added copper shielding was recently removed except from the underside of the tortoise pickguard, and the frets were professionally leveled and dressed. A set of nickel plated Gotoh® exact Kluson® replacement tuners have recently been installed which has greatly improved the tuning stability over the worn original "no-line" Klusons.
All the original parts for it that were removed except for the case, nut, frets, tremolo bar and tip, switch tip, and the volume potentiometer are still in the possession of the author.
Hopefully, this will provide an accurate and valuable reference for other Stratocaster owners and enthusiasts.
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* "Anatomy of a 1955 Stratocaster" is the work of Claude V. Lucas, originally titled White '55. It is republished here with the express written consent of the author. All photographs and text Copyright © 2006 TBV Information Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither may be republished without the express written consent of the copyright owner.
