Fender Stratocasters from the last quarter of 1956 are a favorite of ours. Built after the switch from ash to alder as a body wood, this period produced a run of consistently great sounding Strats.
This guitar is a perfect example of that era. It sounds big and clear, with strong pickups and a full, balanced sound. We sometimes refer to Strats of that period as "the grand pianos of Strats". Deep lows, shimmery trebles, and beautifully clear, supremely "stratty" #2 and #4 pickup positions. Which you have to "find" on this guitar, as it still retains its original 3-way switch. The bridge pickup is a thing of beauty, too. Strong and almost Tele-like.
If you heard Eric Clapton's "Brownie" Strat from the Derek and the Dominos period, you heard a late '56 Strat. This guitar has that sound. Another example of this tone would be Anson Funderburgh's old Strat. Listen to some Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets recordings and you can hear what the bridge pickup of a good late '56 Strat can do.
Everything on this guitar is original, except for a fairly recent refret by Holger Notzel 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.
Fender marked this guitar's body with pencil as "blonde" under the original sunburst finish. This is an obvious factory mistake, as blonde was only used on ash bodies, never alder. The sunburst finish is unquestionably original.
