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'60 or '61
- Thread starter sentry
- Start date
Good grief! Even Buddy Holly's famous sunburst Stratocaster has been gently taken apart, in a nondestructive fashion, to have a look at it's total components by a body of cautious and knowledgeable group of vintage guitar loving geeks to look at the details of it's construction, and thus reveal it's mystery's for the sake of history. That exercise did nothing to diminish the value of the instrument, nor was any harm done to it. Open the instrument up, with proper cautions in place, and a gentle touch, and you will be rewarded with gaining the information needed to get a more accurate date of it's time of construction. It's done quite frequently, and even demanded that such providence be provided in the world of those who buy and collect vintage instruments. I do understand the initial hesitation to do so, but at least your questions can be better answered by a proper and carefully done inspection. That's my 2 cents worth of opinion.
'60, '61? Why bother? Is it a '59 model made in 1960, a '61 model made in 1960, or a '61 model made in 961? You gotta understand that any new features were introduced at the summer NAMM show so if there are significant changes in a model year, you're going to find instruments with those features in the previous year. Any new changes for the '61 models were introduced at the NAMM show in July of '60.
Only way to tell exactly when the neck was made is to pull the neck off and check the dates. Otherwise it's from the era and frankly it really doesn't matter if it's a '61 or a '60 unless you're after a bass from a specific year for reasons other than the features (e.g. you want one from the year you were born).
John
Only way to tell exactly when the neck was made is to pull the neck off and check the dates. Otherwise it's from the era and frankly it really doesn't matter if it's a '61 or a '60 unless you're after a bass from a specific year for reasons other than the features (e.g. you want one from the year you were born).
John
If you don't see a date penciled on the neck butt, don't worry, "no date" necks from around 1960 are not unheard of.
Cool bass, btw.
Cool bass, btw.
I'll open it up when I get home in 3 weeks.thanx for all your input,was hoping there was something to indicate the year on the outside.
Will be interesting to see what it is - between the serial # and the decal, I'm betting 1960 (but with Fender almost anything is possible). Does the color have any metallic in it? Sure looks like it in some of the photos - I do believe Fender did CAR before they started listing it - and that is also another reason I'd personally want to look for the neck stamps (in addition to the pencil date) I mentioned before.
Yes,I'm Y/S Guy.....the haters came out of the woodwork when I mentioned it before.I'll open it up when I get home in 3 weeks.thanx for all your input,was hoping there was something to indicate the year on the outside.
No hatin' here, I snagged a 1962 P for $950 on Craigslist last Spring
Not as 100% original as yours appears to be, though.
