It’s a rare day when a 1959 Fender Stratocaster in original Roman Red surfaces—especially one this clean and from the elusive 8 hole mint green pickguard era. I’ve been gravitating toward high-end custom color Strats lately, so when the seller reached out, I knew I couldn’t hesitate. Within just a few hours, I was on a plane to California to inspect this beauty in person.
At True Vintage Guitar, I buy, sell, and appraise vintage guitars from Fender and Gibson made during their golden era: the 1950s and 1960s. I specialize in high end vintage guitars like this rare custom color Stratocaster. You can contact me here for an Appraisal or here to Sell a Fender guitar.
You can learn more about Strats from this year here: 1959 Fender Stratocaster.
Fender's Roman Red Custom Color Finish in 1959
Among the less documented Fender custom colors is a striking red that DuPont (and Ditzler) called "Roman Red" - most similar to Dakota Red, but a slightly brighter shade. The Fender factory made custom color Stratocasters as early its introduction in 1954, but the price list didn't officially offer the option of a custom color until 1957. Fender's official custom color chart wasn't offered until 1961, so sometimes custom colors from the 1950s can be difficult to nail down. Among those is Roman Red - a name also used on Chevrolet and Corvette color charts in 1959. Fender price lists specifically mention, "Available in custom Dupont Ducco finishes - 5% upcharge". "Duco" is Dupont's name for a nitrocellulose formulation of a color, but Fender misspelled it as "Ducco" on the price list!
For more on custom colors from Fender, please read the article by Andre Duchossoir here. I'm very grateful for his research and authorship: Andre Duchossoir on Fender Custom Colors.
Before getting first hand experience with this 1959 Stratocaster, I had never seen proof that Fender used the term "Roman Red". I reached out to my friend Terry Foster for help, so he sent me the picture below. Fender often wrote the name of the color on masking tape inside the neck pocket or the tremolo cavity on custom order guitars, but it's not always visible. This '59 Stratocaster did not have the masking tape exposed, but a similar guitar did. Pictured below is a typical custom order masking tape mark denoting "Roman Red T-412". Thanks to my friend Terry Foster for the use of this photo.
The composition of this finish is the most surprising part of it: a desert sand undercoat, dark maroon red middle layer, and the (likely) Roman Red outer finish. The layers of finish are best seen on the back of the neck heel and the neck pocket below. The layers of finish on the body have adhered in a pattern on the back of the neck heel which is the mirror image of the layers removed from the neck pocket. We know the base coat and the exterior color, but we don't know the maroon red darker middle layer to this finish.
8 Hole Guard and Slab Board
This '59 Strat was the total package both because it's a rare factory custom color but also because of the 8 hole nitrate pickguard and the slab board. The Jazzmaster was introduced in 1958 with the new slab Rosewood fretboard, but the Stratocaster did not receive the slab Rosewood board until the Spring or Summer of 1959. About the same time, Fender introduced a fancier new pickguard made of cellulose nitrate in layers of white, black, then white. The semi-translucent nature of the white top layer gave the guard more of a mint green look, so collectors often refer to it as simply "mint green".
Prior to the mint green guard, the single layer ABS pickguards required only 8 screws to mount them. But Fender must have noticed early on that the mint green guards tend to shrink and warp. Soon after it was introduced, they added screws and even an extra step of wood in the control cavity for an extra screw to bite into. This 1959 Roman Red Stratocaster is an early example of the rare 8 hole mint green guard with no extra step in the control cavity. You can see in the picture below that it has both the smaller 1950s style shielding plate stacked on top of the larger 1960s style shielding plate.
1959 Stratocaster Authentication
As I arrived in Los Angeles, California to buy this 1959 Fender Stratocaster, I knew that it would be important to inspect and authenticate it inside and out. The seller's most pressing question was regarding the lack of a pencil mark on the neck heel indicating the month and year that it was made. A prior guitar tech casted doubt on the authenticity of the finish of the guitar because it had no neck heel date.
But this is absolutely correct for a Fender guitar made in 1959 and early 1960: most do not have a pencil date indicating the month and year it was made. There's an often repeated story about why Fender marked the neck heels during all other years from the 1950s through the 1970s, but I won't repeat it again here. It's possible that the rumor is true, but to this date, I've never seen anyone corroborate the rumor with any facts or paperwork. Suffice it to say, that if your 1959 or 1960 Fender guitar does not have a neck heel date, that isn't proof of anything at all.
I authenticated this 1959 Fender Stratocaster using the finish texture, finish details, solder joints, historical knowledge, and by comparing this guitar with other known examples from the same time period. One interesting find is that this Roman Red '59 Stratocaster is only about 37 serial numbers away from the only other 8 hole guard Stratocaster that I've seen. They have the same potentiometer codes as well.
You can have your 1950s or 1960s Fender Stratocaster authenticated here: Appraisal
Summary
I'm thrilled to have the privilege to inspect, authenticate, and write about this amazing 1959 Fender Stratocaster in original custom Red finish (likely Roman Red!). At True Vintage Guitar, I appraise, buy, and sell vintage guitars made by Fender and Gibson during their golden era: the 1950s and 1960s. If you're considering selling a high end vintage Fender, feel free to contact me for more information on value and the best way to sell.
You can contact me here to sell a Fender guitar from the 1950s and 1960s.
Or here to get an appraisal on your high end vintage Fender guitar: Appraisal.
