From the 1964 Fender catalog, “FENDER STRATOCASTER GUITAR – Perfection in a solid body comfort-contoured professional guitar providing all of the finest Fender features. Choice hardwood body finished with a golden sunburst shading, white Maple neck with Rosewood fingerboard, white pickguard and lustrous chrome metal parts. Three advanced style adjustable pickups, and one volume control, two tone controls, and a three position instant tone change switch. The adjustable Fender bridge insures perfect intonation and softest action. The neck has the famous Fender truss-rod. The Stratocaster is available with or without the Fender built in tremolo.”

This clean vintage Fender Stratocaster has just come from the daughter of the purchaser in May of ’65 – but there’s a lot more to the story. John Ferrell purchased this guitar from a music store in San Bernadino, Ca, only 40 miles from Fullerton. It seems that the Stratocaster that John bought, bearing the serial number “1062”, was in fact comprised of electronics (304443 pot codes, 43rd week of ’54), tuners (no line Kluson), and pickups (North to strings and tall D slugs, likely rewound in ’64) from a 1954 Stratocaster, a 1960 body refinished in 1964 at the factory, and a standard November 1964 neck. John kept the original receipt from that transaction that bears this serial number, at a purchase price of $250 for the guitar and case. Since a new Stratocaster cost $289.50 and a case $52.50 in 1965, we assume that the guitar was being sold used.

1964 Fender Stratocaster with 1954 & 1960 parts