FENDER 1957 VINTAGE STRATOCASTER 57 ORIGINAL STRAT! Feather weight, flame maple neck, NOT A REISSUE, PLAYER Start Price USD 1.00 Current Price USD 12,490.00 Time Left - Bid Count 24 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Tuesday, September 02, 2008 End Time Tuesday, September 09, 2008 Location Seattle See more about 'FENDER 1957 VINTAGE STRATOCASTER 57 ORIGINAL STRAT!' Description '57 ORIGINAL MAPLE NECK SUNBURST STRATOCASTER REAL AUCTION: $1 TO OPEN AND NO RESERVE!! INTERNATIONAL BIDDERS ARE WELCOME Very nice original vintage 1957 Stratocaster. Not a reissue or replica this is the real deal. Beautiful tiger striped flame on the maple one-piece neck. Feather light weight at 7.2 pounds. Great tone and a super player, low action, no buzzes, bend forever, great sustain and resonance. Body date 4/57, visible pot date 15th week of 1957, neck date 8-57, and serial number -2063X. The two tone sunburst finish looks to my eye to be an old and perfectly done refin, the only give away that this is not a factory finish is that the checking is sparse and doesn’t have the dense spider web patina of a 50 year old lacquer finish, looks more like a 20 year old spray. In another decade of good living the finish should age to be indistinguishable from an original finish. Dowels, tooling marks and nail holes are all present and accounted for. I showed this guitar around town a year ago and most thought the body finish was original. The neck has been refretted and the fret board probably oversprayed, so it is a great player with lots of life left in the medium sized frets. Electronics have been upgraded to a 5-way switch, a must for any serious player to get those in-between settings so often heard on platinum records. The body and neck wood have NO repairs, NO extra holes, everything is structurally factory stock. The high E-tuner was bent and replaced with a matching reissue piece; the other 5 are the original single line Klusons. No extra holes under the tuners. Sought after original pat. pend. saddles; pickups with original cloth wire, winds and binding tape. Most solder joints look original. The original white single ply guard had the letters "M" "H" and "J" riveted around the bridge pup, the letters have been removed and the original guard repaired so it is barely noticeable. Get the tone of old wood and aged ALNICO magnets. A rock star (or other musician), collector or high-end recording studio, this could be the player of your collection. The tone is magical and the guitar turns heads like few others. With book value for tremolo 57 Stratocasters at greater thean $40,000 this one has enough issues to keep the price much more reasonable but it is still an original piece that will be a great investment and continue to appreciate. Don't miss your chance to get an affordable 1950's Stratocaster (well sort of affordable). 1950's Stratocasters have been one of the greatest investments of the last 30 years and with Les Pauls from the same era approaching the $500,000 mark there is no end in sight. International payment is bank wire only. In the USA PayPal OK but only to confirmed address. Shipping is FREE in the continental USA and $100 to Canada and $250 everywhere else (all non-canadian international). Ships in a fender (non-original) hard shell case. Rock on. Place a Bid!