people back then were much more skilled in general. mostly because that generations parents grew up in the depression, so they had to be skilled in order to work, or else food didn't get put on the table. and when they had kids, they passed down those skills. that, and it was a lot easier back then to be successful. my grandpa had nothing more than a highschool diploma and an itty bitty honda street bike, and he would take all his brick laying tools on his bike and work 15 hour shifts getting paid like 1 dollar an hour. but now, he owns a multi million dollar custom homes company.
I bought a Stratocaster with the serial plate 0003 back in the 1973. When I bought it, it was a cardboard box of parts, all disassembled. It was offered to me for $25. I didn't know what I had until until I dug around in the box and found the serial plate. The body was split from top to bottom into two roughly equal parts. The body was covered in black spray paint, and it wasn't until I cleaned this off that I saw written in pencil in the tremelo spring cavity the date: Aug 1954. This was the same date as written on the heel of the neck in the same handwriting. The guitar had all the original parts except the pickguard and the pickups. Even back then, it was common knowledge that the serial plates did not correspond to the order of production. The dates on the guitar are the ultimate arbiter. After carefully repairing and refinishing the body, I turned to my friends at BMC Guitars on Oak Lawn St. in Dallas for advice on replacing the missing parts. Back then there were no aftermarket replacement gold anodized aluminium pickguards, but a friend a BMC gave me one of three he had reproduced from an original (after I found a custom Stratocaster that had been stolen from him). They also recommended three Stratocaster pickups rewound by MSA Steel Guitars in Dallas. They were a little hotter than stock pickups, but had a ringing clarity that made the guitar sing. It was refinished in Fender Blonde. I sold it to Terry Kath of Chicago in 1975. When he passed in 1978, after grieving for a tremendous talent, I couldn't help but wonder what happened to my guitar. For 41 years I told this story, but never knew how it ended, until I was told of the documentary: Chicago: The Terry Kath Experience (it is on Amazon Prime currently). At 1:07 into the film, two guitars are pulled out of a closet in the Florida home of Terry Kath's father. The Pignose Telecaster that was Terry's favorite was there along with Stratocaster 0003. His father took them for safe keeping until his daughter could appreciate them. I was so happy to finally know what happened to this guitar, and it gave me a sense of closure, even though I don't know what was done with it after that.
I know this is about Strats, but Leo Fender was without a doubt a genius! I don't play a strat , rather I play and own a Fender Precision bass, and several Fender Jazz basses, incredible designs in their own right.
Thats one thing i really like about my strat, they were built for comfort. Just sitting around holding a guitar for a long time, you wanna be holding a strat, they are the most comfortable guitar
This is because of the comfort contours on the body. It was designed by Rex Gallion. He is the man responsible for that design that Fender used on all the other guitars since then that had any contouring other than the Telecaster.
It means a lot to me to have Freddie Tavares' initials by the date inscription on my Stratocaster neck. He along with Leo and others are such a big part of these lovely guitars. "4-57 FT"
It should actually say TG - for Tadeo Gomez. He was the one that cut their necks usually. Eddie Mendoza cut the bodies of these guitars most of the time.
Freddie Tavares used to frequent a vintage guitar shop up here in the Seattle area when he retired. He told stories of bringing home factory 'second' necks to use for firewood during the winter! Let's go dumpster diving at the Fender factory!
Thank you for remembering Freddy!!!!! Earlier numbers started with 0100, but a few months later a new system was instituted that went to 0001. Number plates were applied not in build sequence, but just pulled from a bin an applied as a guitar left... for warrantee identification. Each neck and body will be dated out of sight, often months apart, a May 1954 neck might be found with Sept. 1954 body.
@@bob733333 She made the warranty reference by mistake. They didn't keep records like that. No one knows who got the first production model as there were prototypes that were passed around from one local musician to another. Most of these had aluminum pickguards with Telecaster knobs and a flat edge body with no contours. It wasn't until later when Rex Gallion saw one of these prototypes when he played it and suggested that they dress away the body edges so that they didn't dig you in the ribs and arm when playing. Bill Carson tried to say that this was his idea but everyone already knew that it was Rex Gallion that thought of it first. These neck plates were put on ad hoc (in no particular order) so it's anyone's guess as to who got the first Strat ever produced on the assembly line. They were stamped onto the tremolo cover first. So neither the Fender Stratocaster nor Telecaster for that matter had the serial number on the neck plate when first introduced and is not the first one produced nor are any of them close to it! Telecaster is on the bridge plate - Strat is on the tremolo cover. There is one poor dolt that claims he got it (first Fender Strat but we all know that's not true. The knobs, pickups, pickup covers, switch tip and back plate changed after the summer around September of 1954 to what they are today. So if you see one that looks like the 1954 reissue from either 2004, 2014, or 2024 (this year) then you know what features that they had in the early part of 1954 when these were first introduced.
I have a Squier Strat, but it's as much a strat as any Fender or what have you. The way it looks and feels is insane. The contour body was a genius design. Sometimes people ask "When will Fender make a new design?" Why do that when they had a perfect design way back in 1954?
I have had a few guitars in my life and I must say my Stratocaster is the one I fell in love with. My fully stock candy apple red '92 USA HSS w/Floyd Rose and factory Dimarzio hb turned 22 this year.
I've been a Luthier since 1980. The first Strats weren't numbered #0001. They started off at 100. So 00100 would have been the first. The earliest I ever saw was 00140 when I explained it was the 14th made the customer about passed out. The one that David Gilmour has was originally sold to a CW artist. It was an early one, surely the first with gold plated hardware. But it's worth a fortune.
what are you talking about? that isnt how the serial #s work and Gilmours 00001 was bought from Seymour Duncan for $900 and its a partscaster from 54. the first serial #s were on the back trem plate and the earliest production Strata was bought 150 and bought by an employee. George Gruhn is a great friend and he had it last year. dude if youve been a luthier since 1980 you dont know much. Im 40 and i have 32 pre cbs strats and teles my pop bought new or close to it and my first guitars were a 54 Tele.. 59,61 and 62 Strats which I still play daily. ive been playing since 1985 when i was 10.
I am 75 and I have bought and sold thousands. Early and late had them to a thousand pieces and found the little secrets that tell the truth all about them !!. Very early serial numbers too ??!! I`m off now. Ciao.
These plates arrived from the platers and were tossed randomly into a parts bin and were used in no particular order until they ran low and needed more. You have no fucking idea what you are talking about.
I have a May of 54 Strat.Serial number was on the plastic plate so the 0001 on the neck plate was a later 54. I love playing it as much as I can. (The one I am holding in my profile picture) It has been played and shows the wear ... it only gets better with time. Thanks for posting!
It`s just like violins. There are more fine words than fine fiddles .0001 eh!!. Well no doubt some would say. Very difficult to find an old un got at strat these days. most have been swopped around with new necks and hardware. Some guys aged much later ones in the freezer, under UV and in the garden. Screws were left in the rain for weeks. Scratch plates were difficult as originals were made of nitro cellulose and when removed you had better screw them down quickly on a piece of hardwood whilst working in the strat otherwise the scratchplate would shrink and the screws would not line up on re-assy. Some guys even faked the router fixing pin hole on the back and put a hardwood dowel in the drilled hole like Leo did. Difficult to detect this one. Others used to use Glasso cellulose as du pont became unavailable in the UK. Close .Lot of other secrets too. Nice player DG. Keep it up on 0001.
Clearly the workers are meticulous and highly skilled although they may have been trained on the job, but the end result is I've owned and own guitars made by them and in no way shape or form does any new Fender, even custom shop master built guitars even compare, except for a rare fluke here and there. No one can definitely say what the nuances and anomalies or "quirks" are that make the vintage guitars so special, but the hand tooling techniques, bonding techniques, fretwork, lacquers, and properly weathered and dried aged woods and quality supply definitely has something to do with it not to mention 50 plus years of aging.
I have got in 2002 after my friend James " Lucky" ward passed away. It was his guitar and through a chain of events I got it. This guitar was given to him by Leo Fender in 1954. It is a prototype with some small differences to the regular production ones. It was played on tour with Janus Joplin, Jefferson airplane and many more acts. Although he was famous for his Gretsch , he played the Strat a lot!
I have a 1974 White Strat that is autographed by John Kay Lead Singer/Guitarist for Steppenwolf. I Did not care for the original pickups in 1977 so I read in Guitar Magizine that Rick Derringer used "SDS" Demarzio" Super Distortion" on "Rock N Roll Hoochie Coo" & found a Music Store in Placentia CA who has 3 for 2 years & offered them to me for $75.00! I love the sound with more bite!! The Cool People@MusicMax in Palo Cedro CA just change out the pots & 5 Way Switch, Super Job,Thanks "Al".
I had the pleasure of playing it quite a lot - my friend is the guy who sold it to David ...I went on to work for DG (part time) and look after his collection - it may not have been the first made as it was a special presentation model with gold plated fittings for a member of staff or one of Leo's musician friends - it played beautifully - was very sad when DG sold it.
Thank you for pointing that out! They had no idea that they were going to be as big as they were back then and didn't keep track of serial numbers. Regardless, I am sure Leo would be pleased to see his instruments are still so popular.
Esquire was his first guitar in 1949. They had been building Hawaiian guitars and amps prior to building a solid body to compete with the Les Paul. Fender recognized the potential for an electric guitar that was easy to hold, tune, and play, and would not feed back at dance hall volumes as the typical archtop would. In 1949, he finished the prototype of a thin solid-body electric; it was first released in 1950 as the Fender Esquire (with a solid body and one pickup), and renamed first Broadcaster and then Telecaster (with two pickups) the year after. [2] The Telecaster, originally equipped with two single-coil pickups and widely used among country and western players, became one of the most popular electric guitars in history.
It's obvious that you don't know what you're talking about. The Fender Broadcaster came out in January nineteen fifty - TWO YEARS BEFORE GIBSON MADE THE LES PAUL. And Gibson pretty much told him to fuck off with what they called "The Broomstick" when Les Paul himself tried to sell them on the idea of an acoustic guitar with a solid block of wood in the center with the sides and neck bolted to it. This was a piece of shit by all intents and purposes. They laughed at him until he grew in popularity with people and became popular. The Les Paul was released as "The Gibson Standard Model" in 1952 a couple months BEFORE Les Paul's name was ever inferred or even attributed to the Gibson guitar! When the model wasn't selling they put Les Paul on the headstock and named it after him even though it was designed with nothing to do with him from the beginning. After his endorsement the money started rolling in.
Respond to this video... and just for the record, I know Duncan to be a parts thief. THAT disease was also common practice among the dealers/repairmen of the "get a vintage guitar, or parts of same' by any mean necessary....Terrible things have been done to unsuspecting customers, as you no doubt may be aware.
@darthdude1016 OK that covers the 61, but how did the above guitar get to Gilmour? The guitar in this footage is almost a prototype it's so old...like 54
He really isn´t that careful with his guitars. For him they were just tools of the trade. Well maybe he did was a little more careful with the 0001. But his black strat was so worn in the end it was hard to keep it in tune.
Nothing mentioned about Bill Carson, which I know there's controversy on who did what and who came up with what but it was Bill who made the suggestions to Leo on how he wanted the body and neck shapped and the mechanics about the tunning heads, bridge pieces and pickups, being a family friend to Bill (God rest his soul) I heard many stories about the beginings of the strat and I believe if it was not for Bill's input about what he wanted in a guitar the strat would not be what it is today.
You have no idea of what you're talking about. Bill Carson only took the guitars out to test. The pickups were designed (as was the tremolo) by Leo Fender himself. The body was designed by Freddie Tavares and Rex Galleon. The machine heads they already used for FOUR YEARS and those had nothing to do with anyone's opinion. They already established the fact that these worked and were re-tooled for the Fender line of guitars. Bill only told them what he liked and didn't like about it. He actually had very little input on it according to all accounts of those who were there at the factory. Read A.R. Duccasoir's "The Fender Stratocaster Book". This will tell you most of what you need to know about it.
Type this in the brower: Amazing! Fender 1949/1951 Telecaster Broadcaster Nocaster Vintage Guitar / Prototype and it shows the actual guitar! Thanks for posting, Woolyjumperfilms.
@darthdude1016 Wow that's wild-So Gilmour blackmailed Taylor for the guitar in exchange for $ to buy a house? Or Taylor was trying to extort $ from Gilmour.... I don't get the blackmail connection but would like to know to whole deal.
paul day'the guitar expert'is incorrect,Leo's original guitar was the ESQUIRE and made of a pine body,had no truss rod,only 1 single coil pickup and a 'snake' head, etc. Mr Fender, the'non player' asked MANY different guitarists their opinions and as a result changed tone woods, control location, bridge, added a truss rod and neck pickup,fretboard, changed head so tuners would all be on one side, etc.the strat was NOT the 1st guitar made 'by guitarists'. no tele, no strat. it was a progression.
Guitars sound better the more you play on them. So #0001 was a good guitar to begin with, but it's been played on so much it oozes with mana. I also so much love the color and the brass parts.
@oleesquivel87 I AGREE!!! AND I'M ALSO HAPPY FOR THAT. I wonder if David is the owner of the #00001 from the very beginning or he just got it from the first owner?
It's accepted that it is the earliest "known "strat. No one disputes , not even DG, that it might not be the actual first off the line. But it won't be more than 2 or 3 away from the actual earliest. There is no dispute it is the actual #0001,serial, so basically nowt else matters. And as the man himself has said, "they don't come any better".
The first guitars of the Stratocaster line had the serial number on the tremolo cover - not the neck plate. That happened in the fall of that year. So, NO - this is not by far the first one ever made!
To quote David Gilmour: "Jesus fucking Christ, I have SO MUCH MONEY. It's fuckin' unbelievable, really. This here? The #0001 Strat. Outside? That's my riverboat recording studio. Yeah, DG, baby. Hella paid."
I love many different styles of guitars, but a Strat just feels so damned comfortable. And they are sexy. Shaped like a sexy woman. Only the Strat, of all the guitars in the world has true sex appeal.
He didn't. He played a saxophone but never a guitar. This is why he had to let musicians play it and tell him what they liked or didn't like about the guitars that Fender designed.
Say whatever you want about USA Fender guitars and USA Gibson guitars for that matter, still the best and most collectible instruments ever produced. They only increase in value as the other brands don't!!
You're kidding - right?! They DID use Fender guitars throughout their careers as The Beatles. Paul and John played Fender Stratocasters as did George Harrison. Look up "Rocky Fender Stratocaster" and you can see the original one George painted himself. Fender now makes one but it's a replica.
@darthdude1016 OK thanks so much. You appear to be as 'in there' as anyone could be. Did you work at Duncan, or is this just common knowledge from the forum? I guess from what you say, and Fenders being a swap meet even at the factory until Freddy Tavares gave the place some organization, that there is no real way to determine a guitar's vintage say, within 4 years, as the fact is that necks, plates, bodies were all over, and some one would just grab a part and assemble without being too exact
The thing is that these were put together at the factory. It will help you nail down the basic timeline as to about when these guitars or at least the month that these parts were made. This way can tell how old it is and if it's authentic.
If you want sustain like a Gibson, you should get a Gibson, Fender guitars have a specific sound and feel that players like and specific sound and feel includes it's level of sustain. In other words, I can't honestly figure out what you are trying to point out here, it seems like you are just trying to troll and that is kinda sad.
Dave Gilmour owns serial number #0001 and that is not the actual first Strat. They reached in a bin of plates and it was not sequential. So it’s all random
Don't give Leo Fender to much credit for his guitars, if he had not visited Merle Travis playing his Paul Bigbsy solid body guitar this was in 1947 Leo borrowed that guitar for a week and than started his guitar
I don't know what you're implying but Leo Fender never took any styling or construction or design cues from any of the Paul Bigsby guitars. Leo's inspiration came from the need to eliminate the feedback produced by the vibrating tops of the guitars of the day. This is why he designed the solid body guitar - not one with hollow wings like the Bigsby instruments.
Let me put this in the proper prospective: they were unskilled when they started at Fender - they were trained later to do this. That's the difference between the two. As they became more familiar with the process they became better at it until they were proficient.
I don't. And I own I don't know how many Strats and the like. Whatever plays well and sounds good is the perfect guitar. As no such a thing actually exists. With so many different neck shapes and body styles to choose from how can anyone think that this is so? Plus no two hands are the same as there are no two playing styles exactly the same.
This isn't good news-heard that this Strat was stolen by Seymour Duncan from a kid who walked into his shop with it wanting a repair... The kid came back to pick it up, Duncan garishly gave the kid a new one He then sold this one to Gilmour (who probably doesn't know about the theft) for $10,000. A real 'steal' .
@darthdude1016 Can't find anything relating to your story-doubt Duncan would implicate himself in a theft deal on his forum page... dude why don't you just spill it.. Truth must out eventually
Unskilled labour in the 50’s probably amounts to highly master craftsmen in the year 2019..
Pretty much yeah.
Yeap
people back then were much more skilled in general. mostly because that generations parents grew up in the depression, so they had to be skilled in order to work, or else food didn't get put on the table. and when they had kids, they passed down those skills. that, and it was a lot easier back then to be successful. my grandpa had nothing more than a highschool diploma and an itty bitty honda street bike, and he would take all his brick laying tools on his bike and work 15 hour shifts getting paid like 1 dollar an hour. but now, he owns a multi million dollar custom homes company.
Especially in home construction 🙄
I had the pleasure of playing Strat #0001 - as David says it is the perfect guitar.
You lucky son of a gun :)
Wow
I did as well hes very very genuine nice person...i live in malibu beach and he had a house 2 doors down
As did bob dylan
Him and Romany are making music together with it now
I bought a Stratocaster with the serial plate 0003 back in the 1973. When I bought it, it was a cardboard box of parts, all disassembled. It was offered to me for $25. I didn't know what I had until until I dug around in the box and found the serial plate. The body was split from top to bottom into two roughly equal parts. The body was covered in black spray paint, and it wasn't until I cleaned this off that I saw written in pencil in the tremelo spring cavity the date: Aug 1954. This was the same date as written on the heel of the neck in the same handwriting. The guitar had all the original parts except the pickguard and the pickups. Even back then, it was common knowledge that the serial plates did not correspond to the order of production. The dates on the guitar are the ultimate arbiter.
After carefully repairing and refinishing the body, I turned to my friends at BMC Guitars on Oak Lawn St. in Dallas for advice on replacing the missing parts. Back then there were no aftermarket replacement gold anodized aluminium pickguards, but a friend a BMC gave me one of three he had reproduced from an original (after I found a custom Stratocaster that had been stolen from him).
They also recommended three Stratocaster pickups rewound by MSA Steel Guitars in Dallas. They were a little hotter than stock pickups, but had a ringing clarity that made the guitar sing. It was refinished in Fender Blonde.
I sold it to Terry Kath of Chicago in 1975. When he passed in 1978, after grieving for a tremendous talent, I couldn't help but wonder what happened to my guitar. For 41 years I told this story, but never knew how it ended, until I was told of the documentary: Chicago: The Terry Kath Experience (it is on Amazon Prime currently). At 1:07 into the film, two guitars are pulled out of a closet in the Florida home of Terry Kath's father. The Pignose Telecaster that was Terry's favorite was there along with Stratocaster 0003. His father took them for safe keeping until his daughter could appreciate them. I was so happy to finally know what happened to this guitar, and it gave me a sense of closure, even though I don't know what was done with it after that.
story of legends. You are a part of history
I know this is about Strats, but Leo Fender was without a doubt a genius! I don't play a strat , rather I play and own a Fender Precision bass, and several Fender Jazz basses, incredible designs in their own right.
I owned Precission bass F000137 in Fiesta red .Bought in 1965 second hand pristine from Gough and Davy Hull .
Thats one thing i really like about my strat, they were built for comfort. Just sitting around holding a guitar for a long time, you wanna be holding a strat, they are the most comfortable guitar
This is because of the comfort contours on the body. It was designed by Rex Gallion. He is the man responsible for that design that Fender used on all the other guitars since then that had any contouring other than the Telecaster.
It means a lot to me to have Freddie Tavares' initials by the date inscription on my Stratocaster neck. He along with Leo and others are such a big part of these lovely guitars.
"4-57 FT"
It should actually say TG - for Tadeo Gomez. He was the one that cut their necks usually. Eddie Mendoza cut the bodies of these guitars most of the time.
@@solarismoon3046 4-57 FT
thanks Leo for this miracle, just the greatest guitar in the world!
Freddie Tavares used to frequent a vintage guitar shop up here in the Seattle area when he retired. He told stories of bringing home factory 'second' necks to use for firewood during the winter!
Let's go dumpster diving at the Fender factory!
Thank you for remembering Freddy!!!!! Earlier numbers started with 0100, but a few months later a new system was instituted that went to 0001. Number plates were applied not in build sequence, but just pulled from a bin an applied as a guitar left... for warrantee identification. Each neck and body will be dated out of sight, often months apart, a May 1954 neck might be found with Sept. 1954 body.
Jennifer WhiteWolf So what, it has the first number.
@@bob733333 She made the warranty reference by mistake. They didn't keep records like that. No one knows who got the first production model as there were prototypes that were passed around from one local musician to another. Most of these had aluminum pickguards with Telecaster knobs and a flat edge body with no contours. It wasn't until later when Rex Gallion saw one of these prototypes when he played it and suggested that they dress away the body edges so that they didn't dig you in the ribs and arm when playing. Bill Carson tried to say that this was his idea but everyone already knew that it was Rex Gallion that thought of it first.
These neck plates were put on ad hoc (in no particular order) so it's anyone's guess as to who got the first Strat ever produced on the assembly line. They were stamped onto the tremolo cover first. So neither the Fender Stratocaster nor Telecaster for that matter had the serial number on the neck plate when first introduced and is not the first one produced nor are any of them close to it! Telecaster is on the bridge plate - Strat is on the tremolo cover. There is one poor dolt that claims he got it (first Fender Strat but we all know that's not true. The knobs, pickups, pickup covers, switch tip and back plate changed after the summer around September of 1954 to what they are today. So if you see one that looks like the 1954 reissue from either 2004, 2014, or 2024 (this year) then you know what features that they had in the early part of 1954 when these were first introduced.
@@solarismoon3046yes the prototypes even had that tele knob plate, I think I saw a white one on TH-cam
I have a Squier Strat, but it's as much a strat as any Fender or what have you. The way it looks and feels is insane. The contour body was a genius design. Sometimes people ask "When will Fender make a new design?" Why do that when they had a perfect design way back in 1954?
I have had a few guitars in my life and I must say my Stratocaster is the one I fell in love with. My fully stock candy apple red '92 USA HSS w/Floyd Rose and factory Dimarzio hb turned 22 this year.
I've been a Luthier since 1980. The first Strats weren't numbered #0001. They started off at 100. So 00100 would have been the first. The earliest I ever saw was 00140 when I explained it was the 14th made the customer about passed out. The one that David Gilmour has was originally sold to a CW artist. It was an early one, surely the first with gold plated hardware. But it's worth a fortune.
what are you talking about? that isnt how the serial #s work and Gilmours 00001 was bought from Seymour Duncan for $900 and its a partscaster from 54. the first serial #s were on the back trem plate and the earliest production Strata was bought 150 and bought by an employee. George Gruhn is a great friend and he had it last year. dude if youve been a luthier since 1980 you dont know much. Im 40 and i have 32 pre cbs strats and teles my pop bought new or close to it and my first guitars were a 54 Tele.. 59,61 and 62 Strats which I still play daily. ive been playing since 1985 when i was 10.
I am 75 and I have bought and sold thousands. Early and late had them to a thousand pieces and found the little secrets that tell the truth all about them !!. Very early serial numbers too ??!! I`m off now. Ciao.
These plates arrived from the platers and were tossed randomly into a parts bin and were used in no particular order until they ran low and needed more.
You have no fucking idea what you are talking about.
mamachip Neither do you.
"It was an early one, surely the first with gold plated hardware. But it's worth a fortune"
it was worth $1,815,000 last year :o)
Thanks for posting this very educational
I have a May of 54 Strat.Serial number was on the plastic plate so the 0001 on the neck plate was a later 54. I love playing it as much as I can. (The one I am holding in my profile picture) It has been played and shows the wear ... it only gets better with time. Thanks for posting!
I got to see the # 1 Stratocaster at a guitar show in lepers fork Tennessee. It was very cool !!!
It`s just like violins. There are more fine words than fine fiddles .0001 eh!!. Well no doubt some would say. Very difficult to find an old un got at strat these days. most have been swopped around with new necks and hardware. Some guys aged much later ones in the freezer, under UV and in the garden. Screws were left in the rain for weeks. Scratch plates were difficult as originals were made of nitro cellulose and when removed you had better screw them down quickly on a piece of hardwood whilst working in the strat otherwise the scratchplate would shrink and the screws would not line up on re-assy. Some guys even faked the router fixing pin hole on the back and put a hardwood dowel in the drilled hole like Leo did. Difficult to detect this one. Others used to use Glasso cellulose as du pont became unavailable in the UK. Close .Lot of other secrets too. Nice player DG. Keep it up on 0001.
Clearly the workers are meticulous and highly skilled although they may have been trained on the job, but the end result is I've owned and own guitars made by them and in no way shape or form does any new Fender, even custom shop master built guitars even compare, except for a rare fluke here and there. No one can definitely say what the nuances and anomalies or "quirks" are that make the vintage guitars so special, but the hand tooling techniques, bonding techniques, fretwork, lacquers, and properly weathered and dried aged woods and quality supply definitely has something to do with it not to mention 50 plus years of aging.
Also only the best and most beoved vintage fenders survived. The others all got destroyed for stage acts back in the 60s and 70s.
I have got in 2002 after my friend James " Lucky" ward passed away. It was his guitar and through a chain of events I got it. This guitar was given to him by Leo Fender in 1954. It is a prototype with some small differences to the regular production ones. It was played on tour with Janus Joplin, Jefferson airplane and many more acts. Although he was famous for his Gretsch , he played the Strat a lot!
I have a 1974 White Strat that is autographed by John Kay Lead Singer/Guitarist for Steppenwolf. I Did not care for the original pickups in 1977 so I read in Guitar Magizine that Rick Derringer used "SDS" Demarzio" Super Distortion" on "Rock N Roll Hoochie Coo" & found a Music Store in Placentia CA who has 3 for 2 years & offered them to me for $75.00! I love the sound with more bite!! The Cool People@MusicMax in Palo Cedro CA just change out the pots & 5 Way Switch, Super Job,Thanks "Al".
he probably kept the originals too. if not put em back in. it's an antique!
+dezionlion
I'm sorry but damn, you did something because Rick Derringer did it?
I had the pleasure of playing it quite a lot - my friend is the guy who sold it to David ...I went on to work for DG (part time) and look after his collection - it may not have been the first made as it was a special presentation model with gold plated fittings for a member of staff or one of Leo's musician friends - it played beautifully - was very sad when DG sold it.
Thank you for pointing that out! They had no idea that they were going to be as big as they were back then and didn't keep track of serial numbers. Regardless, I am sure Leo would be pleased to see his instruments are still so popular.
teles look just as good imo
I have a 79 Antigua strat and lovin it.
Fender Stratocaster, the two most beautiful words in the English language.
Even the Japanese made ones made it affordable if American made ones is too goddamn expensive!
Gilmours playing the intro to shine on you crazy diamond.
Sam uelson Is he wow
Unskilled workers......Hardly !
486 people on You Tube Claim To Have The First Fender Stratocaster Ever Built .
Esquire was his first guitar in 1949. They had been building Hawaiian guitars and amps prior to building a solid body to compete with the Les Paul.
Fender recognized the potential for an electric guitar that was easy to hold, tune, and play, and would not feed back at dance hall volumes as the typical archtop would. In 1949, he finished the prototype of a thin solid-body electric; it was first released in 1950 as the Fender Esquire (with a solid body and one pickup), and renamed first Broadcaster and then Telecaster (with two pickups) the year after. [2] The Telecaster, originally equipped with two single-coil pickups and widely used among country and western players, became one of the most popular electric guitars in history.
The name Broadcaster was owned by Gretsch and used on their drum kits. Leo had to change the name to Telecaster to avoid a lawsuit.
R. Michael Pitman He wasn't trying to compete with Les Paul, it was visa versa.
Les Pauls weren't introduced until 1952. The Stratocaster was Leo's answer to the Les Paul, not the Broadcaster or Telecaster.
It's obvious that you don't know what you're talking about. The Fender Broadcaster came out in January nineteen fifty - TWO YEARS BEFORE GIBSON MADE THE LES PAUL. And Gibson pretty much told him to fuck off with what they called "The Broomstick" when Les Paul himself tried to sell them on the idea of an acoustic guitar with a solid block of wood in the center with the sides and neck bolted to it. This was a piece of shit by all intents and purposes. They laughed at him until he grew in popularity with people and became popular. The Les Paul was released as "The Gibson Standard Model" in 1952 a couple months BEFORE Les Paul's name was ever inferred or even attributed to the Gibson guitar! When the model wasn't selling they put Les Paul on the headstock and named it after him even though it was designed with nothing to do with him from the beginning. After his endorsement the money started rolling in.
Dave Gilmour. Hell yeah.
The finest guitar ever built!
Leo fender ...the godfather of the electric guitar...creator of the sexiest guitar ever.....the strat
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and just for the record, I know Duncan to be a parts thief. THAT disease was also common practice among the dealers/repairmen of the "get a vintage guitar, or parts of same' by any mean necessary....Terrible things have been done to unsuspecting customers, as you no doubt may be aware.
Ooooo shit!!!! Accidentally i played that Gilmour lick...in a drop c tuning and i saw this video 🤘🤘🤘
@darthdude1016 OK that covers the 61, but how did the above guitar get to Gilmour? The guitar in this footage is almost a prototype it's so old...like 54
i have one . its 1960 birthday deluxe sunburst and maple fretboard . i love my babay . i want to hug her
What movie is this from?
Is this excellent doc. Available on DVD? I can't find it anywhere
Ofcause it's not the first one. They used to stamp the serial numbers on the tremolo cover before they started to stamp the neck plates.
Look how gentle david is with his #1. Supporting it with his knees and not touching it with anything but his pick and fingertips.
He really isn´t that careful with his guitars. For him they were just tools of the trade. Well maybe he did was a little more careful with the 0001. But his black strat was so worn in the end it was hard to keep it in tune.
...thank you...
Anybody know what documentary this is from?
this is the best video ever
Nothing mentioned about Bill Carson, which I know there's controversy on who did what and who came up with what but it was Bill who made the suggestions to Leo on how he wanted the body and neck shapped and the mechanics about the tunning heads, bridge pieces and pickups, being a family friend to Bill (God rest his soul) I heard many stories about the beginings of the strat and I believe if it was not for Bill's input about what he wanted in a guitar the strat would not be what it is today.
You have no idea of what you're talking about. Bill Carson only took the guitars out to test. The pickups were designed (as was the tremolo) by Leo Fender himself. The body was designed by Freddie Tavares and Rex Galleon. The machine heads they already used for FOUR YEARS and those had nothing to do with anyone's opinion. They already established the fact that these worked and were re-tooled for the Fender line of guitars. Bill only told them what he liked and didn't like about it. He actually had very little input on it according to all accounts of those who were there at the factory. Read A.R. Duccasoir's "The Fender Stratocaster Book". This will tell you most of what you need to know about it.
cool bit of history.
Type this in the brower:
Amazing! Fender 1949/1951 Telecaster Broadcaster Nocaster Vintage Guitar / Prototype
and it shows the actual guitar!
Thanks for posting, Woolyjumperfilms.
Shine on you crazy diamond by PINK FLOYD
@darthdude1016 Wow that's wild-So Gilmour blackmailed Taylor for the guitar in exchange for $ to buy a house? Or Taylor was trying to extort $ from Gilmour.... I don't get the blackmail connection but would like to know to whole deal.
paul day'the guitar expert'is incorrect,Leo's original guitar was the ESQUIRE and made of a pine body,had no truss rod,only 1 single coil pickup and a 'snake' head, etc. Mr Fender, the'non player' asked MANY different guitarists their opinions and as a result changed tone woods, control location, bridge, added a truss rod and neck pickup,fretboard, changed head so tuners would all be on one side, etc.the strat was NOT the 1st guitar made 'by guitarists'. no tele, no strat. it was a progression.
Guitars sound better the more you play on them. So #0001 was a good guitar to begin with, but it's been played on so much it oozes with mana. I also so much love the color and the brass parts.
It doesn't have any brass parts on it. The pickguard is anodized aluminum. The rest is gold plated.
@oleesquivel87 I AGREE!!! AND I'M ALSO HAPPY FOR THAT. I wonder if David is the owner of the #00001 from the very beginning or he just got it from the first owner?
I'm pretty sure the first was the Broadcaster.
Yeah, but the only difference is the wiring, isn't it?
ï have a fe4nder wid 1 microfopn is it ld?
What's the song he plays at 2:50? I don't recognise it
It's accepted that it is the earliest "known "strat. No one disputes , not even DG, that it might not be the actual first off the line. But it won't be more than 2 or 3 away from the actual earliest. There is no dispute it is the actual #0001,serial, so basically nowt else matters. And as the man himself has said, "they don't come any better".
The first guitars of the Stratocaster line had the serial number on the tremolo cover - not the neck plate. That happened in the fall of that year. So, NO - this is not by far the first one ever made!
the strat is awesome but i like the telecasters more and mustang's 2
@darthdude1016 got me interested to find out more-I'll check out the forum thanks
i couldn't agree more...
David Gilmour saw Hank Marvin's Strat and wanted one. I saw David Gilmour's Strat and wanted one!
To quote David Gilmour: "Jesus fucking Christ, I have SO MUCH MONEY. It's fuckin' unbelievable, really. This here? The #0001 Strat. Outside? That's my riverboat recording studio. Yeah, DG, baby. Hella paid."
What song does david gilmour play in this video!?!?!
shine on you crazy diamond
my MEXICAN Strat (95) is a good instrument.mostly, it sounds like a Strat. that sound is enough for me.
a fender neck can make you sound good,and I need all the help I can get.
I love many different styles of guitars, but a Strat just feels so damned comfortable. And they are sexy. Shaped like a sexy woman. Only the Strat, of all the guitars in the world has true sex appeal.
I agree teles and esquires and broadcasters are cute in their simpleness.
@MuzicmanPresents The strat is a bullhorned macho guitar...I´ll take the curvy Jazzmaster instead...No offense
Thus began the long history of the most absolutely MEDIOCRE yet popular musical instrument of all time.
i thought they said leo never learned how to play?
He didn't. He played a saxophone but never a guitar. This is why he had to let musicians play it and tell him what they liked or didn't like about the guitars that Fender designed.
does anyone know what this is from? i looked at a lot of comments and didn't find the source material
thanks
im aware of that. but he still produced the broadcaster and sold many. So im still correct.
The first serial numbered Stratocaster was #000100 and was a sunburst finish...
That's totally false! These originally had their serial numbers stamped on the tremolo cover and only had FOUR NUMBERS. Someone told you wrong!
What is the song at 2:10?
Shine On You Crazy Diamond..
Say whatever you want about USA Fender guitars and USA Gibson guitars for that matter, still the best and most collectible instruments ever produced. They only increase in value as the other brands don't!!
Mm so what my friend
Gilmour could bring about world peace purely by the act of giving me that guitar. Sadly he won't
The first strat has the serial number 0100 :) i think that this guitar is in a safe in ch
This is totally wrong! The first ones had the serial number on the tremolo cover and only had FOUR NUMBERS.
No the first strat is 0100 thats clear
Why dont any Beatles members use fender (strat)?
You're kidding - right?! They DID use Fender guitars throughout their careers as The Beatles. Paul and John played Fender Stratocasters as did George Harrison. Look up "Rocky Fender Stratocaster" and you can see the original one George painted himself. Fender now makes one but it's a replica.
Shine On You Crazy Diamond Part I by Pink Floyd
can someone tell me how to find what year mine is a aquier strat the serial is s/n ic031123370
Indonesian Squire. Made in 2003
pretty sure strat #1 was made before David was even big enough to play a guitar
David deserve that #0001 strat
It has been sold off on auction. Dunno who owns it now.
@darthdude1016 OK thanks so much. You appear to be as 'in there' as anyone could be. Did you work at Duncan, or is this just common knowledge from the forum? I guess from what you say, and Fenders being a swap meet even at the factory until Freddy Tavares gave the place some organization, that there is no real way to determine a guitar's vintage say, within 4 years, as the fact is that necks, plates, bodies were all over, and some one would just grab a part and assemble without being too exact
The thing is that these were put together at the factory. It will help you nail down the basic timeline as to about when these guitars or at least the month that these parts were made. This way can tell how old it is and if it's authentic.
If you want sustain like a Gibson, you should get a Gibson, Fender guitars have a specific sound and feel that players like and specific sound and feel includes it's level of sustain.
In other words, I can't honestly figure out what you are trying to point out here, it seems like you are just trying to troll and that is kinda sad.
0001 david gilmour has it
Well I never did.
The first strat is actually 0100
Dave Gilmour owns serial number #0001 and that is not the actual first Strat. They reached in a bin of plates and it was not sequential. So it’s all random
Don't give Leo Fender to much credit for his guitars, if he had not visited Merle Travis playing his Paul Bigbsy solid body guitar this was in 1947 Leo borrowed that guitar for a week and than started his guitar
I don't know what you're implying but Leo Fender never took any styling or construction or design cues from any of the Paul Bigsby guitars. Leo's inspiration came from the need to eliminate the feedback produced by the vibrating tops of the guitars of the day. This is why he designed the solid body guitar - not one with hollow wings like the Bigsby instruments.
That puts it all in perspective they were made with unskilled laborers. So how in the heck with that being said can these older models cost so much?
Let me put this in the proper prospective: they were unskilled when they started at Fender - they were trained later to do this. That's the difference between the two. As they became more familiar with the process they became better at it until they were proficient.
his first guitar was the broadcaster. then gretch through a bitch fit and it became the tele.
Nocaster then Telecaster..
..........♥
his firsst guitar was broadcaster
This guy at the beginning sounds like Stewie from family guy
Telecaster was his first guitar? How about broacaster..
Personally, I think the Mosrite did the Strat shape better than a Strat..
You keep thinking that......
No,no.no.no, my Stratocaster is the perfect guitar! Don't all Strat owners feel that way?
I don't. And I own I don't know how many Strats and the like. Whatever plays well and sounds good is the perfect guitar. As no such a thing actually exists. With so many different neck shapes and body styles to choose from how can anyone think that this is so? Plus no two hands are the same as there are no two playing styles exactly the same.
good thing Leo's last name was not Dyck
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Ans BTW, that is NOT a story I heard from Duncan. Not friends with that guy-
Yngwie Malmsteen is the owner now!
No
Gilmour is.... rightly so
sir;; they where not thrown together !!!!
They were screwed !!.
Paul Reed Smith AINT GOT SHIT ON FENDER.
This isn't good news-heard that this Strat was stolen by Seymour Duncan from a kid who walked into his shop with it wanting a repair... The kid came back to pick it up, Duncan garishly gave the kid a new one He then sold this one to Gilmour (who probably doesn't know about the theft) for $10,000. A real 'steal' .
Hmm, how sure are you about that story?
U better not b talking about David guilmore he was the guitarist for pink floyd not some rich guy who happened to play guitar
@darthdude1016 Can't find anything relating to your story-doubt Duncan would implicate himself in a theft deal on his forum page... dude why don't you just spill it.. Truth must out eventually
First act guitars are waaaaaaaay better!
Hard to tell