gringopig's guitars

Straight pre-CBS Strats and Telecasters are hard to find in the UK. You see plenty of really dodgy ones: refins, bitsa-casters masquerading as the 'real deal' and blatant fakes. I have seen loads.

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To get a genuine one, you need to trust the source and Francesco at Cesco's Corner is a verifiable expert and loves Strats! He was recommended by my friend Joni and I had no worries about buying.

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This one was clean on the front but has some overspray on the back to stabilise some flaking paint which is common on these old guitars but you can't see it without a blacklight. Francesco was upfront and sent me a full video of the condition.

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It also comes with the original sales receipts from San Antonio Texas where is was purchased in June 1963 and has an early '63 neck date and a matching body date. A painted neck pocket is correct for the time period for a sunburst and all looks good!

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What a cool guitar. The pickups sound strong and twangy and each position of the 3 way switch sounds unique and full of character. You can get the in between positions quite easily too.

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The neck is nice and the dark Brazilian board is in great condition with the vintage frets left with good meat.

Now, Fender original frets are small. My original Jaguars have small frets and I did have to re-fret the Olympic White '65 and the '62 as they were unplayable really but the Strat is perfectly playable.

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