From ToneTeam Restoration at CescosCornerGuitars
"This Fender Stratocaster guitar, with serial #38425, is a genuine instrument made at the Fender factory in mid 1959. This is part of the very first batch of "slab board" Stratocasters ever made, and it was paired to a transitional body that still featured earlier styled "one ply" white pickguard with 10 holes. This configuration lasted a few weeks only, while they were transitioning from the one piece maple neck construction to the rosewood fingerboards, and just before switching to the - now classic - "green" celluloid 3-ply pickguard. The instrument is a featherweight, and a very good sounding one, it's no mystery it's been played and loved. Stripped at some point from its body finish, it's been professionally restored in 2022 by ToneTeam luthier Matteo Rufini to the original mid 1959 faded red sunburst shade, preserving its original body edges, contours, and factory routing marks.
The guitar arrived with a poorly made "gold" refinish on the body, but with evidence of original sunburst finish in the cavities, so we decided to bring it back to the look it had back in the day. Aside from a set of Schaller tuners installed in the '80s the instrument remained in good conditions with basically all the important original parts still there. Our ToneTeam master luthier Matteo Rufini removed the non-original gold finish while preserving the original finish left in the cavities, and carefully maintaining the correct contour body, body thickness, and edge shape. He then applied a period correct 3-tone sunburst, with an already faded red look to it, as it was typical from mid to late 1959 sunburst.
In agreement with Rudy, we did not artificially "relic" the finish, although we did age it properly, with a very nice patina and grain texture, that was done also to match with the original finished neck, which is still in good conditions. In the '70s in fact it was common to see guitars being stripped from paint, to reveal their "natural" look, and this was very likely the case with this gorgeous guitar from 1959."
-3 holes around tremolo filled
-This guitar is from the first batch of slab board strats. The rare 10-hole, single ply pickguard was only used for a few weeks as Fender transitioned to rosewood fretboards
-Had a different set of tuners at some point
-Original 3-way switch
-Reproduction backplate
Weight-7.45 lbs
Serial #38425 Comes a non original case.
