'76 Fender Stratocaster for trade

[Lockbody]

I've been pining for a 70's Strat for years now after trading a '75 away in the late-eighties. As just about everyone knows, there's a whole lot of dogs when it comes to '70s Strats, so I was super happy when I found this one. When I first saw that it had an amateur refin I was wary... then I plugged it in. This is simply the most awesome Strat sounding I've ever owned.

So why do I want to trade it away?

Simply put, I've been playing 12-14" radius guitars with wider-ish necks for so long that I can't deal with the 7.25" radius and narrower '70s neck/nut width of this Strat. I guess you can't go back home again. I know a lot of people don't have this issue, but every time I pick it up after playing my SGs, I look forward to picking the SGs back up.

The good:

Ash and is only 8lbs on my fish scale. Lots of '70s bricks out there, but this isn't one of them. I've never owned a hardtail Strat before, but I love the Strat tone with the Tele flavor the hardtail gives. I love ash Strats, too and this one doesn't disappoint. The bridge pickup was replaced with a late-seventies Dimarzio FS-1, but the other two are the stock gray-bottom Fenders which sound great at everything from clean and funky to heavy distortion. You want that late Hendrix or Robin Trower tone? It's there in spades. The FS-1 simply rules. Like I said earlier, this is simply the best sounding Strat I've ever owned. The bridge was replaced at some point, as was the volume pot (in '81 according to the codes on the pot), and the strap buttons. I replaced the old, scratchy 5-way with a 3-way because I like 'em better. Frets are in great shape, and it's a great player. OHSC in good shape. I added a Callaham aluminum pickguard shield.

The bad?

Amateur refin. I'm the third owner and the previous owner bought it in the early eighties from the teenager who had stripped it and sprayed the rattle can clear on it. He bought it for the same reason I did - how good it sounds. You can also see where the kid had black electrical tape on it a la Van Halen. If you're interested in pristine guitars, look elsewhere.

What am I looking for? I don't know. Strats with flatter fretboard radii, Hamers (I think the only Hamer I'd be interested in these days would be a Standard), and Gibsons. I'd recommend playing it first with modding it, but for the right trade I'd send it to Murkat on the way to you for refinishing. I was really hot to refin it for a while, but I'd be scared to mess up the tone this one has.

Pics:

http://s1238.photobu...6-Stratocaster/

[dewey finn]

Very pretty.

[Lockbody]

Still looking bump.