A SOLID-BODY ELECTRIC GUITAR, STRATOCASTER

Details

FENDER ELECTRIC INSTRUMENT COMPANY, FULLERTON, 1954
A SOLID-BODY ELECTRIC GUITAR, STRATOCASTER
The headstock bearing the decal logo Fender STRATOCASTER / WITH SYNCHRONIZED TREMOLO / ORIGINAL / Contour / Body, the neckplate stamped 0549, two tone sunburst finish, with hardshell case bearing a label inscribed FENDER STRATOCASTER 1954 SUNBURST #0549 and SERIAL NO. DG1046
Length of back 15 ¾ in. (40 cm.)

Exhibited

20th Century Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1992-1999.

Special Notice

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Sale Room Notice

The slot head pickup mounting screws and similar bridge mounting screws have been replaced and are not original to the guitar as suggested in the catalogue. In addition, the tweed covered Fender case is not original to this guitar as stated in the catalogue.

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Lot Essay

Production of the Fender Stratocaster was sporadic in the months of May, June and July of 1954. It is believed that the first true production run did not begin until October of that year. The neck date of 5-54 and the pot code, placing manufacture in the 41st week of 1953, would suggest that this guitar was one of the earliest Stratocaster bodies and necks to be completed by the Fender shop in 1954, though, the serial number applied to the neck plate rather than the tremolo cover, might lead us to believe it was dispatched much later that year.
Acquired in 1978 from a guitar shop on Denmark Street, London's Tin Pan Alley, David Gilmour has preserved this early Stratocaster for occasional studio use.

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