1964 Fender Stratocaster - Candy Apple Red

By Fender
£15,995.00

This product is unavailable
Ask a Question
Want to Part Exchange?
1964 ‘L series’ Fender Stratocaster in Custom colour Candy Apple Red with Black Tolex Fender Case. The guitar features in- The Story of the Fender Stratocaster, Curves, Contours and Body Horns by Ray Minhinnett.

September 1964 Fender Stratocaster in wonderfully played condition, it’s unusual to see guitars in such a well played condition without having succumbed to the inevitable refinishing. The guitar was featured in ‘The Story of the Fender Stratocaster, Curves, Contours and Body Horns’ by Ray Minhinnett in 1995 and had already obtained the majority of its hard earned playing wear by then.

The Alder body is finished in Custom colour Candy Apple Red. The body is correct with 11 pickguard holes in the second spacing pattern, The neck pocket has the paint stick evident with the initial yellow stain clearly showing. The finish has plenty of wear throughout with areas worn through the finish to the alder. The top forearm contour reveals the white primer and silver beneath the red top coat. Nail holes are present and free from paint. Introduced in 1963, Candy Apple Red could be described as a true Custom Colour, the finish was, unlike the majority of existing car paint derived finish options a combination of a transparent red coat with silver beneath. Fender would replace the silver with gold by ’66 resulting in a darker, less vibrant red finish.

The neck features the modern script or transition logo with 4 pat no’s, rounded ‘lam’ Rosewood fingerboard with clay dots. The neck has been refretted and the original nut built up on a shim. 2 Sep 64 A neck stamp. ‘A’ denoting the optional narrower 1 1/2” nut width, examples of which are rarely seen in today's market. There are additional screw holes under the Kluson Tuners from a set of previously fitted Fender Schaller tuners. Tuners fitted are a mix of four period correct ‘Double-line’ Kluson Deluxe that Fender used from ’64-’67 and two earlier ‘single line’ examples.

Electronics comprise of three grey-bottom white plastic-covered single-coil pickups with staggered pole-pieces and outputs of 6.12K, 6.3K and 6.1K with one dated 11-9-64, three CTS pots all bear matching code 137 6420 the 3-way switch has been replaced with a more modern 5-way. The original pickguard (retained in case) had cracked and caused the pickups to lean preventing correct pickup hight adjustment and  has been replaced with modern reproduction example.

1964 is one of our favourite years for the Stratocaster, Fender had 10 years to refine the design and these late L Series, Pre CBS guitars are consistently great. The original owner certainly agreed, Its refreshing to have such a well played instrument that has retained the majority of its all important parts and finish. The neck feels smooth and comfortable, the A width neck fills up like mid 60’s Fenders tend to towards the 12th fret, the early grey back pickups are powerful and sound fantastic. The guitar comes with its original Fender Case and a copy of The Story of the Fender Stratocaster, Curves, Contours and Body Horns.