Miss March is almost surreal. You open the case and think to yourself: I would have preferred to order her reliced. I’m not really into guitars that look like they were given to me last week for my first communion.
But it’s completely different here. The Strat is actually 70 years old and looks like it was picked up from the Fender dealer last week.
They were already among the bravest guitarists of their time, as the first solid body guitar, the Fender Broadcaster, had been released just 6 years earlier. Everyone was still playing the thick jazz guitars, which, equipped with a pickup, finally made their way into the band structure and slowly made a name for themselves as a solo instrument.
The Stratocaster was already a radical development. A tremolo was already known from Bigsby, but never before had there been a contour body or three pickups! And you could finally play really loud without feedback.
This early 56 with body date from April still has a lot in common with the first Strats. It wasn’t until mid-1956 that they switched from ash to alder for the body, the yellow part of the sunburst was no longer varnished but stained and the string tree became rectangular instead of round. It wasn’t until 1958 that the next big change came: the 2-tone sunburst was enhanced with a red lacquer finish and the following year the necks were given a Brazilian rosewood fingerboard.
Fortunately, there are a few traces of playing on the back, which brings the guitar back to reality.
Since I couldn’t find a suitable amp from 1956, the guitar is based on a ’53 Bandmaster. The amp has already been re-covered and fits the Strat well in terms of condition.
With serial number 0016, it comes from the first batch, the date code is CD, i.e. April 1953. The 5C7 circuit is so rare that there is not even a circuit diagram on the net. As was usual at this time, three 6SC7 double triodes with octal sockets were used in the preamplifier. The better-known 12AX7 and 12AY7 were not introduced by Fender until 1954 with the 5D7 circuit. The output stage tubes are fitted with 6L6G and the rectification is provided by a 5U4G. All tubes in this example are NOS.
You can actually buy the Strat in our store
1956 Fender – Stratocaster – Top Condition – ID 5618
The amp comes from my private collection.
