Fender Stratocaster Hard Tail

This is a hard tail version (non-tremolo) of the seventies

stratocaster. Still the uneven polepieces but a new scratch-

plate and of course the wide headstock. The seventies strats 

are known for being very heavy. This one is light as a feather 

(alder) but it's sound is awesome. The best sounding strat 

I ever had, even among the L-series I played in the past.

Quality control was quite poor during the seventies at

Fender. Note the strange way the bodypieces are matched.

Also the spraying on this instrument is of an average

quality. Yet the neck to body joint has been very tightly

done with no give due sometimes to the three-bolt 

tightening and the sloppy neck post routing sometimes.

What is remarkable on these earlier Fender guitars is 

that the fingerboard is made out of Brasilian rosewood. 

Fender did this even until the early seventies as there 

were some stock left overs to use. A warning should be 

placed here however as Brasilian rosewood is an

endangered species and you need a CITES declaration 

to have it imported in foreign countries.