I have no idea - I found it on the www.gunnarracing.com site. It was done in 2002.

Maybe. Maybe not. Provenance is everything with stuff like this. If your guitar is legitimately documented as a '53 prototype and it hasn't been modified, then it will be worth a lot of money to a collector.

Have you had someone like Gil Southworth or George Gruhn look at it? How much of the guitar can be verified as pre '54? Not that an appraisal from Gruhn really means anything, but it would be nice to hear what a guru thinks of the guitar.

Wow. Look at the grain on the ash body. IMO, thats old wood. I've seen a couple of early '50s Fenders with similar bodies. They just don't harvest trees like that anymore :( The pickups look like they have the orange polysol wiring, which is not correct for an early '50s Fender, but the body looks old to me. The dots on the neck have the correct spacing for a '53-'59 Fender and the fingerboard has the small radius.

Id be very interested to hear what an expert would say about this guitar. Has anyone had it in hand to assess it? Does it have any markings in the neck pocket or any of the cavities? Do you know the date codes on the volume and tone pots? Is the pickgaurd bakelite like a '53 tele?

wow..no idea either. would love to know, too.

Err. Wow.

If that guiatr's provenance is established and documented, its worth a bucket. A barrel of bickies. Hell, didnt the Gary Moore/Peter Green 59 Lp change hands recently for half a mil or some such ridiculous number? Yours is a case of what the market will bear, I imagine. But with the collector market the way it is, its got to be worth rather a lot. I imagien the key would be moving it through a Sothebies type house. (or just stick it on ebay....)

Wow.

The providence of the guitar has been established. It has been compared to the pictures taken by Leo Fender that are dated 1953 that were found in Leos files when Richard Smith was doing his research for his book.

The story is, no one knows where the guitar was from when Leo took the pics untill it was given to my father in 1957 by a friend that worked for leo. One might assume that the guitar as a prototype went through a lot of bech testing and field testing and as such many parts may have changed in the process in the time between when Leo took the pictures and my dad got it. There is another pic in Richards book that shows the guitar on stage with white knobs.We know the body and bridge are the same parts that are in the picture, as for any and all the other parts some its a guess. I know the neck is a repop, 2 of the pups have been changed over the years, The black pick guard and the knobs are repop although I still have the guard and the knobs that were on it. The guitar spent 2 days last year at the Fender custom shop in Corona being measured, probed and photographed. There were about a dozen of the master builders that looked at the guitar and all agreed that this is the same body and bridge that is pictured in the book.A Southern California Luthier of some note, Steve Soest, Examined it this year for an up coming Artical for Vintage Guitar magazine and agreed with the rest of the findings.
I know much of this info is just drival if your'e not a guitar nut and wether or not this guitar sells for a bunch of money is ok with me. The good folks at Fender gave me 57AV RI strat for alowing them to inspect and photograph the guitar and told me that should I decide to sell, please give them first crack at it although they wouldn't my an offer.
Because of the unusual history of the guitar and because nothing like it has ever been sold none of the respected appraisers are able to or willing to place a value on it. With out an appraisal, I can't get a special insurance rider for it, without insurance I can't ship it to any one for an evaluation.
What does this have to do with EVH ?, I don't know.
http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y232/JMPRO/?action=view&current=stratfront.jpg

JMPRO

The body is worth $5k-$7k if it doesn't have any extra routes, IMO. The parts are worth whatever people pay for similar parts and will determine what the guitar as a whole is worth.

Sorry Shuie, I have already been offered $50,000.00 for it which I turned down and Steven Segal who has an extensive collection of rare guitars has contacted me for a look see. I'm afraid you have miscalculated the value of this very rare piece of history.
JMPRO

I didn't calculate anything and my opinion is worth what you paid for it. Im sure there is more to the story, but that is a picture of a parts guitar. Good luck with your sale.

If I were to be offered a significant amount of money for it i might sell, if not Ican just keep it.
I don't mean to get in an argument over the value of this piece but some people view it as a bunch of old parts- others see a historical significance in it being that it was basically hand made by Leo himself and the only surviving instrument from that era. No other prototype guitar from that era has ever been presented and not likely will because most if all were destroyed as was the very first .
JMPRO

Just got this in an email from Fender today.
New Clapton, extra $pecial model is out.
Click to buy, prices are $20K and $30K.
Thats as much as my 993 is worth...

http://www.fender.com/emailnews/jul2...es/cr_fest.jpg

any more to the strat story?

The guitar was given to my father in about 1954 by a friend of his that worked with Leo Fender. It was a parts guitar then as it was put together using 54 production parts on our kitchen table with the body, bridge and neck shown in Richard Smiths book "Fender, the sound heard around the world" pages 127 and 132. My dad played the guitar in his country band untill his death in 57. I took up the guitar not long after and stupidly exchanged the neck for a Tele neck that I liked better. The Tele was later sold with the Strat neck on it. I always knew that the guitar was a prototype but didn't think much about it untill 2005 when I pulled it out of the closet and decided to restore it back to the state it was when my dad got it. I went to a guitar site to find info about old Strats and happened on the FDP, an all Fender, all the time website. It was there upon urging from the members I posted a picture of my guitar and a member in England responded that he had seen that guitar before. I thought, not likely as it had been in my closet for 50 some years. He then posted the picture from Richards book which I didn't even know existed that clearly showed it was the same guitar. I then got the book and every other book about the subject and started trying to piece together the story. I talked to Richard Smith and found out he had known Leo for many years and had complete access to all of Leos old files including all of his old pictures he had taken. Leo fancied himself a photographer and took a lot of pictures over the years and many of them were high quality and were used in their literature and catalogs. All of those files and pictures are still in Leos old office at G&L guitars in Fullerton. They have maintained his office as it was the day before he died. Leo told Richard that the photos shown on pages 127 and 132 of Richards book were
photos of the second Strat they made and that first they tried using 3 springs on the tremolo but that didn't work very well and the then changed over to 5 springs which ironically the 3 springs work ok with the lighter guage strings used today by most guitar players. After some more people saw the story on the website I was contacted by a repsentive of Stevan Segal who has very extensive rare guitar collection and told that Stevan wanted to see the guitar. That hasn't happened yet. In the last few months I have been in contact with the head writer for Vintage Guitar magazine, I got all new professional photos taken and the magazine will be doing a feature on the guitar hopefully this year.
As it stands now the guitar has the original body and bridge. The neck is a repop and not reliced or anything as I didn't want any one to think I was trying to pass it off as the original. The pick guard is original to the the kitchen table assembled guitar. 2 of the pups went dead over the years and were replaced. The pots are dated 1958 which I haven't been able to figure out why. Possibley, I had the guitar at fender about that time for repairs and they may have replaced the pots, to be honest thats just a guess. Here is more pics of the guitar. http://electron.tailfeatherz.com/FDP/fdp229.html
Any one interested should get Richards book, a very well researched and written tale of Fender.
JMPRO

Great stuff JMPRO. You get two guys with deep wallets after that and there is no telling what the market price would be. If you were to sell it, I would definitely get every shred of evidence you could find for authentication and possible a reputable auction house to sell it for you; that way it attracts the largest audience. Parts guitar or not, it is a very valuable peice of history.

Kind of ironic that a Les Paul player owns it :)

Myself, the only thing I have owned more of than 911s is guitars and I always come back to a strat... it's just like my fav pair of jeans. The contouring, weight, and feel of the guitar I just can't seem to replicate in another make.

If I could find a 7 pound LP that didnt dig into me, Id be all over it but it's been 20 years now and I still havent found a LP that worked with me.

20 or 30k seems such a small price to become part of a legacy.

Sounds like Fender has read up on KGB mind tactics of persuasion

ToddM, actually Todd I had been a Telecaster player for most of my life and had never even played an LP untill a few years ago. I found an almost new one at a very cheap price and bought it with a flip in mind. After I started playing it I decided I liked the short scale of the LP, its so much easier on bends.
JMPRO

Even smaller price, same legacy membership: :rolleyes:


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1185832345.jpg

The guitar is worth about $500, the story and history is what is worth all the money.

With your vast knowledge of and experience in vintage appraisal, you are probably right. However I am going to hold out for a slightly higher bid and see if we can get it up to $800 or so. See your April issue of Vintage Guitar magazine , page 52 &53
Jerry

Put down the attitude for a minute and analyze what you just did. My post was a comment on collector items in general. The item itself is not what is worth all the money, it is the fact that it is rare has special history. That history is what makes it so valuable. If you got over yourself and actually read my post and comprehended what was written you would realize that was what i said and it was not a knock on you or the value of your guitar, and therefore required no flame in return.
Reading comprehension is also very valuable, unlike some of the aftermarket "jewels" that are peddled around here, like cool collars and CIS air box covers.

My reading comprehension is fine and I know what you intended to say but it still came off as an insult.
Jerry

Timely bump. I'm jumping on the exploitation bandwagon with these little beuties. This was holding my garage door open for a year or so and I figured someone out there will appreciate the worn look. So I listed it on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200224320811

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1210853580.jpg

Sensational. Gorn, post a pic of the White Pointer...$25k, wannit?

YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU CANCEL HEADING DOWN TO THE PUB AT THE LAST MINUTE?!?!

........here's a pic of another thing I threw together in the shed. Light weight swamp ash body, birdseye maple neck, jumbo's, original floyd rose (screw in posts...TONE!!), gibbo PAF, schaller M6 mini's etc. etc. Paint job to die for. Anyones for $24,999.



http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1210854647.jpg

Sounds ferkon good too, at least in Victors hands. Available for order, but there is quite a wait.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=1vf7YDQINGU

Yes - that's Doug playing my $24,990 guitar. Being the modest man that he is, he doesn't mention in the youtube clip that he had never even held a guitar before I started rolling that tape.

That's just how much of a difference Van Halen stripes (when expetly done) can improve your playing.

I have a light switch plate just like this.

With a "Tone" knob? Sensational. The creative design team are currently working on other EVH inspired household goods, mind if I suggest this to them?

Oh, I didn't make it myself. Found it on eBay. No tone knob though. Ed has been quite the merchandiser in the last few years. But I wonder if his branding would do a little better if he bothered to put out an album more than once every 5-7 years. He certainly has years worth of material recorded and collecting dust at home.