QUESTION: 

Why is it that everyone hates 1966 Fender Stratocaster and all I hear is it is not pre cbs get a 1965 or earlier. I have had it for year sand i think it is one of the best i have heard. Should I sell it and get a pre cbs Stratocaster?

REPLY

NO !!! Alert the media we have a winner here !!! Wow , people like you make my day. Ask any one who has known me for over 30 years i am one of the few who has raved about that year strat. In general  i hate 1964 and 1965 Stratocasters  . Over the years in my experience i  have found that i like 1955 ,1956 and 1959 and 1966 strats the best. Sound and playability of course is a personal thing but in general i would feel safe with any of the above. That being said I have found great Stratocasters  form all years and bad strats for all years including my favorite years EXCEPT 1966 !!!!! I have never played a bad one !!!

I personally feel it is because the necks are big and the headstock is thicker. Yes it is definitely thicker and that I believe  makes the difference. I  am so confident that i could order a stock 1966 Stratocaster and be happy with it as along as it is stock and in good working order. I have personally owned over 40 1966 stratocaster and all were winners 100% .

It may well be the combination of the thicker headstock the different pickup wire and by the way many 1966 stratocaster had large factory frets that is a fact !!!! and again why i feel they. I have been blessed to be able to play literally thousands of vintage  fender guitar and have found this to be true . this is not book knowledge it is hands on experience.

So do not sell it . Enjoy it the hell with a 1965 ( please all you 1965 do not hate me it is solely my opinion) .I believe in time the 1966 Stratocaster will get the respect it deserves and you can say you knew it all along

If you have any other questions feel free  to email  me

This is a brief outline of the various pots and caps and wiring used by Gibson. This is not a complete summary but is a good start for the beginner. The basic companies Gibson used were IRC ,CTS , Central Lab. IRC used (615) code to begin the sequence of numbers on the pot case . Central Lab used ( 134 )and CTS used (137) codes.  The way to ready a pot code is as follows . There are several scenarios.

IRC always began with 615 xxxxx  354 . The x’s stood for stock numbers the last three numbers were the year and the week. here is example : 615 34657 334  this is a  IRC pots 1953 and the week is 34th week .

CTS  always started with 137 xxx or 137 xxxx  . The first x or first two were the year the last two x’s were the weeks.  Here is an example 137828     8 represents the year 1958 and week 28th week.  In second example :  1376828  68 represents 1968 and 28 the 28th week .

Central Lab always begins with 134 xxx or 134 xxxx. first example 134521 this dates the pot to 1955 and the 21st week . the second example 1346232 show a 1962 pot from the 32 week.

Remember this that pots can  pre-date a instrument year but never post date it . It was common to have pots 6 month earlier than an instrument but an exact cut off time is impossible to nail down. Usually the earlier the instrument the closer the pot dates are to the instrument manufacturing date. As the companies grew they bought more inventory and pots sometimes were mixed or lying around for a period of time before they were used. In the extreme instance of Fender Guitars in 1966 to cut costs Fender purchased enough pots to last the company for 5 years and so they are found in guitars from 1966-1971

Switches were made by the Switchcraft company and still are to this date . The early switches do not bear the company’s name. but by 1961 all switchcraft switches bear the company name stamped into the switch. Most were three way switches but they also had 5 way switches.

The caps are a very important part of the harness but i would need several full pages to dive into them and their variations . I Will list a few common ones but it is by no means a complete list. The earliest Gibson caps were made by Cornell Dublier or (cd). they were know as grey tigers ( the name found on many ) and were used in hollow bodies and solid body guitars. They were .022 @ 400v . by 1956 they has switched to the Sprague Company. The values were the same but the waxed paper grey tiger caps were now replaced by the Sprauge bumble bee it was black plastic shell with multi colored stripes and is probably the most recognized cap in the world for guitars. There were again a few exception but not many. In 1961 the Sprague caps changed again to the black case with two red stripes one  on each end and they were used up until around 1970.

QUESTION: 

I was just offered $400 for my 1956 les paul custom guitar tag is this a good deal . Also how much does the tag add to the value of the guitar.

REPLY

Great question. I would say your giving it away but it is you choice. Here is my spin on this and the rest of the vintage paper market. To a collector many times the original paper work is worth more to him that the guitar. It adds a validity and a history to an instrument that for the most parts has none.  I have always argued if it came with the guitar leave it but i know in today market this stuff is worth so much the temptation to sell it is irresistible .Two years ago i fell victim to it at the height of the market when i guy offered me an $8000 guitar  for my burst tag and i sold it and do not regret it at all . That was insane!!!!!

The guy who bought it paid $475,000.00 for the guitar had the original receipt and even a photo of the guitar and owner playing in the 1960′s but he did not have the tag . So he needed the tag and the rest is history. Now this is the most extreme case i know of and it has happened only once in 20 years but this is how crazy it gets. This being said most tags are worth very little $50-$300 and condition is everything. but a receipt with an original see# from the original music store could easily bring an extra $1000 or more to a guitar.

In your case your guitar a 1956 les paul custom is worth about $45,000.00 2 years ago they were $65,000.00 so if you have a real tag that says les paul custom on it and it is from that era i would say it is worth $800-$1000 . so $400 is too cheap in my opinion.  The price of the paper is relative to the price of the guitar . the guy who spent almost a half of a million on a burst $8000 was nothing . So use your brain and value the paperwork by the value of the guitar.

As another note booklets or tags with serial numbers that do not match your guitar are useless. The blank cards like the one i sold to the burst guy is worth the money. Also condition is everything the cleaner the better. so keep these fact in mind also when purchasingpaper or selling it. Also straps case keys original string boxes all this adds to the frenzy so do not throw anything out before doing some research. If you have any questions of paper you have and the values please contact me at  The Parts Dawer and i will try and answer any questions you have.