1962 Strat

prowla

Rabs said:

Ohh.. I do have a close up of the bridge

http://i.imgur.com/J315T5F.jpg

I didn't expect to see the saddles stamped "FENDER".

(I don't know for a fact they weren't and am happy to be corrected if I'm wrong.)

ICBM

If both tone controls aren't working, check the switch - it may not be making contact on the tone control side. If it's not that, make sure the neck tone pot casing is contacting the shielding plate - corrosion can get in either between the bushing and the plate, or more rarely between the back of the pot and the bushing part. Extremely rarely, it may be the cap that's failed but it's not very likely.

I would probably leave the middle tone pot if it cleans up - it's not original, but looks fairly decent quality. The volume pot is crap and needs to go. Definitely change the jack if it's corroded - you'll never get it clean in any long-lasting way once the nickel plating has come off the inside of the barrel. Use only a proper Switchcraft replacement.

prowla

You can clean a jack socket by soaking it overnight in coke - I've done it with a rusty one and it came out dull metal.

WezV

Rabs said:

Cheers guys...

And well it will be up to the owner what he wants to do...  Ive told him we should replace the input jack.. its REALLY bad... I could sand the corrosion off it, but really that seems silly..

you can try giving it a swim in a bath of contact cleaner

Rabs

ICBM said:

If both tone controls aren't working, check the switch - it may not be making contact on the tone control side. If it's not that, make sure the neck tone pot casing is contacting the shielding plate - corrosion can get in either between the bushing and the plate, or more rarely between the back of the pot and the bushing part. Extremely rarely, it may be the cap that's failed but it's not very likely.

I would probably leave the middle tone pot if it cleans up - it's not original, but looks fairly decent quality. The volume pot is crap and needs to go. Definitely change the jack if it's corroded - you'll never get it clean in any long-lasting way once the nickel plating has come off the inside of the barrel. Use only a proper Switchcraft replacement.

Thanks for that.. I will have a closer look at the switch and connections tomorrow.. I did notice that the ground on the back of the volume pot was a bit loose..  So it may very well be some of the connections have got corrosion and that could be the main issue.

And yes... Switchcraft all the way..  Really no point in cheaping out on the electrics side just for a few quid... And the same for pots... CTS all the way for me

Gassage

1963 Bridge saddles are Pat Pending and Fender- these were used until 71.

I think they're therefore orig.

If it says Fender Fender then they're reissues, as the 71 onward were block.

Rabs

Yeah..  they are probably original then

http://i.imgur.com/CCcxnGo.jpg

Gagaryn

prowla said:

Rabs said:

Ohh.. I do have a close up of the bridge

http://i.imgur.com/J315T5F.jpg

I didn't expect to see the saddles stamped "FENDER".

(I don't know for a fact they weren't and am happy to be corrected if I'm wrong.)

You are wrong! They were stamped Fender Pat(ent) Pend(ing) until 1971 (like these), Fender Fender later. 

Gassage

@Rabs
Yup, and the bottom E has been re-screwed at some point, so safe to say originals (unless you've just replaced them!?)

Rabs

Gassage said:

@Rabs
Yup, and the bottom E has been re-screwed at some point, so safe to say originals (unless you've just replaced them!?)

Lol no..  that's how I got it..  I wouldn't dare do such a thing 

Ohh and one more bit of info I forgot to mention..  The owner did also tell me the switch was replaced from a 3 to a 5 way one.. But the one that's on there is also pretty old from what I can see so was done a while back...

So yeah, this guitar is very cool but as you mentioned its no collectors guitar as its already had some non original mods...  and the condition is not great (proper road worn ).....Still.. id imagine theres lots of players whod love id regardless

Once I finish with it I will hopefully get a good play on it before it goes back...  (even though im really not a strat sort of guy)

Gassage

Rabs, almost unheard of to find a 3 way switch in situ- I have the original 3 way for my 1960 strat in its case and it had a 5 way when I bought it.

You will be gobsmacked by this, but Fender didn't deem the 5 way switch very important and they used a 3 way up until mid 76.

I'm very relaxed about 'players' guitars. I much prefer them, I believe if everything is mint on a 60 year old guitar then it cant have been very good to begin with as nobody's bonded with it.

Both of my vintage Strats have little issues but they're tonal gods and I don't care about cork sniffing.

ICBM

Yes, the low E height screws are replacements - some of the others may be too, a few of them look too shiny to be original.

Swap the outer low E height screw with the inner high E one - it will be less prone to rip up your/his hand.

Bridgehouse

Assuming the serial plate is correct for this guitar, and applying some logic, I'd date it at mid-late 63.

63 L's went up to about 20,000 or so.. and 64's up to 59000 ish.

My P is very early 59000, and the various dated bits are second half 64. The neck is Oct 64, pots Nov 64 and I reckon mine was assembled Dec 64, plated and went out the door around new year.

In all probability I reckon the parts are early-mid 63 on this one where original, and it was assembled and plated mid-late 63. 64 seems too late for this one.

Havin said all that Fenders L series numbers are notorious for inaccuracy. 

ICBM

Bridgehouse said:

Assuming the serial plate is correct for this guitar, and applying some logic, I'd date it at mid-late 63.

63 L's went up to about 20,000 or so.. and 64's up to 59000 ish.

My P is very early 59000, and the various dated bits are second half 64. The neck is Oct 64, pots Nov 64 and I reckon mine was assembled Dec 64, plated and went out the door around new year.

In all probability I reckon the parts are early-mid 63 on this one where original, and it was assembled and plated mid-late 63. 64 seems too late for this one.

Havin said all that Fenders L series numbers are notorious for inaccuracy. 

If the tone pot is original - and I would be very surprised if it isn't, since the way the rest of it has been repaired over the years makes it unlikely anyone would have bothered sourcing an original pot and cap - December '63 is the earliest possible date, and even that's unlikely.

Bridgehouse

@ICBM - L15xxx is very very low for a 64 serial.

My pots are Nov 64 on an L59xxx

Bridgehouse

Course, it might not be the original neck plate

ICBM

Bridgehouse said:

Course, it might not be the original neck plate

That's actually more likely than the pot, I think! Or more likely still, it's just a 'throwback' plate.

I know the number is very low for a '64, but the thing with the plates is that they were stamped and then stored in a bin in the factory, which was refilled before it ran out, so occasionally down at the bottom there would be ones that were much older than the current production run should have been using. (According to Forrest White's book, if I remember rightly.)

The pot cannot have been made before the first week of December 1963, assuming the last digit is an 8 (I think it is, Rabs may be able to confirm). Even if it's a 3 it's still November '63 which is still too late for that serial number normally.

Of course it's also possible that the whole thing is a partscaster - people were doing that as long ago as the early 70s at least… Clapton and Dave Gilmour among others.

Rabs

I will take a closer look tomorrow and tell you what I find.

Bridgehouse

@ICBM - apparently Fender also produced a box of plates ready for different guitars/basses, so there's a good chance that the numbers went totally to cock!!

Bridgehouse

I reckon the neck date would reveal the most about it. 

I think I was the first person to take the neck off my P (one owner) and the Oct 64 date confirmed for me it was late 64 early 65 more than the neck plate. 

Plus the pickup was clearly hanging around for a while as that's dated like March 64..