1966 Fender Stratocaster, Olympic White Refin

A superb player-grade example of one of Fender’ coolest transition-era specs, this 1966 Fender Stratocaster comes finished in a very good old Olympic White refinish that has aged beautifully over time. The finish now carries exactly the sort of mellowed discolouration and honest wear you’d hope to see on an older refin, giving it a convincingly vintage look and plenty of character.

Spec-wise, it delivers all the hallmarks of the period - the large headstock with transition logo, rosewood fingerboard with pearl dot inlays and a set of superb sounding grey bottom pickups. The neck is stamped JAN ’66, and the profile is particularly comfortable, with a nice medium to full feel in the lower register with some flatness to the back, that is fairly consistent as you head towards the body, making for an easy, familiar playing experience.

Under the hood, all three grey-bottom pickups are matching and retain their original ink dates of 3/28/66, which ties in nicely with the rest of the guitar’s dateable components. The Stackpole pots all match and date to week 8 of 1966. A 5-way switch has been added and the pickguard is a modern replacement with the original shielding plate remaining in situ. The tremolo arm is also repro.

At 3.51kg, it sits in a very comfortable weight range and offers all the lively, articulate response you’d expect from a good, grey bottom equipped Strat of this era. Tonally, the trio of pickups deliver a bright and articulate voice with a strong output and nice attack. The bridge pickup has bite and cut, the middle is woody and vocal at times, and the neck gives you those desirable bell-like tones with some wonderfully rich harmonics. For anyone wanting the feel, sound and visual appeal of a custom colour 1960s Strat without the premium attached to original finish examples, this is an excellent choice!

Comes complete with a modern Fender hard case.