1966 Fender Stratocaster Rare Bound Olympic White wohsc

1966 Fender Stratocaster With RARE FACTORY BOUND NECK in Olympic White 

This RARE BOUND STRAT is only the second one of this type I have ever seen. The guitar is all original.  Neck dates to March 13, 1966. All pots are dated the eighth week of 1966, All solder joints are original except where the middle pickup was removed and replaced for center coil rewinding ON A FENDER REWINDING MACHINE, receipt for this repair goes with the guitar.  This  guitar rings like a bell and has genuine grit and growl, and unlike many of my strats it plays the high notes all year long.

The Neck is Awesome. The rosewood is still lustrous, the frets were professionally crowned and are mint.  There is a vintage minor cigarette burn in the headstock that is clear in the photo.  the back of the neck is silky smooth and the contour is early 60's vintage.  These guitars were made for Professional players and are shown in the 1966 catalog.  Remember this was a transition period when Fender was looking at ways to improve the guitar before they ultimately cheapened it.

As far as the refinished body goes, this was evidently refinished  by a restorer as it is a lacquer job and careful care was taken to preserve the original color in the routings and of course all the cavities and neck pocket to authenticate this body as an original Olympic White Body.

  Of course this RARE FENDER GUITAR is in age appropriate excellent visual and working condition and is returnable within 48 hours in same condition for a full refund (less shipping) if the purchaser doesn't agree.

 

 PLEASE NOTE: I will ship to the US, Canada and Europe.  I will charge you exactly what it costs me to ship AND INSURE, any duties are the buyers responsibility. I am known for quality packing so that all my items arrive just as they leave me.  Winning bidder will be required to make a $1000.00  deposit via Paypal and forward the remainder within 3 days. Guitar will ship within 48 hours of cleared funds and you will immediately be sent tracking information on your purchase. Thanks for understanding. Thank you for your interest.

 

 

This is the original Ebay listing from when I bought the item: "Hello, I am offering this rare guitar from my private collection- a 1966 Stratocaster Olympic White restoration with binding- a super rare guitar one only sees a few times. I have photographed it many times and there are many more photographs available. Winning bidder is certainly able to inspect this guitar BEFORE exchanging funds personally. This guitar appraises at 12 to 15 thousand though is probably worth more and will only increase every year! And I will include documentation with the sale that supports this, including full appraisal. Guitar details: the guitar is an Olympic White restoration, meaning it is a FENDER FACTORY original Olympic White finish and this can be seen in ALL Body Cavities and Neck pocket, which were painstakingly maintained to be kept as original. This means neck pocket, jack route, tremelo route, and pickup routes, including worm route, can be seen to have correct, Factory Original Olympic white paint intact while elsewhere professionally resprayed in original, matching correct thin lacquer. The pickups are grey bottom pickups and are original windings except the middle pickup which has rewound on a Fender pickup winding matching to original specs (a rewind doesn't get more exact than this- receipt from Repair Shop included!) and one of the pickups says "AY" on it in felt pen as originally marked. The pots all read the same and have all original solder joints (except where pickup wires were removed) and read 6608- the eighth week of 1966. The serial number is 199043 and the neck heel (see photograph) dates to 1966 and bears the correct code for a Stratocaster- 13. The neck is unusual in that it has Factory Original binding. Only a handful of these are known to be made- and often for shows or special players- and this guitar is truly a special player. It sounds archetypically bell-like and wonderful tones can be gotten even from the original 3-way switch. it also will capture teh attention of everyone who sees it coming from the original case as you open it up, which the Black Tolex-Orange lined interior and in nice shape for 41 years old! The neck has new, correct logo, original tuners and has never had any other than original tuners on it- there are no other holes. The nut is also original, as well as the Frets and they have just been professionally crowned with ABSOLUTELY NO mileage on them since the crowning. There is some small well-loved playing wear on the neck and it is a good girth though also slender in front to back width, making it a good guitar for recording (as Grammy member and award winning music Professional would demand!) and performing live. Guaranteed, that when you play this onstage, you WILL get jaw-dropping comments! The Headstock has the classic (though small) Clapton-type cigarette burn at the low E string tuner and the lacquer on the neck of the neck has some nice checking, the headstock has virtually none! The rosewood fingerboard is simply brilliant and is nice feeling to play. It is in general an easy playing guitar and the string height can go quite low without buzzing. The guitar is mostly ding-free though there are a few places where the finish shows to be thinned from normal use (rear as if by the lightest of belt-buckle marks) and on the edge near the upper bout. The saddles say Pat. Pend. and look super clean. The tremelo block will screw a tremelo arm easily and correctly and will work as new. The solder joints are mostly untouched- this is exciting for collectors (only the pickups have and where it was carefully removed for re-spraying is there any non-Original solder. The 3way switch is original and the pots have never been detached from it, along with the original capicitor. There is a metal shielding plate that is the full pickguard size. While old looking, I can't say that the pickguard is original, though it looks good with the guitar and shows some wear as you might expect from an old guitar. There is one extra hole in the pickguard shield (not on the guitar body!) The knobs are correct, and original vintage plastic and in nice shape. The trem switch is also correct and unbroken. There are three tremelo springs. Signs and proof of originality of finish- worm route "hair" (which means, unsanded, untouched, original Factory Original Olympic white paint that will Black Light to be 40 plus years old as well as ALL body cavities and routes (I would rather repeat myself here than seem to be omitting anything...every detail can be addressed and if you prefer to talk to me personally, please do so, email me if you want me to call you and I will!) I want the new owner to love this guitar like I do! I am only selling to fund a recording project. Here is some information from a detailed appraiser: the original finish in the control and pickup cavities would confirm, however, that it was originally Olympic White which would increase the value of the guitar over one which has been totally refinished. The bound fingerboard is a very rare feature found on only a very small percentage of Stratocasters of this period. With the exceptions noted, the guitar conforms to the typical specifications of the model for the period in which it was made with white beveled edge laminated pickguard, tremolo bridge, typical Stratocaster electronics and hardware, rosewood fingerboard with pearloid dot inlays, large peghead with transition logo decal, and original black Tolex covered hard shell case. This is the original appraisal by George Gruhn: "Description: Serial number 199043. We have been provided the following description "Stratocaster serial number 199043 from 1966 that I have had for years and would like to get insurance valued. All pickups are original winding except the middle which was done by a Fender Factory machine. The neck is bound. The finish is Olympic White and has been restored, keeping the original pickup cavities and tremolo and neck pocket paint factory original- by a Professional luthier. I have phootographed the heel of the neck, where the code 13 is stamped along with teh date and 66 for year, showing the binding also. The binding is Factory original, as is the tuning keys, nut, tremolo (Fender Pat Pend. stamped into bridge pieces) and all electronics read 1966 date. The pickups are also handwritten 1966; one says "AY" also. The case also photographed is original and has a good interior lining. Overall the guitar is quite clean and plays well and sounds brilliant. It is one of the best Stratocasters I have seen." Based upon examination of the photos, the owner's description appears to be correct. We are unable to determine the originality of the finish. However, the owner's statement that the Olympic White finish has been restored keeping the original pickup cavities and tremolo and neck pocket paint factory original would indicate that for all practical purposes the body has been refinished. Keeping the original finish in the control and pickupcavities would confirm, however, that it was originally Olympic White which would increase the value of the guitar over one which has been totally refinished. The bound fingerboard is a very rare feature found only on a very small percentage of Stratocasters of this period. With the exceptions noted, the guitar conforms to the typical specifications of the model for the period in which it was made with white beveled edge laminated pickguard, tremolo bridge, typical Stratocaster electronics and hardware, rosewood fingerboard with pearloid dot inlays, large peghead with transition logo decal, and original black Tolex covered hard shell case. Since Fender instruments are built essentially like an Erector set in which parts can be mixed, matched, and interchanged, we strongly urge that all such instruments should be examined in person by an expert to confirm total originality. Since the body has been slightly refinished, the value of the guitar, in spite of the quality of the refinish work being excellent, would not be nearly as much as for a fully original example. However, if the guitar can be confirmed to have been originally Olympic White and has original binding on the fingerboard, it is my opinion that it would still have a current market value of $11,000 to $12,000 (eleven thousand dollars to twelve thousand dollars). -George Gruhn