Ah, the Fender Stratocaster! Sleekest and funkiest of all rock guitars, favored axe of Hendrix, Clapton, Blackmore, Gallagher, Raitt, George, and Eddie Van Halen! Who would have forseen, way back in 1954, the tremendous impact of the Stratocaster sound on popular music? Who would have dared imagine Jimi Hendrix in 1954, anyway?

In the years from ’54 to ’59, Strats were made with solid maple necks; today, these are the prized collectors’ items that bring upwards of $1200 in vintage guitar shops around the country. These old Strats have long been cherished by guitar aficianados, but more recently, the early ’60’s models, those guitars and basses that were finished in candy-apple red, baby blue, or other “metal-flake” finishes with matching headstock color have become collectors items also, although they do not carry quite as high a price tag (not yet, anyway) as the ’50’s models with maple necks.