50th anniversary Stratocaster

[frettchen]

Hi!
Yesterday a neighbor lent me this guitar. He says he bought it new from a local store about 25 years ago, and he played it very little.. in fact the conditions are awsome.

Looking at the sticker behind the headstock and the headstock itself (same body colour) I supposed it is a sort of 50th anniversary edition. After some research, I found that in 1996 Fender produced a commemortive stratocaster model, but only in an Antique burst finish.
Could anyone help me understand what model this is exactly (and possibly the colour name)?
Has it been produced in a limited number of pieces?
What could be its value?

Thank you very much!

 

[AAT65]

Our brethren (&sisters) on the Strat-Talk forum have some insight on this:
https://www.strat-talk.com/threads/...50th-matching-headstock-stratocasters.467551/
You have one of the Lake Placid Blue guitars there by the look of it. Very pretty and fairly rare!

Trying to add a picture of what reverb.com tells me about used prices for “1995 Stratocaster matching headstock”: in summary, around £600-700.

 

[tery]

I love the painted headstock .

 

[RodeoTex]

Is that trussrod hole right for a MIA? I've never seen one like that.

Pretty guitar though.

 

[WingedWords]

I think all Fenders in 95/96 had that sticker. (Possibly just US built?) My P Bass from that year has it too. It was the 50th anniversary of Leo Fender founding his company in 1946 rather than any guitar model anniversary.

Very pretty guitar and a lovely colour.

 

[Erebus]

Yep the trussrod hole is correct... I had a 1995 briefly in Burgundy Mist. Body was dated 12/30/94. No anniversary stickers on it. Love the color on yours!

 

[wrvond]

Fender seems to have an anniversary for just about any occasion you can think of - the founding of Fender, the release of the Strat, the release of the Tele, the list goes on.
They normally release a limited edition of each model that year with appointments such as gold hardware, special finish, and a special case. There's also lots of case candy to include a certificate. The 2006 anniversary edition got a cubic zirconia embedded in the front of the headstock.
Other, "normal" guitars made that year simply get a medallion affixed to the back of the headstock. This is one of those.
As far as value, it's not going to be any different than an identical guitar made the year before or the year after, all else being equal. Painted headstocks are popular, and some people will pay a premium to get one, especially in minty condition like the one you have there.

 

[stnmtthw]

How much would your neighbor sell it for? It's not like he's been using it.

 

[stnmtthw]

Is that trussrod hole right for a MIA? I've never seen one like that.

Pretty guitar though.

If you look really closely, you can see the walnut plug where the fretboard starts. Fender just painted over it when they painted the headstock, so it looks a little different.

I love that color.

 

[John C]

Just piling on at this point but yep, 1996 was the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Fender company so at least every USA instrument had that decal on the back of the headstock - plus they had some special anniversary models as well.

Fender did limited runs of Strats with matching headstocks across 1995 and 1996 - they did one set of 2 colors for the first half of 1995, another set for the 2nd half of 1995, then a 3rd set for the first half of 1996 before ending the run. As @stnmtthw says Fender just painted over the walnut plug on the headstock.

 

[frettchen]

Just piling on at this point but yep, 1996 was the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Fender company so at least every USA instrument had that decal on the back of the headstock - plus they had some special anniversary models as well.

Fender did limited runs of Strats with matching headstocks across 1995 and 1996 - they did one set of 2 colors for the first half of 1995, another set for the 2nd half of 1995, then a 3rd set for the first half of 1996 before ending the run. As @stnmtthw says Fender just painted over the walnut plug on the headstock.

thanks. So i think the one he has borrowed to me should be one of those limited runs with matching headstock..
Basically, they were american standard models (same pickups)?
Anyone knows how many were produced?

 

[John C]

thanks. So i think the one he has borrowed to me should be one of those limited runs with matching headstock..
Basically, they were american standard models (same pickups)?
Anyone knows how many were produced?

Yes, those with the matching headstocks were just American Standards with different colors and the painted headstock.

I don't believe Fender ever said how many were produced - these weren't a "we're only going to make 100 of them" deal; they were a "these will be available to order from January-June (or July-December) and we'll make as many as we get orders for" deal.

 

[E5RSY]

Yep the trussrod hole is correct... I had a 1995 briefly in Burgundy Mist. Body was dated 12/30/94. No anniversary stickers on it. Love the color on yours!View attachment 702854

I don't cotton to painted headstocks and maple necks, for some reason. Doesn't look right. Too much contrast, I guess. But, I think almost all rosewood board guitars should have them.

 

[teleplayr]

That was a 1995 "Limited Edition" run.

I've read over the years that there were three colors used during that period, Surf Green, Sonic Blue & Fiesta Red.

From some of the previous postings there were other colors available. The three that I mentioned were the only one's I've seen.

I've read that there were anywhere from 100 to 300 of each made.

 

[frettchen]

That was a 1995 "Limited Edition" run.

I've read over the years that there were three colors used during that period, Surf Green, Sonic Blue & Fiesta Red.

From some of the previous postings there were other colors available. The three that I mentioned were the only one's I've seen.

I've read that there were anywhere from 100 to 300 of each made.

so do you think mine is in sonic blue finish? I thought it was more a lake placid blue..

 

[John C]

so do you think mine is in sonic blue finish? I thought it was more a lake placid blue..

Sonic blue is a pale baby blue color; yours is most likely lake placid blue. Another from this series was ocean turquoise - the two can look similar depending on how the LPB might have yellowed over the years. That being said on my monitor yours looks like the LPB to me.

I think @teleplayr is remembering the 2009 limited run colors - they were sonic blue, fiesta red and surf green - probably because surf green was also a 1995-96 color.

I've tried to find the old Fender price lists - since these were limited editions they were typically only found on "addendums"; the only "addendum" I could find was from July 1995 and it showed that the colors for that 6 months (July-December 1995) were ocean turquoise and candy apple red.

EDIT: By looking them up on Reverb I was able to piece the chart below together:

The 6 colors from these runs were:

• burgundy mist (January-June 1995
• surf green (January-June 1995)
• ocean turquoise (July-December 1995)
• candy apple red (July-December 1995)
• lake placid blue (January-June 1996)
• olympic white (January-June 1996)

 

[frettchen]

Sonic blue is a pale baby blue color; yours is most likely lake placid blue. Another from this series was ocean turquoise - the two can look similar depending on how the LPB might have yellowed over the years. That being said on my monitor yours looks like the LPB to me.

I think @teleplayr is remembering the 2009 limited run colors - they were sonic blue, fiesta red and surf green - probably because surf green was also a 1995-96 color.

I've tried to find the old Fender price lists - since these were limited editions they were typically only found on "addendums"; the only "addendum" I could find was from July 1995 and it showed that the colors for that 6 months (July-December 1995) were ocean turquoise and candy apple red.

EDIT: By looking them up on Reverb I was able to piece the chart below together:

The 6 colors from these runs were:

• burgundy mist (January-June 1995
• surf green (January-June 1995)
• ocean turquoise (July-December 1995)
• candy apple red (July-December 1995)
• lake placid blue (January-June 1996)
• olympic white (January-June 1996)

thank you for the details! So mine must be a january-june 1996.

 

[Jakedog]

1995/96 was the 50th anniversary of Fender. 2004 was the 50th anniversary of the Strat. Pretty much all the guitars from Mexico and the US had that headstock sticker in ‘95.

Fender also did a special couple runs of American Standards in custom colors in ‘95- early ‘96. With matching headstocks. Other than the colors and matching headstocks they are plain old American Standards.

 

[Dismalhead]

Yeah, both my '96 Strat and my '06 American Series Tele have little round anniversary stickers; both for the Fender company anniversary. They put them on everything for a couple of years every decade. The unique thing with your Strat is the painted headstock.

Had a friend that I helped buy a 40th Anniversary Strat back in '94 - his had a flag thing on the headstock like this:

 

[Paulie_Boy]

That's a nice piece. If I was selling it, I'd be asking $1,300 but would take $1,000.

With the economy in flux, I'd offer your neighbor $600 since he doesn't play it and doesn't have a problem lending it out. (Always lowball someone that doesn't play what they're selling.)