Barn-find 1972 Fender Stratocaster Olympic White. Not every day do you get a chance to own one. This one had been completely forgotten in an attic for over 30 years. Bone-stock, with a ton of case candy, all accessories and even spare strings from that period. And it’s a factory custom color. How cool is that? 

What happens when your sons clear out the attic to make some space? Well, in some of them custom color early 70’s Stratocasters show up. This one was probably hidden from mom at the time, and then the guy lost interest in playing, or who knows. The fact is, all the first owner’s children (now pushing their 50’s) had grown up in that house and NEVER saw a guitar, or even any interest in instruments whatsoever. So it sat lost in that attic for decades. Never to be played, never to be adjusted. Up ’til now.  

Attics aren’t usually the best place to store a guitar, but this one got away from bad storage consecuences. Yes, heavy checking (and beautiful) as you can all see, a gorgeous fading of the Olympic White to a yellow/ivory color (á la Yngwie Malmsteen). The neck adjusts perfectly and setups very nicely, thank God for that. Original fret life with most of its life left. The only thing that did not work was the neck pickup, which required a rewind. It took us a while to find someone suited for the job, and finally it got rewound with period-correct enameled copper wire, and sounds marvellous. The upper tone pot wasn’t functioning, but was cleaned in the inside and functions now very well. 

The guitar is bone stock, and I don’t think anyone had ever opened it before we had. It includes the original ashtray bridge cover, tremolo arm, Fender instruction manual (completely petrified) and cable (not tested). It also includes a bunch of unused strings from that era (obviously not usable today, but cool to have as a collector’s item). 


As you can judge in the pictures, the guitar is in exceptional condition, EXC+++++++ to say the least. Oh, and pretty much lightweight, just 3490gr.

The case is a third party case original to the guitar. Fender cases were expensive, but especially outside of the USA, so there were a few options out there (most of them got lost). This one has a very elegant black case with red interior. It has suffered and is not solid as Fender’s, but looks good and it’s original to this guitar after all. You shouldn’t take it to any gig, but it’s cool for show. 

Really cool guitar, in an absolutely incredible condition, crazy beautiful, and that makes one barn-find less in your treasure-hunting adventures.

Details:

Model: Fender Stratocaster
Color: Olympic White (factory)
Finish: Poly base, nitro topcoat
Year: 1972
Body: Alder
Weight: 3490 gr (7 lbs 11.10 oz)
Neck: Maple, “C” shape 
Fretboard: Rosewood
Radius: 7.25"
Frets: 21 Vintage
Scale length: 25.5"(648mm)
Width at nut: 1.650"(42mm)
Hardware: Chrome
Machine Heads: Kluson F Logo
Bridge: Fender Synchronized Tremolo Bridge
Pickguard: 3-ply white
Pickups: 3 x Single Coil Pickups
Switching: 3-way selector
Controls: Master Volume, Tone 
Accessories: HSC with yellow interior, original to this guitar, not Fender-made; case candy