1960 Fender Stratocaster – Tahitian Coral

Here’s a fabulous restoration project that will be sure to satisfy those who love vintage player grade guitars.


It’s a 1960 Fender Stratocaster beautifully refinished in “Tahitian Coral.” All the restoration work was done by Joe Riggio of Riggio Custom Guitars. Joe is a fabulous guitar builder with his own custom made line of instruments. He also specializes in restoring these vintage Fenders. 


You can be certain that when Joe does work like this on a guitar you’re not only going to end up with the most authentic looking finish imaginable, but a guitar that will sound and play in a way that manifests its highest potential.


1960 was a fabulous year for Fender instruments. It’s interesting that fender has chosen “1962” as the year for their reissue Stratocaster.  They may have well chosen 1960!  By 1959 Fender had fully transitioned from maple to Brazilian rosewood fretboards. In 1960 they were still using the coveted “slab board“ construction, which was discontinued in the middle of 1962. Although the tonal differences are obviously subtle (as they always are with guitars), the slab board examples are prized for their warm, “mid-rangey” tone.  Thus, this guitar has that slab board neck most folks prefer.


You may not recognize “Tahitian Coral” as a vintage Fender color. You don’t find it in any of the official color charts released by the company. But as most collectors know, you could special order just about any color, including sparkle finishes. You can find Tahitian coral in the color charts from the old paint companies as it was a color available for many cars. There are several confirmed examples of Fender guitars ordered in Tahitian coral, including a 1961Stratocaster currently in the possession of the owner of Dave’s Guitar Shop. Look it up online for more info. That Strat served as the inspiration for this restoration project.


Personally I think it’s one of the coolest colors Fender ever painted a guitar with. It sits somewhere between fiesta red and shell pink.


The guitar is powered by three original black bottom Stratocaster pickups. All of them still retain their original windings, although one had a loose coil. Thankfully, it did not require a rewind as we were able to simply unwind the wire, a few turns and find the break.  The bridge pickup, retains its original leads, but the neck and middle pickups needed new ones because the originals were either missing or cut way too short.  
So the key components of this guitar are vintage Fender parts from 1960. 

The body is an original 1960 Stratocaster body, which still sports its original bridge assembly, neck plate, and Jack.  The guitar had been stripped and stained a dark brown color when I acquired it. All the proper factory markings, dowels, etc. clearly authenticated it as original Fender body.  You will note that the neck plate has what looks the original owners license plate number scratched into it. This was a very common practice to help link owners with their instruments in case they ever got lost. I’ve seen it on numerous vintage guitars.


And now some more details on the neck. When I first acquired the guitar, the neck had been replaced with a Jazzmaster neck from the same era. Jazzmaster necks are exactly the same as Stratocaster necks except for a slightly larger headstock shape. The neck currently on this guitar is an original 1960 Fender neck that was originally from from Jazzmaster. This neck was missing its decal and had been stripped of its finish. It seemed like a perfect candidate for this kind of “conversion.“. So I had Joe Riggio re-shape the headstock to the exact outline of a Stratocaster from the era. If I had not disclose this to you there is no way you would’ve been able to tell it had been done since. Again, Jazzmaster necks are the same scale, links, profile, etc. as Stratocaster necks. They can be used interchangeably. I would not be surprised if they were cut from the same blanks at the factory.  Again, the only difference is the headstock shape (now converted to the proper profile).

The neck has a handwritten pencil date of 5–60

Again, some sellers don’t disclose this kind of change.  I’ve actually caught some in the act of buying old Jazzmaster necks and then trying to resell them after modifying them as if they were the real deal.  For all practical purposes, however, you have a slab board Strat neck on this guitar.


Perhaps it will be useful if I just summarize those aspects of the guitar which are vintage and which are not.


Vintage Fender Components:


Body: from 1960, refinished in Tahitian Coral
Neck: 5-60 neck date, reshaped Jazzmaster (refinished)
Bridge assembly
Jack
Neck plate and screws
Tuners (single line Klusons)
Bushings
Pickups
Strap buttons


Reproduction parts:


Plastics: from Fender Custom Shop relic Stratocaster
Pickguard shield
Pots and switch (3-way)
Pickup leads on two pickups


The guitar comes house in what I believe is a import Stratocaster case. That would mean that the guitar may have originally been sold in Canada, or it could be that the case was matched to the guitar later in its life. The case has a bunch of stickers on the top that can be removed if you’d like. They’ve been there a long time. You’ll probably see an outline if you decide to take them off.


I am happy to ship this guitar worldwide. I will not falsify a customs form by declaring a lower value, so please don’t ask me to do that. If you wish to use a service to re-ship the guitar, I am happy to accommodate you in that. However, I can only be responsible for the first leg of the shipment.


The guitar will be shipped UPS overnight with an early delivery time. If you purchase the instrument that means you will get it the day after I am able to ship it out.

International shipments will go UPS worldwide Express.