I knew that this 1957 Fender Stratocaster in factory original red finish with gold anodized aluminum pickguard was a custom order guitar for someone important when I flew out to Albuquerque, New Mexico to buy it. What I didn't know is that I had seen this guitar before, just not in color! (Quick note: I recorded this video a few weeks ago and this Stratocaster is now owned by my friend Peter @Guitarhunterdk).

There are so many custom features on this 1957 Stratocaster that I knew it had to have been made for someone close to Leo Fender. It's finished in a pre-custom color chart red color that could be Matador Red, Fiesta Red, or maybe even Seminole Red. Since there was no Fender custom color chart until 1961 and no custom order masking tape inside revealing the true color, we're left to guess based on old Duco color charts. What do you think it is? Watch the video to see how the finish is authenticated even without the pictures with it from 1957.

This 1957 Stratocaster is not only a very early custom color, it also has an original gold anodized aluminum pickguard and tremolo cover plate. This was a very special custom order feature that's rarely seen on the Stratocaster model, but it was standard for the Duo Sonic, Musicmaster, and Jazzmaster in 1957 and 1958. It's tough to authenticate a bolt on part like this on 1950s Fender but I knew that the thickness of the material matched exactly the thickness of the gold anodized aluminum guards from the other models in the late 50s. The pictures of the guitar with this guard from 1957 are very nice to prove 100% what we already knew!

And that was really the most surprising part of this 1957 Stratocaster: I had seen a picture of it before in Tom Wheeler's The Fender Archives (https://amzn.to/4d10LCu)! I was thumbing through Tom's book the day after I got back to the shop with the Strat and just happened to be reading the caption which mentions 1957 and "...the mineral streak on the fretboard." It's a picture of Leo's friend Roy Lanham playing a solid color Stratocaster with gold anodized aluminum pickguard with a perfectly matched flaw in the fretboard. It was at that moment that I realized that this guitar was custom made for Roy Lanham. The back of Roy's 1963 album shows another picture of him with the guitar and it has a matching scratch.

John:   / truevintageguitar  
Riggs:   / the_riggstaylor  
YT here: @RiggsTaylor

Are you looking to sell a vintage Fender guitar? I am always on the hunt for the nicest examples of Fender Stratocasters from the 1950s and 1960s. You can contact me here: https://truevintageguitar.com/pages/s...


TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 - Intro
1:05 - How I Found It!
6:42 - Then I found THESE
7:28 - Roy Lanham
12:55 - Authentication
21:18 - Matador Red? Maybe?
23:51 - Demo with Riggs Taylor
29:06 - Final Thoughts