1956 Fender Stratocaster

An exquisite mid-’50s Stratocaster! This guitar is in very good condition showing normal finish wear and is original with the exception of an older refret and replaced nut, replaced 5-way switch, replaced ’70s pots, and a bridge pickup rewind by the legendary J.M. Rolph. The neck plays great and features a chunkier soft-V profile at the nut that slims and gradually rounds off to a C-shape as you move toward the 12th fret. While some earlier Strats can have thinner pickups, these are nice and thick for the era producing a warm, round tone with lots of punch, while retaining the signature ’50s Stratocaster glassy top end. A fantastic collector and player! Includes original tweed hardshell case.

Check out the feature from our luthier Tyler in the ECG Newsletter:

"Our main objective as a vintage guitar dealer is to connect our clients with the most amazing instruments in the world. Sometimes, though, it can feel like the instruments themselves have more of a say in their journey than we do.

Such is the case with this 1956 Strat. It was purchased brand new in Nashville by a pair of young brothers who performed extensively. For decades, the duo took turns playing this Strat (while the other played bass) on nearly every local stage Music City had to offer. If a guitar could ever feel fulfilled, I’m sure being a working man’s Strat in Nashville during the golden age of Country music would do the trick. After nearly 60 years of faithful service, the brothers decided that it was time to part with their guitar and reached out to us here at ECG.

As fate would have it, it was at around this time that we were contacted by our dear friends and Country music royalty the Brothers Osborne. They mentioned that they were in the market for a Strat, and we wasted no time relaying this guitar’s unlikely story. Needless to say, it wasn’t long before the Strat was on a plane headed back to Nashville for a second life with a new set of brothers. The next several years saw this guitar played on countless stages all over the world in front of thousands of fans. It only found its way back to us recently when the Brothers had the opportunity to trade it in towards a once in a lifetime ’44 D-28. If you’re interested in this guitar but can’t quite scrape up the cash, I’d suggest reaching out to a sibling." - Tyler Geske