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Thread: Claydot/pearloid dot switchover question

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    Claydot/pearloid dot switchover question

    OK, does anybody know exactly what month Fender switched from the clay dots to the pearloid dots? I know I've seen some pearoid dot necks with clay side dots. I'm just curious, that's all.

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    Hey Mayor, the AR Duchossoir Strat book says on page 50, that it was Febuary 1965 that the clay dots were replaced with the slightly bigger pearloid dots.

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    That sounds about right. I have a January 1965 Candy Apple Red Strat that has clay dots.:wail1
    A Les Paul has the balls...but a Strat has the personality...

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    Dots

    The dots changed over a period of time. The earliest pearloid dot inlay Strat neck I have seen was an October '64. It had the "clay" side dots as well. I see that configuration on and off into Decenber '64. The last all clay dot Strat neck I have seen was a February '65.

    Fender is all about transitions and timeframes, so making pin point accurate dates is almost impossible. As an example a couple of guitars in a collection I maintain are both '64 Strats, 100% stock, no stories. One is neck dated October '64 and the other is August '64. The August '64 has a white pickguard, Clay dots, Spaghetti logo, and brighter "target" burst. The October has pearoid dots, "green guard", darker sunburst and transition logo. It just demonstrates how these really were just assembly of parts that were just grabbed out of bins, not crafted individually.

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    Re: Dots

    Originally posted by Jim Shine
    The dots changed over a period of time. The earliest pearloid dot inlay Strat neck I have seen was an October '64. It had the "clay" side dots as well. I see that configuration on and off into Decenber '64. The last all clay dot Strat neck I have seen was a February '65.

    Fender is all about transitions and timeframes, so making pin point accurate dates is almost impossible. As an example a couple of guitars in a collection I maintain are both '64 Strats, 100% stock, no stories. One is neck dated October '64 and the other is August '64. The August '64 has a white pickguard, Clay dots, Spaghetti logo, and brighter "target" burst. The October has pearoid dots, "green guard", darker sunburst and transition logo. It just demonstrates how these really were just assembly of parts that were just grabbed out of bins, not crafted individually.

    Hi Jim , very good points , nothing was in stone with any mass production factory. Thank you for the info that is the stuff that in my eyes is very informative for the vintage freaks . I try hard to learn somthing new day , but fail most of the time. Great stuff , you guys on this forum are axperts on this stuff which is cool to see. Thank you all.

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    Thanks for the kudos. If you read alot of my posts here or elsewhere on the net, you will see I frequently state that every change has a transition. It is something often forgotten in this business. Even somthing as cut and dry as the 3 bolt system has a transition period of about 6 months.

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    head changeover

    This was an interesting thread for me, because I too had seen very late '64 pearl dots as well as January '65 all clay. Ditto w/vinyl vs. celluloid guards.

    Jim- your point about transitions is well taken, but I have wondered if this was true for the larger pegheads. I've got an all-original strat w/neck dated 11/65 and it's small head, have seen 3 or 4 other 11/65s with small. Have also personally seen numerous strats with necks dated 12/65 (including memorable Sherwood Green and Black ones!), all with large heads. Anyone got or seen a large head before 12/65, or a small one after 11/65? I'm certainly not saying they don't exist, just hadn't encountered or I believe even heard of one. Thanks.

    Jeff W.

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    I had a 12/65 big head Strat for a while. It had a white celluloid guard on it, it really shrank.

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    12/65 got big head!

    So that adds to the tally for big headstoocks in Dec '65. Was that celluloid guard original, you think? The only times I've seen those on large head models I assumed they were probably swapped, but maybe not- just like there were apparently a few L series numbers into early '66.

    Jeff W.

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    I have no idea if it had been swapped, but judging from this thread about parts transition periods, anything is possible I guess!

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    I seen two large headstock 12/65 necks. Well, they were neck dated 12/65, which means they were not completed until '66. I have also seen a stock 'Feb/66 small headstock 3 patent number decal Strat.

    A very interesting thing about Strat necks from this era is that it appears that Fender not only advertised they were adding binding to the Strats, but they actually went as far as making a rather large production run of these necks (with large headstock). After they changed their minds they simply used the necks up on Jazzmaster's. For this reason it is possible to see both a Jazzmaster 4 code, or a Stratocaster 13 code on January and sometimes February '66 neck dated Jazzmaster's.

    In '65 and '66 the "white" pickguards were still celluloid. People assume the greenish tinge with celluloid aging, but that is false. The brighter white guards were vinyl that started around late '66. The "green guards" were a result of a white material that began life with a subtle grayish blue tinge. The yellowing turned the material a greenish color.
    Last edited by Jim Shine; 07-30-2002 at 09:42 PM.

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    strat transitions

    Very interesting about the 2/66 small head. Judging from other Fender transitions I figured it would be amazing if there weren't at least a few "outdated" neck/heads after 11/65, but '66 small head has got to be rare.

    This SB strat I've got has stamped neck date Nov 65 preceeded by the "2" code (all 12/65 necks I've seen had "13"). Serial # is on F plate "112710". Pickups are hand pencilled on the bottom to sometime in 1/66, if memory serves. This had been one of those one-owner guitars w/known history actually sitting under a bed for years before it was acquired by David Shepherd and sold to me by him in his shop in Greensboro, NC in 1979; it was truly very near unused at that time- to give an idea, the selector was oxidized slightly in a manner suggesting the pickup selection hadn't ever been moved over the years, and it still had the like-new bridge cover mounted! Incidentally, it took several years of playing before it really "broke in" IMO, it was "too new"! It's still in quite good shape, very nice guitar. Nice rosewood, neck doesn't taper much, is more flat oval and less round than what I think of as somewhat typical for '66s. Has pearl dots and side dots, of course, that appear to be celluloid themselves and gold transition decal lists five pat #s.

    As long as I'm describing it, the PUs read about 5.9, 6.15, and 6.05K, mounted in the guitar, with the highest measuring one in the middle!

    Now, I had certainly always assumed this piece had a vinyl guard; it's very solid white on top and certainly opaque white as opposed to any transluscence like on the obviously celluloid ones. Also isn't shrunk much at all, pulling the screws in, etc., FWIW. Well, maybe just a bit, as I look at it here. Seems to match the unlaminated solid white guard on 6/60 Tele #44550, which I'd also assumed to be vinyl. In contrast to the top layer of the guard, the PU covers, switch and whammy tip have creamed out a bit over the years.

    So this is still likely a celluloid guard, with these characteristics? I guess i could whittle off a little piece to see if it ignites over a match flame and . . . nah!

    Thanks for intriguing info.

    Jeff W.

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    You don't have burn a piece to see if it is celluloid. If you are really interested, remove the pickguard and in one of the cutouts, lightly sand a spot with a light sand paper, like 800 grit. If it smells like Vicks Vapo rub, it is celluloid, if it smells like burning plastic, it is vinyl. This requires on lightly hitting the material, not excessive sanding.

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