Why? It's so hateful. Sometimes I wonder why I bother with that part. Idk about you but, I don't need that kind of negativity in my heart but I'm a very empathetic person. Not everyone is. Some find humor in cruelty. I don't know if that's you but it kind of sounds like it could be. Although, I'm not hear to tear you down or call you names. I just found your comment strange that you would enjoy these comments that are mostly hateful and toxic. Maybe you meant the other comments that aren't? Or not, you're entitled to your own opinions.
Yeah, man, it's just like Genius says. If you suddenly switch to enthusiasm and encouragement, then you'll spontaneously be able to afford their prices. Thousands of dollars will materialize in your bank account for the express purpose of purchasing an overpriced guitar. It's just your piss-poor attitude that makes those prices seem high and your financial position so low. Shape up, will ya?
Yeah, it really does sound great but whatever decide to charge for it will be too much unless it's absolutely confirmed which won't happen. They wouldn't be able to get documents so idk who would buy it and everything in there is a down payment on a new house! Even if it's real it won't matter because of no proof but it's not real. No, I don't know that for certain but it all points to bs. It's interesting. Nothing more to me.
I own a srv my dad baught in 92.. ive never actually checked the serial numbers to see how early it is. The tone is amazing. Obviously being a 92 or older its a early model . Would be nice to find out its actual age as far as production date
I don’t have an SRV guitar but I do have some picks that he used at Much More in Richmond Ava in 84. I got them off the stage after the show. Was great to see him in a nightclub.
Yeah I'm pretty sure every single SRV guitar is known and he only had a very select few. As a matter of fact pretty sure his brother has tried to get his hands on them.
In case you didn’t know this, H. Gastelum on the neck heal stands for Herbie Gastelum and he was Fender’s premier neck shaper. He would be the guy to do a neck on rare, custom shop pieces like that.
Yes...I have one on a Fender Squier which was Made in USA. That neck is wonderful. This is one of ones the made during that two year period they were made in the USA instead of Mexico. The picks and pots are crap plus rusted but I replace all the internals. It plays great.
I read an article about the prototypes they were working on when Stevie was still alive. They originally wanted something with those mailbox letters on the pickguard but went with the scrolled version. That's a beautiful piece. Maybe you could reach out to Rene martinez, SRV;s guitar tech and see if he has any knowledge of it
Norms, I’m going to settle the mystery for you because I believe this was my guitar at 1 time. Stevie Ray was a close friend of mine as was Cesar Diaz. I have pictures and other people to back it up. There were for sure 3 prototypes of the SRV Guitar made and then I was told a 4th. What happened was 2 of the prototypes were left at Fender for a while after they were made. After a couple years a few of the more well known builders finished them hence the stamp. I know mine and and the one Cesar got have the Charvez stamp and I think the another had an Art Esparza or Castillo stamp and I’m told the 4th possible no stamp. I got mine through Diaz and it was sold to a well known buyer here in NJ who sold it at a Valley Forge PA Guitar show. I remember distinctly because I was never paid fully. There were at least 10 deals of vintage pieces or custom pieces of mine that guys dead belated on part of. And actually the guitar was sent with the guy to show off not sell. He pleaded saying he had a huge deal but another partner of his had sold the guitar already and would make it up to me. I was bent outta shape because it was sentimental and I had just 2 years prior returned a very sentimental piece of gear to Gregg Allman plus Stevie hadn’t been gone that long. From there I lost track of the guitar. So it’s either mine, Diaz’s or #3? Like I said Possible #4 was rumored and said to have either no stamp or another well known custom shop builders name. Hope the info helps.
back in 2004 I was bidding on a strat on ebay that had been signed by SRV. Had all kinds of pictures and docs about the origin, some guy that was roadie had been given the guitar (so the story went). I after bidding about $4k for the guitar I asked the guy what was used to sign the guitar (as it looked like a silver sharpie) and he confirmed it was indeed a silver sharpie. Curiosity led me to talk to the people at Sharpie and a silver wasn't made until 2001. Fake.
+Ken Johnson I'm only going by what the seller told me. He said "Silver sharpie". As you know, when you ask the seller a question on eBay the questio and response shows up on the page. After I got my response and verified with Sharpie, I posted another question asking if he could verify how it was signed (BTW he claimed he was very close to the relative that received the guitar from SRV) because sharpie disputed his claim. He took the listing down immediately. Just the way everything transpired I think he was pulling a scam.
+Niki Barber that's a possibility I guess. When I asked the seller about it he never replied when I called him and then he pulled the auction down. Interesting to think about that silver paint pens were available but no, Sharpie did not make one at that point. I'm not an expert SRV autographs, I was just trying protect against getting ripped off. Thanks for the info!!
+mike “watcher” smith yes Mike, it was stupid to bid without researching first. I'm such a huge fan and had never really invested in anything like this before so when I saw it...I bid immediately (bids can be withdrawn obviously). I just wanted to share my experience so others could maybe learn from my potential mistake. Maybe I'm just not as concerned about embarrassing myself as you apparently are. Makes me wonder why you posted too. Have a great day!
There was a SRV signature strat in a local pawn shop in my town, and the guy that owned the shop was your typical "local pawn shop shyster"...He swore up and down it was one of the few SRV stratocasters that were released before Stevie actually died. He had an outrageous price on it. I was young then and didn't know enough about it to argue with him, and it was before most households had a computer or the internet so it wasn't really possible to look it up on the net. Knowing what I know now, I would have argued with the guy...I think I remember he wanted $10,000 for it...But this was the kind of guy that would put outrageous prices on anything and make up a story to go with it....His shop had the perfect name too...."Middle Man's Pawn"...
I know I’m a few years late, however... The early SRV signatures all in early 90's have serial numbers that were leftover from the late 80's, Fender didn't bother tossing them, Instead, reused them.
Not unless someone who was working in the custom shop back then still works there now. I called them about a 93 Custom Shop Telecaster with the certificate and gave them all numbers and details about the guitar guitar, you thought I was speaking Chinese by their reaction. They're clueless on anything that those prior lto 95. Y You would think Fender would be on top of stuff like this but apparently that doesn't seem to be very important.
and Fender wouldve taken better care of such a priceless guitar. im refering to absolutley no surface cloth on the top or bottom of the guitar body with the strings splayed all over the top. Made me cringe. I will never buy from this place or bring anything to them if thats how they treat a rare guitar.
So what did fender themselves say? That's were I 'd start, if someone knew it be the custom shop or fender usa... I am sure they have accurate log for these sort of things...
'88 serial number with '91 stamp and 90's style hardware,, and the only verification of its autenticity, is some weird piece of paper that any random person could've written. Am I the only one smelling the fact that the person who bought this for 30k was ripped of big time?
Hispanicpanick0 ye, my bet is that it is frenken strat made out of custom shop parts. They could easily just check with the Fender custom shop wether or not it is what they think it is.
kyatzz It's a nice sounding guitar but definitely a Frankenstein or some odd knockoff. Guitar is worth $3000 judging by build quality and overall tone.
I have a first year SRV. I too was confused about the serials. I found a website- probably the same you found- that said Fender bought or printed a load of signature serials. They don't follow the nomenclature of normal serials. Mine would make you think it was an 89, but I figured out it was a 92.
If I had the signature guitar from Stevie I would eat breath and sleep with it 💜 For now I have my squire and need te save money for a very long time before I can afford it 😓 Am such a big fan of Stevie I even have a tattoo of him ❤ the way he plays his style his songs saved my live when l was 21 years old ! If l never would have come in contact with his music a would be not alive and well to this day ... So Stevie thank u so much for saving me with ur music 💜it will always live on in my heart and my six string baby 💜 R.I.P Hero
Four SRV custom build guitars was made for Stevie Ray from march 1990 until may 1990. He tried them all. I only know that one of them was sold to Scandinavia.
I wish there was a museum for brilliant youtube comments. Your's should be in there... but then we'd have to prove the provenance. Maybe you can handwrite a note?
This is one of the ones SRV worked on in Gibsons British Columbia shortly before he died in Sept of 1990. He wasn't satisfied with it yet but he liked it. He said he was waiting for pods. I saw it disassembled in my uncles living room, I can give you his name if you want it and track him down to verify. It looks the same, except now there are pods where once there was none. He had sent it back, I think, with a red line on the stamp because they had stamped it really lightly and that pissed him off and he wasn't having it. He red lined things that needed changing when he sent them back. It had instructions to sand that part and re-stamp it.
Holy crap! That is Stevie's handwriting. He collaborated with Fender to make his first signature guitar. He might have put this one together by his own hands. You might have a true treasure in your hands. Wow.
To those that are out of control with their language, & mouth. SMH !!!! To have lost him after he cleaned up, & sobered up, to have lost him at all is tragic. We are all less without his music. If this guitar is 1 of his, it should be coveted, & loved because there arent anymore to hold. Stop arguing over things. The man is dead, honor him by embracing his music together as fans of the beauty he gave us.
Custom shop 88 neck stamp could mean only one thing "prototype" and was going to Stevie himself! Find Fender luthiers H. Gastelum or A.Chavez and ask them "whatsup" and if they can remember anything about the guitar? Damn also this guitar has absolute brilliant resonance and great intonation so who ever buys the guitar will be more than pleased!
Or easily removed from another guitar and assembled on to it. I smell fake all the way through this. And after 5 years no proof whatsoever? They want it to merely go away! And that piece of paper? LMAO. Thats was the capper hahaha
same here man. i bought into the hype of the "Hendrix" strat when it released. I paid for a mexican strat that sounded like one, and paid an American strat price. i have a standard MIM 95 that sounds fantastic. way better than that Hendrix did. moral of the story, dont get caught by the gimmicks. people may get close, but nothing will sound like SRV exactly.
I've owned a lot of strats most of them I had customized and I noticed the sound on this one compared to the signature srv I've played in the past they do not sound a like. So that strat is special.
I own one . They were released in 92 but mine was made in 91 . Mine is a Brazilian rosewood fretboard model. But I’ll never sell it. It was gave to me by my dad and I have played music my whole life. A lot of people try to say they have a rosewood model to get a higher price since they are so rare. Very few made. I own one and I can tell very easily if I get decent pics of the fretboard. Rosewood have very distinct characteristics
One of the most interesting guitars ever shown by Mark & Norman - so, what is it ? We can't ask the master himself, as he kis now entertaining angels.... I saw his last show, after which he crashed with his helicopter - a monumental loss for the entire musical community. RIP Stevie, one of my heroes forever.
Ok you got me. I built the strat out of left over Jimmy Hendrix guitar parts when I touring as Jimmy's guitar tech! I got Eric Clapton to write the note for me. The case did belong to someone who heard SRV on the radio once. I had a letter of authenticity but my dog ate it. My dog also heard SRV on the radio and his name was Jeff Beck! Before you get all righteous on me I am just kidding. My dog's name was Les Paul! Respect to all late legends!
I've got one of the very first SRV Strats made. Cost me $1900 back then and took me 9 months to get it as Fender wanted to use it to promote sales. Fender claims it has "hand wound" Texas Special pickups, but personally, I find that hard to believe. Ive tried numerous times to verify such by way of the serial numbers, also wanted to know how early in the run it was. They refuse to give out that info. No idea why, youd think they would let their customers know. But ive had very little luck getting any info out of them about my guitar. Its never been played (by me at least), I do change the strings and tune it from time to time, but thats it. Its a display model in my house and it goes to my son when i pass.
Call the boys at fender, they will gladly help you! But what I really think this video is about is to stir up some mystery and perhaps a potential buyer , I think you guys are pretty sure you have an original prototype. And good for you, great find! Wish you would of said who you bought this guitar from..
The problem is that fender doesn't like norm, he's what they refer to as a "dickhead". Im no hater I'm just stated what dozens other seem to be saying here in he comments
sorry but the initial three prototypes that Stevie received had no SRV written on the pick guard.... ''Work on the SRV Strat began in the late 1980's with a plan to release a standard SRV Strat in 1989 plus a limited edition of 500 Custom Shop Artist SRV guitars. Something (perhaps Stevie's recording and touring schedule) delayed the release, and Stevie was presented with three prototypes of the guitar in June 1990, backstage before his Tonight Show performance. Stevie wanted the guitar to have his "SRV" stickers on the pickguard, but guitar tech Rene Martinez was out of them at the moment. They had the Tonight Show art staff apply white Letraset stickers to the pickguard, which Rene ultimately switched onto Number One.''
If the pots are 90 or 91, how could the guitar be earlier than that? Also, they did not always use sequential serial numbers. Also, the 3 original prototypes had a plain black pickguard, no initials.
yeah I've seen early strat plus models with E4 serials but none of those were made that early. Earliest I've seen were 87 or 88 just for one example. It's no secret Fender would keep using old stock on serial # markings.
I seen srv 15 times and am a great fan sincerely I loved his music ever since I heard him play live , I didnt know he played a upside down tremolo ? no shit , nice axe thanks for sharing , noke.
I remember hearing about this guitar from a friend that played with Stevie and he told me he had seen this guitar right after SRV helped build it. it is indeed the first one actually constructed of the 3 and he hand picked the neck from a batch in the Custom Shop that were around.... I also heard that Jimmy Vaughn had it after Stevie passed... Jimmy still owns at least one of the other 2. Very Cool.Rudy@Guitar Relics NY
Glen Nielsen You really believe they wouldn't?! The Chinese export in every industry is all rip off cheap cloning of real products. They don't care. They employ children and companies need to start building in their home country again. Especially here in the U.S. I want to support my own nation and start buying quality products again.
Stevie was known to put a guitar together from other guitars (His #1 is a Frankenstein guitar) I'm guessing he walked through the custom shop and found the neck he liked and had them put it on a very early version of what became the SRV Strat. Either way, it sounds incredible and that fretboard is sexy as hell!!
That is Stevie's handwriting right there! If that really belongs to the guitar then he really did help to make it at the custom shop. I know for a fact he collaborated with Fender to make this model.
Well when are you going to come up with some new material Johnny? It's been a while. I'll be waiting I guess. Are you on tour? You should come to the lunar surface where I'm currently held up here with Hendrix and he says he has an idea that would be right up your alley!
So, everything about that guitar says is was made in '91 or later except for a "serial number" on the head stock from "88 and a piece of unsigned paper that claims the guitar was "tooled by his [SRV's] hand" in Fender's Custom Shop? Really? I hope you didn't pay money for this guitar. First, the neck very well could've been made in 1988. That does not mean the guitar itself was assembled in 1988. If this was a neck-thru-the-body or a glue on neck like the way they connect the necks to Les Pauls, then, I would give the serial number on the headstock a little more weight in deciding when this instrument was made. Its a very complicated and expensive process to change out a glued on neck and impossible to change out a neck-thru. However, its a bolt on neck and its very probable that the serial number on the neck, if its authentic, simply means the neck belonged to another guitar probably made in 1988. The signatures and the Custom Shop dates should be the dead giveaway that SRV did not make this guitar nor did he own this guitar given the date of his death compared to the dates and signatures on the other components. This is someone's lame attempt to try and make this guitar seem "collectible" when its anything but collectible.
Well my rebuttal is I would think it might have a new neck because maybe Jimmy broke it in half on stage before as for the story with Frank and his son I think most of that sounds right it's just they don't really know that before Jimmy had it what it is you sound like you have a lot of knowledge so I believe you and the way the rest of the guitar looks maybe the neck was just ruined but because of that prominence is probably still worth 10000.Mr.Big Heart you know when Rick on Pawn Stars See's a note from nobody that goes along with the special thing it's a red flag. Shur resembles BS they probably already threw away that note. This week I was lucky enough to restore 71 Harmony classical back into the music. Thank you I just thought of this but Jimmie Vaughan probably knows the whole story.
seems like a silly question but.... Have you tried getting in touch with fender custom shop about it.... There should be some form of record of what went out the door... and to who.....
Excellent Guitar Geek discussion......this is great stuff to watch!!! more like this!! There has to be a prototype around, why not this one........sounds fantastic! Why Fender can not have any other records on this is mind blowing.
And he didn’t get into the fretboard material discussion. Is it Brazilian rosewood? Major thing for collectors. I suppose if it’s as was a prototype it would have to be Brazilian. All of that got mixed up a bit later. I own a 92 srv. Looks to be Brazilian due to the grain but haven’t had it checked. To me just above the nut the is about a 1/4 inch section of fretboard that has the gloss finish and brings out the grain greatly. I’ve compared it greatly to Brazilian rosewood and Peu ferro ( can’t remember the spelling) but it looks like rosewood
This is probably the 1st prototype our neighbours from Mars made honouring SRV. The bridge is from an extra terrestrial alloy only know to exist in this guitar. Wolverine was unable to strike though it with his diamandium fingers.
It's absolutely not a fake, the question is when did they actually go into production? This pre-dates all of the serial numbers that we are aware of. The earliest other ones are SE9 and ours is SE8.
exactly. for a prototype, i'm guessing Fender will know exactly which people are responsible for building the real SRV's but this store is deathly afraid that it will turn out to be a hodge podge of random parts thrown together along with possible counterfeit elements
It may have been an employee Fender had a lot of people grabbing bodies necks & making guitars during that time from what I've been told by someone who knows. Btw Some of the very 1st Fenders were build by employees at home in their garages & not at the Fender Factory they would do this to earn overtime .
dmorris2587 how do you Know? Based on one comment the person made? Pretty premature to come to that conclusion but hey, RU-vid is full of people ready to drop that hammer on anyone for no real reason.
That's so odd, I was Thinking about Frank as well - as soon as he said, "One of our celebrity customers" I instantly thought of Frank. I could swear that I seen him use that case before.
I own a March 1992 srv signature and there is defo a legit story here, sorry for very late reply. That tone is best ive ever heard on these srv signatures, something very special. Ide ask Jimmy Vaughan as this ain't no fake at all dates add up. As mentioned this guitar sounds to good, looks amazing, sounds as srv wanted it too. We miss you Stevie. Only thing i don't understand is surely the person who brought in the srv signature guitar mentioned to you who he bought it from as it is he who holds the key of it's history, then back track from there. I know this reply is very late but surely by now there has to be an update on it. That tone is to good from those pic ups not to be genuine. Anyone have an idea.
My Theory, it was a prototype custom model made for Stevie. a lot of people are saying that prototypes don't have serial numbers but if it was a custom shop order of sorts that acted as a prototype then that would explain the early serial number. What my theory entails is that somehow this guitar did not make it to Stevie so they probably repurposed the neck and body and added all the electronics and what nots included in the signature. Just a thought though.
the 'thick nice tone" is mainly due to not completely EXTRA copper wire wrapped around the pickups ,THATS the whole reason of the NO 1 strat because it was wrapped more than usual, plus the heavy gauge strings
The guitar waS developed with Stevie Ray, and came as a signature on the market in 1992, 2 years after he died. I guess this is one of the first of the serie.
@willjord78 I bought one of these back in the summer of 93 and it sucked. Looked beautiful, but didn't play well and sounded worse. It had medium jumbo frets rather than the full jumbos that Stevie used and it had midrange heavy overwound pickups that sounded nothing like Stevie's tone. I even played it through a '64 blackface Super Reverb split to a blackface Vibroverb ala Stevie and it sounded totally different. With it's gold hardware it was beautiful to look at, but I hated playing it and eventually sold it.
Just to add many years later, the one thing that makes this beautiful guitar 100% legit is the dates on the pots. Those like me who actually own a very early 92 srv signature know this. I would say no back up story on this is due to some comments on here. Ide say whoever bought this is one very lucky player or collector. Bit like pedals, cars etc get to know the inside first as all adds up. I bought mine only out of respect for Stevie Ray Vaughans vision and idea. Things were put on hold after his passing, hence other outside parts not adding up. I will always play like me and never even try to copy srv , ide need to be reborn and my name called Stevie Ray Vaughan. Beautiful guitar.
1 of 3 prototypes ,if i`m not mistaken 8 would be the 3rd one ,then they just took number 1 and did actual measurements of it,you can find the vid here on youtube.And those measurements would be the ones used on the released versions. Wow really does no one remember SRV`s Number1 was badly damaged from a light fixture that fell on it mid 88 or so.Fender was trying with 3 prototypes to replace it for him ,What happened was (The later Number1 headstock was black) they ended up taking Number 1 took the measurements and then decided to release it as a signature Start.And a note Lenny is actually at Fender now thank god she has a great home.Which another of the light fixture damaged ones and Stevie was going to retire 1 with it ,why it was change to what it looks like now (Was RED before )
I worked in the receiving/inventory logging department of a large Fender dealer. Do not trust Fender serial numbers. We would receive brand new, factory sealed guitar boxes and the serial numbers would be for a 2-3 year old guitar. This still happens today. Look at the Sweetwater website. Today they added more Road Worn Jazzmasters (I’ve been checking their site daily this week for this model) and two of the new ones they posted have 2017 serial numbers (I’m typing this in 2019). More likely than not, they pulled an old neck out from 1988 for this build in 1991.
