Vintage Guitar Authentication: 1958 Fender Stratocaster 

Love the recent uploads!! What an awesome place filled with cool people. Great vibes. 😎

Love this! Great video topics and so well done. I’m continually impressed at how cool this shop is!

SO cool! Thanks Liz & Emerald City Guitars what a beautiful thing to see. My '57 neck and body are also dated April and May with "FT" initialed beside the 4/57, 5/57 in the trem rout. Nowhere near the same condition though! It was a worn out wreck when I got it near fifty years ago but still loved and cherished.

Very nicely done. I gotta get up to Emerald City Guitar sometime soon and say hello to Jay, absolutely one of the most knowledgable guitar dealers in the business and an all round good guy!

I love this!!!! Please do more 😀 I like how you guys go into a lot of detail 😀

Liz! such a badass! I always learn something when I stop & listen to you

Awesome work. Learned about pot dates. Highly knowledgeable, explained everything well, and was very charming. Look forward to more.

Thanks Liz! Great job. I appreciate your knowledge.

Super cool! Enjoyed playing that baby and meeting you Liz! See you next time.

I'd bet good money that it came from Bonamassa's collection. Pretty sure he owns at least 40% of the vintage guitar market.

Well done Liz! I learned so much!!

Thanks Liz & Jay. Looking forward to seeing more of this series. T.L.

Great video Liz! You ROCK!

I just found an all original 1958 Fender Stratocaster in my very small, rural town. The ladies late husband bought it at a garage sale in 1981 and stored it in its original case inside their bedroom closet. Thank you for this video because I am getting ready to buy it and checked most of the things that you did but did not black light it. I learned something new from this video, so thank you!

Definitely do more of these please!

I'm glad you are doing the authenticate stuff on guitars keep it up

That was great. I bet you don't see many Guitars from the 50s/60s in such a clean state. I was reminded of my teenage years as you clipped the old strings off, "we were so poor we unwound ours and cleaned them and kept em as spares or put them on other instruments, even gave em to our pals when need be" we valued every bit of gear we had here in UK cos in the 70s we were seriously skint...then Fender Squier appeared and Ibanez les pauls which launced a thousand new wavers into the world of Music. Thanks for showing us that lovely plank!

That was great information love the history on vintage gear

Just discovered these videos. Thanks so much for posting.

What a fantastic video... Keep the quality content coming!

I really enjoyed that but I think if I was taking the guitar apart the screws coming out of the pic guard would go back in exactly the same holes as they came out of ❤️

A piece of cardboard would be better to keep the screws in. So they go back into the same holes. The screws on the upper pickguard will wear more than the lower,

5 star great job keep up your great work! Music is good for people who have a talent

Best Emerald City video, so far. Less bro-y frothing. More useful substance. Thank you, Liz.

This is awesome! That girl knows her guitars. Very detailed. I learned alot. This was very informative.

That would be a SWEET job!

I bought a Tele there and Liz set it up. My god, her work was great! She set the bar on setups for me.

Many wise comments on screw location. I like how you did not use a power screwdriver. I think you are very smart, great video. Gorgeous old guitar!

Liz shouldn't you put the screw back in the same holes of the cover?

More of these videos please.

1958 was -- best I know and remember -- the first year for the cherry sunburst finish. It was also the last year for the maple neck, which would not come back around again until perhaps the early '70s. So in that regard, this was both a first for Fender and a last for Fender, and they were combined into one year. This model/year can be seen on the cover of The Ventures second album, in the hands of Don Wilson. IIRC, the bassist had it's Precision Bass counterpart, with same cherry sunburst finish and maple board. Fenders, in my humble opinion, are the only guitars where GOLD plating actually enhances the instrument, rather than makes it gaudy, as with Gibsons and Gretsches. And again, IIRC, those frets were slid in from the side back then ... And SUPER nice job, Miss Liz!

Lost me at the smell test but that’s ok 😂 you should do a 1954-55 Strat, I love these videos!! maybe a little obsessive but when I pull the pickguard off i place the screws in the position where they would be on the guard, so the original screws go back in their original holes.

Looks like this guitar just had a b day . Very cool . I wish I had your skill and experience. It's a jungle out there ..knowledge is power

nice job Liz. one critique for you maybe to add to your experience. when you remove the screws from a vintage pick guard they should not go into a cup. you need to make a jig/body dummy to keep track of the screws original location. otherwise good job.

great video, thanks ECG, I knew about the adjustment screw tell but didn't know the truss rods were actually gold plated too..triple bonus points. were there any QC signatures?

realy good video! your channel must be one of the best channels on youtube when it comes to vintage guitars :)

Great video!

Great vid. Really well done. I’d love to see similar authentications of a 50s LP Special or Junior (I’ll understand if you don’t want to do a Burst 😉)

One way in my book to know for sure...spectrographic analysis , bought lots of lap steels from different years and in different colours...so i just take a bit of the lap paint, a bit from the guitar interior cavity , send it to the lab and BOOM if you are lucky the curve should be just about the same...that is how I keep away the forgers. is reliable and cheap, compared to certain guitars...that particular strat looks too clean...if its real is a huge discovery. congrats !!!

The holes in the neck are from the screws holding the template for the outline rout.

Amazing guitar and such a great video!! One question: How would one go about authenticating vintage Strat (or Tele) pickups on the market today? For someone who wants to drop a vintage pickup into their guitar, how do you ensure you're actually getting what you believe to be buying? Reputation of dealer would help but what if you see something from an individual for sale on a site such as Reverb.com - how can you do your homework in this situation?

Great video and workmanship.. nice to see someone using a manual screw driver instead of a power tool.. there is a time and a place for those, and it's not on a '58 Strat!!!!

very cool!

Love it.

I noticed when you took the screws out of the pick guard you put them in a container. I’ve watched other people authentic guitars. They have jigs and put them in a numbered order so they go back into the holes they took them out of.

Great job .. Thanks

Thanks guys......I can check some points on a 63 that i own....👍

You didn't talk about the serial number. Though you did say, you'd get into that in a little bit.

Who out there still have their string ashtray? Had one once on an el degas in 1979 - pickguard looks new though

I love to watch, butt there one thing I bother, all the screws are put in a tray and mixed up??? You never know which screw belongs to which hole again. That's painfull to see

5:57 I’m confused. Is that a pin hole where finish came out. Left of Jack plate?

Nice! Thanks!

I wish you could smell through RU-vid... they should bottle that up and sell it as cologne!

Liz Herrin , very Beautiful !!!!

very nice video. loved this woman 🥰💐🤠🐺🐻🐯🦈🏹⚔️

Wow that guitars neck date is one month apart from Buddy Holly’s last Stratocaster most likely at the factory at At the same time at some point

you guys should do that on a 59 LP.

Nice back rub creepo

Bonamassa or EJ. Either way what a freakin guitar. Wow.

More videos like this!))

She has my dream job.

Is that a 3 way switch also?

I couldn’t set foot in this store without the feeling i’d be massively overpaying for everything.

What kinda scoundrel would counterfiet a fine instrument such as this

Is this guitar.for.sale?

good presenter!

Old habits are hard to break especially with vintage instruments.

I can't decide which one I love more , the Strat or Liz ...Lol ... Good vid ...

I am jealous of Liz

Just like the one the Master of the Stratocaster played Buddy Holly

I'm in LOVE !

Its shame she didnt check for the 1/8 inch dowel holes on the front and back of the body and also she didnt know why the dowel holes where evident on the back of the neck at the heel and under the D tuner. They werent to paint the neck, its how the pin router shaped the initial outline if you look on a left hand Strat the hole under the D tuner is actually on the front of the headstock showing that a left hand Strat started out life as a right hander but flipped over and the fretboard glued to the rear!!!!

There really is no reason you could not say who it once belonged too. As long as you do not reveal the serial number which i am surprised you did i dont see anything wrong with stating the history of an iconic instrument.

Great video , love watching this type of thing , especially with fender Stratocaster’s or telecasters ! It’s so cool that a nice looking lady does it too (without trying to be creepy) as it’s usually an old ugly fella ! Thumbs up and subbed !

Did he say Mary Kay?

"from a very high profile guitarist that i can't mention"

Just a really minor point, but the serial number on the neck plate is stamped, not etched.

So gorgeous... neat guitar too:)

The sniff test is a bit strange one some of the grime I have found in old instruments is a shocker gloves are a prerequisite hear why pop the neck ?? From what I heard about Fender's concern about costs the gold plated rod is a stretch!

Matthew Scott looks different in this one.

Knobs and PU covers glow under blacklight = made of nylon, not polystyrene or ABS. 58, so legit.

0:11...Hey Max Headroom, nice way to creep her out with that unwanted back rub...cringe.

Fat tremolo block?

Thanks for your reply.I fully understand that your potential customers will want to know a guitar like this 100% stock. It was not meant to be a criticism only I would not have mixed up the scratch plate screws. And at least she wasn't using a power driver to take the guitar apart as did the Fender custom shop did when they dismantled Eric Clapton's Blackie! (Watch the video) I enjoy your Chanel and appreciate your response.

Thats a bootyful guitar

$50-80k easy

Didn’t go back to the serial number and you should always put the screws back into the original hole which once they came from!

But if the guitar wuz heavily played, wouldn't that smell be a bit aah... gamey?

It's a shame actually to pop a neck off that is original and never been removed. Not to mention removing tuners, and disassembling everything else etc :(

Don't mentionomassa the name!😏

Never ever pull the neck. Screws get sloppy just like this one. Leave it up to the buyer with an accepted offer. Also never mix up the pickguard screws, they wear in different fasions acvording to how it was played. Never mess with the trussrod unless the neck needs an adjustment. Leave the verification up to the buyer. Nobody wants a gutted circulated guitar.

Take it apart? Gulp! Can one name sure the screws go back in in the exact same "thread catch?? . I've taken apart modern cheap copies that plated ok offer a good setup only to be scrappy after taking off and returning the neck. On an old axe like that, if it played great, I'd not want to keep the collectors value while not returning it to its playing great production.

Please stop moving the light source when on close up shots. You are not shooting commercial It’s WAY OVER USED on your channel. It prevents viewers from appreciating the details of the close up.

Joe Bonamassa says if you don't know or unsure about the guitar don't buy it...he totally disagrees with tearing them apart to look at neck dates and pot dates...

The natural neck colour doesn't seem right on a vintage guitar. Not disagreeing with it's authenticity, but usually they are stained.

This guitar came from Steven Seagals collection

The other screw in the pickups switch is not "original" I can tell just by looking at it..;) My point is, even these people can assure that every tiny bits of this guitar is all original, come on, people ! This is the internet, anything could happen...:D

Beauty strat, but even beauty The Lady.

What a lovely lady. The guitar’s nice too!

I don't agree in taking original guitars to pieces. and she threw the screws in a box mixing them up so they don't go back in the original holes. my advice would be to only disassemble a vintage guitar for a necessary repair. also be extremely careful taking the neck off, it's really easy to damage the finnish.