ORIGINAL FINISH! 1966 Lake Placid Blue Fender Stratocaster | From The Vault

Transcription:

Hi folks, back in the vault with Daniel and now we've got an incredible looking blue Strat. It is very blue. It is as blue as a very placid lake would be. In fact, that that one over there... I think we should name this color Lake Placid Blue.Oh, I dig that.Yeah, this is very special because, I mean, Strats... all Strats are cool, but um, to have a custom color Strat uh, that is this clean after so many decades... um, what year is it?

'66.

Yeah, in fact, um, let's talk about some of the things that make it a '66. Obviously, I know it dates to '66 as we took it apart and we looked at all the dates. All the pots have dates, the bottom of the pickups have dates, but one of the things that really makes... distinguishes this from anything before January of '66, you look at the decal. That is a transitional decal that started... whenever... started years before. But right on the very bottom, there's uh, a series of patent numbers. And those patent numbers, they started dropping the patent... there used to be five patent numbers, or I think six at one point in time... definitely five. But right after January of '66, it dropped to three. So if you look at a headstock and it only has three patent numbers right there, then you know that it's post-January '66 uh, and it is a custom color guitar. And I happen to have a book right here, of course, uh, which is one of my favorite books on the Fender Stratocaster, as you can probably imagine from the title, which is "The Fender Stratocaster." Um, and it, it brings up something cool here about custom colors. When custom colors were kind of initiated, it was an up-charge of 5%. And that's just so interesting to think about because the up-charge for a custom, custom color these days is significantly more than 5%, right? Uh, a guitar in this condition that is a rare custom color, uh, is, you know, could be triple the price of a Sunburst one. Wow. And exclusively because of, you know, supply and demand. You have, you know, so many Sunbursts for every custom color. So when you just consider that and then you take it a step further, how many of those custom colors are still in really, really nice, nine out of ten condition? Very, very few. And that, of course increases collectibility, which uh, makes this, you know, what it is, which is a super sought-after, collectible vintage instrument... collection worthy instrument, vault worthy instrument, for sure.

Now forgive my naivety, but how, how is... you know sometimes you come across a Lake Placid Blue that turns to green... very green. Yes, what's happened here then?

So, um, most of these guitars um, have a clear coat right on top of the color, right, to protect the color. Uh, the irony is that that outer coat, which was meant to protect the finish, will yellow over time if it's exposed, specially to certain elements. Like for example, if, um, if you play your Lake Placid Blue guitar in a lot of bars where a lot of people are smoking, it will turn yellow. And when blue turns yellow, when you mix yellow and blue, it's green. So a lot of these Lake Placid Blue guitars look very, very green. If you have a Sonic Blue guitar that has yellowed over time, it can really look Surf Green, right? And Surf Green is one of the most rare custom colors around. So a lot of people who think they have Surf Green guitars actually have Sonic Blue guitars. This is Lake...

Sonic Blue is a lighter blue, and as that ages, it can really look Surf Green.

Yeah, or Seafoam Green. And it, it can confuse people for sure. It's kind of cool in a way though.

It's super cool.

So you have to take off parts and expose, you know, the parts that have not been exposed to the elements for decades to really kind of, hopefully, get a clearer picture of what the actual um, finish is.

That's stunning. What color... I mean, in my experience, my limited experience, I don't think I've seen uh, Lake Placid Blue Strat.

Yeah, they're they're not... um, so the most common custom color would be Candy Apple Red, right? Um, they sprayed Candy Apple Red... it varies of course from model to model. But for example, for Jaguars, certainly, for, for Strats, Candy Apple Red was the most common custom color. For example, a, a Shell Pink, you know, pre-CBS Strat is like the Holy Grail of that kind of thing. Or a black... a, an early '50s Black Strat, which you and I have seen one before... that is like unheard of. It was, it was very unusual for people to want something like that in the early '50s. They were more about bright colors or Sunbursts, which was the traditional... when you think about a Strat, you think of a Sunburst Strat.

So Black is both the earliest custom color, um, but it's also the most enduring.

So it was already featured in, in an Esquire in 1950. Wow. Um, but according to this, it's the only finish to be maintained throughout all the years, cuz they phase certain things in and out, right? Lake Placid Blue is another one that was around for a long time and continues to be. But Black, arguably, arguably the best color for a guitar... classic.

But biggest thing about this guitar that makes it so collectible is the fact that it's such a clean custom color and such a, such a beautiful color. I mean, people really like, like Lake Placid Blue. And this is about as clean as a Strat can get.

Yeah.

Are these, are these original?

Yeah. Yeah, original.

That's crazy. How is that?

Just from this one being used more than the rest?

Absolutely, yeah. Yeah, people have touched that um, more and so it's more worn. And here's me just making them just go...

Well, that's what it's for. That's cool. I've never seen it before actually. So wonderful Strat uh, '66 I believe you said. Gorgeous color. Um, again, just an incredible guitar. Thank you for giving me the low down on it. 

Absolutely. Um, but yeah, again, keep an eye out for more of these videos from The Vault with some of the coolest guitars and Daniel providing all the info, because I don't provide much info, I'm just...

Well, somebody has to talk about them and somebody has to play the [bleep] out of...

Yeah, not going to be me. You don't want me showcasing how these things play and sound. Uh, but yeah, thank you. And uh, like and subscribe and we'll see you soon folks.