Vintage Guitar Scene: 1975 Fender Stratocaster Olympic White

1975 Fender Stratocaster Olympic White (Serial number 659479)

This 1975 Stratocaster has seen a lot of use over the years and has been a favourite of mine since I bought it second hand as a kid in the late 1970’s. It’s had a few mods in its lifetime including a re-fret, locking tuners, graphite nut, and the pickups in it currently are from Seymour Duncan and David White.

I know that Strats from this period sometimes get a bad rap due to CBS implementing a bunch of cost-cutting, corner-cutting design changes to the Stratocaster that went well beyond cosmetic revisions, such as the larger headstock and redesigned logo. This guitar though has been a real workhorse for me, and sounds great playing all styles of music. Must have been one of the good ones!

I love the worn look and feel of it and how it sounds and plays. I’m not so keen on the oversized headstock on Strats from this period – always looks a bit out of proportion to me – but I guess that’s a matter of taste.

It can be heard in all its naked glory on this loop of the KashKin song ‘The Sugartrain’.