A Near Mint 1963 Inca Silver Metallic Fender Stratocaster

1963 Fender Stratocaster.

This exceptionally rare and near mint pre-CBS 'L Series' custom-color Inca Silver Stratocaster weighs just 7.30 lbs. Solid alder body, contoured on back and lower bass bout. One-piece maple neck with a comfortable nut width of just over 1 5/8 inches, a scale length of 25 1/2 inches and that wonderful 1963 profile - rising from 0.81 at the first fret, 0.84 at the third, 0.89 at the fifth and then rising gently from 0.91 at the seventh to 1.00 inch at the twelfth. Brazilian 'veneer' rosewood fretboard with 21 original thin frets and clay dot position markers. Small headstock with decal with "Fender" 'Spaghetti' logo in gold with black trim, "Stratocaster" in black beside it, and "With Synchronized Tremolo" and three patent numbers "2,573,254"  "2,741,146" & "2,960,900" in black below.  Single "butterfly" string tree with large metal spacer. Individual "single-line" Kluson Deluxe tuners with oval metal buttons, each stamped on the underside "D-169400/Patent No." The neck is dated "2 FEB 63 B". Four-bolt neck plate with the serial number "L01589" between the top two screws. Neck pocket with original reddish-brown neck shim. Three black-bottom white plastic-covered single-coil pickups with staggered polepieces and outputs of 6.05k, 6.11k & 5.48k. Three-layer "Minty" celluloid nitrate pickguard with eleven screws. Three controls (one volume, two tone) plus original 'CRL' three-way pickup selector switch, all on pickguard. The three potentiometers are all stamped "304 6315" (Stackpole April 1963). The electronics are 100% original with none of the original solder joints ever touched. White plastic knobs with green lettering. Jack socket in body face secured by two screws. Fender "Synchronized Tremolo" combined bridge/tailpiece with all five original springs. Inside the tremolo cavity the original owner had engraved his initials "DWM". He had also engraved his initials onto the neck heel under the neck plate. The lacquer finish does show a little of the expected 'lacquer yellowing' but the Inca Silver color is still bright and fresh. The factory 'nail-holes' under the pickguard are 100% original with no signs of any paint in them. There is almost no loss of varnish to the back of the neck - this guitar was most certainly very carefully maintained by its owner. There is some light fret wear to the the first seven frets - but this is mainly noticeable on just the first three frets. This is a one-owner guitar and it shows a few small and somewhat insignificant 'dings' and surface marks on the edges and also on the top, but overall this fifty-two year old custom-color Stratocaster is still in near mint (9.25) condition. Complete with the original tremolo arm and bridge cover. This is the only example of this impossibly hard to find color that we have ever seen (other than in a photograph). Housed in its 'second' (see letter) and slightly later (1967-71) Fender three-latch rectangular black hardshell case with black leather ends and dark orange plush lining (9.00).

The guitar comes with a notarized letter from the original owners widow. The letter reads:
"This letter is in reference to my knowledge and history of my late husbands guitar. At a very [early] age Don was interested in music. At 7 he started learning to play guitar. At age 8 he formed a band with some neighborhood friends. He asked his parents for a new guitar. He had a particular guitar in mind, a Fender Stratocaster. In 1963 he finally got his wish, a Silver Fender Strat with a tweed case. His Mom had said that his dad was in the service & not home much she wanted her boys busy with something they liked and so pressured him to buy the guitar for either his birthday or Christmas, not sure which. He had told me he played the guitar through his childhood until the tweed case fell apart. He then got a new case & continued to play thru adulthood. At some point, I believe early 90's he retired that guitar & bought a new Strat. The reason he stated was to maintain condition of the 63 as it is today. I do know there have never been any changes to the Strat and it is in its Orig. State as purchased in 63" [signed] Debbie J. McGowen 12-1-2015".

Inca Silver Metallic (Lucite 2436-L) was used on the Chevrolet Corvette between 1957 and 1959. Fender used this color on their guitars between 1960 and 1965. It was replaced with Firemist Silver Metallic (a Cadillac color) from 1965 through 1971.

The only time that we have ever seen another Pre-CBS Inca Silver Stratocaster is in Tom Wheeler's new book The Fender Archives. There is a color photograph on page 38 showing seven Pre-CBS custom-color Stratocasters…

"Fender had several official pre-CBS "Custom Colors," but things get confusing when we consider that the same paint might take on different looks when sprayed over different undercoats, or when exposed to differing levels of sunlight, cigarette smoke, and other environmental factors, or when its top yellows a little, or a lot, over time. In fact, an aged finish might have "migrated" so far from its original hue that it actually looks more like a different Custom Color, such as when a light blue guitar fades into an off-white.
Some of the guitars pictured here pre-date the first official chart that helped standardize Fender colors, but in any case, taking these qualifications into consideration, what we have here is a septet of original-spec Strats in (up front) Surf Green and Burgundy Mist, and (back from left) Cimarron/Dakota Red, Daphne Blue (the middle blue between the robin's-egg Sonic and the much darker Lake Placid), blonde with gold hardware, the very rare Inca Silver, and Shoreline Gold." (Tom Wheeler).