Here’s something you don’t see every day — or maybe ever. Gil Yaron’s take on a 1954 pre-production Stratocaster, with a beautifully figured old growth 1-piece ash body, reclaimed maple neck with a stout “soft shoulders” carve measuring .90 at the nut and .95 at the 12th fret, lightly reliced with aged hardware. Terrific burst and nitro finish. Gil Yaron is well known and renown for his period correct electronics and plastics and meticulous attention to detail, this guitar is no exception — 54-type Bakelite plastics and pre-production knobs, paper in oil NOS capacitors, NOS harness wire and a bridge pickup plate. A very fine guitar, super articulate and responsive, and nice and light, just a touch over 7 pounds. This was an $8700 guitar new, and Gil does not make many of them due to difficult sourcing the correct components.
A little more about Gil, in his own words:
“I was born in Israel in 1966 and picked up my first guitar at the age of 12. A few years ago I decided to investigate the pre-CBS F and 50’s G manufacturing process and uncover the myth. It took years to gather all the information, photos, instruments and original paper work I needed in order to accurately reproduce those gems. In 2007 I was ready for the task, I made the plans and started putting together a very unique shop that was based on the original tools, jigs and building schedule of the golden era. I try to use the absolute best materials, tools and skills combined into a long process with super high attention to details.”
Condition: Used, light relic; Body: Ash; Neck: soft shoulders .90-.95, 9.5 radius; Nut: 1.650; Color: burst; Pickups: Gil Yaron pre-production 54; Scale: 25.5; Orientation: Lefthanded (of course)
