Strat neck

[grinder]

I have a very old looking neck that doesn't have a truss rod.Did Fender ever make Strats like this or did someone slap a decal on a neck with a Strat copy headstock?

 

[Mr. Bert]

Grinder,
Truss rods were standard equipment on all Stratocasters starting with the very first ones released in 1954.

Some of the very early Esquires (the father of the Telecaster) first released in 1950, did not have truss rods. They can be identified by the traditional 'Telecaster' headstock.

I am not sure about the Jazzmaster and Mustangs, but you can check this website for some good information:

http://www.provide.net/~cfh/gallery.html#fend

Best of luck...Bert

 

[Clive Hugh]

As a matter of interest, what about the "no-caster"? this was after Leo Fender had to stop making the "Broadcaster" because of copyright name and released the axe with no decal.

 

[grinder]

The neck appears to be very old.It is maple with a mahogany fret board.The neck shape is a chunky D, slighly flat.The head stock profile has saw marks on it.It is in between a strat and tele in size.I assumed it was as strat someone had down sized.There is an old looking Fender Strat decal on the head stock that looks quite old and was slightly cut into when the headstock was modified.The couple remaining frets appear to be the fender style that you have to pull out sideways.Anyway I was just curious, didn't recall a strat without a truss rod being made.