1975 Fender Strat Disassembly - Mojo is Real

[@howardmurphy2646]

The "AY" is Abigail Ybarra. She wound pickups for Fender for decades! The most Famous set were the ones in the 1968 Olympic White Stratocaster with Maple Neck, Serial # 240981, strung lefty! ❤

[@brucemcneill6224]

Ok, luthier here. As we speak, I’m refretting a 1970s strat so I’m watching your video as inspiration. I can confirm that those lines beside the frets ARE sloppy luthier work. It’s from the crowning file with sandpaper. Such a shame. Thank you for making this video! I love it.

[@simonpark843]

Simon Park 1 second ago The initials 'AY' on the pickups mean they were inspected by Abigail Ybarra - not made by her, but built by someone else and inspected/overseen by her. I bought a set of them back in 2007 and they came with a little sheet of paper containing that info. They're a set of Custom Shop '69 pickups.

[@DrKennyWang]

The mid to late 70s neck profile is one of the most comfortable that I have ever held

[@jaysmith5736]

The AY on the back of your pickups stands for Abigail Ybarra. So much mojo/voodoo about her pickup winding career at Fender

[@MarkGutierrez]

Thank you so much for this info!

[@jaysmith5736]

@@MarkGutierrez You've got a GREAT set of pickups! HIGHLY sought after and VERY pricey. Congrats!

[@7enderbender87]

Nope, they are NOT highly sought after, they are just Abby signed. A lot of people don't get it and then also advertise those pickups incorrectly: The AY initials make it just an Abby signed pickup, but someone else in the factory did the windings. There are thousands and thousands AY signed pickups all over the world and they are mostly the 69 CS sets everyone could buy for years. The collectible sets are the ones she did wind indeed with the full name written down as they were only used on special Fender Custom Shop releases of limited numbers and not many people ripped them out of their guitars.

[@jaysmith5736]

@@7enderbender87 You're so right. The AY signed as opposed to the AY initialed are the sought after pups. There was no custom shop back when she was actually winding...I mean WAY back when she was winding.

[@marcraygun6290]

That's some in depth knowledge, my 62 jazzmaster has Martinez signed under scratchplate, always wondered who that was

[@alaricpaley6865]

Whats happening on the front and sides is they went over the original finish with something else. The new layer didn't bond with whatever is underneath - Even if it feels like bare wood, there still is likely enough of the original poly in the grain to make the new layer not stick. Did this myself a few times by not thinking about what I was doing.

[@SweetTGuitars]

Mojo is absolutely a real thing! I think Mojo is either introduced into the build during construction or bestowed by the player over many years, or both! I don't know that it can be explained through any language we are able to speak but you know when you play a guitar if there's mojo in there. Sometimes you know it just by picking the guitar up and holding it. You know what I'm saying man, not a physical thing but a feeling you get when the instrument speaks to you. Whatever you want to call it, it's a beautiful thing and it's just as beautiful to be able to feel that! Magic!! Love the video man. Peace & Love

[@cody8804]

I don’t really like to use the word mojo bc it’s a salesman buzzword imo to sell vintage instruments but I would agree that there’s a subtle but perceivable thing you can pick up on with any guitar that’s been played a lot. Doesn’t have to be vintage or expensive

[@Tonetwisters]

I am blessed with a 1973 sunburst version. There is a serious bolt under that neck plate, just as an FYI. I changed out the entire bridge but some people dig these pot metal bridges and the more midrange sound they offer. Mine is in desperate need for new frets ... I razor bladed off the poly from the fingerboard on mine. Congrats on your new Catastraster. I cleaned mine when I first got it (inherited from my late older brother), and tons of yellow from tobacco smoke, came off of it. Nothing ages a guitar like tobacco and sweat! I doubt that's polyurethane or polyester doing that checking!

[@carguyjeff1961]

Use a good quality soft to medium brush for cleaning. Worked for me.

[@MrJohnnyDistortion]

Big headstock❤

[@markmccawley2526]

Aged yellow Ash wood is Mojo...Gorgeous and timeless build.

[@roncollins6259]

I have owned and played meny 70s fenders. One in particular was my close friends 75 telecaster deluxe, and Ive seen a 73 telecaster custome with the most amazing frets. They had wide flat crowns that just gave me a personal playing experience that was heavenly!They responded like they were grabbing the notes faster than other frets. Probablem is, nobody can give info, and most have no idea what im talking about. Your strat appears to have same said frets!If I could find the fret wire i would refret all my strats with them. I know current trends say flat wide crowns are bad. Mostly for intonation. Im here to tell you that if any intonation problems existed, i couldn't tell or care on the Telecaster Deluxe I grew up with.

[@brynjones7371]

You have a great speaking voice, really soothing. Super video.

[@18190sparks]

Lovely video to watch! Also, Poly can definitely “check” over time. I have several poly guitars that have “checked”, including a ‘78 Strat.

[@hermanodejesus7264]

This instruments do sound nice but for me it's the feel and looks man 😍

[@ChrisFranklyn]

This is literally my dream guitar. I was born in 1975 and want a birth-year guitar... so was looking to get one as a 50th birthday present to myself. Locally they had one like this, but with a hardtail, which would have been even more perfect. Sadly that went for more than I could afford right now. Your one has some gnarly but beautiful aging and if new pickups were put on in 2011 then I'd think that was a good sign they wanted to actually play it.

[@MarkGutierrez]

Hi Chris. My birth year guitar would be a 73 but I'm in love with this one. I do want a hardtail, so maybe I'll pick one up for my 50th. The pickups turned out to be quite a surprise. They were wound by Abby Ybarra and team in 2011. Abby was hired by Leo Fender when she was 19. She wound pickups for Fender for Fender until retiring in 2013. Pickups signed with "Abby" fetch a pretty tall price. I'm very happy with these. sheshreds.com/abigail-ybarra-issue-11/

[@samsamtheguitarman]

I'm in exactly the same boat, got 2 years left to find one - good luck!

[@katemgregor4371]

I just read the article on Abby, what an amazing lady! Awesome guitar, sounds amazing, 1975 was a good year 😉

[@izzysantiago978]

That high E string is right at the edge of the fret board which activates my OCD into overdrive!

[@MarkGutierrez]

Yeah, with those 3-bolt necks you have to give them a good whack, to align the neck back in place, then tighten the bolts.

[@adamwebster7515]

I have a black ‘75 with white pickguard. The poly is checking only on the back of the guitar. I’m guessing it’s a reaction to hundreds of hours against sweaty and warm bodies.

[@blakespurlock5322]

Sounds great bro. What a find.

[@thebreakfastmenu]

Such a sick Strat! Congrats!

[@humstrumbangtwang]

The grooves on the fretboard are due to a re-fret. Original finish is applied after frets, so it needs to be sliced down the fret edges. This can chip the finish. Also easy to spot if the fret board is lighter than back of neck. The body finish may be a refin. Maybe compare to finish in cavities and under the bridge on the top. I have an all original 76 and it has thicker finish which colours unevenly in places such as strap areas. The 3 way switch is easy to live with and use for 5 tones on mine (with the simpler wiring and gives great Hendrix tone). These guitars can be great. If you love it and it sounds good…..winner. All adds ‘mojo’. Every guitar has a story.

[@JohnLipfert]

The green stuff - I was in a band for a while with a guy whose sweat was caustic to anything metal. He played my backup guitar for half a show and his sweat got under the pickguard and made that green stuff from the shielding on the back of the pickguard. But what's weird about yours is, there's no evidence of that on the shielding. My shielding was also copper and the green color was like the Statue of Liberty. Maybe it was a previous pickguard?

[@MarkGutierrez]

ah, I like this theory.

[@driptopher7222]

I bought a guitar owned by an old roadie about 8 years ago, a custom made explorer with a flame top no pickguard, and it had this green stuff on some of the frets and in the corners between the fretboard and the body as well as in the pickup routes and even under the trussrod cover. Came off easily enough but was very odd. Did have lots of copper shielding tape in the pickup routes and the control cavity but that wouldn't explain some of the areas I found it in. The guitar definitely sat for awhile before getting sold.

[@michaelkarlsson5966]

What a beautiful guitar! Sounds great too! The only thing I don't like is the black pickguard. Never liked that. If it was my guitar I would change that to a white or aged white instead. Just to make it look like I want it to look :)

[@Ry_Valz]

it's been refinished with a thin poly, thus the thin crispy peels coming off.

[@Ry_Valz]

the green stuff on the pick guard cavity are oxidation reaction commonly on pearloid pick-guards which that guitar may originally have or because of the copper/aluminum shielding of the pick-guard.

[@runeskaaneslarsen6668]

Pickups are wound by Abigail Ybarra. It is a quite expensive customshop set. She wound pickups in the 60s for fender as well. They are period correct for the 60s, and wound on the old machines.

[@harvey1954]

I've been buying 70s Strat because they are much cheaper than even 60s Strat (1969 even). Just got a 77 Strat for 2 G. Missing one ferrule and one Tone knob.

[@SixString_J5]

@16:00 Canned air is how they make new poly check so it doesn't surprise me that if flakes off when you hit it with canned air.

[@lorenzobandini9302]

great video, I have one like that, maybe a touch older but very similar, I was wondering how much does it worth in these days?

[@nickywhitmore4350]

Love it great guitar

[@David.C.Velasquez]

Way cool! The care and respect you give to the relic patina is awesome man. I must admit, Strats and Fenders in general, were never for me or my fat fingers, but the history and provenance are the stuff of legends. BTW... sry to comment so much, just been binging your vids. I'm sure you're too busy with the workshop situation to read and reply much atm... hope all is going well with that.

[@tidepoolbay]

The green is most likely from sweat. WooF!

[@doubleuseven]

Does the thin e string goes out of the fretboard at the 21th fret? It sure looks like that at 6.40. Bought a new one in -75 where the bridge was at least about 5-6 mm off so that the e string almost went off the fretboard at 21th fret. I was young and didn't noticed it when I bought it. A friend helped me and did some woodwork to move the bridge up so the strings became straight over the neck. Fender had some issues at that time I guess.

[@sergionano1]

I don't know if I'm right but it looks like the jack plate screw is on the bridge and the bridge screw was on the jack plate

[@pacovl46]

The raw fretboard on the high e-string edge is most likely wedding ring rash. I’m not a finish expert, but I always hear that nitro finishes actually become part of the wood rather than sitting on top of it like polyurethane does, but maybe that’s different if the finish isn’t exposed to the sun and air because it’s covered by the pick guard.

[@ES-qm5hr]

Nitro never becomes part of the wood. Fender always used a lot of filler and sealant on their woods, so there is a lot of impenetrable material between the wood and the final nitro finish. The only benefit nitro gives you is a different feel and look, it has no real effect on the guitar other than that. I do think nitro finishes do look better. Most of my CBS era Fenders have that ring rash on their necks. You need something metal to wear through the poly finishes. I have some CBS era poly finished guitars with hardly and finish left on the necks, and I always wonder how hard the original owners played, or how many rings they must have had. Those finishes are crazy resilient.

[@pacovl46]

@ES-qm5hr I don't know about Fender, but in reference to Gibson guitars, I've heard it several times from different sources that nitro finishes soak into the food while poly finishes sit on top.

[@bjstein4242]

I would agree with the "green" being oxidation from copper tape used in the past.. and could that finish be lacquer OVER poly?.. not unlike the Japanese style Lacquer Taste which gives the appearance of a lacquer finish but only for show.. ? curious. but nice project.. i hope you went with a WOOD shim in the neck instead of the micro-tilt..

[@MarkGutierrez]

I didn't even think of using a shim. Totally slipped my mind. I'll definitely consider it.

[@philsmyth1428]

This asmr vibes

[@johnr7303]

Fabulous looking guitar. I am about to embark on a partscaster build using a korina body. I hope to get close to the colour of your guitar. On bare wood what is your preferred poison as a finish, not including nitro! I was going to go with multiple layers of Tur Oil.

[@MarkGutierrez]

Tru Oil is my preferred finish these days. That will sit on top of the wood and offer some protection. Then I like to hit it with the Birchwood Caseys Satin Sheen. It reduces the gloss of the Tru oil and makes it look more uniform.

[@johnr7303]

@@MarkGutierrez I will give this a go. Thanks.

[@spoofy98]

Great Guitar. Neck is not polyurethane it is polyester. the body is also polyester with a nitro overcoat which is what is lifting.

[@MarkGutierrez]

THANK YOU! Mystery solved.

[@daithi48]

You don’t mention the weight of the guitar! Lucky you as it’s obviously not a problem 😊. I have a 1979 and it could double as a boat anchor. 😮

[@MarkGutierrez]

oh yeah, heavy as heck.

[@rudyrey4761]

a y initial for abigail ybarra. now is josephina.. master handwound pickup

[@revtimewest]

Master handwound 😂

[@SixString_J5]

@13:25 FYI most screwdrivers are designed to fit inside of a Box wrench. It'll save you from marring up your screwdriver.

[@jayzeebeezee7442]

The green stuff looks like verdigris. The colour of copper when it oxidises.

[@meyersguitars2196]

What are the holes in the headstock by the tuners? Looks good though!

[@MarkGutierrez]

Could never figure those out.

[@meyersguitars2196]

@@MarkGutierrez I feel like I have seen other old guitars have this same thing. I always thought it was someone putting new tuners in and drilling through the headstock but it looks like this is not the case on yours. So who knows. Great looking guitar regardless and love the mojo.

[@djhoneylove5710]

The Mexican Fenders made today are of higher quality, and are more playable. How do I know? I owned a seventies strat, and I grew apart from it, but If I would have loved it I could have easily fixed the major issues. It was heavy and a hardtail.

[@lancelot_captain]

The green stuff is oxidation from the aluminium shielding.

[@justinrayguitars6024]

The grinding on the neck plate was probably someone removing a SS number. Back in the day people would engrave their number on valuable items.

[@nationalduo4945]

Mojo is real……I bought a 66 Strat from an old Blues player who had it appraised by a so call professional. They never pulled the neck, and just listed as a Frankinstrat….I bought it for 1200….everthing orig other than Custom Shop Pickups…my luthier buddy pulled the neck and said wow you hit the jackpot. Stamped as a Mar 66B neck….unreal..if I mentioned the name of the appraiser half ppl here would know him….anyway just an unreal guitar….

[@nasticanasta]

The Bullet Truss Rod era are my very fav, I own a 74 tele custom maple neck on a 82 Strat body, don't get the USA reissues, that are not accurate, the Japanese Fenders actually are!, I also own a 99 CIJ ST72, spot on...can't say that for USA models or Mexico. As for tight pockets in the neck, they were mostly all like that from my experience, I always assumed it was to give more stability for that micro-tilt system.

[@YoungsooPark]

my birth year!!!!!!!

[@chrisghiardi117]

Pickguard is degrading and/or outgassing. Leading to the green corrosion and finish reaction.

[@kevinnsevinn799]

Tell me you got a real relic without telling me you got a real relic

[@bechhoefereric1291]

Abigail Ybarra pickup thye cost a fortune now

[@tradbowseven]

Mojo is not a description of appearance

[@alainmalo3791]

Que le bois et d'origine 75/76 , pas les micros est les potards !!

[@margaretedwards1366]

Mid 70's Starts are the worst. I had one and it weighed a ton, tiny frets, shitty pickups shitty tuners. Finding a mint condition vintage guitar is boring ? That's ridiculous. Considering the rarity and value of a mint condition guitar most sane people would be ecstatic. I hadn't realized that dirt, corrosion, and rust were mojo. Somebody should tell those old Delta bluesman that they have it all wrong.

[@lucascardozo7656]

the string alignment was really bad, even with the high E adjusted on the saddle. Thas why people dont like 70 neck and pocket system

[@MarkGutierrez]

true. I had to bang the neck a couple of times to get the high E aligned. once it was aligned. I tightened the bolts. so far, so good.

[@terryshrk]

People love to shit on 70s Strats despite Both Ritche Blackmore AND Yngwie playing them and having sigs axes from that era LoL! Every era can have anecdotal examples of shitty individual guitars.

[@ptrisonic]

Well I was a very active Guitarist in the '70's and I can tell you that there was a "cottage industry" in London converting brand new Strats back to 4 screw original. I refused to buy any under CBS and waited until the new management team took over in the early eighties. Even then there were anomalies. For example the cheapest Fender USA Strats had the output socket mounted where the second tone knob should have been. When I was in Japan I picked up two of the then new Squire Strats MIJ - they were streets ahead of the US Fenders. Thank God Fender USA got the quality and specs back up to a reasonable level by about '84 (someone correct me on the right year if I'm wrong). Pete.

[@Tini.F.]

In the 70 nobody wants those guitars, the first good Stratocaster was the Silver Anniversary, that I've owned

[@ES-qm5hr]

This video is so full of inaccuracies. It's a poly finish for sure, poly does check given the right conditions. It may even been a refinished on the sides and top for some reason with another layer of poly. That nut is not original and cut crazy bad. Also, those tuners are not original, they are obviously reproductions added at some point because the originals were taken off because you can see the screw holes for the other tuners. Those marks on the neck board definitely a bad re-fret job from the past. The number in the vibrato block is a patent number they introduced those between 1971 and 1972, and there are similar ones under each saddle. The wear on the neck is from rings, not chemical reactions, its really common on this era of guitar. I love CBS era Stratocasters because they are great value, and there are a lot of good ones going for cheap. This one looks like an absolute train-wreck, and is the kind that gives the era a bad reputation.

[@laynemiller1948]

Dude, the custom shop PUs are Abby Ybarra's, you need to do more research on strats and Fender

[@MarkGutierrez]

oh, I know that now thanks to all the comments. they sound so good.

[@doubleuseven]

I commented a while ago that the 1st string not being straight over the neck. Look at 4.03 where the string has been pushed over to the left at the bridge to compensate for this. That proves, for me, that this is a piece of shit as my own -75 was a piece of shit and shouldn't have left the factory. Now we praise the "mojo" of this wrongly put together guitar? Incredible.

[@DougHinVA]

He waers gloves like he is doing surgery... it is an old electric guitar ... not a person

[@jerryodom7358]

I’ll bet your now wishing you’d saved that purchase cost to buy a 1970-1972 model instead…?

[@MarkGutierrez]

I am definitely hooked. I want a couple more 70's era Strats. They are so quirky (love em or hate em) that they stand out in Fender's catalog.

[@Addicted-2-Guitars]

What's with the whispering??

[@ceebeegeegee8293]

ASMR disassembly?

[@Ferruidoblanco]

Watch tour back