GUEST: I bought this 14 years ago from the original owner's oldest son. He kept the original bill of sale and the one where he paid it off a year later.
APPRAISER: And that was in...
GUEST: July 28, 1956, on the bill of sale.
APPRAISER: 1956, and that was right here in Mobile?
GUEST: Right in Mobile, right here in Mobile.
APPRAISER: Okay. Well, the easiest way to date a Fender Stratocaster-- obviously, it's an old one-- is to look at the serial number, and that's found on the back plate at the base of the neck. And as we look at that, we can see it's 0047. This is, literally, the 47th one made, excluding maybe a few prototypes. That would actually place it in the year 1954. It's nearly all original, with the exception of the knobs and the pickup covers. And have you got any of the originals of those?
GUEST: Right, they just kind of fell apart, though, they were so brittle.
APPRAISER: Okay.
GUEST: So I do have the pieces, though.
APPRAISER: They do tend to decompose in the case. It is ash, and ash was the original wood used on these. It's just that it's cut perfectly on the quarter, which is very unusual. Sometimes you see little rings of grain on it, but here, it's almost like a violin or an acoustic guitar. You see these absolutely straight grain.
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: Any idea of the value?
GUEST: I paid $3,000 for it.
APPRAISER: $3,000?
GUEST: I paid a lot of money for it.
APPRAISER: 14 years ago.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: Well, today, a 1954 Stratocaster would be valued at auction between $50,000 and $70,000.
GUEST: (chuckles)
APPRAISER: And I think that not too much would be taken off just for the...
GUEST: You're kidding.
APPRAISER: the knobs and the... the pickup covers being replacements. But this is about as close as we're going to get to the original...
GUEST: Unbelievable.
APPRAISER: Original thing.
GUEST: Unbelievable. Unbelievable.
APPRAISER: Yeah, great piece. Thanks for bringing it in today.
GUEST: Oh, thank you very, very, very much.
APPRAISER: Yeah, my pleasure.
