A 1959 Fender Stratocaster solid body electric guitar, serial number 42466, black finish. Owned and played by Randy Bachman, who has sold 40 million records worldwide as a member of The Guess Who, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, and as a solo artist.

Formerly owned and played by Winnipeg musician George Johns, member of the Devines, The Rebel Raiders, and The Phantoms. Randy would occasionally fill in on second guitar with the latter group, where he likely became infatuated with Johns’ black Stratocaster.

“George Johns. Winnipeg. This was the only Strat that was in town –– I got the only Gretsch, and the second one Neil Young got. And George never had a case for this guitar!”

Randy jokes that it took him 30 years to acquire this Strat, which required multiple phone calls until he wore George down enough to sell it.

The neck has been oversprayed with checked finish beneath, and it fits the hand like a glove with a slender profile. The slab Brazilian rosewood fretboard has been planed and re-fretted, with some slots reaching into the maple. There is no pencil date on the neck, as is often the case for 1959 Fenders, said to be due to a customer complaint after an obscenity was found written on the heel.

The body appears to have been refinished with brown stain beneath the black. Possibly, this guitar began its life as a sunburst model, or it has been previously refinished. The pickguard is a white 11-hole single ply version sometimes seen on some slab rosewood Strats made during 1959 as older parts were used up. Wiring is intact with some disturbed solder at the volume pot, presumably for removal of components during the refinish.

The serial number 42466 fits within 1959 and the potentiometer date codes point to a late ’59 production date.

Includes tweed hardshell case.

PROVENANCE From The Collection of Randy Bachman

Guitars & Instruments, Randy Bachman