Fender Rhinestone stratocaster 70s (serial number 3)

Fender ’75 Jon Douglas "Rhinestone" Bronze Stratocaster – early ‘90s #3

This sculpted bronze Strat was part of a limited run in the mid-'70s, based around the work of Jon Douglas.

With original Fender case.
Mint condition !

Now here's something you don't see every day! Unique and extremely rare Jon Douglas Sculpted Bronze Rhinestone Fender Stratocaster. A Limited edition of 50 but only 25 were made. This one is #3 and was made using all 1977 Fender strat parts, maple neck and headstock serial number S785795 (1977), 21 fret rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays, three singlecoil pickups. Includes original Fender molded hard shell case.

The 1975 Rhinestone Stratocaster might be considered, long before the birth of the Custom Shop, the first Fender “art” guitar.
Towards the end of 1973 the chairman of the UK Fender distributor Ivon Arbiter opened a big musical instrument store in London, the Fender Soundhouse. When the sculptor Jon Douglas went to the store and said that the exposed guitars were boring, he was challenged by Arbiter to do better. So the sculptor created a Stratocaster with a fiberglass body covered with a layer of cold-worked/cold-cast bronze. A prototype was made, followed by six more models. Arbiter suggested setting Rhinestones into the body’s surface, and the “Rhinestone Strat” was born (this explains the origin of the name). The small batch of Strats were put on sale at the Fender Soundhouse store in London in 1975, but unfortunately a fire hit the store and almost all the guitars were destroyed. Two were sold prior to the fire, but the other four perished in the flames.
In the early 90’s Jon Douglas made molds for a future run of planned 50. All of these guitars are identifiable thanks to a plaque set into the molding on the back of the body, numbered x out of 50. Douglas passed away, though, after only completing 25, making this “Rhinestone Stratocaster” a rare bird indeed ! Some of the 25 guitars used original parts from the 70s, some used modern components, this one is all 70s.
A true legend. A true work of art. A rare piece of history and extremely rare and inconic collector’s item.

Artikel in the ‘Vintage Guitar Magazine” 1994 – page 61