IvanP
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 10321
southern Michigan
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Posted on Sep 19 2017 08:17 AM
I've got a new baby: a 2002 Foam Green Fender Custom Shop NOS '60 Strat!
I've recently been in quite a bit of contact with Norm Jones, who lives just outside of Indy. Some of you know Norm, he's a big surf music fan, frequent poster on SG101, and a huge Stratocaster fan! Unfortunately, as some of you may have seen in a thread posted by Noel in the Shallow End, Norm has recently become ill, and so has decided to start cutting down his (sizable) guitar collection. I needed another guitar like I need another hole in my head, but we were chatting a bit about what instruments he's selling, and he brought up this guitar. Well, Foam Green (more commonly known as Seafoam Green in recent years) has been a color I've LOVED for decades, but Strats in that color are super rare. It was a rare Fender custom color back in the '60s, and I don't think there have been any regular production models that have come in that color in the past 30+ years (though Surf Green has been more common, which can be easily mixed up with Foam Green). When I saw this guitar I couldn't believe my eyes, especially when told it was a Custom Shop NOS model - I have no interest in their Relic or Closet Classic models, which are beat up to various degrees to make them look aged, but NOS is supposed to be like finding a never-sold vintage guitar in the back of some old music store - and that is exactly what I would have wanted! Honestly, if I would have been asked what guitar I wished Norm had for sale, I probably would have said this exact one. When I told him I'm definitely interested in buying it, he offered me an unbelievable price, due to enjoying my music, my playing and my role in keeping surf music alive. I was pretty stunned. It seemed like it was meant to be! (That's what I told my wife, anyway!  ) Norm was incredibly generous in offering to meet me at the club where the Troubadours played on Saturday evening, bringing this guitar for me to check out. (It felt very 'rock-star-like' to have someone bring me a beautiful guitar to buy in the parking lot outside of the club before playing there that night!)
I've only had it for a few (busy) days, so haven't had much chance to get to know it yet, but all I can say is that it's almost perfect. It's like an upscale '62 reissue, my favorite Strat model: a very thin neck, which I love, with a rosewood fretboard and all the other regular early '60s accoutrements. The upgrades are: 100% lacquer finish (not just the top coat), clay dots, bone nut, exclusive Custom Shop pickups, and almost every detail just being kinda right. There are only two slight downsides: inexplicably, the guitar (as most Custom Shop guitars, I think) features the inauthentic big frets, possibly jumbo, which I'm not as fond of as the regular vintage ones; and the plastic parts are white rather than mint-green, which is also a bit of a puzzle as the regular '62 reissue models had switched to mint-green plastic parts by '98. It seems the Custom Shop was a bit behind the curve with that. Nevertheless, those are really minor details and do not at all diminish from what an amazing instrument this is.
Thank you VERY MUCH, Norm! I'll take GOOD care of this guitar. I really love it!!
— Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
The Madeira Official Website
The Madeira on Facebook
The Blair-Pongracic Band on Facebook
The Space Cossacks on Facebook
The Madeira Channel on YouTube
Last edited: Sep 19, 2017 08:18:23
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Reverbenator
Joined: Jul 26, 2015
Posts: 257
San Diego, Ca
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Posted on Sep 19 2017 09:56 AM
Hey Ivan,
Congrats on the new hole in your head! 
Oops! I mean, Strat. Nice aquisition.
— -Cheers, Clark-
-Less Paul, more Reverb-
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ColtsSurf
Joined: Apr 03, 2008
Posts: 477
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Posted on Sep 19 2017 10:40 AM
Ivan, that's a beautiful guitar. I actually like the white pickguard, knobs and covers better than mint with Seafoam. Sounds like you got the early '60s "C" neck, which is thinner than the mid '60s "C"; most CS now have the mid 60s, so that's a rare find. Congratulations!
— Paul
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DaveF
Joined: May 10, 2009
Posts: 1111
Old Mission, CA
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Posted on Sep 19 2017 10:43 AM
Aarrgghh, that be a fine bit of booty ye got there, matey !
Matt Q also be havin' a strat in that color.
You're in a good crew for surfin' and plunderin' the high seas.
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Wombat
Joined: Oct 13, 2011
Posts: 251
Byron Bay, Australia
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Posted on Sep 19 2017 05:03 PM
Tasty bit of kit . . . love that color, there's nothing quite like NGD, well done
— 'Surf Music Lasts Forever'
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Badger
Joined: Nov 16, 2013
Posts: 4536
Wisconsin
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Posted on Sep 19 2017 05:36 PM
Yup, THAT's the color. They got that one right (there were a bazillion formulations of that color). I love the white; one thing I've found is that some relatively light colors do worse with a Mint Green PG because it visually gets closer to the body shade and actually ends up detracting from both. The white makes the body POP! (This is on my short list of colors to redo my AV65.)
Congratulations man (but holy frets) 
I know you'll make it work because you've never been one to be that picky about your tools. Really cool; happy for you. Quite a special guitar to have & continue making music with given everything.
Now you need a new group portrait.
Edit: You should get this. Pretty sure the Surfer, cab & G-Spring would fit.
— Wes
SoCal ex-pat with a snow shovel
DISCLAIMER: The above is opinion/suggestion only & should not be used for mission planning/navigation, tweaking of instruments, beverage selection, or wardrobe choices.
Last edited: Sep 19, 2017 17:41:42
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stratdancer
Joined: Dec 11, 2013
Posts: 2532
Akron, Ohio
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Posted on Sep 19 2017 06:21 PM
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stratdancer
Joined: Dec 11, 2013
Posts: 2532
Akron, Ohio
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Posted on Sep 19 2017 06:24 PM
I do like the white PG. Parchment might even be better. Vintage cream pup covers would be calling if it were mine....but it's not!!! 
— The Kahuna Kings
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Kahuna-Kings/459752090818447
https://thekahunakings.bandcamp.com/releases
Last edited: Sep 20, 2017 04:58:04
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IvanP
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 10321
southern Michigan
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Posted on Sep 19 2017 08:35 PM
Thanks, all! Yep, it's a real score, and I'm very grateful to Norm for selling it to me, especially at such a generous price. I really feel just like a custodian with this guitar, not an owner. I will take good care of it for its future custodians.
ColtsSurf wrote:
Ivan, that's a beautiful guitar. I actually like the white pickguard, knobs and covers better than mint with Seafoam.
Yeah, I understand that perspective. I will leave it alone for a while, no hurry with any changes, and see if I get used to it as it is. It is definitely GORGEOUS as it is! (Assuming you like that color, of course, which I know some don't - it's pretty, umm, BOLD! )
Sounds like you got the early '60s "C" neck, which is thinner than the mid '60s "C"; most CS now have the mid 60s, so that's a rare find. Congratulations!
Thank you! And I don't know about the custom shop necks, but this is a very thin and comfortable one, highly comparable to my '62 reissues, which are my favorites. So, I think you're right on the above. I do feel like it's a fairly rare find - this color in the NOS model with that neck, what are the odds??
Badger wrote:
Yup, THAT's the color. They got that one right (there were a bazillion formulations of that color).
Yep! Very rare, back in the '60s or more recently!
I love the white; one thing I've found is that some relatively light colors do worse with a Mint Green PG because it visually gets closer to the body shade and actually ends up detracting from both. The white makes the body POP!
Yes, as I told Paul above, I completely understand that perspective. The only thing is that I've seen some vintage Foam Green Strats in books, and man, I think it really does look amazing with the mint green pickguard. But parchment, as David suggested, might be a good compromise. Well, I'll mull it all over, no hurry with any of this....
(This is on my short list of colors to redo my AV65.)
OOOOOOOO!!! Nice! (Who would you have paint it for you?)
Congratulations man (but holy frets)
Thanks! And yeah, the frets are a bit much - but actually similar to the frets on my pewter Strat, so it's not like I'm completely unfamiliar with them. Not my favorites, but they'll be fine.
I know you'll make it work because you've never been one to be that picky about your tools.
Thanks, Wes. It's an embarrassment of riches at this point, and I really REALLY had zero intention of getting another guitar at any point in the near future, but when something like this comes you way, what can you do?? It seems like it would have been just dumb to turn it down!
Now you need a new group portrait.
Todd's already told me he's game! He's ready to start searching for a Foam Green Fender bass! What a guy! However, I can't imagine Patrick ever going along!
Edit: You should get this. Pretty sure the Surfer, cab & G-Spring would fit.
HA! Fantastic!!! Yep, that would be quite something!
— Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
The Madeira Official Website
The Madeira on Facebook
The Blair-Pongracic Band on Facebook
The Space Cossacks on Facebook
The Madeira Channel on YouTube
Last edited: Sep 19, 2017 20:39:14
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Badger
Joined: Nov 16, 2013
Posts: 4536
Wisconsin
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Posted on Sep 19 2017 09:57 PM
IvanP wrote:
But parchment, as David suggested, might be a good compromise. Well, I'll mull it all over, no hurry with any of this....
Actually (and I've seen a couple) this is a color that tort really goes well with.
OOOOOOOO!!! Nice! (Who would you have paint it for you?)
Long long ago I had a band & our drummer's day job was that he did the finish work on the Duesenbergs back when they were going out of a little hole in the wall in Elroy, WI. He has his own body/paint shop now and he'd be my first call. Mostly because he's got the patience to let layers cure properly, which Fender apparently didn't with mine. No one else I know off-hand & haven't even checked what it costs. But this or Teal Green Metallic are both on the list.
OK, back to Ivan's new guitar. 
— Wes
SoCal ex-pat with a snow shovel
DISCLAIMER: The above is opinion/suggestion only & should not be used for mission planning/navigation, tweaking of instruments, beverage selection, or wardrobe choices.
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CrazyAces
Joined: Jul 31, 2012
Posts: 4052
Nashville, TN.
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Posted on Sep 20 2017 08:32 AM
Ivan,
While it saddens me to know that Norm is parting with instruments this deal couldn't have worked out better or went to a more appropriate home.
Enjoy that beautiful green guitar, Strat man!
Cheers,
Jeff
— http://www.facebook.com/CrazyAcesMusic
http://www.youtube.com/user/crazyacesrock
http://www.reverbnation.com/crazyacesmusic
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SurfBeat
Joined: Dec 31, 2008
Posts: 284
Riverside, CA
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Posted on Sep 20 2017 03:38 PM
Badger wrote:
Yup, THAT's the color. I love the white; one thing I've found is that some relatively light colors do worse with a Mint Green PG because it visually gets closer to the body shade and actually ends up detracting from both. The white makes the body POP!
Ivan, this note is not an endeavor to rain on your parade over your new purchase, but to provide some data should you need such in the future.
Back in 1960, or 61 my folks bought me a sunburst colored Strat for Christmas. That color was cool until a few months later my uncle came over to our house on leave from the Navy, driving a new turquoise colored Desoto.
I dug the color, and since my bandmates and I were heading to Parker, Arizona for Easter vacation to play at the Island A Go Go, I thought, I am gonna' paint my guitar Desoto Turquoise for that show.
I went to the Desoto dealer and was told the color was Riviera Turquoise, which reminded me of the ocean in Kuai, so, I bought a pint and had a friend in our shop class repaint my Strat.
I vaguely recall one of our neighbors had a Sea Spray Green Pontiac, a late 50's model.
Moving forward ten or eleven years to my days in Nam as a young MP, I came across a 59-61 Strat and traded my Akai reel-to-reel recorder for it. That Strat was an ugly color, black, maroon, purple, or something, but I wanted it, so, made the trade. When I returned to the States it went in my folks garage, forgotten for 45 years.
Moving forward to last year, I found it in the rafters at my mom's house, then, deciding to bringing it back to life I searched for the same paint as on my earlier Strat, found it, removed the neck, popped out the clay markers, replacing with shiny MOP and had a friend repaint the body. I wanted it to look pretty.
Now the reason for my post: my earlier Strat, and latter, which both have been basterized to fit my personality, (I know, I took a couple $25k guitars and reduced them to a few thousand, if that) have different colored PG's, which has been a topic on this thread.
Yeah, I could have stated this earlier and cut to the chase, but, being a lawyer, I tend to ramble via the written word.
My # 2 from Nam has the mother of pearl (MOP) mint green PG, (straight out of China for less than $10), and my #1 has the original TS PG.
Since you play surf, you made a wise purchase. I submit that opinion based upon my recent experiences for the past couple of years wherein a client who is a promoter of music festivals has been booking me for his surf-band slots, music definitely outside of my comfort zone. On more than a few occasions, musicians I have met at those venues related the turquoise fits the surf genre to a T.
My band mates want me to accept more of those surf type gigs, but, akin to your present circumstance, I am busy with my law practice, but, unlike you, I tend to forget the old tunes, even ones I recorded back in 1962 that were good for finding dates but no break even dollars. So, when I find some goof off time and opportunity arises where I can play, I go for venues where I can play fifties rock with a jitterbug edge. However, when my client calls with a bundle of cash in hand, and time permits, I will give him all the surf his audience wants.
Last edited: Sep 24, 2017 18:17:19
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IvanP
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 10321
southern Michigan
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Posted on Sep 24 2017 04:12 PM
Thank you Wes, Jeff and Joey! Joey, those are some stunning Strats you've got there! Whoah!!
I took the guitar to my tech at Elderly Instruments yesterday, and as we were talking about the guitar, he pushed me enough that I went ahead and ordered the '59-reissue set of plastic parts (mint-green guard, vintage/aged white knobs, pickup covers, and trem and pickup switch tips). So, let's see how it turns out! (The current CS NOS '60 models do come with those kinds of plastic parts.) I'll post pics and video once I get it.
Thanks again, all!
— Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
The Madeira Official Website
The Madeira on Facebook
The Blair-Pongracic Band on Facebook
The Space Cossacks on Facebook
The Madeira Channel on YouTube
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Chippertheripper
Joined: Mar 11, 2011
Posts: 819
Semass
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Posted on Sep 24 2017 06:04 PM
The mint will make that guitar.
You’ve chosen wisely.
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SurfBeat
Joined: Dec 31, 2008
Posts: 284
Riverside, CA
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Posted on Sep 24 2017 06:16 PM
*I went ahead and ordered the . . . mint-green guard.
Ivan, Ivan, Ivan, surf geetar player, what would you have a Strat without a TS pg? (kidding)
Since yours in darker than mine, you may want to compare the mint-green pg to a MOP white.
I forgot to mention in my original post my MG pg is MOP, if that matters to you?? In my opinion, there is a significant difference between the non MOP and the MOP.
Just my two cents.
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LittleKahunaCraig
Joined: Jan 09, 2008
Posts: 369
Orange County, CA
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Posted on Sep 24 2017 11:16 PM
Ivan, I had that same model in Candy Apple Red. One feature I really liked was the rosewood slab instead of a cap on the fretboard. Mine had a really mellow and wonderful sound. I had a chance to buy back a '61 brown face concert amp I owned and foolishly sold, so I traded the strat for the amp. Missing that guitar greatly, I bought the same instrument but a master built in Sherwood green. It's my go to...
— Craig Skelly
Little Kahuna
www.littlekahunamusic.com
The Breakaways
The Curl Riders
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IvanP
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 10321
southern Michigan
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Posted on Oct 29 2017 11:49 AM
Hey, thanks for all the comments and suggestions, all! Craig, sorry you lost your own CS NOS '60, but glad to hear you got it replaced with a probably even better guitar!
I finally got this guitar back after five weeks at Elderly Instruments in Lansing, MI (plus two other guitars I've had work done on at the same time), and now it's got Fender's mint-green/vintage-white plastic parts. I love it! I think it turned out absolutely fantastic, and I'm really glad I went through with it. I had the guitar set up for 12-gauge strings and the pickup switch changed from a 5-way to a 3-way at the same time, and the guitar is just incredible now. The only thing that's still throwing me a bit is the jumbo frets, not my favorites, but I'll get used to them (I do have them on another Strat, but I've just been playing other guitars lately so I'm used to smaller frets). Anyway, here are some pics:
— Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
The Madeira Official Website
The Madeira on Facebook
The Blair-Pongracic Band on Facebook
The Space Cossacks on Facebook
The Madeira Channel on YouTube
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ColtsSurf
Joined: Apr 03, 2008
Posts: 477
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Posted on Oct 29 2017 12:01 PM
Ivan, that looks great! You could always have the Strat re-fretted with genuine Fender vintage frets. I have had several done and they turned out perfect. Cost was $275 or so.
— Paul
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IvanP
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 10321
southern Michigan
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Posted on Oct 29 2017 12:33 PM
Thanks, Paul! I have considered that, but I'm pretty tapped out at the moment. Maybe down the line, but at the moment, I really AM enjoying the guitar a great deal as it is! It's freakin' amazing!
— Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
The Madeira Official Website
The Madeira on Facebook
The Blair-Pongracic Band on Facebook
The Space Cossacks on Facebook
The Madeira Channel on YouTube
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plexi69
Joined: Oct 25, 2014
Posts: 66
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Posted on Oct 29 2017 06:50 PM
Congrats, Custom Shop instruments are actually nicer then originals.
— HEY THERE, HI THERE, HO THERE !!!!
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