Going through the second hand guitar advertisements on a regular daily basis I struck upon this two tone sunburst Vester Stratocaster one day, offered for sale by a guy in Amsterdam, some 12 miles from where I live.This was November 2006. It was the first look at the accompanying photo that drew my close attention. Although the picture was rather small it radiated something that made me aware of a very interesting guitar. In fact it looked right from the word go. I have seen thousands of pictures of guitars so I consider myself to be fairly “in the know”.
An e-mail was sent out forthwith and after 2 days I got the expected answer: “yes it is still here, you are welcome to have a look and play it”. We made an appointment. But then doubts started to run through my mind like “do I really need this guitar”, “what is the point of adding some unknown quality to my collection”. I decided to buy more time and cancelled the appointment.Shortly after that the guitar disappeared from the site where it was put up.And me, I simply forgot about it. But then some 4 weeks later the guitar re-appeared on the same site, apparently still unsold. I made a second appointment and this time I honored the invitation.
Seeing the guitar in the flesh and holding it in my hands I noticed it was very well built with so many attractive features in the right place, the instrument was complete, unmolested and showed only very little playing wear.
Two small things on this guitar had been altered and the seller was quite honest about it.
One, he had added three extra screws to the single ply pickguard.
Early Stratocasters from 1954 upto 1959 have an 8 screw single ply pickguard, the later models got an 11 screw triple ply pickguard. Seeing the job was expertly done, I had no problem with that.
The other thing was that he installed a Fender pick up in the bridge position once, which required a slightly enlarged pick up opening of the pickguard.
And as the original Vester pick up was re-installed it is sitting just a little bit loose. But again no problem. So my final decision: this cannot be wrong, I want this.
Coming home I gave the guitar a further thorough inspection. Put on a set of new strings, some superficial cosmetic corrections here and there, cleaning and polishing done, it became a real vintage looker, a beauty to put your eyes on. The guitar played flawless, it performed like a Stratocaster should, and it sounded strong, very strong. Crystal clear where it was supposed to be and rough when wanted, with all the “in-betweens” on tap. From that moment on it became my main guitar and it was the start of a new dimension in my guitar hobby.
And here it is, serial number 96518.
Fortunately is has the warm fading two tune sunburst, meaning both colors merge nicely in stead of a so called "target burst" which is often found on these Vesters.
Below: a full frontal view, note the 11 screws of the pickguard.
Luckily the extra 3 screws are positioned in the correct spot.
And where it all came to:
Soon after I had acquired my first Vester Tradition Series Stratocaster the hunt was on. Looking for information, searching amongst others for a Telecaster. And yes the answer came through Ebay Germany, a guy wanted to part with his nice looking Tradition Series Telecaster sn. 99331 (vintage Fender pick ups installed). My bid was the best so that was no. 2, see below.
I am a vintage Telecaster afficionado and this one really fits that bill quite nicely.
There is a small anecdote connected to this guitar; I bought it from a German seller via Ebay Germany, expecting it arrive from
that country, but it came from Spain.
It took 3 weeks to arrive and believe me I really got worried.
In the end it appeared it was from a German seller, living in Spain.
The guy exploited a camping site overthere and he played this guitar during parties.
The picture below shows the guitar in full view. Note that the headstock of this Telecaster is slightly wrong.
The next addition to my collection was another Tradition Series Stratocaster which I bought second hand in Amsterdam. This nice vintage white guitar, was in a mint cosmetic condition, sn. 94055, see below.
This guitar, about 20 years old was practically unused,therefore the pots were pretty scratchy
on account of all the dust it had collected through time. But that was easily repaired.
Looking at the neck you will see that is has a somewhat mustard-ish color, something
less popular amongst collectors and a bit overdone on the part of Vester's.
Personally I have no problem with it at all. See the close up below.
I knew there was a black Stratocaster in the Vester Tradition Series too, so I went looking for that one to complete the trio.
And I found one for sale on a Dutch guitar forum. The seller was glad to sell it to me, but he needed to get that guitar
back from a friend, to whom he had loaned it, before we could finalize the deal.
Apparently this friend was so happy with that Strat, he never gave it back to the owner and that put an end to
my intended purchase.
But shortly after that another black Tradition Stratocaster, sn. 93144, came up for sale on Ebay Germany.
I bought it forthwith.
Although it showed some clear traces of use it was in an overall excellent order, maybe even real vintage looking.
Again there is this mustard-ish colored neck.
A great player this one, a real favorite of mine. To pay a little tribute to David Gilmour, one of my preferred guitar
heroes, I put this small sticker on the pickguard, saying: David Gilmour the voice & guitar of Pink Floyd.
In fact David's Strat has an all black pickguard but that would destroy the originality so I left it as it was, see below.
Well it must have become clear to the reader that I am a collector of vintage Fender type guitar models like the Stratocaster and
the Telecaster and that is certainly very true.
You won't see me with any flashy "hairfarmer" Super Strat. Not that those guitars are wrong, I just do not like them; to each his own.
That brings to the next opportunity I got to acquire a Tradition Series Telecaster via Ebay. I thought why not buy it and transfer it into
an Esquire?? And so I did. Ladies and gentlemen behold the Vester Tradition Esquire. Serial number 99221.
Insiders may know what an Esquire is, but for those who don't I will explain.
Basically it is a Telecaster minus the neck pick up. But there is more to know. When Fender produced it's first
solid body electric guitar is was the Esquire (early 1950), and while no electric bass was yet available
(that came in 1951) the 3 way switching on those early Esquires provided for a so called blender control.
That means when the switch is in the bridge position it has no tone control, you only get that typical twangy Tele sound.
In the middle position there is tone control; the neck position gives a fixed blended tone, used by players to
imitate the sound of a bass. So you get two guitars for the price of one :)
The pickguard on this Vester Esquire is home made from the correct material.
I used the Tele quard as a pattern and that worked out 100%.
The blender control requires some special wiring and condensators, see below.
The pair:
At that moment I was sure I would leave it up to there.
I had the Vesters I wanted to possess and although there were other Vester series offering these types of
models, I rested my case.
Guess what, it did not work out that way:
Before I knew I got my first Stage Series Vester, a black Telecaster sn. E726602. I never really gassed for a Stage Series guitar, but this one was such a nice looking guitar I had to have it. It is tuned in open E and I use it to play slide, see below.
Stage series Vester are all made of plywood, to many an inferior and above all cheap way to make an electric guitar.
True, but even if it is no real "tonewood" these guitars do sound a million and they are just quality built.
Consider the fact that plywood is used to erect the biggest buildings and you got an "axe" as strong as can be.
I was fortunate to get this Stage model with the best Vester Tele neck possible.
I did swap the horrible Stage tuners for a set of Klusons, which in my opnion are the best keys ever made.
The start of 2009 marked the beginning of a real "buying Vester guitars campaign".
My next find was an Ocean Turquoise Metallic Catalina Series Stratocaster which had no serial number on its
Vester neckplate.
Boy I love those custom colored Stratocasters of the late fifties and early sixties, so a must have in my collection.
Catalina Stratocasters have this odd narrow headstock, the one displayed in the About Vester page.
And I don't really fancy that on an otherwise pretty looking guitar. So I swapped the neck for a real Tradition
Series Stratocaster neck. That neck came from a donor Tradition Stratocaster, I will reveal later on in
this page when I show you the other Vesters I once had. I also swapped the neckplate so this baby is now #98648.
Catalina Strats have an alder body which is slightly bigger and more square at the edges than a Tradition type.
Oh before I forget, any Tradition Series skunk stripe neck has this wonderful soft V shape, an absolute must.
How about a Telecaster from the Voyager Series. I found one in Lake Placid Blue and also in an as new
condition. Could not resist.
Alder body like the Tradition/Catalina Series, but is has a rosewood fretboard glued to a thin maple neck which looks
in no way like any Telecaster neck. I might swap it for a decent Vester Tele neck some day.
Nevertheless a welcome entry into my collection. It spots serial number 90026, the lowest 9xxxx number I have
found uptil know.
The "mother of shower curtain" pickguard a.k.a. perloid is a standard feature on these Vesters.
When I got it I used to play it quite a lot but now I am giving it a rest until I got a better neck and maybe
even some Fender Tele pu's.
So the story goes on, and here comes my first Stage Series Stratocaster and look at that color, I like it so much.
Blue has always been my fav color and this is either Cobalt or Indigo Blue Metallic, but never mind.
Stage Series means plywood and cheaper hardware all around. Remember these were the beginners low cost
instruments from the Vester stable.
But again they are very well built sturdy guitars that can take a punch and honestly they sound just fine.
This guitar came with a rosewood fretboard on a maple neck, as dry as the river bed of Cripple Creek in Death Valley.
But no problem I had bought a junkyard Stage Stratocaster as a spares supplier just a week before and that one had a
great V shaped solid maple neck. Such a huge difference that made.
I had to make a Vester logo myself because the previous owner had removed that, but no sweat.
As usual I swapped the Stage tuners for a set of Klusons to make this Stratocaster, serial number 99167, tip top.
There is another speciality connected to this guitar. I gave it an octave tuning, making it a so called high strung guitar.
This still means an EADGBE set up but the lower EADG's are strung an octave highter just like on a 12 string
guitar; the B and high E do not change.
But beware you must use thinner strings, the normal gauge EADG strings cannot possibly stand this strong tension and will snap
and in a worst case it could even destroy your neck.
As a consequence I used the following gauges from high to low: 11-16-11-16-20-30.
Finally on a Stratocaster you need to screw the tremelo spring claw completely down and apply 5 springs to counter the
forces. If that is all set you got yourself a nice jingle jangle sound.
Johnny Marr formerly from the Smiths is one of those guys who uses this tuning quite a lot. And when you play together with
a standard tuned guitar you create this dominant 12 string environment. Suitable for dubbing in the studio as well.
V.A.S. Vester Acquisition Sydrom is an addiction for which there seems to be no cure.
Next I got a Blond Stage Telecaster from France sn. 99393, it has a small headstock maple board neck, but is in excellent order,
see below.
There is nothing much to say about this guitar at this moment other than I will try to find a better
neck and when that is done a set of Klusons will follow. I seem to have a taste for 99xxx numbers,
cause this is the fourth from that series.
It goes on with a Olympic White FSR320 Stratocaster which I bought from a German friend, sn. E759474. This guitar is in a very nice state considering its age and it sounds so bright, I loved it at once. The deep dark
rosewood fingerboard neck is a gorgeous one to look at and it also plays wonderful, see below.
This guitar is in reality nothing more than a Stage Series Stratocaster. The only notable difference is
the fact that is has a big Vester logo on the headstock without mentioning Stage Series.
It needed a tremelo arm and I gave it a set of Klusons.
Every time I play at home I change between 4 or 5 different guitars and this one is practically always amongst
them. My daughter loves this guitar too, I let her play it for a while.
Ever since then she is smitten on a Stage Stratocaster and that is why I gave her one, but I will come back
to that later.
Further on the road of collecting comes a three tone Sunburst Stage Stratocaster, got this one from Spain, sn. 96907. It was in a poor state but I managed to upgrade this instrument to make it look first class. I removed to worn maple neck and installed a Vester rosewood fingerboard neck with Klusons in stead. Thanks to a set of Tradition Series pick ups it has a very melodic strong sound, see below.
In the meantime it has got its tremelo arm back as well.
Typically on 2 or 3 tone sunburst Stage Stratocasters is the way the dark brown paint is applied to the body.
As it is a plywood body the shaping of the front and back contour would expose the ugly layers of wood,
making it cosmetically unsuitable to give it a transparent color.
Therefore those areas are covered in dark paint, masking the unelegant parts.
This spraying technique is always the give away for any plywood body.
Then came a lefty Tradition Stratocaster in Vintage White from Germany. I liked the idea of having a matching couple left and right. I am planning to make it right hand play. The guitar is in excellent order, like new old stock, and carries sn. 92399. See below.
The matching couple:
Two times left makes right isn't that right???
Funny how things can develop. The vintage white lefty was barely in my collection when another lefty, this time a black
Stage Stratocaster was offered to me.
It came as an incomplete set of parts, including neckplate with serial number 92260,see below.
I would not have taken up this challenge if I did have ample resources to make it complete.
And look at how it turned out to be, a right hand play/neck - lefty Stratocaster.
Ain't she sweet??
Another matching pair.
I found this 3 tone sunburst Stage Stratocaster via a Dutch second hand site.
And when it arrived it appeared to be one very attractive original package. The guitar had been well taken care of
by the previous owner. And in spite of having had a busy playing career in hard rock it did not show any flaws.
It has a rather chunky V shaped solid maple neck with some nice flame and some quilted pattern as well.
Serial number E756761.
I have been searching for a red Stage Stratocaster for quite some time and all of a sudden two of them pop up for sale in the same week.
One in Denmark the other one in England.
I immediately contacted a Danish friend of mine and asked him to be my intermediate in getting that guitar
to my home. In spite of his full co-operation the deal fell through because seller withdrew his advertisement with no reason given.
Much to my regret because that guitar had all the specs I was aiming for.
But then there was still the other "red" Strat in the UK, which was offered under the condition of local pick up.
So I contacted the seller and asked him if he was willing to send it to the continent in stead. His reply was 100% positive
and the only thing left for me to do was putting up the best bid; which I did.
I am very grateful for the utmost friendly treatment I was given by the seller and the swift way of transport, considering the postal
strike in Britain.
The guitar is with me since last week. It needed the replacement of all pots (frozen solid). I swapped the Stage neck for a
Tradition item with my preferred Kluson keys. I was only able to finish it yesterday and played it for 2 1/2 hours today (2nd Nov. 2009).
One very nice feather light player and a guitar that must be declared new old stock because of its impeccable state. It looks as if it has been
in a closet or under the bed for quite some years with hardly any playing wear at all. Serial number is 93219.
About the color, my first impression was a kind of seminole red, an early Fender custom color. But it is not that, it is more a cross
between salmon pink and light metallic flaked red. According to the brochure this guitar, type designation FSR330, should be pink but I
don't believe it. I still have to get accustomed to the color.
Group shots:
My Vester VA400SC Stereo Chorus Guitar amplifier, 45 watts.
My Vester VM210R, 2 channel lead amplifier, 30 watts.
The failures, disapppointments and the ones that did not stay:
My (first) number 2 Tradition Telecaster was one with a 3 piece ash body, a type of wood rarely seen on Vesters, but .......
it was reliced. Now I don't mind people relicing guitars and stuff but only if it is done expertly, like Rebel Relic.
In this case the guitar had been given a bad treatment. Something like scratching with a screwdriver and also chipping off
slices of wood along the edges with a knife. Some people...........................
Finally the guitar had that silly small headstock and it started to work on my nerves.
So I sold it. Here is a pic, the serial number was 95984.
Another orphan child was this Gibson Chet Atkins copy, the Vester Electro Acoustic SAC28.
Nicely built guitar, pretty sound, and........ difficult to keep in tune.
But the main reason was the big neck width, I just could not get to grips with that.
Therefore I decided it had to go.
One day I bought this Tradition Jazz Bass in olympic white with a tort pickguard, serial number 92667,
which I should not have done in the first place.
I kept it for 3 weeks and sold it to a happy buyer.
This Tradition 2 Tone Sunburst Stratocaster, a real cold target burst by the way.
I took it , case included, for one reason only: the neck.
I needed that to upgrade my Ocean Turquoise Metallic Catalina Strat (see above) which also got
the Serial number of this guitar 98648.
I sold the fully loaded body (to my sincere regrets). Stupid boy!!!!
Here is that Ocean Turquoise Metallic Catalina Strat in its original configuration.
Boy I hated that neck, the worst I have ever owned. This dead piece of wood should have been used as a
baseball bat, and not for guitar playing. The neck got a new owner by the way, he said he liked it.......
From Sweden came this Tradition Stratocaster with a transparent blond ash body and all gold plated
hardware, serial number 97288. The previous owner modified this one quite extensively, which he should
not have done the way he did it.
The pick up cavities of a Tradition Strat are big enough to accomodate a set of P90's or even a mini humbucker,
if you really want that, but not these 1960's Klira buckers.
The worst things: a horrible pickguard (not the color) totally unsuitable in size and lay out, but most
of all the hack job underneath it.
So I made it into a source of spares. Sold all goldplated (Wilkinson) stuff and the Klira buckers.
The 22 fret extended neck of this guitar is now mated to my lefty Stage blackie.
Hmmmm there is something with ash bodied Vesters, be careful......................
A high end Limited Edition Custom Shop built, full depth Vester VSS 577 electro acoustic, came last winter and it left
this summer to one very able Chinese guitar player.
It was one guitar of the utmost beauty. Tiger striped body top, bottom and sides, all abalone inlay.
Never had such a vintage Cadillac of guitars in my hands. Serial number was 651687.
Why did it have to go? Well she did not need me, she needed a better acoustic player and found her home.
There are two more Vesters that I once had, but unfourtunately there are no pics.
One was a two tone Sunburst Stage lefty Stratocaster. It was one hell of a pile of crap.
If your were looking for an explanation of the word DIRT, you did not need to look any further.
I was able to sell it in some usable bits and pieces.
The other one was also a Stage Stratocaster, this time a vintage white, serial number E759758.
It was a junk yard dog of a guitar (I knew that before I got it) but it was a great source of
spares, It had the attractive skunk stripe solid maple neck and that is sitting on my blue Stage
Strat now. I still have the plate:
A Vester pickguard travels the world:
I needed an original Vester pickguard for a guitar I bought via Ebay Germany. And I contacted one of my
Vester friends in England, asking him if he still had that Vester guard lying around which he swapped for a
Fender item. He said yes, you can have it, I'll send it to you by mail. Thanks again Stuart you are a real trooper.
And so he did. But it took a week, yet another week and still no pickguard. Stu and me we got very worried.
Finally after 18 days it arrived, and guess what, it came from Thailand.
Although the address on the envelope was 100% clear and correct, some postal clerk from Royal Mail England
must have thought that my country was a part of the Asian continent.
The envelope read: missent to Thailand. Luckily it arrived after all in an undamaged state.
Fraud:
Ever heard of Murphy's law?? Yes?? Well so did I and I am not even a lawyer.
Remember that pickguard I described above, I needed it for a purpose, for a candy apple red Vester Tradition
Stratocaster which I bought via Ebay Germany 21st June 2009.
That guitar had an all wrong ill fitting guard (otherwise completely original), and I thought I'd better get me a real
Vester item to swap it when the Strat arrives.
At this time of writing 60 days have passed since I bought that Strat and it is still not with me. What happened?
I bought it, transferred the money next day, the payment arrived within a week.
I asked the seller for a confirmation of receipt of payment as well as a date of despatch and parcel tracking code.
It took him about 3 weeks to despatch the guitar and another week to communicate the tracking number.
When I got that number (Saturday 18th July) I could determine that the parcel had been delivered just the day before.
But not to me. So I phoned the forwarder on Monday, they assured me the shipment was delivered at no. 2 in my street.
I said: " that is all wrong I don't live there, I live at number 20".
So I called my neigbours at no. 2 and they said: we have been offered the parcel but we refused it and gave it back to
the driver; we did not order anything from Germany.
Next day, I went to the forwarder's depot to try and clear up the matter.
Guess what? They sent it back to the seller Friday the 17th July (5 days earlier). I have got written proof of that.
So I contacted the seller telling him what happened, and he promised to resent it to me at his expense.
He broke his promise after he got to know what extra charges that brought about.
And now, he's got my guitar (again) and my money and does not communicate anymore.
I'll speak to my lawyer next Monday.
Here two pictures of that guitar:
2nd November 2009 and this guitar is still not in my possession.
All the way from Denmark came this faded three tone sunburst "1962 copy" Vester Stratocaster. I was looking for such a guitar a very long time and patience paid off. It has all the sixties Stratocaster ingredients like the triple ply scratchplate with 11 screws and the thick `slab` rosewood fingerboard neck. Serial number is 97046.
I sold it to a German friend of mine. Why? Although it was a very good guitar, it was one sunburst too
many and I have other Vester wishes to be fulfilled so I let it go.
It is in excellent hands for sure.
