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| Here's another example of an Aussie craftsman (or in this instance craftsmen) showing the world that we can do it as well as anyone! This stunning Stratocaster® was made in 1994 by the then father-and-son team of Merv and Jim Cargill, here in Melbourne, Australia. Merv these days takes much more of a backseat, enjoying his semi-retirement, but still does some specialist work such as the stunning sunburst finishes he is famous for (see the 1952 Gibson SJ-200 he did a top refinish on recently). It was a custom build for a customer, and bears the serial number 1179. I have seen the handwritten entry myself in the Cargill's ledger. In that entry are all the details that confirm what my inspection of the guitar had identified. It has a one-piece (yes, one-piece) Swamp Ash body, Rock Maple neck with slab Rosewood fretboard. The Strat® body and neck from heaven! Then, it has been fitted with original 1960s L-series Fender® grey-bottom staggered-pole pickups rewound by Merv. These pickups are simply delicious! To further enhance the available tones of the guitar, it was also fitted with a small switch which puts the neck pickup in and out of circuit, which means you can utilise all three pickups together, or just front and back pickups, as well as the range of selections normally available on the 5-way switch. To top it off, it was also fitted with a pre-amp, one of the last of a batch Merv Cargill had custom-made in the 1970s with all-discrete circuitry (not a chip in sight) and using FETs - Field-Effect Transistors - which are known for their sonic characteristics. This pre-amp is switched in and out of circuit with the push-pull pot on the bottom tone control. All hardware is gold-plated, and the guitar has had minimal use by the original owner from whom I purchased this guitar, so has virtually no wear to the plating. This will become one of my main gigging guitars, along with my Gilet Strat® and Tele®, so this will gradually change over time! I've just had the guitar tweeked and set up by Jim Cargill, so now it's time to gig this guitar and fully explore its potential. (The fret buff has to be the best I've ever seen done!) Sold to Cam in Victoria
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