Dick Dale's guitar

[Olav]

Dick Dale plays his guitars strung right handed, so this one is ready for him to pick up and play.

Mel, that is really weird! ... I have never followed DD that closely, he must be unique in this field and in that light it would seem obvious that Dick Dale is an entirely self taught player. Amazing.

Jon, thanks for that interesting info on Magnatone

Paul,
The upside down stringing is why the Dick Dale strat has a flipped headstock and bridge pickup angled opposite normal - they were trying to replicate the stringing on his guitar!

And managed to NOT offer it lefty...

[Dennisthe Menace]

The knobs look as though they came off of a 60s ACOUSTIC Amp.......

[Strat-o-rama]

Pure conjecture, folks: The pickguard on the Magnatone is not original, and as best I can recall, they never had those fancy curlique style guards on them. I wonder if they were made by, or at least inspired by, a well revered name around here...After all, DD was friendly with the Collins Kids.

[Haole Jim]

Dick also uses .013 gauge strings and calls his ax, "The Beast."

His Dual Showman cab is stuffed with fibreglas insulation, too.

[jfine]

I had a chance to examine Dick's Strat at the NAMM show in 2003 (with Dick looking over my shoulder!) and not only does he string it right-handed (but plays it left-handed), but his bridge-saddle heights are all over the place--they don't follow the fretboard radius at all. His recollection is that he got the guitar from Leo Fender in the mid-'50's, and if his memory is accurate, and it may not be--heck, I can't remember when I got certain guitars in the '90's!--that would make it the first rosewood-board Strat ever made, as rosewood boards didn't show up on production Strats until 1959.

[MWaldorf]

FYI, Mr. Dale is known for a certain level of hyperbole.

[Strat-o-rama]

While DD is famous for his hyperbolic tales, I don't doubt he knew Leo personally. I would think that "The Beast" has been factory upgraded through the years. If DD had a fifties Strat, I could see Leo changing the necks out to the new, better rosewood fretboard version. Also, The Beast has been through a few paint jobs. Before it was Chartreuse Sparkle it appears to have been a pearlescent sparkle, and somewhere I heard DD say it was originally a sunburst. It is documented that Fender produced these special finishes by having the bodies sprayed at custom car shops in the Fullerton area.
Also of interest, Ivan from the band The Spaces Cossacks has actually played The Beast, and said it is one of the slimmest Strat necks he has ever played.

[Mr. Bill]

There is a story that Leo Fender complained of a loss of hearing from a personal encounter with Dick Dale.

As I remember it, DD was at the factory to have his gear worked on and while showing Leo what was wrong, the amp and guitar started to feedback. Leo was apparently standing in front of the JBL cabinets at the time, and reportedly loss a little high frequency hearing from that point on.

[stl80]

Wow, Mr. Bill, runaway showmans.....Ouch.
Jim