The original Mary Kaye Strat – one of the most iconic Fender electric guitars of all time – has sold for $227,500 at auction.
That puts the 1956 Stratocaster, which is draped in a historic translucent-blonde finish and gold hardware, comfortably in its estimated sale price of $200,000 to $300,000 after 10 bids.
Believed to be Fender’s first-ever Custom Shop model, this particular Strat first debuted as part of a now-iconic Fender promotional photoshoot from 1956 that featured the legendary Las Vegas performer’s ensemble, the Mary Kaye Trio.
At the time, it was the first Strat to feature this particular aesthetic set up, its translucent blonde finish complemented with a maple fretboard, white plastic, and gold hardware. The term ‘Mary Kaye’ quickly came to represent the instrument’s entire chic and, 68 years later, it remains one of Fender’s most recognizable cosmetic set-ups.
Google ‘Mary Kaye Strat’ and you can be hit with some crazy asking prices for second-hand Custom Shop builds and copies of the 50th-anniversary edition, which was released in 2006. None are a dot on the price the real deal has gone for, though.
“Of all the rare, sought-after custom model guitars introduced by Fender over the decades, few have inspired the kind of cult following that the Mary Kaye Stratocaster has,” says Fender.
Yet, ironically, the guitar in the photoshoot never actually belonged to Kaye. Instead, she favored custom D’Angelicos, but because of that one photoshoot – and a few one-off uses – her name will forever be linked to that Strat.
Then-Fender president Don Randall loaned Kaye the guitar again for the Mary Kaye Trio’s appearance in the 1956 film Cha Cha Cha Boom! This merely added further fuel to the guitar’s mystical fire and Kaye’s association with it.
“Within the broader context of pop music, we have examples of artists who became heavily associated with a color: Prince with purple,” Mike Adams, the in-house guitar appraiser of auction house Julien’s, recently told Guitar World.
“David Gilmour’s famous black Strat comes to mind, Zakk Wylde’s Bullseye Les Paul, The White Stripes’ iconic red and white scheme, and even Jack White’s recent fascination with blue could all be good examples of this phenomenon.”
Yet none can claim to have taken ownership over an entire aesthetic quite like Kaye.
“The Mary Kaye is interesting because of the unfortunate nature of the guitar industry,” he expanded. “Women historically haven’t received the coverage and attention they deserve compared with their male counterparts, and as a result, you don’t see as many cited examples of women who are heavily associated with a single instrument.
“This Stratocaster is inextricably linked to a female artist which makes it that much more special, and thankfully, things within the industry appear to be changing.”
Of course, Superbowl-smashing guitarist H.E.R. has made history with her series of signature Strats, and more recently Jackson – part of the Fender family – made Tetrach’s Diamond Rowe its first female signature artist, and Jackson’s first African American female signature artist.
Visit Julien’s to find out more about the Mary Kaye Strat.
