1984 Fernandes STC-70
4120122
 
This Fernandes STC-70 was advertised for a very short while in late 1984 and early 1985, but does not appear in the official catalogues from these years. There is a lovely pic of Kirk Hammett with this guitar in the background. The STC range didn’t appear in the brochures until 1987 – all single pick-up “Heavy Beauty” models - the STC-50 had the Strat body and headstock, the STC-70 had the longer horns (Jackson style), and the STJ-85 had the pointy headstock. This STC-70 has the Strat body and pointy headstock, the FRT bridge, a pair of VS-1 singles and a VH-1B humbucker. It was a no-nonsense Super-Strat; 4 years before we saw the Charvel Models 1C and 3.
 
This used to be white, but as with many white 35 year old Fernandes’, it has become banana yellow. It has faded gracefully – very evenly across the body and neck – the rear of the neck being colour coded on these models.
 
The body has taken hundreds of knocks over the year – the finish is chipped and dinged everywhere – through to wood damage touched up with what we hoped was yellow insulation tape, but turns out to be probably nail varnish. There is little point in us refinishing this guitar – the neck matches the body, the blemishes are at least everywhere – not just an unsightly scar.
 
The neck has a great feel to it – the rosewood board is in fine condition and there is plenty of life left in the frets. All the hardware works as it should – there is a small wobble from the bridge posts that we will sort out before it leaves us. The pick-ups sound great through a driven amp – neutral and balanced clean.
 
The comfort of a Strat chamfered body, the pointy headstock look, the honest hard rock delivery from the set-up – it is probably an unrepeatable experience. Have you ever seen another one?
A tough sell this – no-one looks for a model that they don’t know about, so this is going to appeal to someone who just wants something different. It isn’t trying to be a new Charvel but it will be this or a new Korean SM-1. This battle-scarred rock guitar has Japanese quality, reputable and certainly not an unfashionable brand, you’ll definitely be the only one who has one.
 
It’s the Edward J Olmos of heavy rock guitars…