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Post subject: Something fishy about my Fender FR48?
Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 12:19 am
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Joined: Fri Dec 02, 2011 5:33 pm
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My ebay FR-48 arrived a few days ago. It's in brand new condition, as advertised, but I have a few concerns I'm not sure if I should worry about. I bought this because it seemed like a good price on an entry level reso few people have complained about. I paid $280 all in.

It was my original understanding that these were made in Korea although I have seen a few references to Chinese FR-48s. The only picture I've found of the back of the headstock shows the Korea origin and what appears to be a serial number. The back of the headstock on the one I bought looks like this:

Image

Pictures of the front of the headstock show a logo that's nearly as wide as the headstock itself. Here's mine:

Image

The logo is inlaid MOP even though the picture doesn't show that clearly. The edges of the rosewood overlay weren't quite perfectly sanded before the finish was applied but for the price, I can't complain.

I don't have any specific complaints, really. It sounds good. The action is good. It looks like it's in absolute mint condition. It could use new strings. The strings are light gauge, discolored and installed incorrectly with the ball ends on top of the tailpiece. There's a piece of felt between the strings and the underside of the tailpiece. I've read that the Chinese FR-48s usually came that way. It has what looks like a maple saddle on a plastic bridge which I may upgrade. The seller claimed to not be a dealer and said this was unused from his "personal inventory." Today, I ran across another of these guitars for the same price on Craigslist from the same city. I'm not sure what that means, if anything, except that it looks like someone had a "personal inventory" of several of these and is selling them for less than they normally go for.

Image

Does anyone else here have a Chinese FR-48? Does your headstock look like mine?

Information on the FR-48 is pretty scarce. I think they were introduced in 2003 and production ended around 2008. They sold for about $600-$700 new and used ones bring $350-$500 from what I've seen. Does anyone know anything else about these guitars?


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