Saw this ad on Craigslist today, going to check it out after work...

http://norfolk.craigslist.org/msg/3608421615.html

Anything look fishy in the photo? Seems an awful low price... anything obvious I should look for to identify it as a fake or one to steer clear of? And is the price a great deal, or was this a cheaper model (satin finish) than a normal Mexi standard?

I would like to have a strat again, but I would hate to blow $150 on a hunk o' crap without knowing it. Help me out guys, make me an informed buyer!

I'm no expert but that headstock looks huge!

Looks like maybe it is a Modern Player series?

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Tiger J

my gear:

Jackson USA Phil Collen PC-1
Warmoth Custom-Build Stratocaster (The Andersong)
Fender American Special Stratocaster
Squier J. Mascis Jazzmaster
Fender Mustang GT40
Eleven HeadRush w/ two Alto TS212 FRFRs

That's a genuine ltd edition Mex std strat. I have the same guitar with a maple neck. Early 2000's, 4 or 5 colours in that satin finish with black plastic. Only done for a year.

That's what I was thinking, I vaguely remeber them hanging up in Guitar Center. Were they a lower priced version, like the Gibson "Faded" or "Worn" finish Les Pauls and SGs, or was it just a finish option change, and they ran normal price-ish? That's what I don't remember about them. Not that it's a dealbreaker either way, I'd just like to know what a "good" price is so I know if I'm actually getting a great deal, or if I'm putting in money that will be hard to get back out if I decide later on I don't like the guitar...

By the way, the guy flaked out tonight, we rescheduled tentatively for tomorrow. Not a good sign, but I'll remain optimistic for now.

they were the same price as the normal MIM std, just a different finish. i wasnt even looking for a strat, they didnt interest me. i was intrigued by the paint finish, so picked it up to have a look. had a little play, 20 minutes later im walking out the door with it, it just felt right i couldnt say no.





i love the paint, to the point where id want my 'custom shop' fender painted the same way. it feels like teflon.

'yours' looks the same colour as mine. they also did blue, red, and 'wine red' coloured ones. google 'fender satin strat' and a few pictures come up.

for a buck fifty...i say get it.

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"Where would rock and roll be without feedback?"

Well, this is now officially a NGD thread.

Seems to be okay, I haven't plugged it in yet... but I will most likely gut the electronics anyway. it's got some cool figuring to the back of the neck, didn't really come out in the photo though. <_<











The one bad spot in the paint, on the back... <_<


For the price, I couldn't pass. (I already had the empty case, so it was a matter of time before I bought a strat to put in it anyway, LOL!)

It's missing the trem bar, but I have a few old ones laying around from a Squier and a no-name import, so I'll see if one of those fits before I go hunting for a replacement.

As much as I kinda dig the satin finish, I think I'll be repainting it in a silverburst, using the paint scheme of the antigua burst finish with the pickguard painted to match the body, with its' own burst. Sorta like this, only fading from metallic silver inside to black outside like a Gibson silverburst:

You should ask the moderators to move this thread to the Stratocaster section.
As far as gutting the electronics .... Why ....
Those pups are the vintage MIM's, they are quite good, just need a little tweaking, upgrade your volume and tone pots to high quality pots, do a search on rewiring for various tonal differences and you could also look into using TBX tone pots with 220K Caps instead of 82K cap.
There is a site dedicated to Strat rewiring. I suggest you do a bit of research before spending a lot of cash on overpriced Pups .... But YMMV

Nice catch however ....

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

I'm thinking of going with 2 fullsized humbuckers and a new pickguard, if the existing body routing allows. If not, I'll probably stick with what's there for simplicity. It'll be a backup/spare anyway, more of a project than anything.

Nah. Anyone who's taken pics of strats knows that it looks like that when the angle is taken from above. You gotta crouch down to get a straight on view to get a good pic of a strat. You could also say the body looks small, right? But notice how the camera was held at about 5 feet in the air, looking down at the guitar.

Again why .... if this wasn't what you wanted then why destroy it, that being said if you are going to go the HB route, consider using stacked coils which are HB's but instead of side by side coils the coils are configured vertically.
You might also want to consider a set of Texas Specials which in the 2 and 4 position on a five way switch are basically Hum cancelling since they are reverse wound / reverse pole.

I just don't see the reason to hack into a perfectly good guitar unless absolutely necessary...
But it's your guitar and just keep in mind that once you chisel or route out the body cavity, there is no return and if you want to sell it later, it will be difficult to recoup your buying expenditure ...

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

Well, if it's not routed for buckers, I'll probably skip that part of the mod. And considering what I paid for it, I could sell the neck alone and get my money back, so I'm not stressing that. I'm not really a "Strat guy" per se, I've owned a few and just never seem to bond with them. The ones I did had at least a full sized bridge bucker, and my favorite has been my crappy Squire with two buckers, so I'm thinking I'll love it best in that configuration. Either way, Its destined for the silverburst repaint, which is my main desire in a strat for i have no idea how long now. Odds are I'll leave the electronics alone for quite some time anyway, as I don't have pickups to put in it, nor do I want to spend money on them. So, time will tell, I guess. Really, I just needed something with a trem, as I sold off my PRS Singlecut Trem to buy a bass rig when I took my current gig as a bassist, and all I had left were stoptail guitars...

I cant believe you're going to scrap such a rare genuine fender finish. You say you're in no rush swap the satin body for one that needs paint and make some money in the process. Somebody will appreciate that body.

Also from vague memory of mine humbuckers will need new routing. Another reason to swap for a new body.

Anymore information on the mim 'vintage pups'?

As far as My experience with them, I had them in my Crimson Red Player Strat, it's the set up with the Push/Push switch.... To be honest I was extremely dissapointed with them, found them flat, and just not a good tone.
So I yanked them out and replaced them with SCN's, standard Strat wiring without the Push/push switch.....
As an experiment and for the lack of another set of pups, I used the MIM Vint's in my Stratopartster I build, 2 TBX tone pots, 1 Vol, 5 way switch, used a 220k cap instead of the 82k which comes with the TBX's....
I was pleasantly surprised as to the difference. from an under voiced SSS pup they became crisp, capable of this great natural distortion ... Quite versatile as it has become my Go To Strat everyday.... If you can find them, they are quite cheap on the resale market but are really worth a little tweaking with Tone pots and where they are installed ...

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "