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Post subject: American Elite Online Purchase
Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2019 4:26 pm
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I recently played an American Elite Strat while I was on a trip out of state. I loved the feel and sound and have decided to buy one. Unfortunately, there are none in stock at guitar shops near me, so I'll be making the purchase from an online dealer. I have played acoustics for many years, but I'm not real familiar with electrics. Does anyone have suggestions on what I might look for, or stay away from when picking out a strat from photographs. I'll be getting a sunburst with maple fingerboard, so grain patterns will be apparent on both body and neck. I don't like the look of grain runout, so all of my acoustic guitar tops are well sawn and look pretty seamless. I'll definitely be looking for a no seam look here as well.

I also see quite a bit of variation in weight from guitar to guitar. They seem to range from 7.5 to 9.5 pounds. I like my acoustics light, but would I be sacrificing tone and sustain in going light here?

Thanks for any input.


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Post subject: Re: American Elite Online Purchase
Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 1:37 am
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Location: Province de Québec, Canada
If the look ( of the wood ) is important for you, stay away to order from on line store

Read here; https://forums.fender.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=117908


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Post subject: Re: American Elite Online Purchase
Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 7:29 am
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I would just limit my purchase to online dealers that have clear, high res photos.

The color tones may be a bit different when you receive it from what your PC or whatever device you view on is, but if it's the grain structures of the underlying wood that is a concern the pics will reveal that.


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Post subject: Re: American Elite Online Purchase
Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 11:34 am
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Most on line stores, unless they are selling second hand, will use the distributors library photos to generate the slot on their web site so the probability of seeing the actual guitar you are buying is almost nil in such situations. There are exceptions as I understand but the norm is you are the first person to see the guitar after it it was packed at the factory.

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After all this time I should be better.


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Post subject: Re: American Elite Online Purchase
Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 11:37 am
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Location: Province de Québec, Canada
John Sims wrote:
Most on line stores, unless they are selling second hand, will use the distributors library photos to generate the slot on their web site so the probability of seeing the actual guitar you are buying is almost nil in such situations. There are exceptions as I understand but the norm is you are the first person to see the guitar after it it was packed at the factory.



+1000

" the actual guitar you are buying is almost nil in such situations. "


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Post subject: Re: American Elite Online Purchase
Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 5:14 pm
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I'll be buying from a dealer that posts hi-res photos, weights, neck measurements, serial #'s, etc of the actual individual guitars that are being sold.


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Post subject: Re: American Elite Online Purchase
Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2019 12:08 pm
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stratele52 wrote:
If the look ( of the wood ) is important for you, stay away to order from on line store

Read here; https://forums.fender.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=117908


Thanks for posting the link to that thread. It's an interesting and unfortunate situation. I guess the lesson there is that if you are buying from an online dealer without seeing photos of the actual guitar, make sure they have a return policy that allows you to send it back if you don't like it. Many reputable dealers allow you to return a guitar within a certain window of time if you are not happy for any reason.


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Post subject: Re: American Elite Online Purchase
Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2019 12:31 pm
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KidBlast wrote:
I would just limit my purchase to online dealers that have clear, high res photos.

The color tones may be a bit different when you receive it from what your PC or whatever device you view on is, but if it's the grain structures of the underlying wood that is a concern the pics will reveal that.


Good advice Kidblast. I agree 100%. Also a good point to keep in mind about color tones.
Thanks


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