...Which is of course a far more likely possibility.

BTW: I wonder if musomackem would think of going back and shrinking those original pictures, please, so's we can view this page more easily?

Cheers - C

The tone cap looks like a sprauge orange drop xx uf @ 400v type. Not usually something thrown on a cheap fake.
That the guitar could be a fake doesnt mean that its not worth £350. Pensa, anderson, tyler all make some very nice fakes that cost a bit more than £350.

Interesting.

The cap looks to me like it's a Phillips 100uF @ 250V. I don't know how "cheap" those are, but I suspect they're quite common as far as caps go.

As with Ceri, I'm certainly no expert in this area so my comments should probably be taken with a grain of salt as it were.

Original or not, the instrument has most certainly been "altered" at one point or other...the bridge as you said, the apparent inserts on the neck pocket (which was a rather popular mod) and perhaps even the pick guard shielding as well, so I wouldn't count on a great deal of collectors value as a whole. People who are interested in these instruments as "investments" typically want the piece to be original and unaltered (barring other issues such as it being owned/played by someone famous such as Hendrix or Clapton or something). Also, without specific stamps, dates or numbers on the body (and it's been my experience that Fender was typically very good about these things) and without any specific, verifiable documentation on the history of this instrument, even if it is "the real McCoy", it's going to be VERY difficult to prove, thus reducing any potential collectors value even more. Unfortunately without any kind of proof that this instrument is of a given vintage (what you suggest or otherwise), as you've already discovered, it's going to be hard to determine if this is even a "real" Fender, let alone if it's actually worth anything at all. As I'm sure you are well aware, now a days even headstock logos and serial numbers can be very easily "faked".

Now that said, I would also like to add that vintage, collectors, lack there of, or otherwise...this doesn't mean that the instrument isn't "worth" what you payed for it (unless you were buying it specifically as a collectors piece instead of a musical instrument...in which case you were a bit foolish to not get any documentation). If you -like- the instrument and are happy with it otherwise, then it's worth what you paid...and only you can decide that. Personally, I'm not a collector...I'm a musician. When I buy a guitar (or other piece of equipment) I don't do it because I think it's valuable (or may be valuable in the future), I buy a given guitar because I LIKE that guitar...I like the way it feels, the way it sounds and because I believe that it's something that's going to inspire me to play.

Unless you do get some specific proof that this is a genuine piece and has some sort of collectors value (and I mean something other than the subjective comments of strangers from an internet forum), I wouldn't drive myself nuts over it. Play it, enjoy it and be happy you have a nice instrument .

Just my $.02 worth,
Jim

On the headstock, there's no breaks in the laquer at all, so if "someone" has just stuck the logo on, I can't see how they could've dont it. The finish is machine-perfect.

The tone cap looks like a sprauge orange drop xx uf @ 400v type. Not usually something thrown on a cheap fake.

Mate you've got the thing infront of you. If anyone can tell you can.

The logo on an original '50s Strat is a decal on top of the lacquer!

Check out http://www.provide.net/~cfh/fender.html for all the gory details, like the use of Kluson Tuners, not Grover.



I didn't use the word "cheap" ... it appears to be of very nice quality. The body is especially nice.

Have they ever used this logo as a non-decal? Like as a reissue maybe?

Ah, now that one I do know. Reissues also have the logo decal period accurate on top of the lacquer - we've had several people posting here to complain about it after damaging it!

Thanks for sorting the original pics, by the way. Much more comfortable, and easier to view seperately.

...Dunno. The date stamp missing from the heel is worrying - but I wouldn't know whether that happened sometimes on legit Fenders. Somehow the vibe just feels wrong for a pirate decal fakocaster - but impossible to tell from pics.

I think it's someone's project guitar built from parts, with maybe a self-built bod. I have this West London thing going on in my head. Let's ring Roger Giffin and ask him...

- C

So... has this sort of logo ever been used as a "non-decal", does anyone know?

I always presumed there was a large chance that the body was a fake or from some other "probably-ESP-or-A.N.Other-non-Fender" guitar, but I was fairly sure that at least the neck was real.

Surely it's too good a job for the neck to be a complete fake? I mean, if someone can make necks at a quality like this then surely they'd be making their own branded guitars instead? It seems a lot of effort to go to just to make a fake that eventually sold to me for £350. Getting the logo and varnishing to look so perfectly finished is surely something that only comes with either a skilled luthier or a mass-production neck factory, and surely either way it wouldn't be worth the effort for the return they'd get?

Or am I being naive about the luthering skills and production costs of the Far East faker companies?

Well, just being a high quality neck doesn't automatically make it a fender. And really a LOT of people have the skills to do a professional finish on a neck. The neck may in fact be vintage, but I believe you could still get ahold of factory stickers back then, so its not a stretch to believe someone slapped a fender sticker on a sweet non fender neck. Given the age of the instrument, it is not unreasonable to suspect it was made out of parts from several sources, some or all of which may or may not be fender. Hope that muddies it up for ya.

The text on the headstock...

FENDER STRATOCASTER
WITH SYNCHRONIZED TREMOLO
PAT 2,573,254 2,741,146

Original Contour Body
Pat Pend

Does anyone recall a single model of Strat that had either "PAT 2,573,254 2,741,146" underneath "With Synchronized Tremolo" or with "Pat Pend" underneath "Original Contour Body"?

Ah... closing in... early 60's models had Pet Pend and patent numbers...

In fact, this headstock text is identical to mine...

http://www.provide.net/~cfh/61strat.html

...but it's a rosewood fretboard and mine's not.