2 guitars!!

Isaac Taylor · **Joined:** Tue Nov 06, 2007 8:31 am **Posts:** 42

Hello everyone!! I was in a pawn shop yesterday and they had a green/maple neck strat for $399. I plugged up and played it and noticed strings a little rusty and 5-way switch was very noisy. Told the sales rep aand he noticed so he dropped price to $300. By the way on the headstock it said made in Japan. It seemed like it hadn't been touched in a while but otherwise Ok. Would you buy it? Also there was I believe a natural bodied ash strat with big headstock for $399. Which would you buy?

bradymoore · **Joined:** Wed Nov 19, 2008 12:18 pm **Posts:** 155

Buy both!!!!

Twelvebar · **Posted:** Tue Feb 10, 2009 12:14 pm

BigJay wrote:

You are going to get all kinds of recommendations that say "play the guitars and buy the one you like". Boy is that helpful.....

Im not like that.

I think you pass on the japanese strat. You can buy them all day on Ebay for $300, maybe less. The strings and the switch are corroded (the noisy switch suggests it hasnt been toggled for some time....corrosion) tells you its not a great deal. Why hasnt somebody bought it yet if its such a great price? the fact he is willing to drop the price so quickly and significantly suggests he has been sitting on it for a while, looking for a chump and is now ready to move it.

Im intrigued by the ash body/fat headstock guitar, however. You should check the serial number. If the serial number starts with a D....buy it without question. If not, examine further. Without knowing more about it, it sounds interesting. It might be a foreign made reissue, and at $350 might be a decent deal. Although I'd work the guy. If its American made, its worth twice that much, maybe three times. Either way, it sounds like a better deal.

However Jay if that is an 80's Japanese strat, it would be worth it to buy it, even if it does cost you some money to fix it up.

SlapChop · **Joined:** Tue Jan 27, 2009 3:41 pm **Posts:** 1257

BigJay: You should take another look at eBay. Searching completed auctions shows that Japanese Strats start at more like $400, and most go for more. The only one I could find that went for less than 3 bills was a Squier.

Twelvebar · **Posted:** Tue Feb 10, 2009 12:23 pm

BigJay wrote:

Well, you know what they say about when we "assume"....it makes an $@! out of u and me....

Considering I own an 85 MIJ Contemporary and know it it be worth $500+, I must agree and recant.

So, to rephrase....Unless its an "S-series" MIJ, its likely not such a great deal.

Man...I really wish Fender hadnt distributed so many different varieties of Strats. It really hard to keep them straight.

haha, ya, but more is more fun!!

CAFeathers · **Posted:** Tue Feb 10, 2009 12:38 pm

Mid 80's MIJ E Series Strats seem to the most sought after. I payed $300 for my 1986 E Series, but I got extremely lucky. I recently picked up an 1986 F Series for $700, which is also a good deal considering the condition. Both of mine are Left Handed too.

The major reason for the price difference is the E Series was not all original, the F Series was.

As far as which one to buy, I would have bought both as they sound like great deals. If I had to choose I would have got the one that I like better.

texasguitarslinger · **Posted:** Tue Feb 10, 2009 1:09 pm

Pawn shops don't have the deals they used to. Now they just go online and try to sell you a guitar at three times the price of one on ebay. Once I was looking at a Jackson bass at a pawn shop and they wanted $700 for it. It was beat up too. I looked online and found them in perfect condition going for $300 on ebay.
But I did find a Peavey T-60 for $100 at a pawn shop once, 1979 in mint condition. They go for over $300 on ebay, so I guess there are a few deals out there.

nikininja · **Posted:** Tue Feb 10, 2009 2:34 pm

Ive never played a bad Japanese strat. Not something i can say about mexican or american guitars. Japanese quality control is a thing the western world can only dream about. Their very consistent as to what passes and doesnt pass.
I'd of snapped it up. A set of strings is £3.50 and a switch will usually rectify if its flicked through the positions quickly. Switch cleaner would sort it in a bad case.

Synkronized · **Posted:** Tue Feb 10, 2009 3:38 pm

I would probably buy it

bluesdown · **Posted:** Tue Feb 10, 2009 4:22 pm

I've never played a bad MIJ either. If it plays nice then I'd grab it at that price. I have an MIJ and love it. But I did pass on an Ash strat years ago... ahh the ones that got away. Let us know what you descide.

DB11 · **Posted:** Tue Feb 10, 2009 5:34 pm

hell ya its a fender ide buy then trick it out put better pickups in replace the strings and stuff

Isaac Taylor · **Joined:** Tue Nov 06, 2007 8:31 am **Posts:** 42

I went back to the pawn shop and the ash was MIM Special I think. The MIJ is teal green with very aged looking looking pickups that look like ceramics. The MIM looks better and sounds good unplugged. Thinking about swapping a Crate VTX 212 and maybe $100 bucks. We'll see what happens.

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