I'm no expert, but I do have an original 72 Strat and I've had it since it was new. Mine has the serial # engraved on the neck plate between the two top screws. I don't see it in the photos. It looks like the only thing original might be the tuners. Sorry man.

Would a Bigsby have left those marks behind the bridge? Maybe someone with a hardtail strat could have thought that was a good idea back in the '70s...

So i took the neck off. I cannot find any serial number on the body. Probably because it was remove when the re-finished it. I guess that confirms it was re-finished. . Well that and the wood grains.

I do however have a serial stamped in green on the neck. 0901-4864
I saw on a vintage site that 72' to 80' the stamps are broken up where the first 6 digits are paired off and the last two digits are taken singly. So that turns out to be 09 01 48 6 4.

Model Code - Neck Code - Week Code - Year Code - Day of the week code

09 = Strat
01 = Rosewood fingerboard
48 = 48th week
6 = 1976
3 = day

Correct me if I'm wrong. So that makes the neck a 76 so I was miss-informed. Now I wonder if the body is 72, 76 or just a replacement...

I removed the pick guard and yes its a sad sight... I don't know if the electronics are good or not. My camera is dead so no picks. Maybe later.

I'm with you! I've not seen anything yet that would make me believe it's a real Fender at all. Nothing concrete. You said your friend thinks he can build a better guitar than Fender, Maybe that's what he tried to do. I would have to see the innards and the neck heel. Why would he remove all decals? You can buy a neck plate like that one all day long. Sorry my friend, I don't know much and could be completely wrong but.....

This guy think he can build better ones. But he obviously can't and is just an idiot for thinking so and even trying.

I can tell the head stock was sanded down just on the top part. Thats how he removed the decal. But as my last post mentions there is the serial on the end of the neck. For the rest though your right. Could all be replacement parts...[/quote]

This is what I can tell from the pics;

The two humbuckers are DiMarzio's
The tuners are correct
Like you found out, it's more than likely a '76. The serial number would've been on the logo under the "Fender" on the headstock. They stopped putting them on the neck plate in that year.

It's a shame what he did to it, but it's almost like what the previous owner of mine did. I essentially made two guitars out of it; I took the neck from the '73 and found an original black, '80 body. All the hardware is original, unfortunately the electronics are long gone.

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The mind is like a parachute; it doesn't work unless its open-FZ

There's a '74 (w/ trem) on the wall at Guitar Center in downtown Seattle that says, " Price reduction- $1400". It does not appear to be going anywhere and is in good shape.

All the little holes in the headstock and also the body totally negate any historical value it had, in my opinion (I know literally_nothing_ about collectable guitars and values).


I say " Play it"!
Especially if you like humbuckers! (I do- so that's not an insult)!

Refinish the body (after fixing those two holes) to a color you like, replace the neck with one from USA Custom Guitars and ebay that beat up one (though I wouldn't expect much with the holes).

The heavy grain in the body is sort of suspect too. There were many companies in the 70's doing Fender knock-offs including Ibanez. To me anyway, the guitar has no value. The pups might be worth something to someone. I agree, they look like DiMarzio pups.

Does it play well or sound decent?

Ya know, exeryone is dogging this guitar, but I see a cool guitar here regardless. Its looks to be a two piece ash body. It kinda looks like a Kahler locking trem was once on it and removed. But I bet its sounds great, probably would play good with a setup.

Remember, a classic guitar is worth what someone is willing to pay. Just because one like your's sold for 100K, does not mean you will find a buyer that is willing to pay that.

This still looks to be a decent axe to me

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Guitars:
1. mid 70's Ventura MIJ Gibson l6-s clone (Pre-lawsuit) in Black with Rosewood FB and EMG 81 BR/ 85 Neck
2. ESP KH2 Neck Thru
3. 2008 Am Std Strat in 3 tone sunburst

hehe no one told him to use it to start a campfire or anything. but he posted asking what the value would be. i think most people would agree it won't fetch much cash. But I think we would all agree that if it plays well, and he likes it, then he should play it. it is evident someone along the way failed to give it any care and attention. the mods were sloppy. it doesn't make the guitar unplayable. But it certainly devalues it. after all, in many cases even professionally done mods, even some considered upgrades, can lower the resale value of a guitar.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

If it were mine, I would not feel bad at all about doing a complete restoration. I mean, really, what can you do to it that hasn't already been done?? Wood is such a nice medium, cuz once you sand it down, it can be renewed and made beautiful once again. It still is what it is, a 1970s Fender Stratocaster, and that is always a GOOD thing, no matter what condition it is in. Original era parts can be found, or nice vintage style parts. We, as guitar fixer-uppers actually have it better now than they did in the 1970s. We have access to much more variety of quality aftermarket parts. It used to be only Fender, DiMarzio and maybe Mighty Mite were the only source of good parts. Now, how many companies make parts

Ha - of course! That explains the two screw holes behind the bridge, in conjunction with those for a locking mechanism on the headstock.

Good thinking, firstrat.

Cheers - C

We all know what you could do with that guitar Ceri!!

Ah, shucks: OK! Send it over...

Cheers - C

I'm going to toss my $.02 worth in here...if for no other reason than I feel like procrastinating a bit today.

As others have danced around, there are two ways of looking at this as far as the "value" goes, that of a collector and that of a musician. From the view point of a collector, no, this instrument isn't going to be worth much at all. From what I've read and seen here so far, the only real value in this instrument is the neck itself. Without any kind of numbers or other way to verify authenticity, the body isn't worth too much in and off itself. It could in fact be a genuine '72 but without the numbers which you say aren't there, there's no way to prove it to a potential collector. Even if the body were mint and unmodified, without the numbers, the value of the body is only going to be comparable to that of any other after market body and considering the mods, considerably less. A good and proper refinish would increase this value to some degree, but not significantly. In other words, if you are trying to sell this to a person who is a "collector", you're not going to get much at all. On the other hand, you said you got this for "very cheap" so if profit is all you are concerned with, you still may be able to make a little. I would point out however that "very cheap" is also quite subjective with a genuine instrument of this nature...if the instrument were whole, original and intact for example, then $800 to $1000 would be "very cheap".

To my eyes, the real value of this instrument would be to a person who is a guitar player and NOT a collector. With a little work, this instrument could fetch more from a guitar player who's looking for a decent "70's ish" Strat...a person who's more worried about a great old guitar rather than the historical value of something collectable. Now I will freely admit here that I'm in the "it's your guitar, do what you want with it" crowd. To me the value of -any- instrument is in it's ability to make music...it's a musical instrument. I'm a pragmatic person...I believe in function over form. Take a look at antique furniture for example. I could never understand the point of spending $5000 on a chair that NO ONE CAN SIT ON just because it's a such and such historical piece. What exactly is the point of owning a chair that no one can sit on regardless of how much it cost? To me guitars are the exact same way. A guitar is meant to be played...that's why it was created in the first place. To me a guitar that has to be locked in a hermetically sealed glass cabinet so that people can "look at it" where you have to pay enough insurance that you could buy 10 new quality instruments...such a musical instrument has no value at all to me. If all I really wanted to do was look at a guitar, I'd get a nice framed life sized poster and hang it on the wall in my studio...much less expense involved.

Now there is another comment I just have to make here. I think it's very ironic that a lot of folks (myself included) won't think twice about modifying a "new" guitar. Change the pickups, change the trem/block, whatever you need to do to make the guitar "yours" and more playable to you. However the moment you talk about modifying a vintage instrument people get all bent out of shape over "value". The funny thing is that new guitar you just altered could still be around in 30 or 40 years and someday someone is going to scream "Who was the idiot that did this? They destroyed the value of this historical piece!". Again here the difference is simply that of a guitar player and that of a collector...it's two -very- different mentalities.

So, my advice is that if you got this guitar for a reasonable price (again as you say "very cheap") then just enjoy it for what it is. You have a unique instrument here that while it may not be of much value to a collector, it may otherwise be a wonderful instrument with a great deal of potential to a real musician. Beyond that, if you really want to find out the financial value of this guitar, put it up on Ebay with a ridiculous reserve...say $10,000. Yes, it'll cost you a couple of bucks to list the auction but you will find out exactly how much people are willing to pay for it. And hey...if you get the $10,000 you can take me out to dinner later for the suggestion .

Just my $.02 worth,
Jim