I just got on the scale with it, its a little under 9 pounds - that was without the trem bar and ashtray - this one is a bit lighter than my other ones, my '79 is WAY heavier!!

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"Wait a minute, somethings wrong here!"

I think it all boils down to the seventies quality control; most players seem to agree that there were plenty of good strats made over that period, but you're more likely to come across a bad one from that decade than from most others. Features such as 3-bolt necks and bullet truss rods aren't necessarily intrinsically bad, but perhaps too many players started fiddling around inappropriately with their micro-tilt systems and truss rods and the necks started to get a poor reputation. Towards the end CBS-Fender was trying to offload excess ash bodies, so they were using particularly heavy brickwood in all their strats, not just the ones with natural or sunburst finishes.

Plenty of players seem to favour large headstocks, though, whether for reasons of appearance or perceived improvement in tone or sustain, so it's not all bad news for the seventies... and the good strats from that period are still as good as any other. Nobody's going to turn their nose up at a good guitar, no matter when it was made.

HA! OK, well, I still take issue with words like fraud, though the phrase "some touch ups to finish" raises the eyebrows.

But that price is just silly. Steep even for a '75 with no questions hanging over it. Cvilleira's remarks about pricing on page one are exactly right, far as I can see.

You're right to walk away.

Cheers - C