I bought a blonde strat on CL (Limited or Special ed, damn I forget)...it has a Tele vibe (came with a Tophat switch, black PG)...it has a maple neck with a vintage shiny coat...looks nice.....thing is the frets themselves are coated with this "lacquer" coat, and as I play it obviously it's wearing off,.....is this typical (this is my first neck of this type) for the frets to be coated..or does it indicate something?

I was told the guitar was built for a NAMM show and only a few hundered were procduced. I'm thinking maybe it was done quick or something....it also has Kinman (?) pickups....Any opinions, info appreciated......thx.

As far as I know it's normal. I bought my 2005 Am. Standard strat new and it did the same thing. I think it's just the laquer they put on the maple neck to seel the wood. It'll all flake off the more you play. And it shouldn't affect tone or playability.

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2005 Fender American Stratocaster W/Seymour Duncan Hot Rails in bridge and Seymour Duncan SSL-5 in neck.
1995 Fender American Standard Stratocaster
Line 6 Spider II 150 watt head W/Ampeg 4x12 Cab
Laney Pro-Linebacker PL65R

perfectly normal. The lacquer coat is applied after the frets and the nut are fitted. Its so the frets can be leveled without fear of damaging the finish. If you look at the sides of the nut that will have a yellow(er) tint to it than the top of the nut. Thats how you can tell if its original.

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No no and no