Nice work... nobody would turn their nose up at that!

I think that as far as the perception of quality goes for that model strat, it's just an easy one to point to because of the input jack. It seems like a pointless gesture if Fender was hoping to streamline the production process significantly, though no doubt it did at the time. I don't think there was a guaranteed bad year for strats, ever... just years where a higher proportion of less good ones than average slipped though quality control.

In general, the asking price for those strats is quite high (a little over two grand, here) but I don't know if they're selling. There's no doubt that there are plenty of good '83 strats, and I'd be bragging about it forever if I scored one at that price!

yeah you lucked out! i recently went and tried out this baby:

http://daddys.com/detail.php?itemNumber=FEN7921

and i loved the tone, i was just a little weirded out by the neck, the edged were sharp and not rolled at all....but besides that my tone knobs are always up to 10 anyways so i didn't mind the loss.

great strat tho!

_________________
Gear list:
2004 Epiphone Casino
----Peerless, USA electronics
2001 "Firewood" ES-335
----USA electronics, Gibson and DiMarzio PAFs
2001 Cort NTL20 Jumbo Acoustic
2007 Hofner Copy
Vox AC4TV/V112TV
Voice
Fingers
Cowbell