Somebody please help !

I have been playing my 25th anniversary strat for more than 25 years.
Recently I learned that they only have white and silver .
But mine is "metalic red".

http://www.flickr.com/photos/imryimry/sets/72157620628334763/



I bought it brand-new from Fender official distributor in Japan along with super-champ amplifier. That distributor is one of the most famous and credited musical instruments retailer in Japan and I do not think they sold fake one.
As I opened up pick-guard before, I found no sign of repainting either.

The serial number of the guitar is 259063.

Does anybody know about this strat ???

Hi imry, welcome to the Forum.

What we know about the 25th Anni Strats is that the first 500 or so were finished in Pearl White, but that started checking badly almost immediately and many - but not all - were returned to the factory for refinishing.

As far as I've ever heard that was only done in Porsche Silver, as mentioned on this page, which states that "no other color was available":

http://www.stratcollector.com/newsdesk/ ... 00093.html

So: possibilities. Either that's just wrong, and other finishes were made, including your red one. Or that's a DIY job - nicely done by the look of it. Or yours is a version made for (and in?) the Japanese domestic market. Does it say MIA or MIJ on it?

You could always email Fender and see if they have anything to say about it. Be sure to show them your photos:

consumerrelations@fender.com

Cheers - C

Ceri is right there were only 2 colors. What I am thinking is that they must of had a Fender Japan 25th anniversary model only available in Japan .As it would be to obvious to make a fake in red as almost everyone knows that it came in porsche silver the white is what throws some people off as they are the rare ones and I have seen them fetch 3 grand on ebay but I know for a fact because I am looking in the Strat book on my lap to make sure they did not make a few for the guys at Fender or anything custom in red. If it turns out to be Japanese as I suspect it will I would not freak out as they were making great guitars there especialy at that time and I would think it somewhat rare as it looks damm good to me .

Thank you Ceri and straycat113.




I do not see "MIA" or "MIJ" but "made in USA" in the headstock.
Serial number is only seen on the metal neck plate.


I went through the above page and remembered the similar certificate was with this strat. And the guitar was with heavy molded case with big "Fender USA" logo on it too.


I will send email to the Fender and ask how this happened if it is done in factory.


Thanks !

That is GREAT! You know, somewhere in the back of my mind, I think I have heard of a few RED 25th Anniversary Stratocasters. Your serial number is late in the run (the last serial number being 259999. If it were an early number, it could have been a repainted white one (that original white paint was a water-based finish that tended to crack and fall off, IIRC), perhaps refinished by the dealer. Do you still have any of the paper work from when you bought it?

Do you have any pictures under the pickguard or of the neck pocket? There are codes on the heel of the neck and dates on the pots.

I'll ask around.

(I hope I'm not remembering a Chinese fake; but that doesn't look fake!)

_________________
Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

This is interesting! And awesome looking guitar, btw!!!

I cant load the pic here at work, but I am imagining it, oooh.
Sounds like a cool guitar man.

Hi again imry: don't worry, MIA is just our shorthand for "Made in America". So that's that bit sorted out.

Do you still have that certificate? That would more or less clinch it - and add a lot of value to your guitar as a verified and very unusual example of the 25th Anni series. Note what straycat113 said (above) about pricing: yours looks in excellent condition, and if the non-standard paint job came from the factory then you have something that would be of a lot of interest to collectors.

Not that any of that necessarily matters - but it doesn't hurt!

Be very interested to hear what Fender have to say about it - please let us know.

Cheers - C

Thank you all for your kind posts !





The certificate should be somewhere in my house. I have moved several times but I do not think I threw it. I will try to find over weekend.



I have changed strings yesterday then please allow me to enjoy them for a while
I have sent inquiry to Fender and if they are not available for this after a week or so, I will definitely check the heel of the neck and pickguard.



Today I was thinking about the time when I bought this guitar and remembered strange feeling when I first saw the certificate. It said something like "silver anniversary stratocaster" in print. At that time, I did not know that 25th annis usually finished in silver then "silver anniversary stratocaster" is the name of the model. I thought they shuold have named "gold" because its much more glamorous.

If my memory is correct, it might have been repainted before it was sold brand-new? But how the decal of "ANNIVERSARY" remained ???
Still confused.

Anyway wait for Fender's reply. If I have something from Fender I will feed it back here !

You said you bought it in Japan, right? Well, if the original silver paint was somehow defective, Fender might have allowed the Japanese dealer to have it refinished instead of sending it back to the USA. An official dealer could have gotten the "ANNIVERSARY" decal with no problem.

Supposedly, in the '60s, plenty of UK Fender dealers (or maybe it was the UK distributor) repainted new Srats to match Hank Marvin's famous Strat. So there is precedent.

_________________
Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

I had a response from Fender.



I have found the warrant from official dealer (the certificate still missing but I found a few boxes filled with such kind of documents, I think I can find it tonight) then I will contact to them next.



It explains! It could be the reason for this.

As long as my guitar is genuine Fender, I am happy with it.
Well... if it is not real Fender I still like the sound. But it was the gift from my parents rewarding hard work in preceeding year, then I wish it cold be a genuine one.

I think Orvilleowner's theory is the best so far... and I'm sure you have a genuine and quite collectable strat on your hands.

Local markets produce some interesting strat variations, especially if they are geographically distant from the U.S. Here in Australia from 1962 to about '65 strats were offered with a "deluxe switching" option: three sliders like a Jaguar's, mounted towards the lower horn on the pickguard. The local version of Fiesta red was a shade used by Holden (local division of General Motors) for antipodean vehicles, and it faded to a particular shade of coral pink. Can't remember the name of the colour now; I should look it up. I think that Fender would ship out sunburst strats and they'd be repainted locally if someone wanted a custom colour -- otherwise they'd have been waiting six months or more.

I wonder if all the white Anniversary strats were refinished red in Japan? Surely there must be someone else who has one...

Ah, that's ringing a distant bell. The importer/distributor Arbiter, I'll bet that was. I seem to recall that some of those resprays didn't work very well and faded in a similar way to what mondo500 just described (above), which lead to a local variation of Fiesta Red that is sometimes called Salmon Pink.

If memory serves, anyhow...

Cheers - C

I think the theory that a special limited run was done for a Japanese Dealer is as good as the theory that it was a before-sale-repair by a Japanese Dealer.

I think Fender went to the silver color after the white failed because silver is the gift for 25th anniversaries, right? Gold is for 50th anniversaries?

_________________
Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

I found Certificate of Merit but it only says "Silver Anniversary STRATOCASTER".







Yeah, I think I have seen those before. Maybe somebody was playing one in Japanese TV.





I have checked many Japanese retailer's pages selling (or already sold) used 25th Anniversary strats but all of them is in silver. I think not many red Anniversary strats ,if any, are circulating here as well.




I sent inquiry to Japanese exclusive official distributor. Let's see if they know something.





Aha! Silver wedding is 25th anniversary!