Please assist me I am confused AGAIN, this is weird. I have a 2000 neck standard strat USA The headstock reads on front made in usa the Fender is black edges and gold inside and serial number under name is Z0xxxxxx

The twelth fret dots the spacing is slightly wider so I thought this is a fake neck which includes the serial number..... but now I have attempted to sand it off and it doesnt come off, the logo stamp and serial number is painted into the headstock there is no decal to peel or anything. So what is going on ? Has Fender made a mistake at the 12th fret and put the dots wider apart. Please explain to me the fake decal system, when you put them on do they have edges you can touch with your finger nail and feel.
Do I have a real Fender neck because the logo and serial number are painted into the wood there are no edges of a decal. Please assist with some answers thanks. Vinny Pop

Hi Vinny: I've applied decals (not fake, but my own):



What most people do is to shoot some lacquer as a base, then apply the decal, and then shoot most of the lacquer over the top to seal it in. That leaves enough on top of the decal that you can sand it down prior to buffing, which means there is little or no bump in the lacquer at the edge of the decal. So hopefully it looks nice and smooth and not like a sticker. The decal material actually goes transparent when the lacquer hits it, so it's hard to tell it's there.

That's how Fender do their decals these days, and if I'm not mistaken they have thinner decal paper than us ordinary folks have available to us, so there is even less of a bump under the varnish. So it could look like it was painted on when really it wasn't.

If you post pics of your headstock there's people here (not me) that are very expert at spotting fake Fender logos from tiny errors in the shaping of letter tips and such. Might help...

Cheers - C

Vinny a Fender decal should be a very high quality, thin silk screened water slide decal. Depending on the vintage of your gear (or if it is a repro of vintage gear,) the early ones were just placed on top of the clear coats, but they wore off, got damaged etc.
So now like Ceri says they are buried in the clear coats. You should be able to sand a bit before hitting them. If artfully done, you won't see the edge of the decal until it starts to lift. Which it may not do, you might have to sand down to wood.

Post some pics.

Vinny, I think you had better start posting here before you buy anything, so we can help you.

I expect high def shots of whatever you plan on having for lunch, before you take a bite.

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

I don't know where have you bought guitar, but my friend bought NEW Fender American Standard at a Fender dealer, and it had ALL dots moved a few mm's that they should be....so i think you shouldn't worry so much,as long as it plays good

Will post a close up pic today , I hope its real as that would be fantastic thanks for helping me yes thats a good idea post here first before buying I bought this just before I discovered this magnificent forum I will also show you the scalloped neck on it my first thanks goodmorning my friends love you all back soon

It would be nice if you would post some pictures about guitar stuff that you talk about that you've purchased or that you're working on. I may be mistaken but I don't think I've ever seen a picture that you've posted in any of your replies on this forum.

I think when you're talking about spending $5k and up, you're as much paying for the provenance and dealer's reputation as you are for the guitar. I've no doubt there are people out there with the knowledge, skills and equipment to make damned near perfect 'relics' and pass them off.

_________________
Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

The pic is up now on my youtube channel vinnypop at top of my page titled Fender Neck, it shows the head and back of neck. Your thoughts appreciated and will be reciprocated and digested. Thanks guys and gals.

Im so sorry oldfartjc I have still not worked out how to transfer the pics here or I have a bug in my system thats why I always use youtube to show you friends my pics I appologise. Vinny Pop

ok gang please go to my youtube channel vinnypop at top of channel title Fender Neck and tell me is this a fake or what, it even has the year 2000 serial number.

Here we go again

That neck dont look real to me vin.......
late 50s or 60s style neck have the decal you can peel off .
so it doesnt matter if its painted.
and also there's no name stamp on the bottom of the neck.

and that decal is not the right one for a Z0161268
it should look just like my American Standard Tele Delcal
Both Tele's and Strats have the same Decal.

i hope im wrong vinny... but everything looks wrong

_________________

USA 1989 Clapton Signature Strat in 7up Green
USA Standard Telecaster all Blk w EMG 81/85
ESP Eclipse II w EMG 81/60
Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier & Road king 4x12

It Should look like this.


Not like this

_________________

USA 1989 Clapton Signature Strat in 7up Green
USA Standard Telecaster all Blk w EMG 81/85
ESP Eclipse II w EMG 81/60
Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier & Road king 4x12

Frantic thanks mate , I purchased it before I came here for 160 bucks, so now they are putting fake serial numbers on the license by Fender necks then,
but is a standard 2000 strat logo diff to an American series logo. I scalloped this neck sorry I didnt put pics up of the scallop.

Story time folks this one is a doozy and Mrs Vinny Pop wants me to make a gold strat for her hahahahhahahahahhahahaha she has faith in me, sounds nice but I havent got any gold teeth in my mouth to pull out and melt. Just let me get a coffee and will feed you a story.

Vinny, real licensed by Fender necks don't have Fender stickers or Fender serial numbers.

Someone else put that there.

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

Notice the 8 screw holes in the neck heel too.

It dont look right to me Vin.

_________________
No no and no