The headstock says fender, made in Korea, serial # CN 213686. I was given this guitar and spent very little money on it so far. It plays and sounds pretty good, but before i go crazy putting a new nut, pickups, replacing pots ect, I wondered if anyone any info on this model as far as the year and reliability

Hi dugan21, welcome to the Forum.

The serial number by itself is not going to tell us anything about the model (unless someone with access to Fender's private database happens to look in).

Can't even tell if it's a Strat or a Tele from that number. Why not post us some pictures and then we'll very likely be able to help.

Cheers - C

I personally would not put that much into it being a Korean strat guitar.

I have owned a Korean Squier Strat that I would have put up against a MIA as far as playability, tone, and quality.

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

One of my favorite guitars is a MIK Squier Stagemaster. I put new pots, switch, and 2 Seymour Duncan PA-TB1 Trembuckers in it. I use it live more than any other guitar I have. It's one of the smoothest guitars I own.

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Just for the record I was not saying it would not be worth it for a really good one.I used the word "personally" because I would most likely not put that much into one. Dugan21 was going to replace nut, electronics and pups which would cost a fair amount if not able to do your own work.If you can do the nut and wiring then the major cost would just be the pups and that wouldn`t be too bad. I`ve upgraded a few beasts in my time for sure.

Thanks for the replys, I am new to the forum and need a little time before i learn how to post pics of any gear. I can tell you the strat has s/s/s set up, fender saddles on the tremlo, string trees for the e ,b,g,d strinds a nice broken in maple neck, red in color and a single ply white pickgaurd. The first thing i wanted to do was get a new pickgaurd, but i am having trouble finding one that fits. I restrung the guitar, set it up, and have changed my opinion from it plays pretty good to better then most import strats I have played. Not as good as american's that were properly set up but close. So thanks for your replys. I would for sure consider buying one if i had the chance to play it, and the price was decent

I dont know how they play and I can honestly say I will probably never own one but have you guys seen the color schemes on some of those Korean models they are just beautiful. How come they dont offer them on MIA or MIM models.

I own a made in Korea koa top strat and I would not change a thing on it to me it sounds fantastic

This post is perfect timing for me. I was trying to find out more about Korean strats because I guy ojn craigslist has one for trade and I was wondering if it was worth it.

Anyone know what a base model would go for? Or do you mind if I ask what you paid Dugan?

The guy said he upgraded the switch, pots, and upgraded the pick ups.

Only thing that worries me is I read some of the bodys from Korea were made out of plywood.

First I have heard of that check out via Fender web site what it is exactly and see if you can find it ,if you have not done this already.Thats why I buy from a reliable store,costs more but I get the straight goods as I have a good relationship with the manager cheers

Hi JasonSD: I can't say catagorically it's never happened, but I haven't heard about it. I have a Lite Ash Tele from the Korean factory, and the timber selection is top notch. That didn't happen by accident. Very nicely matched ash in the body and beautiful birdseye maple in the neck. I only realised some days after I bought it that it has a seperate fingerboard but the direction of the grain is so perfectly matched that it is almost impossible to tell.

And I'm someone who looks hard at those things!

The cut of the nut was a little generic and the frets benefited from a polish up. But as "issues" go that wasn't so bad. Nice Seymour Duncan pickups - altogether a lot of guitar for a very reasonable price.

Unbeatable value, far as I'm concerned.

Cheers - C

Don't believe everything you read on the web either.

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That almost make me want to laugh, I think I will Korean made Fenders are not bad guitars at all. I have seen some made with some very nice wood blanks never heard of a plywood one though!

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Well, heres some stuff that says plywood

About the middle of thispage.
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/revi ... Lefty/10/1


Here's another, just search for plywood, alot of that one.
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/revi ... ster/100/1

And here under Squier I and Squier II
http://www.guitarnotes.com/notes/noteget.cgi?stratfaq

and here under CURRENT
http://en.audiolexic.org/wiki/Fender

And there's a few more sites, but you get the idea.