Anybody Help? My brother has bought a brand new Fender Sunburst Strat Deluxe. Just noticed the body is laminated (ie. two pieces joined together) this was not noticed at first as it would appear an effort was made to cover the join by placing the join on the right of the body so the scratchplate and jack input hide the join. It is only now on closer inspection and a check of the rear the join is really clear. D oes anybody know if this is common or a one off. My concern is this has decreased the value of the instrument plus this weak area of the guitar may cause problems in the future.

Hello Wal4string,

Completly normal.
I piece body's uncommon as hen's teeth.
Rest easy, play away & have fun.

Cheers.

Welcome to the Forum. It is not un-common for Fender to use 2 or 3 pieces of wood for the body. I have a 2 piece Fender Highway 1 Stratocaster and a 3 piece Squier Classic Vibe, both guitars are made from Alder. The days of a one piece body are gone unless you are willing to pay big bucks (Like the price on a Custom Shop Model). It is more likely to have been a "fluke" to have a one piece body for that model.

As far as tone, unless you have Eric Johnson ears (lol) it really does not affect the tone too much. If your brother breaks that guitar at the joint, he was misusing the guitar anyways. Tell him not to try to smash it against the ground as if he was Paul Stanley at the end of a Kiss concert.

It is fine. It is not B-stock or anything. I hope he enjoys it.

RK

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RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head

Hi wal4string: that could be a two piece body joined like that. But when a join line goes in the exact position you describe it is often as part of a three piece body. Have a look for another join line the same distance from the center of the guitar to the other side of the bridge.

I'm assuming the body is alder and so the grain can be quite indistinct, but if you trace grain lines as they run the length of the body you can often find where one seems to suddenly disappear - the sign of an otherwise hard to find joint seam.

And as you have said, a join that is hard to see on the front can sometimes show itself on the rear.

If you felt like posting a couple of nicely focused photos (front and back) we'd love to have a look too!

Anyway: as has already been said, two and three part bodies are perfectly normal and nothing to worry about. In fact, a well done join (as it sounds like you have) is a sign of good craftsmanship.

Cheers - C