http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-1973-1974-R ... 748wt_1167

The metal looks like the salty air may have gotten to it. It also looks like it was repainted quite a while ago- the body cavities are bare. The dark areas on the neck almost look like it was near a fire and the smoke darkened it. It also looks like it was left outside for a long time but the combination of the dark neck and heel plate makes me think it's from highly corrosive hand sweat.

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I tend to agree Mike. Looks like nothing was naturally aged to me.

I have a 72 pre bass and I can say the case is 100% authentic on this strat.

I've never seen a neck so darkened as this... like you say, almost as if it was salvaged from a fire.

I couldn't see anything inconsistent with that year but then again, I am no expert by any stretch.

That guit was definitly rode hard and put up wet!

A lot of the parts look legit, but that neck is worth little more than firewood. Seems the owner agrees too!

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The "wear" on this guitar is so obviously fake its risible. The Dremel-ized fretboard is a joke, as is the strange color of the "aged" neck and the cheezy chipped-away "arm wear" and buckle rash

Have you ever seen a 70's guitar beat like this? Probably not. Because 70's guitars were covered in a "thick skin" polyester that could stop a bullet.

fhopkins is right... none of this looks like natural aging at all. More "relic" BS.

"We don't sell any fake Fender!" Honest. Trust me.

Interesting. I've noticed Erik_Guitars before, and selling this exact Strat too, if I'm not mistaken. He bills himself as being located in Australia, but is actually in Indonesia — no doubt it's more difficult to shift guitars from there. Apart from that omission, he seems to get a lot of favourable feedback... I don't know how easy it may be to fake that, though. If a guitar spent a significant amount of time in Indonesia, it would probably end up looking like that one way or another — whether that could be considered a selling point is another matter! He sold a couple of '66 necks a few months ago for tidy sums; I thought it somewhat suspicious that two distinctive rosewood slab necks should become available in such quick succession.

I dunno... Indonesia's a crazy place, anything is possible...

To be fair to Erik_Guitars, the red '70s Strat I remember seeing was the one in his "See my Fender collection" picture — the neck pickup looked much less weathered than the others. It sold for a reasonable price, nothing too outrageous. Perhaps it takes him a while to produce them...

It looks like it was originally a sunburst (yellow in the cavities, black on the back of the pickguard and in neck pocket). The white was primer, then sprayed red at some point in time. Maybe there was shielding in the cavities.

The pickups are from early 1974, the pots are from very late 1974, but the serial number is much earlier. The bridge looks way too clean. It may be a vintage partsocaster/restoration: parts from a variety of early '70s guitars put together.

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My other guitar is a Strat.

Yea - I see what you mean about the condition of the bridge and jack ferrule relative to the neckplate with the chrome (nickel) plate falling off! This alone seems to be a HUGE inconsistency.

However, I also noticed the extra holes in the neck cavity of the body which would be consistent with the proposed year of manufacture.

Just look at the first two pictures at the tilt routing it looks like that of a Stratosphere reissue. There should be no visible cut out at the end of the neck from a router. It should be smooth across the bottom edge at the heel. Unless the made some the other way it should look like this in the picture I found to demo what I mean. This is how the all have looked to me as I remember working on them. I don't see many anymore. 4th from the bottom picture.
http://www.route66classicguitars.com/73STRATLPB.HTML

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

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Thanks for making me look at the neck pictures again. I see the four-bolt holes filled in with dowels! So it might have been a early '70s 4-bolt neck that was converted to a 3-bolt (hence the not quite factory routing) to work with that body.

I don't see the 4-bolt holes in the body, however.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Anybody notice the the 4 filled holes in the neck that strangely line up with a 4 screw neck plate...? mmmm

Well to me its looks to be a reissue after market neck. The routing caught my eye.The pickups are not a original set just look at the flat work.
Partscaster.

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

The obvious belt sander mark on the back is a dead giveaway.

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

Don't leave home without it!