Hey all you experts out there.
sonny boy found a 1985 fender contemporary strat in the white pearl fashion. its the one with hum single single 1 volume 1 tone coil splitter and the system 3 tremolo. the thing is no case and worse. the string lock is missing. it had a regular nut installed. they want 300.00 but i talked him down to 270.00 if we buy before someone else. its in real good shape. the thing is I need to check out the bridge more closely. the bar is there but I haven't made sure its the original with the built in hex wrenches. now if all is there and operates is it worth 270.00? How hard is it to find the original string lock?
thanks for any info or help.

I've seen a string lock on Ebay once, and that was recently. Don't know what it sold for though.

But $270 seems like a good price to me. I usually see people asking between $400-500 for them.

I just found the auction for the string lock, it sold for $18.50

I read on another website that this kind of nut can be retro fitted to work with the fender locking trems, but I don't know if it's just a matter of switching it out, or if you have to drill new holes

http://cgi.ebay.com/Chrome-Kahler-Tremo ... 414b525203

You need this kind right?

I would go for it. The parts will show up.

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

Something like this might be able to work too, it screws in from the front

http://cgi.ebay.com/NeW-LOCKING-NUT-for ... 518b857352

I'm pretty sure something from here would work just fine.

http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/guit ... ocking.htm

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Chet Feathers

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

I really appreciate the help folks,please keep it coming. The string locks you have suggested might be what I end up with,but here is a picture of what the original looked like. Have any of you folks seen one of these around?

You can find the parts you need. I would go for it the rest of the guitar is in good condition. MIJ guitars are popular right now.

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yeah that kind of string lock is going to be harder to find.

Yes, that string lock will be hard to find I think. You did the right thing by installing a regular nut until such time as you can locate an original locking unit.
That side-locking nut is quite unique. I have only seen photos of it, but never in person. My 1985-86 Contemporary Strat has the System 1 with a behind the nut locking unit, which is far more common.
Nice guitar for $270. I would check it out well, and buy it if you like it. If it is an E series MIJ 1980s Strat, you might have a nice find there.