The guitar is a 2004 HWY 1.
I was under the impression it was made of 3 or 4 pieces.
Is the wood so well matched I am missing the joints ?
The only seam I see is right in the middle (like my Les Paul)
I love the guitar and am interested in it,s construction.
Thanks

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Why are you under the impression it's 3 or 4 pieces? Looks like 2 to me.

_________________
-Kirk

GUITARS
'12 Sonoran Acoustic - black (dated 10/31/12)
'13 Standard Strat
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I have been searching through this great site, and most bodies appear to be multiple pieces-5- 4- 3 (except some artist models)..No ?
I agree it looks two piece to me , Is this the norm?
Man getting info is like pulling teeth around hear

Alder.................. Mike

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The blues ain't nothin but a good man feelin bad.

Ouch - put down those dentist tools, please!

He skimhit: I agree with gldfshkpr that yours looks like a two-piece, and there is nothing unusual about that. They frequently do two-piece bods beneath transparent finishes, though that is not a rule.

Multi-piece bodies are more often to be found beneath solid finishes, or beneath veneers on the Mexican made product. The latter can be seen clearly in this well-known photo, taken at the Ensenada plant:


You're HWY1 is not made that way. That's the grain of the solid wood you're seeing on your top.

Cheers - C

Yep, alder.

Ceri has a good photo there that tells the story.

Fender buys the Billet from a vendor, and the top and bottom are veneer, and yes that can have a seem, seldom (never) more than one down the middle.

Usually you can see the joints by looking at the end of the body but the Sunbursts are painted black around the edges. TRICKY ! They can get away with a 3-4 piece body.


put away the laughing gas

Thanks all for the info.
I'm a bit of a newbie Strat player, and was quite surprised to find more than two piece bodies.
Guess I am more use to the Gibson book matching with two piece maple tops.
Thank you all again.
Hit

Need to see the back of the guitar to be sure it's not a veneer. Though I see no sense in having a two piece veneer.

If the tummy cut round the back is 1 solid colour its a veneer'd body.

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No no and no

The OP's Strat is a HWY1. As always I stand to be corrected, but I don't think they do the veneer thing on the HWY1s - do they? As you say, a glance (photo) at the back will tell for sure.

Cheers - C

Had a look at the back, and although harder to see, the seem is in the middle
so two piece it is.
Thanks
Hit

It's the tummy cut that is the telltale area, not the center.

However the join looks to be in the same place as it is on the top. Is the tummy cut a block colour or is it like the center of the guitar?

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No no and no

The veneer may be two piece, but there is no way to tell what the body is, pieces wise ( without stripping it )


They usually paint the body tuck all black too.

The tummy cut is not one single colour, it is the same as the back middle end.
It fades from wood to black about half way through the body cut.

Thanks all for you're time.
Hit

ubetcha !

Sunbursts are FINE looking Strats. I have a '95 MIM 3 tone. I think of the SB's as vintage looking, because the early ones where Sunburst.

and it doesn't really matter how many pieces the body itself is made of, as far as tone ect.,.


Happy Pickin'

Thats definately a 2 piece body, my paranoia was completely unfounded.

When the guitar is veneer'd the one area the factory struggles to cover is the tummy cut, so on veneer'd bodies they just get a block colour in the tummy cut. Usually black.

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No no and no