looks like a deluxe to me I had one I bought from GC in 06 and it came with a fender bag not a hard case.

Hey vinnyg - Sorry to say but GC ripped you off. ALL American Deluxes ship with a hardshell case, and the case is included in the price.
In 06 this is the case you should have got
http://www.elderly.com/fmic/items/FADSSA-BBL-RSWD.htm

Rant On: GC is notorious for ripping people of all the time by selling a guitar at full price and then NOT including the case that the guitar shipped to them in. Or worse yet, they charge extra for the case when it should already be included in the price!!!! That is one of the reasons why Rickenbacker pulled out of GC a few years ago. When buying a guitar at GC always know if a case should be included and demand that they go in the backroom and find the exact case and case candy (cord, strap, manual, etc). Reason #1,562 that I HATE GC!

Rant Off: Since you got the guitar in 06, I'm not sure you can do anything about it now. But it's worth a try if you still have your receipt. If GC knows anything about customer service they should at least give you some store credit.

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

@stratguy740 - The guitar looks legit to me. That's an aftermarket case. But why Fender doesn't recognize the serial number still is a mystery???

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

Am Dlx comes with a tweed case?

Last year when they gave the Am Std an upgraded SKB case we had flurries of complaints here that folks were still buying their Deluxes with the "inferior" old style molded case, as in the pix at the top of this thread. A quick Google has found me shops still selling them with that older case - though the specs on the Products page of this website says it should now be the modern SKB case, like the Standard. No mention of tweed - surely that's on the Am Vintage '57?

Regarding the headstock: of all the fake Strat threads on this Forum I can't remember a single one where it seemed someone had faked that shiny metal Deluxe logo. Has anyone ever seen that style of decal offered as an aftermarket fake? I haven't.

On the other hand: it is perplexing that Fender say they don't know the serial number. I'd want to send Customer Relations another email including the photos of front and back of the headstock and ask conclusively whether they think it's kosher or not.


At that price I want several, please!

Cheers - C

My deluxe came with tweed. It is a annoyversary model though. I think the molded case is superior to any of the GG cases Fender supply with guitars.

I'd honestly view that as a bonus.

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Actually the special 50th Anniversary Am Dlx in 2004 came with a tweed case. That's the only time I know of that Fender issued the tweed case to Am Dlxs.

edit: nikininja beat me to it. I'm a little slow today.

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

I know 300 hundred is a great price. This is the story my friend told me. He was riding around with another friend and they stopped by a guys house to pick up something. He saw this strat leaning up against the wall and starting playing it.He then jokingly said, i'll give you 300 for this guitar. The guy said really? ok. The guy is 18 and asked for a guitar for christmas last year and his"rich" parents picked this one up. He obviously played a couple times and gave up. So he went and got the cash and the kid didnt think twice. The kid had an idea of what he was selling im sure. The is not the original case. I know the pictures are $@!&#* but im letting a friend borrow my camera. If you guys need any more pics just let me know. This strat deff. plays like a fender. If you guys played this guitar, you wouldnt think twice about paying 300 for it. If it is a fake, then its the best one ive ever seen.

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All I'm gonna do is just go on and do what I feel-HENDRIX

Stratguy make no bones about it. You can get chinese knock offs that play equally as well as their american counterparts.
This one does now that I set it up, spot the difference.





Cost my mate £350 for that guitar (funny price similarity).

Just be careful mate I treat a lot of these stories with scepticism. Ok greedy snot faced kid may have rich parents but he's still greedy.

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Hi Nick: I know we discussed that Chinese Les Paul of yours but I'm just looking at those pix again. Man, it really is a bizarre mixture of good and bad, isn't it? Do I recall right - a flame cap rather than a veneer? But - lordy: look at those tuners!!!

Did you do something to straighten them? If not - would you, please?

Cheers - C

Ah-ha! That, Mr Jay, is a very good point...

Cheers - C

Looks real, the only thing I see (assuming the proper strap locks are there) is that the guitar strap shown is for the AmStd, the AmDlx had a black leather strap. It's a great looking guitar.

It's not mine but a friends. I've just bought some templates of a 59, so expect a sudden influx of pristine all original 59's hitting the vintage market soon. They wont be going for any less than 60K each though . I'll even offer binding options once the authorities get close and I have to change business plan.

The cap was indeed a cap not a veneer. 5/8's thick too. Just 1/8th short of vintage spec, dunno what their putting on these days. I put that photo in to show how well the Chinese can stamp a serial no'. I can assure you that despite appearance that lettiering is straight (unlike one side of the tuners). The grain of the wood is altering perception in places.

He wont let me touch the tuners.

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Is that a single ply pickguard and rear trem cavity cover?

Interesting!

Just throwing this in the air, but what if it's stolen?

If it's a new guitar that hasn't actually been purchased, Fender wouldn't have a record of it ever leaving a store, and hence why it's serial wouldn't be registered.

That's if it's real, which I think it is.

This would also explain why your buddy got it for dirt cheap. The guy who sold it to him was trying to get rid of it.

Edit: Just saw BigJay's post. I concur, sir!