dum dum dum!!!!!!!! The plot thickens! I'm gonna have to put some more pictures up. You'll have to give me some time though as I'm gonna be out and about for the next few days.

All I can say is thanks for all of the replies. I appreciate all advice....and to many that said "just enjoy it no matter what"......no worries, it will be played and enjoyed no matter what!

I really like this forum.

Ceri, you sir, are an artist! Love your work.

There is no plot as to what the guitar is. It's a hunk of junk (old Marlin actually). I took a look at it yesterday, plugged it in, took off the pickguard, etc. First off, no sound. Second off, it's plywood. No dealer would have verified this as anything but crap, surely not a Fender as was stated. I wanted a beater, not one to smash into little pieces. Brought it up to the seller and he clammed up and told me to file a claim. Some people suck. When you buy through ebay, you sometimes get this type of deal. I've been lucky in the past with my others. It was just a matter of time until I bought a guitar from a thief.


Anyways, thanks for the replies and had the electronics been worth saving or if it was made of anything other than plywood, I might have just kept it.

eBay can be a harsh mistress. I buy EVERYTHING there (even my cars, and the three Stratocasters I currently have, plus my Super Reverb Reissue), but you really need to know how to do the leg work, and even then, there is an element of risk.

As to the price of $150, I'd never expect to get a guitar that was remotely genuine Fender for that price. And as they say, if it sounds too good to be true...

The part that sucks is that the Seller would plant that idea in your head. That was dishonest, because I seriously doubt he believed it for a second. I would however have asked him what led to that conclusion, and without any way to substantiate it, I'd have just ignored that he said it.

If the thing worked at all, it was probably worth the $150 you paid for it. No more, but that I suppose. If it didn't, he should have been aware of it, and should have sold it as non-working.

As it is, yes, file a claim. Sounds like you have a good shot at getting your money back (eBay is very Buyer friendly these days, and bad Sellers have a tough time staying there).

Sorry to see you had a bad experience. Chin up, there are better experiences coming your way!

_________________
"If you don't know the blues... there's no point in picking up the guitar and playing rock and roll or any other form of popular music".
Keith Richards

Plywood?!?! like this stuff??



What is it, like 30ply? is it like 4 sheets of marine ply glued together?

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My Rig: Guitar into Pedals then into Amps and out into Speakers.

What is it, like 30ply? is it like 4 sheets of marine ply glued together?[/quote]

Yeah, they just glue it together. It's very obvious when you open it up. Oh well, I'm getting a full refund (thanks ebay!......not that I doubted I would).


Also, T Bone D, I buy alot from ebay.....from my son's truck to my guitars to you name it. Although you may run into your occasional crook, most folks do you good and sometimes go way out of their way to insure that you're happy with what you bought. I actually knew better than to buy it by looking at the description, etc., but that little cheapskate inside of me said "but what if he's telling the truth???? It'll be a steal! Buy it!" I'm going to have to learn to shut that little guy up.

Lol... BT,DT. I like the direction they've headed over there (but then I've only bought, never sold a thing there). They've made it much more hospitable for buyers. And I see lots of good deals on Stratocasters. Just gotta wade through the chaff to get to the wheat.

_________________
"If you don't know the blues... there's no point in picking up the guitar and playing rock and roll or any other form of popular music".
Keith Richards

I was thinking about buying a second hand Strat from ebay. How much should I be looking at for the genuine article? I am sure this varies with age and condition but any ball park figure would be appreciated.

Depends on a huge number of factors, the model you want, age, condition, and then things like how it is listed, how the pictures are, how well the ad is written and when the auction ends.

I got my Clapton model for the opening bid (bid in the last ten seconds) of $899. It's dead mint, but the Seller had the auction end at about 10:30 AM on a Friday morning, not a wise move on his part. I've seen only one or two better deals (go to advanced search and click on "completed items" and you can see what's sold in the last month or three and for how much).

My American Standard has a small ding in it, was $725 (also a good deal). My American '62 Reissue has an even lesser ding in it, paid a hair over $1000 for it- but actually saw the same exact model go for less (also for more) within a day or two- at the time I had an eBay coupon for 10% off up to $1000, so I save a hundred bucks there.

HTH.

_________________
"If you don't know the blues... there's no point in picking up the guitar and playing rock and roll or any other form of popular music".
Keith Richards

Just be cautious with ebay, it is getting harder and harder to tell the difference on knock-offs. I have only been playing for just over a year, so I am not "hardcore" on identifying the originals...I would suggest if you do find one, copy the pics and post them here. Perhaps someone can give a quick ID. I am shopping around as well, and if I do find something online...that will be my plan

Goes to one of the most basic rules for buying on eBay. "Buy the Seller first". Learned this from a group who regularly buy four figure watches on the 'net. It's great advice (means learn how to check out the Seller's rep, analyze their trading history etc.- do they regularly sell this type of item? Are they mainly a buyer? Do they deal in CD's and such, and just happen to be selling a guitar?). Note: all of this is taken into account, but would not nec. kill the deal. Part of doing your homework is knowing how to recognize the differences between what you seek and what some might try to substitute for it (fakes), though no one is "fool proof", there's an inherent risk. That risk can be minimized by the above though.

You also need to interpret feedback. All positive doesn't mean there won't be an issue, and some negative might not be the horror it seems (read between the lines, I've seen Sellers with a bad run of luck getting negatives they didn't deserve from newbie eBayers, bought one car at a great deal because of such a situation-bidders were staying away because of the surface appearance that he was a bad Seller- truth was, he had about a dozen transactions in used cars and had two negatives recently he didn't deserve-the Sales were new enough I was able to see the ads and pics, and the buyers were both being totally unreasonable in their expectations based on the ads- they were also new to eBay- I saved maybe $1200 on that car. Still runs great about a hundred thousand miles later!).

_________________
"If you don't know the blues... there's no point in picking up the guitar and playing rock and roll or any other form of popular music".
Keith Richards

Thanks for the replies everyone and apologies for my delay in responding as I have been out of the country on urgent business.

Crys