A freind of my dad's recently inherited a 1988-1989 Strat. It is creamy white and has a tourtois shell (color) pickguard with a rosewood neck. It is in what I would call good condition - some signs of wear, but natural. There are two or three "dings" on the paint, and a funny small little impression on the fret board on about the 15th fret. I put some strings on it and it plays nice. Looks like the bridge pickup could have been replaced.

The owner knows nothing about guitars other than that he knows it is made in the USA and he thinks it's worth thousands. It was his brothers that recenty died.

He wants to sell it to me for $900. AM I GETTING A DEAL or RIPPED OFF?

What's a fair price for a 1988-89 USA Strat in good shape?

_________________
2008 American Standard w/ Hot Noiseless
2009 Hwy One Tele
2010 Vox AC15 w/Greenback and Top Boost
Fulltone Fulldrive II Mosfet
TC Nova Delay
Hardwire RV 7
EB Jr Volume Pedal
BOSS TU3 Tuner
Digidesign Eleven Rack

Can you take any photos of it to post on here? What is the serial #? The pros on here can tell it if is original or has been modified. An excellent quality strat made in America about that time is selling for $1200 tops at some music dealers, less on eBay. It might be worth multiple thousands like your friend says if it has Jimi Hendrix's teeth marks on it and a photo included of him biting it...

I have to agree that it's probably not worth "thousands"...if it were an early Signature Series or something, then yea, maybe but assuming it's just an ordinary Strat and even assuming it's a real American, a thousand or so tops depending on the instrument itself. I can't speak to the specific years or anything but I've seen quite a few used Americans lately in the $700 range here in my area (Northern Ohio, USA) so comparatively speaking, $900 would actually be a bit high...again depending on the instrument. As cnsky said there, it's -really- hard to be terribly objective or specific without seeing it.

Also considering threads have been popping up about once or twice a month around here in regards to this, you'll also want to make sure it's not a fake either...there seems to be a lot of them floating around out there now a days. Since you said you restrung it, we can assume that you've taken a good close look at it...give or take some pictures you may need to make that decision for yourself (in other words, don't assume that it's legit...be sure!).

Just my initial $.02 worth...get some (GOOD) pics posted of the guitar and people should be able to tell you at least a little more.

Jim

Here are some USA that sold on ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/1988-Fender-Stratoc ... 4aa0caa82f
http://cgi.ebay.com/1988-Fender-ri-57-n ... 2c5446bdb6
http://cgi.ebay.com/Fender-62-Reissue-S ... 4aa0b636a6

$900 sounds at least fair to me... If it looks/sounds/plays good to you, I would go for it... I bought a Japanese strat 1986 model for $400 that I absolutely love... If you can't plop down the $900, I would do that.

_________________
In Reference to Blues Legend RL Burnside:
After a heart attack in 2001, Burnside's doctor advised him to stop drinking; Burnside did, but he reported that change left him unable to play.

Wow that was a major score for that 62 reissue with the ABBi pups as a set of her pups sell for $750 alone. Greg you would have to post a pic for us to really be able to give you a good estimate.

I've got pics but can't figure out how to post them. They are on Flickr, but I can't figure out how to get them here - ugh.

Somebody tell how please.

_________________
2008 American Standard w/ Hot Noiseless
2009 Hwy One Tele
2010 Vox AC15 w/Greenback and Top Boost
Fulltone Fulldrive II Mosfet
TC Nova Delay
Hardwire RV 7
EB Jr Volume Pedal
BOSS TU3 Tuner
Digidesign Eleven Rack

http://www.flickr.com/photos/50045919@N02/4593474687/[/img]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/50045919@N02/4593475593/[/img]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/50045919@N02/4593476311/[/img]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/50045919@N02/4593477243/[/img]

_________________
2008 American Standard w/ Hot Noiseless
2009 Hwy One Tele
2010 Vox AC15 w/Greenback and Top Boost
Fulltone Fulldrive II Mosfet
TC Nova Delay
Hardwire RV 7
EB Jr Volume Pedal
BOSS TU3 Tuner
Digidesign Eleven Rack

Straycat the P/U on the one are CS 69s which you can get for 150.00 there not the abby wound p/u,s I wouldn,t trust that guitar as a 62 ri with the neckplate gone theres no s/n.

correct links
http://www.flickr.com/photos/50045919@N02/4593474687/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/50045919@N02/4593475593/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/50045919@N02/4593476311/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/50045919@N02/4593477243/

_________________
In Reference to Blues Legend RL Burnside:
After a heart attack in 2001, Burnside's doctor advised him to stop drinking; Burnside did, but he reported that change left him unable to play.

Well, I can't really see a lot of specifics in those pictures...kind of small, but over-all it looks pretty decent and what little I can see looks pretty legit. If it's more or less all original (I might want to sneak a peak inside the neck pocket there if possible just to make sure), then I would say that $900 is a roughly fair price. Again I've seen American Standards going in my area for as low as $700 but depending on the instrument (such as a Deluxe or something), then yea...I've seen a couple for around $1000 or even $1200.

Now there is one little detail thing I would like to mention because I can't really see it in the pictures. Take a close look at the bridge and make sure it's an American bridge...make sure the saddles are offset and that it has the larger American trem block. I wanted to mention that because Squier Standards have a very similar looking (although greatly inferior) bridge...you don't want to end up with something stupid like an American neck on a Squier body (although I really don't know why anyone would really do that). Again with the images provided, it's really impossible to be 100% sure about the authenticity of this instrument....make sure it's real before you buy!

I will say that was typically a pretty good era for Fender instruments as a whole. After the buy out the company really had a renewed commitment to quality and to the instruments. Assuming that the body is original to the neck and such, I'd wager that's probably a very nice instrument. Either way again I'd say that $900 is reasonably fair but it's not a steal. Personally I'd try and chew him down a bit...assuming the instrument checks out as all legit, I'd try and shoot for $750 to $800...but then I'm a cheap bastard

Alrighty, just another $.02 worth,
Jim

One thing that I do find interesting is that the 89 Stratocaster is much lighter than my 2009 American Standard.

Is this normal? Would there have been a different kind of wood used for the body?

_________________
2008 American Standard w/ Hot Noiseless
2009 Hwy One Tele
2010 Vox AC15 w/Greenback and Top Boost
Fulltone Fulldrive II Mosfet
TC Nova Delay
Hardwire RV 7
EB Jr Volume Pedal
BOSS TU3 Tuner
Digidesign Eleven Rack

Well, I used to have an 89 Strat Plus that I paid 600 for here in Japan. That's a pretty good price, sort of a steal. 900 sounds like a guitar shops price. If I were looking at that guitar on Ebay I wouldn't pay more than $700.00 for it and would hope to get it around $650.00. Probably sounds cheap but I bought a 91 American Standard off Ebay for $450.00 back in the day when Ebay was a place to look for a good deal. Nowadays everyone tries to squeeze as much out of something as they can and good deals are far and few between. Not to mention that with all the sniping going on it's almost impossible to grab that great find when it's there.
MULLY

I just went back and read the original post and realized that someone is trying to sell it to you. No way should you pay 900 for it. Try to get him down to around 750 or so. He's insane if he thinks it's worth thousands. haha!!! 1988-89 aren't really collectibles just yet. That guitar in the photo, there are probably another 5000 guitars exactly like it floating around out there. But, to be honest, the value of a guitar is however much someone is willing to pay for it. If you're willing to go to 900 then that's what it's worth. I wouldn't pay that much for it though.
MULLY