I ran acros two, what I suspect as fake MIM fatstrats in a local pawnshop.

Both are being sold as new. $299.00 The have a limegreen? metallic paint job and serial numbers are MZ31#### or M31######. would a 31 be possible, would it not be a year digit.

Something just seems wrong. They are very lite in weight.


I know there are fake MIA's out ther, is anyone faking MIM?

Anyone will pretty much fake anything these days if they think they can turn a buck. "Caveat emptor."

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You dig?

MZ3... would be 2003. So they are selling a 2003 guitar as "new". Typical pawnshop scum. I don't think it's fake though, unless you can take some pics and post them.

Anyways, I remember seeing alot of yellow MIM Fat Strats at Guitar Center around '03 - '04. Maybe they came in lime green too. I am trying to remember. But maybe what you call 'lime green' I call 'yellow'. Do they have black pickguards? If it's the guitars I'm thinking of, I believe they were a special run for Guitar Centers. Not special enough to warrant collectible prices though. If you really dig it and can confirm it's legit, offer them $200 and go from there. I'm still wary about that color though.

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

The guitar looks exactly like the one in the picture "nevin1985" posted, except it has a maple neck. It looks clean and it looks new. The trem block is the thin zinc type that you find on the squiers today. That wold account for some of the weight loss. Its a pretty guitar but I was just suspect as its not a color I have seen in an MIM. However, I have just been into guitars and strats for about a year and a half.

Oh, thanks for explaining. The Strat in question is Sage Green. Disregard my post. When I think of 'lime green' I think of bright almost flourescent green like a bad 80's guitar.

Fender discontinued Sage Green a few years back when the MIM Standards got upgraded with the thicker trem block. It seemed to be a very unpopular color since I remember the same Sage Green guitars sitting in the shops for months, and they were always the ones marked down the cheapest for annual blowout sales.

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

Metro,

I think you just solved it. It does have athin block and these instruments are below regular MIM prices and they have been there quite a while.

Yes, MIMs can definitely be faked. We have seen it numerous times.

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