Yes, I ripped the title off of Jalopnik. Hey, it fits this situation.

Okay, so I'm bruzin' the List o' Craigs like I usually do out of habit and I stumble across this:

http://lexington.craigslist.org/msg/1812883966.html

Two Fender Strats, both of them do appear to be quite old, both of them need minor work which I can do, both of them can be had at a cheap price.

I'm tempted to snap 'em up.

Before you say I'm going to be buying a fake out of this, yes I know what I'm getting into. The green guitar, it seems to me, is a Servicemen's Strat. No, it isn't real, duh, of course. However, these guitars are sometimes loaded with actual vintage Fender pickups. Don't ask me how they wind up in these fradulent Fenders, but I've seen quite a few of them wind up with authentic matched sets of, say, late 70s era pups. It's a gamble, but if it pays off, the guitar is most certainly worth close to what I'd pay for it. Plus, I see these fake Fenders as an interesting piece of vintage guitar history. And with the prices of vintage guitars skyrocketing out of control, these are starting to rise in value as well due to their inexpensiveness versus the real thing.

The other guitar looks like it's an early '80s-era Strat, probably from Japan. Still neat, though. Has the SRV-vibe down pat. It can wear those prisma stickers and not feel ashamed although it too is a copy of sorts.

Anyway, drop some input here. Are these guitars at a nice price to snag or am I hitting the crack pipe and just not realizing it?

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2006 Fender AVRI 70s Stratocaster: Natural Ash | Sovtek MIG 60 & A No Name Cabinet | Pedals & Junk

I'm not seeing a lot of potential here.

Look at the headstock decal on that green "Strat".

It looks as phony as a seven-dollar bill.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Ut oh, the craigs list police have flagged it and she's gone.

Perhaps a merciful event for all concerned......



Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Hence why I said it was probably a Servicemen's Fender. Google some pics if you haven't seen one. The quality of detail on a Servicemen's copy varies from guitar to guitar; after all these were made by one guy in his shop with whatever tools he had and a photo to go by. Sometimes the headstock decals on these guitars weren't even decals and were written by hand with a pen instead.

A few people have bought unmodified examples of various Servicemen's Fenders only to discover they have been loaded with actual vintage Fender pups. I'll find a link later to where a guy found a set of matched 1979 Strat pickups in his Servicemen's copy.

I sent the guy an e-mail last night after I posted this, asking for better photos. Let's see if he returns it. I'll share the photos with you guys.

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2006 Fender AVRI 70s Stratocaster: Natural Ash | Sovtek MIG 60 & A No Name Cabinet | Pedals & Junk

I've seen "serviceman's strats" before -- in the late '60s, in Vietnam, Bangkok, and the P.I. While there were a few that actually looked, played, and sounded adequate, most of them belonged in a paddy dike (along with the papa-san "luthiers" who built them).

You might conceivably find a true treasure but I wouldn't bet the ranch on your odds.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Can't view it. Some schmuk flagged it!!!

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"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


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What? Are you saying there's something wrong with the seven-dollar bill the barman at the Blue Note in NY gave me in change? Why, next you'll be telling me the blonde singer wasn't Ella Fitzgerald like they said...

Cheers - C

Well, no reply. That might be for the better, who knows.

I'm just going to buy a G&L Rampage, a used Big Muff, and maybe a Bassmen Ten.

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2006 Fender AVRI 70s Stratocaster: Natural Ash | Sovtek MIG 60 & A No Name Cabinet | Pedals & Junk

So are Servicemens' Fenders ones that were brought back from Veterans?

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Kid: "Hey Smokey! Where did you get your name?"
Smokey the Bear: "Well..."
(former user jimbo612)

In a nutshell, yep. Vietnam Vets mostly bought them on their way home when they stopped in the Philippines, which is where most of them were made and sold from.

There's actually an old photo of Mick Jagger playing a black Serivcemen's Jaguar floating around on the net. It looked pretty sharp for a fake, honestly.

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2006 Fender AVRI 70s Stratocaster: Natural Ash | Sovtek MIG 60 & A No Name Cabinet | Pedals & Junk

While on my mid-tour R&R to Kowloon (Hong Kong) in 1970 I saw a pretty realistic interpretation of a Fiesta Red Precision Bass in a shop. I was actually tempted to buy it since the price was "right" but I was already burdened with a load of duty-free stereo gear and some camera equipment.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

I was stationed in South Korea in 1995/1996. I went to a local shop and picked up a Squire. Since I sold my previous Squire not thinking I could take it with me, I wanted another. Action was super high and I had no idea what to do with it. Not knowing what I know now, I really hated playing it. When I got it back to the states, I took it to a pawn shop where the told me it was a fake because the pickup covers did not have exposed pole pieces.... Ended up selling it to a friend, but somewhere out there is a Korean Squire fake..... Never thought they'd make one of those since the Squires of the 90's were made in Korea.

_________________
"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


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Just think that fake guitar could have changed hands and ripped off a dozen people by now.

Well it was a cool post as I never heard of these and just learned some Fender history I did not know.