Hi,
I just bought what looks like a lovely 1990 Mexican Strat in Sunburst finish - Serial MN00.... which suggests it was one of the first to leave the Mexican factory in 1990.

However I am worried about the neck - the truss rod adjustment is at the body end which I believe was common but there is a shaped brown stain to make it look like there is a hole for adjustment at the head stock end? has anyone seen this - the bridge and tuners are all badged Fender but why would they pretend that the was a hole at the head stock end?

I really hope I this was normal and someone can put my mind at ease.

Hi Andy-C, welcome to the Forum.

By "shaped brown stain" at the nut end do you mean the tear shaped walnut insert, as on this '57 headstock?



That is a feature of the way trussrods were installed in the '50s. Once the rod was anchored at that end the insert plugged the hole and was shaped along with the rest of the timber into the curve leading into the face of the peghead, producing that distinctive tear outline.

Fender have used that feature on and off, mostly on Reissue type instruments. It's perfectly normal.

Cheers - C

I wouldnt be too worried, you dont see very many knockoff mexis.

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Hi thanks for the advice so far - I have a couple of photos here. The thing that made me think it was just stain and not a plug is that the grain seems to match up almost perfectly and I didnt think they would bother doing that?

(will add links shortly)[/img]

Did they make a '50s Reissue in Mexico in 1990?

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Yeah, that's the bit I'm not qualified to comment on. It needs someone else to tell us what the headstock should look like on a MIM of that period.

Cheers - C

I have a 96 all black MIM that has the teardrop, and here's a 92 that has it as well.

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Havent worked out how to embed images yet sorry but here is a link to a couple of images of the head stock - I understand that it may seem unlikely anyone would go to the trouble of copying a mexican neck but I just want to relax in the knowledge that this is genuine - I actually think the early Mexican strats are in fact excellent guitars - I love my 91 Mex Tele, cant afford a USA anyway right now.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/arcfolio/sets/72157624295392913/

Cheers for help so far,
Andy

I dont see anything alarming, everything seems in order.

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I will be happy man if thats true did you see the close-up image too?

There are others a lot more knowledgeable who should be able to give more insight, but it looks no diff than my 96 or any of the early 90s MIMs I googled.

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Got nuttin' to add to -


When inserting the walnut plug someone took the trouble to line the grain up. That's a careful touch.

BTW: serial number MN000137. To any of the s/n gurus here: that doesn't literally mean it was the 137th one out of the factory... does it? Pretty cool if it really was that early in the Mexican plant's history.

Which prompts me to ask, which side of the Atlantic are you please, Andy-C?

Cheers - C

That would be pretty cool. A neat peice of history. I wonder if the MIMs will accrue any vintage value.

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You know when I look very closely it is possible that someone has attempted to match the grain - its so good it looks like part of the maple.

It would be fantastic for me if this really was one of the first to leave Mexico? hope someone can shed light on that for me - I'm in the UK by the way.

Can I just say a huge thanks to everyone who has replied to my very first post on this forum - brilliant! cheers - so helpful.

Yeah, I kinda thought you might be. It would be surprising if you had your hands on one of the first couple of hundred MIMs ever made - and even more surprising if early numbers had found their way across the pond. You'd have assumed the company would try their new product out on their home audience first.

Someone is either going to explain that to us (early models built for export, say) or one of the numbers bods will reveal that the s/n doesn't actually stand for an early MIM at all. So don't get your hopes up just yet...

Still. Interesting at the very least.

Care to show us pix of the rest of the guitar?

Cheers - C