Hello all. This is my first question on this site and it is regarding my stratocaster (or whatever it may be). I have done quite a bit of research about my guitar and I am still unsure as to what it is exactly. I'm pretty sure it's not all original parts, but I'm not sure if it's even a strat.

From the outside everything looks to be fender made but I have never been able to find a serial number. There is no serial anywhere on the neck (or neck-plate), even when I take the neck off the body. There was a production date on the neck which said July 8 1988. Also, the word "musta" was stamped on the back where the neck meets the body. I think this is the name of the builder. Is this correct?

The body of this guitar is what really confused me. The part on the body where the neck is placed had a dimarzio logo. From research I found that Charvel made bodies with dimarzio logos on it, and these are high quality. However, I'm pretty sure dimarzio made there own strat bodies as well, which I imagine are not as good of quality.

Some other info of the guitar is it has kluson style tuners, a blank chrome neck-plate, and no compartment to access the wiring on the back of the body (I can't remember what this is called).

Any information or questions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

specs please? HSS, SSS, or HSH? Floyd Rose or V. Trem?

Pics would really help too.


almost all of Dimarzio's bodies were produced by Grover and his crew. you should ask Mike Eldred about this in his section of the forum (he was Grover's first employee at Charvel in the late 70s)

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Hey chanman, thanks for the response. Small world I'm from Pickerington.

The guitar is SSS with standard fender synchronized tremolo. I'll get some pics.

oh cool man small world indeed! was just down there the other day (my Lead Guitarist takes lessons at that little music place on Hill Rd)

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We need to see some picks of this. Currently pro guitar shop has some special run custom shop strats with Dimarizo Area pickups in them.

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Why would you think DiMarzio bodies would not be of good quality? They were just reselling bodies and necks made by Grover Jackson (i.e Charvel), Boogie Bodies, etc. I'm 855 sure they never did make their own bodies and necks; they just resold them from other sources.

There was a lot of "crossover" back then - Mighty Mite, DiMarzio, Boogie Bodies (later Warmoth), even Schecter were often selling the same bodies and necks - granted Warmoth was the primary OEM but Schecter also filled some OEM orders.

Forget what you read about Wayne Charvel; he is best at selling one thing - Wayne Charvel. "Charvel" never made their own bodies and necks until Grover Jackson took over; they just resold stuff produced by Warmoth or Schecter. For a period of time Schecter and Charvel had the same financial backer; Grover Jackson basically took over Wayne Charvel's debts to that backer which severed the "tie" between the two companies. Jackson is pretty open that getting the DiMarzio contract is what kept the lights on at Charvel for the first year or so - at least until Van Halen hit and EVH began telling everyone he got his parts from Charvel. I'm pretty sure that Charvel only made parts for DiMarzio circa 1979-1980. By early 1981 Charvel was focusing on completed guitars, not parts, and the first Jackson was being produced for Randy Rhoads (the white "Concorde" guitar); definitely there would be no parts production after 1982 when the final Rhoads and the Soloist were released under the Jackson name.

A bit more trivia - Tom Anderson did the rough unfinished bodies and necks for Pensa-Suhr circa 1985-1988. Tom had left Schecter and was only doing parts at the time, and John sourced his wooden parts from Tom. After Tom started doing only completed guitars John got parts from Warmoth (to his specs) for the Pensa-Suhrs. I want to stress that this was during the New York Pensa-Suhr era. The current John Suhr guitars are 100% built by John and his team. John and Tom are friends; each says they would buy the other guy's guitars if they didn't build their own.

Thanks for all the replies fellas.

Here's some good info on the bodies of Charvels. The site that I hyperlinked below says a few things that I think pertain to my guitar. I've also uploaded pictures of the guitar.

http://www.usacharvels.com/history/pg3.htm