I'm not sure what I got here, exactly. It was my friend's from High School, and he's moving and getting rid of stuff, I took this off his hand for $50.

Body's in decent shape, it'll need some fretwork done, a bit corroded and such. It is a lefty as well, he had it strung and set up for right handed playing. He's a lefty himself, but basically plays a guitar 'upside down' frets with is right hand, strums with his left. So, I can play it, but my right arm rests right by the input jack, and the controls are all right there as well.

For $50 I couldn't pass it up. Serial # says it's made between 86-87.

I'm going to get it going and play it a bit, I've got a friend who's much better with guitar tech stuff than myself, so he's going to look at it with me and do what he can as far as setup, etc.

Is it a particular re-issue maybe? I thought the '68 RI's had the larger headstock, etc.

Just trying to figure exactly what I've got here. I don't play a ton of electric guitar, I may even trade it for some bass stuff at some point.


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Unless the image is reversed, it seems to be a lefty strung righty. I guess someone reversed "hendrixed" one.

Hard to say exactly what you have, but from what I see just from the picture, I would have given closer to 500 in a heartbeat.

If you remove the neck and pick guard and post picks of the back of the pic guard, the body route and any markings/stampings on the neck pocket and heel....if it is original and unmolested, I could probably tell you exactly what you have, what it is made of, and if it is some kind of reissue or sig series. I have a feeling that one may be something good, but only a hunch. Not much else to go on other then it appears to be a 62 style reissue neck... The vintage bridge is also a good sign but that could have been put on later. Is it a big block trem?

There is a chance, this one could be worth a lot. I am not so sure if it being a lefty hurts the value much if it is a reissue, but probably not thanks to hendrix.

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I'm almost out of stuff to sell.

Also should note...other then the frets...do not clean, polish or replace any corroded parts. Believe it or not, people actually take new parts and pay more to make them look old and coroded like that.

It is called a "reliced"..but this one seems natural from time so if you clean anything up too much..it can potentially lose value..imagine that? I didn't make the rules, I just play by them. Anything that is not hurting playability, do not mess with it..at least until you find out what you got there.

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I'm almost out of stuff to sell.

It's also fitted with a '62 style pickguard which is consistent with the '62 slab board neck.

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

^ yes, correct good eye. I am trying to see from the pic as well, if those are staggered poles on the pups..if so..we get even closer to this being a MIJ lefty 62 reissue...and as stated, if it is all original and unmolested, has potential to be worth a pretty penny, certain MIJ's are starting to skyrocket as it is rumored they are extremely high quality.

Keep your fingers crossed and try to get me those pics or if you are afraid to disassemble it, have a local Fender pro give it an appraisal before you touch anything on it.

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I'm almost out of stuff to sell.

It looks like it may also have dual string trees -- hard to tell from the angle though.

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

It does have dual string trees. at least that is clear on my screen. That however is not correct for a 62 reissue, but since it is a lefty, that can explain that.

The thing is, there are those that claim there were never any actual "reissue" made in Japan, and this is a semi truth. I have heard certain bodies and necks are actually closer to original specs then some USA reissues. but the MIJ probably has Japan single screw tuners (should be stamped "Fender" and may say "japan")..the pups and electronics may be different as well but still good quality.

The neck and pocket stampings should tell if it is a "re-issue" as it will have a "62" stamped with the other letters and numbers. It could be a export or an ST, I would need to do a little research to find out which is worth more..but either way it was a score if it is one of these for 50 bucks..the tuners are worth more then that.

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I'm almost out of stuff to sell.

Thanks for the input, I'll take a closer look at some of the things you have mentioned a bit later today and get some better pics.

My wife's off to work, and I'm not going too far into it with my 2 year old potentially getting in the way.

Last night I did look into it a bit, just think about the neck pocket, or showing you the circuitry on the pups etc. It does have a loud ground buzz, so I peeked at the input jack, and the circuitry inside to see if there were any obvious issues, and nothing stood out. (again, I don't know a whole lot about this stuff) All of the wired connections looked solid, didn't look all that dusty or anything.

But I'll meet with my buddy tomorrow night and get to use his stuff, and with him knowing much more about this stuff, and being much more DIY with guitar tech stuff, he'll help me get going.

He's not really a Fender aficionado, but I'll try and get some of the pics up later, maybe you guys can help me further.

Oh, yeah. The tuners are marked g. gotoh I don't know if those would come standard on a Strat? It doesn't appear to be 'unmolested' otherwise to me.

And, I think it may be a big block tremolo. A quick google image search that showed a 'regular' one next to the big block, and it definitely resembles the big block much moreso.

The Gotoh tuners are probably stock to the guitar.

Check your trem block with a refrigerator magnet (we all have lots of those, right?) to see if it's steel.

If the guitar does not have one, you might consider adding a full aluminum pickguard shield (Fender P/N 0019699000) to tame the buzz). Also, gently braiding the wiring between the output jack and the controls will help.

Good luck -- it looks like a swell instrument (and a bargain to boot).

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

Judging from what I can see in the picture it looks like an early 1988 Standard Strat.

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Chet Feathers

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

Okay..now there is debate coming into the picture. So..until any pics of the markings on the heel and pocket are posted...it is a crap shoot.

Can you post a close up of the serial number and the "made in japan". Sometime in the mid 80's, some investors bought back Fender from CBS. On most models they did away with the second string tree and the 3 bolt with tilt adjustment. They actually brought BACK the quality and operated as fender musical instruments. There was a period for around 2 years where ONLY the Japanese produced guitars. However in 86, Fender USA began guitar production again and as well a Mexican subsidiary started to produce Fender guitars.

Gotoh tuners is a good sign..and may help to verify the build date or thereabouts..but without pics of the neck pocket and heel numbers..and the route..and the electronics..it is still kind of up in the air. Since this dating appears to be a transitional point in time for Fender...the serial number itself is not enough to accurately identify or date it...but again I state just from the one pic you posted..this is more then a "standard".

And post a pic of the tuners as well, although I imagine they are the single screw Japan type...round with a small "leg" coming off where it is the point it screws into the back of the headstock.

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I'm almost out of stuff to sell.

This is a quote from this website: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/john.black ... andard.htm


According to the excellent 'Fender Book' by Tony Bacon and Paul Day (you can buy it via my books page) the Standard model was produced for US and UK consumption between 1988 and 1991.Prior to that date Standards had been marketed under the Squier banner, and after 1991 production moved to Mexico.

They were based on the vintage Stratocaster but not modelled on any particular year. There appears to have been a lot of mixing and matching of parts. For instance both single and triple ply pickguards were used. And although the examples I picture above have rosewood fretboards with the truss rod adjuster at the body end, I am almost sure I've seen Standard models with maple fretboards or the truss rod nut at the headstock end. Correct me if you know better.

Whatever the mix of parts what seems to have been common to the Standard model are two string guides, modern gotoh tuners and non-staggered pole pickups.

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

I think those are staggered poles...but can't be sure from my view. But I do not believe any body side truss rod adjustments were used on standards for this era, unless it is a re-issue. The thing to consider as well...is this is a lefty..and the fact that in 88...signature series started to be produced (clapton and Yiugnve oy vey whatever), and I am not so sure if those were only done at the Corona plant.

Either way, this is worth far far .....did I type correctly...FAR more then 50 bucks. I do need the pics I requested to accurately concluded anything about this particular ax..but my gut tells me it is something that may be valuable.

The lefty issue throws a monkey wrench into the gear box...but as I stated earlier...this may not take away any if much value...but only add to the difficulty of authenticating exactly what this is.

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I'm almost out of stuff to sell.

This is a 1989 MIJ Standard Strat:



This is the same 1989 MIJ Standard Strat with a different pickguard, plastics and a Callaham Bridge:





It has modern Gotoh tuners, two string trees and the trussrod adjuster is at the body end of the neck.

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.