can anyone please advise me on this? is this a genuine '76 strat. saw this in an ad and contemplating on getting it... cheers

Something seriously wonky with that pickguard......aftermarket POS?

The instrument otherwise seems to be authentic.

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

Pick guard is wrong the pick ups are wrong the tremolo is wrong the head stock it wrong and numbers don't line up.

I would say it is a partscaster I.E, it's a fake.


With that said, how does it play?
Just because it's a partscaster does not mean it will not play well.

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Marriage is like playing cards...

At first all you want are Hearts and Diamonds.

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thanx for the feedbacks guys... personally i don't feel good about this one... serial numbers not in line, gap between neck and pick guard, pick guard too clean to be from the 70's and to really check this strat up, i gotta fly 2 hours from my place. think i'll just go with the advise that it's not 100% original parts... cheers guys...

A wise choice IMO.

Guitar deals are like city buses......

Miss one, no sweat -- there'll be another along in 20 minutes or so.



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

The neck looks authentic. The serial number looks OK (one of the typical decal styles for a '76). Plus the bullet truss is difficult to pirate. BUT, it does look like it was tinkered with/refinished or something 'cause the decal looks worn off and lacqered over, maybe...

The body's another thing. That neck cavity is what's know as a "mouse-ears" cavity, which is not what they offered on a standard 3-bolt body circa 1976.

Is this a 3-bolt guitar? If it has been modified into a 4-bolt, that might explain why the PG is wonky looking in relation to the trem unit. BTW, in my estimation the trem looks authentic. In fact, I'm gonna guess that his guitar is fairly authentic EXCEPT for the body, especially if it's no longer a 3-bolt strat..

my 2 pennies to rub together, on the matter...

EDIT: Upon closer inspection, I'd say the pick guard is not an authentic fender, it's one of those universal gizmo style guards (notice the squared route at the neck joint -- not strat geometry, there) Still fairly certain the bod is not orig...

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'78 Fender Stratocaster
Epi USA Texan '64 RI signed by Paul McCartney
'73 Fender Mustang
Gibson LP Deluxe RI '69
Fender Active Jazz Bass
Guild GADm20e Acoustic Guitar
Epi Casino RI
Gretsch Pro Jet w/Bigsby
And My Frankenstein-O-Caster

So far as it goes there might be nothing intrinsically wrong with the neck pocket. What we are seeing there is the feature known as "mouse ears" (after Mickey Mouse) where a router is pushed into the corners of the pocket to make that end fit the butt of the neck better. That is done as standard on many (most?) production line Strats these days.

The question I can't answer is when the practice started, so I don't know if it is right on a '70s Fender.

Apart from the questions raised by others here, what would make me walk away from this guitar is that it looks to me as if the body is splitting along the lower of the two join seams, towards the tail. Of course that's fixable, but on the bus principle Retroverbial mentioned - why bother?

Cheers - C

EDIT: pardon me, I didn't notice that Kozy had already mentioned the mouse ears. Didn't mean to be repeating what had already been said...

+1

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