I'm having trouble identifying this Fender Strat. It has a serial number of I007...something, and says made in the USA on the neck plate.



The pickups aren't the originals.

Any help welcome.

It's a Japan/USA heavy metal strat. Made in USA for export to Japan.

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No no and no

Thanks for the pic. That helps a lot. Do you have a pic of the front of the headstock also? That is a wild looking finish!

It's one of the many iterations of the HM Strat line from the late 80's - early 90's. Kahler tremolo and 24 frets are a dead giveaway. I have one at home, but with rosewood fingerboard and bridge pickup only.

Here is some more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fender_HM_Strat

Here is a website dedicated to HM Strats: http://www.heavymetalstrat.com/

You could also email the serial number to Fender customer service and they might help you out further.

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

And vice versa.

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

Really, I didn't know that.
Learn something new everyday.
Thanks mate.

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No no and no

Judging the picture, the pickups are not stock.

Two Seymour Duncan Hot Rails in the neck and the middle and a TB-4 "Jeff Beck" Trembucker in the bridge.

The guitar would be much versatile if you install three mini coil-tap switches to split the humbuckers.

The HM Strats are a serious "grey area" as to where they were made. The OP's is a fairly late one since it has both the Kahler Spyder trem and the headstock with a "normal" "Fender" decal and that kind of 80s-style font that says "Strat". The earlier headstocks had that pink checkmark and the large Fender "F", and the final ones out the door had the "Floyd Rose Original" trem (after Fender got the distribution rights to the Floyd Rose after Kramer folded).

The earliest ones were made in Japan but they also have a neck plate that reads "Fender USA" - even though the serial number is on the back of the neck right above the neck heel and a "Made in Japan" right under the serial number - like a lot of MIJ Fenders since the late 80s. Some of these had the "Made in Japan" part removed. It is thought that some were assembled here in the USA from MIJ parts toward the end of the run; the early ones were considered to be all MIJ.

There was also a "Contemporary Strat" model that had a more traditional Strat-sized body (the HMs were downsized bodies), pickguard, but was still HSS, had the Kahler Spyder, and had a master tone and a coil tap switch. These were the same way - if not 100% MIJ then they were MIJ bodies/necks/some hardware assembled in the USA.

The MIJ Contemporary series can't be confused with the Suhr-built "USA Contemporary" Stratocasters, which is a completely different beast.

Looks like one of those "bowling ball" strats someone was asking about a couple of weeks ago

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I remember when we were free!

It's an HM. These are bowling ball Strats:

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.