A friend of my son dropped off this guitar for me to set up for him. He picked it up for $400. He mentioned something about the neck was changed(it's rosewood dated 2004). I haven't spoke to the guy personally about it. Actually we havent heard from him since Jan. I know somebody was messin' w/the neck cause the neck plate was put on wrong (turned 180). Well anyways somewhere on this site I recall reading that this reissue was offered w/a maple neck only and something about having the mid boost (dosen't have it)like the Clapton model. It is the 2 tone tobacco finish. It's a gorgous axe and man does it sing. So what do u think we got here guys. Is it a marriage of body n neck or was it offered w/a rswd neck n no tone boost? I hope the guys alright. Thanks for yer help! Gigfin

Gigfin

Every strat in 2004 was a anniversary edition. Or most of em were. I know there were Mexican right up to CustomShop guitars sporting the anniversary plate.

The notable guitars were the Mexican Gold anniversary strat, the American Standard, the American Deluxe and the CustomShop George Fullerton 1954 reissue.

I don't think any of those were offered with the Clapton midboost.

Heres my anniversary Deluxe, no different to a ordinary American Deluxe except it has a anniversary emblem on the neckplate and the same emblem inside the lid of the case.

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Thanks Nikininja, It's deff. USA. The case is a fender plastic mold injection type w/fender logo though. Theres no 50Ann logo on pickguard like yours but the neck plate sports that. Do they have a serial # lookup on this site? Thats a gem you have there. I sure wish I would of keeped my 73 Sunburst Maple I bought new that yr when I got out of HS for $315 w/case.

Unfortunately Fender doesn't have a serial number lookup where you can match the guitar specs to the serial number on-line. However, their Consumer Relations is very responsive - if you e-mail them they should be able to tell you the original specs of the guitar and likely even the dealer it was shipped out to. The address is found under the "Support" tab.

Also, only the 50th Anniversary American Deluxe model like nikininja's had the 50th Anniversary logo on the pickguard; niki's is a very nice example of that guitar.

None of the 50th Anniversary models were offered with the Clapton mid-boost, but the 50th Anniversary edition of the American Series did have special 1954-spec pickups (these were supposed to be CS pickups but I believe that got changed during the year to be just pickups made in the factory to the same specs as the CS pickups). These would have had the same case a nikininja's 50th Anniversary edtion American Deluxe.

I'm also pretty sure that you could get the "regular" American Series Strat in the 2-color burst (it would have had the regular American Series pickups) in 2004 but that also should have been a maple fingerboard only (the rosewood fingerboard models should have been a 3-color burst); these would have had the "50th Anniversary" neck plate as well.

Hopefully Fender's Consumer Relations can provide the info to you.

Why thankyou John. I'm blushing now

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Fender celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Strat in 1954 by completely confusing its customers with its American made Strats. ALL, I repeat ALL American Series and Deluxe Strats in 2004 have the "50th anniversary" neckplate. They are nothing more than the regular production line models but with a new neckplate. Nothing special about them.

However, there was a 'special edition' 50th anny version of the American Standard and Deluxe. Yes you are correct that they only came with maple fretboard necks. As for if the body you have is a legit 'special edition', post some pics and we'll let you know or check out the info here:

http://www.stratcollector.com/newsdesk/ ... 00111.html (the Am Series version in the pic has a 3-ply pickguard, the special ones have 1-ply)

Special 50th Anny Am Series - http://www.musiciansfriend.com/document?doc_id=92579 (the pic shows the Deluxe shaped neckplate and heel though).

Special 50th Anny Am Deluxe - http://www.musiciansfriend.com/document?doc_id=92719

Might as well throw in the Custom Shop 50th anny since I'm on a roll - http://www.fendercustomshop.com.au/50th ... 151954.php

Here is my special edition 50th anny Am Series. It came with the same special tweed/orange lining 50th anny case that nikinija's special 50th anny Deluxe came with. The regular production Am models of 2004 came with the plain black plastic case.


Regardless of where the neck and body of your son's friend's guitar came from, $400 was a heckuva deal!

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

And what a roll!
Thanks for a well thought out and written post. Great links too.

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Thanks! I'm kind of obsessed with these 50th anny models.

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

Well then, heres a mission for you.

Bill Lawrence designer of the SCN pickup apparently claims Fender changed the way they were made from his original instructions. I've never seen anything written by him saying such.
I noticed a difference between my Deluxe and Custom Classic. Both were fitted with the S1/SCN combination from new. The Custom Classic is a 06, the Deluxe a 04.
The Custom Classic didnt sound as good as the Deluxe, consequently I changed the pickups.
Looking at them the stagger of the 04 SCN's is a little different to the 06 SCN's and the two SCN's on my 07 Vintage Hotrod. The 06 and 07 guitars have flat treble string polepieces and staggered bass string polepieces. The Deluxe's polepieces have a normal vintage strat stagger to the polepieces.

Your mission should you choose to accept it is to find out the extent of these changes.

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Sorry I failed at this mission. I haven't followed the evolution of the SCN pickups so I am stumped.

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

My American Series 50th Ann. has the CS 54 pups and the rear tone control works on the middle and rear pups.As with all American Series of '04 it had a maple neck and sings like an angel.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.