I would appreciate if any expert on 80's CBS era strats can help me. I have recently purchased what I hope is an authentic 1983-84 fender strat on ebay. I noticed it 15min before it ended and had no time to research. I bought it to restore. The pictures posted by the seller showed the outside only. When I received the guitar & disassembled I noticed no marking or lables indicating dates-who assembled,etc? Now I nervous - Never saw this type Bridge,tuners,pickup assembly look cheap, serial number posted on back headstock with number spaced. I need a true expert if possible to help me. It would be so appreciated & I would be thankful. I am going to post 2 links for picture reference. 1st will be the pictures posted by the seller showing 16 images of the exterior & the 2nd will be pictures I took and posted on photobucket showing the inside disassembled. Thanks again.

link 1: http://www.auctiva.com/hostedimages/sho ... 0&format=0

Link 2: http://s853.photobucket.com/albums/ab96 ... 1984-4.jpg

If anyone needs any additional pohots emiled to them personally or added info please let me know. Thanks,Mike

The bridge is asian or mexican. Probably Squier. Very badly done diy aging to the paintwork too.




The logo font doesn't look familiar to me, not really up on fonts though. What I do question is the angle and placement of the original contour body section of the logo.

It should be that if you run a line from the 'with synchronized trem' section of the Fender logo. The original part of the 'Original contour body' should be in line though on the next line down.



Mexican/Squier/Asian tremblock



Homemade plate, maybe?




Mexican/Squier/Asian tuners. Also was the serial on the back of the headstock in those days? Font of serial no' looks to be too thick.



22Frets and Black truss access hole surround. MightyMite neck according to user Twelvebar



All in all, it looks like you been had mate. Sorry.
Should you decide to persue this legally, we'll help out with info.

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Oh no. Thanks for your help so far. I sick to my stomach. I sent an email to the seller and am going to wait for a response. Thankyou.

Well mate, you have the whole of the law on your side.

As I said before the people in the know here will gladly help. Give it a bit of time for some more informed users to offer their opinion and correct any mistakes I've made. Fender did use different parts over the years, consequently you get people more familiar with a particular guitar than they are with others.

Here to help.
Good luck in nailing the scumbag.

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I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help & support. Thanks again, Mike

100% faked; not sure of the source material - it could be a Squire or some other clone of about that same price range.

Fender used the silver modern logo at that time, and all serial numbers were on the front of the headstock.

Here is a real 1983/84 Strat (from Stratcollector.com):



Here is a headstock shot from Chris's Guitars (this one has had the original trem replaced by a Kahler and has a Kahler string lock added):

John

Would you please be so kind as to tell me what that is between the nut and the tuners?
Some kind of locking system?

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the answer was squished between the pics

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A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence. ~Leopold Stokowski~

Classicrock92 answered as well - that is the Kahler string lock.

That was the only close-up photo I could quickly find of an 83/84 Strat headstock. The guitar is at a dealer; it has had the original "FreeFlyte" trem replaced by a flat-mount cam-style Kahler and that device on the headstock is the Kahler string lock. For a while in the mid-80s Kahler had a version of their string lock that instead of using the usual allen wrench to tighten the bolts that lock the string used those lever-like things. You would lift up the lever and you would turn it by hand to lock/unlock the string; when you were done with the string change you folded the lever back down. By the end of the 80s Kahler was licensing Floyd Rose patents and began using a Floyd-style locking nut with all their trems (both the cam-style and the fulcrum-style trems).

Those pickups and pots look like squier to me.

if you paid with paypal you'll be ok. Just report it as not as described and they'll put a hold on the money.

I'd have to agree. Though they could be early Mexican Fender. Both brands used the same for awhile.



The center hole on the neck pocket floor of the body is very Squier too.

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I did use paypal . Im going to log on now since the seller hasn't responded to me all day. Thanks for the advise! PS: The 1st thing I thought when viewing the pickup assembly was squire series. Looks really cheap but not familiar with early eighty's models at all. Thanks again!

It's not Squier Series, though it may be Squier.

Squier Series from 82-83 (Fender Japan) had a mix of Alnico magnets and 2 ceramic bar magnets either side of the polepieces.

Squier Series guitars 90-98 (Fender Mexico) had the 2 ceramic bars mentioned above.

[EDIT. Explanaition. It's important to be accurate if legal matters are imminent. I'd hate to see you get lumbered because of the way you worded something. Leave the term Squier Series out. Just use 'non fender USA' instead.
Best intentions at heart.]

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Did you check the seller's E-bay feedback? If you see little or no feedback, it's probably not a good idea to buy.

Since it's not an American made Strat, those decals are counterfeits.
Does anything matter beyond that?

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.