Greetings all, I have a few questions regarding a nifty lefty 93 Am Std black with a rosewood neck. This will be my first actual fender so I'm a bit fuzzy on the details. I've ran the numbers did some research on the 93 model, everything checks out but I havent had the pickguard off to see the pickups. The bridge pickup is a Seymour-Duncan Thin bucker but the others look original.

My question is how can I tell if these are true fender pups? Id also like to identify the differences between the american pups and the mexicans. I am aware that the americans are alnico v and the mexican are ceramic and the pole pieces on them are for the looks, but how can I tell the difference visually?

Also I have been told that the paint on this is poly and not nitro, if its poly ill strip it and refinish it (I'm auto body technician). If it is nitro I will relic it, not a lot but enough to make it look a bit vintage but i wont burn the headstock like a lot of these guys do.

These are my main two concerns, any info would be greatt, thanks guys.

I'm not sure what color wire or what color backs the old American Standard pickups had - I think they had black backs but I'm not sure. They do have individual pole pieces - on the bottom of the pickups you can see the 6 round magnets that are the polepieces. On an MIM Standard Strat pickup you will see one bar magnet that runs across the back of the pickup; the polepieces on these aren't "for show"; they work like the polepieces on a P-90 or a humbucker but they aren't individual magnets like on a "traditional" Fender Strat pickup. Also there are several types of MIM Fender pickups; some of them use the bar magnet and some use the individual polepieces.

American Standards are a polyurathane finish, not nitro. Only the reissues are finished in nitro.

Congrats on the Strat!

It's easy to tell the difference between MIA and MIM Std pickups once you see one. I found a pic of Mexican Standard ceramic pickups that shows the ceramic bars:


I'm not sure about the details of 90's MIA Stds. It's a good bet though that the middle and neck pups are stock and just the bridge was switched out for a Seymour Duncan.

Like John C said, your Strat is polyurethane. All American Stds (and American Series as they were called from 2000-2007) have always been polyurethane body and neck. I know from experience that stripping poly off a guitar (especially the neck) is something I would highly advise against, but I bet you have the tools and know how since you are an auto body tech. And yes please don't overdue the relic'ing. Post some before and after pics. Trying to bite my tongue about homemade relics.

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