Looks real.

ME

That's it, "It looks real"? I thought for sure that there was a database for Custom Shop guitars that you could use to be SURE if it is real. The body color, the Brown case, and other things look out of place for a '57. At well over $1k, I would like a little more than "looks real" if I wanted to buy it. Or, is that just your way of giving your verification? Thanks for replying anyway.

_________________
---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

I would take this guitar to my bedroom and bang with it all night long, if you know what I mean. That neck gives me the tingles.

Hi shimmilou,

ME's posts are usually short and sweet and down to the point. Also if he says it looks real he probably means what he's saying. So don't be put off by his short message - he's just a very busy man!

If you want to double-check, maybe you could run the serial no. through fender support, maybe custom care, I don't know the proceedures for CS products. I'm sure also if you post it on the "Let's Talk Custom Shop"-section there'l be folks happy to help.

Dig that colour!

-Nutter

I've just gotten off the phone with Fender Customer Relations; the fellow on the phone was kind enough to take a look at the ebay listing. Evidently all info that they have for the guitar checks out. He couldn't confirm the colour finish for the guitar based on the serial #'s info, but explained that it could very easily be a one off, and that the aged shell pink actually looks right to him.

He also said that if the neck did infact arrive crooked that it was an easy fix if I were to have the guitar fully set up.

All that, PLUS Mike Eldred's word is making me feel pretty good about things right now.

Hopefully I can get away with a price not much higher than it's at now.. I suppose it all comes down to fate from here on



I hope everything works out for you; I'm sure you'll have her soon considering you had placed your order well before I had!

I should have known. Sorry Mike.

_________________
---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

Hey guys I'm the owner/seller of the strat and I ran across this thread...couldn't believe some of what I was reading! This guitar is absolutely the real deal and I guarantee the authenticity down to the last screw. It is a custom color and a rare combination with the maple neck...that's why I bought it originally! Also, it is a C neck...not sure how you see a V in the photos but I am posting some more on the auction page. Finally, the neck straightness is a subjective thing but very easily adjusted...I just unscrewed it a bit, re-angled and rescrewed. There you go. Please don't be negative and overly-skeptical without first asking the seller...especially when I have 100% positive feedback and a perfect history of selling high-end guitars. Appreciate the interest and attention though! Thanks, *guitars*

Any explanation for the apparently erroneous brown Tolex case?

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

Absolutely original as well. I can't think of any mid-90s Custom Shop Strat that didn't come with this kind of case...can you?

I'd presume that whomever ordered that guitar originally would've specified the type of case. I merely asked because most '50s-based instruments would typically ship in a tweed G&G case. But with a CS instrument, I suppose it would be anybody's guess as to what options the customer requested.

Best of luck with the auction.

Arjay

_________________
"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

Yeah things were a bit different in the mid 90s...G&G Tolex was definitely the norm for all CS strats. I don't think they were using the tweed G&G cases at all...I've never seen one from that era, anyway. Thanks!

Perhaps not for the Custom Shop instruments, but tweed cases for the regular-production '57 re-issue Strats date back at least to January of 1993 because I own one such case (purchased in conjunction with a used 25th Anniversary Strat that lacked its original case).

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

While it isn't a colour I would choose, it can be that using flash while there's daylight present can give a totally false impression, and that may be the case here!
I also beg to differ about the neck being "crooked." This can also appear so from the angle the pic was taken! If you look at pics 7 and 9 as you scroll down, with straight on shots of the neck, I see no evidence that there's anything untoward at all!

...."couldn't believe some of what I was reading!"... Yeah, me too! It seems that you didn't even know that it was a '57. In your ad you originally claimed it was a '56, then corrected it after someone asked about it. That is just one reason to be skeptical. If the owner isn't even sure of the details.....

But, it seems that the experts have set us straight, now we can be sure also. I tend to start off skeptical of ads that have contradictions, saves lots of time and money that way. Nice Strat BTW (now that we know it's real), and welcome to the forum, skeptics and all.

Edit:
And the reason that I thought that it might be a V shaped neck, was that the volute looked like it had a nice point on it.

_________________
---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

Yet the owner straightened it.

_________________
---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.