Hi

I have a mexican Strat and am about to purchase a second hand USA Strat but I'm not confident that I could tell if it was a fake / part-o-caster...

Apart from the serial number and the headstock details, what other features should I look for?

-22 frets (not 21)

-Three separately routed cavities for the Pickups (instead of one rectangular block)

-One piece body (only visible with some finishes)


I read that there is a way to tell whether it is a USA Strat through looking at the pickups and machine-heads if you unscrew them... is this correct?
What should I look for?

If I take the scratch guard off, does it all come away easily, or is there foil that could be broken?

Any advice will be much appreciated.

From
Jam on toast

They make American Standard bodies out of multiple pieces.
You can see it through the paint sometimes.

Post the pictures here can help.

The obvious things are checking the serial number, if it matches the vintage of the guitar and hardware and then see if it comes up in Google.
Has the guitar been fake "worn in" to appear as a played guitar or is it too perfect for something 10-20 years old?
Check the skunk stripe and truss rod capping.
Check if the guitar comes with a case. If not why?
Springs claw and trem block will be different.

Sometimes you find these things look a bit out:
Headstock curve, fret markers position, screws, fretwork, the nut (may have been replaced).

You get machine number markings on the tuners that are normally hidden.
Anything can be copied unless you have one in your hand it is really hard to tell. Checks with a micrometer, calipers and magnetic and dc resistance tests will uncover a lot of fake parts as well.

Checking the electronics, cavities, stickers and neck and pocket markings generally will uncover any other hidden secrets. They probably wouldn't be photoed for that reason.

Make sure you check the seller as well. I mean you can be looking at a genuine bargain guitar only to lose your money to a fraudster putting up decent looking pictures. Don't depend on Paypal to cover you if they do a runner with your money.

If Fender halved their prices then it would put the fake Strat makers out of business and the Fender Company would sell twice as many.

In the UK a new US Standard cost £850 (second hand = £550)
Currently one pound = 1.63 dollars (£850 = $1385)

What's the new and secondhand price in the USA?

Thats down to taxation, the sterling dollar difference is swallowed up by import taxes. If you take the dollar as being equal to the pound you're far nearer the mark.

If you lower the prices you'll lose quality. Not their fault we've been governed by thieving bleeding heart lefties.

_________________
No no and no

"Modern" style USA Fenders have 22 frets but a reissue would have 21; some of the Artist models have 22 and some have 21 - it just depends on what you are looking at.



Again it depends on what model you are looking at. American Standards (and Strat Plus/Plus Deluxe/Ultra and the Beck Signature) had a rectangular route from their introduction (as early as 1986 for the American Standard/Strat Plus) up until 1998. After 1998 (starting with the introduction of the American Deluxe line as a replacement for the Plus series) they have 3 routes in an HSH shape. Reissues have 3 single-coil sized routes, and I believe the Highway 1s have an HSS routing but I'm not sure - they could also have the HSH. Not sure at all about the new American Specials.



Really only a rare Custom Shop guitar would have a one-piece body; most USA guitars are at least a 2-piece (and more likely a 3-piece) body.



I'm not up on the changes to the pickups over the years; I know that American Standards had flat-pole pickups for their entire run (1986-2000); Fender went to staggered-height polepieces on the American Series when they came out in 2000; just not sure of what they look like from the back. Not sure about how to read codes on the machine heads.

The pickguard should come off easily; any foil sheilding would be pretty firmly attached to the pickguard itself.

Hope all this helps instead of confuses; having the serial number and the type of Strat would really help us help you out.

I surmise that you are not looking for a Fender Custom Shop Strat, therefore you are looking at around $500 to $1200 for a preowned Standard to Deluxe MIA Strat.

Not buying online from a private party eliminates the potential problem of misrepresentation.
However I would buy online from a reputable shop, if you search, you'd be surprised at the preowned Strat's selling for very reasonable prices.

But the magic of buying preowned, disappears when buying online.
Preowned I prefer Hands On,playing, inspecting,touching, actually assessing if this particular Strat or Tele is a good fit.

This Issue of disassembling a Strat for purposes of identification is in IMHO quite unnecessary in most cases.
I'm on my 4th preowned, (1) 01 Standard Strat MIA (2) 01 Deluxe Strat MIM (3) 01 CS 56 NOS (4) 09 Standard Tele.
Since each were bought from 3 separate sources, guitar shops, I never considered disassembling any, in reality the black standard had pickups converted to D'Imarzio's and a chrome pick guard by a previous owner. The Deluxe has undergone a pickup change to SCN's, Sperzel locking tuners and is about to receive an SI Volume switch and a TBX tone switch.
The CS 56 NOS, of course remains unaltered for obvious reasons.
The 09 Tele will probably have tuners and pickguard changed.

Fender Strats and Tele's were designed to have interchangeable parts, that is one of their greatest assets over Gibson.
If a strat has been improved due to a parts change, than all the better.
These are instruments first and foremost, not investment vehicles.

_________________
"C'est parti mon Kiki "

After reading your posts and doing a search of previous posts I've come to the conclusion that unless the buyer has experience of how a genuine USA Strat should sound and feel, then they shouldn't buy second-hand from individuals (only legitimate shops).

The import tax between the UK and the USA cannot be $500 (the difference between $1350 and $850).
That would mean the UK government makes as much profit as the Fender Corporation for each US Strat sold!

Thanks for everyone's help
(Thanks for electing Obama, the rest of the world is so proud of you)

I can only base my answer on what i've seen so far.
At guitar Center, I have seen the american deluxe strat with SI switch and cherry sunburst, rose wood neck for about $900 to $1100, that is brand new, it may be from last year's stock but nevertheless it is the recent price and with the holiday season upon us I doubt any retailers are going to raise prices in the currently slow economic upturn.

I'm not sure why the UK would be so much more expensive other than it is a market strategy to buy UK products before imports. (I'm guessing).

As far as a genuine strat sound, amongst strat's be they MIA or MIM I doubt any one can tell the difference if blindfolded, especially in light of the diverse configurations of pickups available to both lines from Fender.

I did not say that you should not buy from a private seller, just that due diligence on your part is no different than if you were buying an automobile.
The current situation is that shops are really pressured to move product out the door and used guitars are a potential revenue loss when unable to sell.
Plus you can compare new to used as far as sounds in a shop, something which may not be possible thru a private seller.

It usually takes me about two months to decide on a particular model since I want to play as many, as is realistically possible.

When shopping take someone with you who is (1) a higher level guitarist than you.
(2) that person must play strat's or at the very least be familiar with the guitar.
(3) most important is that he/she is objective and the focus is that the guitar is for you and it will allow you to expand as a musician..

I think it is irrelevant wether the guitar is an MIA or an MIM, quality is high in either, Both are by Fender and controlled by Fender, the cost cutting as far as labor is not reflected in the guitars.
I will buy another MiM as well as another MIA, it depends on which fits the bill at the time

Be Open minded and patient, there are too many nice instruments available for sale, it is a buyer's market, take advantage of that situation.

_________________
"C'est parti mon Kiki "

I agree with the magnatone. If your goal is to have a strat that plays and sounds good to you, find one that does. Take your time and try them out.

As stated, a lot of used strats have been modified to fit the user. How many people (without a custom shop strat) don't mod their strat(s) with pickups, switching, frets, tuners, saddles, etc...? Chances are, if you check out a used strat it is likely to have been modified. Some parts may be from other strats or aftermarket. The only way to tell is to test drive them. Also, sometimes people mod them and replace the original parts before they selll it.

As for telling the difference between Fender's MIA, MIM, MIJ, MIK, and how to identify all the different parts of them, It would take a great deal of knowledge, and investigation that even Fender can't compile in one book.

Nevertheless, there's a lot of great info on this post.

Happy hunting.

I would suggest 2 books, since we're on the subject.

(1) "The Ultimate Fender Book" by Paul Day and Dave Hunter.
ISBN: 978-1-4351-2779-1
This is a very well researched book on Fender models, 200+ pages on strat models, some configurations which are rare and hard to find
Also a great DVD featuring the author and guitarist Carl Verheyen.

(2) " The Fender Stratocaster Handbook " by Paul Balmer
ISBN-10: 0-7603-2983-4
ISBN-13: 978-0-7603-2983-2
This book is more of a shop manual, maintenance as well as detailed over views of various models, Custom Shop, Vintage, Japan, Mexican .

I have referred to both books numerous times, as well as "The Stratocaster Chronicles " and " The Soul Of Tone ".
There are a few more books, but the above are the essentials for Strat owners.

_________________
"C'est parti mon Kiki "

I suggest you look into it. Import taxation, VAT and customs duty can weigh in at 40%. Their all applicable. Thankyou high taxing 'anti'socialist goverments.

_________________
No no and no