There's this guy on eBay who has a couple of "Tavares Aloha" strats on eBay at this time (11/23/2010), but I'm only going to link the search, in case you read this months later, and he still has it relisted:

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=%28tav ... m270.l1313

The guitar in question has the aluminum body that looks like the Tavares Aloha Strat, and pictures show the back trem cover also appears to be the correctly engraved Tavares strat.

But, I have serious problems with this, because it doesn't have all of the nice features of the pictures I've seen elsewhere on the Internet. I'm not sure if the Aloha's that showed up at dealerships were exactly the same as, for instance, the ones given to the Tavares family. (I'm a relative, but too distant to get my hands on one.)

Here are my issues with the current eBay specimen:

The neck is not the beautiful birdseye maple Aloha neck with green inlays and "Aloha" at the 12th Fret. Instead, it has the 40th Anniversary neck that shipped on all Strats in '94. The neck plate also is not the original Custom Shop plate, but is instead a standard 40th Anniversary one.

More: The pickups are not the solid cover Lace ones, and the knobs aren't right. The 5 way switch knob is even white!

The seller says he bought this guitar (now he's listing two guitars?) from a guy who says they're prototypes, but this just doesn't seem right.

I wouldn't think the Tavares Aloha Strat is as much in demand (i.e. target for fakes) as, say the Harley Davidson one of the same era, but I guess people would still be motivated to fake them. Is it possible someone with an engraver and an original Aloha, got hold of some blank aluminum bodies, and just started carving out fale Aloha's?

Or were there some actually sold like this?

If they're legit, they are a much better price than the > $8,000 seen for the full blown Aloha with all the "proper" goodies.

Thoughts? Experts?

Regards,

Dan

I'm a real Fender fan and own a few Strats. Some day I'll even be able to play!

It says in his ad that the neck isnt original.

Hi Lurker7: well at the very least that is an interesting Ebay page to see, so thank you for that. It produces more questions than answers, I'm afraid.

For starters, the entire page is worded in such a pushy, snotty way I immediately want to turn on my heel and walk away. For example:

Erm, no I won't. ...Piss off!

He lists the guitar as; "A brand-new, unused, unopened, undamaged item in its original packaging". And then speculates that it is a replacement neck. Huh? Which bit of the words brand-new, unused, unopened and undamaged does the seller not understand?

He says of the perspex top case; "that this is the only case that was ever made by the Custom Shop". And then says:

Er, no I'm not interested, matey boy. If I pay thousands for an item I expect to get exactly what I'm shown in the pictures, thank you so very much.

There is all the agressive stuff about how he's not going to accept a price lower than his Buy It Now - so why add a Make An Offer button? And then he asks us to contact him privately to do a deal. That is very dodgy and a sure "don't touch it with a barge pole" sign.

But none of that means the guitar is other than what it seems to be. It just means the seller is a dork.

I cannot imagine why a previous owner would have purchased an expensive, collectible guitar and then put a different neck on it. If it was damaged you'd get a detail correct replacement from Fender (which contrary to popular rumour they will do in those situations). So that raises questions. On the other hand, a body like that is very hard to produce and the engraving is extremely tough to do accurately. Not impossible - but it just ain't a likely target for a faker. Too challenging and not enough financial reward for pulling it off.

And in any case, if you had the skills to fake the body then doing the proper neck is easy by comparison. So maybe it is true some of these bods came out the Custom Shop with anniversary necks on them. We'd need more informed opinion on that - have you thought of asking Mike Eldred?

So lacking much more information my casual guess would be the guitar is probably what it looks like.

But this sort of thing is right up Forum user AlainlaFrance's street. Be nice if someone drew this thread to his attention and we could get his genuinely expert view. I wonder if he himself happens to own a Tavares Strat? Quite possibly...

Cheers - C

I'll handle that one for ya, mate. Best to the missus. [/quote]

_________________
"Another day in paradise!"

We thank you!

[Raises a glass of BB King beer] Cheers - C

Just sent. Let's see what he comes up with.Liked that brew, did you/ I'll buy the next round.

_________________
"Another day in paradise!"

Hi,
The neck is wrong, the case is wrong, the pick ups are wrong, the switch is wrong, the knobs are wrong, the tremolo arm is wrong
Only the body seems original from what we can see.
The price is wrong.
Keep away
Alain

'So let it be written.....So let it be done'

_________________
"Another day in paradise!"

HA! Sorted!

Thank you!

What a cool Forum.

Cheers - C

Thank you to everyone who replied.

This leaves the question of, where would these Aloha bodies come from, without any of the other pieces?

It seems inconceivable to me that an Aloha Strat would be subjected to the kinds of abuse a normal Player Strat would, and I can't imagine loose Aloha bodies floating around out there.

If the body is original, I might try to get it for a much lower price (after I point him to this forum), but I'd still like to understand how possibly two (unless he had two ads for the same Strat) Aloha Strat bodies could end up out there with nothing else original to them.

I wish I could afford the whole original setup with the blue gig bag and all, but it would be cool just to have the body if I could get it at much less than this guy's asking. (MUCH less!)

Suggest you heed the advice of the knowledgeable collector who replied to your question, and leave the lot of it be. "He who owns one, knows one, is the watchword."

_________________
"Another day in paradise!"

He is an expert in Part-O-Casters

http://cgi.ebay.com/94-Fender-Harley-Da ... 4cf34c1305

The original series of Aloha Strats was to be of 150 units.
It seems that fewer than that have been made and sold (100 ?)
So it might happen that few bodies of uncompleted guitars have been left aside (maybe 2nd ones) till this kind of guy put his hands on one...

For a change here is the # 1 of the series which may bring some colors in that snowy day.






Yes I own it