Hi folks,

Was wondering if anybody can give me any info on this strat I bought. I think that it is a Mexican strat built in 97'. It does however have strange serial number MN7108901.

Don't know exactly, but it has vintage style tuners. Perhaps a mexican 60's/50's reissue. Wish I could be more help.

SD

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"Go wash an elephant, if you wanna do something big."

65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue
2006 American Deluxe Strat
2009 National Steel Body Tricone Cutaway
2009 Highway One Texas Telecaster
Mustang III amp
Fulltone Gold Standard Cables

Thanks for taking a look, it does say Deluxe Series on the head???? Plays lovely, but now just curious!

Give Fender customer service a call or shoot them an email with the serial number and they can tell you exactly what model it is. The serial number indicates it's from 1997.

I know it's not a Classic Series by the number of screw holes in the pickguard and the truss rod adjuster hole located at the headstock.

I forgot the name of this model. There were a couple of Deluxe MIM Strats in the late 90's. They had a pearloid pickguard like yours and said Deluxe on the headstock. One of them had a pushbutton on the pickguard to bring in the bridge pickup along with wherever the 5 way switch was set. I don't see the push button on your Strat, so it's not that one. The other one had an active boost powered by a 9V battery. Does yours have a battery compartment on the back? I think it was called a Deluxe Powerhouse Strat.

edit: a google search for MIM Deluxe Powerhouse Strat came up with this: http://www.seymourduncan.com/forum/show ... p?t=130199
Looks like a close match to me.

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

It sorta reminds me of the discontinued "Tex-Mex" Strat which was replaced some time ago with the Jimmy Vaughn signature model.

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

Hi Metro,

This is why I love this site, looks like you are bang on, and yes mine does have the battery compartment. Wow, I am amazed at the background about all the fenders. And also it seems that the Clapton "Blackie" which came out in the early 90's also had the same type mid boost.

Thanks again.

Frank

I have one of these rosewood Powerhouse Strats in Caramel Metallic. They rawk!

Get yourself a steel trem block and a good neck-off set-up and you'll have one helluva nice guitar.

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

Frank,

The Eric Clapton Signature came out in 1988 (but the black finish/"Blackie" wasn't added until the early 1990s); it has a 25db mid-boost circuit. The Powerhouse was to be kind of an MIM non-signature Strat with a mid-boost circuit, but Fender used a 12db boost circuit. If you want to go back to the early 1980s, the CBS-era Elite Stratocaster also had the 12 db mid-boost circuit; they were made in 1983 and 1984 and were discontinued when CBS sold Fender to the current owners FMIC (Fender Musical Instrument Company).

Isn't the circuit on the powerhouse identical to the clapton aside from the two resistors on the mid pot and the part number?
I thought it was.
The powerhouse uses a dummy coil instead of noiseless pickups.

Hi Fcarroll,
I believe that is indeed a Deluxe Powerhouse Strat.
I also believe that your instrument was born on 3/9/98 (likely a neck from late 97).
According to my records it shipped over to our distributor at the time Arbiter in the UK on
3/19/98. By the way, whoever put this in our archives left the MN off of the record...so i looked it up without.
Anyway.....:O) Heres the specs: ENJOY!!!
Model Name: Powerhouse Stratocaster®
Model Number: 013-9500-(Color #) and 013-9502-(Color #)
Series: Deluxe Series
Body: Alder
Neck: Maple, Modern “C” Shape,
(Satin Urethane Finish)
Fingerboard: Rosewood (p/n 013-9500) or Maple (p/n 013-9502), 9.5” Radius (241 mm)
No. of Frets: 21 Medium Jumbo Frets
Scale Length: 25.5” (648 mm)
Width @ Nut: 1-11/16” (43 mm)
Hardware: Chrome
Machine Heads: Fender®/Ping® Vintage Style Tuning Machines
Bridge: Vintage Style Synchronized Tremolo
Pickguard: 4-Ply White Pearloid
Pickups: 3 Powerhouse Ultra-Quiet Single-Coil Strat® Pickups
Pickup Switching: 5-Position Blade:
Position 1. Bridge Pickup
Position 2. Bridge and Middle Pickup
Position 3. Middle Pickup
Position 4. Middle and Neck Pickup
Position 5. Neck Pickup
Controls: Master Volume,
Tone 1. Master No-Load Tone Control,
Tone 2. 12 dB Active Mid Boost Control
Colors: (306) Black,
(325) Chrome Red,
(355) Blizzard Pearl,
(359) Navy Blue Metallic,
(381) Caramel Metallic,
(Polyester Finish)
Strings: Fender® Super Bullets® 3250L, Nickel Plated Steel, (.009 to .042), p/n 073-3250-003
Unique Features: Pearloid Pickguard,
12 dB Active Mid-Boost Circuit,
Dummy Coil Under the Pickguard for Hum Cancellation
Source: Mexico
Accessories: Deluxe Gig Bag
U.S. MSRP: $841.99 (Deluxe Fender Gig Bag Included)
NOTICE: Product Prices, Features, Specifications and Availability Are Subject To Change Without Notice
INTRODUCED: 1/1997
DISCONTINUED: 9/2008
DISCONTINUED COLORS: (309) Candy Apple Red, 1/2005,
(343) Pewter, 1/2005,
(363) Grafitti Yellow, 1/2005,
(302) Lake Placid Blue, 7/2001
(380) Arctic White, 7/2001
COMMENTS:
WRENCH SIZES: Truss Rod Adjustment Wrench, (3/16” Hex), P/N 0038467000,
Saddle Height Adjustment Wrench, (1.5mm Hex), P/N 0050919000

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rob Schwarz
Director,Fender Customer Service
Proudly serving Fender Customers
for over 30 years

Hi Rob,

OMG that is freckin unbelievable, I love the look and sound of it. I was a bit worried that it might be fake when I saw the serial number, but the fact that you have all these details is incredible. Thank you so much, I now believe that I have a good quality Fender at a great price. Thanks again to everyone.

Frank

Arjay,

What's a neck-off set-up, sorry not up much on the tech side of guitars! Thanks, glad to know I have a good one.

A neck-off set-up consists of disassembling the guitar then leveling, crowning, and polishing the frets. After adjusting the neck for correct relief and proper nut installation, the guitar is then re-assembled and re-strung. Intonation, string, and pickup height specs are optimized for the string set and gauge of choice. Such work runs about $100 and IMO is money well spent if the luthier performing this job is qualified and consciencious.

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