Hello all. I am a long time Fender fan and have owned a couple of Tele's, al well as a Les Paul and some other brands. I am in the market for a Strat and have a question about one that I have been looking at on Ebay. I am attaching a link so that you may look at the pictures. You may view them here. My question is about the location of the headstock decal, and the fact that the "Stratocaster" part of the decal is missing. I suspect that the neck on this guitar may be a replacement and the seller did not know how to place the decal on a left-handed neck. But if that is the case then I am mystified as to how he came to obtain a serial number.

The item description says it is USA made but the serial number is hard to read (especially the first letter). It looks to me to be either an N or a K, but I emailed the seller and he said that the serial was E853544 which I think indicates an '88-'89 USA made guitar. Still, I've never seen a headstock decal like this, so the whole deal is suspect to me.

Any ideas?

Thanks

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Forget all about that macho s**t and learn how to play guitar!

Are those tuners right for the year it's supposed to be a reissue of?

I question that logo, it looks like a transition logo 64/65 rather than a 62, which to my knowledge is the only AVRI year with a rosewood fretboard and small headstock. Though I could be very wrong on that and just getting confused by looking at a lefty headstock.

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No no and no

There is no skunk stripe, it's a 21 fret neck and has the vintage style trem so it certainly isn't a USA Standard. My '88 model (E4 serial no) has a 'F' stamp on the neckplate as well.

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'88 USA Standard Strat
'85 Squier MIJ Tele
'10 Schecter Omen Extreme 6

LOL, I'm used to people going crazy looking at lefties. I've never had the similar problem looking at righties because to me it's just like looking in the mirror. (Though I guess that wouldn't apply to the headstock detail at all.)

I'm not aware that this item is supposed to be a reissue. I've emailed with the issues detailed here (including the absence of the skunk stripe,) and we'll see how he responds.

Thanks for the replies.

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Forget all about that macho s**t and learn how to play guitar!

Looks incredibly suspect

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There may be a genuine Fender part or two on that guitar but FMIC did not build it. The decal looks wrong for the headstock and the tuners are incorrect for any re-issue model. The pickguard seems to be a '62 type but that doesn't jive with the logo. The case is not a G&G, of which all of the AVRI's are sold and shipped with. The "Milli Vanilli" color appears to be the only authentic feature of this poseur.

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

Could be an MIJ standard from the middle 80s; usually those said "Made In Japan" under the "Stratocaster" part of the decal. Two dead giveaways on the neck - the serial number is printed in grey (USA models will have the serial number printed in black) and the Gotoh sealed tuners. That style Fender logo was only used on a few USA Strat models - the 1983/84 2-knob standards, the 1983/83 Elites, and the American Standards from their introduction in late 1986 through 1994. They were also used on non-reissue (and non-HM) MIJ models circa 1985 through the early 1990s.

Since the "Stratocaster" part of the decal has been removed it makes me suspect the entire thing; the neck I think at least started out on an MIJ Strat at some point.

One thing for sure - it is not a USA-made Fender Strat.

Even so, if the "Stratocaster" part of the decal were removed, the decal is still in the same place (Here is an example of the correct placement for a leftie headstock. Even though this is a different model Strat, shouldn't the impostor be the same?) I don't see how the decal could possibly be moved and if it is a "replacement" decal, where then would the serial number come from?



I agree, so I guess my previous points are moot.

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Forget all about that macho s**t and learn how to play guitar!

You're right about lefty American Standards; they have the full decal. When I posted last night I was thinking about 70s lefty Strats that only had the "Fender" logo - which I guess the faker was also thinking along these lines. Here's a photo of a '74 I found on Strat-Central with just the "Fender" logo:



Later in the 1970s they used really odd decal placement; here is a '77: