I have a strat which I've researched a fair bit and I still don't know exactly what it is... I'm 90% sure it's fake but there's still a slim chance it could be a reissue. It feels and sounds like the real thing but has a serial number which would make it from '69/'70 (which it obviously isn't) and has what is seems to be a transition decal but I can't find the same decal on any other guitars. If seems to be extremely well made for a fake and is better than a few real Japanese strats I've played.
There are pictures here:

http://s757.photobucket.com/albums/xx21 ... ?start=all

Does anyone know anything useful?

Thanks.

Import narrow spaced bridge retrofitted with vintage-width saddles. See how the saddles are splayed out and don't line up with the holes where the strings come out of the bridgeplate? No American Fender has ever had a 6-screw bridge with narrow mounting screw spacing like that bridge.

Non-slotted tuners with push-in bushings -- no Fender's ever had those. (Fender's with non-slotted posts have modern-style screw-on bushings.)

Pics of the back of the head and the rear trem cavity would help. Pics of the neck pocket, neck heel, and pickup cavity would also help if you're comfortable taking it apart.

Fender never used that kind of decal either - the early large headstock decals had that style "Fender" (assuming the "Fender" is gold, not sliver - can't tell on my laptop screen) but the "Stratocaster" part was still the small letters. When Fender went to the larger letters for the "Stratocaster" part the "Fender" part was black with gold trim. If the "Fender" part is silver then it is definitely a fake; Fender didn't use the silver decals until the 1980s.

Could it be some kind of MIJ Lawsuit-era guitar from say Ibanez/Greco or Tokai with a counterfit Fender decal and a Fender neck plate?

Fender used a Decal like that on some of its MIM deluxe fat strats and Tom Delonge models, but those had headstock truss rod access. This one definitely looks like a fake/partsocaster, but a decent one.

I had completely forgotten about the MIM Deluxe Fat and Delonge Strats; they did have that style decal. Agreed that this is a fairly decent fake.

But the MIM Deluxes and DeLonge models didn't have maple cap necks. The maple fretboard models were one piece with skunk stripes, not a maple fretboard glued onto the neck. Maple cap with no skunk stripe was the way Fender did it back in the late '60s, which is why the original poster has some faint hope that he's got a vintage piece or a reissue.

No MIMs have had maple cap neck. Other than some Custom Shop models I don't think any US Fenders have had maple cap necks with heel-adjust truss rods since 1970, but that decal isn't correct for '70 or earlier.

Cheers everyone... Good job I didn't pay too much for it.

You can pull the neck the next time changing strings, maybe there are some information under the hood/neck or pocket.
EDIT: I know I saw the decal on a Fender but I think it was sometimes in the 90s(early), a special run (or a Hendrix series?), all I know it was a white Stratocaster and it had the gold decal with big headstock

Cheers,
Robin

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