Hello all,

I've been a pretty big fan of Fender guitars and not easy fooled by fakes.

But...

I remember going to music store back in '93 and found Fender Strats that had, "Made in the USA" stamped into the back of the neck just above where the neck and body meet. It seemed very odd to me at the time, but I figured that it was music store (not a person selling guitar) with about 5 or 6 of these things hanging from the hooks.

I asked the dealer and his answer was that they were made in Mexico and put together in the United States. This allowed Fender to put made in USA on them.
Since I’ve never seen anything like that before or since I’m guessing that they were fakes. Can anyone tell me if these were legitimate or not.

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1975 Sunburst Stratocaster rosewood finger board
1979 Stratocaster with roseowood finder board
2001 Candy Green Clapton Stratocaster
2007 Andy Summers Inspired Telecaster
2007 '51 P-Bass
2012 Taylor 110
2015 Mystic Ice Blue Deluxe Stratocaster Plus

Strange, never heard of such MIA´s. Screamin fake to me. But we would like to see some pictures on confirming that.

I know. It was very strange. I was pretty skeptical to say the least. At the time I was very new to the Fender world as a whole and tried to soak up as much knowledge as possible on the subject.

All of this passion was caused by one '87 Strat Plus w/ rosewood neck I bought in 1992, Olympia, WA. The previous owner had stripped the gunmetal blue paint off and stained it a really nice golden (slight hint of red) brown. It had tone and sustain that was absolutely beautiful. I foolishly sold it in '99.

That one guitar started me on road of loving Fender guitars and Strats in particular.

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1975 Sunburst Stratocaster rosewood finger board
1979 Stratocaster with roseowood finder board
2001 Candy Green Clapton Stratocaster
2007 Andy Summers Inspired Telecaster
2007 '51 P-Bass
2012 Taylor 110
2015 Mystic Ice Blue Deluxe Stratocaster Plus

I noticed that you have a HWY1. I took some buffing compound and shined mine up. I then bought a black pick guard and black plastic parts. It looks very much like an early '70s Strat.

Most of my guitars can be seen on my Facebook page under, "Paris Thalheimer."

It looks like a old question but Fender did make a limited # of export guitars around 1989-1990 with the heel stamped Made in USA one plus six digit#. I own one

Can you post a picture of it for please, I for one would very much like to see it.

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Marriage is like playing cards...

At first all you want are Hearts and Diamonds.

But in the end, all you really want is a Club and a Spade.

Might these guitars have been the "California Specials" that were issued around that time?

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

I'm sorry, but I don't have photos.

Paris

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1975 Sunburst Stratocaster rosewood finger board
1979 Stratocaster with roseowood finder board
2001 Candy Green Clapton Stratocaster
2007 Andy Summers Inspired Telecaster
2007 '51 P-Bass
2012 Taylor 110
2015 Mystic Ice Blue Deluxe Stratocaster Plus

The California Series was made in 1997-1998 and the production of this model is a joint effort between Fender's U.S. and Mexican plants. These were not around in 1993! So i am wondering if you have the dates right or??? They had a weird serial number that looked like this : AMXN + 6 DIGITS. The body and neck parts were made in the United States while the finishing and painting was done in Mexico before their final assembly and quality control in the US. They did say Made in USA on the headstock and had the odd serial number on the back:




I have never seen a Made in USA serial number down at the bottom of the neck on any USA Strat....

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com

Sounds like the Japanese made for export guitars to me. I cant remember if they were American made to ship to Japan or Japan made to ship to America.

Good guitars, quite a few of em around from 88-95, if memory serves.
I think the serial no' began with I or T.

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No no and no

Thanks for everyone's interest in this mystery.

I know they we were not, "California Series." The S/n was not on the back of the head stock.

I realize that my discription is not the best, but the letters look like they cut out done with a wood/metal punch into the wood and not filled in.

Then I leans toward nikininja because the only Fender guitars I have seen with the place of manufacture and serial number at the heel by the body is Japanese guitars, like off these ones that I have owned:

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com

we need a better angle (and a bit farther back) of the neck, you can read anything, it just a blur.

Q: Does your camera have a close up setting? (Usually, it is the setting with a flower on it)

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Marriage is like playing cards...

At first all you want are Hearts and Diamonds.

But in the end, all you really want is a Club and a Spade.

Those are the mysterious "I series" serial numbered guitars, stamped Made In USA, as you'll find in all of the lists of serial numbers/dates. IMO, those lists are wrong (because they all copied off of each other, even the list on this website).

If you look at those guitars disassembled, they're very clearly a product of the orient: Not Made in USA. There were such pictures on this forum, but it's hard to search the older topics after the recent software change.

Perhaps member "goodinbed" would show us photos under the pickguard, in the neck heal, the base of the neck, etc ...

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.