have they made a usa strat where made in usa is stamped on the back of the neck above the neck plate like some korean or japan strats. a guy has one for sale on ebay marked like that, just wondering?? seril# on headstock is 1016274
thanx

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He who dies with the most Strats wins.

Where is the guitar located?

I think that the serial number probably starts with the letter "I" (that is an uppercase "i") instead of the numeral "1". This was a series of guitars made for export in 1989/1990 and were also stamped "Made In USA" on the back of the neck on the heel above the neck plate that carried serial numbers that started with an "I" ("IXXXXXX").

Posting some photos would be helpful.

it was on ebay the sale has ended now with no bids since $800. was the opening bid.
but this is the ebay item number 320684385461

I went out and looked at the ebay auction. It looks like it is a legit "export only" I-series Strat (made in 1989 - 1990) with a couple of changed knobs. It is my understanding that these were not to be sold here in the USA but they do make their way back from time to time.

It is also my understanding that the specs on these would be similar to an MIJ Standard of that era. They are kind of unique but they should not command prices above an American Standard - I don't think a 1989/90 American Standard would go for much over $800 these days. This one would be a decent buy at say $600; it's definitely not a $1K guitar.

thanx for reply i had never seen one like that and thought maybe some one had stamped usa on a japan model. lol

The thing is a fake. Bidding now ended BTW.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&rt=nc&nma=true&_rdc=1&item=320684385461&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fshop.ebay.com%3A80%2F%3F_from%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dp5197.m570.l1313%26_nkw%3D320684385461%26_sacat%3DSee-All-Categories%26_fvi%3D1&si=BG48MuuHi2Y57WgLUbaHmMub2vI%253D&viewitem=

Tuners, trem cover, bridge all wrong. Not a Japanese made for export guitar.

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No no and no

nikininja - these weren't MIJ made for export guitars; they were USA build made for export guitars. To me they appear to be yet another of those "grey area" guitars like the HM Strats, that maple-veneer top "Contemporary" Strat from 1989, etc. I suspect they were left over parts, mix of MIJ and USA, stamped "Made in USA" on the heel and shipped overseas - I think the bodies and necks (and tuners) might be MIJ, the pickups and trem might be USA (although the trem might also be MIJ) - a real mish-mash of parts. If it isn't a completly legit I-series guitar then at least it is a ligit I-series neck. I've only seen 2-3 of these, but it looks like one to me. Fairly rare pieces; only made in 1989/1990. The auction is here in the USA but these weren't supposed to be sold here.

They are described on the Fender product dater page under "Odd Serial Numbers"; scroll down to the bottom of the page; the "I-series" is the 5th item on that Odd Serial Numbers list:

http://www.fender.com/support/articles/ ... uct-dating

John, I worded the latter part of that statement badly. Sorry.

However what I would ask your 'far more expert than my' eye to consider is the angle of the headstock decal. That is very un-Japanese. Also the backplate screw position is wrong, on the backplate atleast. Now it may be my eyes, but in fairness it looks like the middle (out of position) screw holes were not body drilled to match the plate.

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No no and no

As I say I've only seen a couple of photos of these things; I've never seen one in person. The neck does look like I remember the other ones - both the odd headstock decal, the "IXXXXX" serial number and that stamped in "Made in USA" on the back of the neck. I'm backing off my earlier posts - I'm just not sure about the other parts but I think the neck at least was from one of those "export only" models with the "IXXXXX" serial number.

Quite an odd piece, and even if it is a legit "IXXXXX" serial number, export-only guitar it would only be worth a little bit more than an MIJ Standard of that same era, and certainly it wouldn't be worth the same as an American Standard from 1989/1990.