I've been looking for a second-hand American Strat for a while and stumbled across this guitar in good condition going for £550, however, I can find very little information on this guitar and was hoping y'all could help out... e.g. Is £550 a good/bad price for it, how does it (the 69 reissue in particular) compare to the American strats, or would you prefer the 69 to a 'standard' Japanese strat? Please give me all opinions and information anyone has regarding this guitar - would be much appreciated.

Although the japanese build quality is amazing I would hold out for an american standard, you should be able to pick one up used for not much more, my opinion is it is a better guitar than the 69, and easier to sell on later.

Take a look at used prices on the secondary market (Ebay is an excellent example) and see which instrument holds its value better and over a longer period of time. Gauging by these two parameters alone, the Am Std has a miserable track record. The MIJ/CIJ re-issues are outstanding value for the money. The sole issue I have with the late '60s models is, they use the Klusonesque repro tuners rather than the period-correct Fender/Schaller "F" types.

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

Thank you VERY much for the replies - if anyone else can share their opinions/info. on the Japanese '69 reissue, particularly in comparison to other Japanese Fender strats it would be great!