ok, im thinking of buying this guitar, it's an american standard stratocaster, made in 1996, 14 years old according to seller. he said he only changed the pickguard, knobs to black for cosmetics reasons, he's selling it with the original white pickguard and hardcase. im worried that this thing might not be legit, is there a way to see from the pictures provided?

http://www.soft.com.sg/classified/guita ... burst.html

The pictures aren't the best but loooks legit to me.

Hi Nevin: the gentleman lives in Singapore. We discussed pricing in that part of the world on another thread and apparently this price for a secondhand Strat is par for the course.

gcsupernova, of the two guitars you were looking at this is the one I would go for - if it is all the seller claims and the condition is indeed good.

Regarding the small metallic 50th anniversary sticker on the back of the headstock, I have never seen that on a fake guitar; it is just not the sort of detail fakers bother with. So by itself that probably means the neck is real. But of course we have no idea whether the neck belongs with the body. We can't possibly guess at that without inspecting any dates to be found inside the neck pocket and on the heel end of the neck and seeing if they correspond. That would be useful evidence. And we haven't even seen the front of the headstock - we need to look at the decal.

There is no particular reason to doubt that it's real, but I wouldn't dream of buying a guitar of this age and especially for this high price without playing it first. There is so much we can't know from those two tiny pictures: the actual condition of the instrument, how worn the frets and fingerboard are, whether there are any electrical problems, if the knife edges on the bridge are damaged, what condition the nut is in, whether all the tuners are in good working order... and so on.

I strongly advise you to go and visit the guitar before buying it. Singapore is not huge: hopefully that is possible?

Good luck - C

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Don't invest any value on that little "Fender, 50 years of excellence" badge. They were put on Squiers as well.

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Fender Highway & Classic 60s Strats, Fender Toronado, Telecaster, Gretsch Projet, Charvel 3, PRS SE Soapbar II & Custom 24, Burns Batwing and many others!

Indeed - I have an old Squier neck with that sticker on it kicking round my workshop. The sticker doesn't mean it's a particular model or factory, but it probably does mean it's not a fake. Never seen anyone bother to counterfeit that little logo.

But we definitely need to see the front of that headstock. Ask the seller for more photos!

Cheers - C

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thanks for the reply guys, and again, ceri.

the neck looks pretty legit to me, but im definitely asking him for more photos. im only worried that he might be using an american standard neck on a different body. is there any way to tell?

seems like you could find a 96 strat for way cheaper than that- with a case. Maybe you are not in the US or whatever. I don't think I'd pay 1200 for that- it's not steep it's too much.

Price is on the high side

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http://www.guitarmotel.com

Seems expensive. When in doubt, look at buying new. No issue with pedigree, condition issues, color, electronics, etc.

Other than my fly-by opinion, it's up to you.