Let me start off to say that I have always wanted a Stratocaster. My very first electric guitar was a strat copy when I was a young teenager. I finally made a gradual switch to acoustic and sold the start copy which was never a great guitar. I believe the brand was lotus.

So I walk into a local thrift store I had never been to and off in a corner are 3 guitars. I see Stratocaster. So I take alook at. They had 225 with a full hard case. At the time I was not sure if the case was original or not. So I offer him 190 and I am out the door. The hard case is worth about 80-90. So for about $100 I have an e series American Standard strat that appears(not an expert here) to be all original besides the screws. Hooked it up to a small practice amp and it plays like a dream. Volume and tone pots are not scratchy at all. All the pickups work. I always knew a strat would play well but wow.

So that's the good news. Here's the bad. Owned by a smoker but I was able to get most of the stink off it. Any additional ideas would be appreciated. Both the guitar and case still have a slight smell if you get really close. The guitar will be refinished so that is not a big deal but I still need do take care of the neck.

It is also the ugliest duckling I have ever seen. Appears to be painted and shiny on the front and brushed painted on the back?? Very poor paint job. The neck is REALLY beat up but EVERY fret plays perfectly. Straight neck.

A pic:


I want to paint it for sure. I found a guide on the internet "How to create a factory finish with a couple of spray cans" Seems like a good place to start for info.

I have also found the screws on Ebay unless there is another way to get them cheaper. Any easy way to repair the screw holes? One appears to be stripped. Pickup switch is missing the little piece of plastic on the top. I assume it was white?

So I think I got a decent deal but I would like everyone's honest opinion. Sorry that was so long.

Hi CFletch,

Can you handle the real bad news about your guitar? If not, read no further!


It looks like a Squier body, pick guard, pickups and bridge, nothing USA made there. Can't see the neck details very clearly, but the tuners are slotted, vintage Kluson style instead of the modern type that would be on the mid 80s Strats (they are not the 70s F tuners, the knobs would be squared instead of rounded). It could be a legit US neck, hard to tell without more pics, like of the heel of the neck, with neck removed, and a closer pic of the decal and back of the neck. But, for the price that you paid, it isn't a bad deal, it looks nice (I even like the color) just not what was advertised.

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

I would like to see more close ups of the neck but I also believe it's a parts guitar. It might be a USA neck with replaced hardware, but for sure those tuners and string trees weren't used on an American Standard. None of the other hardware would match an American Standard either.

These buzzkills failed to mention that a well playing guitar for $190 out the door is an AWESOME deal. With a shiny new paint job it will turn as many heads as any of the new strats you'll see in Guitar Center.

I was afraid of that. Seemed a little off the more that I looked at it. Here are a few pics after I broke it down a bit:


Once I got it home I took a polishing tip with a rotary tool to get some of the grime off the headstock. It's not a decal. As for being 100% sure about the neck I am not.

Kluson tuners? Are these of any worth? Here is another pic of the headstock and tuners:


So..the question is? Where did all of the parts come from? Tuners look like you can buy them on Ebay. Are the pickups from a Squire?

Thanks for the info. Not too bummed since I did not pay that much for the setup. If it is a Squire body, what are they made of?

Thanks for the encouragement candycoke09. I was kind of thinking the same thing....I just want to know what I have so I can mod or not mod depending.

I've named him Frank..........thought it was appropriate.

nooooooooooooooo
dont paint it. all value will be lost if you do. doooont do it.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

It looks like a decent parts guitar - some parts might be Fender, some parts not. The neck has a nice figure to it plus it doesn't look like the tuners have been replaced (at least I'm not seeing other holes but they might be hidden under the vintage-style tuners).

All in all a decent deal for $190. The pickups might be Squire or they might even be older MIM Standard pickups.

So..looks like a stratocaster bridge, stratocaster neck, original tuners(?) - there are no additional holes under the tuners as I took those off the neck to clean it a little better.

Any way to identify the pickups precisely? I looked at them and there are not identifying marks.

And I don;t know if way cool jr was being saracstic or not but this guitar has been painted once and maybe twice. Won't know till I strip it down. Are the squire bodies made out of plywood? Solid wood?(doubtful)

Thank you all for the helpful info so far.

actully i was being serious. if you know for a fact that its been repainted already, then go for it. in restoring a guitar, last thing you want to do is paint it. thats a no-no.
it isnt a chevy.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

Unless Fender paints there guitars with paint brushes then I don't think it is original. You can actually see the brush strokes on the back of the guitar. The front is polished though. Very weird. The one place it is chipped I can see another color. Off white? Eggshell?

lol no there should not be brush strokes.
well paint it or go with a hand rubbed finish.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

I have re-built 2 MiJ Squiers, and the one's body was 5-piece laminated Maple and the other was 4 piece laminated Alder !

Both great woods, and the laminations are normal for most strats.

Strip and re-paint that baby, or make it naked

Here is the other side of the headstock:


Like I said. It looks like a stratocaster neck. Perfectly straight with absolutely no fret buzzing at all. I checked everyone. I think that's what got me sucked into the buy....the neck looks like a strat neck. And the label was not a decal. I actually took a close look at it in the store.

Well, the truss rod plug looks like a real american neck. If you took one of the tuners off you can see if there's 2 pin holes for fender tuners. Logo looks correct. Made in the USA looks a little skinny, but might be real.

Also take out the string trees and see if there's 2 holes for each. American necks at the time used roller sting trees and used 2 holes, one for the screw and 1 for a pin to hold it in place.

I have a couple of E4 american strats and can post a pic of the headstock if you want.

If it's an american neck it's worth more than you paid for the guitar, so would of been a good deal.

Have you checked the specs for the serial number with Fender yet ?
That'll answer a few questions, methinks