Hey there all

Recently purchased a Fender Road Worn that was suppose to contain the loaded pickguard from a 2005, 56' relic from the Fender custom shop. It's got the gold anodized guard along with all the hardware and possibly the neckplate, a Gil Elvgren pinup girl if that helps. After having the pickguard removed, The screw were stipping so I brought it in, I was told the pickups are not signed but that the pickguard is; "A.R" is what's written on there. All together the guitar was 1500 and change. I also got the Custom shop case and vintage strap. Was I taken to the cleaners?

Ugh!

Fred.

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What Road Worn is it? I paid $499 for a brand new 50's road worn when Musicians friend were doing their Fender Friday Sales. Sounds like you paid a lot to me, but not sure what you have.

The body and neck are 50's Roadworn. The reason I payed so much more was because it was suppose to have all these "upgrades" ie; electronics and hardware.

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IIRC, not all "custom shop" pickups installed by the Custom Shop are so marked as such. I know the ones sold in sets as accessories are. It's possible you got what you paid for. More investigation may be necessary.

HTH

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

+1

Such is the case with Abby pickups or so I've read.

May I ask where you bought the guitar? Used dealer/eBay/private sale?

Beware of so-called 'upgrades'.

They are not usually upgrades but 'changes'.

The first thing I want in a Fender or Gibson when I buy one is 'all original'.

'Upgrades' also mean your guitar has been messed with. This can mean loose screws, bad solders, etc,

It was an Ebay. It was described as a 'hot-rod' the guy I had look at it said they looked like stock tex-mex. Other then a signature is it possible to distinguish the difference between something that may be from the custom shop? I've got a link here for a guitar that is suppose to have been the same model the loaded pickguard and hardware I have came from.

Edit;

Forgot to include the link;
http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=9082

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A Custom Shop guitar will always ship in a deluxe HSC case (a G&G vintage-style with the re-issues), with a COA and specific case candy -- typically, a vintage-style Fender strap, a ten-foot instrument cable, polishing cloth, an hex-head wrench for adjusting the bridge, and some literature. The COA will be serialized to match the guitar's serial number.

To be brutally frank, the number of hotrodded "custom shop" Strats listed at any given time on Ebay rivals the number of faked (or "cloned", to be generous) '69 Chevy Z28 Camaros on the nation's roads. Thus, caveat emptor should always guide your hand as you prepare to write a check.

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

Truer words.

I got the case no COA or wrench or cloth. Got the cable and the strap. Plus some stickers and a product guide. But really what's the case worth? Two hundred dollars at best? From now on I think I'll relegate my ebaying to merely T-shirts.

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Have you contacted the seller regarding this apparent......anomaly?

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

You may well have received what you actually bought. I don't see what good the case candy and case would do you when the original custom shop guitar had been parted out. Perhaps the owner of the CS guitar liked the neck and body but wanted to change the guard and pups to something that more met his/her style.

What you got is a MIM road worn with perhaps an upgraded pick guard and pups.

The question at hand is how does it play and sound? If it sounds good and plays good, who really cares? From your description it wasn't listed as a CS guitar, just a run of the mill MIM Road Worn with upgraded pups and guard.

Before anyone asks, no, I'm not the seller and I didn't even see the ebay listing the OP is referring to, just going by his quote above.

Jeff

Always check feedback of the seller, and never blindly take their word as truth. Ever.

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Fred, why don't you remove the pickguard and take some
Pictures of the pickups so we can take a closer look.
A roadworn used should have sold for moreless
500-600 assuming a good day, a cs loaded pickguard from
The stratosphere would have sold for 400-500 bucks moreless.
Just trying to do the math.
Contact the seller see if you can get your money back.

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If I understand, it's only the pups that are in question?

If it helps, this is a shot of the Tex Mex pups on the 60s RW (same pups as 50s RW), note the uncommon wire colors and writing on the bottom of the pups. At least you can compare yours to these and see if they are the same or not. With a similar view of yours, someone here can probably identify them.

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

Damn....thats a lot..i paid 500.00 for mine with a deluxe gigbag new...at GC..those upgrades arent worth that cash....sorry man