It seems odd to me that some people like "reliable" can sell 2011 NEW Stratocaster parts on eBay! I understand that once they purchase a guitar it's considered "Used" by law but two things bug me about that practice.

One: They sell Serial Number plates. Shouldn't that be illegal? After all they've split up the parts the S/N really doesn't correspond to any guitar coming out of a Fender Factory and as such is worthless going forward for identification purposes.

Two: I guess Fender doesn't mind but when one company has a near monopoly on parts it artifically drives the price of used parts up on Ebay because they typically use a "Buy It Now" price which is MUCH higher than other private seller auctions typically close for as evidenced in the "Completed Listings".

Yes, they can provide a valuable service for parts but when you watch the auctions and actions of some of these big parts sellers.......something just doesn't look right.

And HOW does a private seller on eBay aquire dozens of NEW 2011 Strats to strip down and sell?

Doesn't that bother Fender? Should it?

1. Nothing illegal about Selling serial number plates if they are from legitimate Fenders. Now if they were to manufacture bogus plates with legitimate serial numbers then that would be counterfeiting and illegal.

2. He buys guitars new and he also bids on used guitars on Ebay and then chops them up. Nothing Fender can do about that, and rightly so. Would you want Fender to tell you what you can or can not do to guitars you own.

Im pretty sure Reliable Fender does pretty well with their business. Think about it parting out an American Fender or CS Fender can be quite profitable.

Hi, Id like to comment as this is an interesting topic here for sure.I have bought many parts from reliable over the past few years and I totally agree with your claims.Let's see where to start.I am a hobbyist not a collector but I used to make project guitars.I used to purchase bodies from him at least one a month.Highway One Bodies to be exact.To my knowledge they stopped production of those in 2008 right?I bought up to last year and he called them nitro one bodies with a bogus s/n historically.Many I suspected were repainted but I cannot confirm that fender doesn't do that either.More importantly, even today he is selling american made nitro guitar bodies.In my understanding fender does not make any american made guitar in 2011.So with that said there is more.I have suspicion reliable shill bids.I remember being way up on a neck and last minute a winner appeared and it was nearly $100 more and was a bidder with a small amount of feedback.And guess what a like neck matching s/n was on sale again a week later.Lastly,I was banned from buying from him again as my last item I bought took forever and I was given no response I waited and played that game.So I stated in my feedback Great Product and packaging, but $h!t customer service.I gave 5's on all and 1 on shipping which I had every right.So I found my feedback removed from him and a warning that I have been blocked to bid on his items. All In all, I have no problem paying extra to any ebay seller if they have a decent item and could provide acceptable customer service.Reliable fails on both fronts.This empire from boston seems to have more money in parts than our nations debt.Yet he will get people will pay double for what he sells.Give me a break.Personally I don't like his practices and am glad if I want something and it's his I'll tell myself this is cool but they probobly made more than one and would wait until I see another one.

I've bought thousands of dollars worth of genuine Fender parts from the Stratosphere since 2007 and with the exception of a damaged neck (which was promptly returned for a full refund) I have yet to feel that I didn't get my money's worth. Without fail, every purchase was precisely as described, the price was fair, and the S&H costs were reasonable. Matthew and Chris Gibney have treated me pretty good and in the process, make a comfortable living at what they do. I'll continue to buy from them in confidence when what they sell suits my immediate need.

JMO

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

I think he uses to be stratosphere, out of NH. I remember a few years ago I was looking for a neck, and he wouldn't selln it to me and let me physically pick. It up, had to be shipped, even though he was literally less than a 10 minute drive from me.
And of course they use shills, but so doesn't most of the music retailers on eBay. I haven't bought anything off ebay in years now. Everything is over inflated, you got retailers who have Gerry rigged ratings. There was one guy who had about a dozen guitars on there at any one time. They were all listed as his personal guitars, and all were a few years old, but listed for several hundreds more than a new one would cost. The guy was a complete scumbag. I knew his reviews were all BS, because he had way too many sales at these inflated prices, and after you read a few of the reviews, you could tell they were all written by one or two people. The wording and phrasing was all way too similiar to be from different people. I can't remember exactly the word, but it was misspelled in most of the reviews, and misspelled the same way.
There was some talk from the Fender rep we get parts from that they were considering selling parts themselves. You'd be able to buy a neck, but somethibg would be different in the logoing to differentiate them from an OEM neck, or one they send for a warranty relacement. That was a while ago though and I haven't heard about it again.
I have seen the price of used guitars, pedals, etc start to stabilize, byt that seems to be from indivgiduals, the retaillers are still stupid expensive. Older pedals are starting to reflect the real world, though not all the time. I have a bunch of old Boss pedals, a CE-1,CE-2,dd-2. The dd2 I bought for around $120, and I'm seeing them start to come down to the $150 range, but there are still people posting them for $399! I hate them, they totally distort the market.

I had to chime in on this one also. I tried (unsuccessfully) over the last few weeks to bid on a 70's style neck from Stratosphere. I was outbid at the last few seconds, sometimes by a little as $3.00. Aggravated the hell out of me. What is unusual is that on one of the auctions, I received a message from EBay stating that the item I was bidding on was removed because of a possibility of it being a counterfeit. I e-mailed Stratosphere informing them of what I was told and received a petulant reply stating that it was EBay's mistake and they don't sell counterfeits. After that, I quit bidding and just ordered one from Warmoth. It ended up being cheaper, including shipping. I just started to get a bad feeling about Stratosphere and won't deal with them again.

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September 18th, 1970
There were none better before him.
There have been none better since.

A good chunk of 'genuine parts' are NOT. Also, many vintage guitars have switched out parts so even taking apart a vintage guitar does not mean the parts are genuine.

I've had Fenders for 40 years this September and often can not tell the difference between a genuine part and a copy. The copy is usually no more different from a genuine part than two genuine parts are from each other.

A couple years ago I ordered a blank Telecaster neck from China. $59 delivered to the door. I open it up and it was for all intense and purposes a 'real' Fender Tele neck with full logos, serial number, etc. It came with Fender tuners and a Fender neck plate. I emailed the guy and said it was not what i ordered. He said it was a an extra bonus and he would make me whatever I want. Attached to his email was photos of about 50 guitar models of which some were Fender models such as Teles, Strats, Jaguars, Bass, etc. I emailed both Ebay and Paypal and received a full credit. He was taken off Ebay.

bottom line...ANYBODY can get fake Fender parts for a fraction of the real items are worth and just about anyone but a seasoned guitar tech can be fooled. If an Ebay seller has even the slightest hint of being shady, I wouldn't trust them.

I too have bought parts from Matt Gibney, no problems ever, great parts. Guys, the eBay last second bidding is 100% normal for just about every item that I have ever bid on, any seller, some I win, some I lose. I must point out that if anyone suspects "shills", keep in mind that if the "shill" wins the bid, they just cost their "employer" money, so I doubt very seriously if the Statosphere/Reliable is doing anything like this. It took me a while to catch onto the last second bidding thing on eBay, so that is what I do now also, swoop in at the last second with a bid. I still don't win them all, that is the game.

BTW, plenty of Fenders were made in the US last year, this year, and I suspect next year as well. Where would someone get the idea that they don't have US made Fenders anymore?

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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.

Hey guys, some pretty good posts on here.One of the greatest messageboards on the net imo.Anyways, I meant that I have not seen any USA fenders made with nitro lacquer.And reliable was selling quote un quote new 2011 nitro bodies and where on fenders site do they advertise them? Although I hope they bring nitro back despite hearing that nitro is considered unsafe.I know a few luthiers who feel the same way as I. As for shill bidders, Im not totally convinced it could be a company though probable, it could be a friend of his and when it's over they could simply cancel the transaction.But for the last minute winner to be up $100 that seams a little illogical to me.I don't know it is a game of chance.I don't know the guy so I cant say he's a complete waste as I'd wish I had the chance to do what he does for a living but I'm too honest for that business.Yeah as noted above it is hard to know any guitar is authentic.I really don't care where it's made but what it feels and sounds like.I've got about 15 years of knowledge and the way the music industry is going we need to keep talking and buying because we are in a world of auto tune and lada gaga where being a musician is passe.Just my opinion to those gaga fans that may read this!j/k

Highway One Strat, satin nitro finish:
http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0111162306

AVRI Strats, '57, '62, '70s, all 3 models in nitro finish:
http://www.fender.com/products/index.php?section=guitars&bodyShape=Stratocaster%C2%AE&series=American+Vintage

Vintage Hot Rod Strats, '57, '62, and 52 Tele, all are nitro finish:
http://www.fender.com/products/index.php?section=guitars&series=Vintage+Hot+Rod

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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.

There have been bid sniping programs available for years now that allow anyone to slip a bid in with seconds to go - and they only have to beat your high bid by the simple margin, be it $3 or $5 or $10, depending on what bids are up to at the time. I don't use a program, but if I want something bad enough and don't want to put up a specific high bid, I lurk in the shadows of cyberspace, watching the seconds tick down on the auction and slip my bid in with seconds to go. Lots and lots of people do it.

As far as shills go, it's very unlikely and would have to be highly organized. In 1998 you could get away with shilling now and then, but eBay has software now that tracks IP numbers from bidding computers and flags repeats on certain buyers. To be successful at shilling you would have to have a bunch of different IP numbers, email accounts, etc. It's just not likely these days.

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Dennis in CR
Rockin' since 1963

Thanks for the above links.I knew that early fenders all were and the reissues but for 2011?? I mean I frequent the guitar shops like sam ash and guitar center and I havent physically seen one yet for any of those models.

Yeah, usually you won't see many/any of the AVRIs or HRds hanging on the wall at either of those stores. I had to order a '62 reissue awhile back that no one had in stock, Arthurs, GC (2), Sam Ash, IRC (2), Reno's (2), none of the eight stores stocked one. They can all order them though, I used the north side IRC for this particular Strat.

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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 can't say for certain if anyone uses a shill bidder but it would not surprise me. I've seen bids on guitars on ebay that were outrageously priced and within an hour of listing they already had a bid. I haven't followed those products but I would venture to say it would be easy to shill if you have a high reserve. You can then cancell the sale if your shill doesn't drive the price up to where you want it or up to your buy it now price.

As far as "Fakes" go. I've been in enough music stores over the years to know that many, but certainly not all and probably not the chain stores, sell guitars they call "Vintage" that were Frankenstrats.

I'm not a huge fan of Ed Roman but he does offer a lot of info on his website. He made one comment that I'd have to agree with. That is, there are so many people out there capable of putting together a counterfiet vintage guitar that can even fool most pro's that the only real way to know for certain that you've got a vintage gem is if you buy it from someone who doesn't know what they have. IE: You go to a garage sale and buy a 60's or 70's Strat for $100. It doesn't happen often. Other than that, one needs to be very careful when purchasing a vintage instrument.

About 3 yrs ago I sold a '65 ES330T to a guy in Europe. I had it appraised by G. Gruhn because I was asking a nice sum for the guitar. It's worth it to me to have it appraised like that because it gives the buyer confidence in the sale. I also had the guitar for more than 18 yrs and purchased it when they weren't in big demand so there was no need to make a fake.