hello, all. i am a beginner of stratocaster, I want to buy a second-hand strat. which got some details below:

Serial No.: MN6231349
mexican-made, rosewood fretboard, maple neck, Black body, white pickguard, two knobs, floyd rose with locking nuts, with a label printing '50' on the back of headstock, silver 'tortoise-shell' machine head
(similar to this http://www.guitar.co.uk/machine_heads/2 ... hine_heads)

the confusing parts are the floyd rose, machine head and two knobs, these are different from most of the stratocasters, i've never seen it before, is it worth to buy?

sorry, here is the photos

It will be hard for people here to say whether it is legitimate or not without pictures of the guitar. if you can put some pictures in this thread people will be able to give you a more helpful response. The features you are surprised by could be modifications added by the previous owner, or an FSR model (factory special run, a limited run of a fairly unique variation on a model), to name two possible reasons.

It says in the "contact us" section of the fender website not to email them with the serial number asking for information, so I wouldn't recommend that.

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"reach for the sky and aim for the moon, for if you miss you will end up among the stars"

Zoom MS50G
72 tele dlx RI
2011 standard strat
Blackstar HT-5R
Taylor Big Baby

http://www.youtube.com/user/Almungo/videos?flow=grid&view=0

I would not get those tuners. They're terrible. Search eBay for better options.

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

+1

Strictly bush-league!

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'd just get MIM standards, or Gotohs.

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

It probably is real, there isn't a big market for fake Mexican Strats. One thing that looks like it could be an issue is that tremolo. Its really tough to tell from the photos, but at the angle the shots are at, it doesn't look like its seated properly. It looks like the treble side is further away from the post than the bass side. It could just be an illusion because of the pickguard, but I don't know if id buy it without having a chance to hold it and look at it in person.

The neck is real, perhaps the body too. Those are cheap tuners and no Mexican made Strat has a micro-tilt adjustment hole on the neck plate. What you have there is a genuine Parts-o-caster. The neck should be worth about $200 to $250 on Ebay. The rest, no idea. Most likely the body is either American or Mexican, but you'll have to pull the pickguard to tell. Who knows what the electronics are...

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"Epitaph on a blues musician’s tombstone: “I didn’t wake up this morning”" Davy Knowles


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On my mexican strat, it doesn't say "made in mexico" underneath the Stratocaster text on the front side (string side) of the head. It says it on the other side of the head, underneath the serial number. Mine is a mexican standard. Other models or mexi standards from other years may be different though, so have a look on google images or somewhere like that for pictures of various mexican strats. If you see many with that text there then it may well be real.

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"reach for the sky and aim for the moon, for if you miss you will end up among the stars"

Zoom MS50G
72 tele dlx RI
2011 standard strat
Blackstar HT-5R
Taylor Big Baby

http://www.youtube.com/user/Almungo/videos?flow=grid&view=0

The serial number indicates a '96 fender however there are some after market hardware on it. Without playing it I'd pass it up. Also depends how much the seller is selling it for. I would save my money and get either a Blacktop or FR standard. Those run between $450-$600.

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RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head

Surely those are Squier tuners? And I have that little Fender anniversary badge on the same old Chinese Squier..

Partscaster with cheap donor parts from everywhere. Or a tarted up Squier. Either way, I'd pass..

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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!

+1

No great shakes there.

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

Yeah, that's what I was thinking: those are Squier tuners. How did they end up on a MIM neck? It looks like a MIM neck because of the black plastic around the truss rod hole. Do any Squier necks use the black plastic?

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

From what I see, I think this is a mim 96 standard or higher level strat. I don't know about being a partscaster.....maybe. I tend to focus on the neck. The tuners and the placement of the serial number and made in mexico are as in the pic below.



This is a 97 Traditional Strat. The Squier Series and Traditional have black Fender. I believe standard and above are silver. Cheap tuners, but I had zero problems with them. Mim strats of this vintage have the nicest necks I've ever seen on any Fender from anywhere. Some people claim that this vintage actually had MIA necks. I don't know but I wish I didn't sell mine.

If the body is matching to the neck, it's probably poplar, which is a good tone wood. I know the Steve Morse sig guitar is poplar and Steve chose every single thing that went into his guitar.

If this guitar follows in kind with my old Traditional, the hardware and pickups are all pretty crappy. But this is stuff that you would probably replace on any 15 year old mim guitar.

If I had to guess, I'd say it's value would be in the lower $200 area. Maybe $250 if you love the floyd. This is just a guess from what I've sold over the last year and what I would be willing to take a chance with.

Play it. If it plays well and the price is reasonable, who cares if some of the parts are from random places.....?

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2002 mim Telecaster
Jimmie Vaughan Stratocaster
Mexican HSS Stratocaster
6 non-fender guitars
2 kids (not for sale)
1 wife (uh....no comment)

I've seen Squier Series guitars with the silver logo. I own one with the black logo. And yes I'll second your opinion on the necks. Classy, very very classy. My absolute favourite neck. Also, those tuners never gave me any trouble until around 2008 when they'd had twelve years of very hard use.
The Ensenada plant didn't start carving wood till 1999. Prior to then shaped necks and bodies were shipped down from Corona.

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No no and no

I used to own a guitar exactly like it- '93 MIM Fender Squier Series Floyd Rose Strat.. this was part of the "Squier Series" however, there should be a 'Squier Series' logo at the top of the headstock but they allways seem to bubble and peel off.

the precursor to the MIM floyd rose std model.. 1 vol,1 tone, non-adjustable pole pieces on the humbucker and cheaper hardware. I sold mine and I regret it sorely.. one of the best guitars I have ever owned they had a very nice neck shape.. I modded mine by finishing the neck with a satin urethane that had a slight brown tint to it and it looked awesome- not your usual yellow 'vintage' look- I never liked the hard core yellow they spray on necks

My newer Floyd Strat looks very similar to my old one- even the neck color and finish. Even though the hardware is of better quality, the neck and the resonance isn't as good.. but then no two guitars are the same

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