I am going to buy a second hand Fender American Standard Strat very soon from a guy I met on one forum, to be frank I never played a real strat before, however I have done my homework to search on the internet about everything about American Standard Strat. From this one, I noticed several problems:

1. The neck plate which is used to connect the neck and the body of the guitar is a bit slanted, which you can refer to the pics below.
2. The three nobs, one volume and two tones, the shape of the plastic nob was mis-shaped as they are not perfectly a round shape. The distance between the pick guard and the rim of the nob is not consistent among the three nobs.
3. The distance between the lower E string, which is the thinnest string, and the rim of the finger board is a bit smaller.

Are these problems normal to a American made Standard strat? I have checked the serial number and this guitar was actually American made. Please help me out here, thanks a lot everyone! Hope to hear from you guys soon!!!

Hi Emi

Welcome to the forum.

Now about that strat, its a nice looking guitar for sure. You already checked the serial no so thats good.

It could be the neck is a bit misaligned in the neck pocket, loosening the 4 screws off and trying to move it a little might help with the high E alignment to the fretboard edge and also help with the neck plate. Of course youd need the string replaceing to see any change.
As for the vol/tone pots they just push down on their shafts, this is likely to be why some are closer to the pickguard than the others, its not a problem of any kind. They can be prised off (a couple of spoons under em is a good method) and replaced if need be for little money.
If it plays ok, all the pots work and the neck is rejigged it could be a sweet guitar if your happy with the price.

Regards ..... Al

Dear Al,

Thanks very much for the reply! Forgot to mention something, for the four screws of the neck
plate, this is one of them seems to be different from the rest of the three! I asked the seller to remove the neck and pick guard for me cos I want to check the inside, he refused.
Could that be he took a real American std strat's neck and then fit it onto a dun know wat body?

Well i dont own an american standard but from what i know and can see it looks like a gen 2008/9 strat in candy cola i think?

The pot knobs may have been "stressed" by someone trying to prise em off using a different tactic to one that i know works!

The body sure looks authentic to me, cant see why someone would swap the neck off a standard onto another body in this case but as they say Caveat Emptor.

If your not totally sure or happy with this guitar and the guy is reluctant to play ball, walk away, one thing the worlds not short of is stratocasters. Is it possible to take someone along with you? If it was me and i liked the guitar id compromise and ask for the neck to be tweaked as i said, one thing you dont want to do is buy a dodgy guitar especially if its your first stratocaster.

.. Al

Dear Al,

Yes you are right, based on the serial number, it is one made in 08-09.
I do not have anyone coming along with me, my idea is that I buy the guitar first and then send it to a technician to set up and open up the neck and pick guard for me to see. If its alright then perfect, if its not I will return it the the seller.
The price is quite attractive, I tested the guitar this morning by myself and the guitar is quite nice from what I can tell. However I have 0 experience on an American Standard Strat.
I just do not know what to do now haha!!!

I have an '11 American Standard and from the quality of those pics that one looks correct. You should also be able to feel the tone bypass on the bottom tone control (a little notch at '10'). I can't really make out from the pics but the back of the neck should be a satin finish and the head, gloss. I can't see how someone would change the body, and that bridge would take some work to swap. Maybe he felt the need to play with the microtilt mechanism? Is it very cheap?

It is bad looking that the metal neck plate is not straight . Or the body have something , not straight cut , neck side ?

Also , is it the poor picture that the micro tilt neck adjustment show the red paint of the body. We must see the allen screw or a black hole.

Or everything is fine and it's only the poor picture

Hey Marcos,

Thanks a lot for your reply, the guitar is quite nice except those issues I mentioned. The price is very attractive I can say and the condition of the fretboard is like brand new. Now I just need help to identify the guitar whether it is real or not. I checked the serial number and it is indeed an American made American std strat. Thanks for your reply anyway! Have you ever encountered the same problem as me before?

Hi 52,

Thanks for your reply! From your point of view, should I purchase this guitar?

Sorry emidope313 , I have not enough information and your photo from de neck plate is not good,

Hey dude thanks a lot for your time and reply!

Just been closer at mine, the neck plate is a off from the top edge of the body, looks like that is the way the bodies are cut. Your one does look genuine. I've taken a couple of pics to show (and show off my Sienna Sunburst baby!!)

Hi Marcos,

Great guitar out there! The color is really nice!!! Your neck plate is straight, but not as slanted as mine. Maybe it is due to the poor QC of fender, am I right to say that?