I'd appreciate any opinions on approximate valuations for the following two guitars:

1) MIM Strat - MZ0 series (2000-2001). purple, Left handed. Very good condition.
2) USA Strat - I series (1989-1990) (made for the export market). white, Excellent Condition. EDIT: "Made in U.S.A" is stamped on the bottom of the neck, and I have a 3 ply (white/black/white) pick guard.

I can provide photos if it would help ID things, but I'm just looking for ball park numbers.
Thanks!

after some google sleuthing, I came across this link:
http://www.strat-talk.com/forum/stratoc ... ntial.html

Which pretty much details my I-series. It would appear that both guitars are worth about ~400-500 each?

Stamped? As in the wood is embossed with the words "Made In USA"? Or a small decal (under the clear finish) on the back of the headstock? I think you'd better post some pics.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

White strat: http://imgur.com/a/uw2ey
Lefty Strat: http://imgur.com/a/BfJlF

well obviously the one with only four strings is worth less than the one with six strings ... seriously dude, guitars are not just money in wood form.

Really? I've read the 89' Japanese strats (or the export series), were as-good-if-not-better than the american strats for the same era. I assumed they'd be worth more than the 2000's MIM strats. However, my link to the other forum claims they might be little more than MIM strat/squire clones.

Guitars are money when you're trying to sell them!

The blue/purple mexican strat is worth about $280 if it were in excellent shape.....and yours has body chips and a ding in the neck. So for it, $225 max. The white one, I have my doubts as to whether it is indeed a USA guitar. It looks like a mexican made neck for sure, with the black truss rod access hole. Also, those bridge saddles are funny looking, and don't look like anything I have seen on any US Fender.

I am certainly no expert but like Steve I also doubt the authenticity of the USA guitar.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

hmm...I'll definitely keep that information in mind for the '89. Thanks for the pricing on the mexican strat!

I buy and sell Mexican strats all the time. That's a $200 guitar. With about 3 hours of work and maybe $30 in parts, it would become a $250 guitar.

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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)

What would you recommend?

Here's what I would do (this is just me, now).

With this old of a guitar in the condition I see it, I'd assume that the pots are all scratchy. Remove the pickguard and soak (or spray) them with brake cleaner while turning the pots and moving the switch through its positions. In 90% of the guitars I get, this is enough to clear up the scratchyness.

Take some 600 grit sandpaper and roll it up. (small piece). Insert it into the output jack and sand the barrel portion. It's probably worth opening it up and sanding the signal contact too.

Remove the springs from the claw/block. Sand the top of the block, inside of the claw and contact points of the springs. Use drill bits (oh, remove the strings first) and twist them backwards in the string holes and spring holes. This gives you good contact to the strings, which is going to keep the noise to a minimum. An alternitive is to replace the trem block with something bigger. That's a great upgrade from the dinky blocks in older mim's. If you do that, you might want to replace the 6 screws holding the bridge down. Just to get nice new ones in there. Clean up the saddles and bridge plate and springs and screws. If they're not too bad, you won't even have to take them off.

Replace the vol/tone/tone knobs. I'd just buy a new switch, as it's not much more than the switch cap....and you usually get one black and one white cap. Even if I don't use the switch in this guitar. I'd also replace the screws. Fender screws are notorious for rusting very quickly. Replacement sets are pretty cheap.

Ok, this is....again....what I do. I would pull the neck and level and crown the frets. While I'm at it, I would roll the edges of the fretboard (I sand with 320) and sand the back of the neck. The neck on this guitar is banged up enough that it's worth it to sand it to wood. Then use a small amount of tru oil on a paper towel. Rub it into the neck back and onto the fretboard edges. Wait 45 seconds and remove it with a clean paper towel. Wait a few minutes and do this again. Wait about an hour or more and wax the neck with a good car wax.

Finish the assembly with a good setup and be sure to lube all contact points. I sharpen a pencil and "write" in the nut grooves starting at the treble side e and work down. As the pencil dulls, the grooves are bigger. Put goop under the tree. Anything that won't dry works. Vasoline, chapstick, cold creme. I also rub a little soap on the saddles. As you put the strings on, be sure to stretch them. These little things will keep the strings stable and in tune. Intonate the guitar.

Now, the thing that I would probably leave and just polish is the body. If you want to greatly improve it, get a heat gun and remove the poly, seal it and spray it with many, many coats of acrylic lacquer. Why acrylic? It is easily available at auto parts stores. I stick with Dupli-color as I've heard bad stories about rustoleum. I'm in the middle of one right now.

With the work above (ignoring the painting part), you're going to have a really good playing guitar. With level frets, 4/64" (Fender min) is a piece of cake with no buzz. I've set up at 3/64" with no buzz at all. Mim's are pretty uneven in fret height both for Teles and strats, I've found. The leveling does wonders.

If you happen to replace the pickups while you're in the pickguard, you'll have a really great playing and sounding guitar. Pickups are very personal choices and prices vary widely.

Good luck. I do this all the time because I really like working on guitars.

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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)