Hi good day all,

I'm thinking of trading my Godin 5th avenue II for a Fender 1988 MIA standard strat.
Only i don't have the expertise to see if this particular guitar isn't "fake". Have done some research, checked serial & specific features and things like that.

So I'm wondering if someone could help me to convince I doing the right thing here?

The guy who owns the strat claims to be the first owner, but he hasn't have any paperwork or the org. case. He is willing to take it apart to show whats under the hood.

See below for the pictures he sent me earlier, maybe this will be enough to see this thing is genuine?!



Click on photo for a bigger size..

All your help is appreciated and thank you in advance!

So far so good. When you look under the hood make sure that it has a swimming pool pickup cavity.

Looks good to me so far.

_________________
1975 Sunburst Stratocaster rosewood finger board
1979 Stratocaster with roseowood finder board
2001 Candy Green Clapton Stratocaster
2007 Andy Summers Inspired Telecaster
2007 '51 P-Bass
2012 Taylor 110
2015 Mystic Ice Blue Deluxe Stratocaster Plus

Yeah Looks good

Yeah from what i can see it looks the part, i have a 1987 in white and its the nicest sounding strat i own, if its got the original pups in it then id say buy it in a heartbeat.

The early corona strats will possibly be future classics and in the meantime youll have a great guitar

JMO of course.

.. Al

Thank you guys, starting to get more comfortable with the trade

It all looks original to me. The strap peg on the horn looks like it's been moved from it's original position.
Other than that...A Ok.

What do you think your Godin is worth. The Strat is the real macoy as far as I can tell. Have owned and still own some of these. Great guitars.

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com

Sounds like a decent trade. Those Godin archtops are pretty sweet though; I'm planning on getting one myself.

The Strat definitely looks legit. Looks to be in amazing shape from the pics too.

Ya, I agree ExiledonMainSt. I never saw one of these before but looks like a sweet jazz/blues box. P90 type pickups? Cool. might feedback if play real loud... IDK... I thought about getting a Midi-type Godin guitar, but keep buying Strats for some reason! Here is a pick of one of these 5th Avenue Kingpin II guitars, if this is what he is talking about.

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com

I have a couple of these Godins and they do feed back, but in a nice, Carlos Santana kind of way. Too bad the OP can't keep the Godin and have the Strat too!

You just about having me getting in my car and driving a ton of miles so I can play with your guitars!!!!!!

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com

I was jamming on one of the Godin 5th Avenue Kingpins not to long ago. This guitar is $700 and is made either in Quebec or New Hampshire, not sure. Amazing value. Guitar played amazing and was actually more versatile than you'd think a non-cutaway box would be - sounded really sweet on bluesy stuff on a driven amp.

Looks legit to me. The serial number indicates it could be either an 88 or 89. Late 80's serial numbers are a bit spotty...for example the "E" stands for 80's... the next number should indicate the exact year ( E8xxx for 1988). But there are strats with E4 (1984) that are actually 1987.

When you disassemble it you'll find the true dates of manufacturer of the components which should confirm it as an '88.

The spring cavity looks right, so does the bridge. Like one of the others said there should be a "swimming pool route" under the pickguard which would provide space swap humbucker to all 3 pickup positions. The string trees look correct too and that little hole in the neck plate on the back is for adjusting the neck angle.

If you are going to miss the your current guitar, I wouldn't trade. I would find the money. I've traded a few guitars and have regretted it. But on the other hand I traded my '84 MIJ '62 Tele Custom for an '87 Strat plus. I missed the Tele, but getting the Strat plus was the start of my love of all things Fender and Strats in particular.

Good luck. I thing that you are making a wise choice.

_________________
1975 Sunburst Stratocaster rosewood finger board
1979 Stratocaster with roseowood finder board
2001 Candy Green Clapton Stratocaster
2007 Andy Summers Inspired Telecaster
2007 '51 P-Bass
2012 Taylor 110
2015 Mystic Ice Blue Deluxe Stratocaster Plus

Hi Guys thank you all for the fast feedback, got all the info a need i think!

I'm liking the Godin, it's well build looks even better and plays / sounds pretty sweet.
All though i'm starting to play more with a band on stage and stuff. The feedback is now starting to get annoying and soloing isn't comfortable on this one. It has the same neck as the acoustic series from Godin.