Hi everyone, long time reader, first time poster.

I recently sold my mint 2009 American Standard Strat on eBay. Yesterday I received notification from the buyer that he wanted a refund becuase the guitar "is obviously a fake, and not a good one at that". This left me speachless, I've been playing Fenders for 30 years & owned dozens of Strats & am absolutely certain of the guitar's authenticity. It came to me through an authorised Fender delaership that I have used since 1982 & was virtually unplaed when I sold it.

The buyers reasons for declaring the guitar a fake are;

It is too light to be made of alder (guitar weighs 7lbs).
The pickups don't hum enough so are probably cheap cermaics
It doesn't have a delta tone control

The buyer insists that he knows propper Fenders & mine is nothing like the one he played a few years ago, therefore it's an obvious fake.

I figure the weight is nonsense, wood varies in weight & I've owned lighter Strats than the one in question. Hum is not related to magnet type, if there are no TVs, strip lights etc. in the vicinty it will be pretty quiet. Finally the lower tone control has a click at 10 that brightens the tone & raises the volume of the bridge pick up - what I understand is a delta tone?

The guitar is due back with me tomorrow, if I can post some detailed pics of the body & electrics could you guys give me your unbiased opinion? Refunding doesn't bother me, I really like the guitar but I would love to know that I'm right about it's authenticity.

regards

Mick

First time I heard sombody complain about not enough hum. And too light.......from a Fender guitar. No delta Tone . Did he really know that , how it work to tell there are no DT ?

I don't know much about e-bay ; buyer and seller. I never used e-bay . I did not mean is not good place, But I don't use it.

Good luck with this.

I'm sorry to hear about your tail. That's really wierd.

7lbs is a pretty normal weight for a Strat. My EC Strat feels pretty light too. I wonder if he would think it was a fake?

I wonder if he were to play it an electronics store would the pickup hum enough for his taiste?

All of his complaints sound wonky to me.

http://www.wildwoodguitars.com/products ... ID=88&n=94

Better don't buy this Custom Shop then 6.34 lbs Alder



Wow.



Hmm. Fender introduced it in 1997 to the American Standard.

http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/I ... art_1.aspx


Cheers

David

_________________
"Humans think they are smarter than dolphins because we build cars and buildings and start wars etc...and all that dolphins do is swim in the water, eat fish and play around. Dolphins believe that they are smarter for exactly the same reasons."

Wow! I hope this guy isn't a scammer. I have heard of people who purchase guitars on Ebay, swap out parts and then return the guitar for refund. I hope thats not whats happening to you. This is why I never deal with Ebay purchases for guitars. I always like to hear how the guitar sounds before I buy as well as see it for a up close inspection. Its hard to tell the condition of an instrument from just pictures. Good luck, I hope it turns out well for you.

_________________
'10 Fender American Special Strat GC FSR - Olympic White
'10 Fender American Highway 1 Tele - Black
'05 Fender American Highway 1 Tele - 3 Tone Sunburst
Fender Super Champ X2 Combo Blonde Oxblood FSR

I 'm I thinking of that too . I hope it is not the case

Check the guitar very well when you get it back. There is a good chance your guitar will be striped of parts and replaced with crap. This scam was going around awhile ago. Beware. I would not have given a refund. Good Luck hope it works out ok

Mick do not refund his money until you have thoroughly inspected your guitar when it arrives. Guitarlover is right there was another thread last year of a similar situation in which the seller refunded the money but when he got the guitar back the guts had been swapped out with cheaper parts. I hope this is not the case with you.

Dont refund. I would have made his keep it. If you want a money back guarantee, go to guitar center.

Good luck with this bit of eBay nonsense.

It sounds like you have stepped into it.

_________________
Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

I noticed the buyer didn't mention anything about serial numbers or other real identifiers. I would say your guitar is 100% real and this deal is going down 1 of 2 ways.
1) The buyer was drunk when he bid, or his financial situation changed where he could no longer manage the buy so he had to come up with a good reason like "Not as advertised" for calling quits on the deal.
2) As other posters mentioned, this buyer will send you back a stripped down guitar so he can sell the parts and you get hosed.
Either way there is one rule of thumb. EBAY SUCKS!!!
In all my experience with ebay they will take your money for the sale and if you need help because you got ripped off they turn a deaf ear to you. Trust me, I've been burnt twice. after the second I closed my acct. and only use ebay as a price guide now.
Best of luck and don't leave us hanging on the out come.
Oh yeah, if you wanna buy and sell guitars, use Craigslist. face to face deals work soooo much better.

_________________
TOO MANY GUITARS, TOO LITTLE TIME!

Current Stable:
Fender Stratocaster MIM 07
Squire II Stratocaster MIK 89?
ESP LTD MH-100QM
Jackson KE3 Kelly MIJ

Thanks for all the replies guys, very much appreciated.

Just to clarify on the delta tone control. My buyer says the guitar doesn't have one but should. I know it has the delta tone control because there's a detent at "10" on the lower tone pot that boosts the volume & treble of the bridge pick up.

The buyer has accepted the neck & trem are legit but insists the body & electrics are faked. Fortunately he has 600+ positive feedbacks so I'm pretty confident that I'm not going to get burned. However, if what comes back isn't exactly what left the house I'll dig in.

Out of interest, here's a photo of the guitar from the auction;

http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/3421/strat009.jpg

I'll open the plate up tomorrow & post some pictures of the guts for you.

Thanks again

Mick

Sounds like a guy with buyers remorse.

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


facebook.com/313DBC

buyers remorse or drunk bidding. were there any neg feedback? if so what were they? still sounds fishy to me.

_________________
TOO MANY GUITARS, TOO LITTLE TIME!

Current Stable:
Fender Stratocaster MIM 07
Squire II Stratocaster MIK 89?
ESP LTD MH-100QM
Jackson KE3 Kelly MIJ

This is the part of ebay where their changes hurt the seller. The seller isn't allowed to leave negative feedback. If you get the guitar back whether it's tampered with or not, you won't have the ability of leaving negative feedback. The only options you have are positive, or none at all. You can only report your displeasure with ebay, and they will supposedly give the buyer a "bad mark" that is sight unseen to anyone else.

I ran across this the other day. How would you like to have to deal with this nightmare!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9r4MfV0u0A&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL2445F03D5525261C

_________________