I bought a used 97 MIM Fender strat for 260 earlier this week. Being a newb with all this I had no idea about fake's and what not.

I took a look at the body and it has a stamp saying it was produced Feb 2008 which falls in line with my serial number of the neck which starts with MN7.

The guy I bought it from had a bunch of guitars and replaced the pick guard and some of the pickups, but the tuning keys of the guitar look like they're from a squire. I suppose he could have swapped them from one of his other guitars but I'm wondering did I buy a "squire" fender of some sort or if Fender ever used these type of tunners on the MIM Strat in the 90's

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tjscreations/sets/72157629459038764/

It looks to me you have a Squier Series MIM. They have the same body neck and pickups as the standard MIM Stratocaster of that time. They just used the cheaper tuning keys and bridge. Someone most likely took off the label on the top of the headstock that said Squier Series.

ya i think u have a squier there as well, judging from the shape of the headstock and other features....

still a good guitar tho

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blues - its a religion...

Well that's a bummer the guy wasn't honest. What would have been a fair price for this type of guitar?

$229.00 for squier standard, $129.00 for the bullet squier brand new. Wonder what pickups were put in it?

It's not a Squier. People ought get that straight. It's a Fender.

The guitars were released after Fender took over the Squier plant in Ensenada, where the Fender Mexico guitars were made. Instead of shipping all the cheap hardware out to the Far East Fender decided to use it up on a budget range of Fender guitars. That is why it says Fender on the headstock instead of Squier.

The body and neck are from the exact same machines that carve todays American Vintage Reissue, Deluxe, Standard, Artist and Highway1 guitar necks and bodies. With the remnant Squier hardware that was left over at the Ensenada factory (where Fender Mexico guitars are made).

I bought one new from a very respectable Fender dealer in 1995. The shop had the biggest guitar section in Europe at the time. The size of half a football pitch. It cost me £200.
You got a bargain.



Though I do think you may have a modern Mexico body. The routing on mine looked like this



HSS. Not that funny HHS that achieves little that we see on modern MIM's.

Further proof of the body and neck being Fender not Squier. Squier neck pockets just are not routed that way.

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I appreciate everyone pitching in and sharing their knowledge. So bottom line this is still probably a decent guitar that I could upgrade the cheaper bridge and tuners to make it better?

How do these era guitars compare to modern MIM standard strats?

So did the previous owner remove the "Squier Series" decal from the headstock?

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Here are some pics of mine.

I've run my finger over the neck were the decal would have been and if the guy did remove it he did a really nice job. I can't feel any difference in the finish at any spot on the headstock.

From other stuff I've been reading it seems that not all the guitars in this series had the squier label, but they still used the cheaper hardware and sold it for less then the MIM Standard at the time.

I emailed fender with the serial number too to see if they can tell me the roots of this guitar

Yeah it's entirely possible that the decal was never affixed. There are a good few like that.

Don't expect Fender to disclose their intentions behind that guitar. They are not in the habit of giving away business plans.

All in though mate, if you like the guitar. Nice score. I still gig mine today.

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