Just won an auction for a 2000 Fender American Standard Strat.
I'm waiting to pay for this guitar but want to double check a few things first.
My question is on the 2000 should there be a Made in USA print on the headstock (front or back?)
Doesn't appear to be any binding around the truss rod hole. (Can this be removed?)
What else should I be looking for?
There is a serial number. Number is Z0148487
Is there anything I can do with the serial number to ensure authenticity?

A Fender American Standard series should have a walnut plug at the truss rod hole (earth brown color). The serial number is on the back of the headstock, and it should say made in USA on the front of the headstock in small print under the Fender logo.

It should also have a 22 fret neck, as opposed to the 21 fret neck used on MIM.

The American standards have micro-tilt, so it should have a small allen wrench hole between the 2 bottom screws of the neck plate.

The serial number suggests a 2000 (starts with Z0 followed by 6 digits)

Send the serial number to consumerrelations@fender.com and they can tell you exactly what the serial number is supposed to be on...probably right down to the color.

Post a picture or link to the auction page and we can tell you if anything looks suspicious.

Waiting until after you win the auction to ask questions about the guitar is lame.

It would be even more lame to win an auction and then decide not to pay, whatever the reason.

You committed to buy, so pay and learn your lesson. It's not the sellers fault that you didn't do your homework.

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

Interesting point of view there shimmilou.
But if the seller advertised it as a "2000 Fender American Standard Strat" and it turns out that it isn't, then there's just that little matter of the Fraud that was committed.

I personally think that anyone that "knowingly" misrepresents an item for sale to make money off the unsuspecting, deserves to rot in prison.

I agree RRR.

But the time for these considerations is before bidding, not after winning the auction.

People take more time deciding what to order at McDonald's than they do with something expensive like a guitar.

_________________
---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

+100 Shimmilou

Welcome, ubi2700.

As you've read thus far, it is not a good practice to buy a guitar first and THEN come up with a handful of major concerns that should have been resolved prior. Further, even if the guitar isn't what it's purported to be, regardless of whether the seller is honorable or not, (s)he could simply claim ignorance, which throws any fraud allegation right out the window. Lastly, for a definitive answer to your concerns, as we say here time and time again, we need pictures.

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You dig?

Nut width is 43MM instead of 42 for a Mexican strat... 22 Frets, microtilt, long steel saddles, just some of the easier to spot stuff. Oh, and truss rod hole is not bare or chunked. Should have a hollow like plug in it to access the allen wrench....

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


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