I would like to sell this guitar. I can account for the last 30 years of its existence but how do I determine the value? AND how do I determine where it was made - Fullerton or Corona? And, frankly where is the best place to sell this?

you may ask yourself this also.. made in Japan.?
as they say in historic reads, that in the 80's, 80% of all American Strats were made in Japan. i can't quote the timeline, but was due to the closing of 1 plant and opening of the other.

i found the site..
"Here is what happened: In 1984 CBS decided to sell Fender and finally, an investment group led by William (Bill) Schultz bought it in the month of March for twelve and a half million dollars. This investment group formally became the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation or FMIC. Bad news though, the sale did not include production facilities in Fullerton, California. Thus USA guitar production ceased between late 1984 till October of 1985 until the new factory was built in Corona, California. It has been estimated that 80% of the guitars sold during this time were made in Japan. When the Corona plant was started up, only the Vintage Reissue Stratocaster models were first produced (between late 1985 through 1986). Oddly enough, most of the MIJ Fenders were Reissues too, both Strats and Teles, and then later even Signature models."

link to site article
http://www.xhefriguitars.com/page9.html

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1986 Kramer Baretta
1989 Samick "The Samick" Les Paul
2007 Fender Strat MIM Deluxe / 1985 MIJ neck
1990 Epiphone Strat
Marshall JCM 2000 DLS 50 watt / Marshall 1960a 4x12

https://soundcloud.com/jim-slimjim-cassi

does the serial number determine the location where made and is there somewhere to look up that information?

hi , you can check s/numbers on this site , go to the top of the page , and hover over support then go down and click on product dating , is there a made in japan decal on the headstock or by the heel of the neck ? also sometimes the mij strats had a sticker that most people took off leaving no clue to the country of origin , also can you post some pics of your guitar , by the way , nothing wrong with mij strats , i have 2 from the 80's and i prefer them both to my usa made strat HTH , cheers
Alan

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80% of All American Strats were made in Japan? No, strats made in Japan were MIJ and strats made in America were MIA. There was a point when production of new guitars ceased in America except for the reissues which were made up of mostly leftover fullerton parts during the move to Corona. If the guitar is an 83 its either a Fullerton reissue or a Japanese JV. If the serial number on the Neckplate starts with a JV then it is MIJ, if it starts with a V then it is a Fullerton reissue.

Here is a great site to reference :

http://www.fenderreissue.com/

I did read that during that time of switching plants, that 80% of the American strat's were really from Japan.. no real way to prove where they were made..
i'm not talking about MIJ's, i'm talking about the MIA's.. i'll try to search this article.

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1986 Kramer Baretta
1989 Samick "The Samick" Les Paul
2007 Fender Strat MIM Deluxe / 1985 MIJ neck
1990 Epiphone Strat
Marshall JCM 2000 DLS 50 watt / Marshall 1960a 4x12

https://soundcloud.com/jim-slimjim-cassi

Now I'd agree with you if you said 80% of the strats made and on the market at one point were Japanese. Like I said The only strats being produced in America before the full plant switch over were left over Reissues from Fullerton, Japan was still turning out a variety of strats at this point but they were clearly marked MIJ. Not trying to start an argument but just going by what I read in the strat chronicles, from other reputable sources, and the guitars themselves.

Yogi - that's pretty close, but they were also did begin producing a small number of Reissues at the Corona plant by the end of 1985. Per a post Rob S. made over on The Gear Page CBS/Fender had seen the writing on the wall that the company was going to be put up for sale and they began shutting down production during 1984 - first the folks making necks, bodies, bridges, pickups, etc. then the assembly/qc folks. Rob posted that he was laid off circa August 1984 and the last of the assembly/qc folks were laid off by the end of September - meaning that all the bodies and necks were assembled and the guitars were sent to the warehouse. So basically nothing but sales/administrative activities took place at Fender during the 4th quarter of 1984.

Per Rob's timeline he was among a few people who came back as temps in January 1985 to do a little work (he recalled installing the string locks on Elite Strats - if you remember Fender had an aftermarket string lock device available for the Elite and Standard Strats), then getting laid off again until after FMIC bought the company. They came back as temps to do QC on the MIJ Fenders that were coming in and to help pack up everything they bought from CBS, then set it up again in Corona (and also their former office space in Brea, which I believe has been closed as many of those functions moved to Scottsdale). They were officially rehired as employees in the summer of 1985, and the Corona factory was producing a tiny number of Reissues by about October/November 1985 (7 per day based on a quote in "The Stratocaster Chronicles").

I wonder if what Jimmikatt is thinking of are those HM Strats that look MIJ but don't have a country of origin on them anywhere (along with a few other models that just scream MIJ).

i'm not claiming to be an Fender historian, i just know that it was a very weird time in Fender's history. i'm sure it had a lot of people scratch'in their heads.
myself in the 80's was not a fan of fender, not until i settled down a bit in my life, and started playing a bit more blues, you just can't get this sound from a Gibson or the like.

_________________
1986 Kramer Baretta
1989 Samick "The Samick" Les Paul
2007 Fender Strat MIM Deluxe / 1985 MIJ neck
1990 Epiphone Strat
Marshall JCM 2000 DLS 50 watt / Marshall 1960a 4x12

https://soundcloud.com/jim-slimjim-cassi

If pmdean (*waves*), can account for the last 30 years ---and its a Strat, that puts us into 82/83, yes? There were some MIJ Bullets sold in the US and the JV Strats overseas as mentioned....but if its 82/83 and a US made Strat....Fullerton. Looking up the Serial online will help I.D., but of course, popping the neck (ever ...so...carefully...) will expose more (or less) info.
All the best,
rob

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rob Schwarz
Director,Fender Customer Service
Proudly serving Fender Customers
for over 30 years