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Post subject: 1993 Stratocaster Plus - ebony fretboard?
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 11:46 am
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I recently acquired a gunmetal blue 1993 Stratocaster Plus with an ebony fretboard. it has the Wilkinson roller nut and 3 lace sensor gold pickups. I was told it is fairly rare to see ebony on a Plus. is there any truth to this? do i have a weird gem? it is for sure ebony, definately not rosewood

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Post subject: Re: 1993 Stratocaster Plus - ebony fretboard?
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 12:25 pm
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Pluses and Deluxe Pluses always came with rosewood and maple fingerboards, not ebony. Ebony was used exclusively on the Strat Ultra.

Someone had put an Ultra neck into a Plus body.

Can you post a couple of pictures? They might help a lot.

On the other hand... we need John C's precious help! :idea:


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Post subject: Re: 1993 Stratocaster Plus - ebony fretboard?
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 12:41 pm
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I will post pictures when I'm off work. I don't have access to my phone. I bought the guitar from a very reliable vintage store in Athens, Ohio, Blue Eagle Music. other than pickups, what are the differences between the 3 models? should there be any identifying numbers or markings under the pickgaurd or the heel of the neck? I can take a peek under the hood to see what it says if need be. Will the serial # tell me much of anything model-wise? Thanks for the help!

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Post subject: Re: 1993 Stratocaster Plus - ebony fretboard?
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 7:11 pm
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Well I had a long post typed up this afternoon and my connection crashed; here's a short version of what I had:

I can't recall a Strat Plus having an ebony fingerboard as a standard option. That doesn't mean that it didn't come from the factory; an assembler certainly could have accidentally grabbed a Strat Ultra neck and used it. It could also be an extra dark rosewood fingerboard.

It's kind of hard to give a rundown of Lace Sensor Strat models from 1993 as that was a transition year. Some time during 1993 Fender switched from the Wilkinson nut to the LSR nut, by the end of the year all 3 models had pearloid pickguards, and finally the Strat Plus Deluxe and Strat Ultra were changed to the Fender/Floyd Rose locking tremolo.

That being said, here are the three models:

Strat Plus - 3 gold logo Lace Sensors, American Standard-style tremolo, maple or rosewood fingerboard.

Strat Plus Deluxe - blue logo/silver logo/red logo Lace Sensors, first part of year Deluxe tremolo with snap-in arm, last part of the year the Fender/Floyd Rose trem, alder body with ash veneers front and back

Strat Ultra - blue logo/gold logo/dual red logo Lace Sensors, same trems as Strat Plus Deluxe, alder body with figured maple veneers front and back.


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Post subject: Re: 1993 Stratocaster Plus - ebony fretboard?
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 8:35 pm
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I'd post pictures but it seems I don't know how. Looking at the fretboard neck to rosewood fretboard on my tele, Gibson, Martin acoustic, banjo, and jaguar, they don't even come close to darkness or consistency...the strat fretboard has very tight grain and no variation in color. The serial number is N3123892. I don't know If this helps identify this particular guitar or not other than year. Thanks for your help! I'm gonna continue to try to figure out picture posting so we can straighten this out

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Post subject: Re: 1993 Stratocaster Plus - ebony fretboard?
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 11:30 pm
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Jdavis323 wrote:
I'd post pictures but it seems I don't know how.


Need some help? Trouble posting pictures?

1. Create an account within a free image hoster (Photobucket, Flickr, ImageShack) and upload your photos there.

2. Once you've uploaded your pictures copy the URL address containing the uploaded media and paste it.

3. Drag the mouse pointer over the URL and click the Img button in the control panel at once; the tags will close automatically.

4. If you opt for a Photobucket account, just copy and paste the IMG code containing the tags.


Last edited by chromeface on Fri Jul 19, 2013 11:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: 1993 Stratocaster Plus - ebony fretboard?
Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 11:36 pm
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John C wrote:
Strat Ultra - blue logo/gold logo/dual red logo Lace Sensors, same trems as Strat Plus Deluxe, alder body with figured maple veneers front and back.


Some floyded Ultras were featured with a quilted maple top and only very few of these were sold with gold hardware, though less common.

Earlier non-floyded Ultras sported a Silver Lace Sensor in the middle position, aged parchment pickguards and regular white dot inlays.


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Post subject: Re: 1993 Stratocaster Plus - ebony fretboard?
Posted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 7:32 am
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I had an '89 Tele Plus Deluxe with an ebony fretboard. Perhaps there was a Strat equivalent?

Also my '04 QMT Strat had ebony. The Ultra wasn't the only Strat to ever wear ebony.

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Post subject: Re: 1993 Stratocaster Plus - ebony fretboard?
Posted: Sun Jul 21, 2013 9:09 pm
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Hope the pics show up!

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Post subject: Re: 1993 Stratocaster Plus - ebony fretboard?
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 7:04 am
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Jdavis - thanks for posting the photos. I think that is a Strat Ultra on a Strat Plus body. Only the Strat Ultras had the combination of ebony fingerboard, chrome-plated Wilkinson nut and chrome-plated locking tuners. A Strat Plus would have had the stain finish on the Wilkinson nut and locking tuners.

The pickups and tremolo lead me to believe the body definitely came from a Strat Plus; I suspect that someone swapped necks between their Strat Plus and their Strat Ultra somewhere along the line, long before the store you purchased the guitar from obtained it.


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Post subject: Re: 1993 Stratocaster Plus - ebony fretboard?
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 8:04 am
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Sweet.


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Post subject: Re: 1993 Stratocaster Plus - ebony fretboard?
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 9:06 am
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The tuners are actually the satin gray finish. The nut is chromed though. Tuners are easily changed though

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Post subject: Re: 1993 Stratocaster Plus - ebony fretboard?
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 10:19 am
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Jdavis323 wrote:
The tuners are actually the satin gray finish. The nut is chromed though. Tuners are easily changed though


Thanks - with the flash on my screen they looked more chrome than satin.

I wonder when the Wilkinson nuts were installed on the necks in Fender's production process - they could have been installed during the neck production process (so the necks were stored with the nuts on them) or they could have been installed during the assembly process like the tuners. If they were installed during the neck production process then it certainly could be a factory goof-up where to complete the batch of rosewood fingerboard/gun metal blue Strat Pluses someone grabbed a Strat Ultra neck by accident (thereby accounting for the chrome nut and the satin tuners).


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Post subject: Re: 1993 Stratocaster Plus - ebony fretboard?
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 10:24 am
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+100000 JohnC is right on (of course!)
The serial number actually does track in our system (right at the very edge I suspect) and it tracks back to a Strat Ultra in Antique Burst from 8/16/1993.
So yep.

Cheers,
rob

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Post subject: Re: 1993 Stratocaster Plus - ebony fretboard?
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 10:50 am
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Thanks so much for all your help! So what's the final word? Someone just replaced the neck and tuners? Or someone while assembling put an ultra neck on a plus? Would tere be any telltale markings? It would be really great if I could get a certificate of authenticity from fender if this left the factory this way. That would make this a fairly rare bird if I'm not mistaken. Let me know what to do from here, and thanks again for everyone's help! This forum rocks!

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