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Post subject: MIK 1980s Fender Strat upgrades and value
Posted: Wed May 21, 2014 8:59 am
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I got this as a birthday present, second hand, many moons ago (1990's). Any ideas on the value or any more information? Recently took it to a Luthier to get some work done on the frets. He seemed really interested as he had never seen an MIK Fender, only Squires before. He said it was a Young Chang, probably late 80's. What you can't see from the photos are the Gotoh tuners. So all the hardware seems reasonable quality.

Serial no: E1047049

One comment he did make was that I should rip out the electrics and put 'something good' in there instead.

So are there any recommendations on that? I was thinking Seymour Duncan SSL 1 (neck and mid) and ssl 5 (bridge) and recommendations on decent pot/switch manufacturers? No point putting decent pu's and keeping the crappy pots and selector.

I've rewired my ESP to EMG's from passives, so I have some experience. I'm a mechanic, so soldering and wiring is not a problem either.

I've just started playing again after a 7 year sabbatical!

Thanks for your input.

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Post subject: Re: MIK 1980s Fender Strat upgrades and value
Posted: Wed May 21, 2014 10:20 am
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E1 + 5 digits is for American made guitar , yours is E1+ 6 digits .

I don't know


Last edited by stratele52 on Thu May 22, 2014 12:53 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: MIK 1980s Fender Strat upgrades and value
Posted: Wed May 21, 2014 10:35 pm
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Dimarzio SDS-1s.

And if you don't want those Korean singles, I'll gladly take em.

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Post subject: Re: MIK 1980s Fender Strat upgrades and value
Posted: Wed May 21, 2014 10:54 pm
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Upgraded hardware seems reasonable, but the decal is fake. :wink:

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Post subject: Re: MIK 1980s Fender Strat upgrades and value
Posted: Thu May 22, 2014 12:00 am
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shimmilou wrote:
Upgraded hardware seems reasonable, but the decal is fake. :wink:


My 92 has the same decal, and the 92 I had before that had the same. Are those fakes too?

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Post subject: Re: MIK 1980s Fender Strat upgrades and value
Posted: Thu May 22, 2014 12:46 am
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shimmilou wrote:
Upgraded hardware seems reasonable, but the decal is fake. :wink:


If it is a fake, it's been a fake from its birth. The Decal is enclosed within the gloss - not painted over or a sticker. I'm not ruling it out - I'm no expert, that's why I've come here.

The string trees are also painted silver - don't know if that was original or by the previous owner.

Closer of the headstock/decal:

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Post subject: Re: MIK 1980s Fender Strat upgrades and value
Posted: Thu May 22, 2014 12:57 am
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shimmilou wrote:
Upgraded hardware seems reasonable, but the decal is fake. :wink:



I may say same thing .

Fake by a manufacturer ?

Serial number on Korean made Fender did begin by E1


http://www.fender.com/support/articles/ ... ct-dating/


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Post subject: Re: MIK 1980s Fender Strat upgrades and value
Posted: Thu May 22, 2014 4:15 am
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Buxom wrote:
shimmilou wrote:
Upgraded hardware seems reasonable, but the decal is fake. :wink:


My 92 has the same decal, and the 92 I had before that had the same. Are those fakes too?


MIK? I would be interested to learn about other MIK Fenders (not Squier), besides the more modern Lite Ash Strat. I know about the MIK Squiers, great guitars, but none had Exxxxxx sns.

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Post subject: Re: MIK 1980s Fender Strat upgrades and value
Posted: Thu May 22, 2014 4:18 am
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stratele52 wrote:
shimmilou wrote:
Upgraded hardware seems reasonable, but the decal is fake. :wink:



I may say same thing .

Fake by a manufacturer ?

Serial number on Korean made Fender did begin by E1


http://www.fender.com/support/articles/ ... ct-dating/


There is nothing about E1 serial numbers, no mention at all. :?

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Post subject: Re: MIK 1980s Fender Strat upgrades and value
Posted: Thu May 22, 2014 4:29 am
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SiMoose wrote:
shimmilou wrote:
Upgraded hardware seems reasonable, but the decal is fake. :wink:


If it is a fake, it's been a fake from its birth. The Decal is enclosed within the gloss - not painted over or a sticker. I'm not ruling it out - I'm no expert, that's why I've come here.

The string trees are also painted silver - don't know if that was original or by the previous owner...


I'm no expert either, but I do know that the headstock can be sanded, decal added, and then recovered, so that doesn't mean that it was made that way. I don't believe that the string trees are used by Fender on any of their guitars either.

Maybe John C can confirm or deny this, but I don't believe that the decal is legit for a MIK guitar. Fender didn't even have guitars MIK until 1988. Maybe it's possible that some Japanese parts were sent to Korea for assembly?

In any event, I doubt that the resale value of this guitar has increased since it was made, even if it is legit (which I doubt).

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Post subject: Re: MIK 1980s Fender Strat upgrades and value
Posted: Thu May 22, 2014 4:40 am
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shimmilou wrote:
stratele52 wrote:
shimmilou wrote:
Upgraded hardware seems reasonable, but the decal is fake. :wink:



I may say same thing .

Fake by a manufacturer ?

Serial number on Korean made Fender did begin by E1


http://www.fender.com/support/articles/ ... ct-dating/


There is nothing about E1 serial numbers, no mention at all. :?


+1 ,

Sorry I must write ; "........did NOT begin by E1


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Post subject: Re: MIK 1980s Fender Strat upgrades and value
Posted: Thu May 22, 2014 4:41 am
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shimmilou wrote:
SiMoose wrote:
shimmilou wrote:
Upgraded hardware seems reasonable, but the decal is fake. :wink:


If it is a fake, it's been a fake from its birth. The Decal is enclosed within the gloss - not painted over or a sticker. I'm not ruling it out - I'm no expert, that's why I've come here.

The string trees are also painted silver - don't know if that was original or by the previous owner...


I'm no expert either, but I do know that the headstock can be sanded, decal added, and then recovered, so that doesn't mean that it was made that way. I don't believe that the string trees are used by Fender on any of their guitars either.

Maybe John C can confirm or deny this, but I don't believe that the decal is legit for a MIK guitar. Fender didn't even have guitars MIK until 1988. Maybe it's possible that some Japanese parts were sent to Korea for assembly?

In any event, I doubt that the resale value of this guitar has increased since it was made, even if it is legit (which I doubt).



+1

Poor resale value IF legit


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Post subject: Re: MIK 1980s Fender Strat upgrades and value
Posted: Thu May 22, 2014 7:52 am
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Not sure why anyone would bother to fake a 'fake'. If you were going to the effort of making a fake strat with the Fender branding, why leave the made in Korea or put it on in the first place? Surely they would use MIA and a 'proper' serial number.

Could it be that this is a transition between MIJ Fender, Squire and Fenix? All the evidence I have found suggest that it came from Young Chang factory. Were they making Branded Fenders without permission prior to launching Fenix brand?!


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Post subject: Re: MIK 1980s Fender Strat upgrades and value
Posted: Thu May 22, 2014 8:18 am
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shimmilou wrote:
Buxom wrote:
shimmilou wrote:
Upgraded hardware seems reasonable, but the decal is fake. :wink:


My 92 has the same decal, and the 92 I had before that had the same. Are those fakes too?


MIK? I would be interested to learn about other MIK Fenders (not Squier), besides the more modern Lite Ash Strat. I know about the MIK Squiers, great guitars, but none had Exxxxxx sns.



My current is a CZ serial, my old one was an E.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the likelyhood of someone spending the money to fake a guitar worth $400 max is pretty low. Maybe I'm wrong, but if someone fakes something, they're going to try to fake the big stuff.

OP says this guitar has been his for years, nobody faked Korean Stratocasters back then, and even now it's miniscule at max.

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Post subject: Re: MIK 1980s Fender Strat upgrades and value
Posted: Thu May 22, 2014 8:21 am
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shimmilou wrote:
SiMoose wrote:
shimmilou wrote:
Upgraded hardware seems reasonable, but the decal is fake. :wink:


If it is a fake, it's been a fake from its birth. The Decal is enclosed within the gloss - not painted over or a sticker. I'm not ruling it out - I'm no expert, that's why I've come here.

The string trees are also painted silver - don't know if that was original or by the previous owner...


I'm no expert either, but I do know that the headstock can be sanded, decal added, and then recovered, so that doesn't mean that it was made that way. I don't believe that the string trees are used by Fender on any of their guitars either.

Maybe John C can confirm or deny this, but I don't believe that the decal is legit for a MIK guitar. Fender didn't even have guitars MIK until 1988. Maybe it's possible that some Japanese parts were sent to Korea for assembly?

In any event, I doubt that the resale value of this guitar has increased since it was made, even if it is legit (which I doubt).


Yes, there were a lot of transitional issues with Fender. There were USA made Squiers at this point in time as well, along with MIMs made from USA parts and just branded MIM.

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