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Post subject: Help with identifying a Strat
Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2014 2:38 pm
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Hello. I have a guitar with the shape of a Strat, bought from a friend back in '93. It says 'Made in Japan' on the metal plate on the back of the body where the neck is fastened. I have no clue if it's a real Fender or not, no serial numbers or anything. I thought about keeping the body and replacing everything else, so I checked out tremolo bridges at StewMac and measured the dimensions like on the diagram here: http://www.stewmac.com/Hardware_and_Par ... Strat.html

The dimensions are different on my tremolo, though (see below). Do any of you have any idea what kind of tremolo bridge (and guitar) it might be?

Corresponding measurements (mm), the diagram / my tremolo (approx.):
83.26 / 76.5
73.46 / 66.5
56.13 / 50.5
40.03 / 38.0
22.73 / 32.5
23.37 / 25.5
11.18 / 20.5

74.42 / 69.5
41.83 / 40.0

Thanks for any help, B.R.


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Post subject: Re: Help with identifying a Strat
Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2014 3:11 pm
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Pics are always helpful in deciphering a guitars bonafides! Origin and model may help to narrow down the rightful bridge to use.

T2

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Post subject: Re: Help with identifying a Strat
Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2014 3:54 pm
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T2Stratman wrote:
Pics are always helpful in deciphering a guitars bonafides!


+1

Image

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Help with identifying a Strat
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 2:45 am
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Made in Japan on the neck/ body metal plate look a fake for me .


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Post subject: Re: Help with identifying a Strat
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 8:26 am
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I was a bit hesitant to post pictures since it's pretty ugly-looking, he-he. Here they are anyway. Looks like it's actually been painted with its current color, seems to have been red originally (I scratched off a bit of paint on the headstock as you can see). Looks like it's built out of plywood, am I right? I'm sure it's a crap guitar, but I kind of like its ugly look and I guess it's a bit of nostalgia in there as well. I think I recall the guy I bought it from said the neck wasn't original, but this is over 20 years ago so I might be wrong about that.

Pics here: http://1drv.ms/1zarVPl


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Post subject: Re: Help with identifying a Strat
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 8:55 am
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The bridge is very much Fender 70's style including the saddles but a bit too pitted/painted over to tell much else from those pics. The cavity routes on the body are not Fender at all, any year or country and it does seem like it is indeed plywood.

Can you get some pics of the heel of the neck? Granted it has China tuners on it those could be replacements. If that is a legit 70's neck it is worth something but I can't confirm without seeing the heel, fretboard side down and also the bottom (should be number stamped if legit).

The electronics are all Asian and don't look very Fender.

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Post subject: Re: Help with identifying a Strat
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 9:16 am
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Thanks for the answer. I added some more pictures of the neck. Guess it's not legit since there's no number stamp.


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Post subject: Re: Help with identifying a Strat
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 9:43 am
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Being from the 70's, it could be a Greco .
Matsumoko made Aria and Greco which both had the same routing as yours , that coupled with the Made in Japan on the neckplate, the offset (same as Fender) of the middle 2 trem cover screws and the almost exact headstock shape makes this a good possibility

Here's yours
Image

Here is a Greco

Image

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Post subject: Re: Help with identifying a Strat
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 9:56 am
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Hmm, thanks, some useful info there. I guess it wouldn't be easy to find replacement parts for it, then?


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Post subject: Re: Help with identifying a Strat
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 9:57 am
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bowelripper wrote:
Thanks for the answer. I added some more pictures of the neck. Guess it's not legit since there's no number stamp.


Correct. If it was a true 70's bullet truss neck it would have a skunk stripe and be set up for 3 bolt micro tilt. So it is not a Fender neck but most likely an import "70s" style copy. Definitely seems kinda of old but not worth much and might be difficult to brand. However it can be a fun project to learn on. Some have claimed that the plywood bodies can sound pretty good but it is a crap shoot.

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Post subject: Re: Help with identifying a Strat
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 9:58 am
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bowelripper wrote:
Hmm, thanks, some useful info there. I guess it wouldn't be easy to find replacement parts for it, then?


Not original parts but any strat parts should be a direct fit or really close and only require a little drilling.

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Post subject: Re: Help with identifying a Strat
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 10:05 am
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If it's going to be used only with heavy distortion (not acoustic), like metal, does the wood matter that much?

So, I guess I can order Strat parts from StewMac, then. Hmm, if it's worth it, he-he.


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Post subject: Re: Help with identifying a Strat
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 10:12 am
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bowelripper wrote:
If it's going to be used only with heavy distortion (not acoustic), like metal, does the wood matter that much?

So, I guess I can order Strat parts from StewMac, then. Hmm, if it's worth it, he-he.


Well all you can do is try. I have heard denser woods like mahogany are better for metal but honestly if it is going to be heavy distortion a good high output humbucker mounted on a 2 x 4 and strung up can suffice. Just route the lower spot for a humbucker, get some better pots (500k if using a humbucker)and try it out. Yes any parts from StewMac or eBay or anywhere should work or as I stated be made to work with minor re drilling as that is a strat copy most likely using strat specs. You might even want to try to use the bridge you have as it is a high mass and should have decent sustain.

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Post subject: Re: Help with identifying a Strat
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 10:54 am
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I'd like to stick to Strat type pickups (single-coils), I have other guitars with humbuckers. Just have to think about whether I want to spend money on this thing or not. Maybe I could even keep the neck and just go for new electronics.


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Post subject: Re: Help with identifying a Strat
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 10:58 am
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bowelripper wrote:
I'd like to stick to Strat type pickups (single-coils), I have other guitars with humbuckers. Just have to think about whether I want to spend money on this thing or not. Maybe I could even keep the neck and just go for new electronics.


I would just make sure the neck is playable. If so, just look for a good deal on a loaded pickguard on ebay, pop it in and see what happens. If it ends up being decent sounding and feels good it might be worth cleaning it up and doing a shaker can refin.

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