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Post subject: Fake Ultra on ebay?
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 9:38 am
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It's got an absurdly low price and nothing about it seems like an Ultra except the seller's claim of an ebony fretboard and the chrome Wilkinson nut.

I don't think the Sperzel tuners were ever used on the Ultra, Pickguard and Pickups are wrong. Body is not flame maple capped.

Even the serial # is suspicious: N1020000.

My advice is to walk away.

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http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=181466039940&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1123

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Post subject: Re: Fake Ultra on ebay?
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 9:49 am
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Seller claims the neck came from a Strat Ultra attached into a Strat Plus body with Vintage Noiseless pickups.

Definitely a fake as the serial number looks suspicious as did the string trees.

A very few Ultras were shipped with Sperzels, though I'm not as 100% certain. Best advice is to send a PM to John C.


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Post subject: Re: Fake Ultra on ebay?
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 12:16 pm
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I don't know. Could be what the seller says it is, an Ultra neck on a Strat Plus body. The serial number has a lot of zeros in it but it looks like a real decal. He said the previous owner added string trees and different tuners that made the holes.
He saying it's a partscaster, and to me , it looks like real fender parts, except the string trees.

As far as the Sperzels go, I had a 1990 or 1991 Ultra that had Sperzels on it.


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Post subject: Re: Fake Ultra on ebay?
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 1:32 pm
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Most Ultras did have chrome plated Fender/Schaller locking tuners but Fender would sub in chrome plated Sperzels on them - the Ultra I came the closest to buying back in 1992 had the Sperzels on it, but it was the only one of about 6-7 Ultras that particular small chain of stores had in across their 3 locations that had Sperzels.

The ad is pretty clear that it's a parts guitar - the neck from an Ultra (that has been modded with the string trees and it looks like it might have had vintage tuners added and removed), an American Standard/Strat Plus body, other electronics, and a current-style neck plate from 1999 or later


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Post subject: Re: Fake Ultra on ebay?
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 2:03 pm
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True, there are a lot of disclaimers in the listing and the price is right for a Partscaster with a Fender Ultra Ebony Board Neck.

I find that serial # N1020000, troubling. The numbers themselves look wrong to me and not just the huge numerical coincidence. :roll:

I'd love to hear what Consumer Relations lists for that Serial Number.

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Post subject: Re: Fake Ultra on ebay?
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 3:09 pm
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danagos wrote:
True, there are a lot of disclaimers in the listing and the price is right for a Partscaster with a Fender Ultra Ebony Board Neck.

I find that serial # N1020000, troubling. The numbers themselves look wrong to me and not just the huge numerical coincidence. :roll:

I'd love to hear what Consumer Relations lists for that Serial Number.


Probably a Strat Ultra.
The serial on my US Deluxe is US11000002 - I can just see you lot doubting the authenticity of it in 20 years time, just because of the "coincidence" of the numbers.

Back to the guitar in question - it's a partscaster, and the parts look to be genuine Fender, even if they have come from several guitars.
Wasn't Clapton's Blackie a collection of parts from several guitars?
The business about the string trees is odd, as is the bit about the tuners, but the phrase "idiot previous owner" is used in the description, and this does sound like a very plausible explanation.

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Post subject: Re: Fake Ultra on ebay?
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 3:15 pm
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I wonder if the little white dog in the 5th picture comes with it? :lol:

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Post subject: Re: Fake Ultra on ebay?
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 3:50 pm
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Not so sure about that being an MIA body. Hadn't seen any MIA that had the shading like that into the belly route on the back...that is usually lower end MIM or MIC.

T2

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Post subject: Re: Fake Ultra on ebay?
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 5:54 pm
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danagos wrote:
True, there are a lot of disclaimers in the listing and the price is right for a Partscaster with a Fender Ultra Ebony Board Neck.

I find that serial # N1020000, troubling. The numbers themselves look wrong to me and not just the huge numerical coincidence. :roll:

I'd love to hear what Consumer Relations lists for that Serial Number.


Looks like a typical early 1990s serial number to me; they could be that different. Remember - the headstock decal included the "N1" part of the serial number as one piece back then, the rest of the number was a second decal.

Consumer Relations won't have any data on this one; their data starts with 1993.


T2Stratman wrote:
Not so sure about that being an MIA body. Hadn't seen any MIA that had the shading like that into the belly route on the back...that is usually lower end MIM or MIC.

T2


That's why I'm thinking it might be an American Standard body - Fender was using poplar with alder veneers for a while in the early 1990s - probably 1992-1994 era. They used painting like what is normally found on MIM, MIK or MIC to cover up the veneers. Fender also did that style of painting on Strat Plus Deluxes which had ash veneers front and back, but this one doesn't look like ash to me.


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Post subject: Re: Fake Ultra on ebay?
Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 3:01 am
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John C wrote:
That's why I'm thinking it might be an American Standard body - Fender was using poplar with alder veneers for a while in the early 1990s - probably 1992-1994 era. They used painting like what is normally found on MIM, MIK or MIC to cover up the veneers. Fender also did that style of painting on Strat Plus Deluxes which had ash veneers front and back, but this one doesn't look like ash to me.


+1

Fender's use of veneered poplar also extended to the MIM Standard Strats during that era and those bodies were similarly painted.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Fake Ultra on ebay?
Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2014 7:45 pm
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The serial on my 1991 Ultra is N1 followed by six digits. This one is definitely ebony, the Wilkinson nut is correct, the frets are correct, the dots are correct. The Schaller tuners use two molded in pins on each machine to keep them from rotating. The Sperzels, use one pressed in pin, though the body of the tuning machine should cover any discrepancies there. That means that some kind of vintage tuner using a screw at an angle was installed at some point.
I'd say the neck is definitely legitimate, and give the seller the benefit of the doubt where the body is concerned. He may be mistaken about the body, but I doubt he's actually trying to mislead anyone.
I'd be tempted to buy it just for the ebony neck so I could "Ultrasize" my 2001 American Series...


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Post subject: Re: Fake Ultra on ebay?
Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2014 5:43 am
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wrvond wrote:
I'd say the neck is definitely legitimate, and give the seller the benefit of the doubt where the body is concerned. He may be mistaken about the body, but I doubt he's actually trying to mislead anyone.
I'd be tempted to buy it just for the ebony neck so I could "Ultrasize" my 2001 American Series...

You're probably right in that assessment. What bothered me most about the neck was the serial number, which may be legitimate, and it's appearance, crooked and seemingly mismatched towards the end. It's not a good enough photo to judge, if I recall correctly.

I wish you WOULD buy it and report back. It's back up on ebay and the Neck would be worth the opening bid amount.

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