Any Guitar guru's out there? Identify this Strat...
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Any Guitar guru's out there? Identify this Strat...
When I was in college I traded a four track to a fellow who had got this guitar at a pawnshop sometime in the past. It is a peculiar specimen - the only thing I can think of is that it's one of those handmade guitars that were sold to serviceman in SE Asia (judging by the build, aging and the fact that there was a large Air Force base just outside of that town). I asked a luthier once and he said the neckplate could be a fender plate from the era, but that is all he would guess. The appliqu? on the headstock is a 70's strat design and the frets and strap buttons brass, the nut and dots bone but no truss rod.
The body is made out be what what looks like teak - there is real fine rich red dust all over the inside from this wood (the pics don't do justice to the color). What's weird is that the painting technique is the same as early Fender - paint over varnished wood. I take this out once a year and then put it back not knowing what to do with it. I cannot find the original bridge or tuners, but neither said anything helpful. The pickguard seems to be not of the era. Any guesses? I know this seems kinda random...
The body is made out be what what looks like teak - there is real fine rich red dust all over the inside from this wood (the pics don't do justice to the color). What's weird is that the painting technique is the same as early Fender - paint over varnished wood. I take this out once a year and then put it back not knowing what to do with it. I cannot find the original bridge or tuners, but neither said anything helpful. The pickguard seems to be not of the era. Any guesses? I know this seems kinda random...
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i dunno, but things about that guitar don't really add up. very few strats had matching headstocks. the body is not a typical fender wood. the decals look iffy, the neck pocket is...well, rough. the pickups have plastic insulation not really period correct for late 60's strat. pics didn't show if it had a bullet truss rod, but i can almost assume so since the end of the neck showed no screw.
just a weird strat if not a fake.
rich
just a weird strat if not a fake.
rich
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Just for a definitive "it's not a real Fender," here are some things wrong with it:
The body appears in the pics (hard to say for sure) to be made of Mahogany or Luan, which is a southeast asian wood often used on cheap imported guitars. It is definitely not alder or ash, the two Fender woods.
The neck also does not look like the correct maple.
I don't see a truss rod in the neck (that IS the end of the neck in that picture, right?)
Look at the "r" in stratocaster... actually both "r"s. Wrong font. A little curlicue tail that was never used by Fender for anything!
But perhaps the most amusing is the "offset contour body" sticker, which was only used by Fenders on the Jaguars and Jazzmasters. Strats said "ORIGINAL contour body."
The body appears in the pics (hard to say for sure) to be made of Mahogany or Luan, which is a southeast asian wood often used on cheap imported guitars. It is definitely not alder or ash, the two Fender woods.
The neck also does not look like the correct maple.
I don't see a truss rod in the neck (that IS the end of the neck in that picture, right?)
Look at the "r" in stratocaster... actually both "r"s. Wrong font. A little curlicue tail that was never used by Fender for anything!
But perhaps the most amusing is the "offset contour body" sticker, which was only used by Fenders on the Jaguars and Jazzmasters. Strats said "ORIGINAL contour body."
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yeah, I don't think this guitar could have passed by anyone with a discerning eye, I just cannot figure out who the audience was - it was not built to be antiqued or rare, it is just of that era. This could not have been sold in a music shop - it's not that well mimicked. I can't figure out why they did not put a truss rod in it if the channel was already there! (that is the original neck). So all I can figure is that maybe someone bought it on the street or some backroom music shop back in the day somewhere not in the US - is that a good guess? It seems right to me...
And I don't know why I always put it back - maybe I tend to put the $150 it would require for a new neck towards analog keyboards instead
In college when it was assembled the neck was a little warped so I shimmed it with a plastic bread bag clip - damn you invisible truss rod! But it worked.
And I don't know why I always put it back - maybe I tend to put the $150 it would require for a new neck towards analog keyboards instead
In college when it was assembled the neck was a little warped so I shimmed it with a plastic bread bag clip - damn you invisible truss rod! But it worked.
i 've got my own map, sucker
Actually "servicemen guitar' with an E.
Here's a link:
http://www.jimshine.com/phillipino/viet ... copies.htm
Here's a link:
http://www.jimshine.com/phillipino/viet ... copies.htm
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holy crap I think that is it! Even down to the double sets of screws on the neck!
http://www.jimshine.com/phillipino/stripped0.jpg
thanks eggmann!
http://www.jimshine.com/phillipino/stripped0.jpg
thanks eggmann!
i 've got my own map, sucker
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+1 on this...noticed the mahogany right away and the "Contour Body" sticker (Jazzmaster) and the "R"s roll out at the bottom like they do on the old Jazzmaster decals. Nice pickup there dude. Lokks like Eggman nailed it. I love this place.??????? wrote:Just for a definitive "it's not a real Fender," here are some things wrong with it:
The body appears in the pics (hard to say for sure) to be made of Mahogany or Luan, which is a southeast asian wood often used on cheap imported guitars. It is definitely not alder or ash, the two Fender woods.
The neck also does not look like the correct maple.
I don't see a truss rod in the neck (that IS the end of the neck in that picture, right?)
Look at the "r" in stratocaster... actually both "r"s. Wrong font. A little curlicue tail that was never used by Fender for anything!
But perhaps the most amusing is the "offset contour body" sticker, which was only used by Fenders on the Jaguars and Jazzmasters. Strats said "ORIGINAL contour body."
"The mushroom states its own position very clearly. It says, "I require the nervous system of a mammal. Do you have one handy?" Terrence McKenna
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One last update - Jim has been real great over there from the Vietnam Guitar pages - I send him some updated photos and he ascertained that the pickups are a matched set of Fenders from May 1979. Who would have thought? I guess now I should really get a good neck and put this thing to use! A true frankenstrat...
Last edited by Banana Crotchbuckle on Mon Feb 15, 2010 9:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
i 've got my own map, sucker
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