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new guitar advice.....am I getting shafted?

10/6/2000 2:33 AM
Gord	new guitar advice.....am I getting shafted? Hi, I thought that a Fender California Strat with a fresh set of Fralin pickups would do the trick nicely. These guitars have nice necks and alder bodies. Check out their harmony-central.com reviews. My question? We went to a guitar store and a lot of the Fender guitars there didn't have stickers on them, indicating the model. The guy that works there showed us two guitars, supposedly California Strats (which BTW have been out of production for a while). They had everything we expected from these guitars: -'62 style tuners -gold logo -seemingly alder body visible through sunburst finish -21 frets -staggered pickup pole pieces -skunk stripe on back of neck What caught me though was that it said "Made in Mexico" on the back of the headstock. Shouldn't it instead have said "Made in USA" on the front of the headstock? How can I tell what model this guitar is, without worrying whether I'm getting shafted or not? Would the serial number help me out? It is MN669798. I thought that the serial numbers for the California Strat guitars started with AMXN....... I smell something fishy here, so any help would be appreciated. Thanks Gord

10/6/2000 2:33 AM

Gord

new guitar advice.....am I getting shafted?

Hi,

I thought that a Fender California Strat with a fresh set of Fralin pickups would do the trick nicely. These guitars have nice necks and alder bodies. Check out their harmony-central.com reviews.

My question? We went to a guitar store and a lot of the Fender guitars there didn't have stickers on them, indicating the model. The guy that works there showed us two guitars, supposedly California Strats (which BTW have been out of production for a while). They had everything we expected from these guitars:

-'62 style tuners
-gold logo
-seemingly alder body visible through sunburst finish
-21 frets
-staggered pickup pole pieces
-skunk stripe on back of neck

What caught me though was that it said "Made in Mexico" on the back of the headstock. Shouldn't it instead have said "Made in USA" on the front of the headstock? How can I tell what model this guitar is, without worrying whether I'm getting shafted or not? Would the serial number help me out? It is MN669798. I thought that the serial numbers for the California Strat guitars started with AMXN.......

I smell something fishy here, so any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Gord

10/6/2000 2:37 AM
Winnie Thomas	Gord, To my knowledge, the California Strats were made in both California and Mexico, being painted in Mexico. I'm not sure where the final point of assembly was. You could send an inquiry off to Fender. Winnie PS, If you like it and the way it sounds, who cares where it was made.

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10/6/2000 2:59 AM

Gord

quote:
"If you like it and the way it sounds, who cares where it was made."

True, but if it isn't what they say it is, maybe it's hot hot hot. I don't want to buy a guitar from a liar.

Gord

10/6/2000 3:37 AM
rmike	Gord: Yeah, I would not necessarily trust that salesmen. I'm fairly cerain that (like you said) California strats had "Made in USA" on the headstock, not Made in Mexico. Not that it necessarily matters-except for price. I wouldn't pay California strat price for a Standard strat. The salesman could knowingly or unknowingly be representing those Standard strats as California strats. mike

10/6/2000 3:58 AM
friday	What was the price? Some of the Mexican Fender stuff is as good as anything!

10/6/2000 11:48 PM
MLB	If it is a Mexican Strat it is probably not alder, it is most likely made of poplar. If it is alder it is veneer, if it is a sunburst. The thing is if the price is right who cares? If it plays and sounds good why does it make a difference? You can buy Fenders at a good price from lots of places (Musician's Friend, Sam Ash, etc...) Shop around and I think you can get a good deal and not get "shaffed"!

10/6/2000 11:48 PM

MLB

If it is a Mexican Strat it is probably not alder, it is most likely made of poplar. If it is alder it is veneer, if it is a sunburst. The thing is if the price is right who cares? If it plays and sounds good why does it make a difference? You can buy Fenders at a good price from lots of places (Musician's Friend, Sam Ash, etc...) Shop around and I think you can get a good deal and not get "shaffed"!

10/7/2000 3:43 PM
Gus	Gord I would go the the fender forum and ask, Fender checks the site. http://www.fenderforum.com

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