Fake Strat Body?

[AustinBurrell]

Hi there everyone! I recently bought a MIM Stratocaster with American Pickups for a screaming deal on ebay(which should have been my first red flag). When it arrived, alarms went off everywhere. The neck, which is very much a MIM Strat neck is in pristine condition, which I can't say the same for the body. A quick glance reveals cracks, dents and chips, which is fine for me but it was just odd in comparison to the neck. Suspecting some weird stuff going on, I looked under the pickguard and into the body. The channels are really rough cut and the bridge rout is really tight. The finish was by far the worst I've ever seen inside the cavity, but I decided to start shielding it anyway, as I still wasn't totally convinced. I got almost all the way through shielding(as you can see in pics) and decided to pull off the neck. This was where I got really concerned. The neck pocket had no stamped date like my other Stratocaster, infact it was painted in with a kind of white that didn't match the rest of the body. Other than that, the wood itself was almost a plywood/pressure treated board type feel, which didn't match the other stratocaster at all(the other one is a very smooth, well cut pocket. The seller stated that all components besides the pickups were original, including the neck, bridge(which has clearly different hardware), tuners, etc. I believed that I was sold a guitar with a real MIM neck, and a fake body. I have yet to check with Fender if the pickups are real, but I suspect they aren't, but I wanted to post here to get some other opinions before I report the sale. Let me know what y'all think! My actual MIM Strat is the Sunburst guitar, and the white body is the one in question.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Fake Strat Body?

a real body would have had those three holes under the pickguard
its an alignment for the CNC machine

 

[Mr. B]

Re: Fake Strat Body?

Does not look legit to me either. Sorry.

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Fake Strat Body?

The neck pocket looks legit (corner indents), but I suspect that is a cheaper Squire body. You can sand off the paint along the walls of the neck pocket or cavities to see the wood.

 

[evan47]

Re: Fake Strat Body?

As far as I remember early run mim bodies were made of plywood (I bought one in about 1991-92).

 

[AustinBurrell]

Re: Fake Strat Body?

As far as I remember early run mim bodies were made of plywood (I bought one in about 1991-92).

If only. Unfortunately the guitar was advertised as a mid 2000s. I did some research on this and as far as I can find, early MIM Squires had a plywood body, but a MIM Standard Strat never had such a thing. I am under the impression that this is a Squire body with a Mexican neck.

 

[dystrust]

Re: Fake Strat Body?

+1 for likely a Squier body.

 

[Jacew]

Re: Fake Strat Body?

If only. Unfortunately the guitar was advertised as a mid 2000s. I did some research on this and as far as I can find, early MIM Squires had a plywood body, but a MIM Standard Strat never had such a thing. I am under the impression that this is a Squire body with a Mexican neck.

Is it plywood? It seems roughly made, but if it's solid wood, it could still be okay after a little honing.

 

[evan47]

Re: Fake Strat Body?

If only. Unfortunately the guitar was advertised as a mid 2000s. I did some research on this and as far as I can find, early MIM Squires had a plywood body, but a MIM Standard Strat never had such a thing. I am under the impression that this is a Squire body with a Mexican neck.

I know my memory is a bit cloudy but, my MIM strat was a standard (black with r/wfretboard ) and I seem to remember seeing evidence of it being plywood when I changed out the bridge pickup.
It was definately a mexican model too as I remember carefully sanding off the made in mexico lettering from the headstock.

 

[AustinBurrell]

Re: Fake Strat Body?

Is it plywood? It seems roughly made, but if it's solid wood, it could still be okay after a little honing.

It's not a bad body, but when you pay for something, you expect it to be what you paid for. Luckily Ebay has a great buyer protection program so it's not the end of the world. Doing some more research on the make of Squire bodies, I am 99% sure it is a Squire with a Mexican neck.

 

[AustinBurrell]

Re: Fake Strat Body?

I know my memory is a bit cloudy but, my MIM strat was a standard (black with r/wfretboard ) and I seem to remember seeing evidence of it being plywood when I changed out the bridge pickup.
It was definately a mexican model too as I remember carefully sanding off the made in mexico lettering from the headstock.

Do you remember if the body had the CNC holes or what type of Tremolo block it came with by any chance?

 

[Obsessive Compulsive]

Re: Fake Strat Body?

Definitely NOT an MIM body. I have 2 Mexican Strats (2011 and 2013). The body should have a barcode sticker with initials MO or something, 3 holes; the bridge is PW-29; initials WW/ MM and date stamp in the neck pocket; and definitely not plywood. Your other Strat is the benchmark.

You bought a POS, return it while you still can.

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Fake Strat Body?

Just FYI, not all MIM bodies have the CNC alignment holes. Older models and the reissues don't have them.

That does not help the OP, but pointing it out.

 

[Obsessive Compulsive]

Re: Fake Strat Body?

I am 1000% sure it's fake. It's mid 2000s, not old enough. Besides, the neck pocket and the cavity look like they had been manually worked on; the edges are not smooth, rough even.

Trust me, it's FAKE.

 

[AustinBurrell]

Re: Fake Strat Body?

Update: I took the guitar to one of my Professors who has been a strat player for close to 40 years(he's also managed a Grammy winner he's a great guy). He pretty much summed up what everyone has been saying; the guitar is fake, here are the reasons why- The body is made from the wrong material for a Fender Standard guitar. A squire could get away with it, but not a Fender. The lack of dates or numbers on the body indicates that it is either fake, or someone took them off, which is troublesome as well. The condition of the neck in comparison to the body shows that it was almost definitely replaced. The tremolo block is from a early 2000s squier, not fender. The cavities are really poorly routed, and the lack of a properly sized bridge cavity is really troublesome. He is looking at the pickups that came in it to see if they are actually American Standard pickups as advertised, but his conclusion was that the body is a screaming fake.

 

[Obsessive Compulsive]

Re: Fake Strat Body?

What does the serial number say on the headstock? If it is indeed made in mid 2000s, it should start with MZ followed by the last digit of the year it was made. If it is 2005, it should read MZ5xxxx... If it starts with MN then it was made in the 90s, and with MX for those made in 2010 onward.

Other than that....fuggedaboutit...