Help identify my mystery Strat!

F

Frankpisi

New member
Hello everyone,

I have a mystery on my hands. I purchased a Strat body on Ebay. At least I was told it was a Fender Strat. When I took it to my local guitar shop, they told me that it wasn't a Fender because it was made out of Poplar wood and they NEVER made their guitars out of that. A google search seems to prove those guys wrong. All I have to identify it is a printed date on the neck pocket. I've attached three pics to this post.
PLEASE HELP! I'd like to find out what I can about it so I can bring it back to its glory...

Thanks, community!
FullSizeRender.jpgIMG_2188.JPG.jpgIMG_2189.JPG.jpg
 
Re: Help identify my mystery Strat!

FWIW I'm pretty sure that color is Fender's 'Midnight Blue'. I have a midnight blue strat, but it has a satin/matte finish, and it's a 2003 MIM. I have seen the color with a gloss finish every once and a while too.

Oh, also my strat is routed that way too, with that semi-HB sized bridge route that's not actually deep enough with screws, and the weird half sized middle pos. route, and the three holes to the right. Looks exactly like that. Had to dremel a little to fit my PG in there.
 
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Re: Help identify my mystery Strat!

The three holes below the pickup routes would generally make it a legitimate MIM fender, although I suppose it's possible that someone went all out trying to copy a fender body, though why not go further and copy a MIA? Lol
 
Re: Help identify my mystery Strat!

So you who ever told you Fender never used poplar in their strats is a liar and a bomb a** and you probably should ask them anymore gear related questions. It looks to be a made in mexico strat body. In fact if you post the number to the music store of the person who told you fender never used poplar bodies, I will call him and tell him he's an idiot

My MIM strat body has the same 3 holes under the pick guard
 
Re: Help identify my mystery Strat!

The three holes under the pickguard plus the hole in the neck pocket made me immediately think Fender made in Mexico, and so did the bridge.
Poplar Was used in Mexico, mostly during the nineties I think.
 
Re: Help identify my mystery Strat!

FuseG4 said:
The three holes under the pickguard plus the hole in the neck pocket made me immediately think Fender made in Mexico, and so did the bridge.
Poplar Was used in Mexico, mostly during the nineties I think.
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'90 - '93 or something like that I think. I few american fenders came out with poplar too I've heard
 
Re: Help identify my mystery Strat!

The Sung-Il vibrato, with its skinny sustain block and narrow metric string spacing, is another dead giveaway.

The oversized middle pickup rout was to allow for the slight repositioning of that pickup towards the neck on some HSS models.
 
Re: Help identify my mystery Strat!

Frankpisi said:
Hello everyone,

I have a mystery on my hands. I purchased a Strat body on Ebay. At least I was told it was a Fender Strat. When I took it to my local guitar shop, they told me that it wasn't a Fender because it was made out of Poplar wood and they NEVER made their guitars out of that. A google search seems to prove those guys wrong. All I have to identify it is a printed date on the neck pocket. I've attached three pics to this post.
PLEASE HELP! I'd like to find out what I can about it so I can bring it back to its glory...

Thanks, community!
Click to expand...
Go to a different shop. That one is run by idiots.

What you have there is a Mexican-made Fender Standard Stratocaster body. That's a later body after they upgraded the routings (older MIM Standards had rounder, properly-sized single coil routs for the middle and neck, and no "crop circles").

If I recall correctly the MIM Standards were made of Poplar until the 2008 upgrade when they switched to Alder got bigger frets, too (which doesn't apply to you since you only have the body).
 
Help identify my mystery Strat!

Every time I see a guitar routed like that, I'm tempted to get a pick guard to do single coil/firebird minihb/full hb...
 
Re: Help identify my mystery Strat!

jtougas said:
Every time I see a guitar routed like that, I'm tempted to get a pick guard to do single coil/firebird minihb/full hb...
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I have to admit, I was never quite sure why Fender routed the bodies like that.
 
Re: Help identify my mystery Strat!

Rand-O-Monium said:
+ another for MIM.I've got a '97 Squier,same routes.

What's the plan for it?
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Well, NOW I'm planning on getting a Fender MIM neck and I've been looking at a Custom Shop Abby 69 loaded pickguard in parchment. It's my first Strat. I recently restored a '65 Silvertone, and I have a Gretsch Pro Jet. I'm just starting in this, and it looks like I'm addicted!
 
Re: Help identify my mystery Strat!

Another vote for absolutely an MIM Fender Strat body.

And another vote for you need to take your business to another guitar shop because they're idiots.
 
Re: Help identify my mystery Strat!

GilmourD said:
I have to admit, I was never quite sure why Fender routed the bodies like that.
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Some HSS models came with the middle pickup shunted towards the headstock. Like the attachment photograph below. (Fender Tex-Mex 'guard on top of MIA pearlescent. I suspect that I squared out the corners of the humbucker cut-out on the white plate to accept a covered pickup.) I can only imagine that the idea was to even out the gaps between the pickups.
 

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Re: Help identify my mystery Strat!

Funkfingers said:
Some HSS models came with the middle pickup shunted towards the headstock. Like the attachment photograph below. (Fender Tex-Mex 'guard on top of MIA pearlescent. I suspect that I squared out the corners of the humbucker cut-out on the white plate to accept a covered pickup.) I can only imagine that the idea was to even out the gaps between the pickups.
Click to expand...
You learn something new every day. I never noticed that!
 
Re: Help identify my mystery Strat!

I've had a dozen MIM bodies, all have the same three holes. Couple of Squiers I've had do not, neither have the American Strats I've had....
 
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