Strat body ID - country/wood? Presumed Fender, possibly Fender licensed aftermarket

[Adieu]

Please help ID the Made in country and wood of this here Strat body, presumed Fender, maybe Squier, maybe licensed aftermarket, may have been modded (changed bridge?), almost certainly shielded at a latter date, at some point auctioned as per the leftovers of a sticker...

Bought for pennies off a strange dude that seemed to be having a firesale, along with a strange mix of other random parts of various degrees of coolness or dubiousness - including a totally legit unused set of Fender CS Texas Specials for like $40, box and all, a bunch of fairly worn parts that made up a disassembled MIJ Eseries Squier, and a totally fake Fender offset neck that doesn't even fit anything... and some other crap. All for $220 and an SKB superstrat case.





Things I've noted, though they haven't given me a definitive ID:
a) despite being shielded EVERYWHERE, even under the jackplate, which made me suspect a plywood body, looking down the screwholes - same light-coloured wood as in the neck pocket, no trace of layers
b) quite solid wood - few paint chips, no real dings despite clearly having been bounced around plenty in its life. also, sighting down the holes, very clearly defined thread from woodscrews in the wood, has not mushed up from numerous insertions and removals of screws
c) colour is a TINY BIT MORE AQUAMARINE-ish METALLIC in tint than appears on my monitor
d) this obviously started life with an 8-hole pickguard
e) no signs pointing to the 6-screw, 2x-Fender-stamped-saddle (nonmirrored stamps) tremolo being unoriginal, saddles seem to match trem... then again, might just be well-matched saddles, or a clean install. and this wood does seem to take repeated insertions and removals of screws real well, without getting screwed up from it
f) fairly LIGHT, very RESONANT wood - just by knocking on it, echoes real nicely
g) seller seemed to suggest SQUIER by FENDER MIJ, Fujigen/Eseries, but some of other stuff especially raised some serious questions (and eyebrows)... and he wasn't the first owner OR the second, judging by the leftovers of some sort of auction sticker, so he might be honestly misinformed too.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Strat body ID - country/wood? Presumed Fender, possibly Fender licensed aftermark

Date and/or QA stamps in the neck pocket might have helped. Could be a refinish. Could be original MIK paint. For a time, in the late Eighties and early Nineties, FMI freely issued this series of instruments with Squier and Fender headstock decals. Either way, the legend Made In Korea should appear in small type as part of the decal.

Photographs of the vibrato sustain block would help. A skinny Sung-Il type suggests Korean or Mexican manufacture.

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: Strat body ID - country/wood? Presumed Fender, possibly Fender licensed aftermark

You can see the block in the last pic. The bridge as a whole looks like one of the more recent MIM bridges. It has the FENDER stamp on the saddles and the block is full size. Might possibly be an MIJ bridge but the block doesn't look like the MIJ blocks I've seen (they're usually darker).

This isn't an MIM body though - no bridge humbucker route, and no tooling hole under the pickguard. The lack of a heel brand stamp means it isn't a Warmoth either. A MIJ would have a date stamp in the heel.

The finish looks kind of home-made and the color is not one I've ever seen on a Fender. Shielding paint is definitely an after-market application.

The wood appears to be basswood, but might be alder - hard to tell from the pic.

I dunno ... all I can tell you for certain is it's not a US or Mexican Fender.

 

[Rand-O-Monium]

Re: Strat body ID - country/wood? Presumed Fender, possibly Fender licensed aftermark

Looks a lot like my E7 MIJ Squier,save for the neck pocket stamp.

Love that color,just play teh damn thing!!!

 

[uOpt]

Re: Strat body ID - country/wood? Presumed Fender, possibly Fender licensed aftermark

It also has full depth for the entire electronics compartment, whereas MIA is usually two areas with different depth.

Other routings (no humbucker, and the cable canal in the bridge pickup route) suggest a higher quality body.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Strat body ID - country/wood? Presumed Fender, possibly Fender licensed aftermark

Basswood, definitely. Masking tape pattern in neck pocket fits with refinish. (Explains the absence of date/QA stamps.) Chisel and file marks in neck pocket make sense if a non-original neck was fitted at some time. The crack between the pocket and the neck PU cavity suggests that the replacement neck fit was extremely tight. Speaking of tightness, the drilled holes look very precise. I'd put my money on MIJ.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Strat body ID - country/wood? Presumed Fender, possibly Fender licensed aftermark

There is also the worm rout (I think thats the name for it) in the bridge position. Thats a feature of MIJ bodies I think.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Strat body ID - country/wood? Presumed Fender, possibly Fender licensed aftermark

If it's basswood I wanna buy.

(unless the neck pocket is too wide )

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: Strat body ID - country/wood? Presumed Fender, possibly Fender licensed aftermark

Basswood, definitely. Masking tape pattern in neck pocket fits with refinish. (Explains the absence of date/QA stamps.) Chisel and file marks in neck pocket make sense if a non-original neck was fitted at some time. The crack between the pocket and the neck PU cavity suggests that the replacement neck fit was extremely tight. Speaking of tightness, the drilled holes look very precise. I'd put my money on MIJ.

Yes, I agree: MIJ Fender that got refinished.

 

[Adieu]

Re: Strat body ID - country/wood? Presumed Fender, possibly Fender licensed aftermark

Yes, I agree: MIJ Fender that got refinished.

Whoa, serious? It's what I was promised... that's almost TOO weird. lol. Any idea what years? Guy was saying probably 80s.

Well, actually, no scratch that - I was promised MIJ SQUIER. Any way to tell? Or are the differences in necks pickguards and electronics only, with identical wood & bridge?

Concerning the refin thing: yeah, very likely. Cause I had an almost-identical-colour Squier MIJ at the same time, and there IS a difference in shades. Albeit, as I did say, my camera distorted the colour, it's a bunch greener than it looks here. Very aqua metallic.

There is also the worm rout (I think thats the name for it) in the bridge position. Thats a feature of MIJ bodies I think.

That's what I was thinking... at first... then looked at some pics and was like whaaa, this looks totally different - but I guess that's just the shielding paint? Btw what is that stuff in there called? Anyone know if it's any good, or just a gimmick?

Basswood, definitely. Masking tape pattern in neck pocket fits with refinish. (Explains the absence of date/QA stamps.) Chisel and file marks in neck pocket make sense if a non-original neck was fitted at some time. The crack between the pocket and the neck PU cavity suggests that the replacement neck fit was extremely tight. Speaking of tightness, the drilled holes look very precise. I'd put my money on MIJ.

Screw holes are indeed CRAZY neat and somehow manage to keep their an actual thread to them, instead of mushing up and needing toothpicks and more toothpicks - guess the wood is surprisingly hard and solid for being so light... That, the really neat and smooth tight routs, and the sighting solid wood through them was what had me hoping for something good (i.e. MIJ).

I guess refinish would fit with MIJ. Although it's got a couple chips in it now, the finish is surprisingly nice and even, prettier than many a shiny new guitar - doubt anyone would take their time refinishing a $50 MIK guitar that thoroughly.

Are you sure it's basswood though? I was thinking maybe sen ash? It's got grain and patterns to it and it's not exactly bright almost-white and almost-flat like basswood's said to be...