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I've been offered a strat to trade for a bass I don't play anymore. In general I like strats. They feel nice and have a ton of clarity. I really like the look of this one but I don't really know much about them. In my experience, at least with their basses, Fender instruments are kind of hit and miss. Can you guys deduce anything from these pictures? What's your opinion on strats? http://i.imgur.com/Gs1Pc.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/IZgF9.jpg

Get the serial number and contact Fender, from what I've heard they're really good about giving you all the info on the guitar. Looks nice though.

Yeah I asked him to send me the serial

My guess is that it's a partscaster. Two many oddball features to match up to any Strat model that comes to mind. Two-point trem and 21 fret neck with truss-rod access at the headstock is not a frequent combo. And if that's a sparkle blue, I haven't seen that finish on any Fender I can remember.

If you like it you like it, but my two cents is on non-Fender partscaster with a decal.

The guy said that he thinks it's a 96 MIM strat but he's not sure

Just get the serial # and go here...

http://www.guitardaterproject.org/fender.aspx

That'll only tell you the what neck is though, if it is a partscaster you'll have to take the neck and pickguard off and check under the hood...

I've never done that before, is it relatively easy?

Yes easy peasy or take it to Avondongle and have him butcher it up for ya... Any guitar store worth a shit should be able to help out too...

Dope! Honestly I'm not gonna worry too much about it, I made the trade and I really like how the guitar feels and sounds. The dude threw in another guitar he didn't want, an Ibanez Iceman with SD Blackouts. I'll probably sell the Iceman because it's not really my thing and i'd rather have money for pedals or something else I'll get more use out of. Thanks for the help guys!

ChetMagongalo wrote:The guy said that he thinks it's a 96 MIM strat but he's not sure

I'm nearly 100% certain that all MIMs have the serial on the front of the headstock. I don't know for sure if that's the case for pre-2000s, though.

PMd about the iceman.

IEatCats wrote:

ChetMagongalo wrote:The guy said that he thinks it's a 96 MIM strat but he's not sure

I'm nearly 100% certain that all MIMs have the serial on the front of the headstock. I don't know for sure if that's the case for pre-2000s, though.

My 2011 MIM standard has the serial on the back of the headstock. I bought it new from music123, so I'm pretty sure it's genuine. I'm not sure when they switched, though. 2 minutes of searching indicates it was likely sometime in the late 2000s.

I would agree that the guitar in the first post is a partscaster, possibly without any actual Fender parts. The neck doesn't seem to be Fender-- no rosewood/whatever surrounding the truss rod access. The color of the body is unlike any I've seen (and I have a 90s MIA "Caribbean mist" metallic teal Strat). Also, it's hard to tell, but the string saddles don't seem to have the matte finish like the Fender 2-point tremolo with modern saddles.

Looks cool, though, so if you like it, you like it.

Mike

Dude some Icemans are awesome. I had an ICT700 with DiMarzio Deactivators...That guitar had some BAWLS. But I play a lot more bass than guitar and I let it go.

My 93 MIM Strat has the SN on the front of the headstock. Could be some sort of reissue neck.

If you went ahead with the trade and is tickled pink; then it's a win win.

If I may; what sort of bass did you trade for it?

dude!! pics of that iceman!

Psyre wrote:dude!! pics of that iceman!

I'll post some pics soon! I will be busy for about 12 hours after this post

warwick.hoy wrote:My 93 MIM Strat has the SN on the front of the headstock. Could be some sort of reissue neck.

If you went ahead with the trade and is tickled pink; then it's a win win.

If I may; what sort of bass did you trade for it?

I traded a black ESP Surveyor 5 String bass. I bought it new from Musician's Friend around Labor day of last year. I got $50 off because it was labor day, and for some reason that bass was only $299 brand new. I think ESP was bringing in a new model for that bass and MF had stock to clear out maybe? I've noticed some subtle differences between the one I bought and the one that is now offered.

It was a good bass, I bought it at the time because it was cheap and I didn't have a 5 string. I knew I could just flip it if I didn't like it. It wasn't bad, it just felt kind of heavy and harder to play for me than my other basses. It sounded okay, but I wasn't really too into the sound. Kind of big, and boomy? Very dark, not enough character for my taste.

Anyway I think I got the better end of the deal for sure

Deltaphoenix wrote:Dude some Icemans are awesome. I had an ICT700 with DiMarzio Deactivators...That guitar had some BAWLS. But I play a lot more bass than guitar and I let it go.

The guitar, is really cool, sounds awesome, especially if you play a lot of rockin tunes. The blackouts have a ton of kick and are really hot. You can actually scream into the pickups and hear it come out of the amp hahaha. Cleans sound pretty good too, but I think it really kicks butt with some dirt one.

I'm gonna end up selling it for the same reason, and I already had a guitar I liked before I got these two.

If anyone would like I'll post more pictures of the strat if you're curious about a certain aspect or something! I tried plugging in the number on the back of the headstock into the link posted above but nothing came up