MIM 50's Strat RI

[tweedman]

Does anyone on this board have one and what do you think of it? I have a chance to buy one for $250 in like new condition.

[hiptone]

Tweedman,

I picked one up off ebay for my birthday this summer. It was owned by a pilot from San Diego. Surf Green of course and the pu's had been replaced with CS Fat 50's. Not a scratch on it until I got ahold of it. As a tele player I have to say that this guitar has completley turned me around. The neck is a sweet tinted maple, soft, real soft v shape. Workmanship is superb, body is 3 piece either alder or poplar and this guitar sings. When I got it, the bridge was sitting on the body so I backed the screws out and gave it back it's Stratness. Light in weight, this guitar is the deal!!! Mexican craftmanship at its best.

On Saturday I shellaced the tweed on my 59 BM RI and just wailed with this axe. The pu's are 50's for sure, low output and as you know tweeds love that combo to let the amp soar unimpeded by overdriven pu's.

Get it, get it now, these have to be the most undervalued and underpriced guitars out there.

Bert the Shirt

[Mark Davis]

Better make sure its a real 50's ri and not an MIM STD.

$250 is way low for a 50's Classic Strat.

To be a real 50's Classic Strat the serial number has to be on the back of the headstock and the serial number should be MN8 MN9 MZ0 MZ1 MZ2 I doubt very seriously it would be a 2003 model but if so it would say MZ3.

I'll buy as many $250 50's Classic's as anyone is willing to send me cause the neck alone sells on EBay for $250

[tweedman]

Mark, thanks for the info.The guitar is a 50's RI ,v- shaped tinted neck,single ply p/g,Kluson tuners and an MN8 [98] serial number.I bought it today at a local chain store that specializes in used equipment and it is a cool Strat.In Oklahoma the resale prices for used Strats are low compared to the national average and this area the market is depressed right now.

[tweedman]

Hiptone,thanks for your input and suggestions.

[Mark Davis]

Cool you got a great deal. I'm from Oklahoma but have lived in Oklahoma west haha Bakersfield for the past 30 years.

Great price!!! And also the MN8 are the best ones.

[hiptone]

Tweedman,

Congratulations!! It's great you went ahead and scored on that beauty. Go out and get some fish tacos, (the food of choice in Ensenada, where your axe was made) and celebrate the fact that someone in Fender was smart enough to build that plant down there. They know that if they make better guitars than their cohorts up north in CA they will have a job forever, so they make sure they do that right. No TGIF, no hump day, no bad monday, just honest work with a state of the art plant.

BTW, I paid $350 for mine in So. Cal with the CS Fat 50's pu's. Talk about an undervalued guitar!!! On my birthday at a family reunion up in Big Bear, CA I upgraded the guard with a celluloid 8 hole single ply pearloid and matching backplate from Warmoth. Fits like a glove and gives the axe the clothes of a prince. Check them out, great company, great price too. Top it off with a vintage tweed strap and you are rockin'. I feel bad for my Teles now. The Strat is my main squeeze (after my wife of course).

Bert

[Blues Hurler]

Man, I can't believe you guys! Talk about horseshoes! I looked at one today (and wanted it, of course) but it was $799!!! (Canadian, but still, a lot of dough). I didn't buy it because of the price. But I wanted to. Ohhhh, I wanted to.......

[stantheman]

I walked into Ed & Sheila's and there it was on the wall.
I had my plastic on the counter before I even picked it up! As Ed was ringin' it up another player said he'd like to buy it. Mine's white with the tinted neck and was 400 bucks brand new with a bag. This was at least 4 years ago now. The other guy did get one but he had to wait
a week. My pal Dave The Dude liked it so much that we found him a used Daphne at GC for 325 bucks. It's so nice to bring one to a bar and be able to cook like you're
playing through the real deal (which you are, actually!)

[singlecoil]

I've got a MN8 and was wondering why it's better. Did fender make some changes to this model, type of body wood or neck shape or something? I was just looking for a cheap strat when I got mine, and it blew me away with what a great guitar it turned out to be. I put some Van Zandt blues in it and now she's a sweetheart.

[Mark Davis]

1998 was the 1st year this model was introduced. The MIM plant wasnt fully finished yet so most of the 98 models had the woods cut in the USA then shipped to mexico for paint and back to the USA for final assembly.

This is also how they did the California series which stopped in 98 when the Classic serles pretty much replaced the ca series and the MIJ-CIJ imported Fenders.

Thats whats different in the 98 Classic Teles and Strats compared to the ones they make now.

[singlecoil]

Thanks for the info Mark, I had no idea. I'm a diehard tele guy (JDtele w/3 position switch and 52 RI pick up in the bridge & stock in the neck, and a stock G&L Asat) but this strat is sharing a lot of playing time nowdays. Plays good, looks good and sounds great,all for a very affordable price. What else can you ask for in a guitar? I think the classic series (strat and tele both) are exactly what Mr. Leo Fender intended when he started Fender, a quality guitar that the average working guy can afford. I just can't see why anyone would pay over a grand for a bolt on neck guitar when the whole point of bolt on's was to make them affordable. These "Classics" are what Fender is supposed to be all about and the best thing Fender has done in twenty years.

[Bonneville Bruce]

I found one of these beauties two years ago, used, for $400 US with the hard case. It was in nearly new condition, not a scratch, and the previous owner bequeathed this Surf Green wonder with the three-ply parchment pickguard to match the aged pups and knobs. It is a sight for sore eyes. Besides that, it is all stock. It plays like dream and sounds like the Heavenly Host. I wouldn't trade this guitar for anything! It was a gift from my wife on our 25th anniversary.

I agree with other responders in saying that this, and the other instruments in both the Tele and Strat Classic series, is the best instrument for the money anywhere. It is very well crafted, beautifully finished, and it intonates right on the money. I like the stock pups, too, even though there are many on this listserve who disagree. It sounds like the 50's, just the way I remember that sound when I heard it then. It was a wonderous sound then and remains so now.

I agree that this instrument sounds best through vintage Fender Amps, it just seems happiest there.

I liked this guitar so much that I bought it a younger brother, the '72 Tele Thinline Classic Reissue (MIM). This is also in Surf Green, what else. It was from the special run with the five vintage colors put out this year for Musician's Friend. I simply could not resist the Surf Green Tele. This instrument is a monster! It sustains like no other guitar I've played.

My problem is that I have a difficult time choosing which music machine to play.

My compliments to Fender on these instruments and the others in the Classic series. They are wonderful guitars in every sense of construction and musicality.

Bonneville Bruce
Rockin' in Sunnyslope, Idaho

[Mark Davis]

Couldnt agree more. The Classic series and the Artist MIM models are the best Fenders made at any price.

[bpoe]

I got mine (one of those MN8's) mint/used for 420 including a new Fender tweed case. Its a sunburst and i switched out the bridge to an american reissue and swapped in texas specials. Its my favorite (and only) strat now. It stays in tune for years even with mucho bending.

[stantheman]

Mine came new with the sweetest stock pickups and I've got a set of Lindy rewinds that are amazing on my oldest
one(Strat) that he did for me in '92 and I judge all others
by my Lindy's, Fender Mexico really got it right in my case.

[buglecorps]

over the summer BRAND NEW for 350.00 cash price at a second hand gear/pawn shop on Broad in Richmond VA. bag included, still had hang tags and string sticker on rear.
Apparently came from the local MARS Meltdown, and no one wanted it 'cause it was a weird light purple color.. played great, I of course had @ $3.50 to my name :(

[BlueMidnight]

I have a 2002 50's Classic in Daphne Blue and a I love it. I was concerned about the vintage radius fretting out, but I can bend away with no problems. I believe the pre-2000 models are poplar and the newer ones are alder. That ended up being the deciding factor for me in buying new instead of used. I don't think poplar is necessarily bad, but from what I have read it's hit or miss.