‘01 American Deluxe Fat Strat

[Lonn]

I’ve been eyeballing this on the wall at my local Sam Ash for weeks, but just didn’t pull the trigger because of all the other guitars I was buying. I went in there today and looked at it and the dude said he could knock 70 bucks off and throw in a brand new case, so I caved and bought the thing lol. It’s got some honest where, as you can see which drove the price down and when he offered the extra discount and a hard case I walked out with it for under $800.

 

[YohanTheMan]

Those inlays look great on that Strat. Great deal, and that case is cool

 

[John C]

Nice; great deal from a big-box store!

 

[Torren61]

Relic'd! Nice looking Strat.

 

[Lonn]

I've got some Fender branded locking tuners I may put on just because I have them.

 

[PlayerOne]

I thought the Deluxe always came with locking tuners. Is this model earlier than that?
Same goes for the missing S1 switch.

 

[Mr Dunlop]

I thought the Deluxe always came with locking tuners. Is this model earlier than that?
Same goes for the missing S1 switch.

1st generation deluxe 1998 - 2003 didn't have the S-1 switching or the contour heel.
2004 the S1 switching showed up on the deluxe with the SCN pickups

 

[Lonn]

I thought the Deluxe always came with locking tuners. Is this model earlier than that?
Same goes for the missing S1 switch.

It has locking tuners, they're just not Fender branded.

 

[Lonn]

Giving it the tear down and clean up, I remembered I had a brand new Callaham American Deluxe brass tremolo block. I took the original off to weigh it and it was 7.2 ounces versus the new brass one being 10.5 ounces. Quite a difference. It also looks really nice. I also installed the Fender branded, locking tuners.

 

[John C]

I've got some Fender branded locking tuners I may put on just because I have them.

It has locking tuners, they're just not Fender branded.

The tuners you removed were Schallers; the F-branded tuners are made by Ping - Fender made the switch around 2006/2007 - I think Schaller had some production issues in the mid/late 2000s that led Fender to make the switch for their USA models. I would keep the Schallers - if you wind up flipping this one it will at least raise less questions if it has the originals on it.

I thought the Deluxe always came with locking tuners. Is this model earlier than that?
Same goes for the missing S1 switch.

1st generation deluxe 1998 - 2003 didn't have the S-1 switching or the contour heel.
2004 the S1 switching showed up on the deluxe with the SCN pickups

Just to add to Mr Dunlop's post - Fender did start using the contour neck heel on the 1st Generation American Deluxes around 2002 - it was one of those mid-run changes that were phased in during the year. Fender did wait to add the contour neck heel to the Telecaster until the 2nd Generation American Deluxe came out in 2004.

 

[Skinny Nitro]

^^^^^
The contoured heel bodies were produced earlier than 2004.
The alder versions of the American Deluxe with the contour heel share the same body part number (0058345xxx) as the Jeff Beck Upgrade which was introduced in 2001.
The uncontoured Deluxe bodies were the same as the American Series alder (sunburst only) and ash versions.

 

[John C]

^^^^^
The contoured heel bodies were produced earlier than 2004.
The alder versions of the American Deluxe with the contour heel share the same body part number (0058345xxx) as the Jeff Beck Upgrade which was introduced in 2001.
The uncontoured Deluxe bodies were the same as the American Series alder (sunburst only) and ash versions.

Right. Actually that design goes back to the HM Strats of 1988; it was on them, the US Contemporary, the original USA Sambora signature (with the Floyd Rose) and probably some models I'm forgetting about prior to it being added to the Beck Upgrade in 2001 and the American Deluxe Strats in 2002.

 

[Murdog]

Sweet deal and nice guitar!