Custom shop guitar? Really?

I know they were common on the imports.
I do remember having at least one, don't recall if the mid 90s Ibanez JS100 had one or not, and my '84 Kramer/Focus is in storage.
Outside of the '79, it would had to have been one of those two, since everything else I own/owned from before 2017 is set-neck, the 3-bolt '78, or the Kramer DMZ (recessed solid plate)

 

Neck plate with "FENDER" inscription is late 80's-early 90's MIJ; the black plastic pad indicates a lower model, or was inserted by the previous owner.

The body indeed looks very blocky and pointy around the edges. It may be a good guitar but it's a partscaster.

 

A few US and Japanese models did have the plastic gasket. I'll wager that most of them got "lost" very quickly, as the general consensus was that they made the guitars look like toys.

 

I've had 2 musicmasters and have a musicmaster bass from the mid-70's with the black plastic pad under the neckplate. Also an 86 Squier.

 

I've seen some of those boxier looking strat from old japanese copies. Im not sure, I dont remember. Looks like a an old fernandez or greco.

 

I think, I saw this guitar a few days ago on Reverb or eBay ... How much did you pay?

 

I agree, the radius on the body edge looks sharper than a true Fender strat. This could be a Squier affinity body or something. I don't know which is traditionally more correct, but my CV60s feels better than my 95 MIM. Very soft radius around the edges.

The electronics aren't anything special.

BUT like some others have said, if it feels good and plays to your liking, who cares what it is so long as you aren't misleading a buyer? Play the heck out of it.

 

Now you have a guitar you can light on fire !!
Let's look at the positive side of things...lol.

 

http://xhefriguitars.com/page2.html#C5 Go to this link and scroll down to 'The Mysterious "Bob" Stratocaster Bodies'. Xhefri has done an interesting analysis and has referred to the earlier body contours as 'Fullerton' compared to the newer which he has dubbed 'Corona'. What you have in this photo is a 'Corona' body.

 

I enlarged one of the photo's and took a screen shot on my phone. Does it look like a laminate body?

 

I am sorry, no Fender body has that lack of rounding, or pointy lower horn....this is not a Fullerton vs Corona thing....look at the OP's body.....CAREFULLY....

 

Sure does

 

I'm positive also this is not a Fender. It's a cheap knockoff. Probably a $90 Chinese made copy. Watermark (decals) can be found online for a few bucks. I almost paid $750 for a Fender Custom Shop Stratocaster 2 months ago at a pawn shop. It looked like the real thing so I put $100 deposit on it, took several pictures of the neck plate and serial # on back of the headstock. That decal said US followed by serial#'s. I emailed Fender Custom Shop. They got back to me that afternoon (lucky me). I spoke to them on the phone and was told that it "definitely is not one of ours". Further checking on ebay I found the exact same chrome neckplate with the same serial number for sale for $19.00 from a company in Sweeden. The decal with the serial# did not match ANY serial# Fender had in the database...but it was a beautiful guitar. I took that email from Custom Shop back to the pawn shop told them it was a fake and they gave me my $100 deposit back. Lot of fakes out there.

 

Most of that is accurate and I don't disagree. I would just point out that a lot of FCS guitars don't have the FCS badging stamped on the neck plate. They do all have the badge on back of the headstock though.

 

I had never see a Chinese copy with the truss rod adjuster in the neck pocket. Also Chinese fakes usually can copy the basic format of the headstock and usually use very poor quality maple in the neck.

The old nitro paint, the probably laminated body, the totally wrong headstock contour, the solid good maple grain in the neck... this all point to a 80's or 90's DIY garage fake, probably made in USA using a good neck from another brand guitar.

Faking guitars is not a new thing. Some years ago a friend show me a "old Gibson" guitar from his dead grandfather... The only Gibson thing in that guitar was a crude painted Gibson logo.
I keep that information for myself, sure. No reason to destroy a history. LOL

 

Looks like a partscaster to me, but a pretty cool one.

 

If you like the guitar, chuck a decent set of alnicos at it and you'll have a nice one.

Oh, and don't underestimate the value of a good setup.

 

Was going to comment on that as well. The chunk missing out of the switch route looks like particle board..

 

A couple of years ago I was guitar hunting for a brand new MIA strat, but I couldn't find anything that worth the price. Poor wood grain on the neck, no rosewood fretboard, uneven frets, at least 3 piece bodies, noiseless or texas special pickups only, thick finish coat.... for 1.500 to 2.800 USD

For less than 100 USD (plus shipping) I have bought from Donlis (China) a 2 piece alder body and a maple neck with better woodgrain, a thick dark rosewood fretboard, jumbo frets, bone nut, big neck profile and with the trussrod nut at the heel. I tried to replace the nut with a spoke wheel, but I couldn't remove it, because it's a double action trussrod... this neck is better than the Fender necks I saw before, but of course the headstock shape is quirky and I had to work a lot on the neck

It would be very interesting to watch an Andertons Sound Like Jimi Hendrix By Busting The Bank... in China. For 2.800 USD you should be able to buy a guitar with a neck made of quartersawn birdseye unicorn horn