Bought this Strat today off of Craig's List for $150. I think I did ok. Prior owner said it had a Mexican body. It seems really light compared to my other MIM Strat. What intrigued me was the left handed neck set up for right handed play. Are there advantages/ disadvantages to this type of setup? A quick s/n lookup said the neck made in Corona late 2009 or 2010 it seems to have a signature on the headstock. Any ideas as to who it may be or did someone just draw on it? The guitar plays very well and has sustain for days so I'm gonna keep it as is for now. Thanks
If it plays well and you're happy with spending $150 on it then you're okay. On the downside... That neck looks to be a chinese knockoff of the YJM strat. At least the decal is a YJM knockoff. Definitely not a USA made neck. I wonder what is under the hood.
Hate to break it to you, but that neck is fake. It’s not a Fender neck at all, and neither is the body. Not Mexican, Japanese, American. The holes on the back of the body, where the cover goes, aren’t offset-fake. And the truss rod hole should have an insert if genuine, but it doesn’t.
to me he biggest giveaway that it is a fake, is the lack of walnut, (US) or plastic,(mim) where the trussrod opening is on the headstock.
Here's what I see. A guitar. If it plays well and you like it then you have a guitar that is worth $150. A guitar doesn't need to be made from name brand parts to be a good one. Right now my #1 strat is made from a no name neck and a MIM body with a conglomerate of aftermarket parts. No one can take away the fact that it's a great guitar. Also, I paid the same as the axe in the OP. The sad thing about the one in the OP though is how companies like Aliexpress and DH Gate will use the logos and even print fakes of real serial numbers. I would be willing to bet that the logos on the headstock are actually printed on and not a waterslide. I've come across a few of them and though they are faked they can still be nice pieces.
As to the set up reversed. I would think the extra string length on the lower strings might affect bend feel as theres more string to stretch compared to a "normal" set up but it may be minimal or difficult to notice.
Like other have said, it’s fake, but it really doesn’t matter. If it plays alright, then you did fine for $150. As far as the neck being reversed, it makes a negligible difference in sound. It doesn’t make enough change in tone to count, IMO. Frankly, I hate my reverse headstock guitar. I can never get used to reaching down to tune it. It feels extremely awkward to me. Looks cool though.
If you show us the guitar body under the pickguard, and the electronics, we can tell you how much of it is MIM and how much is Chinese counterfeit. The neck is, for sure. Good thing you didn’t pay much more. That’s about what they are new, so you got taken, a bit. The bridge pickup is swapped, that’s surely an upgrade over the stock cheap pickups that come in fakes.
You say it plays well and has sustain for days....thats all that matters.It sucks if you think it was a real Fender but at least you didnt pay fender prices for it....now that would seriously suck...you may find some nice surprise under the hood with those pickups but they are probably the standard ceramic Chinese stuff.All in all you didnt lose much and if you actually play the thing like you say...money well spend... I would personally sand any decal off,then make my own and apply it or even better, leave it clean...you can then include it in some kind of trade for other gear and maybe lose 50 bucks or so overall but thats not that bad...especially if you spend an ample amount of time playing and enjoying that thing.
Or bullet... the YJM models often had the bullet truss rod adjuster. Ya.. a brand new Squier Bullet would have only been $30 more. I imagine you can't return this at this point... chalk it up to a learning experience, and in the future, post pics and ask around before making a purchase. Fortunately, you were only burned for a (relatively) small amount of dough... some have paid $700+ for fakes. YOU CAN NOT USE ONLINE SERIAL NUMBER "DATING" SITES TO VALIDATE A PURCHASE All they do is apply "common knowledge" logic to the number that you input. Pretty much any "Z9" serial number will report 2009 Corona, whether it is real or not. The only sure-fire way is to contact Fender customer service and ask what that serial number was assigned to... or describe the guitar and ask if it's a match. The YJM necks are scalloped. That one isn't even a good fake.
Here are a couple of real US YJM necks... One from 2003 with the walnut plug (tuners have been replaced, the F-tuners aren't that good anyways) https://reverb.com/ca/item/5425524-fender-yngwie-malmsteen-strat-neck-rosewood-2003?locale=en-CA And this one with the bullet truss rod adjuster: https://reverb.com/au/item/3137438-...tratocaster-neck-strat-scalloped-rosewood-177
Yeah, as others have mentioned, this is a fake... 150 bucks ain’t peanuts but I guess it won’t ruin you either. Next time just ask before purchase- anybody would have been glad to help you. Cheers
