Three Fender Stratocasters... 1 Fake and 2 Real | Try and Spot the Fake
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 ต.ค. 2024
- In this video, we look at three Fender Stratocasters in questions. Two of them are real... one is a fake. It turns out one is a Squier that has had the logo replaced with a Fender Logo. One is a Made in Japan (MIJ) real Fender, and the other is an real American Fender. Can you spot the fake?
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The last guitar is 70’s reissue hence why headstock is 70’s oversized, bullet truss rod, the 3 bolt plate.
Only thing is ‘off’ are tuners but that’s not really an issue.
Not really. They're Gotoh machine heads, exactly what one would expect on a FujiGen Strat.
Bruh I was going to write this
On In Five You’re right I’ve had one identical to that black one
It’s actually an 80s fender mij strat
Deebz270 I’ve had 6 mij fenders with gotah tuners...
Title..."Try to spot the fake"....as soon as the picture comes on the screen..."THIS IS THE FAKE!". lol
In 1993 they made three reissue series Strats 70s, 60s & 50s. I have a 50s it is an incredible guitar.
The tuners on the Japanese Strat are obviously Gotohs, which makes sense - Japanese tuners on a Japanese guitar.
Also found pretty much the same Japanese Strat on Reverb straight away, but in a different color. This was from a French seller - if you don't allow international sellers in your preferences, they won't be shown in search results! I just searched for Japan Strat 1993 and it was pretty much first result.
Definitely a MIJ 72 reissue. I have one and love it!
You are correct, sir. Although I prefer Japanese Strats to anything made in Mexico and even many American made, they do have some weird duck builds. I have a factory original made in Japan from 1988 that has the Gotoh Machine heads, the black modern roller string trees, but uses the ‘62 re-issue neck with a walnut plug at the top but heal adjust truss rod. Technically, this is a standard model as listed in the catalog, but they came from the factory with the reissue neck for some reason.
they also used the same Gotoh tuners (excellent quality) on the Squier Silver Series strats, MIJ in the early 1990's. Those Silver Series trats are very good for the price, getting scarcer nowadays
The third guitar is a genuine made in Japan Guitar. It's not sold in USA but they are just as good as far as quality is concerned.
Nah they’re second rate
...That "Japan" strat is a '70's,CBS strat with a "Bullet" truss-rod...
1990’s Made in Japan in the style of 70’s Strats. It’s not a 70’s USA Strat, it’s a made in Japan Strat with 70’s specs. Big difference. Some MIM also have reissue or vintage specs
I found a good mim strat hb on marketplace but the serial number gives no results on the fender serial number lookup..... If the serial number is not found is fake?
It seems pretty clear that Mr. Russell is not familiar 70's era/CBS Spec. Fenders. This is a Japanese built 70's/CBS Spec. Strat. The three-Screw heal plate is totally dates this instrument.
I tried several times to establish exactly what my 82 Strat was and its specs. What I found was that it might be a hybrid of parts left over from pre 80s CBS put together during the Dan Smith 80s. It's a Cream colour with Black Scratch Plate white PUs. I haved owned it since 84, and have replaced Nut, Bridge and Pus since. PUs are Noisless Texas and sound great, a bit of single coil with some HB roundness. I've never seen another the same.
I have a Squier Telecaster that I bought in 1984, when I went to the store I fully intended to buy a Fender Telecaster but of the ones they had in the store they all had issues and so the salesman gave me a Squier to try and I was blown away by it and so I bought it.
The hardware is very good quality and not what you see on modern Squier models and the pickups are sweet, I have read somewhere that the early Squire models used genuine Fender parts, with that in mind after watching this video I wondered whether people have faked a Fender by putting a Fender decal on an early Japanese Squier
That bullet trussrod is from the '70s, as is the CBS headstock. Yes I know they went to that headstock in '65-'66. But people usually place it with the '70s. Japanese fenders say crafted in Japan by the heal of the neck by the pocket. And the 3 bolt neck plate is classic '70s as well. The Japanese Fenders are way better guitars than any of the American. This particular guitar is a reissue. If you can find any Japanese made guitar, buy it. They are amazing.
Two string trees + bullet trust rod + 3 bolt neckplate is just like my classic series 70s mexican strat
I have a MIJ strat from the 90s and it's way better than a friends made in the USA strat from the same period. He paid double back then, mine now goes for more second hand.
I believe the notable difference between the 1970s American fender 3-bolt starts and the later Japanese reissue style ones is that the Japanese ones have 3 identical neck screws. The American 1970s ones have one screw that is different, because it’s a machine screw as opposed to a wood screw.
That second one... the headstock shape doesn’t even look right (may be the photo) before you even get into finer details like walnut truss rod surround, the string trees (that seem to be seriously distorting straight string pull, as well as there being two of them, which isn’t Fender correct), etc etc. I’m more of a Gibson guy, or Fender Tele rather than Strat, but that one sticks out like a sore thumb to me as a fake despite lack of first hand experience with Strats.
I have the same guitar in a squier...BOUGHT in Japan in 1993 in Okanawa City Japan.. The tuners are GGOHOT stamped on the back. Thank you for your channel
excellent subject ... something else you might want to focus on is "How to spot a Parts-Caster" ... I have 4 (both Tele & Strat) & I'm honest about it ... but MANY folks are not.
I spotted the fake, right on the thumbnail of this video.
The tuners on the Japanese Strat (No 3) are made by Gotoh, which is the premier Japanese brand of guitar hardware. A FujiGen Strat of this vintage, would likely come fitted with Gotoh machines and the 70's vintage bridge is probably also made by the same company. This is a Fender - FujiGen made - 70's reissue. It has the bullet truss rod nut, the larger headstock, the black and gold Fender logo, with the large wavey 'Stratocaster' name, vintage bridge, rosewood truss capping, two string trees and the three-screw neck plate with u-tilt. An excellent reissue of the 70's USA Strats.
The red one was a fender by squier which were made in the 90s,they put the fender logo on them
The tuners on the 3rd one are gotah,which were made by graph tech in the 80s
string trees are not a good way to tell because it's always possible that somebody threw another one on, and some CBS era fenders had two string trees because they were so badly made. The fender Japan tuners look like gotohs, which is rather strange because that's what they put on the lower end guitars (like mine). The reissues would have period correct hardware, which would also include a bridge with saddles stamped "fender".
I’m glad you made this video, good information. This the second video of yours I watched, and hit like and subscribed. I just posted a comment on the video you made a few years ago. I’ll copy and paste it here. “This video needs to be updated. Fender now manufactures their guitars in 4 countries, America, Mexico, Japan and wait for it... China. The Fenders made in China use the term “Crafted in China”, Generally speaking. The string tree theory is one that is too difficult to make a fake v. real call on, note the screen text said some have two trees. Not only do a lot of American made strats have two string trees, a lot have the one piece cast metal design because they are interchangeable with the telecaster from the same era ‘87-‘08, particularly the mid ‘90s and up. Also, parts that go on American & MIM strats are not made in America, Fender is making fewer and fewer parts in the USA. I called Fender Customer Service and spoke with Carlos, to inquire about a telecaster bridge plate I ordered from an authorized Fender dealer. As soon as I looked at it, without taking it out of the package, I knew it wasn’t made in America. Sure enough, it was made in China right on the packaging. Carlos confirmed that some parts were made in China, but those bridge plates were now being produced in S. Korea, and used on the USA and MIM guitars. Because of the advertising law changes concerning USA made products, a manufacturer can no longer put “Made in the USA” on a product if less then 10% of the parts are not made in the USA. That is why if you go into a guitar store and look at a “US made” Fender guitar, it doesn’t say, “Made in the USA” on the head stock anymore. You will see the brand name Fender and under it Corona, California. That doesn’t mean it was made in the US either, they all are labeled in this manner on the new Fender products. Two ways you can tell a legit Fender, is to run the SN: on the Fender website (or call them) or take the neck off the guitar and look for the manufacturers markings, inspection sticker, manufacture date stamp on the back of the neck on the heal. To see if the body is legit you will have to pull the pick guard and look in the cavity for barcode decals and the little paper decal colored circles stuck to the inside. Here is another key, when buying a used Fender, some have been repaired with genuine or manufactured under the license of Fender parts, such as a company called “All Parts”. Unless you have been using fender guitars for years, or trained in spotting counterfeit guitars, you shouldn’t walk into a guitar store and in less then 2 minutes claim a guitar is a fake, you could wind-up embarrassing yourself. Not hatin, just saying” On the Japanese Strat, the tuners are Gotoh as are the bridge and saddles. Those not familiar with Gotoh, they are made in America, and sometimes, higher quality parts then the OEM fender parts. I had to refinish the head stock on my ‘97 American Lone Star Strat, and had to use a water slide, because Fender doesn’t sell the heat transfer logos used today. But I’m the original owner and have the documents and all the original parts I’ve had to replace over the years.
Roller string trees..
That Black Strat has the specs of a 60's and 70's strat. I have a MIM Ventura 70's. Mocha. 3 bolt neckplate, bullet truss rod and the micro tilt adjustment on the neck plate.. Also has oversized headstock..
The tuners are gotoh tuners. Not typically standard on mid to bottom tier Fenders..
I’ve got three bonafide strats with two string trees! A 1976, 1990, and a 1999! Holes in your logic there!
That is exactly what I was saying. Real strays can have two.
And mine has NONE. From the factory. But it's a roller nut and locking tuners. From the factory.
I own a 1983 MIJ Squier Strat. It's very close to this MIJ strat in this video Here are some details on my guitar: bullet truss rod, 2 string trees, same style big headstock (1970s style strat) 3 bolt neck place (my neck plate doesn't have the "F"), my tuners are "Fender Japan". My 12th fret dots are under strings 2 and 5. I suspect that your guitar is a 1983-ish Fender Strat if the serial number starts with JV or E.
My dad has an ‘83 MiJ Squier strat too, and that was the first thing I thought of when I saw the one in this vid! Lovely guitar
I've got one too. They are far superior to the American ones that were being made at that time.
to not expose the scam of paying 2,000 for a fender vs 300 for a squire...that last thing they gonna do is play both side by side so you can realize you wouldnt tell the diff and quite frankly, the squire sounds as good or better ( thisn is about the 4th fender vs squire video ive seen ). For 2000-3000 dollars idk care if the neck is made out of vibranium...it better melt the paint off the wall when you play it. You better feel them 3,000 dollars come out that amp. Truth is, its a scam to pay so much for a guitar when you cant justify the cost. Play both side by side and buddy ^^^^^ wont know what to say.
I'm digging that plain-top cherry sunburst Custom in the background. I miss the '75 I had, but foolishly sold years ago.
surprised to see the block saddles
usually found on '70s models
a repro bridge with block saddles and the 3bolt looks like it's
probably the reissue mij
model
i found a few on Reverb
saved in my watchlist
1997 - 1999 Fender Baja American made Strats. The were a bit cheaper as they were painted in the Mexican plant, and they had the black plastic truss rod insert. The reason they stopped was that the Federal trade commission that because they were prepped and painted in Mexico they could not be sold as American as they deemed it to be less the 80% produced in the states.
Imagine if there were no copywrite/patent laws, we'd have the best fakes by now, they wouldnt be considered fakes, they'd just be competition and probably made better.
Yeah, that's exactly what japanese manufacturers did in 80s!
the third "fake" fender was probably some sort of 70's Stratocaster reissue. That was MIJ. And the tuners are GOTOH which I think were stock
Wow. I just realized on that guitar behind glass that the string trees are out of line with the strings. So they pull the strings over to the side, then they angle back towards the nut slot. That looks horrible.
At 2:55, picture of the first Strat headstock, why does this not have slotted tuning pegs? Also, the machine-head knobs don't look right.
I’m guessing the one on the far right, just to be wrong :P
I have American, Japanese and Mexican Stratocasters having the serial number on the head stock but I have one hot rod Stratocaster with a HR serial number on the neck plate with a flags crossed logo , chequered flags ?
It's a 70's Japan reissue you have to search that if you want to find it in Reverb ...Doi.
Tuners are Gotoh.
Also, that Fender ST-72 Stratocaster Japan ranges from $800 to $2000 on reverb.
The American Standard Stratocaster (not to be confused with the Standard Stratocaster made in USA) was introduced in late 1986/early 1987 and featured two EZ-Glyder string trees carried over from the old Elite Series Strat (not to be confused with the current American Elite Strat). Around 2000 or so, the American Standard range was rebranded the American Series and has had one string tree on the B and E strings ever since.
These guitars have always had the 2-post tremolo with the saddles changing from the powdered steel block design to a more vintage bent steel design when the American Series reverted to the American Standard name.
"roller string tree's", you're welcome,
How does he forget they are called roller string trees lol
My Clapton has 1 string tree. Custom shop USA guitars are the best in many ways.. I put GFS Neo pickups in it. The original active pickups fried. Now I dont need a battery. It sounds and plays Amazing ! 😀
9:03 Definitely Gotoh tuners. I have a MIJ fender that has gotoh too, no idea if it's stock, but it probably is. Make sense for that price range (their stuff is good and inexpensive), plus they're a japanese company. I think they just didn't bother rebranding them.
Okay, those were really easy ones! Thanks for that video.
If you see something weird quality-wise on a MIJ guitar (manufacturing or part wise) it usually just the way they're made. They would often cork something up (while modern cheapo guitars get it perfect, ironically). Or put cheap hardware or electronics because it's just the way they were cutting costs back then, but they're still genuine fenders. I have a Fender with super crooked side dots and one with awful cheapo pots, both are legit MIJ fenders though.
One other detail that is easy tell is pole pieces on pickups. USA ones come with good alnico pickups, and alnico slugs reflect light in a very specific way. Like, each pole piece reflects light in its own direction, so it's easy to see even in low res pictures like the ones you had. Cheapo pickups come with steel slugs, they shine just like a regular metal, like the red pawn shop 'fender' in this video. That's one of the first things I look for since it's easier to spot. Standard series (old MIM fenders) and some MIJ come with cheapo pickups as well, but like you said, noone really fakes those cheaper series.
There are tons of fake fenders on my local used market (I'm from Russia), but all of them have "made in USA" labels and all of them have some visible tells that you can't fake with $100 ish budget (like nut slots, fret edges, pickups, bent string trees etc).
Gotoh MIJ tuners on the black strat like the old squier's in the 80's
I'd love to have a Japanese strat from the Fujigen plant!....But, you know, if you're in Mexico and you can't get your hands on a real Fender strat, or you can't afford one, yes I'd probably buy it. Just as long as I knew what I was getting.
Why cant you? Fender has a plant in Ensenada Mexico. They make amps amd guitars.
I have a friend who added a stringtree to his Strat. Don't know why but he says it allows him faster string changes when he breaks strings bending ?
for the tuner of the japanese model , it s looks like gotoh tuner (japanese brand and it s good brand like schaller )
Yes!
The Japan, is a 70's reissue, they were made both in the 90's (MIJ) and in 2002-2003 (CIJ), this one is a 72-58US (fender JP catalog (same as 1993-1994); music-inside.ru/catalogs/fender-japan/2003-12), the thing is that in Japan Fenders and Squiers ware for a long time made the same factories, so for some years they are not that different, that is why that for example the Q series Squiers cost about the same as the Fenders, this one though has US pickups.
Guitar nr 3 has Gotoh tuners. The same that were used on Japanese Charvels from the 80’s and 90’s
Left one is my guess may be wrong
Are the Fender Strat classic vibe guitars that are made in China considered fake?
Until the American Series Strat of the early/mid 2000's had two string trees as the American Standard had it from 87' until the name change and staggered tuners.
Funny man! I had a lone star strat the corona ones back in 1998 when I got mine. I added another string tree just for balance.
Does that de legitimize my Fender Strat? Too funny.
The ones from 96'already had two. So the American Standard should still have two at that time. A lone Star (I have a first year) is just a pickups upgraded American Standard, which has no other features the guitar already comes with, changed or altered.
I'm far from an expert and haven't seen a lot of Japanese made Fenders but the ones I've seen have the adjustment in the heel of the neck and not in the head stock.
Truth is Fender has made every combination you can think of so that being said you can't really go by this info and all I can say is the best thing to look for is the quality build. Having one or two string trees cant be a way to spot a fake. And only guitars coming out of fender can be all originals but once you upgrade it by replacing something it no longer becomes original it is then called a partscaster original means nothing has been changed (strings excluded) from Fender factory.
Those were Gotoh tuners.
I see now that a lot of other people got it too. I replaced my Tele stock tuners with Gotohs and what
a difference. Very nice and precise. They were the most expensive in the shop.
If the fake one is cheaper I'll take it. Likely all sound just as good.
Fr right? it's just wood and glue. I put together a partscaster that plays and sounds better than the real Am. std. Strat I used to own.
No, not true. Most cheap guitars do not have alnico magnets for the pickups. They have ceramic, a cheap, antiquated version of today's magnets. They are loud, and the fidelity of bass mids and trebel is generally muddled into a muddy tone that isnt considered good to most listeners.
I've got a supposed mid-90's lefty Mexican Strat. I bought it new (in mid-90's) in a locally owned music store (remember those?) LOL I traded in a right-handed BC Rich Warlock for it. The Strat's got an all black logo with a small circular emblem in the round end of the headstock, that says something about "Squier Tribute/Series" can't remember for sure. Would you be interested in some pics of it? I'd like to try to verify if it's actually a real Fender.
That looks like a Japanese 70s reissue from the early 2000s. Japan made Gilmour style strats maybe thats similar. Maybe they were made in the late 90s. They were out around the time 75 avri fender jazz basses were out. They also made an fsr 70s strat that was America later.
The first is real, the second one is fake and the third is one is a Fender 70's reissue made in Japan. Probably from the late '80s or early '90s.( I was typing this as you looked the serial #) There are some current American made Fenders models that do have two of the updated/upgraded string trees on the headstock. Also, you need to check the years that they were made. I have an American Standard from the '80s that have two of the updated /upgraded string trees. And I bought that new out of the box from Sam Ash Music. I believe some MIM will have them too. But higher up Fenders mainly will have one of the updated/upgraded or one vintage-looking string tree.
Those are Gotoh tuners and are pretty common on Japanese guitars and are good quality. Those probably were original to that guitar.
The walnut plug is not necessarily a sign or not of an American Fender. I have a Highway One Strat that doesn't have the walnut plug. I was sceptical about it when I bout it. So I called Fender and send photo's of everything to include the headstock and serial number the neck pocket and pickup route. It's a genuine Fender. Besides having the scan codes in the pickup route
I’m pretty sure the Highway One Line had bodies and/or necks that were made in the Ensenada Factory and final assembly was done in Corona. This was done to get a lower cost USA model than the American Standard. They were/are very good guitars.
@@charlesbolton8471 yeah, all of fenders necks are made in Ensenada, except custom shop. Or were at one point in time. Just the USA necks were only roughed in though. All the final work was done in Corona. The highway one bodies are made in Corona and sent to Ensenada to be finished, right down Highway 1. That's how they got the name. Apparently it was cheaper to have the finish done there rather than Corona. I'm not sure how, being that it was shipped twice. To and from the Mexico plant. But that had a plan and it worked. The weird thing I've noticed with mine, is that it doesn't have the indexing holes for the CNC, where the USA bodies have 1 sometimes 2 under the pickguard and the MIM have 3. I kinda thought it had been changed at first. But still has all the scan tags in the route and I called Fender to be sure. Everything checked out. Doesn't really make sense to me how the "save" money with all the moving around of the parts. Logistics is expensive.
The Black Japan Strat in the video is an original made in Japan 70’s reissue Stratocaster hence the bullet truss rod and 3 bolt neck plate. The tuners May have been an upgrade to Gotoh Tuners (most common upgrades on fenders would be Gotoh Tuners and locking tuners) The neck and the 12th fret is correct also. I believe this is an original made in Japan. The only off is the the bent steel saddles. Haven’t seen any Fender with no fender stamps on the bent saddles. May be a replacement saddle or an upgrade too just like the tuners. The Japan strat would cost around 500-800 dollars used. If it’s around 600 bucks below, that would be a steal price especially in good condition. Finally, to be sure it’s a legit fender, one would know just by seeing it and playing it in person.
ive got a squier because ill never have a fender haha i like these videos .
Think the tuners on the Japanese are Gotohs...
I just got a real ‘13 USA Strat for 700.
At that price I had to make sure.
And it’s legit. Thanks bro
i have a sunburst custom supposively only number i can find is under the pick guard and its a #8
It is hard to spot a fake anymore, for example I have a chinese jimi Hendrix replica that has a walnut insert in the truss rod hole and walnut at the back of the neck ...skunk stipe....
I had a Strat (about 1990) that two string trees.
The reason you might want to "Fake" and Japanese or Mexican model is that 1) Less scrutiny. The more a guitar is worth, the more those buyer really know there stuff, or the more they will want to have an expert look it over. 2) If your getting fakes for 100 bucks, and you can sell a Japanese for 1100, well, it is easier to get away with it. Again, even the experst will not know everything on those Fenders vs a real 1957.
I think it's the one with the squire headstock... 😂😂
Fender changed to 1 string tree in 2000 when they introduced staggered machine heads. Do your research.
One on the left in the thumbnail.
The Fender logo , on the 2nd guitar is all wrong. Look how big the circled R for registered is.
As to IDing Strats, look for consistency. Mix and match parts are a dead give away.
When IDing a Strat, one must look at the guitar as whole.
It's the same exact thing when I authenticate shoes, clothes, handbags ect. Thats like my favorite saying when I teach someone. You have to asses it as a whole.
Middle one is my guess
Gotoh tuners on the 70's Japan reissue.
I have an old Japanese fender I thought was fake I bought from a friend but a lot of people say it's real and the serial number checks out, so yea that japanese fender is real, I did a lot of research on them
I added an extra string tree to my american strat.
if i send you No SN NO Trust rod pic do u think u would know the differnce
Walnut means no fake.
Great - I'm not going to buy a fake Fender..... nor a real one - Many even believe that it is very important to hear how the ELECTRIC guitar suonds unplugged ! 😆😆😆
I say number 3 is the fake guitar. Now look when you see the holes where you slide your strings through. See how it zig zags? That's what you would normally see in a Schecter. Not a Fender.
Can you take a look at my telecaster?
Yeah, all of these were pretty obvious for me. Of course, I'm a guitar geek and have more knowledge than your average Joe. I recognized the black strat as a Japanese made reissue immediately. The red strat, yeah, a typical copy guitar. But to be fair, the price it was being sold at was fair for what it was. I get upset when I see Chibson guitars sold as authentic bargain Les Pauls for $800-900. That is the most common scam I see. I don't see many fake Fenders being passed off as the real thing. (except occasionally those made by Fender themselves) I.E. someone passing off a Custom Shop Fender for an original vintage Fender. I think I've seen more than a few people fooled by some of those and the guitar sold for much more than it was worth.
Japanese fenders are awesome! Those are gotoh tuners
I could see the fake on the left headstock in the thumbnail before opening the video. Its stumpy and wide.
Thanks for another great vid, Kennis! The fakes, like you said, are generally real obvious knockoffs of lesser money guitars or good to excellent clones of top end guitars. There's some counterfeiters out there that actually get paid more for their clones than one would pay for an original, because the quality is superior.
keep doing these this is a great service to every person spending hundreds an thousands on fuckery weaseled guitars!.
I sent you pictures a while ago. Hope you are doing well.
Why fake the less expensive one?? 2 words. Less scrutiny. Probably easier to fake than the expensive one. Just sayin.
@WannaBeatle but why would you fake a $100 squier if costs $100 to make this copy? Genuinely wondering.
Daniel Leonov costs 50 sell 100. Cheap cheap Ibanez series bases are also copied. That’s the things we just didn’t pay attention ever.
I have 1 Fender Strat, 1 squire rebranded to fender. Also a squire Jazzmaster rebranded to Fender. No one knows and no one cares
Why the background music?
$2000 and $125 dollars ? I buy $125 look almost the same . Real Fender to expensive just for rich people.
Feed the algorithm
Thanks
It's a legitimate fender neck. That's not saying the rest of the guitar is not fake if you want to get technical. J.S.
Where do I find home work?
Couldn’t a fraudster jus use wood filler and fill in the second string here hole to make it look like a fender ?
There’s basically no foolproof way of finding out if a fender is a fender or not
Struggling with that English language.
roller trees
I just want to know if hey guitar is American versus Mexican
Hi Bro. Hm I dont know if its bcoz of the shot the picture was made but the headstock on the very 1st one looks fake as well. So very odd. So it could be fake too. Hm. In my oppinion if one has a tight budget then go for a used mex strat or do yourself a partscaster but taking time to buy parts mounth by mounth to get the guitar of your dreams. In my oppinion its the very best way to really get foward. Well wishings and all the best o. 1Love
In my opinion idk if this is the best place for an actual discussion about what is really a Fender one of the guitars he has no idea is clearly a Fender from Japanese period of the post cbs decade two string trees bullet truss rod three bolt neck plate is really a good fender guitar even though it’s Japanese! If you were looking for this guitar you might find it very expensive be careful with getting online experts!