Somebody from Germany sent me this Lee Ranaldo Jazzmaster in exchange for my 75 Mustang. Looks legit imo, do you agree? The only strange thing is, that the body says 77041, the neck is 77042. Maybe they switched it in the factory because it fitted better?
Not sure about this particular model, but IIRC it's not uncommon for Fender bodies and necks to have different serial numbers. My Tele Deluxe is that way, although that's MIM, so not the best example. Hopefully someone else on here owns one of these and can chime in.
I was looking for your opinions, because if it was fake, I would send it back and keep my 75 Mustang.
That said, it plays well, the wide range humbuckers give it a pretty mellow tone. It also keeps in tune very well, better than my Japanese Jaguar. Overall I prefer my Jag though because of the more spanky sound. So I will probably sell it.
Bit of an obscure guitar to counterfeit so that makes it even more unlikely. And if you were to make a copy, you'd probably make the body and neck numbers match.
When being made, they probably have fivebor so in parts, and assemble them as they pick them up.
That's what I was thinking. It's a bit banged up though, as you can see on this picture. There are also scratches on the back, because the finish is really thin. Still a very nice guitar.