Tuners are obviously not OG
Two string trees?
Headstock decal and placement seem dodgy
No truss rod nut (is there even a truss rod in there?)
Black nut?
Hard to tell from the photos of the body but:
Chrome looks like Stainless steel
Bridge and saddles look weird.
What do you guys think?
Last edited by laterallateral on Fri Sep 19, 2014 3:05 pm; edited 115,726 times in total
truss rod seems to be missing, additional string tree seems to be added. Neckplate looks strange too. Rest looks ok, but I 'd need to see in person ... would not order that. But Servicemans usually have weirder hardware.
Hard to say but that paint has not aged enough compared to that heavily yellowed neck. The neck could be vintage with replaced tuners and nut but I'm not so sure.
Also the truss rod adjustment doesn't look right but I can't say for sure since I'm not familiar with guitar that old. Did they usually have that giant gap hole?
most likely a refin, looks like a mustang bridge, plus all the other stuff mentioned, but difficult to tell without seeing all the bits up close. no truss rod, eh...... away and fuck off.
I emailed the dude to let him know he might not have what he thinks he has.
He sounds pretty reasonable, I don't think he's trying to rip anybody off.
He did sound pretty disappointed that it's not worth $2400. Anyway, here's more pictures of the body. Maybe we can help him figure out more or less what it's worth...
► Show Spoiler
Last edited by laterallateral on Fri Sep 19, 2014 3:05 pm; edited 115,726 times in total
theshadowofseattle wrote:Neckplate looks severely questionable. What's with the hole in it?
Did Fender ever do a 4-screw Micro-tilt neck? OTOH my '73 3-screw Micro-tilt plate has "Micro-tilt" written on it.
[edit]Yes. From Fender Australia's website
'86 American Standard Neckplate
This chrome-plated Fender neckplate with Micro-tilt hole was used on American Strats from 1986 to mid-1999. Four mounting screws included. Vintage "Plain," Am Std Bass and Am Deluxe Guitar neckplates are also available.
Last edited by NickS on Tue Sep 28, 2010 3:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
laterallateral wrote:Very interesting...
What's your take on the headstock decal, Nick?
Sorry. I know next to nothing about decals*.
*One weird thing; my '73 Strat came with a separate decal, which I still have, that is just like the one under the varnish except that it also says "with synchronised tremolo".
Yeah, it appears to be a parts guitar with a broken trussrod and some non vintage parts. I'd say 1K tops and then only if you know the body and pups are original.
They say great minds think alike....Sometimes we do too...
yeah, looks like a parts guitar and it's missing the truss rod. the neck looks legit. never seen a serviceman with a date stamp or with decent looking maple like that. they're usually some multipeice southeast asian wood.
if its a servicemen its the best i have ever seen.
the decal is not legit, for sure.
the wood behind the nut is different from the rest on the fretboard.
the nut is aftermarket.
its hard to tell from the photos if the trem is real or not.
i know that from the three servicemens that i have owned and the parts i have gotten before that the trem lock never works and is just there for looks.
my best guess is...
its either a parts guitar(as stated above)
or it is the best servicemen ever produced.
which is a possibility seeing as how the three that i owned were all radically different in feel, size, parts, and well. everything.