Is this really a 1983 Fullerton Strat?

Modellista

Went and had a look at it.  E2 serial in neck pocket, unused truss rod dimple in body, unused micro-tilt plate in neck, yellow wire from bridge pickup.  A few dings.  Neck date 28/11/83, J Torres.

ICBM

modellista said:

Went and had a look at it.  E2 serial in neck pocket, unused truss rod dimple in body, unused micro-tilt plate in neck, yellow wire from bridge pickup.  A few dings.  Neck date 28/11/83, J Torres.

And did you buy it?

If there was no pressure mark on the neck tilt plate then richardhomer is correct and it left the factory like that, even as late as the end of '83.

Modellista

ICBM said:

modellista said:

Went and had a look at it.  E2 serial in neck pocket, unused truss rod dimple in body, unused micro-tilt plate in neck, yellow wire from bridge pickup.  A few dings.  Neck date 28/11/83, J Torres.

And did you buy it?

If there was no pressure mark on the neck tilt plate then richardhomer is correct and it left the factory like that, even as late as the end of '83.

Might have

It does seem to have a mark but I'm no expert.

Modellista

ICBM

Not sure - I think that's the centring mark from it being turned in manufacture… it's too small and not quite in the right place (should be perfectly in line with the two screw holes, but it's very slightly further forward) to be a pressure mark from the screw, which looks more like this:

http://i62.tinypic.com/25qd8bd.jpg

So I think my bet is on it being factory original, although apparently not a model that should have existed. How and why is now anyone's guess!

gubble

To be fair, you've got a guitar that at the very least is something a bit rare and different. To buy it you obviously really liked it and I'm massively jealous because it's a beautiful looking instrument.

Modellista

I thought the string tree theory was interesting but then this proves the two-knob Elites did leave the factory like that sometimes.  Close E328 serial.

Edit: the pic below is from the Reverb ad of a different guitar, not my guitar, proving the butterfly trees were indeed fitted to two-knobbers.



So are we confident that this is a genuine Smith body?

ICBM

modellista said:

So are we confident that this is a genuine Smith body?

Yes. The exact shaping of the routs, the notch for the ground screw, and the unusual shape of the shielding foil and the mark it's left in the body are all correct, as well as the overall shape as mentioned earlier, the bridge, neckplate, front strap button position etc.

Here's another one:

http://i46.tinypic.com/2yzdaw1.jpg

The Elite in your link has the USA Std-type modern string trees, not the butterflies. The neck like yours is should have them too, hence why richard (and I) think it left the factory attached to this body - the modern ones have a second pin hole, which wouldn't be covered by the bushings on your one.

Modellista

Really appreciate the info, @ICBM. ; That wiring is practically identical to what's on this black one except no yellow wire (presumably X1  single coil?) in your pic like there is on this one.

Sorry to labour the string tree point - somehow I did get the Reverb link wrong (doh!) but the inline pic above is taken from the Reverb ad, and it does show factory butterfly trees on a two-knob.  Which does slightly contradict the factory theory, which is actually not in my favour but hey-ho!

Correct link:

https://reverb.com/uk/item/283457-1983-fender-stratocaster-strat-black-w-ohsc

Modellista

One other point - your pic above shows the Smith-era scratchplate with the expected mini cut-out for the neck truss rod access.  This one, as you say, is practically identical in terms of wiring and shielding, but doesn't have the cut-out, because it's not needed.  But if the scratchplate is factory, the whole guitar must be factory otherwise it would have the cut-out.  Does that make sense?

ICBM

Ah - got it.

You're right - if some of the earlier '83/'84s did have factory butterfly trees then it does make it more likely that it's a put-together. A really close inspection of the neck tilt to check for marks from the tilt screw may be the only way of proving it, and even that wouldn't be totally conclusive since it's possible that the screw wouldn't have been tightened much beyond 'contact' if the neck didn't need tilting.

Yes, the yellow wire indicates the X1 bridge pickup - the Dan Smiths came with these usually, although judging by that pic, not all of them!

Given the utter chaos that appears to have been going on at Fender around this time, I wouldn't rule anything out…

I think at the end of the day we know all the parts are genuine Fender, so I don't think it's wrong to describe it as an '83 Fender Strat - you can easily find definitely factory-original Fenders with neck and body dates that differ by up to a couple of years around this time or a bit later. If it plays and sounds great you've got a bargain, and if it doesn't I'm pretty sure someone else will be happy to take it off you .

west

Ive enjoyed reading through the thread ....


I had a dan smith strat about 20 years ago, i think it was an 82 , it had the small headstock but with the large decal . it was white with a maple neck , it was an absolute boat anchor heavy barstaad ... it was ok , nothing special the weight made me get shut , pickups were ok but a bit thin , i sold it to a private dealer who removed the neck and pickguard to confirm its status , i only have one picture of it i will try an link to it .....

ICBM

west said:

I had a dan smith strat about 20 years ago, i think it was an 82 , it had the small headstock but with the large decal . it was white with a maple neck , it was an absolute boat anchor heavy barstaad ... it was ok , nothing special the weight made me get shut , pickups were ok but a bit thin.

I'll have you know Andrew Ridgeley got a great tone from his '82 hardtail Dan Smith Strat.

Neil

I think you got a nice interesting buy there OP.

richardhomer

ICBM;1023276" said:

I'll have you know Andrew Ridgeley got a great tone from his '82 hardtail Dan Smith Strat.

A classic case of 'it's all in the fingers'.

west

Yes im sure ....
i used it quite a bit on sessions for the clean/funky stuff , it could be a bit noisy tho' , facebook dosnt want  to let me link my pic ... oh well ...

west

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1278763898804633&set=a.1076617489019276.1073741828.100000131046063&type=3

hope this works .... it not a great photo anyway ......

WezV

The big problem with guitars like this is you may have to go through it all again if you decide to sell.

But that looks pretty cool

richardhomer

WezV;1023364" said:

The big problem with guitars like this is you may have to go through it all again if you decide to sell.

But that looks pretty cool

And a good example of theFretboard's collective endeavour to help.

I almost feel like we all own the guitar now....

Modellista

Thank you Richard, I would wholeheartedly endorse that point. I'm very grateful to all those that helped, particularly yourself and @ICBM. As can be seen in the thread I went from thinking it might be a fake, to understanding it, to buying it.

I might even stop wondering about its provenance and play it later...

(I still can't help thinking the lack of truss rod scratchplate dimple means it's factory though...)

richardhomer;1023451" said:

[quote="WezV;1023364"]The big problem with guitars like this is you may have to go through it all again if you decide to sell.

But that looks pretty cool

And a good example of theFretboard's collective endeavour to help.

I almost feel like we all own the guitar now....
[/quote]