Fender Stratocaster, 1983 Serial No. E327082

Jiffles · October 2017

Hi All, I've chanced upon a Fender Stratocaster 1983/4, Serial No. E327082, black body and white scratchplate with maple neck, and I have chance to acquire it. It's been looked after very well and is close to showroom condition. The neck is straight, and it has all the correct fittings, i.e. jack plug socket via the scratchplate, freeflyte bridge, two string trees etc; so I've a reasonable amount of info on the history of where/when it was made, and its only had one owner so far! My curiosity revolves around desirability and current resale value. Can anyone offer any guidance please. Rgds, Jiffles.

richardhomer · October 2017

I’m probably massively out of step here - but in terms of desirability - I’d say ‘not very’.

These guitars were the last role of the dice at making money building guitars at Fullerton - so historically interesting. The design was much cheaper to produce - but with it went many ‘classic’ features.

I’d have thought somewhere around £600 is probably right - but as I say, I may well be out of step....

ICBM · October 2017

I would have thought less, to be honest. They are not desirable instruments at all - not only is there the horrible Freeflyte bridge, but the necks are very skinny and almost all v-shaped, which is pretty much the opposite of current fashion.

At least if it still has the Freeflyte and the pickguard mounted jack - a lot got modified, some with hardtails and some with Kahler trems (both of which require substantial and irreversible woodwork), and many had the teardrop jack plate fitted as well, even if the body wasn't simply replaced - it has some originality value, but I can't see it being worth as much as an early 'normal' USA Standard which immediately followed them.

I would say £500 max.

sweepy · October 2017

Agree with @ICBM tbh £500 tops

Jiffles · October 2017

Thanks to you all for your comments.

Funkfingers · October 2017

ICBM said:

not only is there the horrible Freeflyte bridge but the necks are very skinny and almost all v-shaped ... a lot got modified ... with Kahler trems (both of which require substantial and irreversible woodwork)

I had one. I performed the Kahler mod. It was the neck profile that led me to sell the guitar.

As has been pointed out, the resale market for the Fender '83/84 Standard Stratocaster is severely limited. I know of only one person on this discussion board likely to hoard them.

gusman2x · October 2017

Was this a Dan Smith strat, or was that one model before?

Funkfingers · October 2017

The "Dan Smith one" was before.

clarkefan · October 2017

Weird, my Japanese Squier also has a serial no beginning with E then 6 figures...

DefaultM · October 2017

My Dad has got one. It's shit. There aren't any other words for it.

DaiCapp · October 2017

I'm going against the grain here but I've had one since 1987 and I love mine. It is a bit of a freak though insofar as a few folks have played it and were surprised that they enjoyed it.

I do know there were some right lemons though but the odd one seems to have come out OK. I'd agree on resale value being very low but mines a keeper anyway so I'm not so bothered about that...

HarrySeven · October 2017

Funkfingers said:

I know of only one person on this discussion board likely to hoard them.

Yes, indeedy!

HarrySeven · October 2017

Incidentally, some sellers attempt to pass these off as “Dan Smith era” guitars in order to bump up the perceived value.

As @Funkfingers implies, I do have a fondness for them, but that’s tempered with a realistic appraisal of their value, foibles and shortcomings - this was a cost-cutting exercise, after all!

To some degree, they’re almost worth considering as “not” a Strat as we know it - more like a quirky and inaccurate copy. I quite like them (for that reason) and do acquire them when they occasionally come my way. I’d buy another tomorrow - but only at an appropriate price!

NB. Previously, I’ve been offered (and sometimes bought) these at anywhere between £300 - £500. I’d say £500 is *right* at the absolute top of the scale. People asking £600+ are just dreaming.

@Jiffles - your question re. desirability and current resale value suggests you’re considering purchasing and flipping it for profit?

SNAKEBITE · October 2017

Any pictures?

I'm intrigued.

HarrySeven · October 2017

@SNAKEBITE - This is the model.

fretfinder · October 2017

One on eBay for a mere £1500...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Stratocaster-1983-Dan-Smith-era-includes-original-hard-case-/253153495444?hash=item3af11fc994:g:Y9EAAOSwhIFZhMvm

Or just £825 if you're less flush.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-1983-Dan-smith-Era-Stratocaster-FULLERTON-USA-ERA-Awesome-/152727873756?hash=item238f4a68dc:g:sGcAAOSwGdhZo~ER

randella · October 2017

@HarrySeven - thank you for posting the pics, very interesting.

I remember seeing one of these on the wall in one of the Denmark St. shops circa 1990, for sale as a 'curiosity' which I guess they are. I know a fair bit about the history (the cost-cutting jack placement et al.) and I'd always thought the bridge wasn't bad - you know, it had the two-post thing from the Kahler and Floyd bridges which were popular at the time, a design feature in itself an improvement over the six-screw trad Fender jobs.

But the springs are inside the pickup cavity? Not so nice. And does the bridge pivot on the screws as I thought previously, or is there some sort of hinge between the main bridge assembly and the strip that's screwed to the body by the hex-head bolts?

Every day's a school day though and I've added to the mine of useless Fender trivia in my brain

Hoarasaurus · October 2017

If I may, I'll put my twopenneth in; My gut feeling is to leave well alone. I've played better Encores from Argos!

Now, a Jap Strat form the same era, that's a different kettle of fish altogether...

Funkfingers · October 2017

randella said:

I'd always thought the bridge wasn't bad - you know, it had the two-post thing from the Kahler and Floyd bridges which were popular at the time, a design feature in itself an improvement over the six-screw trad Fender jobs.

But the springs are inside the pickup cavity? Not so nice. And does the bridge pivot on the screws as I thought previously, or is there some sort of hinge between the main bridge assembly and the strip that's screwed to the body by the hex-head bolts?

HarrySeven said:

As this photograph provided by H7 illustrates, the Fender Freeflyte vibrato bridge behaves as a two-piece design. Rather like the Ibanez Power Rocker, the knife edge on the baseplate engages with a precisely machined strip of steel that is recessed and bolted into guitar body. (Yes, bolted! There are threaded inserts underneath.)

Running the tension springs in the manner shown makes no great difference from the traditional Fender location. It does save the production line time that it takes to turn a body over to rout the other side. Spring tension is adjusted with an Allen key - rather like some Kahler Pro models.

The main problems with the Freeflyte are that the strings are anchored just below the baseplate (much like some Ibanez guitars), the saddles are crap and the whole assembly refuses to sit flush with the top of the guitar body. Hence, it is a bugger to stabilise.

Thirty five years of guitar development has brought us the Floyd Rose FRX. I dare say that this design could be attached to the front of an '83/84 Stratocaster. It might disguise the original rout but the neck pitch angle would need attention.

Speaking of the neck, the fingerboard radius was 12", the frets were huge and the profile was skinny. Again, all features that we would now associate with Ibanez.

All in all, one of Fender's wrong turns.

ICBM · October 2017

It still amazes me that the cost saving of not having to rout the body from both sides was enough to justify the money that must have been spent on the design and tooling for that piece of crap.

There's also a really stupid piece of extra cost that someone wasn't clever enough to spot and remove - there's only one tone control, but rather than simply connecting it to the volume control, it's connected to all three switch poles on the normal tone-control side, and then linked to the other side of the switch. A small detail, but it must have taken a minute or two extra to wire and increases switching noise and unreliability.

A word of warning for anyone who sees one of these advertised, as it hasn't been mentioned yet - it's quite common to find the necks transplanted onto completely non-Fender standard Strat-type bodies, including some real cheapos, and then sold as a 'Fender Strat'.

What's nice about them is that because there's no back rout or even string ferrules as on a normal hardtail, you can fit a Kahler (admittedly with a lot of woodwork) and it will look like a stock fitting. That aside… not much.

It's predictable that they're sold as 'Dan Smith Strats' by some sellers, which they are not. Although even those are not worth as much as they once were - rightly so in my opinion, they're nothing more than a re-shaped late-CBS Strat. Apart from the better body contouring, smaller (but incorrect) headstock and four-bolt neck joint they still have the other typical faults of the last 3-bolts. The only reason they became valuable is because they were about the nicest modern Strats before the accurate vintage reissues came along, but nowadays anything from the Custom Shop makes them look pretty poor.

ICBM · October 2017

Or for that matter a Mexican Classic Series, which will almost certainly be a better guitar in every way than any of these and typically sells for under £500 second hand.

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Fender Stratocaster, 1983 Serial No. E327082

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