Fender Guys: Is this a fake?

[Lasse Lammert]

Hello, I'm about to aquire this strat, but I gotta say that I have really little experience with strats....
The bridge and neck plate do look kinda suspicious though, I only know two types of saddles for a MIA strat, the bent steel or they greyish brushed ones with the offset screw...
or am I wrong and there's athird type?

help would be much appreciated

(I know, he replaced the pickguard and put a battery compartment in)

 

[Line666]

The neck plate isn't that suspect, theres a lot of strats out there where it is blank, more suspect is the fact that the word fender isn't stamped on the bridge saddles.

 

[Lasse Lammert]

Jut found out some more things.
Holes of the trem plate etc... Definitely not a us strat

 

[C-Martin]

Jut found out some more things.
Holes of the trem plate etc... Definitely not a us strat

Seems like the pickguard was cut for those old "fender floyds", not floyd rose or liscened floyd rose but their own invention. I've seen those mostly on Japanese strats though. The Bridge would look something like this:

It could have been modified back to a standard trem and they used some cheap non fender bridge.

 

[C-Martin]

After a closer inspection i can almost guarantee that the bridge has been modified. If you look close enough, the bridge doesn't have 6 screws but only 4 screws and it's the inside ones. Probably because they didn't plug the holes of the previous bridge bushings properly and there's not enough wood there for the screws to cling too.

 

[53Crëw]

I 2nd the above comments... I'm not sure that's a USA body, Lasse, for the reason you mentioned.

Also, it looks like you can see the old threaded insert from a 2 point bridge if you look in the spring cavity. It looks like someone just drilled four holes to put that bridge on.

Also, it looks like some wood was removed in the spring cavity (area without paint) in order to make clearance for the springs.

 

[Lasse Lammert]

yeah, there's loads more going on, like for example the position of the holes for the screws for the back plate

 

[greyskull]

fender neck, aftermarket body and hardware I reckon.

 

[greyskull]

yeah, there's loads more going on, like for example the position of the holes for the screws for the back plate

On Fenders the middle ones are usually offset.

 

[006]

fender neck, aftermarket body and hardware I reckon.

I'd agree with this. The neck looks legit, everything else is suspect, though.