Is my Fender Strat a real American Made strat?
 

The serial number is 10038349 no letter in front of it.

well its not mine yet but may be soon. Here is the add with pictures.


http://www.kijiji.ca/v-guitar/fort-m...ationFlag=true

Yes. It is an American made Strat.

Even with no number in front of it? Went to fenders website to trace the year and it doesn't fit with they are saying, I did send them an email with the serial number and those pictures but it will take a few days im guessing.

From what I can tell it does appear American Made and im happy somebody else thinks so.

There is a Strat forum ("strat talk") where you might get an answer quicker than from Fender. It may be American, if for no other reason than all the trouble the guy went to to show numbers on the neck and so forth, but I agree that the number doesn't match the format Fender puts on its website for a 2010 model (no space after the "10", and followed by six digits rather than seven).

Just curious. Did you pay the $850.00 asking price?

i would check the strat talk forum also. perhaps, if this is an american made, it is a custom. otherwise it would have a letter prior to the serial number. for example, mine is an 89 and the serial is E9. it seems to only be a couple of years old.
you may want to check ebay sold sales and reverb price guide for comparison of the price.

play music!

Something isn't right with the serial number.

I think it's fake, and you're going to be taken.

Here's what it should look like on back of headstock for a 2010 American made Fender strat.

http://www.theguitarlounge.com.au/im...stock-back.jpg

http://www.guitarrepairbench.com/gui...mber.html#1976

This site suggests a 7-digit serial number beginning with 10 would be an early 2010. However that one has an 8-digit serial number. According to http://www.guitarrepairbench.com/gui...al-number.html, some Mexican Strats would have a 9-10 digit serial number beginning with 10-space, but again that one has an 8-digit serial number. So I don't know what to make of those photos.

I'm really curious to see how this ends up. So much looks right in the seller's pics, but that number is both in an odd format and oddly placed.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

I'm curious too. OP, if you haven't heard back via email, try calling. I recently tried emailing with a question regarding my '05 Tele and never got a reply. I called and spoke with a CS gentleman and within 10 minutes had an email with the full spec sheet for my serial number. Actually, I'll give kudos to Fender CS as the person I talked to was friendly, polite and helpful!

It's important to remember that the most coveted Fender guitars (the Pre-CBS ones) were mostly built by workers of Mexican heritage at Leo's factory.

It's no surprise to me that today's MIM Strats are of such high quality.

I got an email back from Fender confirming it was authentic. However I didnt end up buying it as it sold while i was waiting.

Thanks for the follow-up. Too bad Fender didn't explain the numbering for that specific guitar.

Its strange, Mexican made in Mexico be Mexicans speaking Spanish. US made in California by Mexicans, who are probably bilingual.