Fake Fender?

Danhedonia

Danhedonia

Noted duckfat enthusiast
I have a (nice) '94, "first year / urban legend" Mexican Telecaster .... or do I?

Recently I decided to 'register' my Fenders on their website (insurance and other reasons). The website did an extremely accurate job of using the serial #'s to identify not only the product and year (easy), but even knew the correct color of each guitar.

Then I put in the serial # for this. And was told it was a "Standard Stratocaster."

FWIW, I purchased it from Cambridge (MA) Music around 2000. The late Jim Mouradian (RIP) had his shop above the store, and he was in there and directed me to the guitar as "a really wonderful guitar." Apparent two-piece bod, and the neck has nice flaming on the back ... outstanding pickups. Shrug.

I doubt this is a fake, but I guess it could be? Given the rising interest in the 94/95 MX guitars, I'm wondering how FMIC could screw that up on the website, given how acccurate everything else is (even Squiers, perish the thought).

Tele1.jpg
Tele2.jpg
Tele3.jpg
 
I would go to TDPRI and ask there. They are excellent at sniffing out fakes. You may want to pull the neck and take pics of the neck heel and neck pocket, as well as clearer pics of both sides of the headstock.
 
Does it say "Squier Series" on the headstock as well? That looks like the white Tele my buddy has.
 
That looks like a early 90's Telecaster to me. The "Squier Series" used a black logo. At the time, Fender used top loading bridges. That one looks good.
 
It's not (at all) a Squier. I pulled the neck and it had date stamps -- a lot of Squiers don't. In fact, every single Squier I know doesn't, but I haven't opened up an 80's MIJ nor my 97 MIK ProTone.

I like the TDPRI suggestion.

Also, not to be too douchey, but it's a rock solid Tele. In a house with 40+ guitars, it is often the choice of visiting musicians.

Just really weirded out by the return on the FMIC website. Then again, they're the company that manufactures model-specific hardware that leaves a guitar non-functional.
 
Danhedonia said:
It's not (at all) a Squier. I pulled the neck and it had date stamps -- a lot of Squiers don't. In fact, every single Squier I know doesn't, but I haven't opened up an 80's MIJ nor my 97 MIK ProTone.

I like the TDPRI suggestion.

Also, not to be too douchey, but it's a rock solid Tele. In a house with 40+ guitars, it is often the choice of visiting musicians.

Just really weirded out by the return on the FMIC website. Then again, they're the company that manufactures model-specific hardware that leaves a guitar non-functional.
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To be clear, it was a short lived series, but I forgot the black logo part that @PunkKitty mentioned. They were MIM parts made with cheaper hardware. My buddy's Squier Series got an overhaul with an ashtray bridge and a paint job and screams. It's probably the only guitar he hasn't sold.
 
GilmourD said:
To be clear, it was a short lived series, but I forgot the black logo part that @PunkKitty mentioned. They were MIM parts made with cheaper hardware. My buddy's Squier Series got an overhaul with an ashtray bridge and a paint job and screams. It's probably the only guitar he hasn't sold.
Click to expand...
I have a 98 MIM Squier Strat that I've had for years. It's my best Strat. I upgraded everything on it. I'll probably never get rid of that thing.
 
Wow, I've been wondering about my USA Tele recently too. I didn't try to register it but fenders website couldn't find the model. I haven't seen another either. It's a USA Pro Standard Tele HS 2. What is TDPRI?
 
Danhedonia said:
It's not (at all) a Squier. I pulled the neck and it had date stamps -- a lot of Squiers don't. In fact, every single Squier I know doesn't, but I haven't opened up an 80's MIJ nor my 97 MIK ProTone.

I like the TDPRI suggestion.

Also, not to be too douchey, but it's a rock solid Tele. In a house with 40+ guitars, it is often the choice of visiting musicians.

Just really weirded out by the return on the FMIC website. Then again, they're the company that manufactures model-specific hardware that leaves a guitar non-functional.
Click to expand...

I hope you find out it"s not fake.
 
I tried it on my Fenders. It picked up my Strat Plus and Strat Deluxe just fine, but it failed to find my Limited Edition Vintage Player Mexican Strat. It also failed to find my Custom Shop Jazzmaster. Both of the not found guitars were bought new from Fender authorized dealers and have all the COAs and were registered for warranty when new. I guess they don't pick up the special editions or custom shop. I wouldn't worry about it if it doesn't find your guitar, as it seems to be a bit hit or miss for me too.
 
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Thanks for the responses. Helpful as always.

In case anyone reading doesn't know the mythology, the story goes something like this: The Ensenada plant opened in the mid 90's, and at first they were using higher-level US parts that were shipped south for assembly. The factory did a good job, and many Fender fans consider the 94/95 MIMs to be fantastic instruments.

I had zero idea about that when I purchased it. However, the date stamps in the guitar are September for the neck and November for the body. The neck has some nice flaming and a couple of stray bird eyes; the body appears to be a nicely grained two-piece. I feel like my guitar consists of parts that are "nice, nothing wrong" but were visually ID'd at the Corona plant as 'Mexico nice,' not 'American Standard' nice. The neck is particularly curious to me, as it's a sort of super-shallow soft-V shape.
 
Danhedonia said:
Thanks for the responses. Helpful as always.

In case anyone reading doesn't know the mythology, the story goes something like this: The Ensenada plant opened in the mid 90's, and at first they were using higher-level US parts that were shipped south for assembly. The factory did a good job, and many Fender fans consider the 94/95 MIMs to be fantastic instruments.

I had zero idea about that when I purchased it. However, the date stamps in the guitar are September for the neck and November for the body. The neck has some nice flaming and a couple of stray bird eyes; the body appears to be a nicely grained two-piece. I feel like my guitar consists of parts that are "nice, nothing wrong" but were visually ID'd at the Corona plant as 'Mexico nice,' not 'American Standard' nice. The neck is particularly curious to me, as it's a sort of super-shallow soft-V shape.
Click to expand...

I doubt that they even thought that far, just had 'parts' they sent to Mexico. Sure, maybe they hand picked the grade B stock, but likely not. I have a Yamaha red label FG-300 that was built in 72 after Yamaha moved production from Nippon Gakki Japan to the new Taiwan factory. Same parts as the Japanese builds, and they sent their luthiers to Taiwan to train and oversee production ramp up. So in all likelihood mine was made from Japanese sourced parts by both a Japanese luthier and his Taiwanese trainee. I suspect the first year or 2 in Mexico was a vey similar scenario
 
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