How to Spot a Made in USA Fender:

smitty_p said:
Just a minor observation....

To say these guitars are "foreign" is true in the sense that the vast majority of the parts and processing is of foreign origin. I get that and I see your point. I do not outright disagree.

But, until these parts are assembled into a guitar, they are still just parts. You don't actually have a "guitar" until the pieces are put together.

So, in one sense the "guitar" is foreign in that its parts are of foreign origin. In another sense, the guitar is (somewhat) American in that those individual parts become a guitar in the US. However, not enough of the processing and parts are of US origin to qualify as "Made in USA". So, it occupies somewhat of a murky middle ground.

Of course, Fender makes things very ambiguous by doing things like putting a US flag sticker on these guitars. The impression from most uninformed purchasers would be that the guitar is actually a "Made in USA" guitar. I would prefer to see Fender charge an intermediate price somewhere between the completely foreign made guitars and the truly US made guitars and advertise them as such.
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Very much in agreement with your perspective. Again, most buyers probably don't care, but it bothered me.
 
Inspector #20 said:
@marshalltsl - I notice shims used to correct neck angle, which is not factory installed, as far as I've ever seen.

However, i don't have enough data to declare the body a non-Fender.
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I think it is the first time that the neck has been removed on this guitar. My brother has never disassembled it, he doesn't even change his guitar strings on his guitars. But I may be wrong. It's been a long time since anyone used this guitar. Who knows. Anyway thank you for info.
 
Shims were used on some 4 bolt neck Fenders from the factory
the L series Stratocaster I gave my sister in law had a shim in the neck pocket stock
I got a 1956 Stratocaster in 2008 neck had never been off it had a shim also stuck on the lacquer
 
67plexi said:
Shims were used on some 4 bolt neck Fenders from the factory
the L series Stratocaster I gave my sister in law had a shim in the neck pocket stock
I got a 1956 Stratocaster in 2008 neck had never been off it had a shim also stuck on the lacquer
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I've had two Strats that came from the factory with shims, and one of those was a Custom Shop.
 
gball said:
I've had two Strats that came from the factory with shims, and one of those was a Custom Shop.
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I've only seen full-pocket shims with "Fender" burned into them, (in modern times) but i don't doubt you fellows one bit.
 
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The one from the CS Strat was just at the end of the pocket. A piece of reddish-colored fiberboard that was about the width of the neck pocket and only about a quarter inch wide. It was really thin material - did not do that much to the neck angle, but I was still surprised it was there.

I don't remember the other, that was like 30 years ago but it did have one and in both cases I bought the guitars brand-new from authorized dealers.
 
Inspector #20 said:
Very much in agreement with your perspective. Again, most buyers probably don't care, but it bothered me.
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Yeah. Regrettably, I almost feel like Fender has boxed itself out of a great marketing opportunity.

They have completely foreign made instruments, and they have the much less numerous truly US-made instruments.

But, these instruments could occupy a middle-of-the-road category. By pricing these domestic-built guitars made from foreign parts a little less than they do now, they could really push them and not have to hide a thing.

They could just come out and say, loudly and proudly, that these guitars are assembled and set up right here in the USA by your fellow Americans from parts built overseas to Fender's specifications. They could fill a market for those who want to buy a guitar that still supports American labor, to some extent, but who can't afford the full USA-made guitars. They would have to take less per guitar, but my guess is that it could be made up on volume.

But, maybe I'm totally wrong and just speculating....
 
smitty_p said:
Yeah. Regrettably, I almost feel like Fender has boxed itself out of a great marketing opportunity.

They have completely foreign made instruments, and they have the much less numerous truly US-made instruments.

But, these instruments could occupy a middle-of-the-road category. By pricing these domestic-built guitars made from foreign parts a little less than they do now, they could really push them and not have to hide a thing.

They could just come out and say, loudly and proudly, that these guitars are assembled and set up right here in the USA by your fellow Americans from parts built overseas to Fender's specifications. They could fill a market for those who want to buy a guitar that still supports American labor, to some extent, but who can't afford the full USA-made guitars. They would have to take less per guitar, but my guess is that it could be made up on volume.

But, maybe I'm totally wrong and just speculating....
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Agree 100%
 
Inspector #20 said:
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Y'know, I felt like Fender has started to make some progress in the '90s. The features on the American Standard Strats of the mid to late '90s were at least a nod to modernity, even if they were not going to fool around with some things too much. But the same "everything was better in the '50s" weenies made them go back to stupid stamped bridge saddles and "vintage" style pickups. At least they kept the 2-point trem, but damn if the TBX wasn't the best circuit they ever had in a Strat. Really should bring that back, along with more modern-sounding pickups. Not everone wants to sound like their grandfather.
 
gball said:
Y'know, I felt like Fender has started to make some progress in the '90s. The features on the American Standard Strats of the mid to late '90s were at least a nod to modernity, even if they were not going to fool around with some things too much. But the same "everything was better in the '50s" weenies made them go back to stupid stamped bridge saddles and "vintage" style pickups. At least they kept the 2-point trem, but damn if the TBX wasn't the best circuit they ever had in a Strat. Really should bring that back, along with more modern-sounding pickups. Not everone wants to sound like their grandfather.
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Agreed!!!!

Funny you should mention the TBX. I really, really like it!!!
 
gball said:
Seriously - master volume, master tone, master treble/bass cut. Worked a champ and the hotter pickups they had at the time could actually be used for something more than wanking out Miserlou.
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I got a TBX and im thinking i would like to incorporate into my neck-through SG build for the bridge, but I'd also like to employ the push-pulls that i have on hand for coil split and phase reversal.
 
Inspector #20 said:
I got a TBX and im thinking i would like to incorporate into my neck-through SG build for the bridge, but I'd also like to employ the push-pulls that i have on hand for coil split and phase reversal.
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Sounds like a good circuit. I was really never into the push-pull stuff, but I got that LP Classic and I find that I really really like the coil "splits" and the out-of-phase. The blow switch isn't really my thing, but I can see why people would like it for sure.
 
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