To: Harrison and other strat enthusiasts

Novawind

Opened up my strat last week and took these pictures.

Open Body:

Open Body 2:


Neck Pickup:


Neck Pickup Closeup:


Bridge Pickup:


Dials:


I noticed that on the neck and bridge pickups there seems to be some excess glue/epoxy (see closeup). Is this normal or even a problem? Some yellow paint speckled on the inside of the tone knobs but that's not really an issue either. I also noticed that the serial number was not the same as the one listed on the inside of the body on a sticker (see Open Body picture 1). Just curious if this means either the body or the neck has been replaced. I got this guitar used and it still sounds fine, just curious about its specs.

moster78

Last night I took my Strat apart to, kind of just like that. Dropped all the pickups off the picguard to get the last of the plastic out from around the screws. I think the inside of mine looked pretty much like that. Not sure about the serial numbers needing to match, as I didn't pay too close attention to that, but if its perfect for you, I wouldn't sweat it.

According to the S/N, when was it made? Maybe that'll be some kind of clue.

harrisonmerwin

Hey,

i think its just the flux from whatever machine does the soldering. What is the model and serial number? also, get any dates, initials, and numbers stamped on the butt of the neck, and where the neck attaches to the body. it looks like MIM/MIJ between 2000-present. Somethign that i noticed that was odd was the 3 shallow circles near the short horn...i have never seen that before.

moster78

harrisonmerwin wrote:

Somethign that i noticed that was odd was the 3 shallow circles near the short horn...i have never seen that before.

I noticed mine had something similar to that as well. Not sure if it was three shallow circles, but there was definitely at least one. American made Strat, from either 2004 or 2005.

Novawind

I'm at my girlfriend's so I don't have the serial number off hand, I know for a fact though it's MIM. 1996 I think. I'll take a closer look when I get home. Could the 3 shallow circles potentially be for a different type of pickguard, maybe tele style?

harrisonmerwin

i think the holes are an option for rewiring your guitar,as you can see the body is cut to hold humbucks if you want, so i think the holes give you a place to ground them possibly, or wire them to an opposite polarity.

exhausted

holes are CNC guide points i *think*.

harrisonmerwin

exhausted wrote:

holes are CNC guide points i *think*.

your right, its a MIM, that would be the machine's guidance so it can make every guitar quickly and the same. It would also explain the extra soldering flux used by the machine since they dont want any error's. I liek the american deluxe for the reason that they are hand wired and assembled for the most part.