What color is my Strat?

[octagon]

I just bought this strat on ebay today. Seller said it was Pepto Bismol Pink but I don't think that is a real Fender color,lol. Could be Shell Pink but I didn't think Fender made American strats in Shell Pink in the 80s.

[whojamfan]

80s?

That looks repainted, and most, if not all, of that hardware doesn't look stock either. Hmmm

[winston]

Mitch I also suspect that it's a Partscaster, but we need to see under the hood. We also need to see the headstock decal. It appears to have Sperzel locking tuners on it and if so, they are almost certainly a replacement tuner. The serial number would be nice to know also, as that will help establish the pedigree of the neck at least.

[octagon]

Mitch I also suspect that it's a Partscaster, but we need to see under the hood. We also need to see the headstock decal. It appears to have Sperzel locking tuners on it and if so, they are almost certainly a replacement tuner. The serial number would be nice to know also, as that will help establish the pedigree of the neck at least.

Thanks guys! The seller says it was a Fender Strat Plus that was modified.The serial number is E909*** so it was made around 1989

Below is a webpage with info on these guitars.

http://xhefriguitars.com/page2.html

Apparently they were made with a variety of hardware including Sperzel and Schaller tuners and in finishes that were not found on other Fender strats such as "Dusty Rose"



and "Razz Berry".



all the Strat Plus guitars had Lace pickups so the pickups and pickguard has definatly been changed.I won't know until I get it what else is original and what has been modified.

[whojamfan]

The bridge looks like a locking replacement as well.

[octagon]

Yes,a Floyd Rose? Here is a photo of an all original 1988 Strat Plus in "Dusty Rose"

[ken_j]

I remember when the Strat Plus came out. This looks all original to me although I can't speak for the color. As I recall it should have a Wilkinson roller nut in addition to the locking tuners and this type bridge wiith powdered metal saddles. I may have an old Fender Frontline to research this. I'll have to look.

[Rick]

Nice looking guitar. My vote is dusty rose. The eighties, however, had that "International Color" scheme, with varying names/shades. Unsure if the Plus series could be ordered with those schemes.

Yup, at least the bridge p/u has been changed, as well as the Volume pot/knob. Some may argue for the better - personal choice, of course.

[ken_j]

The oldest Fender Frontline I have is from winter '92. At that time it shows the Strat Plus as having an Alder body, satin finish neck, Bi-flex truss rod, E-tronics, 3 Fender Lace Sensors, an American Standard trem, Wilkinson needle bearing roller nut, locking tuners, and a Hipshot tremsetter. The American Standard trem is listed as having stainless steel saddles not powered metal as I thought. I was only going by the look. This edition of Frontline also has a Tech Tips written by Trev Wilkinson on caring for your Wilkinson nut. There is also an article on the theroy of how a Lace Sensors work.

[BuddyDog]

Hello Kitty Pink?

I think it looks nice, though!

[timberic]

On the vintage strats, Fiesta Red ends up fading out to a pinkish color like that.

[jfine]

As Octagon says, it appears to be Dusty Rose. The Strat Plus came out in '87, although early ones had serial number decals left over from '85. That one's a Strat Plus Deluxe, which came with the Wilkinson roller nut, the locking bridge saddles, and the Sperzel tuners, so those parts are stock. I'm not so sure about the pickups and pickguard though--the Plus Deluxe originally came with four Fender/Lace Sensor pickups; a Blue (PAF humbucker sound) in the neck position, a Silver (fat-Strat sound) in the middle, and two Reds (hot humbucker) in the bridge position. The Deluxe came out shortly after the regular Plus, so late-'80's-early-'90's sounds about right. I bought a regular Strat Plus with three Gold Lace Sensors (vintage Strat sound) new in '87, and it was one of the best Strats I've ever had. Mine was black with a maple neck and a white pickguard, which I replaced with a white pearloid one, and I had some wiring mods done to it to allow all seven combinations of the three pickups. A few years after I got rid of it, a guy came in to the music store I was teaching in, complaining about a Strat he'd just bought that wasn't working right, and could we repair it? It turned out to be my Plus, and once I told him how the controls worked (I had a 3-way switch controlling the neck and bridge pickups with one volume knob, a separate volume knob for the middle pickup, and a master tone control) he got some idea of how to work it. I think he still had it converted back to standard Strat specs though...