Conference napalm::guitar

I was in a music store this week in downtown Geneva and the salesman was at
pains to point out to me that the Fender Stratocasters he had in stock were 
built in the East and not in the US.

Certainly adverts in magazines in Europe differentiate between US-built and 
Korean for a sometimes considerable price difference. Is it worth paying 
for the US models?

By the way, how much is a Strat in the US? The guy here wanted 500 Swiss 
Francs (about $310) for a Korean Strat.

Cheers,
Dave

    
    Re: .1
    
    There is no way that a Korean or even Japanese built guitar can
    be sold as U.S. built in this country...it has to display a "Made
    in Korea (Japan)" sticker.  All foreign built Fenders do *not* have
    the "Made in USA" part of the Fender logo on their headstocks (likewise
    the amps).
    
    Most companies *do* have Japanese and Korean models.  B.C. Rich
    for example has the Rave series (Korean) and NJ (Japanese) as well
    as the U.S. made ones.  Kramer has Striker (Korean) Focus (Japanese)
    as well as their U.S. models, etc.
    
    Korea is rapidly taking over from Japan in low price guitars.  Those
    with nightmares of Hondo IIs will be surprised at the quality of
    current Korean instruments.
    
    This statement, like many others from dealers I've heard over the
    years like "It's really built by (insert name of more famous
    manufacturer here)" is a load of crap.  
    
    Fender *is* confusing people by making seemingly identical guitars
    both here and abroad (the original reason for Japanese manufacture
    was to supply foreign markets, not the U.S.) but I doubt that they
    would spend so much time trumpeting "Made in USA" and therby risking
    a lawsuit over a foreign built instrument.
    
    

    Re: .2
    
    $300 for an imported Strat is about par with the U.S.  Domestic models
    run one to two hundred dollars higher.  Squiers are somewhat cheaper.
    
    
    

    I just had a strat built from the custom shop in California. When
    talking to the Custom Shop, they informed me that the reason my
    strat was taking so long was that they couldn't use the manufacturing
    facility anymore for custom work. This was due to the fact that
    the custom shop orders was slowing down regular production. They
    ended up giving the custom shop their own facility. They indicated
    that the plant was sick of them using their tools etc to make custom
    order guitars. 
    
    I gather from this that; the strats are made in the US not Korea.
    
    For what it's worth...
    
    Regards,
    
    Tony

    I saw some Squiers last night in the $300-$350 range.
    
    Mike
    

    
    
    	I don't think that there are any legal quesions whatever (although
    I'm just a working schmoe and not an attorney) regarding buying
    materials overseas and assembling them in a domestic factory and
    then slapping a made in the USA sticker on it.  Just about every
    company (DEC is no exception) does it.  The term manufactured in
    the USA CAN apply to bolting Korean necks to Korean bodies.  Shame
    but true.  The big difference used to be that labor was the cheap
    commodity, but now that they Japanese and Koreans are starting to
    out-earn Americans, it's the sub-assemblies that are cheaper here
    because of their incredibly efficient factories.  Sure is getting
    confusing.
    
    
    Steve
    
    

    Squire strats can be had here for $199   w/o case.

    
    
    Can anybody tell me anything about pink, paisley Fender Strats ??
                 
    A local music shop of mine has one in, and it looks kinda...kinda,
    well sorta not typical Fender.
    
    Just curious.

    
    Paisley Fenders were made very briefly around 1968; also, a blur
    flower print finish was available.  Only Teles and Tele basses were
    offered at that time.  The finish was contact paper sealed with
    some kind of coating.  Originals of these are expensive collector's
    items.
    
    A few years ago, they began importing Japanese made Paisley Tele
    reissues.  Haven't seen any Strats yet...
    
    

    Yup, Fender made paisley finish Teles during the 60s. According
    to a Guitar Player article (about 5 years ago, or so), they tried
    putting the paisley finish onto a Strat. Just the one, which is
    now owned by John Entwistle.
    
    Anyway, for some time now, I've seen paisley finish Strats in stores.
    I haven't looked to closely (it offends my sensibilities!), so I
    can't swear whether they were Japanese or Korean Fenders, or some
    other make (such as Tokai), though I seem to remember that they
    were Squiers. I'm sure I haven't seen US Strats with this colour
    scheme...
    
    Nick 

    I was recently at a vendor show, Fender had a booth. Low and behold
    I saw a Paisley strat. It had the big headstock with the large
    stratocaster emblem. I don't remember the price. I saw a similar
    strat at the Chicago NAMM show as well. Evidently Fender is selling
    them. At the local Indy show, Fender American strats were going for 389.00
    with a case, the strat-plus at 499 w/case, and squire strats for
    199 w/case. I mentioned the deals to a friend of mine who works
    at a music store, he told me that sometimes they put flawed guitars
    at those shows (ie. paint or neck finish etc etc.)
    
    They looked good to me, I couldn't tell there were any flaws.
    
    Regards, 
    
    Tony

    Brian, just how much is an old paisley tele worth?  A friend of
    mine had one a few months ago.  I told him he should check it out
    before trading it, but he traded it right away.  I think he got
    maybe $300 out of it.
    
    Bob

    
    An original Paisley tele (that is, from 68 and no parts replaced)
    is probably worth well over $1000 if in nice condition, as usual,
    the more beat up or the more replaced parts, the less it's worth.
    
    

    I have a Korean Strat purchased from Wurlitzers in Worcester five years
    ago. As far as I'm concerned, for the money spent it sounds pretty
    good. However I can't get anyone from the various music stores or for
    that matter the literature, to tell me what kind of wood is used in the
    body. I think it's poplar. Any one have any clue? Also any ideas as to
    the best sounding strat clone available? Prices for the American models
    seem way to high.

    Don't know how much truth there is to it, but I heard a rumor that the
    Korean made Fender (Squire) stuff had laminate bodies.
    
    Greg

    The best sounding and playing Strat clones I ever saw were the early
    Fernandes, the ones with headstocks exactly like a Fender.  Later
    versions had slightly altered headstocks and were good too, but those
    early ones seemed to have something special.  The Japanese made Fender
    vintage re-issues (50's series and 60's series I think they're called)
    have details that are very much like those Fernandes; I would bet money
    that they're built on the same line.  If you're looking for something
    new, I'd check these out.
    
    /rick

    Thanks Rick. I'll start looking.