USA Deluxe Strat on Ebay - reasonable price and what to look for?

Switch625

Howdy,

I've been hankering after a nice Strat for a while and considering the various options (Squier/Fender MIM/Fender USA) and I think I'd like to go for a USA Deluxe. Having seen a few for sale here and on eBay I have a rough idea of the sorts of prices they command.

I quite like the look of this one on Ebay - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Stratocaster-USA-Deluxe-2010-HSS-rare-Sunset-Metallic-Maple-neck-and-case/202669985237?hash=item2f30128dd5:g:lsAAAOSwKaBczZyI

Does the price seem reasonable and if I was to view it what should I look out for?

Thanks!

boogieman

It’s not as rare a colour as he’s claiming... your link throws up another one but with a couple of dings, for £200 cheaper...but it looks a very nice guitar and I reckon the price is about right for a mint example.

The noiseless pickups do sound slightly different to regular Fender pickups, but they solve a lot of noise issues that you can get with regular single coils, as you’d expect from the name  I believe the deluxe models had more detailed fret work done at the production phase, so it should play really nicely and the compound neck is a nice touch too. Locking tuners and a roller bridge should make the tuning really solid. 

ICBM

Probably a little high, but not too bad.

The bridge is at far too steep an angle - check that this is just because the trem springs aren't tight enough, rather than because the pivot posts are too low - if they are, that causes the underside of the bridge to bind against the top and can damage the finish, and in extreme cases the knife edges on the bridge.

Have a look for a small gap under the front of the bridge, and that it can be pulled back using the arm so that the back edge of the bridge will touch the body, without the bridge jamming - if it feels like it is, stop immediately. It should be easy to fix with a proper set-up if it is. Don't try to adjust it under string tension.