Is this a real Fender road worn Stratocaster?

andy1839

It should have 'Road Worn' stamped into the body under the pick guard.

The wear looks very off, wrong neck plate too.
I'd steer clear.

I've had three road worn, two strats and one tele, still have the tele. Cracking guitars.

professorben

Just bear in mind, that although it could be totally genuine and a great guitar at a great price.

 You are prob going to sell it at some point and will be on the other end of a thread like this. 

Walk away. 

LastMantra

noxmasforjohnquays said:

Yeah I'm gonna leave it. There's too much to be suspicious about. It's either real with a bunch of aftermarket parts thrown at it, or it's fake, or it's stolen. If it was stock and was just missing the serial number I'd consider it but in this state, pass.

Thanks for the help everyone! 










Shame, but think that's the best decision. Definitely not the bargain it's made out to be.

proggy

There's only one reason I can think of for removing the serial number, as others have pointed out...

walk away, you'll feel better for it - and plenty of other guitars will come your way.

Ben_McCarthy

proggy said:

There's only one reason I can think of for removing the serial number, as others have pointed out...

walk away, you'll feel better for it - and plenty of other guitars will come your way.

Great advice from @proggy, there’s always another guitar around the corner. You won’t regret it

TonyR

proggy said:

There's only one reason I can think of for removing the serial number, as others have pointed out...

I can think of another (as I experienced back in the early 90s) although it’s probably not relevant in this case - to avoid import duty...

I purchased a Rickenbacker 360/12 V64 from a shop in Leeds. When I got it home I noticed the serial number had been filed off the jack plate. I wasn’t best pleased - they couldn’t give me a decent reason as to why the serial number had been removed, but as I’d bought the guitar on finance I cancelled it and they took the guitar back.

Trading Standards were very interested (don’t mess with TonyR!) and they told me it would have been done it do get around paying import duty as without a serial number there is no telling the age of the guitar.

Interestingly the shop moved out of Leeds to York a few months later and then disappeared off the scene a couple of years after that.

mark123

IMHO
Ive owned a roadworn in this colour 
To me its a roadworn neck on a mex standard or classic body ,Body finish looks too thick of a finish and the wear looks as if he's copied it of roadworn pics online , the rear of the body looks too new ,that body is not a roadworn body, scratchplate and pick ups def not .

mark123

also my neck plate was blank and aged not fender log'od then rubbed with wet and dry or wire wool

ICBM

noxmasforjohnquays said:

That was, however, until I rang the guy selling it and he told me that the guitar was completely stock apart from the fact he'd sanded off the serial number so there was zero trace of it being made in Mexico. This has obviously put me off a little bit because I don't really know how to tell whether it's a genuine Fender or a knock off partscaster being sold as a Fender.

That's every reason to think that the guitar is either not what it's described as, or stolen.. and also that the seller is either dishonest or just a twat.

So that's a minimum of two reasons to walk away, no matter how good a price it looks like. If you want a Strat, you can get a legitimate one from an honest seller any day of the week.

LPManic

Does it state “as new”?

noxmasforjohnquays

Funkfingers said:
Does the vibrato sustain block have P.W. stamped into it? 

Not sure cause I can't tell from the photos but I could always look for whether it has if I go and see it. Should it have?

Funkfingers said:

You know the drill. If a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is.

And is this case, everything just seems a little too suspect. As much as I want to believe that it is a genuine guitar that hasn't been stolen.

thegummy said:

Got to ask why he would sand the serial number off.

Either it's fake or it's stolen - would you be happy buying either?

Like I said, it was apparently because the guy didn't want anyone to easily tell it was a Mexi and not an American made. The MX serial number being a dead giveaway. But to answer your question, no. The guy did sound kinda sketchy on the phone but that might have just been because he was from up north.

I'm tempted to go and see it still and try get a read on the guy in person. I can always go and have a look and not buy it if it still feels off.

noxmasforjohnquays

Funkfingers said:
Does the vibrato sustain block have P.W. stamped into it? 

Not sure cause I can't tell from the photos but I could always look for whether it has if I go and see it. Should it have?

Funkfingers said:

You know the drill. If a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is.

And is this case, everything just seems a little too suspect. As much as I want to believe that it is a genuine guitar that hasn't been stolen.

thegummy said:

Got to ask why he would sand the serial number off.

Either it's fake or it's stolen - would you be happy buying either?

Like I said, it was apparently because the guy didn't want anyone to easily tell it was a Mexi and not an American made. The MX serial number being a dead giveaway. But to answer your question, no. The guy did sound kinda sketchy on the phone but that might have just been because he was from up north.

I'm tempted to go and see it still and try get a read on the guy in person. I can always go and have a look and not buy it if it still feels off.