#7 - a birthday 12string

[cork sniffer]

Fender Australia also import Gretsch. I ordered and paid $900 deposit on an expensive MIJ Gretsch. When It (the only one in the country) arrived they refused to forward to my dealer until it had done the rounds of a trade show. I refused to buy it as a DEMO and imported one from Chicago Music Exchange and saved a further $500 from the heavily discounted price my dealer offered. I don't trust them, not one inch! They have some great dealers and history of pi**ing everybody about.

[cork sniffer]

Box says Strat, and it is a Strat, serial numbers match the box, the box I opened today was factory sealed (never opened by retailer).... so it's legit, and a legit error...

I've been told by Fender Australia that all product is opened, inspected and re-sealed in Sydney before shipping to dealers. They the importer have correct re-sealing system.

[Marcel]

Fender Australia also import Gretsch. I ordered and paid $900 deposit on an expensive MIJ Gretsch. When It (the only one in the country) arrived they refused to forward to my dealer until it had done the rounds of a trade show. I refused to buy it as a DEMO and imported one from Chicago Music Exchange and saved a further $500 from the heavily discounted price my dealer offered. I don't trust them, not one inch! They have some great dealers and history of pi**ing everybody about.

Yeah, I can't say much about Fender AU or the retailer I bought the gear through. I will say the retailer has done their best in getting four Fender items that they immediately advised were on back-order, and when Fender AU ultimately provided the items to them they were immediately dispatched to me, so 10/10 there. As far as Fender AU are concerned I think that the items I ordered were simply part of a much larger consignment that was held in their warehouse somewhere and dispatched according to what the label on the box indicated.... The real culprit is the QC department in Mexico. The error should have been picked up before the guitar was placed into the Fender gig bag and then boxed.

Yep, it's either a deliberate Factory Friday arvo special, or they had the new guitar model illiterate trainees in the headstock labelling and the bagging & boxing rooms... or maybe the QC guys were having a long lunch... Who knows ?... Could be management testing the QC staff by doing the 'see if anyone notices?' game...

[cork sniffer]

As referred to, I've had some personal experience with F Aust and my guess would be ... at Australian inspection your neck wasn't perfect. They have lots of spare parts and grabbed a big headstock Tele neck rather than a Strat neck. Easy done, you didn't spot it for a few hours. You're in an interesting position, drive it hard and they will replace the neck, or you get paper work from them as I did describing a mis-matched guitar as being sold by them and you have a talking point. Either way it's still a great instrument, enjoy and don't stress when dealing with them but NEVER give in to bullies. Get what YOU want out of it.

[Marcel]

As referred to, I've had some personal experience with F Aust and my guess would be ... at Australian inspection your neck wasn't perfect. They have lots of spare parts and grabbed a big headstock Tele neck rather than a Strat neck. Easy done, you didn't spot it for a few hours. You're in an interesting position, drive it hard and they will replace the neck, or you get paper work from them as I did describing a mis-matched guitar as being sold by them and you have a talking point. Either way it's still a great instrument, enjoy and don't stress when dealing with them but NEVER give in to bullies. Get what YOU want out of it.

Maybe....
A browse of all Tele models on the Fender AU site has two possible models to source necks from, being the Squire Vintage Modified Telecaster Deluxe or the Fender Classic Series '72 Telecaster Deluxe, however they both have 21 frets whereas mine has 22 frets so really they are not contenders. The Fender Chris Shiflett Telecaster Deluxe has a Rosewood fretboard so can be ignored. The '72 also has a bullet truss rod so it can be discounted on those grounds too. The 2018 Limited Edition Strat-Tele Hybrid neck could be a contender as it has 22 frets but being USA made the hole for the truss rod is incorrect as there is nil plastic insert.
So really there are nil large headstock 22 fret Mexican Tele necks in the current lineup... and then there is the issue of the serial number on the back of the headstock which matches the UN-adulterated number on the box it came in... I'm still not convinced that this isn't a Mexican factory supplied "error"...

[cork sniffer]

Enter your serial number into this link.
https://www.fender.com/product-regis.../serial-search
Just now as a test I entered two of mine, it even came up with correct coloured photo of the exact guitar.

EDIT

Saw your number in the box photo, ran it ... If the number on the back or your headstock is the same as on the box it looks like you are correct and it's a MX failure. If that's the case I think I'd get as much paper work as possible and keep it as it is. Possibly value added :-)

[Marcel]

Yep, I did the registration thing on the Fender web site ....
While strictly speaking this mis-labeling is a 'defect' I doubt I'll claim on it as I like the guitar too much .... I'll wait and see if Fender get concerned enough to get back to me.

[FrankenWashie]

NGD.... It arrived today, more or less direct from the factory, One Mexican built Vintage Blonde Fender Stratocaster Deluxe with Maple neck...

Ordered on-line as a birthday present by the one who approves these sorts of purchases and it basically came 3 weeks late .... and HELL YEAH I'm not complaining on the delay and loving playing it !! I'm gunna go with the idea that this was built on the day of my birthday and it simply took 3 weeks to get into my hands....

It sounds as it should, the standard C shape neck feels slightly thicker than I'm used to but it's way fine to hold and play, and I'm sure I'll get used to it... Vintage Blonde is everything I expected it to be with a slight showing of the Ash grain through the finish. Sweet as satin finish on a very clean Maple neck, Fender locking tuners, 2 point trem big block bridge, neck heel cutaway, three vintage noiseless PU's, S1 switch (adds bridge PU to pos# 4 & 5), 22 well finished frets, action and intonation out of the box near perfect ....

But there is something amiss visually, and I can't quite put my finger over it....

Mis-labelling aside, it looks freaking sweet. Igor turns green(er) with envy!

[DarkMark]

I didn’t know whether I wanted to laugh or cry when I saw the headstock. I’ve come round to liking it. However, someone in Mexico needs to be put up against the wall and shot.

[wazkelly]

Great conspiracy theory but this looks more like a Friday Arvo special right there.

Nice looking axe Marcel, even with the wrong model label. Could be a good test to see how long it takes anyone to notice and ask what happened?