Got me some weird parts for a Strat build...Shed some light if you can

[kerc]

Thanks to a friend, I got some cool but odd parts for a Strat build. So I'm posting here to see if anyone have some ideas about why they are the way they are.

First, the body, a damn solid, apparently 2-piece body in solid mahogany. Nothing wrong with it (other than having to strip what looks like house paint), but look at the routing, especially on the back...It's like it used to have a LP-style switch cover.

Now the neck. Looks like a normal, old Strat fat-headstock neck, right? Notice something odd? Yep, it seems to have no truss rod! Is this original? The decal looks pretty legit...

Oh, a look at my messy bench.

Whaddaya guys think?

 

[markb]

Well it's not a Fender neck. With that head shape it should have a bullet truss rod adjuster and would have been a three bolt joint with microtilt adjuster. Even if it had been converted to four bolt you'd see the holes. I suspect that's a cheap japanese copy neck from the 70s with a rogue decal. There may be a truss rod under that maple cap fretboard, just not adjustable. Try holding a strong magnet against the neck. I have never seen anything like that hole in the body.

 

[ponticat]

Wood grain running at an angle to the centerline looks "interesting." Why would anybody do that?

 

[CitizenCain]

Can't help on the ID question, just thought I'd drop in and say hi! :beavisnbutthead:

 

[Brian Krashpad]

Can't help on the ID question, just thought I'd drop in and say hi! :beavisnbutthead:

CC! Hey man, go over to the Fret Players forum and introduce yerself man. Welcome amigo, this is a very cool place.

Jose, as far as the ID, I'm stumped on that weird hole in the body too. On the neck, Mark's post is along the lines of what I was guessing but he clearly knows more about the subject than I.

 

[kerc]

Can't help on the ID question, just thought I'd drop in and say hi! :beavisnbutthead:

CC! :bravo:

 

[TS808]

Definitely not an authentic Fender. I noticed there is no traditional type of tremolo routing on the body. My guess is that "hole" where the bridge goes is an odd style tremolo system. I had an old Kingston guitar that my great uncle had given me that had to springs for the trem...the tension of the strings held it in place and you pulled back or forward to whammy....my guess is it's a similar type of mechanism.