Cheap 80s ST50 in UK

[ATO]

Someone's gone to some trouble to try and hide that this is a Tokai. Seller tells me the neck plate has been swapped, there is no serial on it. The saddles have been replaced with Fender, the headstock decal has been removed. It looks like the body stamp has also been rubbed off.
But it's super cheap. It's only 30 mins away from me but I've already got too many strats.

I suspect it's an 82/83 block logo but hard to know without having a good look at it.

https://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/1980s-strat/1476427338

 

[Sigmania]

Sweet!

It would be a bummer if they rubbed off the production code, but maybe it is just blurred for the photos. Fingers crossed.

You can date it with the switch after you buy it.

 

[ATO]

Sweet!

It would be a bummer if they rubbed off the production code, but maybe it is just blurred for the photos. Fingers crossed.

You can date it with the switch after you buy it.

I'm trying not to and you're not helping

 

[Sigmania]

Yeah. What it needs is someone that understands it.....

 

[ATO]

I went to have a look at this yesterday but I didn't buy it. It's been involved in an incident at some point, there's a substantial chunk out of the bottom of the neck that's been glued back in, a crack through the neck pocket and the pick guard has multiple cracks, which the seller has touched up in the pics so you can't see them! It also desperately needs a refret, they are completely flat with no meat left at all. Played to death.

I couldn't put him to the trouble of lifting the pick guard cos I was never going to buy it, so it will remain a mystery.

 

[Sigmania]

Bummer. Well, you never know til you try. Worth a look for sure.

 

[AC10SRT]

That’s very helpful thanks! I’ve been watching that guitar as a possible project for several weeks ( I think it was £425 originally) but I’m down in Bath so would have had to buy it blind! Glad I didn’t now!! lol..

 

[ATO]

For the sake of completeness - this guitar has turned up on FB with a new owner. Codes have been removed but the switch is April 83. Missing logo was obviously a block, so going by the list the codes will more than likely be 5=12 as there's one in there with an April Switch. Or could be the last batch into the UK 6=7.

 

[Homer J. Simpson]

It's sad but at this grade of wear and devaluation, it's a total loss or a candidate for a YouTube restoration video on a highly monetarized channel, a seller can't make money on an ST50 in that condition and turning it into a "player" for yourself would only make sense if you can do the frets yourself.

 

[ATO]

It's sad but at this grade of wear and devaluation, it's a total loss or a candidate for a YouTube restoration video on a highly monetarized channel, a seller can't make money on an ST50 in that condition and turning it into a "player" for yourself would only make sense if you can do the frets yourself.

The guy who has bought it going to restore it himself, he thinks there's still a bit of life in the frets, I think he's optimistic.