1974 Fender Strat PUPs

[mc2]

Anyone know if some Fender Strat PUPs from 1974 may have not been stamped/inked with rear code numbers on them?

I sold my friend's '74 Strat for him on EBAY. He told me the neck PUP was chaged to a DiMarzio by him ages ago and he removed the cover from the middle PUP but thinks it is original...said he was sure he never changed the bridge one. He bought the guitar new and only he worked on it, no luthiers.

So....the EBAY buyer turns out to be someone with a rep for claiming to be "disatisfied" and scam for price reduction or refund...and then send back vintage Fenders with some of the parts changed out. There are several complaints about him on the Fender Forum for this.

He's trying that with me but I have not let on I know about him. I called EBAY and apparetnly they know about him and have cancelled at least one of his multiple IDs for this. His several otehr IDs they said have all had similar episodes.

I'm kind of in the middle, selling a guitar to help out a friend. My friend thinks he told me accurate info but has had the guitar for 40 years, so there is a chance his recollection is spotty. He is going to tear apart his 85 y.o. parents' LR closet today to look for the box with any fo the original parts he took off that he saved.

I only have side and top shots of the PUPs from the listing and a fuzzy close-up.....the buyer sent me a direct rear shot and I see no stamped numbers. I do know they fade sometimes. But I also do not know if the guy changed out what I sent him, as he has a rep for doing. Just wanting to know if no numbers on the back of '74 Strat PUPs mean they are definitely not original.

Are ANY of the three PUPs in the Seller pics original? Are any in the Buyer pic? Thanks for any help.

ALSO....the top photo was one of the 12 in the EBAY listing and you can see the VERY slight shaving/routing at the top of the neck cavity where the DiMarzio was put in. My listing stated "neck PUP has been replaced by DiMarzio SEE PHOTO"...and this guy is now claiming he wants $500 back for the routing that he "wasn't told about." It was pretty clear in the photo referred to in the listing. The guy claims to buy "30 guitars a week and owns 300" so he should know how to read an EBAY listing, no?

He is also bitching the knobs are not correct (it had Gibson speed knobs n it and three black Fender-looking knobs in the case, so I put those one thinking they were correct.) He is also demanding "ALL the original parts" that are mentioned in the EBAY listing that the owner believes he still has in a closet in his parents' house. Ad says "bid as if they are not included" but if owner finds them, he will send then to winner for no charge.

Opinions? (...besides "don't sell stuff for friends"

Original EBAY ad

http://cgi.ebay.com/...E:X:RTQ:US:1123

[hamerhead]

If he's a known scammer, tell him to piss off. Negative feedback sucks, but will be worth it just to be done with him.

-OR-

Turn the tables. Tell him you know EXACTLY what the guitar was, listed it as such, and he's trying to pull something. Being a known scammer, bring up some of his past deals. If he's smart (doubtful), he'll then shut the f**k up.

Either way-NO REFUNDS/NO RETURNS. Mostly because you will get the worst of it.

[kizanski]

Turn the tables. Tell him you know EXACTLY what the guitar was, listed it as such, and he's trying to pull something. Being a known scammer, bring up some of his past deals. If he's smart (doubtful), he'll then shut the f**k up.

Either way-NO REFUNDS/NO RETURNS. Mostly because you will get the worst of it.

My vote (if I had one).

Tell him to go piss up a rope, or pound salt, or any other colorful variation of "Fu-KOFF!!" that you can think of.

[zenmindbeginner]

The pickups should have dark grey bobbins and be stamped near the right hand side. Those bobbins are clearly black.

The plastic wires look correct though. If I were the buyer... I would be fairly convinced that they are not original.

Issue a full refund and get the guitar back ASAP.

[hamerhead]

Issue a full refund and get the guitar back ASAP.

Before or after he strips the good parts off?

[cynic]

I'm on board with the full refund and getting it back as quickly as you can. If you know of anyone near him, issue the refund and have it picked up today if he's agreeable.

When I've sold on eBay, I consider the pictures I use as much protection for me as they are informational for buyers. Without clear shots of the area in question in my mind it defaults to the customer being right.

[Lockbody]

The pickups should have dark grey bobbins and be stamped near the right hand side. Those bobbins are clearly black.

The plastic wires look correct though. If I were the buyer... I would be fairly convinced that they are not original.

Issue a full refund and get the guitar back ASAP.

Except for:

http://www.thegearpa...ad.php?t=446969

and

http://www.strat-talk.com/forum/stratocaster-discussion-forum/120965-black-bottom-pickups-74-strat.html

[mc2]

Thanks for the comments...especialy the links to the black bobbin '74 Strat PUPs...that clears up a lot, since my friend swears the middle and bridge are original.

Here is a link to some of the complaints on this guy who bought it from me on EBAY:

http://www.fender.com/community/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=41808&sid=d6948a00bcabae531520da3900518b3c

Like I said, when I called EBAY, as soon as I gave them his real name, they said a lot of complaints came up on all his various IDs and that they had cancelled at least one of his EBAY IDs.

I don't understand why, if a guy was bad enough for EBAY to cancel out his account...and they KNOW he has alternate IDs with other similar complaints....WHY does EBAY still allow him to operate? Shear greed for EBAY's percent of his sales?

BTW...you will notice some of his competitors in the Los Angeles area actually have disclaimers on their EBAY listings that THEY ARE NOT AFFILIATED WITH HIM (because of his bad reputation....I asked them why.)

[zenmindbeginner]

If they are leftover pickups from the pre-CBS era, they would have wax residue and rounded edges on the cast rods.

Plus, the pickups got codes from the winder, not the assembler and was part of their job to place them there upon manufacture.

If those were seconds from the 60's, they would have been discarded long prior to 1973 or 1974.

But yes, some of the 60's pre-CBS pickups didn't have codes and Fender was notorious for using whatever they had laying around in a shortage.

But what are the chances of music shops pulling out CBS pickups with grey flatwork and replacing them with 80's black bottoms and handing the guitar back to the owner unaware?

What are the chances of there being a quantity of 10 year old pickups without manufacturing codes that CBS era Fender used during shortages of grey vulcanized fiber?

Were there any known shortages of the grey material?

Would Fender deliberately set aside un-coded pickups for shortages?

That's why I said to get it back, so you could get to the bottom of this, if you find the wax and the rounded magnets, then you have proof that the pickups are indeed NOS pre-CBS 60's pickups, which you your friend should want and would make this guitar MORE valuable.

A couple of Gear Page posts shouldn't be enough to convince you that the pickups are legit IMHO.

But if the buyer knows that they are 60's era pickups and is still trying to scam you out of $500, then he is a thief and you need that guitar back.

[hamerhead]

......and he should be hunted down and beaten like a baby harp seal.

[carfish7]

Fender Forum got wiggy and axed the thread...........I read it earlier, took a shower to get the slime off, then returned and "poof" - gone.

What a dick. Best of luck sorting this out man.

[cmatthes]

The thread's still there with Jon's post.

[cynic]

I get "The requested topic does not exist."

[mc2]

Try this link:

http://www.fender.co...php?f=6&t=41808

[hamerhead]

Jeezus what a ball of sh!t. Where's a giant dung beetle when you need it?

[mc2]

MORE on this same POS....so y'all can know which IDs to avoid, so you don't get burned by him:

some other of his IDs, as per Fender Forum:

finditonlyhere

Prosell2000

(BTW **they also list Tune_o_matic but that is incorrect....This is actually the other ID of Vintage Sales Incorporated that runs the Disclaimer in its EBAY ads about the scammer.)

-----

http://www.tdpri.com...hp/t-89713.html

Warning : ebay seller [Archive] - Telecaster Guitar Forum

--------

http://cgi.ebay.com/...cvip=true&rt=nc

More of his IDs in a Disclaimer EBAY ad by a competitor:

Vintage Sales Incorporated is not associated or affiliated with eBay outfits or sellers: "finditonlyhere" "prosell2000" "hoygh67" "Imperial_vintage_guitars" "guitartherapy" "Shai Ashkenazi" or "Vintage Guitars and Parts Inc."

(email to me from this reputable seller I have bought from, who has the Disclaimer)

Hello Jon.

We have this disclaimer in our listings because many people seem to think that we are the same person.

Maybe because we're from the same town or because 'finditonlyhere' has copied our business model and their eBay listings look similar to ours.

Over the years we have found many negative posts online about this person and his business practices and in many of these posts our eBay user ID has been linked to him so that's the reason why we put that disclaimer up as we have no affiliation or connection with this person whatsoever.

Best Regards,

Vintage Sales Inc. Parts Department

------------

First We Start A Buyer Black List!!

http://groups.ebay.c...875398?start=24

Re: First We Start A Buyer Black List!!

Sep 7, 2010 12:05 PM

I have been on ebay for 6 years,and had a run in with a buyer (prosell2000) he won 2 items from me and refused to pay the shipping costs even when i combined them ,he left me 2 negatives when i refused to drop the shipping any lower and even threated in an ebay message to leave me the neg's ,that is when i called ebay and they removed both of them ,he is now blocked from bidding on my accounts,also his FB is private meaning he is a buyer only a seller cannot have private FB,beware of him he is from CA and lives to leave negative FB for anyone who won't bend to his demands.

pawnbrokermark

Post subject: Good news

PostPosted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 9:02 am

Offline

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Hobbyist

Joined: Mon Jul 18, 2011 9:42 am

Posts: 5

Ebay have just informed me that PROSELL2000 is no longer a member. I want to thank Ebay and this site for not only helping me but helping the many victims of the future. "No he is not done" he and many more will be back with other names. At least we won this small battle. Mark

[carfish7]

What a shock hearing this attitude coming from a dickhead;

i understand jealousy and hate towards success, it does nothing to me but pure entertainment and another unnecessary boost to my ego.

Really shows how our society has deteriorated. Work hard and earn it or just screw people and call yourself a "success"? I think we know which methodology is working best these days. Fucking people and then dismissing outrage as jealousy is a form of mental illness I'm afraid. It is rampant.

[cynic]

Reading thru the threads, it's pretty clear this Shai Ashkenazi guy is working out of Sherman Oaks.

Did his ebay ID list that as his location? At the very least, can anyone running auctions cancel/block bids from that area to try to protect themselves from jack-hole's eager to rip them off?

[murkat]

I just recieved a 13 year anny from ebay... wow.

just recently, the past couple of years.

there is a growing number of members

who make it fun, entertainment for themselves

to wreck havoc on sellers.

I am not ammune to this behaivor, and my feedback, points, etc.

have taken a beating from it. 100% for ten years, then the fuckers

came out and fucked with me. fuckers.

even if I just reply " just send it back", not good enough,

They want to engage and esculate to oblivion.

Total shame that Ebay caters to the buyer with no equality or reason.

As McChris says, and says it best....

But, sometimes, there is no alternative, and submit as last resort.

[cmatthes]

I no longer sell on eBay for those reasons. Not worth the hassle to me.

[mc2]

Well...the fkr just opened an EBAY complaint on the Strat, using the same Buyer's Protection M.O. he did to others, demanding $600 back and the rest of the original parts (that I stated as "BID AS IF THEY ARE NOT INCLUDED...IF OWNER CAN FIND THEM I WILL SEND FOR NO CHARGE LATER.")

Essentially, trying to get a near perfect '74 Strat for $1500.

I replied to EBAY that the guitar is exactly as described and pictured in listing....and I unveiled that I actually KNOW the buyer is a well-known scammer, who regularly does this and offered up his former EBAY ID that they banned, plus links his other scams discussed on Fender Forum, etc.

Within hours, he got my home phone number and emailed that he tried to call me (at 1 am from LA to NYC) and "...Call me and we can easily sort it out"

We'll see.

[hardheartedbill]

Nothing to sort out on your end. Its way easier being a back woods luddite these days lol

[zenmindbeginner]

Guitars usually work better on eBay when they're parted out...

Negative feedback is like Karma. I've yet to give out one negative feedback and have had my fair share of weirdness.

Just give the full refund and get it back... you don't have a next move besides that.

You might lose the neck plate and or tuners and bridge, but that is your friend's problem, not yours.

Shai Ashkenazi? Is he fucking kidding with that name?

[specialk]

Shai Ashkenazi? Is he fucking kidding with that name?

Is that an anagram of indianscout?

[cynic]

He's open to someone using his house as a movie location...maybe we should film an HFC movie

ETA: Have you also tried calling the BBB to see if his "Vintage Guitars and Parts Inc." is registered with them? If so I'd push complaints their way as well. If you choose to go that route, this link may be of some help.

[mc2]

Well...I spent a good hour on the phone with EBAY today and sent them ALL the dirst and links (even more than here) regarding this Buyer's scam history of EBAY sellers. Just got the following email regarding my $2100 sale of the 1974 Fender Strat:

eBay Customer Support has reviewed the case and made a final decision.

We decided not to issue the buyer a refund. You don't need to do anything else for this case. The hold on this PayPal transaction has been removed. This case is closed.

Decision:

This case has been decided in your favor. The hold on this PayPal transaction has been removed.

Comments:

To keep eBay safe, we may limit the number of cases a member can open or the dollar value of those cases. This won't be counted when we evaluate seller performance. Note: It may take up to 24 hours to update in your Seller Dashboard.

--------------UPDATE:

Gotta love it. EBAY investigates this scamming SOB's lies and rules in my favor....So he still goes and posts me Negative Feedback making the same claim. First Neg in 13 years. Oh well.

__________ OK....GOT THE NEG FEEDBACK BY THE A-HOLE REMOVED!! He's slick....he posted the Neg ASAP and EBAY must have locked the case just after that because I had no way to even reply or leave HIM anything but Positive Feedback. Bizarre.

Anyone know what country the first tier of EBAY customer service is farmed out to? They all have some sort of accent? Then, as you get referred up the ladder you they seem to tranfer you back to U.S. from the sound of the accents/names. It took some doing but it all worked out in my favor and the EBAY people were actually pretty helpful.