Home Forums Guitar Discussion Guitar HELP! Rambling idiot has a guitar with no origin!!!

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  • #24919
    IV
    Participant

    Hello, people who more than likely know more about guitars than I do.

    Quite recently I walked into my local guitar store, a small business ran buy a man with a dream; a dream of small business affairs.

    anyhoo.

    I found this guitar of mine and you see…. I have no idea where it came from, who made it, what company has anything to do with it and for that matter where he got it.

    The only identifiable marking on the guitar is the word, “California” written in cursive on the headstock. That’s it, nothing else… ziltch, nada.

    All he said was, “A friend of mine gets em’ for me.”

    It has the usual Stratocaster cliche’s, single coil pickups made somewhere unknown, somewhat obvious maple headstock, plastic here and there, nothing really expensive looking. I bought it on the premise that it sounded amazing. That’s about it. Still, I want to know where it came from and who made it. It’s such a wonderful instrument.

    Here it is, #http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/24/l_47c65c3e61064399917935bb7ea4320d.jpg

    This of course after I, like an idiot colored sharpie marker all over the damn thing… which actually turned out good because I used acetone to make the guitar a cool forest green color afterward but that isn’t the point, now is it?

    WHO IS CALIFORNIA GUITARS?
    THIS ISN’T A FENDER CALIFORNIA
    THIS ISN’T A SQUIRE CALIFORNIA

    I’ve seen and played those, they are nice. Good tone, all that jazz.
    However this is not that.

    Who knows? I hope you guys do.

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    • #127230
      StarcasterMan
      Participant

      You never know… it could be someone’s project guitar?!?!?!

    • #127227
      1bassleft
      Participant

      It’ll most likely be made in China. Plenty of independent guitar shops are placing orders for a run of 100 or whatever guitars made for them in China with their own choice of name on the headstock. I’ve just bought a Chinese-made classical acoustic for my son and that had “Valencia” on the headstock so “California” sounds good for a Strat copy.

      Also, if your guitar’s headstock is the same shape as a Strat’s then it’s even more likely to be Chinese. Fender has registered the shape as a trademark which scares off Japanese and Korean copyists but the Chinese factories don’t give a monkey’s about trademarks.

    • #127228
      glw
      Participant

      Not heard of those.

      Possibly someone builds them from Warmoth parts (or similar).

      The finish is distinctive!

      Have you any photos of the headstock?

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