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Thread: Highway One - customised or is fender database incorrect?

  1. #1
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    Highway One - customised or is fender database incorrect?

    Hello,
    I've just purchased a highway one:
    https://ibb.co/P4N0Hrm
    https://ibb.co/7RjCsgs
    https://ibb.co/8x3V9FV
    https://ibb.co/8KxbfKk
    https://ibb.co/Jncsd5h
    https://ibb.co/KbLKqN3
    https://ibb.co/GR6HGh3


    As you can see it has single coil pickups with a sunburst body.
    When I searched for the serial number, it suggests the strat was originally a humbucker and was midnight wine colour.

    Is it likely the fender database is wrong about the colour and/or pickups or has someone done a job respraying the guitar and changing the humbucker out for a single coil?

    these are the results:

    Product Specs
    Body

    Alder
    Body Finish
    Satin Nitrocellulose Lacquer
    Body Shape
    Stratocaster®
    Bridge
    6-Saddle Vintage-Style Synchronized Tremolo
    Bridge Pickup
    Atomic™ Humbucking
    Color
    Midnight Wine
    Configuration
    HSS
    Control Knobs

    Black Plastic
    Controls
    Master Volume, Tone 1. (Neck Pickup), Greasebucket™ Tone Circuit, (Rolls Off Highs without Adding Bass), Tone 2. (Bridge Pickup), Greasebucket™ Tone Circuit
    Country Of Origin
    US
    Dimensions
    5.00x15.00x42.00 IN
    Fingerboard
    Rosewood
    Fingerboard Radius
    9.5" (241 mm)
    Fret Size
    Jumbo
    Hardware Finish
    Chrome
    Middle Pickup
    Hot Single-Coil Strat® with Alnico 3 Magnets
    Model Name
    Highway One™ Stratocaster® HSS (2006-2011), Rosewood Fingerboard, Midnight Wine
    Neck Finish
    Satin Urethane
    Neck Material
    Maple
    Neck Pickup
    Hot Single-Coil Strat® with Alnico 3 Magnets
    Neck Pickup
    Hot Single-Coil Strat® with Alnico 3 Magnets
    Last edited by Sifteruk; 05-05-2022 at 12:01 PM.

  2. #2
    Forum Member DanTheBluesMan's Avatar
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    Re: Highway One - customised or is fender database incorrect?

    Welcome to the forum.

    It's possible to be a partsocaster, with the neck from the guitar the database references.

    Check under the pickguard to see if any of the pickups match the database description, see if there's any changes to the solder joints. Take the neck off and see if there are any dates/codes in the pocket and on the heel of the neck.

    Not sure why somebody would buy a midnight wine guitar and refinish it in sunburst, but stranger things have happened. But I strongly suspect it is partsocaster. Who sold it, store/dealer or private individual?

    Not a lot to tell from one picture.
    "Live and learn and flip the burns"

  3. #3
    Forum Member phantomman's Avatar
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    Re: Highway One - customised or is fender database incorrect?

    Partscaster is a definite possibility.
    "When injustice becomes law then rebellion becomes duty."

  4. #4
    Forum Member OldStrummer's Avatar
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    Re: Highway One - customised or is fender database incorrect?

    The specs say HSS. Your photo is of a SSS. Partscaster.
    Striving to be ordinary

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  5. #5
    Forum Member BobbyMac's Avatar
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    Re: Highway One - customised or is fender database incorrect?

    The pickup mounting screws and the switch mounting screws on the guitar in the picture are domed round head screws. Those are not used on Fender Stratocasters, which normally have oval countersunk screws. To me, that suggests that the pickguard and the screws are aftermarket, and I suspect that the body is not original to your neck. In my opinion, this guitar is a partscaster.
    Born in Fullerton, California in 1952

  6. #6
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    Re: Highway One - customised or is fender database incorrect?

    Thanks for the feedback.
    Here are some more images in case it helps shed further light
    https://ibb.co/P4N0Hrm
    https://ibb.co/7RjCsgs
    https://ibb.co/8x3V9FV
    https://ibb.co/8KxbfKk
    https://ibb.co/Jncsd5h
    https://ibb.co/KbLKqN3


    Quote Originally Posted by DanTheBluesMan View Post
    Welcome to the forum.

    It's possible to be a partsocaster, with the neck from the guitar the database references.

    Check under the pickguard to see if any of the pickups match the database description, see if there's any changes to the solder joints. Take the neck off and see if there are any dates/codes in the pocket and on the heel of the neck.

    Not sure why somebody would buy a midnight wine guitar and refinish it in sunburst, but stranger things have happened. But I strongly suspect it is partsocaster. Who sold it, store/dealer or private individual?

    Not a lot to tell from one picture.

  7. #7
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    Re: Highway One - customised or is fender database incorrect?

    I've updated main post with further images. Thanks for the feedback so far. Very interesting and informative.

  8. #8
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    Re: Highway One - customised or is fender database incorrect?

    Quote Originally Posted by OldStrummer View Post
    The specs say HSS. Your photo is of a SSS. Partscaster.
    So if the previous owner had a highway one HSS and then replaced the humbucker with a single coil, the guitar is a part caster (as opposed to a customised highway one)? Or are you suggesting the body and the neck are not from the same guitar?

  9. #9
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    Re: Highway One - customised or is fender database incorrect?

    Thanks for your feedback.
    If the previous owner changed the humbucker to a single coil, he would have needed to change thr pickguard too so as not to have additoonal screw holes that are not used on a single coil. Might that explain why the pickguard and screws are not standard?

    Quote Originally Posted by BobbyMac View Post
    The pickup mounting screws and the switch mounting screws on the guitar in the picture are domed round head screws. Those are not used on Fender Stratocasters, which normally have oval countersunk screws. To me, that suggests that the pickguard and the screws are aftermarket, and I suspect that the body is not original to your neck. In my opinion, this guitar is a partscaster.

  10. #10
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    Re: Highway One - customised or is fender database incorrect?

    Thanks for your feedback.Is it not feasible that the previous owner changed out thr himbucker for a single coil?
    Quote Originally Posted by OldStrummer View Post
    The specs say HSS. Your photo is of a SSS. Partscaster.

  11. #11
    Forum Member OldStrummer's Avatar
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    Re: Highway One - customised or is fender database incorrect?

    I don't know if there's really a way to confirm an original neck on a Fender, since they are separately numbered. As for swapping out a humbucker for a single-coil, it's a rare humbucker that has the same profile: fit, pocket, etc. It could be a swapped pickup, but that still then begs the question: Is it original (as shipped from Fender) or is it a partscaster? I'm not one to pass judgement. I have a MIM Stratocaster where the middle pickup was replaced when the original went bad. Is it a partscaster? Not in my book, but that's a discussion for if and when I decide to sell it.
    Striving to be ordinary

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  12. #12
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    Re: Highway One - customised or is fender database incorrect?

    Do you know if there is a way to tell what strat my body originally was part of?

    Quote Originally Posted by OldStrummer View Post
    I don't know if there's really a way to confirm an original neck on a Fender, since they are separately numbered. As for swapping out a humbucker for a single-coil, it's a rare humbucker that has the same profile: fit, pocket, etc. It could be a swapped pickup, but that still then begs the question: Is it original (as shipped from Fender) or is it a partscaster? I'm not one to pass judgement. I have a MIM Stratocaster where the middle pickup was replaced when the original went bad. Is it a partscaster? Not in my book, but that's a discussion for if and when I decide to sell it.

  13. #13
    Forum Member S. Cane's Avatar
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    Re: Highway One - customised or is fender database incorrect?

    Quote Originally Posted by Sifteruk View Post
    Do you know if there is a way to tell what strat my body originally was part of?

    If it is indeed a Fender body and you’re lucky, there might be a sticker inside the routing with indicatives. As well as markings on the neck pocket. Pics might make us help you.

  14. #14
    Forum Member AudioHTIT's Avatar
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    Re: Highway One - customised or is fender database incorrect?

    Quote Originally Posted by BobbyMac View Post
    The pickup mounting screws and the switch mounting screws on the guitar in the picture are domed round head screws. Those are not used on Fender Stratocasters, which normally have oval countersunk screws. To me, that suggests that the pickguard and the screws are aftermarket, and I suspect that the body is not original to your neck. In my opinion, this guitar is a partscaster.
    While my vintage ‘65 Strat has pickup height, and selector switch mounting screws like you describe (oval head countersunk), the two Fender Mod Shop Strats I’ve bought in the last year both have round head screws for pups and switch. If I back out the screws, the pickguard is not countersunk. Even some of Fender’s vintage pickguards I’ve seen lately don’t have countersinking, except for the pickguard screws. I think the countersink oval head pickup and switch screws are now a thing of the past (though they could certainly appear on something from the custom shop).

  15. #15
    Forum Member Offshore Angler's Avatar
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    Re: Highway One - customised or is fender database incorrect?

    I'm not 100% sure, but I thought the Highway One's used the SW water based nitro that didn't have a high gloss. That looks like poly to me. I'm going to jump on the partscaster bus with the rest.
    "No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim

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