re: Is this Fender Strat (MIM) a good deal for $499?

Don't forget the 1980s MIJ fender

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1980s

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Ahhh yes it was the 1980s. Shreveport Music Co. had a used one that I really wanted but it sold right before I was able to afford it lol. But the gentlemen's post at the top of this page is correct. I got the MIM telecaster because it was cheap and I wanted something to try to tinker with to get a 1960s/1970s country/Waylon sound with (in my living room lol I don't play in bands or anything). But it really all will come down to how much you are willing to spend and how serious of a player you are (learning/hobby/gigging/professional/etc.). Any guitar is better than no guitar. Keep us posted on what you end up getting.

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an early 70s goldtop LP

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Still have that one? Those are quite exquisite pieces.

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Still have that one? Those are quite exquisite pieces.

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No, that one also belonged to my friends brother. His older brothers were in their 20s when we were very young teenagers. Thats how I got into music. They were in metal bands and I had been helping set up with live shows since I started hanging out at his house. Was badass music, Neo Geo AES and stealing their roaches from ashtrays..I loved the early 90s.

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Reverb - Fender Deluxe Players Stratocaster with Rosewood Fretboard 2005 - 2016 3-Color Sunburst\



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The Fender Deluxe Players Stratocaster Electric Guitar gives you classic Strat sound and feel in a beautiful package. This luxurious model is upgraded with American-made Vintage Noiseless pickups, medium-jumbo frets, and a 12" neck radius. As a result, it sounds fantastic and plays easy. It also is equipped with a push-button pickup switch (in addition to the usual toggle) that gives you 7 pickup combinations. Other deluxe features include a vintage-style synchronized tremolo, vintage-style tuners and gold-plated hardware throughout.


Features
Classic Strat style with body in a choice of great finishes
Comfortable modern C-shaped maple neck with 12" radius and 21 medium-jumbo frets
3 Vintage Noiseless single-coil pickups with advanced wiring for 7 pickup configurations
Traditional Vintage-style synchronized tremolo
Gold-plated hardware

Specifications
4-ply brown shell pickguard
12" neck radius
Modern C-shaped maple neck
21 medium-jumbo frets
Gold-plated hardware
3 Vintage Noiseless single-coil pickups
Push-button switch activates bridge pickup in positions 4 and 5 of blade switch for 7 pickup configurations
Vintage-style synchronized tremolo
Vintage-style tuners

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The Deluxe Players Strats are very, very nice and highly regarded.

The neck and body are nice, and the pickups are the American Noiseless Vintage pu's, and this guitar has 7-way switching - that extra little white switch engages the bridge pickup when you're in position 1 (neck) giving you Neck + Bridge like a Telecaster or in position 2 (neck+middle) giving you all three, which I think is jazzmaster-ish or maybe Rickenbackery or Gretchy...

I bought a used American Highway 1 Strat, which was introduced at the same time as the opposite of the Deluxe Player... the Highway 1 has a nice American neck and body and then awful cheap everything else.

I stripped it and put all of my prefered components on it, including a loaded pickguard from a Deluxe Player Strat! So my main Strat these days has these pickups/wiring, and it rocks.

The Highway 1 and Deluxe Player went for very close to the same amount of money... IME the Deluxe Player was good to go right out of the box but the Highway 1 wasn't giggable until I'd swapped out everything from the tuning machines to the trem block. I guess people just prefered the "Made In America" tag more than anything practical...

In short, in my opinion as a dude who's gigged for decades and has a batch of guitars, yes, the Deluxe Player Strat is worth $499. And I'm personally not a fan of gold hardware on guitars but...

The MIJ Fender stuff has been ghost-built for Fender by FujiGen Gakki and Dyna Gakki for the most part since the early 1980s and it is consistently excellent and off the charts for bang for the buck.

The initial MIJ stuff was branded "Squier by Fender." Those MIJ strats are among the best strats ever made IMHO. They look, they sound, they even smell like the best incarnation of a 70s strat you have ever experienced. Definitely better than 95 percent of the actual CBS Fender pieces you may have been around.

Fender later put the Fender name and snuck a "Made in Japan" decal on the headstock or the plate. That changed to "Crafted in Japan" in more recent years. The "Squier" name sat dormant and unused until it was moved to the discount and beginner lines.

Nowadays, MIM Fender is the intermediate line for the Western Hemisphere. MIJ Fender is the intermediate and to a degree the pro line in Asia, Europe and Australia, but plenty of MIJs penetrate the USA market.

Regardless of the decade, the MIJ attention to material selection and overall craftsmanship has remained meticulous and consistent piece to piece. How much so? When Fender tried to really tap into the vintage pre-CBS craze in the early 1990s (peak market/value window), they vested heavily in vintage reissues in both their MIA and their MIJ lines. And dealers, collectors and aficionados alike laughed when the lines debuted because the MIJs were more pre-CBS accurate than the MIAs, in both general specs AND overall tone and playability. While the Americans made a look-alike, the Japanese made a clone and a grand slam home run at that.

If we were talking MIJ strat for $499, get it in a heartbeat. "Game Over" moment.

Edited to add a relevant link ... More on Fender Japan

Listen to the expert most definitely, but a few considerations for new vs. used in my opinion would primarily be based on what are you using it for (learning, gigging, playing around, recording) and if its a specific sound or type of guitar you are looking for. Sometimes people will look for specific guitars from certain time periods when they were manufactured in a certain way/used a certain type of wood/certain type of fretboard/hardware/etc.) stuff like that. Or, even someone may think a certain model was of better quality than what is currently being offered new. Sometimes, its just finding a great deal or wanting one in a pinch to play with.

Edit: also there is a big following for true "vintage" instruments, especially guitars, so sometimes one may find one being sold (pawn shop, etc.) where they don't really realize what they have.

New: you can't really go wrong but I would do some research on the specific brand and model and see what other players have to say about it.

I just sold this model except it was a translucent blusih green finish with gold hardware....I bought it for $350 and sold it for $350. The noiseless pickups were good but it just didn't feel right for me.

Also the gold hardware was a huge turnoff

Point being, you can find these models for cheaper if you're not in a super rush and this is the model you want.

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Not trying to say I have a Les Paul clone or anything, but it is better by far than anything I could buy from Gison/Epiphone for 300 bucks and change.

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Im still wanting to get a Burny or Edwards Les Paul and to all the things to it that I'm hesitant to do to an older Gibson.

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If we were talking MIJ strat for $499, get it in a heartbeat. "Game Over" moment.

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I've got one of the Japanese Fender Reissue 69 blue flower paisley telecasters, like you said, it doesn't just look like an old telly, it feels, sounds and plays just like an old one, even the knobs and position switch feel right.