Is this Parts caster a good deal?

[Deftone]

This parts caster with a MIM neck caught my eye. Good deal for $420?

"This is a partscaster build with AWESOME components! It is awesome and ready to rock! Sounds amazing, plays well, comes with a gigbag (kind of rare for instruments on here to have any case). Check out the components - spec'd out!!!! If you want to trade, let me know what you have. It has the following specs: "

- MIM Fender maple neck
- Fender branded saddles
- Fender neckplate
- Seafoam green poplar body
- Fender-branded modern tuners
- Full sized potentiometers
- Upgraded military-grade Russian paper in oil capacitor
- 3 custom hand wound in the USA pickups (Swenson Insanity set. Mixed magnets, flat pole pieces, 17k DC resistance (roughly) each. Not hot output, but nice strat tone. Very unique). The "insanity" part is that it's wound with as much 44ga enamel wire as the bobbin will hold.
- Fender strap buttons
- Solid copper wire connectors between potentiometers (no copper braided wire in this setup)
- Aged creme knobs, pickguard, tremolo cover, switch tip
- Upgraded Fender-style roller string trees
- Comes with NEW Chromacast gig bag

https://sacramento.craigslist.org/msg/d/lincoln-seafoam-green-strat-with-new/7287534962.html

 

[Duane_the_tub]

I've never heard of those pickups so I have no idea how much of an upgrade they are, but my initial reaction is that you could buy a used MIM Strat and get all Fender-branded parts for less money than that. Easier to resell, too.

 

[CB91710]

Ya... At least it is an admitted Partscaster, but $420 seems a bit steep and in the range of an all-original MiM, particulrly with this being a poplar body.
Ya, it's technically a "hardwood", but only because it's not a conifer.
I've not seen a PIO cap like that.

 

[Foo for Thought]

Military-grade Russian paper. That's a new one, at least to me.

Seems like an okay deal, certainly not a screaming deal. Badass color, though.

 

[strayedstrater]

It's pretty. The neck has some flame. It's not a stock MIM Standard color so you won't find that exact guitar elsewhere.

I'm unfamiliar with the pickups, but everything else looks like good quality. (Not boutique quality, but everything is equal to or better than MIM Standard.)

Poplar isn't one of the woods most associated with Strats. But Leo used it occasionally for Strats, and for about a decade FMIC used it for the American Standard Strat. Most people can't tell the tone from alder.

Poplar's only real drawback is it's not very pretty. (Most of it is just bland, but sometimes it has greenish streaks.) But presumably the paint job is part of what appeals to you, so what the wood looks like underneath isn't a big deal.

Not a smokin' hot great deal. But not a bad deal either. If it calls to you, maybe go for it.
----------------------
MIM Standard pickups have some fans, but many people feel the need to upgrade them. If you buy a stock MIM Standard you should probably budget for an upgrade in case you don't love them.

If the Swensons don't please you, it wouldn't cost any more to replace them than it would cost to replace stock pickups.

 

[Deftone]

Thanks for the responses. Yes, I thought it looked nice. I'll pass on this one.

 

[diavolo]

I'm an hour south of Sac, in the Bay Area, if you want a customized strat I always have a few for sale.

 

[Duane_the_tub]

I'm an hour south of Sac, in the Bay Area, if you want a customized strat I always have a few for sale.

Or head over to the Strat Talk forum, there are always nice guitars moving through those classifieds at good prices.

 

[integra evan]

Doesn't look like a full thickness body either. Could be a Squier Affinity body or another cheap body.

 

[Deftone]

I'm an hour south of Sac, in the Bay Area, if you want a customized strat I always have a few for sale.

I actually built my own, but let's see what you got.