From what I could glean, this Strat-copy is a late-80’s (’86 and later) model of this guitar. But that was a good thing because it gave me some time to do some research. Unfortunately, they didn’t take plastic in any form, so I had to decline on the guitar. The tag on the guitar said it was for sale for $115 (sorry… if you came from the gear page, I mistakenly listed it at $125), and I asked if she’d take $100 including tax, and she agreed. And even though this guitar was well-used, I could tell it was taken care of because of only minor scratches and dings on the body. I had heard of Fernandes guitars being very high-quality for a great price, but upon seeing the workmanship up close for the first time, I was very impressed. I was really impressed by the workmanship. The shop owner walked up, and I asked to inspect the guitar. It had a nice, white finish with a maple neck (I LOVE maple necks), and it was obviously well-used from where I could see it. But tucked in behind some guitars was a Fernandes Strat-copy that caught my eye. I wasn’t overwhelmed by the selection of gear mostly no-name brands that I had never heard of, and as far amps were concerned, cheapo solid-state practice amps. This was a little pawn shop that mostly specialized in jewelry, but they had a number of amps and guitars as well. But today, I happened to park in front of a pawn shop (I work about 20 miles from where I live), and after lunch, on a whim, decided to go in.

I kind of stored that tidbit away for future reference, mainly because there aren’t any pawn shops really close to where I live. About a week ago, my friend Jeff Aragaki of Aracom Amps mentioned people finding great vintage gear in pawn shops. There are some things in life that you just can’t pass up.

Fernandes guitar serial number search