Strat experts, help me identify/confirm this MIJ strat

[vultures]

I'm not an expert on strat identification at all. I've worked on a ton, just not my expertise. I saved this one from the dumpster. It looks like someone took a MIJ strat, stamped "Made in U.S.A." on the heel and tried to pass it off as a USA strat? I've played a handful of MIJ strats and the neck feels right. The body seems off though. Here's my findings:

Neck:

• F+6 Digit Serial - 86-87 Made in Japan neck?
• Made in Japan scratched off the heel?
• Made in U.S.A. stamped on heel, not by Fender, right?
• I can't find a MIJ from that era with a heel adjustment, but no walnut plug at the headstock.

Body:

• Forearm contour feels off
• Neck pocket stamped with Nov 28 XX, can't read the rest. 8 something?
• Tremolo looks legit, but the saddles look like cheap replacements.
• Never seen pickups like this in Fenders, only cheap Squiers.
• D500k Pots with the JP Jung Poong logo, a now defunct South Korean company.

I joined a facebook fender amp & guitar group, asked them for help IDing and they banned me.

 

[NowYou'rePlayingWithPower]

The neck and pickups are definitely from that era MIJ.
Off of the top of my head the tooling clamp holes and the treble side corner (should be a lot more rounded) in the neck pocket don't seem to be right for MIJ. Can you post a pic of just the body with the routing and are the middle screws on the back cover offset or even with each other?

Edit: NM on the pickups, I was going off the wiring color and ignoring the pickups, themselves. The neck is definitely an 86/87 MIJ, though. I don't think that's a fender or a squier body, though. Possibly just a random MIK or something like that.

 

[Al Chapo]

Other than an st-362, which 86/87 necks are heel adjustment with no plug, though? And those are all rosewood with 2 tee's. That'd be a hell of a patch job for someone who couldn't rub sticker residue off before hammering a label under it lol. - I do think it looks like a legit strat neck too, just can't put a finger on the model.

The pickups don't look right, pots definitely wouldn't be stock, and they don't look like they've been touched. I don't like the odds for the body. What's going on with the routing? With what little I see, it looks like an awkward swimming pool? Basswood is right at least!

 

[NowYou'rePlayingWithPower]

Other than an st-362, which 86/87 necks are heel adjustment with no plug, though? And those are all rosewood with 2 tee's. That'd be a hell of a patch job for someone who couldn't rub sticker residue off before hammering a label under it lol. - I do think it looks like a legit strat neck too, just can't put a finger on the model.

The pickups don't look right, pots definitely wouldn't be stock, and they don't look like they've been touched. I don't like the odds for the body. What's going on with the routing? With what little I see, it looks like an awkward swimming pool? Basswood is right at least!

This got me thinking of the ST40, but then that wasn't until 88 or 89.
Check out what I found...

https://www.fuzzfaced.net/fender-i-series-stratocaster.html

This article seems to indicate that everything there might actually be original and possibly made in mexico with fujigen training/equipment. Interesting read.

 

[vultures]

This got me thinking of the ST40, but then that wasn't until 88 or 89.
Check out what I found...

https://www.fuzzfaced.net/fender-i-series-stratocaster.html

This article seems to indicate that everything there might actually be original and possibly made in mexico with fujigen training/equipment. Interesting read.

Pretty fascinating. Thanks for the info. So it is a legit Fender, just assembled with parts and stamped "Made in USA" by the guys who threw the parts together. The neck feels pretty good, like any Japanese Fender. The body feels O.K., just a cheap feeling bridge and the pots/knobs feel gross.

I guess I'll work on fixing it up. It needs a refret (and new nut). I'll put some CTS 250k pots and a Fender 3 way in there as well. Maybe I'll see if I can pop a nicer Fender bridge in, or better saddles or a Vega trem. I didn't want to invest too much time if it was fake. I think it's worth it to keep a weird and small piece of history alive.