Grahambythesea Posted March 16, 2022 Share Posted March 16, 2022 A friend’s son has a Korean made Strat, 1997, which are known as Pro Tone. It has gold hardware and a translucent Crimson finish and a pearl pickguard. I’ve looked these up and I gather it’s a solid ash body and we’re intended to be an up market model at the time. He thinks he wants to sell it, which may not be his best decision, so anyone know if these are particularly sought after. A couple on sale on line are the models without the gold hardware, one asking £450 and the other, in the US on Reverb, wanting nearly £650! A couple of past sales have been in the £250 range. I’m not asking for a valuation, but a view on quality and desirability. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6feet7 Posted March 17, 2022 Share Posted March 17, 2022 I've had the 5 string bass version and would happily get one again. They are very well made (in Korea with left over parts from Fender Japan - don't quote me on that though) and have a good following online, though anything over £350 - £400 I would say is pushing it big time unless you are desperate to have that specific make and model (they are worth it, though nowadays you can get similar quality from other makes etc for about the same, so it's not worth spending more, in my opinion - though the red and gold ones are, I think, gorgeous and no one else will have one as they were only made for a couple or so years - they say because they were so good that they were eating into normal Fender sales). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casapete Posted March 18, 2022 Share Posted March 18, 2022 Seen a few for sale over the years, and like everything else prices have steadily risen. Although not exactly rare, few seem to surface these days so demand / value rises. The Pro Tone range consisted of a Strat, Tele and P-bass IIRC. A friend of mine has the Tele and it’s a cracking guitar, especially for the c£200 he paid for it. The aesthetics don’t appeal to me personally - red / gold hardware / pearl plate etc, but some other colours did exist - black, blue, white, natural and I think sunburst. (Not sure if they all had the gold parts / pearl plates though.) I’d agree on price - somewhere in the £300/£350 area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grahambythesea Posted March 22, 2022 Author Share Posted March 22, 2022 Thanks @casapete. I think some were gold, some chrome. The downside of gold seems to be that they tarnish and look poor compared to chrome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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