Mark Linkous' Stratocaster

A red Fender Stratocaster is usually listed in Mark Linkous' gear. Months ago I realized that the headstock is not shaped like the one of a Fender Stratocaster, it looks more like Harley Benton's headstocks. Do you know if Harley Benton already existed in the late 1990s? Do you know other Harley Benton-style headstocks?

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/L043vyiAFqw/maxresdefault.jpg https://farm1.static.flickr.com/93/265050601_3e278d111d_b.jpg

lots of knockoffs have ahd similar headstock shapesto the benton and the picture has insane motion blurring... get a better picture

https://cdn.radiofrance.fr/s3/cruiser-production/2018/04/0b3705c8-ab22-442e-aaf7-eeca03fa93e6/640_mark_linkous_gettyimages-544610985.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2424/4417248287_c5508d93b4_z.jpg?zz=1

https://thebrixtownmassacre.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/sparklehorse_.jpg

I'm 100% sure that's not a Fender.

If you click on the second picture you can actually see it.

Here you can see the rest of the guitar a little better (maybe)...

http://www.freakoutmagazine.it/oldimg/news3609.jpg

the first couple look like he stuck a 70s Ampeg amplifier badge onto the headstock ROFL....

Yep, and he did have an Ampeg amp... :)

on close inspection its either a harley benton as you suggested (not sure they amde them going abck far enough but who knows? store branded budget fender and Gibson knockoffs have a long history back to the 70s starting with some decent quality Japanese axes from the same factories thatw ere doing Ibanez, tokai, Yamaha, Greco, burny, Fernandez etc etc etc) or a hamer slammer strat copy which is a cheap orean import of the 90s from the period wherehamer and dantzig had sold the company to kamen industries and kamen insisted they eneded a low end and sourced some guitars from the factory that made the korean ovation electrics for them

Yep, and he did have an Ampeg amp... :)

who hasn't? my bets friend still owns a bunch of old ampegs... I got fed up with their weird tube compliment but I used to love the V series

It could be, they had that kind of headstock...

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSlLg_n8OPqj4jcUebQJiBpcCnkVWQvht03SsNIt6U7ujlBVx3q

It could be, they had that kind of headstock...

I know, a friend of mine had one in highschool back when they were new

it just hit me, I ahd a memphis jap or korean p-bass copy with that ehadstock! its a memphis strat!

https://flic.kr/p/6s1NdR

not the strat model, more of a mutt, but they made a strat copy... some were Japanese and of variable quality, kidna b-list jap lawsuit axes.... others were Korean and of sketchy quality

now tell me who Mark Linkous is again because I'm drawing a blank

You might be onto something here... I don't know how to call the different parts of the headstock (I'm Italian) but the Memphis one looks closer to Mark Linkous' one. The "fat" part of Mark Linkous' headstock is softer than Fender's/Hamer's and the far end of it is more "aggressive" than Hamer's...

Mark Linkous was the singer/guitarist of Sparklehorse:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnLDvMecxb4

I cannot find a good picture of a Memphis Strat but I think you're right. Thank you very much for your help... :)

I've owned a lot of guitars in all ends of teh price spectrum, My real forte is amps though.