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previous: JohnC Thanks goodness!I thought a... -- 8/1/1999 11:40 PM

Re: Japanese Strat question

8/4/1999 3:59 PM
Doc	Re: Japanese Strat question John: I just tuned in to this thread. I've run across, and owned, various models of strats that were made in japan. I would say that 99% of them were built using basswood for the body. (I guess it's a common wood over there, like poplar is over here.) Different models had different type bridge hardware, and varying pickup construction. But almost every one seems to have a good-playing neck. Also, they all seem to have been made with enclosed gear cast metal Gotoh tuning machines that work well, but don't "look" vintage. Oh, another thing: because basswood is rather soft, easily compressed, you will find a nice black plastic back-up plate/shim under the chrome neck plate, which kept the corners of the plate from cutting into the wood when the neck mounting screws are set tightly. I have various japanese Squiers. Some are like '57 and '62 reissue strats, with vintage style tremelo bridge, but with cast Gotoh tuners. One with a '70s big headstock actually has slotted safety string posts which I like. The latest MIJ strat I got is built like a '50s reissue, with vintage bridge (and large inertia block!), single thickness white pickguard, 7.25" radius maple neck (with Gotoh encloded tuners). It came with steel pole ceramic magnet pickups, loud but a little rough sounding for me. The headstock decal says "Fender" in silver w/black outline in the style of a '90s mexican standard strat, with a tiny "Made in Japan" and serial number underneath. The body color is a beautiful candy blue! The neck is nice, it's a fast easy player. I don't know when this guitar was made, but I think around 1990 would be a good guess. There were some really nicely MIJ strats back in '85 (they had headstock serial numbers starting with E5 or E6), made there before fender had set up their new factory in california. These things had great necks, a little wider & flatter than vintage with nice wide frets, but came with alnico pole pickups. These pickups all look identical (same plastic bobbin, magnets, wire leads), but some sound completely different from others. The tremelo tailpiece is a big chromed casting with a 2-point pivot and fine tuning adjusters. The strings don't mount through the tremelo inertia block, which I feel is essential for ood sustain. I don't like these tailpieces, but they can be set up to work fairly well (with a little saddle shimming). Did you look closely enough at your prospective "new guitar" to be able to describe the hardware, the headstock decal (serial number?), and the pickups? Look closely at the pole pieces. If you can see faint concentric circles at on the tip, made by a cutter on a lathe, then the pole pieces are steel (there will be a big ceramic bar magnet underneath the coil bobbin). If the pole pieces appear to have a smooth, mirror-like finish, devoid of machining marks, chances are they're alnico magnets. Like the Steves said, these are good guitars and the electronics can be changed no problem (I do it all the time), as long as it plays well acoustically and the neck profile & string action is to your liking. If you can post more identifying info, maybe we can do some better detective work. Doc

8/4/1999 3:59 PM

Doc

Re: Japanese Strat question

John:

I just tuned in to this thread. I've run across, and owned, various models of strats that were made in japan. I would say that 99% of them were built using basswood for the body. (I guess it's a common wood over there, like poplar is over here.) Different models had different type bridge hardware, and varying pickup construction. But almost every one seems to have a good-playing neck. Also, they all seem to have been made with enclosed gear cast metal Gotoh tuning machines that work well, but don't "look" vintage. Oh, another thing: because basswood is rather soft, easily compressed, you will find a nice black plastic back-up plate/shim under the chrome neck plate, which kept the corners of the plate from cutting into the wood when the neck mounting screws are set tightly.

I have various japanese Squiers. Some are like '57 and '62 reissue strats, with vintage style tremelo bridge, but with cast Gotoh tuners. One with a '70s big headstock actually has slotted safety string posts which I like.

The latest MIJ strat I got is built like a '50s reissue, with vintage bridge (and large inertia block!), single thickness white pickguard, 7.25" radius maple neck (with Gotoh encloded tuners). It came with steel pole ceramic magnet pickups, loud but a little rough sounding for me. The headstock decal says "Fender" in silver w/black outline in the style of a '90s mexican standard strat, with a tiny "Made in Japan" and serial number underneath. The body color is a beautiful candy blue! The neck is nice, it's a fast easy player. I don't know when this guitar was made, but I think around 1990 would be a good guess.

There were some really nicely MIJ strats back in '85 (they had headstock serial numbers starting with E5 or E6), made there before fender had set up their new factory in california. These things had great necks, a little wider & flatter than vintage with nice wide frets, but came with alnico pole pickups. These pickups all look identical (same plastic bobbin, magnets, wire leads), but some sound completely different from others. The tremelo tailpiece is a big chromed casting with a 2-point pivot and fine tuning adjusters. The strings don't mount through the tremelo inertia block, which I feel is essential for ood sustain. I don't like these tailpieces, but they can be set up to work fairly well (with a little saddle shimming).

Did you look closely enough at your prospective "new guitar" to be able to describe the hardware, the headstock decal (serial number?), and the pickups? Look closely at the pole pieces. If you can see faint concentric circles at on the tip, made by a cutter on a lathe, then the pole pieces are steel (there will be a big ceramic bar magnet underneath the coil bobbin). If the pole pieces appear to have a smooth, mirror-like finish, devoid of machining marks, chances are they're alnico magnets.

Like the Steves said, these are good guitars and the electronics can be changed no problem (I do it all the time), as long as it plays well acoustically and the neck profile & string action is to your liking.

If you can post more identifying info, maybe we can do some better detective work.

Doc

Replies:

JohnC Don:Do any quality ... -- 8/6/1999 12:51 AM