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Re: sorta off topic

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11/10/1999 6:53 PM

Re: sorta off topic

I have Two MIJ strats that are the sharpest V I have ever played including the several EC strats I have played. I'm a "thumb over the top" player and favor this type. I've been a fan of the MIJ guitars for years, and out of the roughly 200 I've tried over the years, maybe 10 have had a V like these. The only sharper I've played is my friends strat which is a real 57 neck on a body from the 60's. This one feels so sharp, I think, because it has a smaller width at the nut than most. I like the chunky necks on tele's, because I use them mostly for rythem. The strats gotta have that V.

11/11/1999 3:30 AM

I had a late '900s MIJ "'50s collectable" with a very big neck, a soft v shape, basically the same as the 1954-55 strat neck shape, very much a "v" unlike the earlier tele neck, but much thicker and softer in shape than any of the subsequent strat neck shapes. It was a non-traditional 9.5" also, which made it seem even bigger... Nicest playing strat I've ever played or owned (and that's saying a *lot*).
But as I said in a thread above, I think quality control has been spotty in Japan. I raved about that guitar once to some friends at a music store in Nashville, and so to test out some boxes they hooked me up with a MIJ "'60s collectable" which was *horrible*!
Hi

11/11/1999 5:45 AM
Ted Matsumura	It's great to hear that there are thick V neck MIJ strats. I'll have to go looking for one. My '57 reissue has an "ovaltype" neck, but the radius is 7.25" (184R) and the selector is 3 way only (I got it used, so I don't know if they threw in a 5-way like they did with some US vintage replicas).

11/11/1999 6:10 PM

Depending on the switch's construction, it may be easy to turn the 3-way switch into an "almost 5-way".

Some switches are constructed in a tightly packed configuration, and permanently riveted, so you can't get down to the detent plate without ruining the switch. But on those switches that have an open construction and a removeable coil spring, it is entirely possible to make a slight land, or detent, on the metal plate between the other pairs of factory detent notches, thereby providing a stable resting place for the contact changing rotor at the 2 & 4 positions.

The result would be a 'stock' 3-way switch that would hold itself at the in-between settings while you're playing. (The currently manufactured 5-way switches are actually the same wafers & contacts as the 3-ways, but have five distinct detents in the rotor plate.)

11/12/1999 5:40 AM
JR	To the other side of the spectrum, I played a PINK 60's MIJ Strat that had a neck that I would swear was 1/2 a louiville slugger! I have never seen another neck this FAT, not even on a hagstrom. When I shouted across Daddy Junky Musics showroom, everyone came over and marvled at it. Almost bought it, but I figured the thrill would wear off. Never seen another like it!

8/1/1999 11:52 PM
JohnC	Re: Japanese Strat question BTW, I forgot to mention that it is a second hand gear, I think I remember they were made in the late 70's-early 80's, as the third factory -grade? (( - after usa and mexico, much before the Squire thing. JohnC

8/3/1999 5:34 AM

I met a guy in Nashville last Christmas who has an early MIJ Squier strat, he put EMGs in it and likes it better than any US made strat he's ever played (including any vintage). I have recently played a Fender Japan '60s r.i. that I thought was terrible, but I had a '50s r.i. that had THE BEST playing neck of any guitar I've ever played, bar none (Ibanez, Fender, Gibson, Aspen, Martin, Huss & Dalton, Taylor, ANYTHING)... sold it to my brother-in-law, I really miss it, but he's a great guy... The Fender MIJ strats were made for years at a plant where the same assembly line turned out Gibson and Ibanez guitars. Fender has shut down all asian manufacturing is my understanding, even though I think the really good ones were far superior to any Mexican-made Fender I've seen (BUT I haven't seen 'em all...). I think spotty quality control was a problem. The p.u.s on the one I sold were great, not high output, but beautiful sound. They were as far as I know supposed to be made in US '57/'62 r.i. pus, but sounded far better than any recent stock pus on those models ("recent" meaning since the first year or so, '82, '83), maybe the basswood body was the difference? I've played others that weren't so nice, though. Seems like everyone I've talked to with a MIJ '50s r.i. was very happy, though.

Hi

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