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Post subject: When was the first Hss Strat made?
Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2016 8:11 pm
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So when was the first Hss Strat made? Were the heavy or on the lighter side?
I'm looking to buy an old beater for a couple a hundred. Guy say's it's US made but the thing weighs a ton!


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Post subject: Re: When was the first Hss Strat made?
Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2016 6:08 am
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Beyond DIY jobs the first production HSS Strat from Fender that I can remember were the made in Japan Contemporary Strats. These were evidently available in other countries in 1984, and first sold in the USA in 1985 after FMIC bought the company from CBS.

Other companies were doing HSS strat-styles before that - Kramer, Charvel/Jackson, Schecter, and several others were doing them.


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Post subject: Re: When was the first Hss Strat made?
Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2016 5:49 am
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Post subject: Re: When was the first Hss Strat made?
Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2016 4:01 pm
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BMW-KTM wrote:


True, but those were never used on Strats, just various Tele models and the Starcaster.


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Post subject: Re: When was the first Hss Strat made?
Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2016 2:57 pm
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John C wrote:
BMW-KTM wrote:


True, but those were never used on Strats, just various Tele models and the Starcaster.

And the Lee Ranaldo Jazzmaster.


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Post subject: Re: When was the first Hss Strat made?
Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2016 2:48 am
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John C wrote:
Beyond DIY jobs the first production HSS Strat from Fender that I can remember were the made in Japan Contemporary Strats. These were evidently available in other countries in 1984, and first sold in the USA in 1985 after FMIC bought the company from CBS.

Yes, I don't recall anything before the MiJ Contemporary Strats. They were Fenders answer to the 'super strats', so had locking trems of various types, including a well engineered Fender model, HSS with a coil tap switch, TBX tone & volume, with the input jack on the side. IIRC, all came with black scratch plates & headstocks.

I had two; a black one with black hardware & 'system I' trem, and the one below with the 'system III' trem. Despite being quite rare they go for low prices as they're not sought after. In fact, many dealers have no idea what they are!
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Post subject: Re: When was the first Hss Strat made?
Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2016 3:37 pm
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The "original" if you will was called the HM Strat. It was initially made in Japan, but then produced in the U.S. I believe when I was doing my research, the first one was made in 1988. Being around at the time, that seems to be about the time I remember first seeing one as well (Greg Howe's pink one was the first one I can remember seeing). Not sure when they stopped producing them, but I want to say 1992 or so. It was the predecessor to the modern HSS Stratocaster we now know. Below is a picture of my 1989 HM Strat, and my 2005 American Select HSS Stratocaster (Mahogany body) for comparison. My HM has an after market pick-up (Bill Lawrence), and a Floyd Rose tremelo. The original Kahler Spyder tremelo had a stripped screw, but I do still have it.

Image

Image

EDIT: Here is a link to the Wiki about the HM series. Some data in it is different than what I thought, but also some of it is the same...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fender_HM_Strat

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Last edited by drkato on Fri Nov 25, 2016 6:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: When was the first Hss Strat made?
Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2016 6:10 pm
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drkato wrote:
The "original" if you will was called the HM Strat. It was initially made in Japan, but then produced in the U.S. I believe when I was doing my research, the first one was made in 1988. Being around at the time, that seems to be about the time I remember first seeing one as well (Greg Howe's pink one was the first one I can remember seeing). Not sure when they stopped producing them, but I want to say 1992 or so. It was the predecessor to the modern HSS Stratocaster we now know. Below is a picture of my 1989 HM Strat, and my 2005 American Select HSS Stratocaster for comparison. My HM has an after market pick-up (Bill Lawrence), and a Floyd Rose tremelo. The original Kahler Spyder tremelo had a stripped screw, but I do still have it.

Image

Image

EDIT: Here is a link to the Wiki about the HM series. Some data in it is different than what I thought, but also some of it is the same...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fender_HM_Strat


Nice guitars!

However, the Contemporary HSS models do predate the HMs by 3-4 years - they were out in the rest of the world in mid-late 1984, and came to the USA in early 1985 after FMIC bought Fender from CBS. Also being around at the time I was playing the Contemporary models in 1985, including playing an HSS Tele model (but of the Teles my local dealers got in were the HH version).I played two like the white Strat Bigsby posted in 1985; one I played was burgundy mist, the other was seafoam green. Most of the HSS ones I played were were the less expensive models that had a normal humbucker and the System 1 trem.


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Post subject: Re: When was the first Hss Strat made?
Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2016 6:38 pm
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Sweet. Thanks for the correction. I'll have to keep my eyes open for one those! :-)

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