Hi,

I have a japanese strat that dates somewhere between 1984-1987.

I was thinking about changing the body for a different color and possibly an HSS configuration.

I want to make sure my current neck will fit the new body.

Do all Fender necks fit all Fender body's regardless of year or country of origin?

i have a feeling the answer will be no

So, how do I make sure I buy a body that fits my neck?

Hi jposillico: I have a different feeling. I think the answer may well be yes.

The neck pocket on Fenders is supposed to be made to standardised dimensions. Presuming the work was done well at the factory (and it usually is in Japan) then that neck and body should work OK with alternatives.

The only way to be certain is to try, however. If you have to push at all hard to get the neck in then stop, because doing so will merely risk splitting the wood around the pocket on the body.

But I've even fitted new necks to Chinese Squier bodies, so I expect your chances of success are high.

BUT. I wouldn't do it. Any Japanese Fender stands a good possibility of being a well made instrument, and '80s MIJs are already beginning to have a certain (minor) collector value, especially if they have been well looked after.

I think it would be a shame to break up this Strat. If you don't like it how it is, why not sell it to someone who wants it and put the money towards a new guitar that's more to your taste?

Be nice to that MIJ - I feel protective towards it already!

Cheers - C

EDIT: spelling...

jposillico,

I am going to ask you a really stupid question, but here it goes....If you do not like the color of the body, why not just paint the body.

I have to agree with Ceri, I wouldn't do anything to that guitar because they are becoming a bit of a collector's item.

Ultimately it is your guitar...just trying to save a treasure.

RK

Thanks for your responses.

You both made very good points. For the price of a new body and new pick ups, I could probably just sell this one and buy a new guitar. Maybe this isn't such a great idea after all.

But, I really do not like the color. It's red with a maple neck...I'd much rather have it black.

The question to me about getting it painted is not stupid at all. It's a good idea...I'm not sure if i really want to change the pick up configuration anyway.

I live in New York City. Does anyone know who I would even call to do something like this? Is it expensive?

Thanks again for your responses.

Joe

paint the body it´s a great idea. you can paint in the way you want (black satin for example). and other thing very important it´s the age of the wood. Besides if you want to buy a new body or an old one. That body got years of use (22 or 25) and thats great for a guitar. (old body+great pups=amazing sound). well thats an idea...

_________________
"music make peolpe smart..."

I have a 1984 62 ri mij strat, black with rosewood neck.

This is just one of my 10 Fender strats which have travelled to me from MIA, MIJ, MIM....LOL.

Let me tell you mate, last year I purchased an American Standard Strat for which I absolutely love but I keep picking up my MIJ strat the most.

It is an E serial and I would never ever ever break it up, nor sell it.

I love it's awesome tone and the craftsmanship of its build.

I have grown up with her because she has superseeded the other guitars I once owned to which have ended up with someone else.

It would be sad if you break up that lovely, the only thing I change on my baby is the pickguard from time to time. Maybe you could try that.

I agree with the other guy's, please don't wreck something that is really strong becoming a collectors item and which is also apart of Fenders ever growing history.

from left to right,
Black Lady (MIJ)84, White Lady (MIM)03, Mistress of Fortune (MIA)08.

Great gear collection! I see a Boss fender reverb pedal hooked up there, what do you think of it?

Hi and thanks mate!!

Initially I had my concerns about it because it's not the amp itself.

I use it mostly for those classic creedence tracks that I play in my cover band and I'm happy with it for what it is.

I've found that I have to turn back the treble knob to get nice trem tone that maintains, because it can sound pretty thin on top causing the body of the effect to drop off.

I would preferr the amp itself but at $200 au I'm not complaining.

It does the job, and that trem gets people dancing...haaa haa..

Cheers.

Please do not consider me rude. I know everybody can do what ever they like. Here is what I think, however:

Don't paint it or swap out the body. If you need black; buy a black guitar. Sell the MIJ to someone who will appreciate it as is. If it were some low form of a guitar, it would not matter so much. You do realize that the Japanese instruments of that era are at least as good as the American instruments. When the Fender executives visited Japan to see the early work, they were more than impressed:

http://guitarsjapan.com/fenderinfopage.html

You could easily argue that the MIJ is better than a MIA of that era.

If you paint it, the decision just gets dumber with each passing year...not that it is not dumb enough to begin with.

I'm going to toss my $.02 worth in just for sh-ts and giggles...

There are...as you are probably beginning to surmise...two schools of thought on this. The first is that of "a collector". To the collector, the instrument should be "untouched" and typically in as pristine condition as possible. Now let me say right here...there's nothing wrong with that. I can appreciate a guitar as being "art" just as much as the next guy, however...

While I do love guitars as art (which makes sense because I'm an artist anyways) I am a musician first. To me the first and primary purpose of a guitar is as a musical instrument. That is why it was designed and built...to make music. Anything beyond that is completely subjective. As such, when I'm holding/playing a guitar, I'm NOT sitting there thinking "gee...do I have to worry about this collector's piece loosing any value if I play it...". When I'm sitting there playing -ANY- guitar, I'm just sitting there thinking whether I like it or not and whether I think it's a good instrument. I HAVE played very expensive (and/or vintage) guitars that I simply did NOT like. To me the appeal of something like a musical instrument isn't always related to price...just because it's expensive doesn't mean that I like it. To me the "value" of a guitar is in how well it plays and feels in my hands, how well it sounds and how good it makes me feel. Soooooo....

In my mind that also applies to things like mods, paint jobs, etc.. If there's something about the guitar you don't like then change it. As other's have said, it's YOUR guitar! Certainly people are going to disagree with this but the way I see it is this; very simply if you don't like something about a given instrument and it's within your power to fix it...preferablly without doing too much damage to the instrument....then I'd rather have a guitar that I actually LIKE playing over something that's "vintage" or "collectible". For example, I have a '73 Fender Bandmaster amp head...decent shape too...and if I really thought I could get better tone from having it modified, I'd do it in a heartbeat because it's MY amp and it's what -I- want.

On a very personal note, it drives me nuts when I see a beautiful, vintage guitar locked in a "display case", ARGGGG!!!! To me guitars are meant to be PLAYED and when I see a guitar like that, that's what I want to do...I want to play it! Yes I've been to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and yes...I stand there like a little kid at the window of a toy store with my face all smudged up against the glass and a little tear in my eye because he's not allowed to go in and actually play with the toys! LOL!!!!! Come on...honestly now....wouldn't ya'll just love to go into the Rock Hall, grab Hendrix's Strat, plug it into Pete Townsend's Hi Watt amp and just crank until your fingers bled??? Rock and Roll BABY!!! LOL!!! Seriously...again to me a guitar is a musical instrument and they are simply meant to be played.

Anyways, with the mods...sadly when it comes to the paint job, folks that are really qualified tend to be few and far in between. There's a number of us on here at the Fender forums who do our own finishes and such and I'm sure that most of them would strongly advise against doing your first refinish on a vintage instrument...with something like that if you screw up, there's no going back. As such, I would expect such a job to be quite expensive once you do find someone. I would expect prices for a full, proper refinish to be somewhere in the $250 to $500 range on the low end. I have no doubt that with something like this, the sky is the limit price-wise depending on what exactly a person might want done...I've seen some really intricate inlay work and some magnificent wood carving in my day. Of course if some large, sweaty, hairy guy in overalls and suspenders starts coming at that body with a roll of duct tape and a can of "Rustoleum", grab that sucker and RUN! LOL!!!

To me, the only real question is simply; "Is it worth it?" and only you can decide that. Personally that's one of the reasons that I learned to do guitar refinishing myself (along with my over-whelming artistic streak)...so I wouldn't have to pay someone else to do this and so I could do it exactly the way I wanted it done. Ya make mistakes, ya learn, ya have fun and eventually you have a nice guitar that makes you proud to say "I did that...that's MY work!". As such I've never really faced the dilemma of having to decide about a paint job. The only real advice I can offer is for you to ask yourself "Do I -really- like this guitar -that- much?". If you really love playing this instrument and you really love the sound, then I would say it might be worth a few hundred to make it "perfect" ..but again that's your decision to make.

As far as finding someone to do the work, my suggestion would be to start on the internet and at local guitar shops and ask LOTS of questions. There's plenty of information out there so just Google "guitar refinishing" and you'll be off and running.

The one last piece of advice I will give you is be patient. Don't make and rash or impulsive decisions. Think about what you want to do...and why. It's not about what a bunch of schmoes on an internet forum think, it's about what you want...just make sure it's what you really want.

Alrighty, again just my own personal opinions there as always. Please use them for what you feel they are worth.

Peace,
Jim

This is really the best 2 cents I have read.

RK

Thanks...I was really expecting to get flamed over that one. Glad someone found one of my (typically lengthy) posts helpful!


Peace,
Jim

presuming it is not built like a 70s strat w/ 3 screws or like an am deluxe with a angled heel.