Hi, I just received my new EBay prize a '95 MIJ Fujigen Strat.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWNX:IT

I promptly stripped the strings as I do on all new used guitars and decided to dig in a bit and see what marks where on the guitar. The neck is stamped 62T DGF , but I cannot find any marks on the body.

The body is in mint shape, electronics and trem seem very cheap. Pots are 500K with a green treble bleed cap on one tone pot, and pickups have plastic plates on the back with no markings.

I guess the bigeest question I have is that this looks like a really nice neck that may have been stuck on a cheap body, or is this typical of some of the japanese fender guitars??

Any Japanese experts have any input??

Thanks Tom

I always worry when there are no stamps in the neck pocket of a MIJ body, but it seems on occasion it doesnt mean its a fake.

have a read thru this: http://www.fender.com/community/forums/ ... hp?t=30666

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"I started out with nothing, and still have most of it"

Thanks, didn't really see anything to sway my opinion one way or another in that post, other than the fact the mine's body has no markings of any kind on it. The pickups look very much the same as the ones shown from the bottom, but mine has a 5 way selector which is way more modern looking with GAE stamped on it.
Hoping someone has seen GAE electronics in one of these before, and that I didn't pay $450 for a nice neck which is worth $250.

Thanks, Tom

After doing some reading it seems that this might be a hybrid squier guitar with a fender neck. It is possible that the Fujigen factory installed some nice necks on the lower quality bodies to sell in the Japan Market??
At least the body is made of real wood which I can only assume is Basswood if it is one of the 90's squiers. The neck is really nice, and tuners seem to be of quality.
I had already planned on upgrading the pickups and bridge assy., so not a big deal. Just hoping that I wasn't ripped. will install a set of locking tuners last after the other stuff and will have a smoking guitar.

Any other input appreciated.

Thanks Tom

After reading:

"I bought this guitar from the original owner who purchased it from a local music store in 1995. They told me they never really played it and it sat in a gig bag in the closet for about 15 years, until I bought it a few weeks ago."

I would have steered clear. Why would he turn around and sell it only weeks after buying it?

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

If you know someone with a squire pick guard you can check it against the one on your MIJ. if the holes line up its most likely a squire body. If not then the body ins Fender spec at the very least.

There are tons of pick up choices out there, but if you upgrade the bridge and block I'd suggest taking a look at the Callaham site. Of course you'd need to know what body it is 1st. If you could post pics that include the neck pocket and underside of the pups it would be a lot easier for us to help you identify the piece.

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"I started out with nothing, and still have most of it"

The pickguard looks to be a Fender vintage style (circa 1960).

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

There are people far more qualified then me but after reading your OP ..I would be some what worried about a Fender neck on a Squire body..I have owned 3 CIJ Fenders over the years and they have all been very high quality with first rate pots pickups and mechanics..
It has always been rumored that the reason Fender stopped importing the CIJ guitars is that they were producing higher quality guitars then the MIA's..But that has never been confirmed to my knowledge

yup. 11 hole 3 ply. But hell, there could be extra holes under the guard. Do the bridge saddles have Fender stamped into them? Better pics would really help.

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"I started out with nothing, and still have most of it"

Howdy, I am pretty sure this is stock. If you snapped a few picts of the neck socket so I could see the type of jig holes (if any) and the pickup route in the body, I could tell you a lot. But just by looking at the eBay picts I am 90% sure this is stock.

You most likely know this is a 1962 Reissue in CAR (Candy Apple Red). The S serial number puts it right in at 1994-95. The MIJ 62 RI pickguards have the small notch by the neck such as your has. The caps will all be small green ones. There might even be a smaller treble bleed cap on the volume control as MIJ Strats and Teles sometimes had those too. All the wiring will be done in a fairly small gauged white and black type wire. All the pots will all be small sized, a little bigger than a dime. When you pulled the neck off there most likely was a small paper shim in the neck socket to tilt the neck slightly.

There were 2 kinds of pickups used in these 62 RIs. Some have extra bar magnets glued on the of the pickup. One other type is more vintage looking. They will be flat on the bottom with 6 small holes where you can see the steel pole pieces. I can post picts of the pots and different pickups if you wish. I have about 15 sets in a can from guitars I have rewired. By looking at your eBay picts, it looks like you most likely have the pickups with the extra magnets on the back since your poles look more flat.

If you pull the pickguard, check the solder joints and see if they have been touched at all. You should be able to tell if they are factory. Look for extra screw mount holes in the body. It is made from Basswood, as you were thinking.

While I am familiar with the some of the developments of Fugi Gen Gakki company, and what was called the "Squire Countdown" back in mid 1990s, I never heard of them mixing the actual Squire parts with their better guitars and pawning them off that way. (I have wondered about some of the pickups though!)

Very nice guitars, by the way. If set up right, they can play great. If you want to enhance it down the road, gut the electronics and put in some USA pots and pickups (Like Seymour Duncans or something to your liking). See: http://xhefriguitars.com/page9.html for more info. Good price too for one that mint. I will buy it from you for that same price you bought it for if you want!!!!

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Thanks to all, the description that Xhefri gave of the pickups (extra magnet glued on to back) and the small dime sized pots (although not sure why 500K) with green treble cap (on one of the tone pots, not both) matches perfectly.
There was no paper in the neck for shim, and before I stripped it down, the action was set very low, trem flat against body.

The only thing that concerns me is that there are no markings to identify the body. I have never seen a Fender Strat body without something to identify where it came from, if not on the body itself, at least a sticker on bottom of pickguard. I am far from an expert by all means though.

Will get some more pics and send them along, my main concern is a starting point for upgrades, and if I decide to resell, want to make sure I know what i am selling.

I do agree, the tag about 15 years in a closet seems a bit hoaky. I can attest that the strings were in deplorable condition, as if the guitar had sat for a very long time.

Thanks Tom

Hey Tom, ya never know. I picked up quite a number of "closet classics" over the years. The guitar you have is in great shape for its age. And it could be the person selling it got it cheap and turned it to make $75 or $100.

If you go to my page: http://xhefriguitars.com/page12.html you will see a 1960 Gibsom ES335TD a guy had under his bed for a good 43 years before the original owner sold it to me. So ya never know!

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Xhefri's Guitars
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Sounds a bit like my 95 Strat Squier series, what does the headstock look like?[/img]

Check out pics on my post 'Japanese Squier Strat History?'

I can definitely relate to your confusion reading through your post.

Comparing the two, the body definitely looks similar, but the neck is different, or at least it is marked differently. The serial number is on bottom of neck near the Made in Japan printing, and the tuners on the one I bought are more Vintage looking.
I will put up some pics tonight when I get home and see if it adds any clarity.

Thnks Tom