hi sir,just ask..if this Elite has a brand"made in u.s.a."@the headstock?so confused,just bought one all natural,gold hardwares,maple fretboard"22 FRETS"...is my guitar made in US or Japan,sir??? many thanks for your time. pix@#73 http://talk.philmusic.com/board/index.p ... 420.0.html

Beautiful guitars! What are those 3 buttons for?

Chris - Elites used individual on-off buttons for each pickup instead of a blade switch.

There were exceptions.

A very small batch of Elites were sold with a standard 5-way switch and conventional Stratocaster knobs.

well, my memory may be foggy i admit.....but I don't remember any MIJ Elite Strats, Teles or Basses. As for being discontinued because of the trem.....pffft....doesnt sound right to me either...pretty much everything made in US was discontinued in 84 because thats when CBS shut it down. New mgmt officially bought it end of January 85 and it was only MIJ stuff for the first months (not the Elites being referenced here).
Japan DID later do some guitars that had "Elite" in the names (D'Acquisto, Master Series...precurser to the Robben Ford)but they were altogether different aminals dont ya know.

...just an ol man reflecting.....move along..nothing to see here......

cheers,
rob

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rob Schwarz
Director,Fender Customer Service
Proudly serving Fender Customers
for over 30 years

Check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wj3ze5BI-aM

It looks like the one chromeface posted. Fender Japan.

Fender Japan.....nope (though someone on that page says it is..)
I'm sticking by no MIJ or CIJ Elite Strats Teles Basses.
Here's a nice long link......my book is at home o_o!!)
cheers, rob
http://books.google.com/books?id=iUSatH ... at&f=false

_________________
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rob Schwarz
Director,Fender Customer Service
Proudly serving Fender Customers
for over 30 years

I've got that book too and had an '83 Elite USA model. Where did this 22 fret neck come from? Mine was posted earlier in this thread and has 21.

These MIJ Elites were made solely for the domestic market. They had indeed 22 frets and a 9.5" radius. Same thing for the Japanese bare-bones Standards, too.

Fender Japan stopped their production in 1986.

The Elite Strats are being sold on EBay. All mid-1980s. Good luck.

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Wow! Nice guitar. The frets look very tall.
What are they? Toppscore

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They were stock frets - medium jumbo I believe. 12" radius maple fretboard - nice and flat like I like them. I sold it last year.