Eighties Stratocaster Identity Crisis

Rob Schwarz-Fender · **Joined:** Fri Mar 20, 2009 12:40 pm **Posts:** 746

Mark T wrote:

Hi Rob,
Thanks for your help and contribution to this thread and this topic, we very much appreciate it.

I also bought my SpyderStrat brand new, and witnessed a fight between the store manager (It is American!) and the salesman (it is Japanese!) over the COO of the guitar, and ever since then I have wondered about it. The ironic thing is, is that is seems to me that the desire to see these guitars 'made in the USA' is partially driven by a desire to see them as 'more valuable' or 'better' then a MIJ guitar would be, even though, by all accounts, Japanese guitars of that era were very well made. I have to admit to feeling defensive when someone looks at my strat and after puzzling it through, says..'ahh it's just a MIJ.' Despite this, I know for sure is that it is a terrific guitar, and still one of my favorites, and many others on this thread seem to agree about their own.

Maybe a bit of mystery is a good thing, in the end, and in that sense, it is ok to be part of this club.

Thanks Mark!

In my own opinion, certainly from 87 on --Japan was producing some excellent guitars and continue to do so today I'm sure. The 50's and 60's Strats in the 80's were some of the best I've ever played. The 62 Teles as well. The list goes on. Heartfields, the MIJ Master Series, Fender Katana's, etc all played excellent and with the polyester finishes looked pretty nice too.
and now: zzzzzzzzzz gnite :O)

Blertles · **Posted:** Tue May 20, 2014 2:35 am

Oh well, 18 pages in and were still looking... :lol:

Geckochameleon · **Joined:** Mon Mar 11, 2013 12:41 pm **Posts:** 105

I PM'd Rob Schwarz with the FujiGen email and info, and two of the three serial numbers from my three spyder-strats (one is off getting a refret).

I would love to be able to just have an answer, either way.\

If FujiGen can't assist, I'll put this all behind me.

arth1 · **Posted:** Tue May 20, 2014 7:52 pm

Rob Schwarz-Fender wrote:

While I know that we have never mis-represented where our guitars are made in any way----and if asked have always answered truthfully---- I also know that Fender doesn't necessarily wave its collective arms proclaiming loudly where all of our instruments are made---the thought being that we would rather they be judged on their merits (playability) first and foremost--- not where they were made.
I think if you look at our current line up----aside from U.S. made stuff, this still holds true.
******************************

so to me......and also with all due respect as well, from everything I've seen on 17 pages of this thread----I'm not seeing a mystery. Every guitar I've seen posted on this thread looks MIJ to me.

And there's no shame in that at all - FujiGen Gakki has produced some quite awesome instruments. Some of the earliest Japanese "Fenders" (quotes deserved), might have been of questionable accuracy and use-what-you-have components, but I'm pretty sure that by '87, this wasn't a problem.
I think the only concern here is whether one of the guitars were mis-tagged as Made in U.S.A. when it was really (mostly) Japanese. And I'm confident that Fender would not do that on purpose, both because of FTC rules (or what preceded them), but also because there wouldn't be anything to gain - people had been buying Japanese Fenders because of the high quality.

Forward to 2014, I wish it was easier to buy Japanese models. I'm really tempted to pull the plug on a black floral tele, but I like being able to try before I buy, or at least have an option of easy returns.
In these days of intertube sales, I wouldn't mind if Fender made it possible to buy MIJs from fender.com, with warranty...

Mark T · **Joined:** Sat Mar 12, 2011 6:31 pm **Posts:** 21

Here's a different one... G serial number, the tremolo is plated black, and it has a curved neck plate, but still no MIJ sticker. Pretty flame job, though!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fender-Stratoca ... 2516.l5255

John C · **Posted:** Wed May 28, 2014 8:10 am

Mark T wrote:

Here's a different one... G serial number, the tremolo is plated black, and it has a curved neck plate, but still no MIJ sticker. Pretty flame job, though!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fender-Stratoca ... 2516.l5255

Yep - that's the other "mystery" Strat from that era. It also has all the earmarks of an MIJ from FujiGen, but no country of origin. I believe this model had a bit of a shorter run - maybe only 12-18 months across the time frame of late 1989 through early 1991. At any rate both of these "no country of origin" models with Kahler Spyder trems had gone away by early 1991 and we had the "HRR" models with Kahler Steeler trems instead - and the "HRR" models were clearly marked "Made in Japan" (also the HRRs changed to the OFR when Fender became the Floyd Rose distributor at the end of 1991).

boxbang · **Joined:** Sat Jan 17, 2009 1:33 am **Posts:** 1397

Yeah - Quote-"Japan?,USA?". Sounds familiar. :lol:

An interesting piece of the puzzle.

Goodonya ...Mark.

boxbang · **Joined:** Sat Jan 17, 2009 1:33 am **Posts:** 1397

This model indeed has the same FujiGen earmarks as our Strats.
I assume this "Fender USA" neck plate is original.

hmmm

Geckochameleon · **Joined:** Mon Mar 11, 2013 12:41 pm **Posts:** 105

Good catch, boxbang! Again, maybe not a smoking gun, per se, but definitely fuel for the fire. Since that neck joint seems cut such that the neck plate appears clearly to be original, this would either prove assembly in the USA or at least that there was interchange of parts ongoing between the USA and Japan.

John C · **Posted:** Wed May 28, 2014 10:47 am

Geckochameleon wrote:

Good catch, boxbang! Again, maybe not a smoking gun, per se, but definitely fuel for the fire. Since that neck joint seems cut such that the neck plate appears clearly to be original, this would either prove assembly in the USA or at least that there was interchange of parts ongoing between the USA and Japan.

Unfortunately that doesn't prove anything other than an exchange of parts as those exact "Fender USA" neck plates are also found on guitars clearly marked "Made in Japan" on the neck such as the 1st year HM Strats and the HRR Strats from 1991-1994/95ish. They would have just been shipped over along with any USA-made pickups or hardware that FujiGen used on the MIJ Fenders.

Also in that era Charvel was putting neck plates on their MIJ models that had a full Ft. Worth Texas address on them (this was the first year when the company changed the "Charvel" name from their bolt-on models to their MIJ models regardless of neck attachment and started using "Jackson" on all their USA models regardless of neck attachment). The only thing that identified those early MIJ Charvels as "Made in Japan" were little paper stickers slapped on the back of the headstock.

Also Kramer used neck plates with "Neptune NJ" on them regardless of where they were sourced. It seems to be an '80s thing.

Kwikrp · **Joined:** Sun Mar 16, 2014 3:42 pm **Posts:** 6

What would the vault be? How much would you pay for one in ok condition? Pups changed?

Geckochameleon · **Joined:** Mon Mar 11, 2013 12:41 pm **Posts:** 105

Well, Kwikrp, I would need "ok condition" described thoroughly. Non-stock pickups would lessen the value considerably to me, no matter what's been put in.

I typically pay $400 to 475.-- for ones in very good shape with original pickups, so there's a starting point.

Do you have one?

Photos?

JoshwaBurke · **Joined:** Fri Jul 18, 2014 10:41 am **Posts:** 13

Could someone point me in a direction where I could a pickguard that will fit the spyder bridge or how to modify one properly?

Geckochameleon · **Joined:** Mon Mar 11, 2013 12:41 pm **Posts:** 105

http://Www.terrapinguitars.com. It WILL set you back $75 plus shipping. You can trace out the existing guard, then overlay a standard guard over the exterior (and screw hole) template to get your single coil pickup openings. They do fantastic work. Sadly, you did jump into the deep end of the pool with the one you bought, but it can, and should, be brought back to life. This series are some of the best Strats I've ever played in my life.

JoshwaBurke · **Joined:** Fri Jul 18, 2014 10:41 am **Posts:** 13

Thanks. I managed to modify a pick guard on mine. Just realized that the pots on the one I just bought are 87k. They don't seem standard and the second tone pot is 2-pole... I'm guessing 250kohm. Anyone know what the standard pots are?

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