The above is largely correct, but,...play it first. These are solid, with the spankiest Strat sound out there.

Yes, if you sell it, prepare to get $450 to $500 max. But that IS an undervalued price. I think it's likely a keeper though. Boxbang knows how good these are, as do I. My son loves my lake placid blue Spyder Strat more than any of my other four Strats, one of which is an American Deluxe. It may not have the full pedigree, but it's got mojo, and a pretty cool back story.

You are correct. The joy was tarnished somewhat after learning the backstory. Kinda felt like you just bought that 60 inch TV at the lowest price and 31 days later you discover it dropped $500 bucks.nBut, you were 1 day too late. With that being said, It's a beauty and I plan on keeping it for awhile. After all, it's a rare 26 year Strat - my buddies like it:)

_________________
1988 Japanese Contemporary Strat Theory Guitar aka Fender Std. Strat
2008 MIM Telecaster White
Takamine EAN10C
Breedlove Atlas Stage Series D25/Sre
2003 Tacoma DM9
Johnson Millennium J150 J12 Foot Controller
Yorkville/Traynor AM150 acoustic amp

Two things;

1. I believe these are Japanese / USA hybrids that were assembled in the USA from Japaneese parts. Several of us bought these new in 1988 and were told they were American. I will be vindicated in this belief one day.

2. Are you putting the string Ballmer into the bridge saddles? You're supposed to snip the ball end off and put just the string in there...

I agree with everything said in this post - MIJ Fenders were always good, and this particular model with the Kahler was very solid.

This Kahler is a "Floyd Rose" type bridge - it was Kahler's design but they based it on Floyd's patents and was used on a lot of MIJ and USA models from various manufacturers (Peavey used it on several models).

There are two schools of thought on these - as Geckochameleon says they could have been assembled in the USA from MIJ bodies and necks - Fender did this with the HM Strats during this same time frame. The other school of thought is that these were assembled in Japan but used quite a bit of USA parts and were supposed to get a paper "Made in Japan" sticker like the early MIJ Charvel models had but FujiGen didn't put them on before they shipped to the USA. Unfortunately no one knows, but also no one remembers assembling these in the USA like they remember assembling the HMs.

EDITED for typos - crappy laptop keyboard.

Well spotted Gekochameleon re the ball ends. Those saddle blocks are all over the place.
And Treyson, I'm sorry you're not 100% happy, but with your lack of research/knowledge, it could have been much worse. You could have ended up with a Chinese fake.

Goodonya ...Mark.

Here's another one on Ebay... a color scheme we have not seen yet.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1988-Japanese-F ... 3a982c4197

That's JoshwaBurke's Strat, from the last few pages. I would've bid on it except its terribly overpriced given the amount of body damage, removed black paint with residual paint in several spots, no lock down clamps or bolts on the locking nut (expensive to replace), replacement pickguard, replacement bridge pickup, non-original (albeit very well done) wiring, et cetera. He's probably never going to get his money back out of it...

Hello all:

I've recently caught up with this thread (all 20 pages of it!), as I am interested in these guitars. Lots of fascinating info! So, it seems that the consensus is that these are MIJ Standard Strat models. Interesting to contemplate their evolution in terms of the featured locking tremolos (all the other features apparently fairly stable):

'85-'86: Schaller System I tremolo
'87: Kahler Traditional Fulcrum tremolo
'88-'89: Kahler Spyder tremolo

I may have another piece of the puzzle. I live fairly close to Elderly Instruments in Lansing, MI, so I occasionally take a look at their stock of used guitars, and noticed they have this guitar for sale: FENDER® IMPORT STANDARD STRATOCASTER® (1988/89). Here's the interesting bit: it has a Schaller Floyd Rose-style tremolo, not Kahler Spyder. My guess is that they started using this bridge following the Spyder, probably later in '89, and this was possibly the final version of the MIJ Standard Stratocaster before it was discontinued (or at least no longer sold in the USA). What do you think? Here's the guitar for sale: http://elderly.com/vintage/names/fender-and-reg%3b-import-standard-stratocaster-and-r--30U-17851.htm

Some photos:

G'day surfstrat, yes that looks like the next incarnation. If so, the quality will be good and the price is reasonable. One difference I notice is, this one doesn't have a micro- tilt adjustment hole in the neck plate. Those trems look a bit easier to string than our Spyders.

Goodonya ...Mark.

I don't know that I would call this the next incarnation - I think it's more the forerunner of later MIM Standards with a Floyd Rose trem. It looks like it's a lower model since it seems to be based on the MIJ Standards instead of the Contemporary model.

I suspect that Fender ended the old "Contemporary Standard 22" and replaced it with two models - this one on the "lower" end and the HRR models on the "higher" end - plus of course eventually the USA "Floyd Rose Classic" models at the highest end of the model line.

Thanks, fellas. So, yeah, this may be a true transitional model. Very interesting. I wonder if the quality of it is a bit worse compared to the Spyder-equipped ones... I hope to try it out at some point soon. I'll report.

BTW, there's a Spyder-Strat on eBay right now for $450:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fender-E-Series-Japan-Strat-1988-Stratocaster-Red-Kahler-bridge-original-/131339916489?ssPageName=ADME:X:PROI:US:3160

I wouldn't say the quality is worse, just that it was built to compete at a lower price.

Contemporary models ?
I have some of them, and i think they are all different.
I know six different trems that were used on them. Mostly (always ?) 22 frets.
But all have a minimum radius of 305...And these necks are often wonderfull !

[quot27-5700: 2 single coil and 1 humbucking pickups, 5 position selector switch, coil splitter, 1 volume, 1 TBX, System III tremolo, rosewood fingerboard, 25.5" scale length, side mounted output jack.
27-5800: 2 humbucking pickups, 3 position selector switch, coil splitter, 1 volume, 1 TBX, System III tremolo, rosewood fingerboard, 25.5" scale length, side mounted output jack.
27-4100: 2 single coil and 1 humbucking pickups, 5 position selector switch, coil splitter, 1 volume, 1 TBX, System II tremolo, rosewood fingerboard, 25.5" scale length, side mounted output jack.
27-4200: 2 humbucking pickups, 3 position selector switch, 1 volume, 1 tone, System I tremolo, rosewood fingerboard, 25.5" scale length, side mounted output jack.
27-4300: 3 single coil pickups, 5 position selector switch, 1 volume, 2 tones, System I tremolo, rosewood fingerboard, 25.5" scale length, top mounted output jack.
27-4302: 3 single coil pickups, 5 position selector switch, 1 volume, 2 tones, System I tremolo, maple fingerboard, 25.5" scale length, top mounted output jack.
27-4400: 1 humbucking pickup, 1 volume, system I tremolo, rosewood fingerboard, 25.5" scale length, side mounted output jack.
27-5000: 2 humbucking pickups, 3 position selector switch, coil splitter, 1 volume, 1 TBX, System I tremolo, rosewood fingerboard, 25.5" scale length, side mounted output jack.
27-5500: 2 humbucking pickups, 3 position selector switch, coil splitter, 1 volume, 1 TBX, System I tremolo, rosewood fingerboard, 24.75" scale length, side mounted output jack.
27-5400: 2 humbucking pickups, 3 position selector switch, coil splitter, 1 volume, 1 TBX, System I tremolo, rosewood fingerboard, 25.5" scale length, side mounted output jack.
Unknown: There is also an unknown model number featuring 2 single coil and 1 humbucking pickups, 5 position selector switch, 1 volume, 1 TBX, System I tremolo, rosewood fingerboard, 25.5" scale length, side mounted output jack.e][/quote]


greets & rock on...

agy.040

Long Thread! I'm new here. I have a sunburst E8 MIJ/MIA mystery model.

My question: I have always had a problem with the high E (and sometimes B) strings breaking easily. I don't have that problem with any other guitars I own. Does anyone else have this issue or know what I'm doing/not doing wrong/right with the setup of the Spyder?