Here are a couple of photographs of another black 1989 stock-Kahler strat that was for sale in Cincinnati a couple of years ago. I corresponded with the person selling it, and it was basically identical to mine. He had bought it used and was convinced the kahler was installed aftermarket, which we now know was not the case. He had taken a couple of pictures of the neck pocket and the interior, and here they are..I hope he doesn't mind!

And Mark, notice that the number stamped on the neck here is "ST-557F" compared to yours: "ST-562F" five necks off, if that is how these numbers worked! Makes me want to unscrew the neck on mine!!

Hmmm interesting, but mine has a large red E stamped on the neck, not G.
Was the above neck a Rosewood?
.......Mark.

Nice,

I'm in the market for a Dan Smith era 82-83 strat in any functional condition. But the prices have gone through the roof.

His had a maple neck...it was basically identical to mine (although less beat up).

So by my tally, we have five of these E8/stock kahler spyder/gotoh strats:

1- Mark T's, black, maple neck, with a white pickguard
2- the Cinci one, maple neck, white pickguard
3 - Boxbang's, all white, rosewood neck
4 - Andybighair's, all white, rosewood neck
5 - Cjpeck's, tobaccoburst and maple neck.

did I miss any?

given that only five were made, and given how well they play, I would place their value at about $300,000 easy =].

There's also this guy, stian_a, who started another thread - viewtopic.php?f=6&t=52916

He's having trouble with the string height but I'm sure it's something to do with him putting heavier strings on.



I think he may have screwed the posts in too far.
I wish I could help the him fix the problem so he could enjoy his.

Also it's interesting to note that Andybighair has stated that his had a MIJ decal.

....Mark.

I have one, too. Late '80's with a Kahler Spyder. Black body, white guard and knobs, black pickups, maple neck and fretboard. It too, does not have "Made in Japan" anywhere on it. I have a couple pics of posted in the Contemporary Owners Club thread, but I dont know how to link it here.

I have one too! I'm at work now so can't check, ut I'm fairly certain that mine has a 'Made in Japan' stamped on the heel of the neck.

Home now! Yes, it does indeed; made in Japan under the laquer from what I can see.

Mines an E83 serial.

Cool

Keep posting 'em if you've got 'em.
Detailed close-ups would be great.



....Mark.

hi gbstratocaster and daversatek!

gb's strat is intriguing: if I am not mistaken, it is the first one of "E8/Kahler" strats that clearly has a 'made in japan' sticker on it... which maybe clears up that question once and for all? It lends support to the idea that these are made in Japan with USA parts. however, the pickups look different then all the others...they don't have the poles showing. Gb, do you know if they are the stock pickups, or aftermarket?

a couple of other general questions arise: The HM strats, which are clearly cousins to these E8/Kahler strats... those were all made in Japan, right? do they all have 'made in Japan' decals? Maybe they had too many kahler units and put a few in these E8 models while also making the HM models.

check out this website about this issue, which also shows some necks that are similar to the ones posted here, with the EXACT same neck number as the Cincinnati E8/Kahler, and the author of this web page claims it was made by "Fuji Gen Gakki" , who according to Wikipedia, produced fender products in the late '80s.

below is quoted from:
http://jimshine.com/Misconceptions/comm ... ptions.htm

"USA" Made HM Strats
True USA made 1988-early 90s HM Strats are a fairytale. They do not exist. Period. Fender was importing the bodies and necks in and assembling them here. They used "Fender USA" embossed neckplates (the same neckplates are found on some Japanese Hot Rodded Reissue Strats), but do not feature the actual country of origin label. Some later guitars feature a temporary sticker stuck to the neck that was peeled off. A quick look at the bodies and necks disassembled reveals Fuji Gen Gakki in house part number stamps. Fender did not tool up to make any of these parts in the USA. There are instances where custom runs were built using bodies and necks brought in unfinished, but these were not the norm.

Yeah, sorry, forgot to say that I fitted Lace Sensor Hot Golds to mine, I never thought that the original pups (although very good) suited the guitar as they are quite vintage sounding.

Also forgot to say, that I've had this guitar from new back in the eighties and It's still one of my favourites and played regularly.

I also bought a Tokai Charvel knock-off at the same time and the comaprison in quality is like night and day, the Tokai has never set up right and now, all the screws in the neck are threaded. I've had the Strat set up once and it still remains perfect to this day.

Here are a couple pics of my latest:





Except for CTS pots recently installed, and strings, it's all stock.

wait, you replaced the pickups on your strat because they sounded too much like a strat? Still have them laying around? I would love to have another set if they are the same as what are in mine.


I've had my contemp 22 strat since new and it's still the only strat I have. Never felt that I needed another one, although lately I've been thinking I would like to build up a black strat ala DG. Even that plan is still in the "wouldn't it be cool?" file since I get everything I want out of my sunburst.

Don't get me wrong, the Hot Golds still sound Strat like, just with a little bit more oomph!

I have 62 AV Strat and a MIM 50s Classic if I want vintage Strat tones.

here's another one i just saw on a site:

http://www.gbase.com/gear/fender-japan- ... 988-black#

looks very similar to mine, but mine doesn't have the rubber tip on the tremolo arm.