Hi all,

Just joined and have a bit of a query that the web, nor thiese forums so far, have been able to help me with. Bear with me as I'm not that tech minded...

I discovered recently, when taking my original Mex strat to the repair shop, that it has a Japanese neck (at least according to the tech fella repairing it, who in all other accounts, seems to know his stuff). The guitar is a 2000 Mexican Fat Strat (HSS) bought new, with a Mexican serial number on the headstock.

I bought another, second hand Mex Strat later on (1995 HSS model). I remember at the time noticing that the neck felt thicker on the newly bought one (a C profile which I beleive is the most common kind for Mex Strats?) compared with my first guitar, which is thinner.

It's got a great feel, a fantastic rosewood fingerboard and (now I've had the electrics cleaned up and some pickup changes) sounds amazing. I'm completely happy with it, however, I'm simply curious to know if anyone has heard of Mex Strats being built with Jaoanese necks? Perhaps there was a surplus of stock when Fender Japan closed down (at the end of the nineties)?

Or is this common for Mex Strats made around this time?

Any information anybody has to share, let me know, as I am at a loss to explain it otherwise!

Take care all, and keep rocking!

Tim

Umm first of all Fender Japan never shut down and is still producing guitars, they just stopped exporting a great deal of their models to the US.

If the Neck has a Mexican serial it is a Mexican neck. More than likely your tech doesn't know what he is talking about. What made him think it was a MIJ neck in the first place?

Neck profiles vary from guitar to guitar even within the same year and production run, so guitars made 5 years apart are bound to have a bit of a different profile even if they are the same model.

Find a new guitar tech -- he's full of crap.

Arjay

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

I hate to repeat everyone else but really...

If my tech looked at a neck with a correct Fender serial number on it that was attached to an otherwise correct Strat but insisted that was a Japanese neck, I'd start looking for a more knowledgeable guy to work on my stuff.

I've had two bad experiences with different people working on my guitars and it always sucks.

Good points all (that's why I posted it up here).

So is it common for mexican strats (both bog standard fat strats) made only 5 years apart in the same factory to have totally different neck profiles?

Cheers guys,

Tim

In some cases, it changed completely in a matter of less than a year- the Jeff Beck model had the neck changed from a fat '50s U-shape to a more modern C-shape quite quickly.

I also felt a world of difference between the '09 American Strat I tried out compared to an '03 I used to gig regularly. There are subtle changes made every year to make them better, so I'd imagine a compound interest of 5 years' worth of changes may make a difference!

_________________
'01 American Deluxe HSS Strat.
'87 Japan HSS Strat.
'11 Custom Shop FMT HSS Strat.

"Without music, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines and dates by which bills must be paid."

The guitar tech I go to is very good. He has set up several of my guitars and leveled the frets on some.

One day he told me the humbucker on my HSS strat was not original to the guitar. I didn't have the heart to tell him he was full of it, I had several other guitars that were the same model and they all had that exact same humbucker model.

But I still go to him. I still think he does a great job working on guitars.