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Post subject: What exactly do I have here?
Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2014 4:15 am
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Hey,

I recently got this old Stratocaster guitar, it says fender on the headstock but also "Squier Series" and "Made in Japan", well obviously MiJ is pretty clear what it means but I can not find much about the Squier Series, but what i found was that the body and the neck are made by fender and the electronics are made by Squier.

Is there anything else you can tell me about this guitar and what it's worth nowadays, the serial number is: JV03109 and pictures can be found here: http://imgur.com/a/ZA0yN#0


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Post subject: Re: What exactly do I have here?
Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2014 4:43 am
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dutchlander wrote:
what i found was that the body and the neck are made by fender and the electronics are made by Squier

That's not exactly accurate; actually there was no "Fender" or "Squier" factory in Japan when that guitar was made (early 80's, according to that JV+5 digits serial#). IMHO, that doesn't of course lower the guitar's value in any way, MIJ's of that era are very nice guitars.

Your pics are great, so hope you get answers from MIJ/CIJ experts on the forum. BTW, that's some nut on your Strat :wink:
In case you haven't yet found this, here's a link to John Blackman's MIJ/CIJ pages


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Post subject: Re: What exactly do I have here?
Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2014 5:36 am
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I'm not an expert on these by any means, but here goes my 2 cents.

After some brief research and long guesswork, it seems it's an '82 or '83 Fender MIJ Japanese Vintage (JV) Strat, "Squier Series" based on the US blueprint of a '57 Strat (in metric sizes) with Fender USA Pickups (yes, they did that). Not sure if it was for the Asian market or for export to Europe.

It was the use of the name Squier (a string brand Fender had bought previously) as a budget series of the Fender Strat and before Fender used it as a brand of guitar.

The Locking Mechanism behind the Nut is an aftermarket mod Abomination. IMHO

It's a budget model, conceived to compete in the less expensive Asian Mfg. market, but I'd love to get one and start modding it. Looks like great wood work.

- Dan

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Post subject: Re: What exactly do I have here?
Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2014 6:51 am
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I have played 2 of these, really nice guitars
The nut is a locking nut with fine tuners on it

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Post subject: Re: What exactly do I have here?
Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2014 6:55 am
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ted j wrote:
I have played 2 of these, really nice guitars
The nut is a locking nut with fine tuners on it

They put those "Locking Nuts" there on purpose? At the Fuji Gen factory? :shock:

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Post subject: Re: What exactly do I have here?
Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2014 12:32 pm
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danagos wrote:

It's a budget model, conceived to compete in the less expensive Asian Mfg. market, but I'd love to get one and start modding it. Looks like great wood work.

- Dan


I don't think its fair to refer to it as a budget model, unmolested a JV Fender/Squier can fetch around a grand. Squier at the time did not denote a budget model, but was used as to differentiate between the Fender USA product and Fender Japan product as these were initially for Domestic Japan and European sale.

This site contains great information about the JVs http://21frets.com/

"What is an export Squier JV guitar, and why are they so sought after?

JV stands for "Japanese Vintage". These were the very first Squier instruments available, and were high quality vintage style guitars with a great sound and authentic feel. This was at a time when the Squier name was introduced to indicate a Fender Japan export guitar, and not the entry level instrument that the Squier name has become associated with.

Though they were available slightly later in the Japanese domestic marketplace with a slightly different spec (Japanese domestic models were fitted with quality Japanese SQ-4 and SQ-5 pickups), they were also Fender Japan's first export guitar. This makes the export models historically important, and these guitars (The first short run of Fender logo models in particular) have become very collectable, especially in Europe; It is this quality, vintage accuracy, collectability and historical importance (not forgetting the use of American Pickups in the Stratocaster models) of the export vintage spec 'JV' guitars, which has directed this site to concentrate more on those models.

They were built (from the original blueprints!) and exported as vintage replicas of pre-CBS 1952, 57 and 62 models; Features included six in a line Kluson style tuners, USA made vintage staggered pole pickups (Stratocasters only) with cloth covered wires (plain wire was used on a lot of the earlier models), period correct screw positioning , vintage body contouring and neck radius.

Squier JV guitars were built right alongside the Japanese domestic market Fenders at the Fuji Gen-Gakki factory, (makers of Ibanez, Greco and Antoria brand instruments) Matsumoto, Japan, between 1982 and 1984.

"...Fender JAPAN CO Ltd was officially established on March 11, 1982 as an American-Japanese joint-venture, with equal partners from each country. The agreement provided that Fender guitars made in Japan would be manufactured by FUJI GEN-GAKKI Mfg Co,. Ltd with designs and parts supplied by CBS/Fender.
A.R. Duchossoir "The Fender Stratocaster" Squier JV (export) History and Details. "


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Post subject: Re: What exactly do I have here?
Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2014 2:03 pm
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That one seems totally legit and a beautiful specimen. Definitely will go up in value over time and if not considered highly collectible now will be in the future. Loving that ash body..gorgeous. Rumor has it those those era JV strats were built so well it was making the USA plant nervous.

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Post subject: Re: What exactly do I have here?
Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2014 2:12 pm
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Hi there,
I have to agree with Yogi.
You will find great info on 21frets, however I can point out what you have is probably the most sought after guitar in the JV line. The Fender branded with the Squier Series small logo on the headstock were produced only for few months, around may/agoust 1982. There are not so many around.
They were intended as the first export models in the JV line, so no domestic model. Usually fitted with made in usa pickups and built on 1957 or 1962 spec. Stratocaster body usually made of sen, as you can see from the heavy grain patterns in your nice example.
I agree that locking nut is a crazy and ugly aftermarket mod, that's a real shame :oops:
How does it play???? :shock:


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Post subject: Re: What exactly do I have here?
Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2014 2:19 pm
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pretto84 wrote:
Hi there,
I have to agree with Yogi.
You will find great info on 21frets, however I can point out what you have is probably the most sought after guitar in the JV line. The Fender branded with the Squier Series small logo on the headstock were produced only for few months, around may/agoust 1982. There are not so many around.
They were intended as the first export models in the JV line, so no domestic model. Usually fitted with made in usa pickups and built on 1957 or 1962 spec. Stratocaster body usually made of sen, as you can see from the heavy grain patterns in your nice example.
I agree that locking nut is a crazy and ugly aftermarket mod, that's a real shame :oops:
How does it play???? :shock:


That is what happened in the 80s that is making unmolested strats from the early 80s and 70s more valuable. Everyone was cutting in string locking tremolo systems so it is harder to find them without those nuts or extra screw holes and routes etc.

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Post subject: Re: What exactly do I have here?
Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2014 6:10 pm
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danagos wrote:
ted j wrote:
I have played 2 of these, really nice guitars
The nut is a locking nut with fine tuners on it

They put those "Locking Nuts" there on purpose? At the Fuji Gen factory? :shock:


I don't think that FujiGen put that locking nut on - but they did show up as both and accessory and as a "factory option" on the USA Elite Strats. A previous owner (probably the original owner) likely added it to the guitar.


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Post subject: Re: What exactly do I have here?
Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2014 6:16 am
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Thanks for all the great information you have provided, this guitar was gifted by my dad so I am going to honor him playing with it, I'm not that good of an electric guitar player but i'm getting the hang of it (mainly acoustic since I am a beginner) but the feel of the neck and the action on the guitar is really good. :D


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