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Post subject: Give me a little Fender history lesson... MIJ Standards
Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2014 11:01 pm
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Hi everyone,
I am in the process of (as in waiting for the 30 day pawn hold to expire) buying a MIJ Standard Stratocaster from 1988- with an H + six digit serial number. I have been all over the web and can find little information on the MIJ standard strats of this era- much more discussion about the Squire and reissues from that period.The "Guitar Dater" site tells me this guitar was built at the Fuji-gen plant.
I am assuming that this is was targeted at a price point above the Squire line (At that time still made in Japan, from what I can get from the web) but below the MIA Strats that Fender was producing in their new plant. This would make them equivalent to the MIM's of today, from what I can gather.
What were the MIJ "standards" in terms of spec? Did they have 7 1/4 radius necks like the Squires or 9 1/2, like the Americans? Am I correct that they were in between the Squire line and the MIA's of the same period? Were they built to copy the MIA's of the same period, or some other year?
This particular guitar had Seymour Duncans installed at some point, and the tuners have been replaced with Sperzel. So, don't know what was there originally.
The guitar is VERY nice. It is an off white body with a maple neck, and a white pick guard It even includes an older Carvin Tweed case, and has the trem bar. The finish is wearing off the frets, giving a nice road worn look. A few dings, but is other wise solid. I paid $500 for it. Sorry, no pics yet until it gets off hold. :(
Anyway, it feels and plays fantastic.
I owned a 1998 MIM Strat and a early 90's MIJ Heavy-Metalish Squire in the past, and was looking for a new MIM when I found this one. This seemed better than any of the new MIM's and definitely better than my older ones, but it's Guitar Center, which means that I am sampling against the MIM's that were left over after 20 other guys played through them, if ya know what I mean. Entirely possible the samples to compare against were not representative of average. Or it could might be because of a different neck radius or something else. It was very well built, and sounded great through a Twin Reverb at the store. I think it is a good find, as one of the GC salespeople there was practically in tears when I bought it, as apparently it had just come in an hour before I got there and he planned to get it for himself. He is a MIJ guitar enthusiast though.
I also do not see very maple neck MIJ strats on the web for some reason.
Anyway, any insight/history on this line would be appreciated. There is a good deal of information on the reissues and Squires from that period, but the Strats, not so much.
Chris


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Post subject: Re: Give me a little Fender history lesson... MIJ Standards
Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2014 12:32 am
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Some info here: MIJ Standard by Blackman

The Standard series was originally Squier branded, but that doesn't take anything off the guitar. In terms of quality, I'd say these stand well in comparison to both MIMs and MIAs of the same era(*). Japanese production inherits from the superb tradition of Japanese woodworking, so the build quality in both Fenders and Squiers is usually flawless. Hardware and electronics are not the same, but I've not yet played a Japanese lemon...
The neck should be 7.25" (pay attention to the rolled edges - real nice, I'm guessing).

(*) BTW, I don't judge any guitar by its origin country - so the fact you preferred this MIJ over MIM's probably was because something in the MIJ just tickled your fancies in a way the others didn't. And that's always the right reason to choose a guitar.


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Post subject: Re: Give me a little Fender history lesson... MIJ Standards
Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 2:48 am
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Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2009 9:42 am
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I've owned a lot of American made Fenders from American Specials and American Standards through to American Deluxes. I've also owned some Mexican made models. I have three Fenders now, a 62 reissue Strat, a 66 reissue Jaguar and a 62 reissue Jazzmaster. They are all Japanese made. The japanese reissues are incredibly well made Guitars. Beautifully finished necks on all of them. The Jazzmaster has Lindy Fralin pickups in it and the Jaguar has Seymour Duncans but the Strat is 100% stock.

I use all three of these Guitars in heavy rotation and are indispensable.

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2012 Fender American Standard Stratocaster
2013 Fender Pure Vintage 65 Stratocaster
2003 Gibson ES-355
2015 Gibson Les Paul Traditional
2002 Gretsch Duo Jet
1980 Rickenbacker 360/12 Fireglo
2014 Martin 000X1AE
2014 Fender Blues Junior III


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Post subject: Re: Give me a little Fender history lesson... MIJ Standards
Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 5:24 am
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Some of the best Fender Strats ever produced. The finish work is supreme, and they hold up well. If you don't buy it, I will. 1988 was a very good year.


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Post subject: Re: Give me a little Fender history lesson... MIJ Standards
Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 6:24 pm
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Thanks, guys. I do know that the Japanese *reproductions* are very highly regarded, but the MIJ Standard Strats and Teles that were built at the same time don't seem to have as much said about them. I am inferring from what I am reading that they were a mix of whatever parts were left over from the vintage reproductions- but then again not much information. Anyway, I have a couple of weeks before the guitar is off hold. Can't wait. I verified when I went to look at it again that it has the vintage style small headstock neck in maple and the 60's style pickguard. It does have some wear, especially the fretboard. I assume the wear is natural and not "artificial." Maybe I'll post pics to get a verdict on that when I get it. For a poly finish neck, it's a lot of wear for a 26 year old guitar. So I am not entirely sure.
Chris


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Post subject: Re: Give me a little Fender history lesson... MIJ Standards
Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2014 10:51 pm
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They're good guitars but nothing special. If I had a choice between one of those and a MIM standard, I'd probably take the MIM.

But the reissues and premium reissues are good instruments. Like the '68, '69 and the 65 reissues are IMO the best bang for buck.

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Post subject: Re: Give me a little Fender history lesson... MIJ Standards
Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2014 12:07 pm
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Well, I came across a used MIA 2012 Strat for $650 with a single coil sized SD humbucker in the bridge position, so for the price difference ($150) I got am getting that one instead. Thanks for the information guys.
Chris


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