Mij/cij Telecasters

[6STRINGS 9LIVES]

I have to admit that I have become one of the converted when it comes to Japanese Fenders, there was a time when i would turn up my nose at the mere thought of playing a Fender made anywhere else but the USA. In the past year I have purchased several Japanese Fenders and have become totally hooked on the quality and attention to detail and tone of these guitars .Be aware however that not all Japanese Fenders are created equal the low end of the model lineup are good but not great guitars , but their premium non-export models are something else and are commonly thought to rival or surpass the best of the usa vintage series and come close to custom shop guitars . I recently added a 52 reissue to my collection , this one is a premium non export model with a 2piece center matched ash body with nitro finish , texas specials, cts pots crl switch and cloth wiring ..the only mod i made was the addition of a callaham bridge plate with vintage brass saddles ... what a tone monster , the callaham bridge is the best bang for the buck mod i have ever purchased , increased sustain , clarity, and harmonics that give the guitar a 3-d effect at times ..and the neck , the japanese have got the art of neck building down , incredable , meaty and fast finished in nitro absolute killer.. if you have not already tried one of these japanese fenders do yourself a favour and check one out .. the 62 reissue in alder with binding and bigsby is another amazing guitar , while not cheap per say they are less than half the price of the america vintage series and way cheaper than custom shop guitars which they come pretty close to ..6S9L

[Robert****]

Yeah, the US made Fenders are getting awfully expensive. I'm going the even cheaper route myself, by getting Indonesian Squiers. They are really nice too! A bit uneven in quality control - sure, but look around for a while and it's not too hard to find an awesome guitar for a couple of hundred. Some small mods and they kick ***. Usually the pickups are quite good.

I hear a lot of good things about the Callaham bridges.

[Nelskie]

I know this is a MIJ Tele thread, but I thought I'd chime in since I have an early 80's Japanese-made Squier Strat. Man, that guitar is an absolute DREAM! Prior to buying it, I'd played at least a dozen USA Strat models at various shops, and was relatively unimpressed. They were all nice - but seemed to lack something, which for awhile, I couldn't really put my finger on. It wasn't until I plugged in my Squier for the first time at my buddy's shop, and started strumming SRV's "Cold Shot" - before I knew what it was. Harmony Central forums call this "fit & finish", but I call it "feel". There's a certain balance, or should I say a "tensile" factor that exists between the primary components of a guitar - i.e. neck, tuners, body, strings, pickups, and bridge. When properly assembled, set-up, and tuned - these factors all translate messages to the individual player. The Japanese-made Fenders I've played all have this kind of totally balanced "feel" to them, which I think is a direct result of how they're built / assembled. Lately, it seems to me that with the Fender USA-made products (even the high-end stuff) - it's sometimes hit and miss as far as quality and "feel" goes. Oh yeah - almost forgot about my story. I only needed to play that one song on that Squier to know it was "the one". I owned it 5 minutes later. So break out that rising sun bandana, 69SL, and dig that awesome MIJ Fender mojo!

[6STRINGS 9LIVES]

Nelskie those early to mid 80's Squires are awesome and a hot ticket for collectors these days .. absolutely killer guitars .. for a quick briefing on their history check out this site .http://freespace.virgin.net/john.blackman4/history.htm
I'd love to see a picture of your squire and a description if you have time , if you have one of the early jv series of squire reissues you are one lucky hombre... 6S9L

[Nelskie]

69SL - Thanx for the link. Some interesting info, indeed! I'll try and snap a few digi pix of my Squier Strat this weekend, and post them for you to check out. I don't think it's a JV, but it is sure one honey of an axe!!!

[Nelskie]

69SL - Your e-mail & link spurred me on to do some research on the 'web, and find out more info on the SN # of my guitar. I'd been wondering about what year my Strat was made, and found a link at the Fender website that outlined them: http://www.fender.com/support/dating...ese_dating.php. The first digit after the alphabetic "E" designation is a "7", which I think means 1987, so mine is not an early 80's model, as I'd originally thought. Whatever the case, it is a fine Japanese-made Fender instrument that sounds amazing, and plays like a dream. Spec-wise, it still has its (3) stock single coils (which grind surprisingly well), as well as the rest of the standard Strat fare: 5-way switch, V/T/T controls, and tremelo (which I never use). It has the fine script Schaller-style tuners, and a superbly finished, nicely figured all-maple neck with the trademark skunk stripe on back. The body is a lovely aquamarine blue hue that contrasts nicely with the maple neck. The final touch is a white pearloid pick-guard, which I added to give it a bit of visual savoir fare. White knobs and p'up covers complete the package. Here are some snaps - -

[6STRINGS 9LIVES]

Yeah baby thats what i'm talkin about.. beautiful strat . i think the color is called LAKE PLACID BLUE..with the maple neck its a great combonation, i never use the trem bar either , but i do prefer the sound of a strat with a tremelo as opposed to a hardtail strat, that pearloid pickguard looks great.. there is lots of material on the web regarding japanese fenders, they have become desirable in that they are great players guitars , and collectors have taken notice of that fact , there are lots of sites out there dedicated to the MIJ (made in japan) and the CIJ (crafted in japan) fenders , let me know if you'd like some links.... 6S9L

[Nelskie]

69SL - Hey, thanks for the nice comments about my MIJ Squier Strat. It was my very first Fender guitar, so a permanent place in my collection is all but assured. You should post some pics of your '52 Tele RI - from your description, it sounds like a killer axe. I bet it sounds sweet with those Texas Specials. I flip-flopped between putting those and Vintage Noiseless in my Indonesian Squier Standard Tele. Ended up going with the VN's, and am very satisfied with their "twangly" bite. You are also spot-on in saying that the interest level in MIJ/CIJ Fender guitars is really starting to climb - and certainly for good reason. It might be a good idea to begin my quest for that MIJ Squier Telecaster very soon, before the market pushes the prices for these instruments out of reach! During my SN # info search, I came across a number of interesting links for MIJ Fender insutruments. It'd be interesting to check out the ones you have, and I'm sure other members would appreciate you posting them too!

[6STRINGS 9LIVES]

Heres some good links for Japanese Fenders...i'll post some 52 pics tonight ..6S9L
http://www.ishibashi-music.com/fenderjp/m/"]http://www.xhefriguitars.com/[/URL]

[Guitar-Chris]

Here are some snaps - -

Oh... great guitar!

By the way: When did they change the headstock design? Nowadays all Squier Stratocaster guitars have the big 70's headstock, an that is the thing I most dislike.

But yours is very fine... hm...

[6STRINGS 9LIVES]

Some pics of my 52 reissue...2002 crafted in japan , dont know if pics will be too big or too small ..oh well we'll see ..6S9L.. anyone know an easy way to post pics here without having a hosting site...

[Nelskie]

GC - Not exactly sure when Squier changed their headstock design to the over-sized 70's style. You might want to check out one of the links posted by 69SL above - maybe there's some info there. Like you, I prefer the smaller headstock design - - but there's probably a few of our web forum members that would think otherwise. A lot of Hendrix fans dig the big headstock look, and why not - Stratocasters are cool any way you look at it!!

[Nelskie]

69SL - Use the paperclip tool on the "post reply" screen - it's on top of the darker gray box, right next to the fonts / smiley face. I think the max # of pix you can post is (5). When you hit the paper clip, it will bring up a box that shows the max file size for the different types of images - .jpg, .bmp, etc. Using the browse feature, you specify the photos you want, and once you have the ones you're going to post, it will upload the pix into your message. Voila' - you have photos w/o a host!!

[6STRINGS 9LIVES]

Thankx Nelskie .. lets see if this works..a pic of 3 of my japanese fenders .. a 58 reissue , a 54 reissue, and a 52 reissue ... i'll post more from home tonight , now that i know how to do it.... 6S9L

[Robert****]

Nice! Is that a Bandmaster head? Sweet looking Tele there!

[6STRINGS 9LIVES]

It's a 1964 bassman aaa864 , an amazing guitar amp,actually a better guitar amp than a bass amp,and a 66 vibro champ in the foreground .. 6S9L

[6STRINGS 9LIVES]

Heres some more links for mij /cij guitars ...
http://www.mijfenders.com/index.htm
http://www.bluzey.com/japanguitars.htm
http://www.guitaremporium.co.uk/
http://www.21frets.com/54strat.html
http://news.dmusic.com/article/15901

[6STRINGS 9LIVES]

a few mor pics of my tele...6S9L

[6STRINGS 9LIVES]

Thought I'd Try One More ..a Little Larger This Time .. 6s9l