MIJ Strat

serven

Amazing client of mine, gifts me his Stratocaster and Fender Frontman 212R Amp (Yes I know, I am very very very lucky) which he bought off his old guitar teacher a very long time ago (turns out acoustics and vocals are more his thing).

The serial number on the guitar says E742328 Online I read that E-series is dated as 1984-1987

That can't be right can it? Or did his guitar teacher cheat him out of money with a replica? I don't know Fenders well enough to judge here. Can someone maybe point me to a guide or something before I pull this one apart? (Needs some serious cleaning and I think the original pots have been replaced with quite terrible ones, or they are just really old and damaged, it goes from all-nothing in 1/8th of the turn)

studmissile

lets see a close up of that serial, it looks in amazing condition?

serven

That's why I have doubts about the 1980s idea of this guitar. Either that or it was bought and never really touched. Has a piece of lacquer off at the back cover and on the fretboard, nothing really else. Pictures:

serven

Full pictures at:

http://www.tainted.co.za/mij/IMG_2371.JPG

http://www.tainted.co.za/mij/IMG_2373.JPG

http://www.tainted.co.za/mij/IMG_2374.JPG

Sorry forgot it is being auto resized

studmissile

Yeah, it's a real 85/86 Fender Japan. It was originally a Contemporary Series Strat, with a "Fender Made" floyd rose type tremelo and string lock. Obviously it's been modified since then. The actual Strat is a entry level standard Japanese Fender, but a lovely guitar with wonderful playable neck. You are lucky, enjoy!

singemonkey

For all that the tailpiece has been replaced it looks like it's not seen much light. Just look at the yellowed pickup covers in the pic above compared to yours.

Fantastic gift (ditch the frontman and get a real amp). It may be entry level, but these '80s Strats are loved not so much for the individual specs as for the general quality with which they were made - across the models. The body is probably poplar or basswood. But so is the body of the best Strat I've ever played which was also an '80s Japanese guitar.

Edit: Not sure of the exact model, but that looks like a high quality tailpiece they replaced the locking unit with too.

studmissile

singemonkey wrote: ....these '80s Strats are loved not so much for the individual specs as for the general quality with which they were made - across the models.

So true, also I've never seen a sunburst Contemporary Series with a maple neck? Basically the idea was that during the mid 80's when Metal Guitars dominated the market, Fender Japan, started putting these locking units on standard strats to compete in that arena. No doubt the electronics (pots) need to be replaced, but give those pups a try before upgrading, if its early '84 they could be USA stock pups!

serven

I am putting the frontman in the family house then I don't have to cart my marshall jvm 410 up there and back for silly things like Christmas Carols.

Aside from condition issues (which will take no more than a day and some elbow grease to sort out - Strings, pots, Clean, pickup height) it seems to be coming awake now after making some noise on it. 3 notable things:

1. The pickups are much lower output than my MIM strat. I use volume control only to chop and change between clean-ish chords and gain-ish leads. With this I had to step up the gain control on the amp halfway extra to get the same palatable tones.

2. The pots need to go and I need to spend some time with the tone controls. Findinding niceness here and there but also a lot of really unpleasant noises inbetween there. Hopefuuly will improve when I replace the pots

3. It siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiings. It has this moments of sustain found all over the fretboard that even with the silliest lightest touch come alive and signs by itself. It is comparatively better than my ESP MH35FR which is a neck-through and has high-pickup actives. I don't remember my Les Paul (before it went In for the big overhaul) having that ability, and my MIM strat would probably come up short too (it's a lovely guitar, that is just not something it is good at).

4. Thank you all for your help to me with this, I am so far lost, trying to learn and do with what I can muaster!

serven

Oh and just to add,

Yes I am no intentions of changing the pups. Maybe one day if I really don't fall in love with this guitar I'll consider it if the rest of it technically plays well.

V8

serven wrote: Oh and just to add,

Yes I am no intentions of changing the pups. Maybe one day if I really don't fall in love with this guitar I'll consider it if the rest of it technically plays well.

I 'upgraded' the pups on my '95 MIJ to a set of kinman's and after a looong time, went back to the originals. I did keep the K7 style harness Vintage Vibe put together for the kinmans - that made a big difference, the originals sound great w/the upgraded wiring/pots.

Nice client to have!

serven

I have finally had a few moments to pull the guitar apart, do a proper cleaning and of everything and put it back with strings that haven't been rusting away for a few years.

it still sustains like a beast, but it's a bigger adjustment from my 21-fret MIM strat than I thought, the neck is a little wider too. It does play rather nicely though. One thing:

The tone pots:

Everything happens between 1-3 and Nothing happens between 3-10. I checked they are the right linear pots. Can this be the cap? It's some brown thing not the green that is in my MIM strat. The volume was changed from a linear to an audio taper - but honestly, I think I prefer the linear. With the audio taper it seems more difficult for me to get the right drive/clean adjustment, here again most of the change is between 7-10 and not a whole lot at 1-7.

Can someone maybe suggest something here?

Maybe I am just used to my MIM's strat's controls because it is a little unconventional (500k instead of 250k pots) and it also has a different configuration (no tone on bridge pickup, bottom tone control is for middle pickup only). I just find it nicer/easier to find different tones I like. Should I just change this new one to match that or rather put in time on this guitar and see if it grows on me? Also, what was the original configuration - would anyone know? I think the pickups are still the original ones btw.

Other than that I for the first time ever managed to intonate my own guitar which I am rather proud of. Although, I have some buzzyness - it's either too-low nut, or truss rod fiddlery which I am not comfortable with to mess with myself so I will get it properly setup. The pins for the tremolo-bridge also needs to be replaced (one is badly bent, so if you adjust the bridge up/down it actually also moves forward/backwards/sideways).

Other than that, man it is pretty all cleaned up:

Wizard

In my humble opinion, the key elements of an electric guitar are the neck, PUPs, nut, bridge and strings.
Because that's where the sound is generated.
And the rest needs to make sure it doesn't muck it up.
(like introducing hum or scratchy bits)

A growing maple tree doesn't know if someone's going to put a Fender, Gibson, SX or Gibsun badge on it.
It's just a tree growing as best as it can.

I've had some fun with piezo pickups sticking them onto anything and everything that resonates to see the effect.
This has reinforced that in electrics the neck is everything.
Hardly any response from the body; massive from the neck.
That's why clip on tuners go onto the headstock to pick up the vibrations.
And why thicker necks resonate better than skinny ones.

Upshot - if the neck sounds good and plays good - it is good.
Maple trees don't change their behaviour with badges.

Gearhead

As much as I always tend to agree with the Wizard, I beg to differ here. Every single tree is unique from the soil it grows in, the wind and animals around it to the age at which it gets felled. Every bit of the same tree is different from any of the others. The company that controls the most of the process from tree to guitar, in felling cutting and selection, is the company that will be most successful in making the more expensive instrument sound better than the cheaper one.