50's classic MIM

[Twang Thang]

Hi folks,
First time posting from a new boy here.

I recently bought a second hand 50's classic strat in fiesta red and what a suprise I got!

The neck is a killer piece of birdseye maple the kind of which I'd only associate with a custom shop, soft v and a joy to play.
Paint and fitting is also excellent and the pickups don't disappoint either.
I'm planning to swap the hardware and go all gold and I think it'll put many a guitar several times it's price to shame.

Can't recommend it highly enough, Fender's little secret!!

[geoff1711]

Hi

Like many I've got one of the mid 90's Jap Hank jobs, I upgraded the hardware to gold and have never regretted it, seems to make the Fiesta Red come alive, the chrome seemed to make it look a bit dull. The only pity being the original bits have got lost or used now so if I ever wanted to sell it, it's non original, but as my eldest daughter has insisted I leave it to her when I shuffle off I guess that's not too much of a problem!

Oddly I have a Fiesta Red Burns Marvin and the chrome looks fine on that, but it is a brighter colour.

Welcome aboard

Geoff

[RUSSET]

Welcome to the club, Steve. My band's Lead guitarist uses an MIM Classic series F.Red '50s Strat too, & it's great. I have the Fender Jap Hank Marvin Sign. Strat which I have upgraded with Gotoh Gold plated hardware & Fender CS '54 pickups & that is also a great guitar, which I don't think I'd ever sell. You'll like it here. Plenty of useful advice & good banter.

Tony.

[dave34346]

My band member Ron uses a MIM classic player strat in shoreline gold ,, he loves it and the tone he has on it is just wonderful.
They are fitted with 57/62 pups , which sound great ,, he sent a message to Fender asking what the pups were to verify this .

Myself,, i use a 1997 Jap Fender Hank Marvin sig strat with chrome hardware , im happy with it , and would'nt sell it for the world.
Mine is also fitted with 57/62 pups but i get a completely different sound to my friends guitar(more 60's).
Might have something to do with the Greenbacks i use in my ac30.

Anyway , enjoy playing your guitar ,,

Regards
Dave

[JimN]

I've been very pleasantly surprised by the quality of some non-USA Fender product recently. The original Japanese production (Fuji Gen-Gakki), starting in 1982, always was superb and I have several examples of that, including a '62 Reissue Strat I bought in 1982, a '62 Reissue "Jet Harris" Precision in FR I bought in 1985 and a Squier Jagmaster bought in the late 1990s, all easily up to classic Fender USA standards (and I have several of those as well). More recently, though, Asian production had tended to be dismissively specced and indifferently manufactured, though to be fair, at a knock-down price.

However, over the last couple of weeks, I've encountered a MIJ Fender JD Telecaster which I had in for set-up for a friend and one of the new Chinese-made Telecasters in the current Modern Player (£335) range. Both had the soft V neck profile (which would never suit me) but are exceptionally well-made. If they were marked "Made in USA" and priced at £925, you'd believe it, from the quality alone.

Hmmm...

I'm quite drawn to the Modern Player Jaguar with P90-type pickups. OK, it has a Gibson-style bridge/tailpiece, but a Deusenberg Vibrola would take care of that...

http://www.gak.co.uk/en/fender-modern-player-jaguar-2-colour-chocolate-burst-rosewood/53360

Merry Christmas, everybody.

JN