Quote:
Originally Posted by rebelwoclue
Hey Trouble,
Those double bound '62s are so nice- I prefer maple necks on my teles but when I do go to purchase a rosewood neck, its going to be one of those double-bound '62s. I am on the watch for one...
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I think a used one would be great but they will be very hard to find.
First, since the Japanese yen gained against the dollar, it made getting one prohibitive. But when the dollar did have some favorable climbs against the yen in the following decade, Japan became the new "made in USA" as far as price and some say in quality, too. People who once considered MIJ Fenders just players decided to collect and invest in them.
The lower cost and moderate cost guitars of many brands got ported to Taiwan, Korea, and then finally China (who would do low, but then moderate cost guitars in their own right). Taiwan and Korea are where Japan was in the 1980s, Japan is off the list for many who have a medium income, and USA built Fenders are just a dream. What used to be in the territory of leftover income after bills for two months, wedding ring or {fairly modest Fender American '52 reissue or Ibanez Joe Satriani
JS-1000 from my wish lists}, are now serious investments.
I am one of those right now who can't, with my income and this recession, justify even an American Standard Telecaster and I never thought it would come down to this. The only upside to this is I don't like the high output dark pickups, giant frets, and flat radius of American Standards and kind of prefer the more reasonable MIM Classic Fenders. When they came out, the American Standard Telecaster was a low cost option against the majority of the industry and it put Yamaha's Schultz (then newly minted Fender's CEO) on the short list of guitar manufacturing gurus. I don't know what Schultz would think today now that his American Standards are out of reach of many players. Fender has answered with the American Special and Highway 1 and that's somewhat of a consolation.