Early Japanese Strat...

[ReVintage]

Hey chaps!

I just had this Strat given and wondered if you Japanese Strat fans knew the year etc.

As you can see it's stripped (was surf green). It has some real nice flame on the neck and I do not think it's photoflame(?). It is all original.

This Guitar has made hundreds of recordings and played at tons of gigs, but what to do with it? The body I think is too far gone (deep sanding, lots of dents) to refinish to any reasonable level. I was thinking of making a new body and doing some light relic to match the rest of the Guitar.

Serial : H 001302 Made in Japan, not crafted.

What would you do?

[ReVintage]

[J. Hayes]

If it was, I think I'd just play it as it is and do nothing to it! That guitar has a ton of character and as it stands is just plain old cool!..........JH in Va.

[rangercaster]

H serial indicates 1988-89 ... the guitar has a nice relic look already ... i think a surf green body would look great ...

[Stuco]

Cool guitar, I would refinish the body in surf green and have it lightly relic'd. Dents can be filled easily if you are doing a solid color finish.

[Dizi]

I would leave it as is. Tons of character in it already. Sweet guitar.

[voided3]

I'd put a coat or two of tung oil on the body, but otherwise play it as is. The tung oil would seal it, darken it slightly, and wear naturally to match the rest. That's a nice looking neck!

[redstringuitar]

What a stunner, same neck as my '95 MIJ.
You could experiment with aged white as a finish.

[RodeoTex]

My vote goes for exactly what Stuco said. I was going to say exactly the same thing but he said it better first.
That neck doesn't look too reliced so I wouldn't even bother trying to relic a surf green finish on the body. Somehow DIY finishes seem to relic pretty easily so I thing the body will catch up with the neck soon enough.
I do also like redstringuitar's idea about vintage white.

[giginthesky]

i think she looks fabulous naked. i'd keep her as she is. if i was to put clothes on and lightly relic her, i'd go shell pink, daphne or lake placid blue.

[sneakyjapan]

all my `80s FJs have a pencil date on the neck butt, good way to see when it was made. Every Foto Flame I`ve ever seen has that sticker on the back of the headstock under the finish so it doesn`t look like that one is, I have an `85 A serial tele with a little flame in the neck so it did happen and not always on high ends. If it`s down to bare wood it needs some kind of protection from the elements even if it`s just oil. You may also find other markings in the neck pocket telling you what model it is, doesn`t appear to be basswood from those pics and can you tell how many pieces of wood the body is made of? These days it`s very often at least three but nack then it could be two. Have a look under the pickguard at the pots and switch...all of mine from that time came stock with full size pots and steel switches...not the tiny pots and plastic switch like today. But I think it needs to be finished somehow `cause bare wood is exposed to all kinds of things, I`m guess the finish was removed originally because it was thick poly...I`ve seen loys of `80s FJs with that, also seen some with very thin poly and others in lacquer.

[ReVintage]

Hi Guys, thanks for the replies!

It's been stripped 10 years at least, and was done because the Guitar was dropped down a flight of concrete steps and the owner was planning a refin which he never got round to.

I don't think it's fotoflame because there's no Hamburglar :).

Checked the heel of the neck and there is a date, but the year is unreadable. It's 3-3-??.

I haven't looked under the guard yet but I'm hoping they are full size pots. they feel quality and work perfect though either way.

Keeping as-is for now... Did I mention this thing is WAY past a refret... That's on my things to do list.

Thanks again guys!

[ReVintage]

Oh! It's an ST-62.

[redstringuitar]

Originally Posted by ReVintage

Oh! It's an ST-62.

Sorry, should've told you that in my post.
No meat left on the frets at all?
I'd be interested to hear (or see) what the dark side of the guard is like.

[ReVintage]

Originally Posted by redstringuitar

Sorry, should've told you that in my post.
No meat left on the frets at all?
I'd be interested to hear (or see) what the dark side of the guard is like.

Ask and you will receive! The first eight frets are pretty shot. The rest are like new.

Full size pots.

[sneakyjapan]

and plastic switch, p`ups appear to be FJs with the wire coating...but I could be wrong. Is that a 90 I see on the pot on the left of the pic? Might be a year, see if it shows up on the others as well.

[redstringuitar]

Mine had ceramics, minipots and smaller enclosed switch.
Those pickups are alnico, difficult to say for sure if it's all stock, no evidence of resoldering, but the pickup wires aren't bound together...unusual for factory wiring, but it is 6 or 7 years earlier than mine.
Yours is better quality than mine was when I got her.
You might get away with a thorough fret-dress, or replacement of the 8 worn frets with same gauge wire and then dress.
Lovely guitar, thanks for posting, enjoy!