Made in Japan Classic 60s Telecaster

[Deltaelectric]

Hi all,

This is my first post here.

I just pulled on a brand-new MIJ Classic 60s Telecaster in Olympic White (no binding) for 2/3 of the normal price. It will be the first Tele I have owned.

I have read around a lot and it seems MIJ is associated with crappy pots, electronics, PUs, bridges and some other things I can't remember.

What are the usual mods to make one better overall? Cosmetically, to me, this thing is outstanding. Have always wanted a white 60s style tele with a dark rosewood neck. Now, I am very excited it's on the way.

I guess my main question is do original Fender USA parts fit on MIJ guitars? Specifically, will a US Fender Telecaster Bridge w/Compensated/Staggered Saddles fit on this MIJ? Are the specs for such things the same between the US and Japan?

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all!

 

[adjason]

Its a new guitar- play it for a while and it might surprise you and you might not want to change a thing.

 

[Henry Mars]

I wouldn't do anything to it. Play it. It should be a damn nice axe just the way it is.

 

[brookdalebill]

Howdy!
Play it a while and get to know it.
It will “tell” you what it needs.
Maybe it just needs to be played.

 

[WingedWords]

My avatar guitar is a MIJ 72 Custom RI, bound body, which I bought as a very pretty base to do the sorts of mods you're thinking about. I changed to brass saddles to see if there was any noticeable difference (not to my old ears), added an ashtray bridge cover (a tele's undressed without), but haven't bothered with anything else.

 

[TimothyC]

As others stated, don't go racing off down the rabbit hole of modding just yet. MIJ fenders have always been fantastic, my 80s squiers are great guitars despite the "cheap pots and pickups". I wouldn't associate the notion of cheap electronics with more modern fenders coming out of Japan. I think the guitar will be fine as is.

 

[nojazzhere]

As others stated, don't go racing off down the rabbit hole of modding just yet. MIJ fenders have always been fantastic, my 80s squiers are great guitars despite the "cheap pots and pickups". I wouldn't associate the notion of cheap electronics with more modern fenders coming out of Japan. I think the guitar will be fine as is.

Every MIJ Fender I've ever played has been VERY good to me just stock. I've had a 1983 MIJ Fender Squier Strat for more than 24 years, and while I've owned several different Strats over the years, this is the only one I've kept. Like everyone else has said, leave it alone and play it. If anything needs to be changed, let it "evolve" as your "relationship" with it grows.

 

[Deltaelectric]

Thank you all for your responses.

I will post a picture when I finish having it set up.

Thanks!!!

 

[PeterJ]

I recently bought a new Classic 50s. I'll be posting specifically about it at some point soon as it's hard to find information about these new models. Briefly, I routinely ordered a set of Original Vintage Fender pickups for it and gathered CTS pots and a Grigsby switch from my own collection of bits and bobs. Did I need to?

Well, the "Vintage style single coil" pickups are about the same output as vintage Strat pups which is a little lower than vintage Tele set but, you know they deliver a decent twang and chime. The tone is Telecaster all the way. The Fender set I put in were more pushy but I would have been happy to stick with the stock.

Control section also was fine. The pots are small and the switch is that box style but the wiring is clean and functional. The cavity will take full size CTS pots but if you want to put them in you will need to get US measurement knobs as the stock knobs won't take a standard solid shaft pot. The 50s model comes with a treble bleed on the volume pot but a .47 cap on the tone pot (apologies if I wrote the pot value wrong I know what it is rather than what it's called). The caps are small golden lozenges but also do their job fine. One of the pots was noisy but not in everything I plugged into (bad leads maybe).

Build quality of neck and body, Kluson style tuners bridge are superb as you'd expect of a Japanese Fender.

It plays easily and sounds like a Tele. I agree with everyone who suggests you get to know it and only change what you don't like.

Also, please do a follow-up post letting us know what you think of it and, if you could, a report about what you know of the model as these new Japanese ones suffer from a lack of available information.

 

[teleplayr]

Some of the MIJ Fender's have American pup's already installed in them, usually this will be mentioned by the seller.

I have a MIJ '62 Custom Tele w/bigsby. The pickups were muddy sounding, and it had the typical small import pots, cheap switch.

The guitar itself is great and the neck feels just like my old '66 MIA Tele.

I replaced the pups with Seymour Duncans & updated the switch & pots. This is honestly the last guitar I would ever sell.

 

[TokyoPortrait]

Hi all,

...MIJ Classic 60s Telecaster in Olympic White (no binding)...it seems MIJ is associated with crappy pots, electronics, PUs, bridges and some other things...

Hiya!

I could be wrong about this. I live in Japan, but, as others have said, the info is sparse. Others please correct me if I'm wrong.

As far as I'm aware, the current Japanese domestic market has the "Made in Japan Hybrid" series and the "Made in Japan Traditional" series. Also, as far as I can tell, if they have "custom" at the end of their name, they have binding.

The 'MIJ Classic whatevers' seem to be, and again as far as I can tell, older models. They may also possibly be currently made for export and / or specific online vendors or chains.

I don't really know, but I suspect the latter, as my MIJ Classic 60s Telecaster was bought through Amazon Japan late last year and manufactured mid 2017. It was listed as "FENDER JAPAN EXCLUSIVE CLASSIC 60S TELE US PICKUPS" and came with "American Vintage '62 Custom Single-Coil Tele" pickups.

Fender do a good job of geo-blocking their website, but as far as I can tell, the current available Fender 'vintage' Tele pickups are either a "Pure Vintage '64 Telecaster Pickup Set" or the "Fender Original Vintage Tele Pickups." So, I don't know exactly what I've got, but I suspect the same as the AVRI '62 had. I have a sneaking suspicion the bridge might also be the same (on an Australian site it was listed as "3-Saddle American Vintage Strings-Through-Body Tele with Threaded Steel Barrel Saddles" which to me at least suggested a US origin).

Thus I also wonder if this guitar is basically a Japan made version of the AVRI '62, sharing some but not all of the same hardware?

Did yours have US pickups listed? Or a sort of shield shaped US flag coloured sticker on the pick-guard?

Personally, I have no problems with the PUs or any of the hardware on mine. I also have no problem with the wee pots, etc. (it definitely has Japanese electrics under the hood). I've noticed a lot of comments to the effect that the first thing people do with MIJ / CIJ is swap out the 'crappy' pots, etc. Personally, I remain unconvinced that modern Japanese companies have a problem with inferior electronics...

Hope this was of some interest / help. Looking forward to seeing what you get and hearing about it.

Pax/
Dean

 

[Deltaelectric]

I just moved to Japan after 14 years in Korea. I'm taking Japanese classes, but I can't speak much or read ANYTHING in Japanese yet, so getting exact information is kind of impossible. The little shop I got it from had close to zero English, so I only know what I know from Google searches. What I know is mine is not made anymore, probably from about 2010, it was brand-new and was on clearance. They told me: "It is old tele." Mine has "US Vintage pickups" with our flag on the pickguard. From what I have read, Fender Japan was bought back by Fender USA in 2015 and the new hybrid series are made by Fender USA under the name Fender Japan in Japan (not sure at which factory) and prices seem to vary a lot domestically here in Japan compared to the US (Japan is much cheaper.) I read a piece from the latest NAMM that the Japan exclusive hybrid series is a "limited" edition....I dunno about that...From what I can tell, ALL hybrid models now have fat necks on them, as opposed to before when the 60s models had thinner necks. I'll report back with photos and a review once it is set up. (WAITING......)

 

[rze99]

I just moved to Japan after 14 years in Korea. I'm taking Japanese classes, but I can't speak much or read ANYTHING in Japanese yet, so getting exact information is kind of impossible. The little shop I got it from had close to zero English, so I only know what I know from Google searches. What I know is mine is not made anymore, probably from about 2010, it was brand-new and was on clearance. They told me: "It is old tele." Mine has "US Vintage pickups" with our flag on the pickguard. From what I have read, Fender Japan was bought back by Fender USA in 2015 and the new hybrid series are made by Fender USA under the name Fender Japan in Japan (not sure at which factory) and prices seem to vary a lot domestically here in Japan compared to the US (Japan is much cheaper.) I read a piece from the latest NAMM that the Japan exclusive hybrid series is a "limited" edition....I dunno about that...From what I can tell, ALL hybrid models now have fat necks on them, as opposed to before when the 60s models had thinner necks. I'll report back with photos and a review once it is set up. (WAITING......)

Interesting. Thank you.

I have a 62 Custom in Lake Placid Blue which was - here in the UK - a batch of Fender "FSR" models. It has a thicker neck profile much closer to the ''64 AVRI model. It cam with non USA pickups (I changed these to Fender Custom '62s).


Keen to hear more about Hybrids and also to see whether they are made available in the UK

 

[TokyoPortrait]

...the new hybrid series are made by Fender USA under the name Fender Japan in Japan (not sure at which factory)...

Hiya.

Pretty sure Fender Japan is it's own company, but owned by Fender. As in "Fender Music Corporation (Japan)" is a Japanese company owned by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (and thus would be a part of the FMIC Group I guess). I could be wrong though. I believe they also have their own factory here in Japan, so no longer using Tōkai Gakki, etc.

Pax/
Dean

 

[Sleepyscholar]

Hiya.

Pretty sure Fender Japan is it's own company, but owned by Fender. As in "Fender Music Corporation (Japan)" is a Japanese company owned by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (and thus would be a part of the FMIC Group I guess). I could be wrong though. I believe they also have their own factory here in Japan, so no longer using Tōkai Gakki, etc.

Under Japanese law, wholly foreign-owned companies cannot operate in Japan. So all 'foreign' companies are effectively Japanese companies part-owned by the foreign company, and part by foreign owners (this explains why Tower Records is still going in Japan). So this will apply to Fender Japan under both its current structure and previous one -- though the details of the structure have changed.

Fender do a good job of geo-blocking their website,

That's a tactful way of putting something that has been annoying me mightily for the last year or so. I wouldn't even mind the geo-blocking so much if they had the decency to include an English option on their site. I can't say I see the point of their actions: they've effectively lost a customer (me) by doing so. And I can read Japanese. They're hardly appealing to people like Deltaelectric by making Fender Japanese-only for him, are they?

For what it's worth, Vox do something similar.

 

[Paul Jenkin]

I have an MIJ 70s RI in natural. I'm a relative newbie to guitar and I know I'm not testing it remotely near its limitations but I really like the sound and build quality of mine.

The only thing I've changed is a custom pick-guard to replace the 3-ply white one - but that's just me making my mark on it and nothing to do with playability.

 

[TokyoPortrait]

Under Japanese law, wholly foreign-owned companies cannot operate in Japan...

Thanks. I knew something like that operates, but didn't really know the details. Probably also explains, now that I think about it, why I have read in a couple of places something to the effect that in 2015 Fender Musical Instruments Co. 'took over operation / control of Fender Japan,' but it was never outright stated they took over whole ownership. Who knows?

I can get into the English, etc. Vox sites, but for some reason, the English language Fender sites foil me every time. Curses!

 

[rze99]

Here are the specs for a MIJ Hybrid. "MIJ Hybrid 60s Telecaster Rosewood Electric Guitar"

In short it is closest to the 60s Baja Classic Player

9.84 radius
Alder body, maple and rosewood neck, U shape neck (implies substance?)
(real) Bone nut
Vintage locking tuners
American Vintage '58 Pickups with 4-Position (like the 60s Baja)
3-Saddle American Vintage Strings-Through-Body Tele with Brass Saddles
Poly finish, I would assume.

Pretty nice... in Surf Green

https://www.dawsons.co.uk/fender-mi...MI57n0lsOM2gIVdDPTCh13IAAmEAYYASABEgKd8fD_BwE

 

[wyclif]

Thank you all for your responses.

I will post a picture when I finish having it set up.

Thanks!!!

MIJ Fenders.

Pros: The woodwork. You shouldn't need to have to adjust the neck or anything having to do with the fit and finish, all things being equal.

Cons: The electronics. You may need to replace the pots, jack, wiring, or pickups.

If you upgrade the electronics they are fine guitars. But I agree with what others say above: don't change anything yet, just play it for a while and you'll know what needs to be swapped in.

 

[rze99]

MIJ Fenders.

Pros: The woodwork. You shouldn't need to have to adjust the neck or anything having to do with the fit and finish, all things being equal.

Cons: The electronics. You may need to replace the pots, jack, wiring, or pickups.

If you upgrade the electronics they are fine guitars. But I agree with what others say above: don't change anything yet, just play it for a while and you'll know what needs to be swapped in.

The old ones, many had small pots, slightly weak (but serviceable) pickups.

These have American Vintage '58 I'd expect to be USA made and therefore a question of taste rather than necessity to swap out.