The magic of Fender Japan

[jz63]

This is my CIJ 62. Great guitar upgraded with AV64 pups. The poly (urethane?) finish seems quite thin compared to MIM or USA poly. Anyone else notice this?

 

[Vibroluxer]

Those guys over there sure know what they're doing. I don't have any now but remember the quality was superb

 

[northernguitar]

The Japanese have been crafting intricate stringed instruments for a long time. Of course, they make excellent guitars.

 

[Fendereedo]

Buyer beware though, as the article mentions the electronics in CIJ Fenders are total garbage. Squier Affinity level or worse. Pots, pickups, switches, wiring, all of it. I picked up a CIJ Jaguar bass on the cheap because the the wiring was so screwed up it needed a complete overhaul and the active preamp was so noisy to be totally unusable. It was a PITA to fix, but once I did it was a cool bass.

Overall, I'd rank the upper tier MIMs as better guitars.

This^^^^
Every single one I've ever owned, had stock crappy electrics. I may be unlucky, but if I want Squier quality, I'll buy a Squier.

 

[Mike Eskimo]

Buyer beware though, as the article mentions the electronics in CIJ Fenders are total garbage. Squier Affinity level or worse. Pots, pickups, switches, wiring, all of it. I picked up a CIJ Jaguar bass on the cheap because the the wiring was so screwed up it needed a complete overhaul and the active preamp was so noisy to be totally unusable. It was a PITA to fix, but once I did it was a cool bass.

Overall, I'd rank the upper tier MIMs as better guitars.

I’ve played quite a few MIJ/CIJ Fender guitars.

-99% of them had great fit and finish.
-75-80% had a great feel (a few of them had necks that were too narrow for my personal taste).
-Most of them had very “meh” generic and uninspiring sound…I’m glad the article mentioned this—hopefully it’ll get Fender to make Fender-Japan put better pickups in their instruments.

If I were able to score a good looking, good playing, affordable MIJ/CIJ Fender I wouldn’t have a problem replacing the pickups, switches and pots…but if the neck needed to be replaced as well, I probably wouldn’t go to that much trouble—especially since (as mentioned in the article) some people put a pretty high premium on these instruments.

Yep and double yep.

I had an early SQ Squier just like Chuck Prophet’s that I swore was the greatest thing , And then somebody offered me a bunch of money for it and I found I could let it go.

Now, in retrospect, it was nowhere near as good - in any way - than my 92MIM standard telecaster.

Seek out A totally stock 90/91/92/93 MIM standard telecaster. Buy it.

Switch out the rattle hammer bridge if it has one, and start playing.

 

[Ripradiant]

Never been a fan of the MIJ/CIJ. Had 3 different teles: pink and blue paisley and a thin line. Just felt like made out of balsa wood, thin narrow necks and definitely budget electronics. There is stacks of web hyping of this stuff - I dont get it. But, a good USA tele can be had for less and you just cant go wrong. My main guitar is an american special tele... an awesome guitar.

 

[2HBStrat]

I have both MIJ and CIJ Fenders and I think they're both great. Fender Japan offers cool guitars that I wish were available her in the USA.

 

[985plowboy]

I’ve owned two MIJ Strats.
One with a Trem and another that was hard tail.
I personally wasn’t overwhelmed by either one.

 

[AquariumRock]

I’ll never miss an opportunity to brag on my MIJ. It’s my main guitar, and by far the favorite I’ve ever played.

I have a Hybrid II telecaster. I was down to the AmPro or the JV Modified and was waiting for the latter to get back in stock to make a final decision and on a dumb fluke I happened to find out about the existence of the Hybrid IIs. Absolutely stellar instruments. Took a shot on one on Reverb because I was lucky enough to find a “”used”” one from Japan for a song. (I paid ~900 all in on it, including shipping and import fees.) And it paid off huge. Such a gorgeous, nice guitar.

Compensated brass barrel bridge, 4 way switch, locking tuners, actual rosewood fretboard, narrow tall frets, rolled board edges, stomach cut. I was thrilled to walk away from a guitar search having paid about half of what I expected to pay for an AmPro.

I know officially it was used but it still had tags and stickers. Wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the method for getting around regional sale restrictions. I’ve been thinking of picking up a second one, maybe in a different color just to have the insurance. I keep my eye out for deals. For the price of a Player Series I got something I’d hold up to an AmPro anyway. I’m definitely chasing the high of a good deal.

 

[northernguitar]

Not feeling the MIJ ‘crap electronics’ argument. Makes no sense with my experience with my MIJ Fender or any other Japanese guitar I’ve owned.