Guitarzan Posted July 19, 2006 Posted July 19, 2006 as i continue to clean up my friends strats (one mexi and one japanese Squier SQ serial from 1983) i have discovered some interesting things. the mexi has bar magnet single coils, the Squier has Japanese made alnico v pole piece pickups. they both appeared to me as pretty grimey and in need of care. the frets on the Squier are major worn. the mexi is in better shape fretwise. the mexi has enough room on the sides of the neck pocket for credit cards! the mexi must be an early model because it has the lowest form of tuners. the squire has some very nice hardware and for a three bolt 70's style tilt neck it cannot be moved side to side. it is solid! Fuji Gen-Gakki did some real solid work making these squiers for Fender. the mexi has a fairly decent neck but most of the other parts are cheezy. one says "Fender" in big letters but the one with the big "Squier" and little "fender" on the headstock is all strat! newer mexi strats are very nice but the Japanese strats were kickin butt 20 years ago. if any of you come across a japanese strat with a JV or SQ serial number, stop and check it out. the JV's are the grail of Japanese strats. http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=193274 rock it, i will
skipclone 1 Posted July 19, 2006 Posted July 19, 2006 Fujigen does some killer custom work too, but it ain`t cheap. They`ll build you an axe from the ground up. Anyway I`m trying to decide if I need one, I`ll keep an eye open. Just had a look at Fujigen`s site-the production models are quite reasonable-they`re at www.fujigen.co.jp Same old surprises, brand new cliches- Skipsounds on Soundclick: www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandid=602491
rotosound45 Posted July 19, 2006 Posted July 19, 2006 I have always been an advocate for the early SQ and JV MIJ Fenders. I have my black SQ pictured in my profile, if anyone wants to take a look.
Guitarzan Posted July 19, 2006 Author Posted July 19, 2006 i seen your sweet black strat. i have been doing some checking on the JV's and SQ's. if your pickups have cloth covered wire and staggered pole pieces they are 100% american pickups. i am tempted to buy the squier, but it needs fretwork. the lower frets are major flat. http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=193274 rock it, i will
rotosound45 Posted July 19, 2006 Posted July 19, 2006 The stock pickups in mine had flat pole pieces and plastic wires. They still sounded great, though. Mine has had a DiMarzio Super Distortion in the bridge for over the last twenty years, and in the last year I switched the two stock single coils out for Tex-Mex's. I would have left them, but the middle one died in a strange pickguard swapping accident. Throughout my youth, it has been modded to Hell and back. The only remaining stock parts are the neck, body, pots and five-way switch. So, I'm kinda looking for one that is all original these days. Preferably black.
Guitarzan Posted July 19, 2006 Author Posted July 19, 2006 is that a single coil sized distortion? sds1? http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=193274 rock it, i will
rotosound45 Posted July 19, 2006 Posted July 19, 2006 Nah, old skool full size...... Heres a better shot. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/wadebeka/Squier/blackonblack2.jpg
Pappy P Posted July 19, 2006 Posted July 19, 2006 Excellent topic. I love the comparisons. Very useful information. www.birdblues.com My Stuff On Sound Click
rotosound45 Posted July 19, 2006 Posted July 19, 2006 BTW, have you pulled the neck off that thing yet? The actual production date should be penciled on the butt-end of the neck.
Guitarzan Posted July 19, 2006 Author Posted July 19, 2006 oddly there is nothing written on the neck. Pappy the mexi is an older one , probably an early version. the newer models are way better than this mexi. Roto, have you figured what wood yours is? i have heard some actually have ash bodies. http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=193274 rock it, i will
rotosound45 Posted July 19, 2006 Posted July 19, 2006 I believe it to be Sen Ash. It is a nice medium weight, and very resonant and loud unplugged. It also has 11-30-83 written on the neck. It is rather odd to not have the date on it... Would you give the serial number? Mine is SQ081**, so maybe you can get an idea from there as to when the one you have was produced.
Guitarzan Posted July 19, 2006 Author Posted July 19, 2006 the number of the beast is SQ542** http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=193274 rock it, i will
Guitarzan Posted July 19, 2006 Author Posted July 19, 2006 is there a code to the serial number? http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=193274 rock it, i will
rotosound45 Posted July 20, 2006 Posted July 20, 2006 No code that I am aware of, but I believe they were in sequence of lower numbers being built first.... You may find some additional info at www.fenderforum.com in the Squier section. Beware, as most people there are Fender 'Mercan Custom Shop snobs. I used to interact there, but it gets pointless arguing over how the Eric Johnson Sig Strat is the greatest guitar ever made. Good luck!
Ol Boy Rivers Posted July 20, 2006 Posted July 20, 2006 Howdy yall, Ol'boy here. I know a guy that can trace guitars back to their DOB with a computer and the full serial number. I dun' care and im sure he want, Shoot me an email or something and i can send it back to you. bluetubegroove@yahoo.com Never trouble trouble till' trouble troubles you.
rotosound45 Posted July 21, 2006 Posted July 21, 2006 Here is a great squier and jv site . I forgot about this the other day....
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