FUQ (eff -yu - cue) - FAQ's with an EDGE

Tagged As: Japanese Fender Guitar

Question:
I am about to buy my first electric guitar and I would appreciate some advice. I have tried a second hand Japanese Fender 68 re-issue Strat and was wondering what the difference is between this and similar priced new Fender Standard Strat. I have searched the web and read this news group and the only difference that I can find is the country of origin. Is the Japanese Fender worth buying at the expense of not having a new guitar ? I appreciate that I should buy the guitar that feels and sounds the best but I want to make sure that I am getting a reasonable deal.

Answer:
Opinions are divided over the Japanese Fenders. I bought a Japanese Fender (line clearence) 66 copy last August. Now, I'm left-handed, and so that may affect my opinion of the thing, because left-handers are usually notoriously badly set-up. (Ask Adrian, I think he'll back me up on this). The Japanese Fenders have been discontinued in favour of the Mexico Fenders, and so they're usually available as end of stock. As to my Fender, I also have one of the first left hander Encore Strats with which to compare it. The fender is currently strung with 9s and the Encore with 10s. The Encore is a bigger, heavier (and a bit clumsier) guitar - However it doesn't have the nasty plasticky feel that you get from a lot of cheap guitars. I once tried a V. cheap Yamaha Pacifica strat type guitar and was rather disappointed with it for that very reason. I feel that the main problems with the Jap strat are its pickups. It just doesn't bang out enough juice compared to the Encore, and my other guitars. For example - If I plug the Encore into my Pignose amp, I can get a fairly good distortion sound by turning up the Encore volume to a tad over 3/4 full volume. The Fender has to be turned right up, with no headroom, to get the same sound. (but bear in mind I have heavier strings on the Encore, which will influence this, and that the middle pickup on the Fender is wired so that it cancels out interference, a problem that the Encore had far worse, which was eventually cured by lining all the body cavities with tinfoil) Having said that, I've put the fender through a Zoom 1010 into a VOX pathfinder and got a very nice sound out of it. It's also been through a proper Vox AC30, and I must admit that the fender sounds nicer and more fendery than the Encore. My main gripe with the Fender is the tremolo, which always seems to lift up clear from the body, even with 9s! It doesn't hold it's tune at all. I had a similar problem with the Encore. However that was set up very well when I bought it, compared to the strat, where the pickups were too low and the trem springs too loose. As it is your first electric, you'll probably be quite happy with it, and if the pickups start to show the above problems, then you can budget for a pickup change. I'd say that on the whole, it's a decent guitar. Interestingly, Kent Armstrong, who are one of the cheaper good-quality pickup makers are said to have designed the pickups on the Encore strats. Remember too that a Jap Strat is going to keep its price a bit more than an Encore.