Brendan, that monkey thing in your avatar is freaking me out.
Brendan, that monkey thing in your avatar is freaking me out.
"If you're cool, you don't know nothin' about it. It just is...or you ain't." - Keith Richards
Calm down pbradt, it's okay dude, don't get all excited man. ;) I did read the threads, I read the one where the guy complains about how he got a bad customer service from Ishibashi and a poor quality neck on his FJ, but that thread stoped there. I had to do a search of the forum only to find out it turned out okay in the end for the poor guy (Ishibashi finally offered to split in alf the shipping cost for his neck and the replacement).Originally Posted by pbradt
But that's not my point. I'm the kind of unlucky bastard, you know, the 1 in a 1000000, that gets that kind of shit. I bought an amp from the USA and when I received it here (I'm from Canada) it was in pieces. Almost everytime I buy something (TV, DVD player, sound system, amp, car...) I always have bad luck and end up having to return the damn thing. And I do buy quality stuff. I contacted Ishibashi to ask them about the warranty and the quality of the packaging (it's a long trip from Japan to Montreal after all). They only cover the damages from shipping if something should break (within 3 days after receiving the guitar). But I guess I'm okay this time since somebody else was the "unlucky bastard". So I'm clear in case I decide to get a guit from Japan! ;)
Thanks for your reply and your help. I really appreciate.
TBOF
Of course it's vintage specs. That was MY point. You're saying that Fender doesn't offer much of those specs. I said they do.
I'll just say that Fender does offer a shit load of vintage spec'd stuff in the U.S. Just because Musician's Friend doesn't advertise them all means nothing. U.S. has the most diverse selection of Fender is all it comes down to. There are still plenty of vintage spec'd guitars here in U.S.
I said that the U.S. reissues have nitro clear which would imply a poly base. or is it the other way around? Doesn't matter. you should've got the point as there IS nitro on them. NONE on the current MIJ models as far as I know. PAY ATTENTION.
My MIJ was not a bottom of the line one. I played a ton of them. I've played a few recent ones and the necks were very sticky on those as well. The Paisley strats and teles were horribly sticky, those were MIJ. I have played many, many Fenders. Owned several vintage ones as well. I have worked at a Fender dealer for over 17 years. Hundreds of custom shops to 1000's of non custom shop Fenders. Lots of MIJ in there too.
Last edited by Cogs; 06-01-2004 at 09:14 AM.
Bat boy was getting on my nerves too.
joe mama, I have to disagree on the diversity issue. As I pointed out on my previous post, I can get lefty models that will never be offered here. Fender brass have even stated their unwillingness to do so. The FJ craft shop will kick out what seems to be any lefty model as long as a store is willing to order a dozen. Even with the RH guitars, I'm seeing models that aren't available here. Here's some interesting links:
http://www.kandashokai.co.jp/fj/tn_bigs/tn72_bigs.html
http://www.kandashokai.co.jp/fj/tl71...l71_allbk.html
http://www.kandashokai.co.jp/fj/st68ho/st68_ho.html
http://www.kandashokai.co.jp/fj/mg77_vnt/mg77vnt.html
http://www.kandashokai.co.jp/fj/ast65gmb/ast65.html
http://www.kandashokai.co.jp/fj/jg66...6b_110olb.html
http://www.rakuten.co.jp/key/542115/369884/434988/
That's just the handful I could find in a few minutes.
I dig the Zebrawood strat with the block inlays.
Brenden...it seems all of those save the last one are kanda order models... I`d wager they are custon editions, which are made in limited runs for chain shops here... the final pic is a standard model offered by FJ, I`ve seen them in shops in this city.
The very high end FJs are not sold abroad... like the anniversary models... the latest of which were made 2 years ago to celebrate FJs 20th anniversary. The strats looked nice but had the Floyd Rose and sold for 200,000 yen minus the standard 20% off list.
Other anniversary models, like the custon edition Fender annivesary strat I have, not the hamburglar model but the genuine flame maple neck with nitro 2 piece ash body, DiMarzio custom wound Blue Velvet p`ups, white annodized pickguard, gold parts and 40th anniversary neck plate... are rare and very high end.
Then there are the ExTrads... no longer in production and were made to order and sold for around 115,000 to 120,000 yen in the late 80s. There are other examples of limited runs, like my 1998 Buck Owens tele, that are not listed in any catalogs and are not well known outside Japan. So the guitars you all see in catalogs are not considered the top of the line FJs... they are the regular production models, and are sold for quite a bit less in the States than here in Japan... the Sting bass for example sells for just about half in America than it does here.
Oh yeah... my `62 blue tele is not the one pictured... it is the double bound model... color looks close though.
By the way...anybody familiar with the " Beckham " tele?... no?... it can be seen in the Ishibashi U-Box. It`s red and sports the number 7. There is one thing I have learned about FJ... nothing should be taken for granted, just when somebody thinks they know everything about Fender Japan, up pops a model that they didn`t know about. It`s a never ending learning experience.
shoganai ne
Those are pretty interesting pics. Off the wall stuff. I really was commenting on the vintage specs of reissues is all. Like radius, frets, nitro, American Steel block etc.. Not that weird stuff, though it's kinda cool. With the U.S. there's a lot of diverse price range as well as lots of vintage and modern specs (flatter radius, big frets, locking etc..) traditional and non traditional colors, etc...
Too bad about lefties. I'm a southpaw that plays right so I guess I lucked out.
I used to work in Marketing at a multinational corporation. It is a tricky business, because there are different product preferences and other market drivers in each country or business region.
Rgarding products: It is perfectly legitimate (and even good business) to have different products for different markets. I would expect Fender Japan to offer different designs from Fender USA. And there are so many different customer tastes just within the strat-buying customer base here in the US that a lot of folks will say "Look what Japan has that we don't. I want one of those." Some of the products will be viewed as desireable, and some as undesireable, and Fender USA's responsibility is to discern what might be sellable here versus other countries. It's to their advantage to do so, and I think they are doing it (though maybe not as fast as you might like).
Regarding proported Restraint of Trade: Does Fender have the right to tell Japan not to sell to the US? Yes, if it uses Fender patents or trademarks, like the logo and headstock. Does the consumer (you and me) want pure unrestricted trade so we can get the best prices and best variety of products? Yes, but there is no such thing in reality. The tricky thing for Fender (and any company doing business in different regions) is that they have to realize the world is getting smaller. The Internet makes it very easy to do business globally. Would any of us mail-ordered a guitar from Japan 20 years ago? Not very likely. But now Fender has to balance their business directives with this reality.
While I technically agree with the content of your post, that will not stop me from importing Fender Japan guitars. As I've said here and elsewhere, when Fender USA starts making guitars as well as Fender Japan, with the specifications and price point of Fender Japan guitars, I might consider them, though what they've been doing lately has me pretty convinced I'll never buy a FMIC guitar again.
I don't know what precipitated this round of corporate nonsense (that's how I see it adn I'm not debating that with anyone), but they're alienating a LOT of Fender users, both amateur and professional.
As it is today, I'm not in the market for another guitar (though I desperately WANT a guitar to make into an Esquire) but at some point in the future, I have seen the guitar I want and it's NOT a FMIC guitar. Ishibashi, here I come.
i hear what you're saying, pbradt, throughout this entire thread, and i pretty much agree with most of what you've posted. i've come close to buying MIA, but can't seem to see the CIJ value for money in them.
so, i have this on the way to me right now:
might be a good candidate for esquire surgery.
so do i :) ordered it 2 days ago. Its a TL52-86TX for people who dont know. Off white Blonde....i cant wait to play it
good stuff omni. did you get it off ishi or apollon or what?
i swear, it looks so kick-a$$. like an av '52ri but half the price. gotta love the ashtray bridge, but i doubt i'd be using it.
Apollon? I've never heard of that one. Does anyone have a link?
got it through ishibashi. i emailed koichi because i had seen it elsewhere (including a used one at ishibashi) but it wasn't listed on their site. i believe its a 2003 specific model?? anyhow i paid 68800...800 yen more than the natural 52-80TX but the colour is way cool. I wanted something like a butterscotch but FJ dont make it. The 52-70US u.s blonde is a little more white from what i gather, this looks just right :)
if it plays as good as it looks im going to dump all the hardware and replace it with the full t-style hardware kit a callahamguitars.com. I have a set of kinmans waiting to go in aswell :)
omni
Yep, that's the one I want. I sure as hell want a full report. that's EXACTLY the one I want.
What was the price tag for that beauty?
You need a set of Hamels for that one.
whys that??...the kinmans do a fine job :)
what are hamels like ?
the price was 68800 Yen. >> 631 USD plus shipping to australia of 14000 Yen >>128 USD
Last edited by omni; 08-20-2004 at 02:04 AM.
omni, i found it on apollon first. then i saw the exact same used one on the ishi u-box, so i sent a casual email to noriko about it, and she had the details. although the listing remained there for a couple of days, the u-box one must've gone in about 10 mins. like that 90,000 yen martin the other day. betcha that went the moment they listed it. and you know what else will go? have a look on the u-box page about the osaka sale. every single thing there will have a queue a block long... c'mon, a tl52-80tx for 39,000 yen? a lp studio for 49,900yen? a av '52ri for 79,800 yen? it sucks to say it but the 78800 yen (inc 10k for shipping) i paid for the tl52-86 could've easily gone towards the tl52-80tx AND the lp studio. or the av '52ri.
osaka sale
here's apollon's site. they don't do credit cards, but they do bank wires. i think. i haven't dealt with them, but they have stuff on their site that ishi doesn't.
apollon
pbradt, i'm sure you'll get a full report on it. but not too soon; i don't think i'll be letting go of it for the first week or so to do a writeup....
yeah, and omni, i pretty much got it for the same reason as you. i was gonna pull the trigger on the vintage natural, but somehow couldn't bring myself to cos i was thinking of the av '52ri. then i found out about the -86, and set the olympic record for whipping out the credit card...
If you want a Tele to REALLY sound like a '52, the Hamels are by FAR the best available. They make a good Tele sound unbelievable. They have the real '52 vibe.
got the tl52-86 yesterday. somehow it doesn't really hit the mark as a top-of-line CIJ. 3 piece body shows poor matching faintly under the fairly dull finish. it's not butterblonde or blonde because it's too dull, and it's just got an uninspiring look. maybe if it was relic'd it'll look better.
the rest is what you'd expect. texas specials reasonable, but i really need another tele to benchmark against. pots are crap, and control plate cannot take bigger ones. but the v-neck is nice, if a bit chunky higher up the neck. i messed around on an AV '52ri yesterday morn befor picking up the CIJ, and yes there is a difference. the AV made me say "wow....". the CIJ made me say "OK...". but wow is twice the price of ok, so in this case i'll just happily settle for ok.
Hmm...you seem a little disappointed. That worries me cos I'm getting ready to order an 86TX too.
maybe a bit so because i was mentally benchmarking against an AV 52ri i played earlier that day. it's different experience, both guitars. the CIJ will do very well as a workhorse, and i suppose when i get around to peeling the plastic film off the pickguard, the contrast between the black and blonde will stand out more and it'll look better. i usually leave the film on for a couple of weeks, just to remind me it's new :)
still, consider the colour carefully. the 80tx and 86tx are essentially the same except for colour, the ashtray bridge cover and that the 86tx has closer 12th fret dot spacing, but really, would that affect anything? the pots and switches are as expected, and i've obtained the replacement parts a week before getting the guitar. so ultimately, i was let down a bit by the finish, not by how the guitar sounds and plays. it's a stonkingly good tele, and the small flaws like a tiny chip in the finish at the neck pocket, or the slightly visible body seams, are the things only the owner or someone with a good eye will notice. it's not up there with an AV 52ri, but it works for me, so eventually i'll get over all those small things.
Ok. Is the finish as on the Highway 1? "Unbuffed"? :)
no, it's poly. and glossy. but the colour is just a bit dull.
check out my review in the tele section :)
omni
Don't forget those fine "Made in Korea" Fender guitars. Truth be known, I was looking at a mighty fine MIK Tele with a natural ash body, birdseye maple neck, and abalone dots. All for $799 CDN which is about $588 USD. I didn't play it though.
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