so I recently picked up this 1982 JV strat. i know the 60s and 70s vintage guitars are the higher value and more desirable ones, but I’ve completely fallen in love with this thing. How do you guys feel about vintage guitars compared to new ones?
just took this baby in for a refret. I opted for jescar 47095, which I guess are considered medium? this being my first refret, I was introduced to the very broad world of frets, lol. curious to see what everybody’s favorite fret size and brands are?
for years i’ve preferred rosewood, but maple is growing on me.
for me, it’s olympic white with rosewood or 3 color sunburst.
the strat is a postmodern custom shop. i love the look, but the mario martin feels amazing to play! playing the custom shop tomorrow. anyone have experience with Mario Martin, and what do you guys think of the headstock? Obviously a custom shop spec’d like the MM would be 8k or more we’re talking 7lbs flat, brazilian rosewood, flame maple, boutique hand wound pickups, etc. but there’s nothing like having that fender logo(to me at least)
all of these have some magic! If you had to get rid of one, which would it be?
sunburst - ST57-115
olympic white - parts caster
(made of the absolute best parts obviously)
surf green - American ultra luxe vintage 60’s
(fenders current flagship strat)
Picked up a 1982 JV strat — this guitar was made in the first 60 days of the fujigen/fender partnership. I absolutely love how it plays and feels, but the guard is just too bright white. i’m trying to decide between an aged parchment 1 ply and an aged mint green 3 ply any suggestions?
I’ve been casually hunting for a great Custom Shop Strat for a while. I wasn’t in a rush, I already own a couple of Strats and figured I’d know the right one when I found it. Today I stopped by a shop a little farther from home while taking a creative break from the studio. Almost immediately, a two-tone sunburst Strat with a maple neck caught my eye. Funny enough, those are two things I don’t usually gravitate toward. But this guitar just looked right.
I picked it up, found a quiet corner, and started playing unplugged. Within minutes I was obsessed with the neck. It felt effortless, like it had already been molded to my hand. Then I noticed how incredibly light it was(7.2lbs). Once I plugged it in, I was even more intrigued. The tone sat somewhere between the punchy bite of a ’70s Strat and the sweet clarity of an early-’60s one.
The hang tag said “1982 JV Stratocaster,” which meant absolutely nothing to me at the time. I was shopping for a Custom Shop, so the salesperson brought me several amazing examples to compare. Every one of them had something special, but I kept coming back to the JV. I asked him to set it aside while I did some research. That’s when things got really interesting.
It turned out this wasn’t just any JV. It’s an ultra-early, first-run flagship model from the opening months of Fender Japan. The serial number is well under the JV02000 mark—which places it in roughly the first 60 days of production in May/June 1982. These early guitars were built when Fender Japan was trying to prove what the new partnership was capable of, and they’ve developed a legendary reputation because of it. This one also has its original nitrocellulose lacquer finish, which has aged beautifully over the last 44 years.
What sealed the deal for me wasn’t the history, though. I was already in love with the guitar before I knew any of that. The story just made it even sweeter. So I went back and brought home my first true vintage guitar: a 1982 Fender Japan JV Strat weighing just 7 lbs 3 oz. I have a feeling we’re going to spend a lot of time on the road together.
Welcome to the family