NGD 1989 MIJ Fender Strat

[skullfxr]

I snagged this for $400 on Craigslist and gave it a little bit of love.

I gave the frets a quick crowning, cut a nut, shielded the guitar.

I got a new pickguard FOR an HSS, replaced the pots with a CTS 500k for volume and Bornes 250K for the tone knobs (I prefer Bornes taper for tone knobs), replaced the switch with a new Fender switch, and put in a NOS Russian PIO .047uF cap of which I imported 100 dirt cheap several years ago (when the cost about $.10 a pop).

The bridge pickup I loaded a Dimarzio PAF Pro which I had laying around, and kept the two original SC's in the middle and neck.

Since the guitar was what I consider 'well used' I decided to give it a really light relic. I relic'd the body and all of the hardware, left the back of the neck as is because I just loved the feel.

The quality of the guitar is fantastic. Neck is a deep 'C' or possibly a 'D' profile, the original tuners and hardware function perfectly.

The only thing left at this point is the FU-Tone trem block to install when it gets here next week.

Overall this is probably one of my favorite stats I have owned and first MIJ Fender Strat of the 20+ I have owned of both MIM and USA.

I am attaching pictures, thanks for reading and I hope it was worth the time.

Cheers.

 

[thenine]

Awesome. I’m certain that’s a cool guitar. Jap Strats from this era are can’t miss. Nice score and great job resurrecting. Although I’d have installed a JB, but that looks great!

 

[Devin]

Would

 

[skullfxr]

Awesome. I’m certain that’s a cool guitar. Jap Strats from this era are can’t miss. Nice score and great job resurrecting. Although I’d have installed a JB, but that looks great!

Thanks! It was a fun project.

I do agree with the magic of the MIJ Fenders. This strat just has that 'it' to it that I just flat out love.

 

[Donnie B.]

Re: Strats from that era

Man it was fun back then to run the racks at the mega stores - I had 3 close enough I could spend an hour
at each in a single afternoon. Did a complete un-biased shop for a Strat once and tried everything, regardless
of price or where made.

Ended up with a MIM and 2nd place was a MIJ. Process of elimination and they were left.
And I wouldn't have hesitated to fork over an extra grand if a USA C.S. axe had
trumped either of them.

Enjoy!

 

[guitarbilly74]

Guitar looks great. The bridge pickup is not a PAF Pro though. They have 2 rows of black hex screws.
Could be a DiMarzio PAF, 36th anniversary or something similar..but definitely not a paf pro. Is there a sticker with the model code in the backplate?

 

[skullfxr]

Guitar looks great. The bridge pickup is not a PAF Pro though. They have 2 rows of black hex screws.
Could be a DiMarzio PAF, 36th anniversary or something similar..but definitely not a paf pro. Is there a sticker with the model code in the backplate?

I could be mistaken as it was in a drawer full of pickups. I do remember that it's a early 80's Dimarzio, no stickers or anything other than the etched number or whatever.

I stumbled across a bunch of early 80's Dimarzio pickups on CL for next to nothing, including a second year Super Distortion and a bunch of others.