1983 Fender JV Series Stratocaster Review

Aloha!

In my old job I used to go to Japan pretty often, and I always kept my eye out for the holy grail of vintage Japanese guitars as I hit up the secondhand stores. That is the case with the gorgeous 1983 Fender 1962 re-issue Stratocaster we are looking at today. This JV instrument has become my new #1 Strat, hands down.

Now is probably the time to explain the whole JV thing. JV stands for “Japanese Vintage”, and was the serial number prefix for the first series of guitars that were built for Fender in Japanese factories, and they were produced between 1982 and 1984. These instruments were constructed at the Fuji Gen-Gakki factory in Matsumoto, Japan. This was the same factory that was building Ibanez and Greco guitars.

The JV-series instruments have become very collectible, and were built using the original blueprints to be authentic replicas of pre-CBS Fender models. These models usually got the full treatment, including vintage-style tuners and cloth covered harnesses, as well as the original body contours and neck radii. The quality of these put the US made Fenders of the time to shame, and therefore they were not imported to the United States, though I guess a bunch made it to Europe. I found this one at a second-hand store in Japan on one of my business trips, and had to bring it home.

Our subject guitar today is an non-export model Fender Stratocaster, and I am not sure of the model as I have not wanted to take it apart yet to see what is lurking in the neck pocket. This will answer the questions about the model number and born on date, which I will want to know at some point.

This guitar is finished in nice aged burst. When I first saw the guitar and its JV-serial neckplate, I was pretty excited. The shop knew what they had so it was not super cheap, but it was still a better value than what I would have paid on this side of the pond.

I am pretty sure it has the original electronics, but again I will need to take it apart to be sure. It would certainly be nice if it is a higher end model with the cloth-covered wiring and the Fullerton pickups. The neck is very nice. The vintage-style tuners work fine, none are bent and they do not bind. The frets are good, with almost no; the neck is true, and the truss rod works freely.

I believe this guitar is completely unmodified, and I dig the vintage touches like the bent bridge saddles. This one might actually be a keeper - it sure plays well and sounds incredible...

I might be selling a few of my other Stratocasters, so drop me a line if you are interested. They are all pretty nice too!

Mahalo!

1983 Fender Japan JV-Series Squier Stratocaster Review

Aloha!

If you keep looking, eventually you will find a diamond in the rough, and that is the case with the gorgeous 1983 Fender Squier 1962 re-issue Stratocaster we are looking at today. This JV instrument has become my new #1 Strat, usurping my MIJ 1986 ’62 re-issue.

Maybe I should explain the whole JV thing. JV stands for “Japanese Vintage”, and was the serial number prefix for the first series of guitars that were built for Fender in Japanese factories, and they were produced between 1982 and 1984. These instruments were constructed at the Fuji Gen-Gakki factory in Matsumoto, Japan. This was the same factory that was building Ibanez and Greco guitars.

The JV-series instruments have become very collectible, and were built using the original blueprints to be authentic replicas of pre-CBS Fender models. These models usually got the full treatment, including vintage-style tuners and cloth covered harnesses, as well as the original body contours and neck radii. The quality of these put the US made Fenders of the time to shame, and therefore they were not imported to the United States, though I guess a bunch made it to Europe. I found this one at a second-hand store in Japan on one of my business trips, and had to bring it home.

Our subject guitar today is an non-export model Squier Stratocaster, and I think it is model ST62-65. You can decipher the model number pretty easily: ST = Stratocaster, 62 = 1962 reissue, 65 = 65,000YEN (original price). This instrument has a neck date of 6/10/83, and a body date of 6-83. This is fourteen months after the beginning of JV production.

This guitar is finished in creamy white with a rosewood fretboard. When I first saw the guitar and its JV-serial neckplate, I was pretty excited, but figured it must be a refinish or a fake – it just looked too good for a 33-year old guitar. But, I took it apart, and it is obviously all original, from the finish to the frets to the electronics.

It has the original electronics, but no cloth-covered wiring, so this must have been one of the cheaper models. The neck is very nice. The vintage-style tuners work fine, none are bent and they do not bind. The frets are good, with almost no; the neck is true, and the truss rod works freely. I did not like the nut as it was really short, so my tech installed a new one, set it up with 0.009s, and now it plays perfectly.

I believe this guitar is unmodified (other than that new nut), and I dig the vintage touches like the bent bridge saddles. By the way, I know that is a 1970s style Strat logo, but they still call this a 1962 re-issue. Go figure.

I might be selling my black 1986 E-serial Stratocaster, so drop me a line if you are interested. It is a pretty nice too!

Mahalo!

1984 Fender JV ’62 Re-issue Jazz Bass

Aloha!

By now you probably know about my fascination with Japanese Fender instruments, and this is a rare one. It is a 1984 ’62 re-issue Jazz Bass with a JV-prefix serial number. It is one of the only ones I have ever seen, and it seems like JV Precision Basses outnumber Jazz basses by about 20 to 1. This one is a model JB62-60, and it still has the 60 sticker on the headstock, meaning that this bass originally sold for 60,000 Yen.

This one is finished in its original 3-tone sunburst, and it is in very good condition considering that it is 27 years old. The rosewood fretboard and frets show very little wear, and the truss rod still turns easily.

The hardware is original too, with the serrated bridge saddles and the non-reverse tuners that later JV basses were equipped with. When I bought it, the bass came with the original leatherette Fender gig bag, which you never see with these.

But, despite its rarity and the collectability of JV instruments, this one is an uncollectible outcast. How come?

Well, that is because when I got this bass it had no electronics in it, and the original pickups and pots were long gone. I put it right (more than right), and it sounds great, but it is not an untouched classic anymore.

I installed Fender USA vintage pickups with CTS pots, an Orange drop capacitor and a Switchcraft output jack. This is all strung together using Belden Silver Coated Copper Wire (with cloth covering) and WBT silver solder. It was the least I could do.

It plays well, and sounds good. It has a bright and cranky tone with the new roundwounds I put on it, but it does not really work for me. Over the years I have become more comfortable with the fatter Precision and Stingray bass necks, and a skinny Jazz neck feels alien to me now.

This one will be going up for sale soon, so let me know if you are interested.

Mahalo!

1982 Fender JV Precision Bass

Aloha!

This 1982 JV Fender has become my new #1 bass, usurping my 1983 black JV Precision Bass.

Perhaps I had better explain the whole JV thing. JV stands for “Japanese Vintage”, and was the serial number prefix for these instruments. This was the first series of guitars that were built for Fender in Japanese factories, and they were produced between 1982 and 1984.

These instruments were constructed at the Fuji Gen-Gakki factory in Matsumoto, Japan. This was the same factory that was building Ibanez and Greco guitars.

The JV-series instruments have become very collectible, and were built using the original blueprints to be authentic replicas of pre-CBS Fender models. They got the full treatment, including vintage-style tuners and cloth covered harnesses, as well as the original body contours and neck radii.

Our subject bass today is a non-export JV Precision Bass, model PB57-95. You can decipher the model number pretty easily: PB = Precision Bass, 57 = 1957 reissue, 95 = 95,000YEN (original price). There was also a cheaper model, the PB-57-70 (70,000YEN) , which I have a couple examples of. I imported it from Japan a while back, and it was original meant for the Japanese market.

The PB57-95 has a few improvements over the PB57-70. These include US pickups and pots, as well as the anodized pickguard. You have to get something for 25,000YEN.

This bass is finished in 2-tone sunburst with a maple fretboard. put the US made Fenders of the time to shame, and therefore were not imported to the United States. I brought this example back from Japan on one of my business trips.

The finish is original, and it shows a lot of wear, especially some buckle scars on the back. But, it is a true relic, showing 29 years of honest wear, and not some guy’s contrived idea of what a “relic” should look like.

It has the original electronics, and I must say, I love the cloth-covered wiring.

The neck is very nice. The vintage-style reverse tuners work fine, none are bent and they do not bind. The frets are good, with some wear, but there are still years of life left in the frets. The neck is true, and the truss rod works freely. There were some marks on the back of the neck, but my tech sanded them down, and it feels great. At the same time he replaced the truss rod nut, as it was kind of chewed up.

I think the bass is unmodified, with the exception of the knobs. These basses usually came with cheesy looking knobs, and these look a step nicer.

The serial number is JV04085, with a neck date of 6/22/82. This is only two months after the beginning of JV production. It is fairly light, coming in at around 8 pounds, 11 ounces, according to my scale.

It plays very well, and my guitar tech with La Bella Jamerson flats and it sounds killer.

When plucking the open strings with the bass unplugged the tone is rich and there is a strong resonance. Playing unplugged there is no buzz at all, even though the action is low. The strings are big (.011 to .052) so they require a little more strength to play, but they are still very comfortable.

Plugged the bass in tone is relatively bright, because these are relatively new strings , but they will darken up as time goes on and provide the thumpy tone of the 1960s that everybody and their brother is looking for.

I might be selling the black 1983 JV Precision Bass, so drop me a line if you are interested. It is a peach too!

Mahalo!

Fender Japan 57 Re-issue Precision Bass (JV Serial)

This is a very early Fender 1957 re-issue Precision Bass that was made in Japan. It has a pencilled neck date from 1983 and a JV serial number. These have become very hard to find, and the collectors love them.

These early Japanese models put the US made Fenders of the time to shame, and therefore were not imported in any significant numbers to the United States. I brought this example back from Japan on one of my business trips.

It has the original black finish with some nicks and scratches in the finish from normal gig use, but definitely not abuse. It is growing old gracefully.

The neck is where this bass really shines. The original frets are fine, with very little wear. They are nicely finished on the edges, unlike a lot of the newer Fenders I have seen. The neck to pocket fit is excellent too. It has been played, so there is some wear to the finish, and there are some of the inevitable tiny dents on the back of the neck from 26 years of being leaned up against things.

The hardware is pretty darned cool too. The reverse tuners work fine and look just right. None are bent and they do not bind. The original bridge has serrated saddles, so it captures the pre-CBS look as well.

It has the original electronics, and thankfully there was no S-1 switching back then. I love the cloth-covered wiring.

The Japanese re-issue Fenders always have one or two things that just are not period-correct, and in this case it was the pickguard. It had the original cheesy single-ply white plastic guard, which I replaced with a genuine Fender anodized guard. I am not changing anything else on this bass. It is perfect to me, and at less than 8.5 pounds it is easy on my back.

It plays and sounds as good as it looks. My tech set it up nice and low with D'Addario Chromes (flats, of course for that Motown sound), and I could not be happier.

You will have to pry this one from my cold, dead hands.