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1982-83 Fender '57 Stratocaster JV Olympic White, ST57-65 w/ USA Fullerton Pickups, Japan MIJ Fujigen

$2,599.99

+ shipping

Up for sale, a 1982-83 Fender '57 Stratocaster model ST57-65 in excellent condition and in perfect working order. A very early Fender Japan model, this "Japanese Vintage" (JV) series guitar combines a neck and loaded body from the same model and tier, with the neck dating to 1982, and a fully loaded body with date codes from the following year. This JV model boasts the same early black bobbin staggered pole pickups used on the Fender USA Fullerton factory reissues from the same era.

This Strat has a resonant alder body paired with a one-piece maple neck, offering an authoritative, snappy natural acoustic quality that translates well through the pickups. These pickups have staggered alnico magnets, black fiber bobbins and cloth covered leads, faithfully replicating the hallmarks of Fender's Pre-CBS pickups from the 1950s and '60s. The bridge pickup has a sparkling, bouncy quality, with quack and percussive cut in the "in-between" positions on the three-way pickup selector switch. The neck pickup has a broad, smooth sound with a bell-like chime. The guitar weighs 7lbs 9oz, professionally setup here at Mike & Mike's Guitar Bar with low action, accurate intonation and fresh 10-46 strings.

The maple neck has a medium C-shaped profile carve with round shoulders in every register and faint palm wear through the gloss on the profile edges, measuring .830" deep at the 1st fret and .920" at the 12th. There is some finger wear through the gloss on the maple fretboard, with a vintage-spec 7 1/4" radius board and original slender frets that have been leveled and crowned, currently showing only very faint wear beneath the G and B strings on frets 1-7. The guitar plays cleanly up the 25 1/2" scale with a straight neck and responsive, optimally adjusted truss rod. The nut measures 42.5mm (1.675") in width. On the headstock, this Strat has the larger "spaghetti" Fender logo seen on the JV models, while the microscopic "Made In Japan" text has been scratched out. The original Kluson-style tuners are intact, turning smoothly and holding pitch as intended with light patina on the nickel plating. The pencil date on the neck heel reads 6-29-82, and the truss rod nut is flush with the heel, needing little adjustment in the past 40 years.

All of the electronics work as intended, with the original USA-made Fender Fullerton factory black bobbin pickups wired to the Japanese harness with two full-size pots that date to May of 1983, while the third pot is a modern CTS replacement. All of the original plastic parts are intact, with the white one-ply pickguard, deeply yellowed pickup covers, and a trio of knobs that show more faint uniform aging. The chrome hardware has only light surface patina, and the vibrato has a full-size block, actuating easily with three springs for quick flutters and deeper dives.

The glosss Olympic White finish shows sparingly little yellowing, with cosmetic wear limited to some minor dings and finish scratches, particularly concentrated on the back and lower bout body edge. There is also a small finish chip on the back adjacent to the tremolo cavity cover. The smooth ambered gloss on the neck profile has a tiny bit of chatter on the skunk stripe and just a couple small marks on the profile length.

A brown faux leather gigbag is included, and the gigbag interior has a light smokey smell.