{"product_id":"1983-fender-master-series-flame-ultra-vintage-set-neck-guitar-dan-smith-designed-japan-mij","title":"1983 Fender Master Series Flame Ultra Vintage Set-Neck Guitar, Dan Smith-designed, Japan MIJ","description":"Up for sale, a 1983 Fender Flame Ultra in exceptional condition and in perfect working order, featuring a Candy Red Burst finish and outfitted with a pair of Seymour Duncan humbuckers. Part of Fender's short-lived Masters Series and only available from 1983-85, the Flame and its sister model, the Esprit, were produced by Fender Japan at the Fujigen factory in sparingly small quantities. Unique among Fender Japan production, the Master Series models were designed by Fender luminary Dan Smith in the USA. These guitars were marketed to musicians in both Japan and the USA, at a time when Fender Japan production was largely focused on their domestic market.The Flame and Esprit models both had three tiers, and while strikingly similar in appearance, the Flame has the slightly smaller body of the two, in-line with Les Paul dimensions, as Gibson's flagship model was Fender's target market. While the Esprit model would go on to have a second life as the Robben Ford signature model, the Flame series was limited to the original 1983-85 production window.The Flame Ultra model seen here was the highest tiered iteration, featuring gold-plated Schaller-made hardware, split block pearl inlay, and an ebony fingerboard. Tonewoods include a chambered alder body, carved spruce top, and a maple neck, yielding a glassy, articulate natural acoustic response with the warmth and resonance of the chambered construction.The original Schaller humbuckers have been substituted for a pair of Seymour Duncans, with an APH-1 Alnico Pro in the neck position, and an SH-4 JB at the bridge. These pickups deliver a myriad of rich and versatile tones; everything from big, punchy chords to sweet, sonorous melodies. The APH-1 has excellent tonal breadth, offering ample lows and a tailored midrange for optimal note clarity with clean and distorted sounds alike. The JB, in contrast, is Duncan's original hot-rodded humbucker, a higher output design with crisp, sparkling highs, powerful low end, and a boosted midrange for fat, creamy breakup. Weighing 8lbs 5oz, this Fender has been professionally setup here at Mike \u0026amp; Mike’s Guitar Bar with fresh 10-46 strings, low action and spot-on intonation.The maple neck has a slender C-shaped profile carve with generous shoulders in all registers, measuring .820” deep at the 1st fret and .925” at the 12th. The bound ebony fretboard has a 12” radius, with pearloid split block inlay and fret-edge binding. The medium jumbo frets have plenty of meat, with only light wear beneath the plain strings on the crowns of frets 1-4. The guitar plays cleanly up the 24 3\/4” scale with a straight neck and responsive, optimally-adjusted truss rod. The original bone nut measures 43.6mm (1.72”) in width. The multi-ply bound headstock has the Fender logo inlaid in pearl, with additional pearl inlay and the \"flame\" script text. The truss rod cover is a later substitution from a Robben Ford signature model. The Fender-branded, Schaller-built tuners turn smoothly and hold accurate pitch, with ebony buttons and clean gold platings. The back of the headstock retains a “Made in Japan” foil sticker and inked serial number that doesn't correspond with any Fender Japan dating chart.On the body, all of the electronics work as intended, and both Seymour Duncan humbuckers have J-suffix model stickers on their baseplates, wound by Duncan's \"Custom Shop Queen” Maricela Juarez. The pickup routes were cleanly deepened to accommodate the Seymour Duncans, with small dowels added to the corners of the pickup routes to cleanly mount the Gibson-style pickup rings. The original stacked CTS Tone pots date to the 43rd week of '83, while the Volume pots (also original) are the full-size Japanese pots typically seen in early Fujigen production. Each humbucker has dedicated Volume and Tone controls, and this is one of the first instruments to feature Fender's TBX (treble-bass expander) tone circuitry. Rolling off the knob cuts the high end, while turning it clockwise restricts the low end and produces a glassy, aggressive bite. The original two-way mini toggle currently functions as a coil tap for the bridge position humbucker.Hardware includes the Schaller-made roller bridge and tailpiece which features fine tuners for ideal intonation. The knobs have been substituted for modern black Strat-style knobs, and the original F capped knobs are included in the gigbag (one cap is missing). The gloss Candy Red Burst metallic finish (abbreviated as CRB in the Fender Japan catalog) is framed by multi-ply cream binding; bursted on top and a solid Candy Red on the back and neck profile, notably richer and darker than Candy Apple Red. Cosmetic wear is limited to a number of minor finish scratches in the clear coat, a scant few nicks on the back, and some requisite scuffing along the pick path. The smooth gloss finish on the neck profile is immaculate.  A black faux leather padded gigbag is included, along with the original quartet of knobs.","brand":"Fender","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43302925140224,"sku":"40401016","price":2499.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0550\/4437\/4714\/products\/medium_d02feae2-2e43-408c-abc0-8ce5dbfe3094.jpg?v=1751538637","url":"https:\/\/mmguitarbar.com\/products\/1983-fender-master-series-flame-ultra-vintage-set-neck-guitar-dan-smith-designed-japan-mij","provider":"Mike \u0026 Mike's Guitar Bar","version":"1.0","type":"link"}