Up for sale, a 1988 Fender “ExTrad” Stratocaster ‘54 vintage reissue model ST54-140 in excellent condition and in perfect working order. Finished in two-tone Sunburst nitro lacquer and complete with all USA electronics, this ExTrad model represents the absolute top tier of Fender Japan during the golden age of "Made in Japan" production. Exceedingly rare, these instruments were designed to be sold in the Japanese domestic market and are uncommon in their country of origin (or elsewhere).

A true Custom Shop offering, the ExTrad instruments were ostensibly made to order one-offs with features that paralleled Fender's USA Custom Shop output. Established by Makoto Sugimoto, who benefitted from a quarter century of experience in R&D, custom guitar building, and engineering at Fujigen, the ExTrad instruments were produced by a small team of expert craftspeople, representing Fender Japan's absolute best. This premium instrument line was first offered in 1986, and this of the last early examples before "ExTrad" branding was added to the headstock.

This particular ExTrad '54 Stratocaster is stunning in every detail, with an alder body and a one-piece flame maple neck. The guitar has a notably full and broad natural acoustic tone with plenty of bass register warmth and a deep resonant quality. The trio of pickups are the original Fender USA black bobbin single coils (the same pickups seen in the American Vintage line and early USA Custom Shop Strats) with staggered alnico magnets and cloth-covered leads. Lively, sparkling, and dynamic, the sound is distinct in every position on the five-way selector switch. The bridge pickup has bite and bounce, with a woody, percussive middle pickup, and round, bell-like chime at the neck. The “in-between” settings have a thinned-out snap and scooped spank. The guitar weighs 7lbs 7oz, benefitting from a professional setup here at Mike & Mike's Guitar Bar with 10-46 strings, slinky action and accurate intonation.

Neck Specs:

-Wood: Maple
-Shape: Substantial soft V, measuring .865” 1st fret, .970” 12th fret
-Fretboard: Maple, 7 1/4” vintage-spec radius
-Frets: Slender, light wear beneath the plain strings on frets 1-9
-Scale Length: 25 1/2”
-Nut: 1.650” (42mm), bone
-Headstock: Replacement waterslide decal
-Tuners: Kluson-style, Gotoh
-Serialization: “Made in Japan”, E-prefix, 8/8/88 pencil date on neck heel

Body Specs:

-Wood: Alder
-Pickups: Fender American Vintage 57/62 single coil x3
-Harness: CTS 250k pots date to 50th week of 1986
-Controls: Volume, Tone x2, Five-way pickup selector (replacement)
-Hardware: Vintage-style vibrato with steel block, original arm
-Plastics: One-ply parchment pickguard, bright white knobs/pickup covers (replacement)

The ST54-140 model is finished in genuine nitro lacquer (unlike the poly finishes used on the vast majority of Fender Japan production) and cosmetic wear on the two-tone Sunburst gloss includes one an isolated spot of finish chipping on the perimeter at the arm contour, scuffing on top across the strum path, limited buckle worming on the back, and a number of minor dings on the body as a whole, mostly on the back. The smooth ambered gloss on the neck profile is flawless and highlights tight curly flame figuring in the maple. There is a small amount of touched-up rack rash adjacent to the nut.

The original tweed hardshell case is included.