1990 Fender Stratocaster ST72-650 Vintage Electric Guitar, Natural Ash w/ Gibson 498T, Japan MIJ Fujigen

Up for sale, a 1990 Fender Stratocaster ST72-650 in excellent condition and in perfect working order. A rare, early Fender Japan domestic market model from the famed Fujigen factory, this Strat has been modified from its stock configuration with a single Gibson 498T humbucker in the bridge position. This high output humbucker puts emphasis on the pickup's upper midrange frequencies for enhanced crunch and sustain, delivering a natural authority and note attack paired with the solid ash body. The guitar weighs 7lbs 11oz, professionally setup here at Mike & Mike's Guitar Bar with 10-46 strings, low action, and accurate intonation.The maple neck has a slender C-shaped profile carve with just enough roundness in the shoulders and lightly rolled fretboard edges, measuring .825" deep at the 1st fret and .925" at the 12th. The rosewood fretboard retains the original slender frets which show uniform wear on the crowns of frets 1-5, with wear extending lightly beneath the plain strings until the octave. Notes ring out clearly up the 25 1/2" scale, and the neck is straight with a responsive, optimally adjusted truss rod. The nut measures a full 42.5mm in width (fractionally shy of a full 1 11/16"), and the large '70s-style headstock has a block Stratocaster logo and original Gotoh tuning machines which turn smoothly. The "Made in Japan" text and J-prefix serial number are present above the three-bolt F neck plate.The simple electronics function as intended, with the Gibson USA 498T humbucker wired to one of the original full-size Japanese pots which dates to September of 1990. The inclusion of the humbucker required some routing to the original bridge pickup cavity, and this work was reasonably well executed. The custom-made one-ply pickguard mounts the humbucker, and the guard shows some requisite pick scuffing across the strum path. Wear on the Natural gloss finish is limited to just a few small dings and light finish scratches on the body as a whole, with a cleanly doweled and repositioned forward strap button. The gloss finish on the neck profile is clean and smooth.The original Fender-branded gigbag is included.