Anyone own/owned a blue Jimmie Vaughan Tex-Mex strat?

harrysmo · November 16th, 2009, 07:36 PM

I have an Oly White and 2-color burst JV strats. I'd love to have a blue (daphne?) JV, if there is one out there.

Chris_69_SS · November 16th, 2009, 08:15 PM

this the one with the TEX-MEX pups?

TexBiker · November 16th, 2009, 08:25 PM

Did Fender ever produce the JV in blue? I thought the only JV colors were:

1. TCSB
2. Oly White
3. Black
4. CAR

sonny wolf · November 16th, 2009, 08:40 PM

There is no Jimmie Vaughan model available in blue to my knowledge.However,there was the original Tex-Mex Strats in the mid 90s that had a light blue Strat in the color selection.This series was endorsed by Jimmie himself and became the basis for his eventual signature model.

thaus · November 16th, 2009, 09:51 PM

Please don't let this turn into another discussion of JV's music or his talents. Just about his signature guitars (which are very good instruments!).

harrysmo · November 16th, 2009, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonny wolf

There is no Jimmie Vaughan model available in blue to my knowledge.However,there was the original Tex-Mex Strats in the mid 90s that had a light blue Strat in the color selection.This series was endorsed by Jimmie himself and became the basis for his eventual signature model.

Yes, that must be it. I didn't remember that Fender put out the Tex-Mex Strat for about one year and advertised it with Jimmie Vaughan before they put one out as his signature guitar and discontinued the Tex-Mex.
Were the specifications for the Tex-Mex Strat and the JV Strat the same?

thaus · November 16th, 2009, 10:44 PM

I think I recently saw an add (old guitar player mag) recently with JV standing around a bunch of Tex-Mex strats. I think one of them was blue but they were not his signature line...........maybe I can post the pic if I can find it again!!

harrysmo · November 16th, 2009, 10:50 PM

Thanks thaus. I guess the Tex-Mex Strats must be kinda rare. At least I never recall seeing them for sale. Maybe I assumed that they were JV's.

TexBiker · November 16th, 2009, 10:56 PM

The Tex-Mex was available in Sonic Blue, Vintage White, Candy Apple Red, Brown Sunburst, or Black.

IIRC, they were introduced in 1996 and only in production for about a year.

thaus · November 16th, 2009, 10:58 PM

So TexBiker, did this model meld into the JV signature? Seems so since they used JV to advertise the guitars.

TexBiker · November 16th, 2009, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thaus

So TexBiker, did this model meld into the JV signature? Seems so since they used JV to advertise the guitars.

I don't know about that. I'd assume the body/electrics are similar, but I don't know if the Tex-Mex series had the hard-V neck like the early JV's.

Boris Bubbanov · November 16th, 2009, 11:08 PM

I think they co-existed for a short while (1995?) with the Jimmie having the hard V neck and the Tex Mex a more conventional neck shape. Then they dropped the Tex Mex (and the extra colors) and just made Jimmies with a softer V.

thaus · November 16th, 2009, 11:23 PM

Yes, still browsing for one of those early hard-V JV necks...........I am sure one will pop up at some point!!

harrysmo · November 17th, 2009, 07:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boris Bubbanov

I think they co-existed for a short while (1995?) with the Jimmie having the hard V neck and the Tex Mex a more conventional neck shape. Then they dropped the Tex Mex (and the extra colors) and just made Jimmies with a softer V.

Fender shows the JV Strat as being introduced in January 1997. I think that the Tex Mex was gone by then.

thaus · November 17th, 2009, 09:08 AM

Here's the ad I was referring to earlier in the thread. It comes from a Guitar World magazine July 1997. Cool looking guitars.......

Boris Bubbanov · November 17th, 2009, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by harrysmo

Fender shows the JV Strat as being introduced in January 1997. I think that the Tex Mex was gone by then.

The thing that throws me is, lots of Jimmies have MSN6 serial numbers and some even have MSN5 serial numbers. I equate that to 1996 and 1995 but we know it doesn't work that way, really. (I have an MSN6 Jimmie with 2002 stock potentiometers in it; the date stamp is 200-something.)

And the advert shows the Tex Mex still touted in 1997. I just don't recall.

harrysmo · November 17th, 2009, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boris Bubbanov

The thing that throws me is, lots of Jimmies have MSN6 serial numbers and some even have MSN5 serial numbers. I equate that to 1996 and 1995 but we know it doesn't work that way, really. (I have an MSN6 Jimmie with 2002 stock potentiometers in it; the date stamp is 200-something.)

And the advert shows the Tex Mex still touted in 1997. I just don't recall.

My s/b JV has a MSN6 serial #. The neck has no date at the heel but the body has a Mar 17 1997 or Mar 17 1999 date. The last number in the year is not clear. The neck seems to have a "hard" V shape, at least harder than my EJ Strats.
Wouldn't it be great if Fender actually tried to date things clearly and in a logical way? It seems as if they go out of their way to "muddy the waters" when it comes to such things. They must realize that there are legions of Fender fanatics that are anal enough (like me) to try to document the various guitars and amps they produce. I'm sure that their customer service reps are tired of people constantly asking them to date their guitars, spec changes, etc. How difficult can it be?

thaus · November 17th, 2009, 10:30 AM

Do the specs match the JV specs? Jumbo frets, tex-mex pups, vintage hardware? Sounds like they really did blend the two together sometime in 97...........I am pretty sure that the JV was introduced in 1997 maybe at the summer NAMM show and probably the same time the Tex-Mex was discontinued. Just a theory...........

Boris Bubbanov · November 17th, 2009, 06:48 PM

We need to consult Dr. Mark Davis at TDPRI.

He has a vision impairment and uses technology to read TDPRI otherwise he'd surely be here. I might jes' ask him. :^)

thaus · November 17th, 2009, 08:21 PM

Yes, ask the guru Mr. Davis..........the walking, talking encyclopedia of all things Fender!! He'll gives us the right answer..........

thaus · November 17th, 2009, 08:23 PM

It does seem odd that Fender is so lax when it comes to serial #'s; I remember reading that the early EJ signatures included an extra digit in the serial that wasn't supposed to be there......a stamping error that was over-looked and many guitars sent out with an extra digit!!

GeeSilverman · December 10th, 2009, 05:02 PM

I own a 1995 tex-mex strat. It's a sweet little number. It has an MN5 serial number. It's one of the vintage white models, which now (in 2009) looks really yellow. It has a softer C neck (maybe a 9.5?). Definitely not a V. This was pre-JV era.

Fender produced the Tex Mex in 95 and 96, then in 1997 went to the Jimmie Vaughan strat. In 1995, the tex mex strats retailed at about $700.

They are EXTREMELY rare. I have never seen another one in person, and only a few have gone up on ebay. Mine was a closet classic that I was able to snag cheap from a pawn shop in Dayton, OH that didn't know what they had.