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Yep, I was thinking much the same thing. The red tones are wrong for this. A brown tort pickguard has shades that will pick up the colours of the neck and the rosewood fretboard and should be a much more complimentary match for Sonic Blue. It’s still a personal preference as to whether anyone...

Currently listening to Eric Bibb’s Ridin’ — just really like this one. Better still, get to go listen to him live in a few weeks!

Subtle (!). 🤣 Anyway, he doesn’t do rosewood fretboards... Honestly, JB is probably the buyer you want for this if a direct sale to a collector is an option. He may have gained something of a reputation for acquiring Les Pauls but long before that he was a Strat guy — and still is...

Good catch! I hadn't spotted that but you're right and it just confirms my suspicion. I'm not sure I'd go so far as to call it an "aftermarket mod" -- they're basically the exact same pickup, just with two pole pieces pushed in. Whether deliberate or accidental, original or done later, who...

I have a simpler and more prosaic but much less exciting alternative explanation for you… The thin black and white wiring and the visible black base below the pickup covers says to me that these are the all the same early type basic MIJ single coil pups on black plastic bobbins, as used on the...

Huh? Body year and neck year? That makes no sense. Sorry, gotta disagree with this. The letters indicate the basic type: ST for Stratocaster, TL for Telecaster. The first two digits combine with the letter designations to describe the type and model year: TL52 is (based on) 1952 Telecaster...

Oh, for sure… but that wasn’t really my point. I was thinking mostly of the obvious yellowing and aging; the Seafoam/Surf Green look on the front and the headstock is actually rather lovely but it is almost entirely down to aging of the top coat. The back and neck pocket may not be classic...

The back and, in particular, the neck pocket look more like Daphne Blue than Sonic Blue but everywhere else has aged and yellowed quite significantly. Presumably that’s yellowing of the top coat? The back of the body is such a different colour to the front and the headstock that I would guess...

The ST62 is one of the mythical “E-“ serial numbers and it’s printed on the neck heel. My TL52 has an “A-“ serial number but that’s stamped on the bridge plate, as was the case for most of the early Telecasters. You only need to take out the pickguard screws and lift the lower edge of the...

Yes, that's pretty much what I thought too -- and also how I remembered my own MIJ strats. I was genuinely surprised when I opened them up again and found that the details of the bodies did actually match the necks and the putative model dates!

The majority of the Japanese Fenders were built to a price point in order to compete with the many clones of classic Fender guitars that were being built by other manufacturers around that time. Poly finishes notwithstanding, the wood and the carving of the bodies and the necks was generally...

Yeah, well... 😳 Don't thank me too quickly because it turns out I was dead WRONG and my memory was fooling me! After I wrote that, I began to question it in my head so I went back to look. Guess what I found... These are the three guitars: 1986 ST62 in Sonic Blue. Neck is a nice...

Don't over think that control cavity routing; I'm fairly sure Fender Japan (FujiGen at the time) were using a standard cavity routing for all their Strat bodies. These are not exacting Custom Shop recreations of any specific year and that sort of detail is not visible from the outside so it...

The MIJ models came about at a time when Fender USA was in flux; the CBS to management buy-out was happening and Fender were also losing sales to competitors who were blatantly ripping-off their classic models and undercutting Fender prices with overseas manufacturing, mostly in Asia. Some of...

Agreed. The three Strats in my avatar photo are all 1980s Fujigen MIJ and they all have great necks. They're all very different, but all great to play. The CAR guitar is notionally ST54 but has a pretty pronounced V-profile whereas the two-tone sunburst is ST57 but has a much bigger, more...

At around the same number, I still feel like I have too many — but I’m attached to all of them for various reasons so no wish to get rid of anything (but I accept from here on in it may have to be one-in-one-out…!). Also good to know that there are plenty of folks with far more guitars than me...

Intrigued by the usual array of Fenders and Gibsons… but the one that caught my eye was the ‘30s Epiphone Olympic! Can I have that one please…?!

Interesting photo. The Tele-style round string tree of the early Strats is very obvious, as is the oval shaped dark mark on the bass side of the lower bout. Fascinating to see that, even very early in the lifespan of these early-model Strats, there’s significant play wear on the more brittle...

I have too many… as my wife keeps reminding me. But they’ve been accumulating over 40 or so years of playing. (Ouch — am I really that old?!) Three Strats (see profile pic) One Tele Two Les Pauls One electroacoustic six string One electroacoustic twelve string One archtop six string One old...

Some superglue and a touch of rosewood dust for the fretboard—good as new, no…?

Just the one Tele -- but it's a doozy... Also has a lovely rich, warm Don Mare custom neck pup that was installed before I acquired it. I really love my Tele. I came to them relatively late (after my Strats and Lesters) but there are certain things it does SO well that a Strat just...

These guys are all classic Fender vintage spec 7.25” radius boards and original fret wire. They each have a very different neck profile but I love them and would never change them. Never had a problem with bends choking-out. I’m happy enough with the 12” radius on my Les Pauls (and they’re...

Be different…? Put something more unusual like, say, an anodized gold pickguard on there and then see whether you like it with black or aged white pup covers / knobs / selector tip. The aesthetics can be whatever you want them to be. More than likely, 99% of folks will have no idea of the...

Agreed -- and I was pretty disappointed to see that it took until page 6 (!!) for this to even be questioned...! To be honest, polls like this rarely serve a purpose as there will be far too many great players not included. Given the wide variety of musical and playing styles, I just don't...

Rosewood board… Sonic Blue! (but still have much liking for Lake Placid Blue) Maple neck… Still like Fiesta Red but as my own red one is CAR that’s the one I’d go with! :D