For sale is a lovingly and professionally restored 1988 MIJ Fender Stratocaster made during the golden era of Japanese manufacturing in the legendary Fujigen factory. 

Everything is original, except the frets which are brand new and were masterfully replaced with modern Narrow-Tall wire by renowned luthier and guitar tech Eric 'Chaz' Czechanski out of his shop inside the famed Sound City recording studio in Van Nuys, CA. Eric also went through and serviced all the electronics as well as set up the guitar so intonation and string height is perfect across the fretboard. Holds tune like it was made yesterday and plays like an absolute dream. 

Certain guitars just have that “it” factor, where you pick it up and riffs just seem to spill out of the thing. This Strat has that in spades. Probably one of the best playing guitars I’ve ever held in my hands, thanks in no small part to Eric’s immaculate work. 

By provenance I am only the second owner having bought this instrument from an older relative that originally purchased it in Anaheim, CA back in the late 80s. The finish is gorgeous and honestly difficult to capture by photo, so I’ll do my best to describe it. I can only guess as to it originally being some flavor of Metallic Blue, because the intervening decades of exposure to cigarette smoke and sunlight have imbued a deep greenish yellow secondary tone.

The hardware and fretboard similarly express the same beautiful naturally aged appearance which I would describe as being lightly “relic’d” in the way that a $5500 Fender might look coming from their Custom Shop. Perfectly worn with entirely authentic chips and scratches and fretboard wear in all the right places. Somehow the protective plastic is still on the pickguard- absolutely no idea how that came to pass (pictured in one of the photos). Perhaps it's not original to the guitar and was replaced somewhere in the intervening decades. Regardless, I've left it on so its next owner can enjoy the pleasure of peeling it off themselves.

Sound wise I would describe these pickups as being slightly less “hot” and twangy than modern Strats. The tone is full, crisp, and well balanced. Everything functions perfectly with the electronics and have a new lease on life having just been cleaned and vetted. 

The price I’m asking for this guitar reflects a few factors. 1) The general rarity of MIJ Fenders from this period of time and especially from this particular manufacturing plant. 2) The amount of time and money that went into the restoration and re-fretting work. 3) Perhaps most importantly- what this guitar is worth to me, and the value it provides in the joy of playing it. 

I don’t believe that you’ll find another example of a made in Japan Stratocaster with this level of work put into it, and I’m so confident that you’ll love it that I’m happy to extend two week return window for your full money back if you find that the pictures and my description here don’t satisfy for whatever reason. 

Let me know if you have any questions, and thanks for looking!