Univox Solid Body Stratocaster - 1970’s Made in Japan 🇯🇵! - Killer Strat! - Huge and Epic Sound! -

This strat absolutely rips! Sometimes the best Fender you ever played wasn’t even a Fender at all. Killer Univox Strat from the 1970’s Japanese Matsumoku factory!

This thing seriously rips. It kind of looks like someone tried to draw a strat from memory and they did a very honest job. If you put one next to a Fender from the same era there’s some endearing differences, it kind of looks like a strat that was in a Dali dream sequence alongside some melted clocks and elephants on stilts. It plays and sounds like it’s trying to knock a Fender from the same era off of it’s throne, and it seriously gives any strat from any era a run for it’s money.

I love Univox, they were one of the house brands of the Matsumoku factory in 1970’s Japan. They would make any and all types of guitars, some that were commissioned for other brands and designers, and some like Univox that were totally their own thing. They were by no means just a copycat brand, some of the Univox designs like the Hi Flier were undeniably outside the box and seemingly free from influence. I feel like once you make your own boundary pushing designs, it’s chill to then go ahead and just make your own copies of Fenders haha.

As an instrument, this thing totally rips. Couldn’t ask for a straighter neck, the string response feels super vibrant and bouncy, and the sound has a ton of punch. To me the pickups have a huge p-90 quality to them with tons of thick roundness, the neck pickup is like a steak that if you eat the whole thing you get your picture hung up in a restaurant. The bridge is honestly to me like a Les Paul Jr P-90 pickup tons of cut and bite, but still very round and huge. It’s a killer strat through and through!

There’s a little fret buzz on the high E, but it plays so great to me it’s totally feeling how it should. Aside from the replaced volume knob (I replaced it with a p-bass knob haha) it’s all original! I love this strat, killer guitar!