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About This Listing
Up for sale, a 1994 Fender Stratocaster ‘54 vintage reissue model ST54-53 in 100% original condition and in perfect working order, complete with the original gigbag. This “Made in Japan” Strat was offered exclusively in the Japanese domestic market, uncommon outside its country of origin.
Sporting a basswood body and a one-piece maple neck, this Strat has a smooth, articulate acoustic tone with ample top end chime captured by the original trio of single coil pickups. These ceramic magnet pickups have more punch and power than the typical alnico design, sounding distinct and clear in all positions on the five-way switch, and delivering quintessential Strat quack at the in-between positions. This Strat weighs 7lbs 9oz, professionally setup here at Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar with 10-46 strings, low action, and accurate intonation.
The maple neck has a medium depth soft V-shaped profile carve at the nut with lightly rolled fretboard edges, gaining a hair more heft and roundness in the higher registers, measuring .865” deep at the 1st fret and .990” at the 12th. The fretboard has a vintage-spec 7 1/4“ radius and flawless stock slender fretwire, playing cleanly up the 25 1/2“ scale with a straight neck and a responsive, optimally-adjusted truss rod. The nut measures 1.650” (42mm) in width. On the headstock, the Kluson-style Gotoh tuning machines turn smoothly and hold accurate pitch. The “Made in Japan” text and Q-prefix serial number are present above the four-bolt neck plate.
All of the electronics work as they should, and the ceramic magnet pickups are cleanly wired to the stock Japanese harness and five-way pickup selector switch. The vibrato has a large block for great sustain, and the unit is very responsive for smooth surfy warbles and deeper dives, jumping back into tune with ease. The chrome-plated jack cup and bridge base have plenty of shine, with light patina across the saddles. Plastics include the bright white knobs, pickup covers, and one-ply white pickguard, which has some requisite scuffing on the treble side of the strum path.
Cosmetic wear on the gloss two-tone Sunburst finish is limited to a prominent ding on the back at the belly contour, a scant few additional tiny marks on the lower bout perimeter, and a handful of faint finish scratches in the clear coat on the body as a whole. The smooth ambered gloss on the neck profile is flawless.
The first era of Fender Japan began in 1982, when domestic market Japanese Fenders started rolling out of factories. While Fender Japan is popularly known for some of their more extravagant aesthetics, the bulk of domestic Japanese production was focused on reissues of historic American Fender models. These reissue models were labeled by a two letter/two number model code for the model and reissue year, followed by a suffix that indicated the price in Yen, and any unique specifications the model had. While a given model might come in a variety of price points during a given model year, from entry level to the near Custom Shop quality of Fender Japan's ExTrad series, all the models would broadly follow the aesthetic and technical specifications of the original American models. Reissue models would follow this naming convention until 2015, when Fender Japan revamped their product line to more closely mirror the organizational structure of the Mexican and American made Fender lines. Models on this page represent the 1982 - 2015 era of Fender Japan production, and typically feature the old style Fender Japan serial number at the base of the neck, as opposed to the contemporary "JD-" serial number format found on the back of the headstock. The original model codes (and frequently the value suffix) can usually be found in the neck pocket of the body, and at the base of the neck where the mounting holes are.
