This girl is one of the very collectible Fender Squiers made in the early 1980s at Fuji-gen, the Fender Japan factory. She’s now about 30 years old – and seen plenty of action, lots of wear/tarnishing for a real vintage vibe, but still in her playing prime. I’d like to keep her but have too many guitars.

This guitar has now been sold.

The SQ serials followed the JV ones and have many similar features. She’s all original as far as I know apart from brass saddles, a 4-way switch and a new selector tip. All these original bits are included.

AWESOME SOUND, ELECTRICS + 4-WAY SWITCH
Like JV models, SQs has vintage-style alnico pickups rather than the cheaper bar magnet pickups that came later. This gives you a genuine vintage/USA-type, classic fender sound.

The original DM30 switch was faulty, so I’ve added a 4-way switch instead. This expands her sound to another level, giving you:

Position 1 (bridge only): Normal end position for that awesome Telecaster bite.
Position 2 (bridge and neck – in parallel): Normal Telecaster balanced sound.
Position 3 (neck only): Normal atmospheric neck sound.
Position 4 (bridge and neck – in series): This is the extra position. Working in series, the pickups give you a much bigger, fatter sound,

 

NECK & TUNERS
The neck has all the vintage curves you’d get from the JV/80s era. Shallow C profile and a 7.25in radius with skinny fret wire.

The original Squier logo is on the front and intact. She’s got the early ‘Fender Japan’ machine heads that hold tune really well. SQ serial number on her neckplate.

She’s got a nice low/medium action. The frets have some wear but not much, considering her age. Some cosmetic lacquer fraying on the edge of the fretboard which adds to the vintage vibe.

The truss rod access is at the heel, like all vintage Fender factory-made necks. Overall, a stunning neck!

RELIC BODY
I’m guessing her body is basswood, like with most Japanese models.

(Cool to see one of the original Fender factory shims still in the neck pocket above!)

It’s a string-through body, like the early 80s vintage Japan Fender models.

Her body has LOTS of bumps, dings, scrapes and chips, mainly round the edges, which hints at a great backstory. Lots of stories ‘on the road’.

GREAT TO PLAY
She’s set up with 10-46 strings. Low-to-medium action for easy playing. I’ve also set the intonation.

COOL FEATURES #1 –  I’ve added brass saddles for a cool retro look.

COOL FEATURES #2 – Japan flag vinyl sticker, a badge of honour to indicate her pedigree. Can be peeled off easily if you wish.

COOL FEATURES #3 – cup jacket socket … The previous owner added two retaining screws so it’s easier to service than the silly claw design.

ORIGINAL PARTS INCLUDED – I’ll include the bits I replaced (above).

NO HARD CASE
Some of the photos show a hard case. But there’s not one included (Sorry, I just needed something to be a backdrop for the photos, so used one from another guitar.) But she will be packed very well.