Metropoulos Forum

WHat's the deal with these? THey are so much more expensive on ebay than the american ones. I see they are made of basswood. Is there some kinda buzz I never heard about the japan models that make them more desireable?

Show me a picture or a link. The MIJ Malmsteen signature models have for many years been more accurate in details than the American counterparts. The fact that they were not produced with alder bodies, is what stopped us all buying the MIJ Fenders, because I would have. They had the '71 spec with bullet truss rod and 4 machine screw/brass insert neck mounting, years before the USA YJM's The MK III's as I call them, ('07's) and up! Also they have a very cool '68 YJM with the large headstock. The Japanese Fenders even come with DiMarzio Cliplock Straps, just like Yngwie's guitars. The quality of the MIJ Fenders has ben the equal of the USA ones and in earlier days they were superior I would say!

http://www.mijfenders.com/Gallery/ST721 ... /index.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.mijfenders.com/Gallery/YJM/S ... JMgallery/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.mijfenders.com/frmStrat.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
These Fenders rock and have never had the issues the US YJM's have had, like misalignment of the high E string, ect.!!
So what do you think??
yngwie308

I've not followed the prices on the MIJ YJM's but I would guess that the prices are driven by their relative scarcity here in the U.S. As yngwie308 said, the MIJ's were closer in appearance to Yngwie's guitars than the U.S. model, though that was pretty well addressed with the '07(?) American version. So prior to the revision on the U.S. version, the Japanese model probably drew in some people for its appearance as well as the cachet of being rare in the U.S. and certainly it had the build quality to back it up, even if the body wood was incorrect.

Here's a picture of my newer US-made YJM. Note the bullet truss rod:



For grins, here's the same guitar with a Japanese-made Blackmore model:

Also a point to consider is that basswood isn't that horrible a body wood. My Washburns, although a completely different configuration as far as pickups and have OFR's and have body mounted pickups, they have poplar body wood and in the case of my new SS100, poplar with a maple cap. This wood is great sounding as well. So although alder is classic Strat tonewood, the HS series DiMarzios support a varied series of woods well. Then given the fact that the tone is jacked up with a DOD250, this enhances the tone more.
To me my 2004 US made YJM Strat with maple board, sounds exactly like a '70's Stratocaster, with the same configuration that I played back in the day.
It is an extremely Hendrixy sounding guitar, that's why Yngwie's Hendrix covers sound so authentic, imo anyway..
yngwie308

Check out this MIJ, although three bolt, it is cool and has Gotoh tuners, ect...
http://cgi.ebay.com/Rare-Fender-Japan-S ... 7C294%3A50" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
yngwie308

This guitar is pretty awesome, no replies.........
yngwie308

yngwie308 wrote:This guitar is pretty awesome, no replies.........
yngwie308

No Basswood is not bad I dont think @ all. The musicman Eds axis where made from basswood!!

yngwie308 wrote:This guitar is pretty awesome, no replies.........
yngwie308

It looks pretty good but I'm surprised that there isn't a brass nut on there. That's a signature feature of the YJM's.

OK next question on the malmsteen strat. Where is the "American" one made? I just bought a 07' and an 08' Nowhere on the guitars does it say "made in USA" like other american fenders. Conspiracy?

Did either of your guitars have a "CE" sticker on them? "CE" is literally for "Crafted Elsewhere". And most of the foreign-built instruments have a "Crafted in..." or "Made in..." sticker on the headstock or on the base of the neck. Also, as the Malmsteen Strat is trying to stay true to the original markings of a late '60's or early '70's Strat, there would be no "Made in USA" sticker on those instruments as all real Fenders were made in America at that time.

If it makes you feel a little better, the first three digits of the Fender product number for the Malmsteen signature Strat are "010" which indicates USA production.

flieger67 wrote:Did either of your guitars have a "CE" sticker on them? "CE" is literally for "Crafted Elsewhere". And most of the foreign-built instruments have a "Crafted in..." or "Made in..." sticker on the headstock or on the base of the neck. Also, as the Malmsteen Strat is trying to stay true to the original markings of a late '60's or early '70's Strat, there would be no "Made in USA" sticker on those instruments as all real Fenders were made in America at that time.

If it makes you feel a little better, the first three digits of the Fender product number for the Malmsteen signature Strat are "010" which indicates USA production.

Both of mine have a "CE" sticker on them. I got one form an authorized dealer. If you go to Sweetwaters website they have one in their gallery you can see it has a "CE" sticker on the neckplate. So I guess it isn't an american made guitar. We've been dooped!
P.S. I leaving for vacation so I wont be able to reply to this for a week.

planetjimi wrote:Both of mine have a "CE" sticker on them. I got one form an authorized dealer. If you go to Sweetwaters website they have one in their gallery you can see it has a "CE" sticker on the neckplate. So I guess it isn't an american made guitar. We've been dooped!
P.S. I leaving for vacation so I wont be able to reply to this for a week.

Well, I do stand corrected. That "CE" sticker actually stands for "Conformité Européenne". It's apparently about the equivalent of a UL approval in the US. You can read about it here: http://www.ce-marking.nl/helpdesk/faq1.html So you learn something new every day - cool!

And for what it's worth, my late '07 Malmsteen didn't have the CE sticker when I got it. Most of the stickers on the back were removed before the shop I bought it from shipped it to me. Being that I've known those guys for years, I know that wouldn't ship me an MIJ or elsewhere Malmsteen and try to pass it off as the US-made model.