CIJ vs. MIJ

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jockscott

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What is difference between CIJ and MIJ stratocasters. I have google and found some facts but in practice who?s better or is it same?

Any particular years better or worse for these guitars? Fairly prices?

I looking for a nice strat for a resonable price and think these guitars looks interesting and interested to know what to look for and mabye what to avoid.
 
Fender Japan has gone back to using MIJ on guitars now, I was told by the former manager of the local Rock Inn a couple of years ago that at that time there were 3 factories building FJs with another making basses. They have always made top end guitars and lower end models, still do. True they made great lower end models too, I have some.
If I were looking for a nice strat for a reasonable price today I`d consider a tone burst Edwards...the solid colors I`ve seen were at least three pieces for the body, tone bursts were always 2 center joined...not that it really makes a difference but it`s what I`ve seen. I`d also look at the used Seymour Duncan Traditional series on the Ishibashi u-box...real nice guitars and there are many other Japanese makers to look for if you want to spend more.
 
What i am thinking about if there are generally better (or worse) buying MIJ or CIJ. I know there are different models and lower/higher models of both CIJ and MIJ. But if spending somewhere about 5-700$ what strat could i get? Do know i did not get the best high end model but since i probably won?t be able to test before buy if interested to know what to look for and what i probably could get for my money.
 
jockscott said:
What i am thinking about if there are generally better (or worse) buying MIJ or CIJ. I know there are different models and lower/higher models of both CIJ and MIJ. But if spending somewhere about 5-700$ what strat could i get? Do know i did not get the best high end model but since i probably won?t be able to test before buy if interested to know what to look for and what i probably could get for my money.

As sneaky said...I'd grab that Seymour Duncan DS100 on Ishibashi's website right now. For just under 7 US I don't think you would find much better anywhere. Looks practically new.

That one probably won't last long though.
 
sneakyjapa n said:
Fender Japan has gone back to using MIJ on guitars now, I was told by the former manager of the local Rock Inn a couple of years ago that at that time there were 3 factories building FJs with another making basses. They have always made top end guitars and lower end models, still do. True they made great lower end models too, I have some.
If I were looking for a nice strat for a reasonable price today I`d consider a tone burst Edwards...the solid colors I`ve seen were at least three pieces for the body, tone bursts were always 2 center joined...not that it really makes a difference but it`s what I`ve seen. I`d also look at the used Seymour Duncan Traditional series on the Ishibashi u-box...real nice guitars and there are many other Japanese makers to look for if you want to spend more.

Fender could be the better choice the case you can't test it and might have to sell it again soon.

I noticed that I sell Fender much easier than Greco, Tokai or anything.
It is also possible to get better paid
 
But in the end, CIJ or MIJ generally same quality for the money. None is china/korean low(er) end made.
 
jockscott said:
But in the end, CIJ or MIJ generally same quality for the money. None is china/korean low(er) end made.

Isn't there some notion that the MIJ made for export had basswood bodies, but the ones made for the Japanese market used the traditional ash or alder woods? If this is true, that could be an issue for you.

I had a CIJ Telecaster Custom 1997 which was imported from Japan to Australia and it was top notch, all traditional Fender specs and very nice build quality and finish. They're quite expensive now though, well over a $1000 AUD for used ones, which is too much IMO, because there are other choices at that level. Strangely, you can almost buy a USA Fender for the price some of the MIJ/CIJ are getting.

The Seymour Duncan for less than that is a much better deal I think. It's worth bearing in mind that the SD was a 100k Yen guitar back in the mid 2000's and the basic Fender Japans were what, about 65k yen guitars?
 
Both MIJ and CIJ lower end models had basswood bodies, not really a bad thing IMO, basswood is light and sounds really good!

The SD is definitely a step up from most Japanese Fenders, unless you look at the Extrads and some very up-market models.
 
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