Fender Japan

Heard a rumor that the new "Made in Japan" are only "put together" in Japan.

Does anyone know anything?

Koubayashi said:

Heard a rumor that the new "Made in Japan" are only "put together" in Japan.

Does anyone know anything?

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Personally i don't know where japanese Fenders are produced at the moment. Tokai was in past OEM manufacturer for Fender japan, but currently not.
I guess that it is possible that they use the Chinese factory. Squier Classic Vibe guitars are manufactured in China and their quality is very good.
But it is still only a rumor. I first heard about it here from you.

Udonitron said:

The 2 Japanese Fenders I own are Fujigen made...not sure about the newer ones however as they stopped making em at Fujigen in 96/97.

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Ok, that's great, but this thread is about the new Fender MIJs from 2008 onwards. We all know that mid 90s are from Fujigen... :roll:

As far as I'm concerned this is not the only rumour I've heard about them, and I wont be buying any. I'm not going public with the vague stuff I've heard as it may not be true.

interesting, i haven't heard anything about this, but you guys know more than me, lol. I'll keep an ear out at the other forums I'm on (though I'm guessing you guys will get confirmation long before they will).

My new Fender Japan Telegib came out of the Dyna Gakki factory

A couple of Fender Japan factory tours.
Notice Fender Japan and Fernandes at Dyna Gakki.

http://bccks.jp/viewer/11314/1/

http://www.watanabe-mi.com/osaka/list/c251/

japanstrat said:

A couple of Fender Japan factory tours.
Notice Fender Japan and Fernandes at Dyna Gakki.

http://bccks.jp/viewer/11314/1/

http://www.watanabe-mi.com/osaka/list/c251/

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Dyna Gakki is currently OEM manufacturer for Fender japan. This was officially confirmed by Fender representative two months ago. I working for company which is Fender dealer in my country.
We have some of Japan export versions in stock, including telecasters. Very nice guitars, indeed... But those made by Fujigen and Tokai was more solid made.
But still it is not clear what produces premium series guitars for Japanese market. Dyna mostly made guitars for export...

I was told by the manager of the local Rock Inn a couple of years ago that there were 3 factories making FJs then with another making basses...he said FJ wanted to keep the factory names secret...theres a lot of that here in Japan...and he wouldn`t go into more detail. Take that for what it`s worth, I`m never sure how much I`m told here is true and how much isn`t. Not that it really matters, the FJs I own are all older and I`ve no interest in the newer stuff...for the money new ones sell for I can get used Van Zandts or Seymour Duncans, among other better makers.

sneakyjapan said:

I was told by the manager of the local Rock Inn a couple of years ago that there were 3 factories making FJs then with another making basses...he said FJ wanted to keep the factory names secret...theres a lot of that here in Japan...and he wouldn`t go into more detail. Take that for what it`s worth, I`m never sure how much I`m told here is true and how much isn`t. Not that it really matters, the FJs I own are all older and I`ve no interest in the newer stuff...for the money new ones sell for I can get used Van Zandts or Seymour Duncans, among other better makers.

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I know for sure that Tokai was manufacturer till 2008. We are Tokai distributor for our country and Tokai representative told me " we are used for Fender japan, but not now"...
In those links (Fender japan and Fernandes) I saw some Fernandes guitars which actually are not made Japan, only inspected here... Then is possible that some of Fender Japan partially are made in other countries.. Maybe I'm wrong, because Fender and Fernandes is not the same... If this is not true - my apologizes for Fender japan. Anyway, export telecasters like 62 telecaster custom made by Dyna is cool and quality is fine.

I don't know how reliable some music shop employees are.

In general there seems to have been 3 factories making the Fender Japan models up until 2008.
Tokai and Dyna Gakki making the solid bodies and Terada making the semi acoustics.

Seems like Tokai might have dropped off around 2008 and funnily enough that corresponds with Fender Japan going back to "Made In Japan" and dropping the "Crafted In Japan" which came in when Tokai started making Fender Japan around 1997 or so.

None of this is 100% btw except that we have confirmed reports that Tokai were making Fender Japan from the Tokai president and obviously Dyna Gakki is making Fender Japan from the factory tour photos.

japanstrat said:

I don't know how reliable some music shop employees are.

In general there seems to have been 3 factories making the Fender Japan models up until 2008.
Tokai and Dyna Gakki making the solid bodies and Terada making the semi acoustics.

Seems like Tokai might have dropped off around 2008 and funnily enough that corresponds with Fender Japan going back to "Made In Japan" and dropping the "Crafted In Japan" which came in when Tokai started making Fender Japan around 1997 or so.

None of this is 100% btw except that we have confirmed reports that Tokai were making Fender Japan from the Tokai president and obviously Dyna Gakki is making Fender Japan from the factory tour photos.

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Dyna Gakki is making Fender Japan for sure, because guy from Fender told me that he was in Japan, in Dyna Gakki for inspection.

What's the deal with Dyna Gakki? They were making FJ guitars even while Tokai was making them. What's their reputation and history?

Does anyone know how the guitars were divided up between Tokai and Dyna Gakki? Was it some kind of deal like, Dyna makes the standard series and Tokai makes the reissues or something?

Dyna Gakki have been around since the 70s and made a fair few of the strange not well known brands from the 70s and 80s.
Kanda Shokai began to use Dyna Gakki mostly in the 90s as Kanda Shoakai turned away from Fujigen.


It's really up to the orderers and distributors.

The orderers and distributors in this case are Kanda Shokai (Greco) and Yamano Gakki (Orville) with some overseeing input from Fender USA I would imagine.

Contracts would be signed between Kanda/Yamano/Fender and the actual guitar factories.

Kanda and Yamano might have different contracts for certain models with different factories depending on the current model line so Terada for instance gets contracted to make the semi acoustics.

Tokai were probably making some models and Dyna were probably making others but they might have both made the same models in some cases and then there are the domestic and overseas markets as well so orders would be done from certain guitar companies accordingly.

This shows how it worked in the 80s with Fujigen who were also outsourcing some neck building to Atlansia who make guitar parts.

http://www.daeschler.com/articles/fujigen/

Another Fender Japan factory Tour

http://www.ikebe-gakki.com/web-ikebe/IKEBE_FenderJapan-factory-report/index.html

- fender japan is made by DYNA GAKKI ONLY since 2009.
- until 2008, both TOKAI and DYNA were making.
- fujigen was making them until 1997.
- there wasn't any sure rumor probably that fender japan is lately not all MIJ.
- the regular class and upper class of fender japan always has been MIJ. never MIK/MIC.

Revamped fender japan 2011 site here;

http://www.fenderjapan.co.jp/