oldflame said:
So did the rest of the world get something else?
Sort of....
Nearly all of the JV's Fender shipped out of Japan in '82, '83 and early '84 were "Squiers." Europe and other Commonwealth countries in particular, got most of them. But not all Fender JV's were "Squiers."
Collectors say the best JV Squier's were the exported ones with US pickups and other parts, better construction(?), wood(?) and finish(?), etc (and some with the different-sized Fender/Squier logo you referred to), but I've got 17 JV Strats and Teles (made in either '82 or '83) and only one of them had ever left Japan until I brought them to LA.
Two of my JV's are Squiers and the rest are vintage reissues of 50's and 60's Fenders that don't have "Squier" on them anywhere but do say "Made in Japan" either on the headstock or the back of the base of the neck depending on the serial # range most with nitro original finishes in everything from Fiesta Red to Black to 2 and 3 tone Sunbursts to Vintage White, Blonde and Natural. They are all damned excellent guitars--as good or better than just about anything ever made here and the domestic JV Squiers (that never left Japan and were actually the low-end guitars there) are as good as any upper-range US Fender made in the last 30+ years.
Someday I'll get around to posting pics of all of them but a few are here:
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/jvdaze/rkJVz/RKjvs.html
and a few others are here:
http://www.21frets.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?b-jvreg/
Some of the prices have gone bananas lately. I was quoted $3,000 US dollars apiece this past summer for a couple of JV 62-115 Strats.