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fender the ventures tribute strat

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  • #1

    fender the ventures tribute strat

    scored a mid 90s (circa 96?) mij fender the ventures tribute strat. gerry mcgee purportedly had a hand designing it. i must say this is a pretty mint piece. fender japan definitely did not skim on the quality of materials and workmanship.

    apparently it was a limited edition release and not much information is available with the exception of john blackman's mij fender website and a few japanese sites. the specs are,

    Stratocaster(ST-165VR)
    BODY: LIGHT WEIGHT ASH
    NECK: MAPLE,OVALTYPE,324SCALE
    FRETBOARD: ROSEWOOD,184R,WHITE BINDING
    NUMBER OF FRETS: 22,VINTAGE
    PICKUP: LACE-SENSOR GOLD(USA)
    BRIDGE: DIECAST BLOCK S5D VINTAGE
    MACHINE HEADS: VINTAGE STYLE
    PICKGUARD: WHITE PEARL 3P
    CONTROLS: 1VOL,1TONE,1MID BOOST ACTIVE CIRCUIT[006P 9V BATTERY]
    SWITCH: 5WAY
    COLOR: SBS (see-thru black sunburst - i think.)

    my findings;
    - 2-pc really light ash body compared to the current crop of ash bodied strats. not to sure if its swamp ash or japanese sen. (wood grain is really obvious so i don't think it is baseball bat ash.)
    - read that the hardware is gold plated?!? no rust, oxidation or de-coloration is evident for a 12 or more years old guitar in a 90% to 100% humidity climate all year round.

    please do share if you've heard/read or had any experience with this. any info is greatly appreciated.

    thanks as always,
    dani

    btw, here are some pics;















    the mind is willing, but the flesh is weak...
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: fender the ventures tribute strat

    ...now buy the matching JM and Jazz bass




    Yeah everyone manages to forget these exist... Do love the JM, though I like the stock guard/switch arrangement better :P I'm not a huge fan of lace sensors at all, but don't pull them like the guy in the first pic did lol

    Nice axe!!!
    Last edited by danglybanger; 02-17-2008, 10:49 AM.

    (I have avatars and sigs turned off. Do you?)

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    • #3
      Re: fender the ventures tribute strat

      block inlays look dead cool.
      Originally posted by Empty Pockets
      I find it much easier to pay somebody else to nibble them rather than attempt to do it myself.

      I mean I've got mad respect for those of you who can get into the positions required for such a task but I'm just not that flexible.

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: fender the ventures tribute strat

        Those Ventures models look awesome!
        Originally posted by kevlar3000
        I learned a long time ago that the only thing that mattered regarding tone was what my ears thought.
        Originally posted by Zerberus
        Better is often the enemy of good
        Originally posted by ginormous
        Covers feed the body, originals feed the soul.

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        • #5
          Re: fender the ventures tribute strat

          Really beautiful. And that fretboard just makes it really unique for a Fender!
          Congrats!!!
          Originally posted by Blue_Fingers_Jay
          I prefer cheaper guitars, nothing is as cool as a cheap guitar that sounds awesome.
          Originally posted by That90'sGuy
          Not all guitars are created equal, so make sure it sings and if it does, you'd be silly to pass it up.

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: fender the ventures tribute strat

            That is a coool-loooking Stratocaster.
            Turn me on, Dead Man.

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: fender the ventures tribute strat

              You are really lucky!
              Last edited by stateofmind; 12-05-2011, 01:56 PM. Reason: easier to read

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: fender the ventures tribute strat

                Originally posted by stateofmind View Post
                You are really lucky! Congratulations.
                I have two of these guitars. I found them in Vietnam. No one knew what they were sitting neglected on the wall, so they were going for $400 but all gone now. That was several years ago.

                I see your location is Singapore and that makes sense. The bulk of these guitars didnt make it to the US. I ve seen some for sale in Europe. I read that it was only 100 or so that were imported to US. They are really beautiful guitars and a photo doesnt do it justice, because the finish is a transparent black on a slightly green or grey or aqua background color. Depending on the light. It goes really well with the gold hardware.

                Only drawbacks are that the pickguard was perloid. The real nitrocellulose layered kind. This deteriorates in the heat , and a place like SE Asia can really affect it. On both of mine its started to shrink and peel up at the edges. Not sure why they wanted such an authentic pcikguard. The highlights in the shimmering pickguard go nicely with the gold hardware.

                Another point you missed is that the body is 2-piece ! You know what you have to pay for that these days? Its a real well made wood body. The ash is super light. They say it is real "swamp ash". That would be nice but its hard to really know if your not an expert. It looks like it is highly figured on mine.

                The finish is a thick poly, but not too bad. Another drawback is the internal hardware. It is meant to be the so called "Clapton circuit" which is the same as the Buddy Guyy guitar. That has a mid range boost, with active electronic DBX tone control . The volume pot is not a normal volume controll so it doesnt change tone with increasing violume. I forget what its called. Its hard to learn to adjust the guitars options while playing because its not like a regular stratocatster.

                But- the ones that came with this guitar were made in Japan and very inferior . All plastic housings on the input jack and the pots are smaller than real Fender parts. Its just real fragile and cheap compared to real Fender. They are literally smaller and the wiring is thin too.


                If you are lucky enough to find one of these, I suggest you make some changes to it . Switch out the pots and jack for a replacement Clapton Curcuit by Fender. There are some problems with the battery holder being inferior also. You might need to replace that if its worn.

                You might have to Gerry rig the tone and volume controls a a little also. For example, the volume knobs that come with this guitar have gold lettering and look nice. But the inside splines are smaller than the shaft on the real Fender put so they wont fit. I tried finding replacement knowbs that fit the new tone puts but opted to save the old ones and try and get them to fit. - not the best solution.

                You have to find a way to route them larger or find alternative knobs- something you probably dont want to do as it changes the look of the guitar.
                You also can put in a real steel block. I used Callaham's. Thats helped out a lot too.

                The guitar is really beautiful, and this run of guitars seems to have great care to the craftsmanship of the body and neck. So its worth it to replace all the insides. I just think its one of the most prettiest guitars Ive ever seen. Next to the standard 57 sunburst strat of course. But this one really gets some curious and admiring looks.

                Its really light too. People say its a work of art. I wonder what happened? why didnt these ever catch on or get delivered to the states? I just dont take it out anymore because too many people keep checking it out and the gold and blue grey is just amazing in the dark. Good luck finding one ! If you want to sell yours please contact me too.

                A little editing to remove the painfully hard to read block of text. Don't have the time to fix the rest.
                This is the very perfection of a man, to find out his own imperfections. - St. Augustine of Hippo

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                • #9
                  Re: fender the ventures tribute strat

                  Nice find....your a lucky man !
                  BASSES: Fender Geddy Lee Jazz Bass/Ric 4003 Bass (Blue)
                  Fender 51 P Bass RI/Traveler Bass
                  Schecter 5 String (Sunburst)/Gibson SG EBO RI
                  Epiphone Rivoli (VC Sunburst)
                  Warwick Thumb BO/Kramer DMZ 4000/
                  Fender Jazz 72 RI (Sunburst)/Ernie Ball Earthwood ABG
                  Fender P Bass (White)/DiPinto Belvedere Deluxe (Black)
                  Gibson 09 Thunderbird (Sunburst)                   Fender Jazz Bass 5 string (Sunburst)/Fender HMT bass (Red)
                  Gibson EBO

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Re: fender the ventures tribute strat

                    That's a ****ing sexy strat!
                    -Mike-

                    Originally posted by rhymes with metalchurch79
                    I take peoples advice after i do some quick math to determine if the lie detector test determines they are full of sh**. Take their post count x 5minutes per post = how much time they didnt spend playing or working on their guitars. The Pros will be spotted right away.

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