NGD - 2007 Fender J-Craft ST62-70AB Stratocaster

[cliffenstein]

Made only for the Japan market, it's their standard ST62 but with a fully painted neck (as opposed to only the matching headstock routinely seen). It has a proper 60's pickguard (albeit bwb which wouldn't have existed in 62) including the truss rod adjustment cut, however, the trussrod adjustment on this guitar is at the headstock (another thing that wouldn't have existed in 62).

It's got a nice chunky c neck...

.866" at first fret
.945" at 12th fret

Fender spaghetti logo on the headstock and that's it...no other writing at all on the headstock.

Basswood body (but not in the least a cheap soft one), full size block, but import electronics (which I upgraded to match Fender's American Standard line), bone nut, proper 60's thick slab rosewood fretboard (so dark it practically looks ebony) and aged bridge and screws.

The guitar is exceptionally well made (no surprise with it being a CIJ) and weighs in at 8.0 lbs (exactly the same as my 1989 American Standard).

I upgraded the stock Gotoh tuners to a set of magnum locking thumbwheel Gotoh SG381 MG-T 16:1 ratio tuners (direct drop in). The stock tuners are excellent, i just greatly prefer the thumbwheel lockers. I also added strap lock buttons, replaced the stock bridge single coil with a Seymour Duncan JB Jr and moved the volume knob down one position per my usual manner. I had my tech crown the frets and do a setup for very low action with no relief in the neck, just how I like it. Strings are D'addario 11-49. Finally, I replaced the single-ply black backplate with a three-ply one to match the pickguard (keeping things period correct is clearly not a concern with this guitar).

The bottom line here is that I absolutely love this thing. The guitar is unique, sounds very ALIVE and is very VERY me. I'm totally glad I bought it.

PICS:

 

[Mincer]

Wow, what a cool, unique instrument! You have to wear all black, too!

 

[jeremy]

interesting heel on that, never seen one quite like it. very cool lookin!

 

[PFDarkside]

Awesome looking guitar! Any thoughts on a none-more black Strat, and replace the hardware with black too?

interesting heel on that, never seen one quite like it. very cool lookin!

You mean the neck carve? I think my CIJ Tele is like that too, it does seem like a different way of transitioning to the heel.

 

[GuitarStv]

Usually I hate rosewood on black guitars because it looks off and brown . . . but that's a super dark piece of rosewood that looks amazing on there!

 

[devastone]

If Mr Cash played a strat, that would be the one he played.

 

[cliffenstein]

Usually I hate rosewood on black guitars because it looks off and brown . . . but that's a super dark piece of rosewood that looks amazing on there!

Exactly my thoughts, as well as what led to the purchase after seeing it!

 

[cliffenstein]

If Mr Cash played a strat, that would be the one he played.

HAHA...awesome...and well played!

 

[cliffenstein]

interesting heel on that, never seen one quite like it. very cool lookin!

Looks the same as my American Standard, except that the flat triangular area is smaller and starts later on the CIJ.

 

[beaubrummels]

Sweet guitar. I'd rock that all day long.

The 'stinger' heel is odd. Does it interfere with playing/fret access? Do you notice it?

 

[Ashurbanipal]

Very nice, all the chrome parts and b/w/b scratchplate provide the right amount of accentuation against the black.

Agree with the comment above that r/w on black guitars can be a bit 'eh'. I have a couple and am thinking of dyeing them; I'd be hoping for the kind of look you've got going there.

 

[cliffenstein]

The 'stinger' heel is odd. Does it interfere with playing/fret access? Do you notice it?

I’m not understanding the comments about the heel. I’ve got an 89 American Standard and the point where the neck meets the body is exactly like this guitar except that, on the AS, that flat triangular area starts a bit sooner and is a bit larger than it is with this CIJ. Perhaps the fact that that the neck is painted is tricking the eye into thinking the neck joint is somehow different from the norm? I assure you all that it's not.

 

[jeremy]

Looks the same as my American Standard, except that the flat triangular area is smaller and starts later on the CIJ.

it looks different than mine, maybe due to neck shape and the way they taper it to the flat heel. but youre right, it could just be the glossy black thats making it look different. either way, it shouldnt effect anything that far up the neck anyway

 

[cliffenstein]

it looks different than mine, maybe due to neck shape and the way they taper it to the flat heel. but youre right, it could just be the glossy black thats making it look different. either way, it shouldnt effect anything that far up the neck anyway

Yeah...gotta be the paint and photograph...definitely not remarkably different from any other heel on strats I've ever owned.