Any opinions on this Strat from Ishibashi ?

Johnny Storm

I'm tempted by this Fender Japan Strat. All thoughts / comments appreciated.

Ash Body - Natural Finish - Large old Jimi-style headstock - Maple Fretboard - Texas pickups - about €760 incl shipping vat and duty by my calculations.


http://www.excite.co.jp/world/english/web/body/?wb_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ishibashi.co.jp%2Fwebshop%2Fguitar%2Ffender-j%2Fst7185tx.htm&wb_lp=JAEN&wb_dis=2

FYI The Ishibashi website seems to translate "Guitar neck" as the word "problem" - go figure

I really like the maple fretboard and large headstock (Its probably my age)

disgruntled

It looks very nice, just bear in mind that you'll probably need to add proper shielding and improve the grounding, especially because those texas specials are pretty hot could be a bit noisey otherwise. That easlily fixed so don't let that put you off. I see they have the same one in their U-Box in 3 tone bust for 55,239 yen, it looks like its a return or something so it should be mint and would work out a bit cheaper, but it doesnt have that maple neck you after.

Johnny Storm

In the description of the fretboard it says "184R". On mature reflection, I figure this means 184mm Radius which is 7.24 inches.
It also says in the description of the neck "Maple, Oval Shape, 324mm Scale".
324mm is 12.76 inches so it must be double that.
Any thoughts / suggestion on the 7.24 inch radius neck and the "oval" shape of the neck ?

disgruntled

The 7.25" radius neck will feel a little chunkier compared to a modern 9.5" radius neck, but its the type of neck you expect to see on a 60's or 70's strat.

Edit:
Btw there are some reviews on that model on Harmony Central You'll have to go through them but there are one or two CIJ 72 reissues in there.

Johnny Storm

disgruntled wrote:

The 7.25" radius neck will feel a little chunkier compared to a modern 9.5" radius neck, but its the type of neck you expect to see on a 60's or 70's strat.

Edit:
Btw there are some reviews on that model on Harmony Central You'll have to go through them but there are one or two CIJ 72 reissues in there.

Thanks for the info and the link, disgruntled.
A few weeks ago I was in the big music shop in Exchequer St (I always getthe names mixed up) trying a few strats and I asked them about different radii on strats but they did not seem to have a clear answer. Certainly I did not notice any difference in the ones I tried that I could put down to neck radius.

david

Johnny Storm wrote:

Thanks for the info and the link, disgruntled.
A few weeks ago I was in the big music shop in Exchequer St (I always getthe names mixed up) trying a few strats and I asked them about different radii on strats but they did not seem to have a clear answer. Certainly I did not notice any difference in the ones I tried that I could put down to neck radius.

sounds like MusicMaker

Doctor J

71 strat re-issue. OK, the thing about the neck is valid, small radius means it won't be a guitar for widdly widdly. Also, it'll have fairly small frets which may or may not be to your taste. If you can find a Mexican 70's re-issue in Musicmaker, Waltons or Musician (there used to be one downstairs) give that a shot, this is a fairly specialised instrument and if you're not into small frets you won't like it. As this is a 70's re-issue (and speaking from experience Fender Japan stay fairly close to the original designs) this will have all the good and bad points of a 70's strat (3 bolt neck, bullet truss rod, possibly not the greatest tuners, no shielding as noted before) so you may have to do a bit of work on it to get it as you like it.

I dig the big headstock too, btw. If it is your thing, go for it and good luck.

Ancient1

disgruntled wrote:

The 7.25" radius neck will feel a little chunkier compared to a modern 9.5" radius neck, but its the type of neck you expect to see on a 60's or 70's strat.

The difference is not drastic though - it took me only 2-3 weeks to get used to the "modern" radius neck on my new Strat and the neck is excellent. Still, I have to say i much prefer the 7.25" neck on my vintage Thinline - i guess i've been playing that Thinline for the past 13-14 years and nothing will ever come close to it.

eunanm

What's the deal with Ishibashi..

How long does a delivery take etc..

Website is a bit difficult to get around though.

Also looking for a 70's Strat was hoping to get one of the scalloped fretboard models saw one in one of the second hand shops in temple bar a couple of years back and it was going for £200 at the time could not afford it then though would love to get one from somewhere, Great to play.

disgruntled

Delivery takes about 5-7 working days and yes their site is a bit difficult but its worth it. Here's some links to make it a bit easier Jap Fenders, U-Box

Johnny Storm

Thank for all your help with this one.

Dr J - the description on Ishibashi says "Frets 21, Wide" which sounds OK whereas on a very similar guitar (ST72-58US) the description is "Frets 21, Vintage Style". I'll email them to see what they say.
I did try out a Mark Knopfler signature strat in Music maker which had the 7.25 radius neck but that one also had jumbo frets which sort of muddies the water. I'll try to find some more 7.25 necks to try out.

Does anyone have an opinion of the texas special pickups ? I wasn't particularly looking for them, they just come with that particular guitar. They certainly get very widely varying reviews at Harmony Central. Would they be less flexible in range of tone than the standard strat pickups?

Doctor J

www.chrisguitars.com $629

There's a few other MIJ Fenders just in. Bless that man

Johnny Storm

[QUOTE=Doctor J
www.chrisguitars.com $629

There's a few other MIJ Fenders just in. Bless that man [/QUOTE]

That one is sold, Dr J

Noriko from Ishibashi came back with the following "As we put "wide" in the site for the ST71-85TX, the Fret size is wide. It is more thicker than the vintage size."

It wasn't me!

Now this, my friends, is what a strat is all about:

http://www.chrisguitars.com/fen76strat-sb.jpg

I don't know about you but to me that just oozes personality.

Ancient1

That's a fine ass specimen right there...

I used to be crazy about the late sixties/early seventies large headstocks, but now i prefer the standard ones - still, great Strat!

Doctor J

Johnny Storm wrote:

That one is sold, Dr J

It wasn't when I put the link up, you gotta get with the program

It wasn't me!

I love the large headstock. Just screams big, roaring, screaming blues to me. The little one just doesn't have the same class. Oh for the seventies and sixties...

It wasn't me!

It wasn't me! wrote:

Now this, my friends, is what a strat is all about:

http://www.chrisguitars.com/fen76strat-sb.jpg

I don't know about you but to me that just oozes personality.

i'm not usually a strat fan but that is one sweet guitar, its a guitar with a story!

It wasn't me!

Exactly. Kind of makes you think of Rory Gallagher and Stevie Ray Vaughan with their battered strats.