Important
The catalogued models are the ones made by Fender for the domestic market some of which were exported but they also made
guitars solely for export and except for the 1990s Collectable series most of these weren't catalogued and specs can vary some
will be the equivalent of the high end models and some the lower end ones but may not be an exact match.
The Fender Japan pages are a growing and constantly changing
reference for some of the guitars produced in Japan under the Fender name. Fender has never had
a production facility in Japan and Fender Japan is a separate entity from Fender USA. Several factories have been used to
produce these guitars it isn't my intention to go into this aspect at this time. There are many good reference books
and some web sites even have accurate information.
In recent years Fender Japan has ceased to exist but Fender are still using several Japanese manufacturers to produce
Fender Guitars. At the moment (September 2023) these comprise of Dyna Gakke JD serial numbers Terada JT serial numbers, and there
are some JFF serials thought to be Fujigen.
Often referred to as reissues it isn't correct to refer to these as reissues they are merely similar to the early strats.
However some Japanese manufactured guitars are in Fender Front Lines as Vintage reissues.
It is worth remembering
that Fender Japan is a law unto itself. They will produce variations on models on a whim or at the request of a dealer
so all sorts of strange guitars turn up. This isn't unique to Fender happens with a lot of Japanese manufacturers.
Stands for Extra Traditional. The range of guitars known as Extrad are high quality models intended to be very close
replicas of vintage guitars.
I have now got pages for Extrad and Custom Edition Guitars start with this link
Extrad and Custom Editions
You do see many advertised as Extrad which aren't and many people mistake the EX on the
neck pocket as Extrad whereas it's actual just Export.
The vast majority in fact probably all but two serial number charts for Japan are wrong even those Fender produces. The
two that are right are mine and Fuzzfaced. We did research on the Strat site forum and made corrections based on actual
photographs of guitars with dates on them. It is not complete and I will update as I find more anomalies, but it is the most accurate you will get.
link Japanese serial numbers