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Fender japan! Share the basses!!!!!

#81
Mudfuzz said:
I played one of those yesterday and I have to say it was about the best new fender I've played in ten years.
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The non-export? I've played the regular mustang (the ones here) and it sounds great, plays good, just the string spacing is too tight (as with all short scales to me, like I like the Gibson sg bass but it's short scale so IMO the epi EB-3 is better), but I could stand it if it was a non export. They have higher gloss necks, prolly better pups and of course the cool colors!
 
#82
Tommygunn said:
The non-export? I've played the regular mustang (the ones here) and it sounds great, plays good, just the string spacing is too tight (as with all short scales to me, like I like the Gibson sg bass but it's short scale so IMO the epi EB-3 is better), but I could stand it if it was a non export. They have higher gloss necks, prolly better pups and of course the cool colors!
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Actually I think I played a reg one: cream/tort, god I hate that color combo. You are right the the Gibson sg bass has a little wide spacing but the one I played was bah, to me it wasn't $1000 better then the epi EB-0 that I played side by side with it, and I think the Epi with better pickups would totally compete with the gibson. On the other hand the Mustang I played was WAY better then the Gibson sg bass I played.
 
#85
Mudfuzz said:
Actually I think I played a reg one: cream/tort, god I hate that color combo. You are right the the Gibson sg bass has a little wide spacing but the one I played was bah, to me it wasn't $1000 better then the epi EB-0 that I played side by side with it, and I think the Epi with better pickups would totally compete with the gibson. On the other hand the Mustang I played was WAY better then the Gibson sg bass I played.
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I've played the version here but I'm dying to play their mustang. Also if it was offered in burst... god! I don't play guitar but my dad's friend has a 69 (I think) stang guitar, has the most beautiful burst and best neck I've ever seen on a guitar... much like the squier duo sonic but MUCH MUCH MUCH better

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#86
DSC043111977FenderMustangBass.jpg



Mega yum!
 
#88
ProfGumby said:
See, this is what I don't get. Why the hell doesn't Fender have every bass available everywhere in the world? There should not be such a limited palette of colors, pickguards and necks here and a palette as big as the sky in Japan.

What gives? I am waiting for a credible explanation from Fender and not some BS double speak!

Fender! Wake up and smell the cash! As long as you restrict the options anywhere, you will lose sales to other companies! Period! And especially your most consistent line in terms of quality.

The two basses posted above are perfect examples of what I say!
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The reason that you don't see a lot of Fender Japan products for sale in the US is that these are built under license with the explicit agreement that they can not be sold in direct competition with FMIC products. Fender Japan is a completely different company and can only use the Fender name under license from FMIC, it they violate the agreement they won't be building any Fender products.

When FMIC was first formed in the '80s they had no facilities and had to start from scratch. For a while they relied almost completely upon licensed products from other manufacturers and marketed these. Once the Corona factory was online they were able to cover their core products and they allowed a number of Fender Japan products to be imported to fill in the gaps. Slowly, they've brought most of these products in-house whether as MIA or MIM and imports of these Fender Japan products have ceased. A good example of this is the Mustang guitar which was a MIJ/CIJ product and now is a MIM product.

Fender still imports a handful of Fender Japan instruments, sometimes as limited editions. I recently bought a brand new Jaguar (guitar) that was from Japan and sold through FMIC as a limited edition release of a '66 Jag.

I find it frustrating but this is the way that it is. FMIC isn't going to license anyone to compete directly with them.

pedrodelawasp said:
I don't get the 'made in' as opposed to 'crafted in' thing either.

Perhaps 'made' insinuates that completed bodies and necks come in from elsewhere and are assembled in japan, and the 'crafted' basses have all the shaping, routing, etc done in Japan...?

In any case, here's my made in Japan bass (pic taken from the ebay auction where I got it)
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odysseios said:
Between MIJ and CIJ the only difference would have to be a change of the building factory; if i'm not wrong from Tokay to Fuji-Gen ;)
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kenjikun said:
You're wrong:D:D:D:D it was the other way around:p
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As I heard it, they had a contract granting Tokay the exclusive right to the term "Made in Japan" on any guitar bearing the Fender name. When they changed builders that contract was still in effect so they used Crafted in Japan. Something has apparently changed since then because I just bought a new Japanese made Jaguar gutiar and it say Made in Japan.
 
#99
Gord_oh said:
anyone here have a bass imported from japan?
what are costs like to ship those over?

im scared having something that valueable ship so far...
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I bought my bass from guitar shogun and got free shipping. He gave me the tracking info too, which made the shipping process much less stressful. It took about a week to ship, about half that time it was sitting in customs, and it was over new years' weekend so you have to factor that into the shipping time. You will have to pay a fee for going thru customs, however.

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