NGD: 1983 Squier Japan SQ Tele Custom

MattK · Post by **MattK** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 8:56 am

I've been posting this everywhere, apologies if it's a repeat for Shortscalers. Arrived this week:

... and the DREADED THREE BOLT NECK! Standard C profile I think, rolled edges too.

(oh, and yes, the action was absurdly high when I photographed it, but it's all better now. Plays beautifully. Even sounds great.)

Post by **Mike** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 9:11 am

That thing is lovely.

MattK · Post by **MattK** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 10:39 am

Thanks Mike, very kind. Wish I could play well enough to do it justice. But I will.

Post by **Mike** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 11:11 am

Hey if I was only allowed to own stuff that I could justify with my playing ability I'd be playing a plastic guitar.

I think Tele Customs are great, looks and soundwise they're the complete package.

MattK · Post by **MattK** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 11:36 am

I really am shocked at how much easier it is to play than my MIJ Jag. Action is dialled in low now, and the neck is so comfortable it's like its not there at all. Things just flow.
Also - bridge pickup is pretty startling, the neck is a bit duller but the combination is rich. Nothing like the Jag, whose neck pickup is woodier and nicer, but both-on is quite glassy and hollow, entirely different to the Tele.
Sorry to rabbit on - I'm pretty happy.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 12:13 pm

MatthewK wrote:I really am shocked at how much easier it is to play than my MIJ Jag.

I heartily encourage learning guitar set up stuff...I've turned dirt cheap horrible players into super slinky players with some time and effort...okay it might seem scary filing and deepening nuts, playing with the truss et al but you get the hang of it and just do everything in small increments with on the job testing.... Well worth it in the long run especially if you like dead low action with no buzz.

MattK · Post by **MattK** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 12:23 pm

Don't get me wrong, the Jag is nicely set up - if anything the action is lower and there's not a squeak or a buzz out of place. Just the Tele's rolled fretboard edges and maybe the lighter gauge strings are making things easier. I bought 11s to put on it but I am wondering if I ought to. No idea what's on it, 10s most likely I guess.

kypdurron · Post by **kypdurron** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 8:07 pm

that Tele is pretty hot, and it has the Keef-Mojo. Maybe Demo it?

Mages · Post by **Mages** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 8:35 pm

really really really cool guitar. love old school japanese stuff. and tele customs. I really wonder about the details of that wideranger though. I would think it's probably not related to the vintage one or the new reissues. it's probably like the ones from Greco teles. or maybe they're USA overstock like the pickups in the early JV Squiers?

MattK · Post by **MattK** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 9:34 pm

I wish! The early Fender Japan models which had USA pickups were the JV series (both Fender and Squier). They did the first widerange "reissue" which is different from both the 70s original and from the later Mexico/Japan reissue. The current ones use a flat alnico magnet underneath, with threaded steel polepieces; the early Fender Japan ones have the same setup with a flat ceramic magnet instead.
The website 21frets.com has a bunch of info about the early days of Fender Japan - it includes a few shots of the same Squier Tele Custom model I have, including this one of the underside of the humbucker:

which doesn't look like the original WRHB sadly.
I will take mine apart this weekend if I get time.

Mages · Post by **Mages** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 10:50 am

ah yes, I have looked at that 21frets site before, it's cool. yea, they show that picture and they don't give you any information.

actually, that does look like a real widranger. here is a picture of the guts and the bottom of one

MatthewK wrote:

the reissues are like this:

MatthewK wrote:They did the first widerange "reissue" which is different from both the 70s original and from the later Mexico/Japan reissue.

yea, I bet they were like the same as the Greco tele copies. probably made by Maxon.

MattK · Post by **MattK** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 10:59 am

Wow, that IS interesting! It does look like the old ones, in fact I don't know what I was thinking, I have seen shots from the TDPRI forum. If it is, I can't say I am majorly impressed with the sound!

I will have a look at it when I open it up. I guess the simplest explanation is that the early Japanese reissues had casings more like the old Fender ones - notice the black plastic wire instead of shielding braid. There was a Fender Japan version of this same model at the same time which had the Fender logo on the pickup cover. As cool as it would be, I'd estimate the odds of an early-run original widerange being slipped into a budget Japanese model 10 years later as ... slim.

Man it's a nice guitar though. Very resonant and easy to play.

Mages · Post by **Mages** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 11:03 am

yea, I don't think it's a real wideranger, I just think it could be significantly different than the current reissues and possibly more faithful to the original. especially since japanese guitars of the time were known for being quite faithful to the original.

MattK · Post by **MattK** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 12:14 pm

In my checking around I found the "Fralin mod" for the reissue pickups - apparently if you remove the polepieces that screw out from the underside (i.e. the ones not visible from the playing side) it cleans up the sound hugely. It's not the same as a vintage but offers something more like a P-bass pickup. Worth an experiment since it's completely reversible.

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 10:32 pm

Very nice man. Tele Customs are my favorite teles most of the time, though I jump back and forth between those and traditional style teles that have better-than-average neck pickups.

I just took delivery of the proper knobs for the homebrew Bananacaster: now to just make my long-awaited modifications to the circuit and, eventually, replace that awful feeling/sounding Xaviere neck.

hotrodperlmutter · Post by **hotrodperlmutter** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 11:23 pm

that thing is pure sex. do those have rib contours?

James · Post by **James** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 11:45 pm

hotrodperlmutter wrote:do those have rib contours?

I don't think I want to know the answer to this. I want one too much as it is.

MattK · Post by **MattK** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 12:19 am

Great comments thanks - I might have known that an OG 80s Japanese Squier version of a no-bullshit 70s rock machine would hit the Shortscale spot.
Not sure if the rib contour question was about my Squier or Paul's Bananacaster - but the Squier has no contour, it's a 3-piece brick of Sen ash with a not-too-thick polyurethane finish.

hotrodperlmutter · Post by **hotrodperlmutter** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 12:21 am

James wrote:
hotrodperlmutter wrote:do those have rib contours?
I don't think I want to know the answer to this. I want one too much as it is.

ha ha, i know, as soon as i asked i was like "WELL WHAT IF IT DOES? THAT'S RIGHT, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO FIND ONE."

MattK · Post by **MattK** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 7:06 am

Took a trip under the hood this morning - it's all completely stock in there:
Bridge pickup:

Neck pickup (as expected from above, couldn't see if the magnet was ceramic, it's wax potted though):

Controls (sorry for the blur):

Switch (likewise):

Neck heel with micro-tilt plate:

And lastly - neck pocket with micro-tilt screw, and what turned out to be a crack!

I backed out the micro-tilt screw and put in a couple of thin card shims, and wiped some PVA glue into the crack, which wasn't movable, fortunately. I've screwed it all back together, restrung with 11s and it is still a very characterful sound, full of resonance and wood. I had also re-glued the nut with PVA and everything seems a bit more solid and locked down.