What have I bought?

jdbwales

Got this Strat copy thing off eBay for the princely sum of £5 and I’m stumped as to what it actually is. 

https://imgur.com/gallery/K8bwwrP

It’s obviously not a Fender but it’s surprisingly great and has a few interesting spec points, so I’m curious if anyone knows what it is. 

Doesn’t seem to have ever had a headstock decal as what’s there is lacquered over and seems original. Headstock top edge is slightly more rounded than Fender too! 

Heavy for a Strat (ideal), massive thick 3 piece maple neck with very flat radius (more than 12”) but small and flattish frets and a heel located truss rod, solid wood body routed for 3 singles with a gap visible between the Trem cavity and the pickup route, deep red finish with subtle metallic flakes. The pickups have obviously been changed about but look like cheapies and one is more recent as it has an ROHS sticker. The switch is a three way which also suggests it’s fairly old. 

It plays brilliantly for a Les Paul player moonlighting with a Strat, has years of apparently genuine relic’ing and most importantly sounds huge - I wonder if it’s down to the massive neck? It’s seriously much bigger than any Squier or Fender neck I’ve played by quite a margin. Very comfy though. 

The only other clues I can find are the neck plate is slightly smaller than usual Squier/Fender ones and there’s a residue from a rectangular (presumably ‘made in’ sticker) in the middle of it. 

So, I’m obviously made up with my £5 purchase, but what is it? Any ideas?

ICBM

Late 70s-80s Japanese, possibly Matsumoku. The giveaway is the 'short frame' switch - check the spacing between the screws, it should be 32.5mm - which is why it's a 3-way... 5-way versions of this are very hard to come by and clearly were even when it was made! It's unfortunately very difficult to replace with a standard-size 5-way, without a lot of fiddling around.

merciful-evans

Not a clue. Looks good though. My guess is a custom build. Though the cheap pickups suggest otherwise. 

I've been on the lookout for this sort of thing for ages for a partscaster. Marketplace, Gumtree, Recycling centre, Pre-Loved etc. Zilch so far. 

Very nice find!

prlgmnr

Did you not get the paperwork with it?

jdbwales

ICBM said:

Late 70s-80s Japanese, possibly Matsumoku. The giveaway is the 'short frame' switch - check the spacing between the screws, it should be 32.5mm - which is why it's a 3-way... 5-way versions of this are very hard to come by and clearly were even when it was made! It's unfortunately very difficult to replace with a standard-size 5-way, without a lot of fiddling around.

Wow. Not bad for a fiver then, just chucked a last minute bid in and was happy to win it so I think it’s more luck than anything @merciful-evans! ; It’s a cracking guitar to be fair. I’ll check the spacing between the screws!