Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Fender Japan ST54 Stratocaster Restoration

This appears to be an MIJ ST54 Strat. The body is from an "ST54-128" while the neck is from an "ST54-117." Among its most prominent features are (i) a nitro-finished sunburst ash body, (ii) one-piece 7.25" radius maple neck with skunk stripe and neck heel truss rod adjustment, (iii) 21 narrow vintage frets, (iv) vintage-style tuners, (v) black dot fretboard inlays, (vi) six-screw vintage-style tremolo bridge with Fender-stamped bent steel saddles, (vii) single round vintage-style string tree; and (viii) single-ply white pickguard.

The neck and middle pickups appear to be stock Fender Alnicos, complete with Gavitt-style leads; while the bridge is a Seymour Duncan JB Jr. The wiring's a barely-functioning mess, and someone's definitely been in here with a soldering iron; most probably while replacing the stock bridge pickup with the JB Jr. Electronics-wise, all components (except the pickups) will be upgraded. This upgrade would include full shielding, Gavitt wiring, CTS pots, CRL 5-way switch, Sprague "Orange Drop" tone cap, and Switchcraft #11 output jack.

As for the body, it's been thoroughly abused; courtesy of an ill-executed "relic" job. Chisel marks can be clearly seen and lots of gnarly raw wood's been exposed. Decay and mould have already started to set in, so I'll be cleaning, sanding, staining and sealing the affected sections of the body.

On to the hardware, then. Rust, tarnish and corrosion are the order of the day here; so I'll be restoring what I can, and replacing what can't be saved. The owner isn't happy with the vintage frets, and would like the neck refretted with jumbos. Now, as the ultra-thin fretboard lacquer is already badly cracked and chipped, I'll be sanding it all off and restaining/refinishing the entire fretboard.

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