Fender Japan ST72 Stratocaster | Part One

Part Two ▶

Here's a gorgeous Fender Japan ST72 Stratocaster belonging to Shaifful SENI. Shaifful politely requested that his pride and joy be thoroughly cleaned, polished, serviced and set up; and I was only too happy to oblige. You see, Shaifful is the son of the late Che'gu Ahmad Kisai; a dear acquaintance of mine from the '80s. And that makes him family in my book.

Now, there are lots of MIJ (Made in Japan) Stratocasters around, including many versions of the ST72. As such, I was unable to obtain specific information on this particular model. I believe the experts out would do better than me, based on the serial number and pictures I've uploaded. So, whatever specs stated in this post are from my own observations. As to what it sounds like, here's a short YouTube Video I uploaded that highlights all five pickup positions.

As you can obviously see, the finish is a three-tone-sunburst. The body wood looks like alder to me; but I can't be certain. What I can tell you, though; is that it's definitely not basswood. The neck is one-piece maple, so there's no separate fretboard. The headstock is the big '70s style, and sports Gotoh tuners, two string trees with nylon spacers; and a "bullet" style truss rod adjustment nut.

The maple fretboard features a 7.25" radius and 25.5" scale. The nut appears to be bone, based on visible file marks and nature of the nut slots. The 21 frets are of the small, vintage variety; while the fretboard markers are black dots. I must point out that the fret ends have been meticulously shaped; testimony to the quality of Japanese craftsmanship.

"Made in Japan" and the serial number have been silkscreened onto the neck heel, while the neck plate bears an engraved "F" logo. Now, let me see if I've left anything out. Ah, yes; one very interesting feature of this ST72 is the larger-than-usual tremolo block. I reckon it's almost as large as the "big blocks" found on some US Strats. Nice touch, methinks.

That's about it for this post, then. In Part Two, I'll be taking everything apart so we can have a good look at what's inside this Japanese beauty. Till then, stay home, stay safe; and God bless us all.