You're too young to remember the many years after WW2 when Japan was rebuilding itself and were manufacturing sup0er cheap stuff...including guitars. I bought my first two inexpensive crappy guitars made there. They looked good, but were virtually unusable. Perfect for a dumb kid learning to play that had no money...like me. This was before they acquired precision tooling and started making really excellent guitars like Takamines. With precision tooling, even China can make a decent cheap guitar.

Roasted maple? It's a Fender Stratocaster.

What hight should kinman HMV pick up height be please

your playing style needs a scalloped fretboard. best video I found by the the way. thanks a lot

Fender Japan has amazing craftsmanship... I have a 1993 Floyd Rose Stratocaster(my first electric guitar), A 2018 Richie Kotzen signature Telecaster(I would put it against any custom shop Tele) , and a 1985 E serial Strat that someone scalloped the rosewood neck on (Yngwie style) then it was left in a basement that flooded. Water logged thrown in the trash...a friend of mine found it, thought I could use it for parts... I put a set of Jimmy Vaughan Tex-Mex pickups in it, plus new wiring and pots... Orange drop .047... Middle pickup, no tone control... Oh the sounds I can get out of it are soul shivering.

Great vid and superb work around at the end but how does it sound adjusted???? Kind of missed that bro! Beautiful poignant riffs though ….xx

I actually prefer Japanese strats. I have two and they're fantastic.

14" is the sweet spot i think.

I had a 1986 strat mij with kalher whammy mable fret board bought new at american music great guitar candy apple red I have a1983 tele with a b bender mij black white pickguard 😊😊😊😊😊😊❤

If you don't like math why not use a standard measurement - I never measure in mm - as a layout man I use a lot of math but I digress

great vlog and good info had to set my new fender up and took 5 mins cheers

Have done this for years,occasionly try something else,but always go back without fail

With low action, the fretting out mostly happens on the small E string (it could also on the large E string, but that is not normally bent). That string will choke on the frets if you bend too much because of that radius. You only bent the B string, which will not normally choke out because it rolls onto the top of the fret, nothing to choke against. You also played with a lot of distortion, which helps with shredding. Doesn't work as easily without distortion and low action on bends, mainly with the small E string.

i feel like so much of what people say about guitars online is by hacks who can't play, leading to "you can't bend on a 7.25 radius!" well, maybe YOU can't 😅

Noticed thin necks are consistent. Used to have to search now most are

Fender Japan guitars have always been great. I currently own 2 Fender Japan Telecasters and have previously owned a Fender Japan Strat. You can’t go wrong with them….they easily match USA Fenders. I own a Fender USA Vintage series Strat and it’s no better than any Fender Japan Strat I’ve owned or played.

If you like more quack, after you set the neck and bridge, you set the middle pickup . Usually lower than the other two will get you max quack.

Prakash John - first heard him live in 1972 in Edmonton, Alberta Canada with Domenic Troiano - been a fan ever since

Too much talk

Well.. it depends on what you call shredding..

why mine is on the same pitch of harmonic, open and pressed 12 fret but still when when you do full bend its flat instead of getting the wholestep note?

So if I play bass i shouldn’t worry as much?

Thanks for the video. I bought the Tele… 🎉🎉🎉🎉

That's a 7.250 inch RADIUS(half the diameter of a circle)..... If you draw that circle it's a 14.50 inch circle.

I wrote to Fender for the height specs for my Squire Bullet, (pickup style HSS) and I provided the serial number. According to Fender, the bass string height above the magnets should be 7/64-8/64" (2.75mm-3.15mm), and the treble string height should be 5/64-6/64" (1.95mm-2.4mm). Squire Bullet models are made in several countries, and there may be some variances in their tolerances. I suggest that anyone wanting to adjust their string height of ANY Fender to query Fender with their serial number.

what to do if the saddle already hits the saddle and still it's not intonated? put a shim at the heel to increase string length?

Great video Lucas! I have a problem. I love my Strat MIM standard HSS, but it feels stiff and bending requires some effort. The guitar has a 9.5" radius, neck "C" shape, and 0.09 strings. I took the guitar to some luthiers and they leveled the frets, changed the tunners, pickups, bridge etc (they did the complete setup), and it feels still stiff. What can I do? I played others strats with the same radius and they felt like butter. I have other guitars, but this is my favorite. I'm thinking about to replace the neck and the body for a warmoth 9.5" radius neck and for a body with high quality woods. What do you think? could this resolve my problem?

All the morons that think you can't bend with a 7.25" radius out there need to look at Jimi Hendrix and David Gilmour.

Great! What the string height at 12 fret?

Hola Lucas. Soy Hugo desde Argentina. Muchas gracias por este video y por la información. Te mando un saludo muy grande.!!!!

When they are getting close to where they should be, an ⅛ of a screw turn will make a difference.

Here is a real review ! and in my opinion, all guitar testers on RU-vid should do the same thing as you, which is to talk about quality of the fretting, string height, defects (like fret buzz), and the neck in general, rather than just showing themselves playing.

How about bending on the 1st string, for example on the 15th fret? On my 9.5'' USA Pro II, anything under the recommended factory specs chokes out... and it not as nearly as low as yours. Frets are perfect, relief, everything...

Years later, still helping. Thank you.

Amigo, como lograse esa acción tan baja en el neck? Yo tengo una stratocaster con ese radio 7.25" y la acción está super alta y aun asi no puedo hacer bends porq no se escuchan, HEEEELP😢

The guitar at the end is definitely a Contemporary Stratocaster. I have a black one with a rosewood fretboard. It’s from ‘86. It may well be my favorite guitar. It’s certainly the one I tend to reach for.

thanks for advice, Jesus Christ is coming back soon!

Good licks. Tasty! (That’s how to get the best sound out of a Strat;)

Did you ever get the Big Dippers installed? I didn't see a video with the tone samples

Thank you so much for this review, Lucas.

I taught him everything he knows! 🤪

Ah.. The frets aren't stainless steel then. No stainless would come off on your fingers. The Chinese invariably get specs wrong - Phil McKnight did a video on this.

Damn...just discovered your channel..... You're a damn good player! Subscribed

No. Canadians are going to abandon Fender and Gibson rediculous prices. I dont care what anyone says. You can buy a fairly decent chinese, or Indonesia guitar made at the same factories the big brands are made, throw a few hundred in uprages and have a beast of a guitar.

I have a 94/95 Telecaster Std, built by Fujigen. It's a top loader, and is fitted with Gotoh tuners and saddles as standard. The neck is amazing.

Really interesting and helpful ! Thank you for sharing !

Hello maybe a dumb question, but I was just changing my pickgaurd and after putting the pickups back their all kinda loose and some are pointing towards the bottom and some towards the top. The bobbins are still on the screws so not really sure what’s going on

I have a candy apple red strat MIJ 2005, a serial number check found it was made at the Fujigen factory. Beautiful workmanship 60's reissue, I adore this Strat. So if you're not sure about MIJ Fenders, just do it, you will not be disappointed, and you'll own a guitar you will cherrish.

They are truly awesome guitars 👍🎸 I've never owned a bad one!