Edwards vs Fender Japan

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Professor Jones

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Edwards Fender copies and Fender Japan guitars have roughly the same price and the two brands have a good reputation, so I'm wondering : which one is of better quality ? Does fender Japan use nitro or poly on their guitars ? How do they compare to each other in terms of overall quality ?
 
Fender Japan uses poly on some models, nitro on some of the higher grade models; it just depends on the grade of instrument.

Check the link below for two very rare 1991 Fender MIJ Strats that are only 51 serial number digits apart 8) The ST57-95T has a nitro finish and the STC-62 Malmsteen has a poly finish. Both finishes are super thin. These are as I mentioned however 1991 models.

http://members.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=mij_vintage
 
I have an older Fender Japan hardtail Strat- like a 58 or 59 with a rosewood neck (made late 80's, E series serial number that supposedly are said to have come out of the Gen Gakki factory) that I'm not sure if it's nitro or poly but it's thin enough to show the graining pattern. I also have a limited run Craft Shop MIJ Strat 65 reissue that has poly.

I've just ordered an Edwards 62 strat Lite Relic (E-SA-100R/RE) with nitro, CTS pots, switchcraft, vintage wiring and Duncan p'ups. Should be here this week. I'll let you know what I think after it arrives.
 
i've got an edwards 62 relic or "john frusciante" and it is THE BEST strat i've owned, better than fender japan62-70tx, better than 62 reissue USA strat and similar to 62 fender japan dimarzio collection strat (i don't own one but have played one), the JF frets are bigger so i like it a bit more, although i liked the un relic'd look of the dimarzio collection one, the antiquities in theJF strat really make it sound better than all the others too.

The edwards is now the only strat i have.

Steve
 
Depends on what you want really.
I think I would go with Fender Japan myself but I would also buy an Edwards too if it was at the right price.
I have no brand loyalty at all.
I have a 1985 Fender Japan Strat that was made by FujiGen and it's a great guitar.
The Fender Japan Strats are made by Tokai and have been for 7 years or so.
Buying a current Fender Japan model is just buying a Tokai with Fender design guidelines.
 
I have no brand fidelity also, I just want the best strat I can get for under 1000$. The Frusciante relic model from Edwards seems really good : SD antiquity pickups, high quality electronics, nitro finish and it looks awesome too.
 
So - buy it finally ... it is an excellent guitar !!!

What makes you hesitate to buy it ???

Roger
 
japanstrat said:
The Fender Japan Strats are made by Tokai and have been for 7 years or so.
Buying a current Fender Japan model is just buying a Tokai with Fender design guidelines.
Click to expand...

I think they produce only the ones that sells inside japan, for the rest of the world i think fujigen still makes them.
 
Yes your right.

http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=19453

Q4: Since when does Tokai Gakki produce Fender Japan guitars, and will this cooperation continue? Do you make all available models in Japan, or are there some models that you outsource to your or other Korean partners?

A4: We started to make guitars for Fender Japan 8 years ago (10 years ago now) . All of the guitars are made in our factory, Japan. One other factory, Daita Gakki (should be Dyna Gakki), is making guitars for Fender Japan. So we do not make some of the models of Fender Japan. They export some of them. But we do not.

JD=Dyna Gakki, JT=Terada, JF=Fuji Gen Gakki

Terada and Dyna are making the Fender Gretsch's.
I think Hoshino (Ibanez) have a business interest in Dyna Gakki.

Who makes Edwards guitars in Japan, does anyone know?
Is it Fujigen, Tokai, Dyna, Terada, I think they are the only factories left in Japan.
 
It' ESP I guess.

Esp is a big company, they have their own school, stores etc...

There are more than the ones you quoted, PGM, ESP, Deviser . these are the first that come to my mind but there is more.
 
Thanks for the Info.

I nearly bought an ESP strat 6 months ago.
I didn't know anything about them at the time but it seemed a lot better than a USA Strat.
I had a 1976 large headstock USA Fender Strat once that I just didn't like.
My FujiGen 1985 Fender Japan Strat is much better than the USA Fender Strat I had.
The best way to do it is to actually play the guitar before buying no matter what it is.
I bought a Orville SG and 2 USA Fender Lead guitars (pretty rare Fender model) off Ebay and I think I was lucky because they all sound great but I would have rather played them first before buying.
 
therre may be several more because I see new builders almost every month or two on the Japanese web. May be built by existing factories but these days some Japanese factories sell blank bodies/necks and everyting else is readily available so could be builders are making their own, and theres no lack of technology in japan so some may be starting from scratch...not really sure and either sales staff don`t know or they don`t wanna spill the beans on info like that...plus, this is a smaller city and very conservative but places like Tokyo or Osaka are certainly more cosmopolitan and staff may have a better handle of who is making what. Established factories are pretty well known but as I say, not sure where the new stuff is coming from.
 
right then - here's my two penny's worth

I have owned a Japanese fender strat since about 1990 - a 62 reissue in 3 tone s/burst , the first year that they did the aged parts - and always loved the way the guitar played and sounded even with all the others that I had tried and bought as well .
Just before christmas ( after indulging in an Edwards JP model ) I aquired an Edwards 54 strat ,
All I can say is wow !! the build quality, playability and sound are something else . Everyone that has played this guitar has agreed with me ( often with words unprintable in a family newspaper directed at me to acompany the compliments to the guitar ) . The Edwards rocks !! Top quality build and components make this one great buy ( It even flew from Japan to the UK and still stayed perfectly in tune when I got it out of the gig bag )

If you are in 2 minds about buying an Edwards dont worry - you will get a great guitar which is fantastic value for money

Bungle
 
my white Edwards/Duncan strat looks to be 3 pieces and all the tone bursts I`ve seen were two, in case that matters to some you know as much as fret end binding appears to `n stuff.
 

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