Fender '72 Reissue Stratocaster

Japanese, 5-way selector, S/S/S with aged-white basswood body and rosewood fingerboard. Ultra thin and very comfortable C-shaped neck.
Replaced cheap jack.

Play rock, blues, country and pop, and this guitar covers all these styles 85% as well as my '72 Tele Custom. Still using an old Zoom 30-30 (Soon hope to go Vamp) with Peavey Classic 30 and silver Fender Princeton Reverb and surprize almost everyone with prodigeous tones. Pups present no significant noise problems, but positions 2 and 4 drop the volume relative to dead on 1-2-3--at times making switching a problem.

Fine finish. Action way too low for an old tele player--jack it up!
Fret edges rough up near cutaways but not bad enough to need additional work.

Seems very solid. Only reason for backup is for string breakage, but in two years none have broken on this guitar.

Never in 35 years have I needed Fender support.

Intermittent bands for more than 35 years, always bashing a sonic-blue-turned-snot-green Telecaster until I picked this baby up two years ago. Way easier to play than "Snotty" ever was. Lighter basswood body also is wonderful to strap on. Of course tele tones can't be beat to my humble ear, but the comfort and vibe and tonal variety of this Strat make it hard to put down. Somewhat dissappointed with the 2 and 4 position as I mentioned. Just doesn't have the slinky "quack" I've heard from other Strats and copy cats.

reissue of a 62 custum without the white binding.

i play rock and some blues and i love the sound out of my tele. if ya dont play country then its a little hard at first to stop the 'twangin tele' syndrome if ya use the lead pickup. It is quite noisy and easily acts like an aerial, just play loud and ya cant hear that though! the way i have my amp set up is to get a fantastic lead sound, try and play chords on the rythm pickup and it could get a little muddy..

well its quite old and has been set up many times, set up properly and its fine to play. bit hard for me to judge as im not the origonal owner,,,

its a tele. its a big block of wood. its secondary use is self defence so u can smack someone round the head with it. gig without a bacup no worries hard wears fine no signs of failing at all

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not bin playin very long tried many other guitars. love it to bits definitely go out and buy another tele, i doubt if i could find one like mine.... u can coax quite a few sounds out of the guitar, maybe with different pickups maybe humbuckers a few more might be available..

Made in Mexico, this guitar is made of two pieces of very nice looking (and HEAVY) ash, and has a natural finish. Also, thin frets, three single coils, and a u-shaped neck with large headstock. I bought an affinity series squire for a kid, and ended up keeping it because of the neck shape -- this is why I went looking for this guitar (same shape neck). Came with a gig-bag that is pretty nice. All hardware is vintage-looking and good. I give it a ten for the wood.

I played a clean "stormy monday" through a tube-amp and the ninth



Throght this guitar, clean chords sounded nicer than any guitar I own (American Hardtail, American Standard, Mex Standard). Somehow, very clear with lots of top and bottom. Pickups are noisy, though, at volumes greater than 7 no matter where the switch is set. This may be the nicest sounding guitar for clean stuff I've played. I can get a similiar sound with my hardtail, but it never gets to "crystal" like this guitar does.

After I played it awhile, I bought it -- didn't even check it for fit . The finish was obviously great and only can be described as glassy. The heavy finish on the maple neck was hard to get used to at first for certain string bends etc., but I don't seem to care. The two pieces of ash was definately well matched. Beautiful guitar--just beautiful! However, when I did start looking at it (at home, for God's sake),I noticed that the neck was very slightly angled and caused the low E to come painfully close to the edge of the fretboard at higher than the 12th fret. Really got weird about that. Almost took it back, but I started playing it again and forgot all about it. Its not a serious flaw, very slight -- and the neck pocket looks good.

This guitar weighs 1.2 million pounds. I knew ash came in different weights, but my hardtail is almost like balsa (it is also ash). I have a feeling the weight is a large part of the sound. The three-bolt neck scared me at first but it's tight. The third bolt is much larger than the two front screws, and attatches to the neck by a thin metal plate which is bolted on by two screws. I don't need to use the micro-tilt, so I don't know about the stability when tilted.

I have a good dealer--never needed Fender directly.

Its a little heavy, but sounds great and is beautiful. I played a while when I was younger, but have only recently got back into it -- and am going through GAS (guitar aquisition syndrome). I think this is my last Strat for awhile. I play through a Peavey Prowler (a new 40 watt all tube amp), and a marshall solid state. If someonw stole this guitar, my free time would be spent trying to replace it. I wish the frets weren't quite so small. If you like deep bends, this is not that guitar. If you like everything else (maybe not metal), then buy it.

This is a Japanese'72 Strat reissue, made in, I think, 1990-the serial # is L030313, on the back of the neck above the neck pocket, which I purchased in Dec. '91 or '92 and I've never figured out what the "L" means. The neck is kind of "C" shaped, but a smaller "C" than today's 70's style reissues, and a 71/4" radius. It origionally had 3 reissue single coils when new, large headstock, 3-bolt neck, "G"Gotoh tuners, vintage style bridge,maple neck, basswood body, came with a hard case (...not no more!), and it came in Natural and Vintage White, the latter of which I have. I rate the features a 10, because it has everything a Strat is suppose to have.

This was my first Strat,and though I liked the single-coil sound, I totally missed the 'bucker's lead tone. So,two weeks after I bought this guitar, I began to beat the living piss out of it. I wanted to install a Dimarzio PAF humbucker in the bridge, but it was only routed for a single- coil. So, not having one single correct tool for the job, I proceeded to operate on it with a hammer and a screwdriver and used a steak knife to cut out the pickguard for the humbucker. After several hours of abuse at my kitchen table, the guitar sounded absotutley unbelievable! It now had a few single-coil rhythm sounds and that BIG, FAT, HUMBUCKER lead tone- YEAH, BAY-BEE!!! I've played it through everything and it's own sound always comes through. As of now, I use marshalls and Peavey Classic 50's.

Back then, in '91, I didn't know as much about quality as I do now, and so, after owning approx. 20 guitars since this Strat, I've come to realize that no guitar has ever been made as quality as this Strat. I've yet to find a better sound, better feel, better fret job, better neck joint, (except of course, Gibson), better tuners, etc. The neck adjusts like I want it to, whenever it needs it, never twisted or bowed in 10 yrs. and also the nut was perfectly cut and is still fine.

O.K.; this guitar has taken me from a bedroom player, to playing gigs 3 times a week in front of 500 people per gig, regularly for the last 8 years and is the guitar that MADE me develop my own sound and style on. It's been in the cold, the heat, the dryness, the humidity, the body has been gouged with a hammer and screwdriver, the neck gloss has been sanded off almost to the bare wood on the back and the fingerboard. It's been kicked, dropped, and once, when I worked in a factory during the night shift, I brought it to work and slid it accross the concrete floor about 75 feet, (I didn't make it hit the wall- what, do you think I'm THAT stupid???), just to prove to my friend that my Strat was more beat-up than his! In the time I've had it and gigged with it, it's only broken a string once- I SAID ONCE!! Now, I dare Fender to show me another one of their guitars that are $489. WITH a hard case that can compare to this guitar!!! 'Cause I've owned alot of 'em and NOTHING can compare. (...by the way, I sound a bit egotistical, don't I?). This guitar gets a "20".

If you ever have to call customer support about a guitar you've purched, my friends, fellow hard-working consumers, consider the possibility that you own a lemon.

I'd buy 10 more of these guitars if they only made 'em like this all the time! Let me just say that I don't beat the heck out of all my guitars, just this one. I baby and spit-polish most of my guitars these days, especially if they're pretty guitars. I like Fender better than any other manufacturer though, because you get a great "Bang For The Buck" in a classic American style guitar, be it American made, Japanese, Mexican, etc.

I bought a Japanese made 1972 Strat reissue from Ishibashi Music in Japan. It has all the standard Strat features: 2 tone/1 volume pot, 5 way switch, 3 pickups, vintage style bridge and sealed tuners. Neck had a rosewood fingerboard, 21 frets, big goofy headstock, and the bullet truss rod. The body is made from basswood and the finish was immaculate. The thing about it that makes it a '72 RI is the goofy headstock. The body contours, 5 way switch, and near perfect finish in a color that wasn't offered back then make you go, "Hmmm...."

Despite not being a true RI guitar it sounded good. It was fitted with some sort of vintage reissue pickups with staggered pole pieces. The sound was thick and dark, and a shiny jangly kind of sound. Good for metal I suppose. For me it was neither here nor there. With the right player and the right set up this guitar can really blow you away.

It came in the mail perfectly intonated. Like I said earlier the finish was immaculate, both on the neck and the body. Yes, it does the 3 bolt neck attachment but it doesn't cause any problems. It held on good and tight.

I kept this guitar at home mostly so I have no idea how it would stand up to the rigors of the road. I'm sure it would do just fine but that first scratch would be a killer.

Ishibashi billed my credit card one day and a week later the guitar arrived. Fast and courteous!

It's a good first guitar but if you want a 70s axe, get a 70s axe. I know not all of them are great, but there are some really outstanding instruments if you sift through them. Maybe I was lucky. My '74 blows this RI out of the water. Be sure to check out the newly released Mexican 70s guitars. They seem to be more expensive but they could be more true to form.

Well we all know the classic strat features, but out of all the strats I have played I love this one! I'm not too sure what year it was made, but i'm guessing '96-'97. It has 3 reissue single coil style pickups. This guitar has an awsome neck, almost like a jaguar neck that just kinda fits your hand, and a jumbo head wich I love! I give features a solid 8 because we have seen them so many times before. And as you know the strat is a very plain guitar. But I do love the 3-bolt neck, that's cool!

This guitar has the most awsome sound!!! From "Bulldog" biteing grunge rock to soothing smooth tones, and blues so blue that would make S.R.V. cry to thrashing death metal that would give slayer a run for there money. I play Blues and heavy stuff, like nirvana, KoRn and others, this guitar is simply amazing in the sound department! I am playing out of a '73 Fender twin amp and a Marshall half stack. I use a boss "Metal Zone" distortion pedal. I give it an easy solid 10 for sound.

I bought the guitar used, but before I got it my guitar tech set it up for me. So when I got it, it was already great! The color of this guitar is soooo sweet! It is a blonde yellow with a white pickguard. The finish is very strong, I banged it up against an amp and it didn't even mark it.

No back up needed for this guitar but I do have my '66 mustang on hand because I play so hard I tend to break strings pretty fast. Durability is awsome, we were getting set up for a show and it was laying off to the side (on the ground/stage) and a mic stand with a mic on it got knocked over on top of it, right accross the body. I knew it was dented or broken but after I freaked out and ran to it, it was fine, not a problem, but I felt so bad because I yelled at the guy before I knew it was ok.

I have never worked with Fender on it.

I wish the strat wasen't such a plain guitar, but the diffrent color is really cool it kinda stands out from other strats. I would buy another one if it was stolen or lost. I give it an over all of a 10.