NEW Fender Swingers from Fender Japan!!!

[s_mcsleazy]

Long time lurker. I registered to post THIS in THIS THREAD.

https://youtu.be/FvfmZSdyw_I

it's so weird that i dont think of drawn together for 5 years but it comes up twice in one day

[The Dead Ranch Hands]

Do a Coronado next!

[Embenny]

Long time lurker. I registered to post THIS in THIS THREAD.

https://youtu.be/FvfmZSdyw_I

Excellent entrance. Good way to delurk!

[JohninJapan]

Hi all, long time lurker first time poster

I’m based in Tokyo and I was in Shibuya today so dropped in to Ishibashi Gakki. They’ve got a whole load of the new swingers in store today. I took a load of photos of them but I can’t see how to post/attach them here unfortunately....

They’re a little cheaper than the online prices but bizarrely the two pickup version is cheaper than the one pickup version. With tax the two pickup version is ¥113,850 and the one pickup version is ¥158,400.

They look great in real life with the specs listed as body:basswood, neck:maple, fingerboard:rosewood, bridge:3 saddle swinger bridge, pickups:single coil mustang.
C shape neck, lacquer finish, 7.25 radius, 22 fret and a 24” scale length.
The word swinger isn’t painted/printed on the headstock it’s a little sticker that’s supplied and you can choose whether to apply it yourself.

They look and sound absolutely great however.... I have very strong suspicions that given the body dimensions and specs that they are essentially Japanese fender mustangs with slightly different routing for the bridge and lack of slider switches and an unshaped headstock.

They are also listed on the information ticket as Japan limited edition so not sure how long these will be hanging around for

[Ftoronado]

Thanks,

I didn't plan to buy a more than 1000 bucks puppy. Didn't plan to buy in Japan. Because of surprise taxes and a long travel for a precious thing.
But GAS is strong and I am weak.

Thank you for your advice Johninjapan. Curious that the two pickups model is cheaper.

For all Fenders addict, is it a common thing that the guyz propose limited runs in Japan first, before America and Europe ? Or is Japan a "niche" market with their own thing ?

[JVG]

If the ads are correct, the 2-pickup version is poly finished and has a plain neckplate, while the 1-pickup version is nitro and features an “F” neckplate.

So the cost difference is clearly due to the neckplate.

[JohninJapan]

Regarding the question about Japan getting limited runs etc

There’s been loads of oddball variations of offsets here that I’ve never noticed advertised anywhere else. Off the top of my head there’s been quite a few different Jazzmaster variations, the guy Inoran from a band called Luna Sea has had two signature models one was a road worn white version and the current one that’s also in Ishibashi today is a black model with an anodised pickguard.
There was a Squier Stratomaster for one of the girls in the band Scandal too. Jazz master with three single soils.
There’s also a new version of the offset telecaster in store today, this one had twin p90s and looked real nice

Back to the Swingers, the body finish on the two pickup version is gloss poly and the single pickup is finished in lacquer. Both of them had plain neck plates I’m afraid

[SonicC]

Japan get all the cool models, I hope more Japanese guitars are available in the UK in future.

[FenderBob]

The word swinger isn’t painted/printed on the headstock it’s a little sticker that’s supplied and you can choose whether to apply it yourself.

That is so cool that they paid attention to that little detail (the separate sticker) from the originals. I wouldn't have expected it.

[Mechanical Birds]

Now all we need is a Marauder, a Jag Stang, and a more-closely related to the originals line of Competition Mustangs. Maybe a more faithful 66 Jag and JM line

[robroe]

OHHH MY GOD THEY ARE MANUFACTURING THE HARD TAIL AGAIN!!!
if anyone finds out how to order this piece from ANYWHERE please post or DM me directly.

Ive been doing all my bullet mustang conversions with a toronado bridge, a drill, and 3 telecaster saddles.

INSTALL BUILD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGxOUgAF00Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2lxgMeSZho&t=68s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz8ILH8GISw

[Stephen_42]

Now all we need is a Marauder, a Jag Stang, and a more-closely related to the originals line of Competition Mustangs. Maybe a more faithful 66 Jag and JM line

This. This ×100.

[Zemfira]

They’re a little cheaper than the online prices but bizarrely the two pickup version is cheaper than the one pickup version. With tax the two pickup version is ¥113,850 and the one pickup version is ¥158,400.

They are also listed on the information ticket as Japan limited edition so not sure how long these will be hanging around for

Im thinking that the Limited edition swinger is the more vintage correct one, with the single pickup and lacquer finish, hence why it costs more??
On Ikebe's site they differentiate the single and dual pickup models as "limited swinger" and just "swinger" respectively. Does this mean that the less expensive dual pickup model will be a mainstay in the product line??

[JohninJapan]

Hadn’t noticed when I was in the store but after checking the photos I took then it does appear as though the two pickup version is listed as just a swinger and the one pickup is a limited swinger.

It’s possible that the two pickup version might hang around for a while longer than the one pickup version but to be honest Fender Japan doesn’t seem to make runs of guitars for more than a year or two unless they’re pretty standard models. I may be pleasantly surprised but I’m not sure how many of these things they’ll sell after the initial buzz with folks on sites like these.

Also I’m not sure if they’re Japan only or not but there’s a company called Van Zandt who make fender copies and they did a Swinger clone called the broken arrow. If you google it you’ll see quite a few photos of them online. They look pretty decent up close but I’ve only ever seen 2 or 3 in real life so again not sure how easy it would be to pick one up if anyone was looking at getting them.

[FenderBob]

Was digging in a little more on Mr. Nomura. He's got a ginormous guitar collection

Random article:

"Because of the unusual shape of fenders such as the head and body, a controversial music lander was introduced in the early 1980s (not true or mistake w/ translator) when a photo of Rick Nielsen holding this instrument was first introduced in a Japanese magazine. Nomura was also fascinated by seeing the photo, and since then, he has purchased different colors, and now has 8 in 7 colors. Originally a student model sold exclusively in Nash Music, Missouri (doubt that is true) it was not listed in Fender's catalog, so there was no official name. Besides Music Lander, Swinger or its head shape Arrow being called. The neck is a 22 1 / 2-inch scale, which seems to have been reused after improving necks such as Duosonic and Music Master until 1964. The body seems to have been used after processing the stock of the base kite (Bass V... mistake w/ translator) , etc. When the pick guard is removed, the split pickup cavity for the base kite may be zagged."

Some fine specimens in his Swinger collection:


The Swinger labeled Sherwood is actually just aged LPB.
The Swinger labeled Foam Green is actually aged sonic blue.