Cobain's Mustangs, from the guy who built them at Fender Fujigen

[cjs]

this is all insane. why so confusing?

so you could have a 97-98-99 CIJ that might actually be a FujiGen? lol

I'd like to be the unbeknownst buyer of one of those Cobain Mustangs then find out at some point. That'd be incredible!

well speak of the devil this one with pickguard cover still on it just popped up on reverb ....

https://reverb.com/item/17904809-fender ... 95-96-blue


why did it pop up just now? so many wonders in this world.

[tammyw]

https://reverb.com/item/17904809-fender ... 95-96-blue


why did it pop up just now? so many wonders in this world.

Just a coincidence, seller is clueless, "dater site" be damned it's obviously a 2012-ish model.

[cjs]

https://reverb.com/item/17904809-fender ... 95-96-blue


why did it pop up just now? so many wonders in this world.

Just a coincidence, seller is clueless, "dater site" be damned it's obviously a 2012-ish model.

i didn't even check, awful. people are constantly listing 2000's mustangs as 90s ones on reverb and ebay. it seems like they could just tell by the finishes but i guess not..

[matthew a]

https://reverb.com/item/17904809-fender ... 95-96-blue


why did it pop up just now? so many wonders in this world.

Just a coincidence, seller is clueless, "dater site" be damned it's obviously a 2012-ish model.

i didn't even check, awful. people are constantly listing 2000's mustangs as 90s ones on reverb and ebay. it seems like they could just tell by the finishes but i guess not..

It's also right-handed

The Mustang dating thing is frustrating. The lefties are always over £1k - which is what I'd like to pay for a vintage model, not 90s & certainly not recent.

[cjs]

Just a coincidence, seller is clueless, "dater site" be damned it's obviously a 2012-ish model.

i didn't even check, awful. people are constantly listing 2000's mustangs as 90s ones on reverb and ebay. it seems like they could just tell by the finishes but i guess not..

It's also right-handed

The Mustang dating thing is frustrating. The lefties are always over £1k - which is what I'd like to pay for a vintage model, not 90s & certainly not recent.

I don't understand why they did the dating like that. No logic to that system.


My good buddy is a lefty and he was looking at one of the left 69's I had to explain to him that those guitars are absolutely not worth some $1600 dollars.

In my opinion, no used mij/cij is worth over $700. $700 tops. The craftsman ship is just not there. I own a mg65 i got for just over $500 and i don't feel it's worth much more. I wouldn't sell it for more that's $700. jacking the prices up on these is ridiculous.

[Danley]

^Correct. $700 is the most I'd pay for any MIJ/CIJ, it's out of hand IMO.

[cjs]

i didn't even check, awful. people are constantly listing 2000's mustangs as 90s ones on reverb and ebay. it seems like they could just tell by the finishes but i guess not..

It's also right-handed

The Mustang dating thing is frustrating. The lefties are always over £1k - which is what I'd like to pay for a vintage model, not 90s & certainly not recent.

I don't understand why they did the dating like that. No logic to that system.


My good buddy is a lefty and he was looking at one of the left 69's I was just telling him that those guitars are absolutely not worth some $1600 dollars.

In my opinion, no used mij/cij is worth over $700. $700 tops. The craftsman ship is just not there. I own a mg65 i got for just over $500 and i don't feel it's worth much more. I wouldn't sell it for more that's $700. jacking the prices up on these is ridiculous.

[scottydanger]

Well just to add my 2 cents, I spent $1100 on a MIJ Mustang last year...but it was a thinline I had to import to the US from Tokyo. If that guitar was only $1100 then nobody should be paying close to that for a standard model.

[EvLoutonian]

they had NO ability to make lefty Mustang necks at all.

If that is true they were hiring a rather incompetent lot for the custom shop, suspect they just did not want to do it for one reason or another.

I think "a rather incompetent lot" might be jumping a few hoops.. haha

I'm no expert, but from the little I know, it looks like Scott Zimmerman is the guy who was given the job of making these Mustangs for Kurt in Japan..

and from what I can tell, Scott Zimmerman was working at Fender Fullerton in the late 70's, and was one of their first master builders at that pivotal time, leading into the development of the whole modern era of Vintage Series guitars starting around those early 80's years when he was there.

So I'm sure things were in competent hands being assigned to him to complete the work at his later role in Japan.

Found this info on his work history:

Former Masterbuilder, Research and Development at Fender Musical Instruments
1977 - 1984
Fullerton, California

Former Production Manager/ Engineer at Jackson Charvel Guitars
1984 - 1990
San Dimas, California

Former Masterbuilder/ Engineer at Fujigen Musical Instruments (Fender and Ibanez)
1990 - 2001
Matsumoto, Nagano

Current:
Owner, craftsman, engineer at Desert Rose Musical Instruments
Matsumoto, Nagano
Handcrafting string musical Instruments, and sharing my 35 years of experience making and engineering string instruments by offering a consulting service teaching varied details of the industry from engineering to quality control and factory setup, among others.


I found this quote from Scott on another post on TDP, specifically regarding Kurt's guitars:

"Regarding Kurts guitars, I was working as a custom guitar maker at Fujigen.
I was contacted by Dan Smith of Fender and asked if Fujigen could make a lefty Mustang for them for Kurt Cobain. 
The president of Fujigen would not agree to do this for only ONE guitar.
Discussions in America happened and all parties agreed I would make TEN guitars exclusively for Fender USA, exclusively for Kurt. 
I made 10 guitars, shipped a total of 3 Fiesta red and 3 blue... before Kurt died. 
These were shipped over a period of many many months. 
During this time I was also asked by Dan Smith to make TWO lefty Mustang necks to be used on the two prototype Jagstang Kurt Cobain signature model. The reason I was involved is because the factory in Corona couldn't make lefty Mustangs and the young Custom Shop was SWAMPED, and Dan knew me as a custom builder who could do the work. These two necks were shipped unfinished and used on the guitars credited to Larry Brooks. 
The 6 custom Lefty Mustangs I made for Kurt are VERY easy to identify. My name is clearly stamped on the neck under the finish. One of these guitars is on long term loan to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, complete with my letter of authentication. You can search google and find this guitar."

[timtam]

"they had NO ability to make lefty Mustang necks at all."

If that is true they were hiring a rather incompetent lot for the custom shop, suspect they just did not want to do it for one reason or another.

I think "a rather incompetent lot" might be jumping a few hoops.. haha

I'm no expert, but from the little I know, it looks like Scott Zimmerman is the guy who was given the job of making these Mustangs for Kurt in Japan..

and from what I can tell, Scott Zimmerman was working at Fender Fullerton in the late 70's, and was one of their first master builders at that pivotal time, leading into the development of the whole modern era of Vintage Series guitars starting around those early 80's years when he was there.

So I'm sure things were in competent hands being assigned to him to complete the work at his later role in Japan.

Found this info on his work history:

Former Masterbuilder, Research and Development at Fender Musical Instruments
1977 - 1984
Fullerton, California

Former Production Manager/ Engineer at Jackson Charvel Guitars
1984 - 1990
San Dimas, California

Former Masterbuilder/ Engineer at Fujigen Musical Instruments (Fender and Ibanez)
1990 - 2001
Matsumoto, Nagano

Current:
Owner, craftsman, engineer at Desert Rose Musical Instruments
Matsumoto, Nagano
Handcrafting string musical Instruments, and sharing my 35 years of experience making and engineering string instruments by offering a consulting service teaching varied details of the industry from engineering to quality control and factory setup, among others.


I found this quote from Scott on another post on TDP, specifically regarding Kurt's guitars:

"Regarding Kurts guitars, I was working as a custom guitar maker at Fujigen.
I was contacted by Dan Smith of Fender and asked if Fujigen could make a lefty Mustang for them for Kurt Cobain. 
The president of Fujigen would not agree to do this for only ONE guitar.
Discussions in America happened and all parties agreed I would make TEN guitars exclusively for Fender USA, exclusively for Kurt. 
I made 10 guitars, shipped a total of 3 Fiesta red and 3 blue... before Kurt died. 
These were shipped over a period of many many months. 
During this time I was also asked by Dan Smith to make TWO lefty Mustang necks to be used on the two prototype Jagstang Kurt Cobain signature model. The reason I was involved is because the factory in Corona couldn't make lefty Mustangs and the young Custom Shop was SWAMPED, and Dan knew me as a custom builder who could do the work. These two necks were shipped unfinished and used on the guitars credited to Larry Brooks. 
The 6 custom Lefty Mustangs I made for Kurt are VERY easy to identify. My name is clearly stamped on the neck under the finish. One of these guitars is on long term loan to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, complete with my letter of authentication. You can search google and find this guitar."

It's 5 years since I linked to that quote on Facebook, which IIRC was actually from Scott Zimmerman . He was saying that he ended up making the necks at Fujigen because Fender USA couldn't do it at that time.

[Flammable]

I've been under the impression Japanese Fenders have a good build quality. Reading some of the comments on this topic I am somewhat confused; is it not so?
I've been wanting to get myself a Mustang in Olympic white as that is my color. However these are available only from Japan. With taxes it would cost me more than 1000€ which is a lot but if I want a new one in Olympic white (or daphne blue) I have no options but buying from Japan. On a side note, I don't understand why Fender doesn't offer these classic colors of their classic instruments as standard colors in all markets.

[sal paradise]

I've been under the impression Japanese Fenders have a good build quality. Reading some of the comments on this topic I am somewhat confused; is it not so?
I've been wanting to get myself a Mustang in Olympic white as that is my color. However these are available only from Japan. With taxes it would cost me more than 1000€ which is a lot but if I want a new one in Olympic white (or daphne blue) I have no options but buying from Japan. On a side note, I don't understand why Fender doesn't offer these classic colors of their classic instruments as standard colors in all markets.

Japanese Fenders are great. Especially the mustangs. And if it’s a recent model, I believe it will have USA electrics & pickups. That’s the only downside of 90s/00s mij guitars: need to change the pickups to get a truly amazing guitar. Build quality & necks are sublime.

[ldp54002]

A $700 ceiling is too low in my opinion, especially given the market anymore. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a good condition MIJ/CIJ Mustang for under $700 at this point anyway; you'd really have to be patient for that listing. I paid $900 for an exceptionally clean 2008 MG-73 three years ago and it was worth every penny as far as I'm concerned.

[Fiddy]

A $700 ceiling is too low in my opinion, especially given the market anymore. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a good condition MIJ/CIJ Mustang for under $700 at this point anyway; you'd really have to be patient for that listing. I paid $900 for an exceptionally clean 2008 MG-73 three years ago and it was worth every penny as far as I'm concerned.

You do realize that comment is from 2018, right?

[ldp54002]

A $700 ceiling is too low in my opinion, especially given the market anymore. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a good condition MIJ/CIJ Mustang for under $700 at this point anyway; you'd really have to be patient for that listing. I paid $900 for an exceptionally clean 2008 MG-73 three years ago and it was worth every penny as far as I'm concerned.

You do realize that comment is from 2018, right?

Haha, nope! That's what I get for not paying attention.