Members RaVenCAD Posted January 27, 2010 Members Share Posted January 27, 2010 I see it posted all the time. Some people even prefer one over the other.. What is the difference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Yogi_Sizzle Posted January 27, 2010 Members Share Posted January 27, 2010 I'm pretty sure that the only difference is the factory where it is made in Japan. I think Factory A had a provision in their contract with Fender that said if the production of Fender is ever moved from Said factory they can no longer call the guitars Made in Japan, so when production moved they started calling them Crafted in Japan, but I believe they have since then moved back to the original factory and are MIJ again. I remember reading it somewhere but I could be wrong.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Alex W Posted January 27, 2010 Members Share Posted January 27, 2010 If your interest in Fender Japan guitars has led you to ask that question... hopefully this guide will help. And it's just a matter of time till you have your answer. The bottom line is: MADE in Japan = older... CRAFTED in Japan = newer. It's that simple. I'll explain with a short bit of history. Please: Do your own research (readily available on the web), to verify: Without bogging you down in every tiny detail... Fender began making guitars in Japan in 1982. At that time, ALL Fenders were marked *MADE* In Japan (with a few unmarked exceptions, which I may post another guide detailing). Up till 1997, that's the way ALL Fenders manufactured in Japan were marked: MADE In Japan. At some point a decision was made by Fender, for whatever their reason(s), to change this to CRAFTED In Japan. And, in 1997 Fender began using the Crafted In Japan marking. During that year - it is my understanding - guitars were marked both "Made" and "Crafted" In Japan. In 1998 and since, all Fenders manufactured in Japan have been marked "Crafted" In Japan. So, it's just a matter of time. No magical formula to decipher or understand. No secrets to remember. A quick visit to fender.com - and a tiny bit of curiosity - will verify. Go there and work your way to the Japan Serial Numbers page. You'll notice the first batch of numbers are "Made" In Japan numbers, while the second batch (at the bottom of the page) are "Crafted" In Japan numbers. Take a good look at *the dating*... you'll see for yourself: Made In Japan = older... Crafted In Japan = newer It's just a matter of time. It's that simple. http://reviews.ebay.com/quot-MADE-In-Japan-quot-vs-quot-CRAFTED-In-Japan-quot-Fender-Guitar-s_W0QQugidZ10000000002545481 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tiltsta Posted January 27, 2010 Members Share Posted January 27, 2010 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fender_Japan#.22Made_in_Japan.22 It can tell info about the date it was made, and possibly where in Japan. The differences about what the designations actually signify are debated a bit, but it is one way to narrow down specs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Yogi_Sizzle Posted January 27, 2010 Members Share Posted January 27, 2010 From wiki:"According to a Fender representative it was in the Fender Japan contract that if there was a change of manufacturer from FujiGen Gakki to another guitar factory then the logo would be changed from MIJ ("Made in Japan") to CIJ ("Crafted in Japan"). The first CIJ Fenders start around 1992 but most of the Japanese Fenders up till 1996/1997 are MIJ Fenders. In 1991/1992 FujiGen Gakki were expanding their factory operations by establishing FujiGen Hirooka Inc ((Japanese) ?????????) to be able to take on additional set neck (Gibson like necks) contracts (such as the Orville by Gibson contract) and so Dyna Gakki (one of Kanda Shokai's main guitar makers) took over some of the making of the Japanese Fender models which resulted in a CIJ logo being used on some Japanese Fenders instead of an MIJ logo. CIJ is mostly used on Fenders from 1996/1997 until recently due to T?kai and Dyna Gakki taking over the Fender Japan manufacturing contract from FujiGen Gakki in 1996/1997. The Fender Squier range was also brought into line with the Japanese Fenders at around the same time (1996/1997), with "Crafted" rather than "Made" being used. "Made in Japan" is used on some current Fender Japan models (2007) instead of "Crafted in Japan"." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members aclarke Posted January 27, 2010 Members Share Posted January 27, 2010 Some people even prefer one over the other.. What is the difference? With *some* of the early MIJ fenders, the quality is exceptional. Better than what Fender USA was putting out at the time. If you've ever played a 1980 strat, you'll know that's not really saying a lot. Likewise, with *some* of the newer CIJ models, the quality of the components is low. Plastic-cased switches, small pots, fairly generic pickups. Because of these two facts, some people have the idea that all MIJ are better than all CIJ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vintage55 Posted January 27, 2010 Members Share Posted January 27, 2010 Be careful with the abbreviations...some trigger fingers are rather touchy these days.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Angry Tele Posted January 27, 2010 Members Share Posted January 27, 2010 they still make MIJ and sell them in the US market...The paisley tele and strats are brand new MIJ. It used to be mij was older but not any more. You gotta look at the serial number. Also some of the older mijs used basswood where cij uses alder (specifically on jaguars and jazzmasters) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RaVenCAD Posted January 27, 2010 Author Members Share Posted January 27, 2010 ok, so it's mostly a contractual thing for Fender? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members leftystratman Posted January 27, 2010 Members Share Posted January 27, 2010 they still make MIJ and sell them in the US market...The paisley tele and strats are brand new MIJ. It used to be mij was older but not any more. You gotta look at the serial number.Also some of the older mijs used basswood where cij uses alder (specifically on jaguars and jazzmasters) my old MIJ strat had a basswood body. but the necks made by Fender Japan, be it MIJ or CIJ, are exceptional. way way way better than late Fender USA necks. not sure about vintage USA necks though, when Leo Fender was still the boss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zenbu Posted January 27, 2010 Members Share Posted January 27, 2010 they have gone back to MADE IN JAPAN in upper case letters now, I`ve seen that on Mustangs and Jaguars in local shops. Older MIJs have it in lower case letters. I was told by the former manager of the local Rock Inn that there are 4 factories building FJ guitars and basses now in Japan, and seems plausible considering how many that one shop alone has hanging on a wall, throw in the other shops in the country and one factory would not be able to build so any guitars even if they were pumping em out 24/7 so I believe him. Rumor has it they switched from MIJ to CIJ once the original contract expired, but theres a lot of stuff written about the company on line and interestingly to me, very little comes from Japan, it`s always written by people overseas so just what their sources are is known only to them. FJ has been using basswood, alder, ash and used to use sen and Mustangs are listed as poplar, not to mention rosewood and walnut...so lots of choices. They have since day one built high ends and lesser models, still do and I own a bunch some of those I`d put up against anything by F/USA made today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Angry Tele Posted January 27, 2010 Members Share Posted January 27, 2010 my old MIJ strat had a basswood body. but the necks made by Fender Japan, be it MIJ or CIJ, are exceptional. way way way better than late Fender USA necks. not sure about vintage USA necks though, when Leo Fender was still the boss. I have a CIJ and a US52RI Tele with similar (identical) specs. The neck on the CIJ is nice but the only nock againts CIJ is that they don't make a fatter neck. It doesn't have to be Nocaster fat although that would be ideal, but at least US52RI Tele fat. Hell some MIM Teles have pretty fat necks even. BTW here's both necks can you tell which is CIJ or US? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members csm Posted January 27, 2010 Members Share Posted January 27, 2010 My 1996/7 -- the s/n can't be more precise than that -- JD Telecaster has a tiny block-caps MADE IN JAPAN decal at the neck heel just before the body join. It's a damn fine guitar. Just thought I'd mention it ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Maess Posted January 27, 2010 Members Share Posted January 27, 2010 Had an 88 MIJ strat, with a Kahler, what a nice guitar, wish I still had it. Replaced the stock pickups with DiMarzzio shockwave active/passives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zenbu Posted January 28, 2010 Members Share Posted January 28, 2010 My 1996/7 -- the s/n can't be more precise than that -- JD Telecaster has a tiny block-caps MADE IN JAPAN decal at the neck heel just before the body join. It's a damn fine guitar.Just thought I'd mention it ... well there ya go, just enforces my opinion that anything is possible with Japanese Fenders, can`t tell you how many times I`ve said...what the?... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SaSa Posted January 28, 2010 Members Share Posted January 28, 2010 my '08 Jag HH is CIJ, '09 Strat XII is however MIJ. The CIJ Jag came with a great neck and setup, although it suffered a bit of poor electric components and needed some (although cheap) DIYing. The MIJ Strat XII was something of letdown after the Jag - it needed a neck shim to get the action good. Not sure if that's because of the change from C to M... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mid Life Crisis Posted January 28, 2010 Members Share Posted January 28, 2010 I have a CIJ and a US52RI Tele with similar (identical) specs. The neck on the CIJ is nice but the only nock againts CIJ is that they don't make a fatter neck. It doesn't have to be Nocaster fat although that would be ideal, but at least US52RI Tele fat. Hell some MIM Teles have pretty fat necks even. BTW here's both necks can you tell which is CIJ or US? The one on the right looks like the CIJ to me. It's thinner, as you describe, but also CIJ/MIJ necks seem to have that nice amber colour to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Angry Tele Posted January 28, 2010 Members Share Posted January 28, 2010 The one on the right looks like the CIJ to me. It's thinner, as you describe, but also CIJ/MIJ necks seem to have that nice amber colour to them. Yup thats the CIJ. Its funny though IRL the CIJ is much lighter color than the US. I prefer the paler CIJ color. This pic is more accurate (CIJ on the left, its been refinished) Also the 12th fret markers differ in distance and my neck (Micawbre Tele-52SPL) doesn't accept vintage tuners Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Angry Tele Posted January 28, 2010 Members Share Posted January 28, 2010 it needed a neck shim to get the action good. Not sure if that's because of the change from C to M... No. Everything from Custm Shop to vintage Fender uses shims. They are just part of the charm of teh Fender. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members grouchy Posted June 12, 2020 Members Share Posted June 12, 2020 Fender Japan (Nihon) was bought out by Fender Corporate five or six years ago, but functions like a auto company sub-division (you might have noticed a large number of after market parts coming from Taiwan or etc.). What Fender Japan is allowed to sell to retailers in the US market is controlled by Fender Corporate... or I should write, sell directly to US retailers... our shop has a good relationship with a brother shop in Kyoto, so we get really great instruments that were technically made only for the Japanese market. (The Nihon-jin call those the 'Traditional' series...). Honestly, the Trans-Blue 2018 Traditional '58 reissue is equal to any year of production of American Vintage Reissue (they even use White Ash). The other Traditional models we picked up were 68 reissues in the modern color pallet with Alder bodies (I think those are 'hybrid' models in Japanese). Fender Japan was only allowed to sell the blue Flower tele model, and the "Midnight" 60s hybrid reissues (a blacked out '62 RI with gold hardware...). 2019 they sold "Daybreaks" which were a version of a popular artist series model in Japan (sort of a version of the Mary Kaye '54, but vintage white rather than trans-white). Compared to the ventura and 'American Original' replacements for American Vintage Reissues (AVRI)... it's not hard to see why the MIJ/CIJ reissue prices have shot up in value. (They're superior instruments). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members badpenguin Posted June 12, 2020 Members Share Posted June 12, 2020 1 hour ago, grouchy said: Fender Japan (Nihon) was bought out by Fender Corporate five or six years ago, but functions like a auto company sub-division (you might have noticed a large number of after market parts coming from Taiwan or etc.). What Fender Japan is allowed to sell to retailers in the US market is controlled by Fender Corporate... or I should write, sell directly to US retailers... our shop has a good relationship with a brother shop in Kyoto, so we get really great instruments that were technically made only for the Japanese market. (The Nihon-jin call those the 'Traditional' series...). Honestly, the Trans-Blue 2018 Traditional '58 reissue is equal to any year of production of American Vintage Reissue (they even use White Ash). The other Traditional models we picked up were 68 reissues in the modern color pallet with Alder bodies (I think those are 'hybrid' models in Japanese). Fender Japan was only allowed to sell the blue Flower tele model, and the "Midnight" 60s hybrid reissues (a blacked out '62 RI with gold hardware...). 2019 they sold "Daybreaks" which were a version of a popular artist series model in Japan (sort of a version of the Mary Kaye '54, but vintage white rather than trans-white). Compared to the ventura and 'American Original' replacements for American Vintage Reissues (AVRI)... it's not hard to see why the MIJ/CIJ reissue prices have shot up in value. (They're superior instruments). A ten year old thread.... no one cares. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GilmourD Posted June 13, 2020 Members Share Posted June 13, 2020 21 hours ago, badpenguin said: A ten year old thread.... no one cares. Nice way to welcome a new member. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.