To Custom Shop, or not to Custom Shop...

... that is the question.

Recently, there seems to be a trend on eBay with Made In Japan (MIJ - 1997 and earlier) Fender guitars.  A few sellers are calling their offerings prototypes and Custom Shop guitars.  I am not qualified to pass judgement on any of their motives, nor do I have any desire to do so.  Although, that kind of thing is a little disturbing.

I'm about to share photos of 3 of these "Custom Shop" guitars.  I'll furnish the Fender Japan model number.  The photos are of guitars in my collection, as of the authoring of this guide.  And these are regular production models, not Custom Shop guitars.  Armed with these model numbers, a little curiosity, and Google, you can easily verify for yourself everything here.  And *please do* verify this information for yourself.  Don't just take my word.

Ok, enough of the jabber.  I am speaking of the 1984 to 1987 Contemporary Strats with the System II and System III bridges.  They each (except the gloss black) had a pearlescent/metallic finish, and were available in gloss black, white / pearl (ages to a beautiful yellowish-cream color), gold, silver (as it ages, it takes on a transparent green hue, almost like the color of weathered copper... but transparent), green (almost flourescent), and raspberry... that I am aware of.  They all have the single ply, thick black pickguard.

Notice the bridge humbucker on the System II guitar is different than the humbuckers on the System III guitars.  Also be aware that the pickguard for the System II and System III guitars are not interchangable without modification.

Here are the model #'s & photos

Model 27-5700:
System III (3) bridge, has fine tuners
Bridge Humbucker, mid and neck single coils
5-way selector, 1 Vol, 1 TBX Tone, 1 coil tap toggle
Original Lock Nut (same on each model, so not shown again... although, sometime the sting spacers were black chrome instead of silver chrome)

                   
                                Lock Nut Tight                           Lock Nut Loose                            

Model 27-4100:
System II (2) bridge, designed without fine tuners
Bridge Humbucker (different than the System III Humbucker), mid and neck single coils
5-way selector, 1 Vol, 1 TBX Tone, 1 coil tap toggle

Model 27-5800:
System III (3) bridge, has fine tuners
Bridge and Neck Humbucker
3-way selector, 1 Vol, 1 TBX Tone, 1 coil tap toggle

Other Interesting Features

Some of the Contemporary Stratocaster (and Telecaster) guitars had the necks painted black, front and back.  These are the high-end Contemporaries with the neck back finished natural.  Only the headstock is painted black.

The output / input jack is on the edge of the body, similar to a Tele.

The neck plate came from the Fender Japan factory with a black plastic protective gasket.  There is an extra hole hole in the neck plate and protective gasket... that's for the micro-tilt adjustment.  An ingenious way to adjust the tilt of the neck without needing shims, or even removing the neck completely from the body.

And something that's way cool, to me at least, is the way the spring tension for the System II and System III bridge adjusts.  There is an allen screw located behind the end strap peg.  Turning this allen screw in one direction tightens the bridge tension spring, turning it the other loosens the tension spring!  No messing with removing plates, or the pickguard!

The TBX Tone Control, and the Coil Tap

These two features of this model make the range of sounds which are possible, mind boggling!

From 0 to 5, the TBX Tone Control functions like a normal tone control functions from 0 to 10.  On the TBX, there is a detent at 5... without looking, you can feel a click at 5.  From 5 to 10, the TBX Tone Control changes the frequency output of whichever pickup(s) is(are) on.  Very subtle, but at the same time can be quite dramatic, changes in sound.

The coil tap works with the Humbucker(s).  It is simply a two-position toggle switch placed on the pickguard between the Volume and Tone knobs, and behind the 5-way, or 3-way, selector switch.  In one position, the humbucker(s) function as a humbucker should.  And folks, the factory original humbuckers on these guitars have really got guts!  In the other position, the toggle in-effect turns off half of the humbucker and makes the single coil sounds come to life.

There ya have it.  If you have found this helpful or interesting, please take just a second to click the "Yes" button at the bottom of this guide.  If you find anything that should be corrected, or have information to add, please feel free to contact me.  I sincerely hope you have found the time you just spent here has been worthwhile.  Thank you.

SMILE