NGD - Help needed with 80's Japanese Squier

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Tiga
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I picked this up last weekend at a garage sale for $25. At first I thought it was a frankenstrat and that my daughter and I could have some fun modding it. Once I got it home and looked at it a bit closer and did some online research it appears to be a 1983-84 Squier Bullet Strat that came originally with a hardtail bridge, tele headstock and two humbucking pickups. I'm certain these pickups aren't original but I haven't pulled them yet to see what they are. The bridge p/u looks like some sort of hot rail and the neck p/u looks like someone painted it at some point. It also had two push buttons by the knobs. Not sure what they are supposed to do. I haven't even had a chance to connect to an amp and see if anything works.

It's in well-loved condition with lots of scratches, a few finish blemishes and some small finish cracks in the back. The neck has a nice feel to it with some very slight fret wear on the first couple frets. The truss rod adjustment is on the heel. No identification markings on the neck and the serial number is on the neck plate.

Anyone know anything about this particular model? I'm having a hard time finding any information about it. Doesn't appear to be a popular model. Also does anyone know where I can get one of the push button covers? Thanks all!
Squier Japan Body.jpg
Squier Japan Neck.jpg
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jtcnj
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Nice score for $25. If it needs a little TLC to be a good player, or even for any usable parts.
Congrats!!

I found this:
https://www.squier-talk.com/threads/198 ... lets.5252/

Quoted from that thread:

"I recently bought 2 Vintage Made in Japan Fender Squier Bullets.

The 1983 is a Sunburst with 3 single coil pickups. I added a push-pull switch on the tone knob for a master on and off for the neck pickup. With that I can get full Tele and Strat sounds.

The 1984 is Black with 2 Humbucker pickups. There are 2 push buttons that allows you to coil tap the humbuckers for single coil sounds."
Another poster says the buttons split the coils, not tap.
Old AGF since Feb. 2015; refugee of the Great MOMO Purge of May 2020.
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redman
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Gearlist: Gibson LP, Agile PS900, SX Tele, SX Strat, PRS SE Zach Myers Yamaha FGX830c, Yamaha LL16, Yamaha LL26, Eastman E10D, Tobias Bass, Squire CV 60's P Bass

Congrats that's a great score. If you change the pups, you might consider Fender MIM TEX-MEX pups they are not expensive but IMO sound great they were the pups they used in the Jimmie Vaughn signature Strat. I put a set in my SX Strat and they sound great.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... pickup-set
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bc rich
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Great score , and there is this link for Squiers
https://guitarinsite.nl/serienummers-squier_eng.php
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Rollin Hand
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Check out the bridge pickup -- it could be a Dimarzio X2N.
"I'm not a sore loser. It's just that I prefer to win, and when I don't, I get furious."
- Ron Swanson
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Tiga
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Thanks - tells me a '83-'84 model built in Japan by FujiGen.

bc rich wrote: ↑Thu May 26, 2022 12:09 pm Great score , and there is this link for Squiers
https://guitarinsite.nl/serienummers-squier_eng.php
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Partscaster
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I bet that neck is not original to the Fujigen made body. Just a guess.
I never heard of Bullets in the 80's. I have an old MIJ 85 Squier. Nice.
"Stratocaster made in Japan" on original neck.

------------

edit: I see in above posts that I'm wrong about Bullets and the 80's.
"The man that hath no music in himself, nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils. The motions of his spirit are dull as night, and his affections dark as Erebus. Let no such man be trusted."
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Tiga
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I found one or two on reverb - neck looks to be original

https://reverb.com/item/48569510-fender ... _sold=true
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honyock
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Had one very similar

Very heavy plywood body

Neck was very similar spec to MIA teles.Image

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

10 years, 2 months, and 8 days of blissful ignorance ruined by that snake in the grass Major Tom.
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Tiga
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Are those some Pioneer speakers holding up that Squier?
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honyock
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Tiga wrote:Are those some Pioneer speakers holding up that Squier?
They were, flipped them long ago when I had to give up my man cave to daughter #1

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

10 years, 2 months, and 8 days of blissful ignorance ruined by that snake in the grass Major Tom.
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Tiga
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I had a pair of CS-88a's and CS-77a's. Flipped them both as well but sometimes I miss the 77a's.
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bc rich
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Tiga wrote: ↑Thu May 26, 2022 3:29 pm Thanks - tells me a '83-'84 model built in Japan by FujiGen.

bc rich wrote: ↑Thu May 26, 2022 12:09 pm Great score , and there is this link for Squiers
https://guitarinsite.nl/serienummers-squier_eng.php
Neck plate is authentic !
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Tiga
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I pulled the strings off yesterday and started looking into this one a little deeper. The tuners are not original and appear to be older Schaller tuners - they stay "Made in W. Germany" on them. Seem to still work fine.

Under the pickguard I found full size pots and a switch that seems to be of good quality. The biggest surprise was that the pickups are both DiMarzio. One is labeled a DP 102, the other is a double cream (painted black) but there are no models numbers. I'm assuming this must be a pretty old pickup. Does anyone know anything about any of these?

Right now I'm cleaning the pots and the push switches. Two ground wires popped off in the process so I need to resolder them on.

There is some fret wear on the first couple frets and I'm going try to address that as well. Hopefully I have it playable by the end of the weekend. Still not sure what I'm going to do with this yet. Thanks all.
IMG_9755.jpg
IMG_9756.jpg
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Tiga
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Rollin Hand wrote: ↑Thu May 26, 2022 2:29 pm Check out the bridge pickup -- it could be a Dimarzio X2N.
Good call - exactly what it is. (DP 102)
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slowhand84
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Tiga wrote: ↑Sat Jun 11, 2022 11:01 am I pulled the strings off yesterday and started looking into this one a little deeper. The tuners are not original and appear to be older Schaller tuners - they stay "Made in W. Germany" on them. Seem to still work fine.

Under the pickguard I found full size pots and a switch that seems to be of good quality. The biggest surprise was that the pickups are both DiMarzio. One is labeled a DP 102, the other is a double cream (painted black) but there are no models numbers. I'm assuming this must be a pretty old pickup. Does anyone know anything about any of these?

Right now I'm cleaning the pots and the push switches. Two ground wires popped off in the process so I need to resolder them on.

There is some fret wear on the first couple frets and I'm going try to address that as well. Hopefully I have it playable by the end of the weekend. Still not sure what I'm going to do with this yet. Thanks all.

IMG_9755.jpgIMG_9756.jpg
Could be a Super Distortion, if it is not labeled your best bet would be to measure the output and see what it matches up to from info online.
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Tiga
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Checked the output and it appears to be a Super Distortion. Must be an old one. I got the rest of the black paint off of it - makes it look even more 'vintagy'.

I got all the controls and switch cleaned, resoldered the ground wires that came apart, leveled and re-crowned several frets, gave all the frets a polish, cleaned all the smoke residue and grime off of the guitar, adjusted the truss rod and string height and gave it a play. Pretty much everything works - the one coil split switch works for the neck pickup but for the bridge it just cuts it off. Not sure I want to dig into that and am fine with how it is right now. I ordered a new switch tip and a plastic tip that I hope covers the one missing coil split switch.

It plays pretty well too - feels nice and broken in because well....it is! LOL. With the DiMarzio pickups and the cleaning/setup it's definitely worth more than the $25 I paid for it. My daughter likes it and suggested keeping it but not sure we need another guitar around here, plus at some point I'd like to get a decent amp.

....but it does have a little mojo....
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