ATTENTION! ACHTUNG! ATENCION! ATTENZIONE!
Send us your stuff to publish it on this page. We need sounds (mp3 format), photos, stories, technical info, suggestions, whatever you want about Fender instruments.
Feel free to contact us at
YOUR PHOTOS
21 photos found
DO IT YOURSELF (alias find out good ways to restore granny's amp or eventually build something new)
Although it is always possible to visit the official Fender web sites in order to check the complete catalogue, we show in this page a few products from Fender Japan (so Japanese re-issue of the guitars)
with the link to BUY the products from SurferJoe. Please check out our shop section for more details. We ship worldwide directly from Japan. Why we promote and sell Fender japan products? The purpose of SurferJoeMusic.com is to diffuse surf music worldwide. A lot of guys want to approch the genre without knowing much about how to
obtain certain sounds they like so much. Many time the biggest problem is the cost of the equipment. Japanese re-issues are definitely much cheaper than the original American models and different for the
materials or the specifications, but certainly very good products. Someone presently thinks they are often better than the Americans... well, for sure they are a much better compromise
between WHAT YOU PAY and WHAT YOU GET (on new products of course)!
History of Fender Japan (Wikipedia source)
Fender Japan was officially created in March 1982 and consists of two Japanese Music companies
that handle the ordering and distribution. The two companies are Yamano Gakki (Gakki means
musical instrument company) and Kanda Shokai. Yamano are a musical instrument wholesaler/retailer
with their own retail outlets and Kanda Shokai are a musical instrument wholesaler with no retail
outlets of their own. These two companies do not manufacture guitars, they order them from Japanese
guitar factories such as FujiGen Gakki and then they distribute them through retail outlets. Yamano
distributes them through its own retail outlets and also various other retail outlets and Kanda Shokai
distributes them through various retail outlets including the Ishibashi chain of music stores in Japan.
The Japanese guitar factories that have made Fender Japan guitars at various times are FujiGen Gakki,
Tokai and Dyna Gakki.
Manufacturers
The Fender Japan guitar manufacturing contract was originally going to go to Tokai in 1981/1982 but
at the last minute Fender chose FujiGen Gakki instead. Some FujiGen Gakki made Fender models between
1982 and 1997 have necks made by Atlansia. Tokai and Dyna Gakki took over the making of the Fender
Japan models from FujiGen Gakki in 1996/1997. The Tokai made Fender Japan guitars are not exported
from Japan but some of the Dyna Gakki made Fender Japan guitars are exported. Dyna Gakki have made
various guitars for Kanda Shokai's Greco brand. Terada made the Fender Japan acoustic guitars such
as the Fender Catalina.
"Made in Japan"
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. 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 a MIJ logo. CIJ is mostly used on Fenders from 1996/1997 until recently due to Tokai and Dyna
Gakki taking over the Fender Japan manufacturing contract from FujiGen Gakki in 1996/1997. The
Fender Squiers were also brought into line to be in sync 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".
Always specify the credits to SurferJoeMusic.com when copying the textual contents of this web site
All logos are used under the direct authorization of the respective owners or legal representatives
Please contact us for further information about copyrights
This web site requires the latest updates of your web browser
The biggest music label in Antigua, special partner of SurferJoe Music
PHIL DIRT'S REVERB CENTRAL
This is the world head-quarter for surf music's reviews and new releases. Ask Phil before going anywhere else... Web site | MySpace page