Midnight Telecaster from Japan

It came from Japan...

...but I don't like it. However, you may like it. You can make that decision for yourself after reading my thoughts on this guitar.

Take the Fender Made in Japan Traditional 60s Telecaster Midnight. And yes, there is a Stratocaster version, but I'm concentrating on the Tele since I just talked about Strats recently.

Obviously, this guitar comes in one one color, Midnight Black. It's got gold-gold-gold hardware everywhere with color-matched headcap that adds to the overall look. Nicely done.

However... it's a "Traditional" model, and that's where things go downhill for me.

This means a butt-adjust truss rod adjustment location where the neck has to come off the guitar to adjust the truss rod. It also means a 7.25" super-round fingerboard radius and a "U" shape neck.

In other words, yes it's built to '60s Fender specs.

I prefer modern spec Fender, but if you're looking for a '60s build that's new and from Japan with a cool look to it, here it is.

The biggest sell of this guitar for me is actually the U shape neck. That's a neck "with a lot of shoulder" to it that should result in something thick and chunky - and some players really like that neck feel.

How does it sound? No idea. But it is loaded with "Vintage-Style Single-Coil Tele" pickups from Fender, so it should sound bright and spanky like a Tele should.

What really sets this guitar apart from other Telecasters is the black-to-black body and headcap color match with gold hardware. Great look, and well done. Note that even the pickup cover for the neck side pickup is also in gold.

Every single exterior metal thing on this guitar is gold with the exception of the frets, which is fine. The look works.

The ugliest Fender Strat made in 2018

Good guitar. Bad color.

The Deluxe Strat is a modern offering from Fender with three "vintage noiseless" pickups, push/push mini switch to add in the bridge pickup for positions 4 and 5, modern two-point bridge, 12" radius fingerboard, contoured neck heel and locking tuners.

This is a good guitar. But it looks horrible in Sapphire Blue Transparent.

Now to note, this guitar is available in three other finishes, 2-color sunburst, black and vintage blonde. And any one of those is better than the blue.

The reason why the blue doesn't work on this Strat is because it makes it look cheap.

Transparent blue is a color you expect to see on something like this low-cost Ibanez... or even cheaper with a sub-$100 no-name guitar. You don't expect to see it on a Deluxe Model Strat that costs significantly more, but yet it exists.

However, there is a bright side. This is one of the very few guitars in Fender's current lineup that looks like it got hit with the ugly stick. As said above, there are 3 other colors that look notably better for the same model.

My personal pick for the best looking Deluxe Strat is the 2-color sunburst. That one has a look done right.

Some guys like a Stratocaster with gold hardware

Is gold on a Fender Strat a bit kitschy? Yes. But there are some guys that like it.

A guitar that has the gold is the Fender Special Run '50s Stratocaster with the full gold treatment. And by full treatment, I mean that almost every single thing that is metal on this guitar is gold. Bridge, string saddles, all screws (including screws that hold the rear plate,) neck bolt plate, tuner buttons, tuning posts, strap buttons, string guide and even the tremolo arm.

The only things not gold on this Strat are the pickup pole pieces and the frets. Other than that, all metal parts are in a gold color.

I've mentioned guitars with the gold hardware treatment here before and will mention the same warnings I always do whenever I talk about one of these based on my personal experience.

Gold finishing will wear off over time if the guitar is played regularly.

On this particular Strat, the gold will wear down at the bridge around where the 4, 5 and 6 strings sit. Why? Because most Strat players rest their picking hand palm on the bridge when playing. All that palm rubbing over time wears the gold off where you'll see steel come through eventually. This is not necessarily a bad look when it happens, but just know that yes, it will happen.

The gold will also get a bit dinged and scratched up at the output jack from plugging and unplugging a guitar cord in there over time as well. The gold won't wear down, but scratches will happen and that's just the way it is.

My biggest warning however about gold hardware guitars is this: Do NOT lose anything that comes with this guitar. If you don't use that tremolo arm, don't throw it out. Just store it away somewhere. If you swap out anything gold for different hardware, the same applies. Keep all the original gold stuff.

Do you keep the gold hardware for resale value? No. You keep it because it's difficult to source official Fender replacements just in case you ever want to put your guitar back to 100% original condition. If you want regular steel stuff, those parts are easy to source. For gold, not-so much. Yes, you can get third-party gold hardware, but the color will be slightly different than the gold already on the guitar.

And speaking of color, gold changes even with Fender-issued parts from year to year. On some years it's brighter while on other years it has more yellow in it and is slightly darker.

Again, if you buy this guitar, just make sure to keep all original hardware and you'll be fine. Lose hardware, and you'll kick yourself for it.

What does this guitar sound like?

It is usually true that Fender will put pickups with AlNiCo (aluminum, cobalt, nickel) magnets in them that are III strength for '50s model Strats and V strength for '60s model Strats. Generally speaking, AlNiCo III has less volume with greater treble response while AlNiCo V has more volume with less treble response.

Said in plain English: Unless stated otherwise, a Strat designated as a '50s guitar by Fender has "very clean" voicing to it. When you want a Strat with that sought-after "bell-like chime,", pickups with the AlNiCo III pole piece magnets are usually the best way to get that sound - and that should be what's in this particular Strat with gold hardware.

And remember, the easy way to boost volume with pickups that have AlNiCo III magnets is just to use a compressor effect; there's no shame in doing that. When you want the bell-like chime and some boost for more prominent notes and chords, that's the way to get it.

Worth getting?

If you like the gold, yes.

Does this guitar cost any more than a non-gold '50s Strat? Yes, but not by too much, relatively speaking.

Can you get this guitar with a rosewood fingerboard? No. Strats designated as '50s guitars all have 1-piece maple necks. Strats designated as '60s guitars all have rosewood (or other darker wood) fingerboards.

Fender Limited Edition 60th Anniversary Triple Jazzmaster

I'm having a difficult time deciding whether this is cool or not.

The Fender Limited Edition 60th Anniversary Triple Jazzmaster is expensive. But then again, it's a 60th anniversary model and does come with a brown hardshell case. However, it's a modern guitar. Fender as far as I know didn't make a Jazzmaster like this 60 years ago, and describes this guitar as "an homage to the mod ethos that permeates the cult of the Jazzmaster". If you have no idea what that means, neither do I.

What's the color called? Fender didn't say what it is on their product page, so I can't tell you. Looks like Daphne Blue...? What I can say is the guitar has a gloss nitro finish on both the body and neck.

Aside from that, what we've got here is this:

• Alder body
• Maple neck with "'60s Oval C shape", binding, 21 narrow/tall frets, rosewood fingerboard with 9.5" radius, bone nut, slotted tuners, pearloid dot inlays, heel-adjusted truss rod
• A trio of Filter'Tron pickups with Stratocaster 5-way switching
• 4-ply tortoise shell pick guard
• Jazzmaster vibrato system (includes lock button,) with strings sitting on Mustang saddles
• Witch hat knobs
• Special 60th anniversary engraved neck bolt plate on the back

I'm having a hard time deciding if this is cool or not because it's a combination of things both great and awful at the same time.

Looks-wise, yes, this guitar nails it. All the gleaming metalwork of the bridge + pickups set off nicely from the tortoise shell guard. The neck binding works here as do the pearloid dot inlays to complement the pickups. Great appearance all around. I love the "busy" logo work on the pegboard. All the styled text that includes "WITH SYNCHRONIZED FLOATING TREMOLO" is just cool. Love that. Very Fender, very nice.

Function-wise, this guitar also nails it. While I'm not really a fan of 3-pickup guitars these days, Strat players could easily pick up this thing and start wailing away on it easily.

I do not like the heel-adjusted truss rod. Yeah, it makes the guitar look better without the truss rod adjustment hole at the pegboard, but after owning a Jazzmaster with the heel-adjust, I'll never own one again. Having to physically take off the neck of the guitar every time I want to make a small truss rod adjustment gets annoying real quick.

I do not like Mustang saddles on the Jazzmaster. Yes, I understand most players prefer it, but I don't because for me it takes away adjustability of the guitar.

Fender didn't say what the K value of the potentiometers are. Traditional Jazzmaster electronics has a 1M pot with linear taper for volume and 1M pot with audio taper for tone. And if that's what's on this guitar... that might be a bit too screechy for most players. But if Fender used 500K pots (doesn't matter what taper is used,) that would work better with the Filter'Tron pickups for my ear.

Ultimately, I think the guitar works well for what it is. And what is it? A hot-rodded Jazzmaster. Maybe that's what Fender meant by "an homage to the mod ethos." If Fender is saying this is a hot-rod Jazzmaster, mission accomplished.

Anyone who owns this particular axe will at bare minimum get a ton of eye candy, because photos do no justice for nitro finished Fender guitars. In my experience, a Fender blue in the lighter hue coated in nitro just pops with color like you wouldn't believe.

As a player's guitar, if you're okay with that heel-adjusted truss rod, the Strat-style switching should make this Jazzmaster very easy to get along with.

Revstar with dual P-90 pickups is cool

This is a lesser-known guitar to begin with, and this particular model with the dual P-90 pickups is even more rare.

The Yamaha Revstar has been around since 2015, so at the time I write this in late 2018, it hasn't even been around for 4 years yet.

Yamaha has tried different things with this model that included different colors and so on, but this one in particular, model RS502T in Bowden Green is the best I've seen yet. This is also available in a very tuxedo-looking piano black finish.

Compared to other Revstar models, this one has a white guard, creme cover P90 pickups and a covered tailpiece. The pickups are a big deal because it gives the guitar a much more twangy and trebly sound. The creme color guard, pickup covers and addition of the tail piece cover really add a touch of class to the instrument.

It's not that the Revstar wasn't classy before, but these small changes really make the guitar a fantastic looker. What Yamaha achieved with this is retro-yet-not-retro, which is not an easy thing to accomplish. This guitar is totally modern yet has 1950s style touches to it while at the same time not ripping off anybody.

When I say Yamaha has tried different things with the Revstar, I wasn't kidding. There's even a "denim" finish version with toaster style pickups in it and a Bigsby system attached. That's the RS720B model.

I believe however that Yamaha got it right with the RS502T. It's a more reserved design that's elegant and brings home the tone with the dual P-90 pickups.

It's good this guitar exists. It's not just another copy of some other more established famous guitar design. This is a modern Yamaha electric guitar that's not trying to be anything else but a Yamaha, and it's doing a darned good job at it.

I do hope Yamaha sells a ton of these, because the sound that comes out of a pair of P-90 pickups is incredible when in a well-made guitar. And this guitar is well-made.