Fender Malmsteen Strat question

[Guitarnut]

I know nothing about these, but have spotted one for sale. Anyone out there got any experience of them? Are there USA, Japan, Korean, etc versions, or just the Custom Shop Signature model? What do I look out for & how do I tell the difference? How much different is the scallopped neck to a regular one? Thanks in advance for any pointers!

[Carbuff]

There is an old post from a few months ago about this and there seem to be many different variations on the malmsteen strat. Especially being in England there may have been a few not for U.S. models made. The best thing would be to post a pic or few and let the experts chime in.

[jackson1]

Here's one thread that ran recently. You should be able to pull some info from it, if you can steer clear of the bullshit that is also in it:

http://www.jcfonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55841&highlight=fender+yngwie+malmsteen

If you do a search, you should find more info.

[jgcable]

There are only 2 models. USA and Japanese. There is no custom shop model that I know of.

[hippietim]

There are only 2 models. USA and Japanese. There is no custom shop model that I know of.

Yngwie has said in a number of interviews in the last 6-12 months that Fender is doing a CS clone of his duck - similar to what they did for SRV, Beck, etc. I'm sure they'll be mega bucks.

Also, there have been a number of Japanese models. Even the USA models have varied a good bit - 2-post trem vs. 6 screw, small vs. big headstock, etc.

[jwoods986]

I read about the CS "duck" clone last Winter but haven't really heard anything about it since then.

As far as production YJMs, you have USA and Japanese. The Jap models seem to vary quite a bit (some have brass nuts, some don't; some have stock pickups, some have the Dimarzios, etc.). I don't know the history of these, so I won't try to spew out BS. Some of the others here know a lot more about the Japan ones.

The USAs are pretty easy, there have been two versions. The original came out in 87 or 88 and ran until mid-90s (I think 95). It had a smaller 50s headstock, medium frets, HS-3s in the neck and bridge with a stock single coil in the middle, 5-way switching, and the 2-post "newer" trem found on most American models. The current version (96-now) has the large late 60s headstock, vintage tuners, HUGE frets with deeper scallops, YJM pickups in the neck and middle with HS-3 in the bridge, 3-way switching, and vintage trem. Both have the brass nut. Those are the main specs I can think of, anyone with more info can certainly chime in.

[Guitarnut]

Cheers guys - guess I should've been less lazy & searched for previous threads - there HAD to be a discussion about this guitar somewhere in this forum! Tried uploading pics, but Photodump keeps chucking me out!

[AfterForever]

There are 3 different Japanese models IIRC. I had a catalog scan of it, but I can't find it at the moment. I'll see if I can find it tomorrow.

[Guitarnut]

Here's a couple of photos - guy says it's a USA:-





Pretty decent price at the minute - I think. I really shouldn't go for it, but hey...... I'm pretty restrained - price goes too much higher & I'll just pass.