Made in Japan and Crafted in Japan have turned out some incredible reissue guitars which I already talked about on the MIJ Reissues Page. The detailed craftsmanship on these guitars is amazing, and with upgraded wiring and pickups, can be as good as the USA counter part. 52 Telecaster Reissues can had have two kinds of necks.
The vintage V shape and the U shape. In actuality, even though many of the 52 RIs have the U shaped neck, Especially the newer USA models, historically they came with a V shape. This same neck is used on the Jerry Donahue Signature Telecasters. The U shape was really used on the 51 Nocaster and also on the James Burton Signature Telecasters. I have both neck shapes on 52s in my collection. The U shape reminds me of a Maple version of the 1962 Rosewood neck, but a little chunkier. Nearly evey MIJ/CIJ 52 Tele I have seen has come with a V shaped neck. The V is most prominent nearest the headstock.
The have the reissue slotted vintage Kluson style tuners. Also the 52 RI comes with a vintage bridge with 3 brass saddles. The MIJ 52 RI came with 3 differnt types of neck plates. Many of the 1980s models came with a plate that says FENDER stamped across the top, while others came with a big F on the plate. Later on Fender Japan just strated using a blank chrome plate.
Please note than many of the 52 Reissue Teles on this page have been upgraded:
This is a rare COPPER Fender 1952 Telecaster Reissue in near mint condition made in 1995, carrying the FENDER “F” logo on the neck plate. (Serial #T020xxx). This one has the true 52 V shape neck. I have wired this with a modified version of the Jerry Donahue Telecaster 5-Way switching. This gives the 3 true vintage 52 Telecaster tones, plus Stratocaster out-of-phase and humbucker type voices. I put in a Fender “No-load” tone control. Turn it to 10 and it will click thus completely bypassing the tone control.
The NECK and BRIDGE pickups are Lindy Fralin Tele Blues Specials. These pickup are widely acclaimed by many pro musicians. The Blue Specials delivers a warmer, beefer vintage tone. Both the neck and the bridge pickups were chosen to create a hotter vintage tone. With the custom 5-way switching, this Tele is true to life 52 sounding with an extra kick in the pants when you want a fat sounding blues lead or fat rhythm due to the custom wiring.
This is a New Old Stock Tobacco Burst (similar to Sunburst) Fender 1952 Telecaster Reissue in mint condition made in 1993 complete with hang tags (Serial #A065178). The craftsmanship on this high gloss solid Ash body in unprecedented. The finish allows the beautiful Ash grain to show through. This one also has that true 1952 fat V shape neck. This 52 RI has the original vintage 1952 MIJ reissue pickups and controls, but the switch has been replaced by Jerry Donahue type 5-way switch, which is one of my favorite Tele switching setups!
It is a transparent Butterscotch Fender 1952 Telecaster Reissue in near mint condition made in 1985, which means it was among some of the earliest Reissues to come out of the Fugi Gen Gakki factory after Fender CBS was bought out. (Serial #A047771). I tricked it out so it was in every respect like a real 52 Telecaster, right down to the cloth wiring and vintage Seymour Duncan pickups. The craftsmanship on this high gloss solid Ash body in unprecedented. The finish is transparent allowing the beautiful Ash grain to show through.
The neck is made from solid Maple which has aged to a creamy, vintage yellow color. It has that true 1952 fat V shape, with original slotted vintage Kluson style tuners. The early 1985-6 MIJ 52 Teles often came with the word FENDER stamped on the neck plate. It is not common to see this on later models.
This 52RI has had all the electronics replaced with USA parts. Even all the wiring was done with vintage cloth wiring as found on the original 52s. One departure from the 52 replication is the custom shop 4-way switching, US Fender tone and volume controls, and Seymour Duncan pickups, which I will explain in a moment.
Postion 1) is The Bridge PU as on a standard Tele. Position 2) The Bridge PU and the Neck PU in Parallel as on a standard Tele. Position 3) The Neck PU as on a standard Tele. Position 4) The Neck PU and Bridge PU in Series giving a fatter tone as the neck and the bridge become like one spread out humbucker.
The NECK pickup is a Seymour Duncan Vintage '54 (STR-1). This Pickup delivers a warm vintage tone. Both the neck and the bridge pickups were chosen to create a true vintage tone. With the custom 4-way switching, this Tele is true to life 52 sounding with an extra kick in the pants when you want a fat sounding blues lead or fat rhythm due to the custom wiring! The BRIDGE pickup is a Seymour Duncan Broadcaster (STL-1b) The first Telecaster pickup (1948) had an unprecedented edgy sound and great sustain. Leo Fender called it the Broadcaster. Seymour Duncan replicated these one exactly like the original, even having the larger diameter pole pieces and with the Dun-Aged magnets, you get that most sought-after vintage sound.
This is a Fender 52 Reissue Tobacco Foto Flame (front and back) 1997 CIJ Tele with all USA electronics. Every aspect of this body is built to the specifications of a 52 Telecaster right down to the routing in the body and the straight edge screws. This Foto model has a Tobacco flame on front AND back with an Alder body. The neck is the 52 chunky V shape made from Maple with the skunk stripe on back. This has a set of Fender Custom Shop 52 RI Pickups with Custom 4-way switching which does the following: Position #1 is the bridge, which delivers that true 52 biting Tele sound. Powerful. Position #2 is the 52 pickups together just like on a regular 52 Tele with that wonderful Tele rhythm sound. Position #3 is the 52 the neck Pickup with the powerful, full rich 52 sound. Position #4 is the neck and bridge pickup in a series, with make both pickups act as a combined humbucker and give a really powerful, full Les Paul sound.
