Offered for sale is a Fender Stratocaster in Dakota red with rosewood fingerboard made by Fuji-Gen in Japan 1988.  The guitar looks and plays superbly, with the added benefit of it’s value increasing year on year, unlike pretty well everything else you’ll buy nowadays… These guitars are now attracting a lot of interest with corresponding increasing prices. You’ve maybe read the stories of Fender USA management visiting the factories in Japan and weeping at the quality (in a good way)…   It looks to be a ’62 re-issue, especially since the neck is stamped ST-362V (as opposed to the ST-357V which was a ’57 re-issue). The body is quite heavy at 2.2 kilos, and the neck is solid maple without the “skunk stripe” of later models. The tuners are Gotoh, which are copies of the German Schallers, and they work great. The wang bar is included, and works as it should … I just don’t use them, hence the lack of pictures … It has the smaller headstock like the early Fender Strats, and a single layer white pick guard It’s all completely original as far as I can see, apart from the bridge pickup which has been replaced by what looks like a Seymour Duncan vintage item. The original pickup is included and although it has a wire off near the bobbin termination, looks like it could be repairable. The tremolo back plate is also missing, although these are $5 if you were concerned…. The guitar is in very good condition considering it’s coming up to it’s 30th birthday. As you can hopefully see from the images, the knobs and pickup covers have yellowed a bit with age, but this is authentic age, rather than artificial... It has a couple of very minor dings which I hope have been highlighted in the images. It has been professionally setup (intonation, string height, pickup heights, electronics overhaul) with a new set of strings (although these are new old stock and slightly discoloured). The frets have been dressed at some point, and will need to be looked at some time in the future. However, it plays perfectly at the moment with no rattles or buzzes. I've included a close-up of the "worst-case" fret, and the action is currently set at 2mm at the 12th fret on the high E string. There is a non-Fender hard case included, plus a bunch of leads too.. Since a guitar is a very personal thing, you’d be welcome to try it out in sunny Surry Hills Sydney, just ten minutes walk from Central Railway Station. You can compare it with my other guitar, a Smith era USA Strat from 1983 through a 1980’s Fender Twin Reverb amp. The guitar offered compares very favourably with the USA one - they’re both great: different, but great. Why am I selling? I bought this as a present for my goddaughter in the UK. I’ve since found another guitar already there which will avoid shipping and import duty… Her loss, as they say, could be your gain! Obviously, pickup and cash is preferred, however I will ship anywhere in the world if you organise shipping and insurance. The guitar won’t leave here before funds are received.  Lastly, please look at my 100% positive feedback with over 770 trades since 2004, which I hope reflects my straightforward dealings. And please ask any questions now, as sale is final ….Good luck!