YJM Signature Strat 1989 USA model

I borrowed from a good friend of mine this beauty for a whole day.I am really impressed by the rich tone,playability and bright sound of this guitar. I have a feeling that Fender Custom Shop pros did their best back then. Alder Body carefully selected has a bright "ringing" tone (with a significant aid from Dimarzios HS3,HS1) compared to a hard ash body which has sweet and sustained tone. Rosewood sculloped fretboard with the right radius combine a really fast maple neck. Neck finish though didn't endure the test of time and is hairline cracked and peeled off here and there. It has a "stiff" and "hard" feeling according to my taste although it has been played for years and as a result every instrument softens.Volume pot was really hard to start sweeling on and off. It really needed desparately a tune up but it stills sounds grate after all these years.Buy one if you find it around, it really worths the price. My friend didn't sell it to me for any price saying it is the best Strat he owns, I feel he is right and you can't easily sell such an instrument after so many years because it has become a part of your soul in a way.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Yngwie
• Malmsteen
• Signature
• Strat
• Stratocaster
• Fender
• Guitar
• YJM
• Instrument
• Shred
• Arrpegios
• Lick
• Neoclassical

[gatmaniax]

have you noticed with the rosewood 88 YJM the string tree is back to front and theres no trussrod plug in the headstock, where the maple neck 88 has this and string tree the right way,do you think Fender based the rosewood on a different yr(60s?)to the maple YJM.

[billias1gr]

Maybe Fender pros calculated the tensile strength of the fretboard as rosewood and maple are different kind of wood and have an individual stiffness coefficient. The tension that the truss rod provides is involved in the whole issue along with the sustain which comes differently from the two point tremolo compared to the vintage style stremolo. I don't think that the Fender luthiers assumpted anything on this guitar sentimentally but rather based on a trial by error method, who knows.

[aintnaive]

hi nice tone can you tell me what amp are you using???

[billias1gr]

If I remember well it nust have been a Laney LV300 with twin Celestion speakers. The gear included a few Boss pedal effects (Compressor,Distortion,equaliz­er and noise suppresor). The strings were pretty old and rusty and the guitar with a new fresh set of a strings and a accurate tune up would be a beast of tone. Thanx for comment.

[ChrisGarciaX]

what color is it?

[billias1gr]

Fender calls it Sonic blue and it is still available on YJM strats, but after a lot of years this old YJM has turned into a peculiar intermediate light blue-light green colour depending on the ambient light around.

[supermarine67]

Rusty strings notwithstanding, that's a great-sounding guitar. Even the bridge pickup sounds round and warm, and I'm not a fan of single coils on a Strat (yes, I know the pickup is stacked). Laneys rule, don't they? Very underrated, I think.

[buddahmaster]

one of the best tone ive heard i love it

[javier22772]

Good playing man

[joeydahlia]

Nice Tone!

[maxiflo]

I've got a 1988 (FIRST YEAR MODEL) YJM, maple neck and yellow cream body. Sounds great. If anyone is interested in owning that rarity.

[NeoClassicalFan]

Not the early models. The early models had a small headstock with a 2 point bridge system. I've never played on the early models, but it sounds pretty sweet. Have a great day. Cheers...