Fender Japan '72 Stratocaster ST72-95DM Yellow White 1989
Fender '72 Strat, yellow white, made in Japan 1989. This little overachiever pre-dates the official Yngwie Malmseteen signature model by a year or two, but it absolutely has all the hallmarks of his taste. First up: the board is scalloped by the factory. The scalloped board on this opens up some amazing possibilities: you can bend notes more cleanly and further without issues, easily bending two whole tones; plus the possibility for vibrato is greatly increased... you can apply vibrato to whole chords or single notes within chords with a squeeze of the fingers. It also cleans up your attack and allows for cleaner sliding around the neck. If you can get used to a lighter touch, this feels amazing in the hands. The Dimarzio pickups are stacked, so they're noiseless, which is a nice touch. The neck pickup is perfect for cleans, abounding in clarity with a musical, rounded low end. The bridge pickup is perfect dirty, with shimmering detail through the high end and and a smooth, crisp midrange bringing out the life in every note of your fastest lead lines. The finish is a gorgeous custard yellow-white; it's got plenty of natural play wear and looks all the more delicious for it. If you're an Yngwie fan, no doubt you're already hot under the collar for this, but even for us shred-dabbling mere mortals, this is extremely fun to play and very convincing indeed.
Model: Fender Stratocaster ST72-95DM
Made: Japan, 1989, Fujigen Gakki factory
Serial: E928428
Finish: yellow white, gloss poly
Body: basswood
Neck: one piece maple, scalloped fingerboard (factory), 25.5" scale, 7.25" radius,
Weight: 3.685kg
Mods: none
Pickups: Dimarzio HS-3 passive single coils (bridge and neck), Fender Japan ST Single (middle); all original
Accessories: basic gig bag, tremolo arm
Cosmetic condition notes: minor finish wear. The headstock has dents and scuffs on the end and bottom edge and some surface scratches on the back and front near the top and some dimples on the back. The neck is clean and smooth in the hands, minor dimples and some rub wear on the back only. The back has scuffs on both horns and the bottom corner and back edge, dimples along the belly carve and elbow area and a chip between the trem cavity and back edge. The cavity cover has a couple of cracks in the corners. The sides have dimples on both horns, dimples, dents and a decent bruise in the elbow area and some dimples, dents and scuffs near the jack. The front has some dents behind the bridge and up from the bridge pickup, dimples in the elbow area and near the jack, scuffs along the back edge and elbow area and some play wear on the guard and horns.
Overall: good condition (7/10)
Playing condition notes: Action is low, neck is straight, intonation is good, truss rod works. All electronics tested and working properly. Wearing fresh 10/46 strings.
Fret life: 7/10, normal wear but playing smoothly with no major buzz issues, freshly polished