Kerouac
weird musical dildo
1984 Fender Master Series Flame Standard
Up for sale, a 1984 Fender Master Series Flame Standard in excellent condition and in perfect working order. This very rare Fender model was only produced from 1984-85, and was manufactured in Japan's famous Fujigen factory. The brainchild of pioneering Fender designer Dan Smith, the Master Series instruments took aim at Gibson's semi hollowbody instruments by providing a competitive Fender equivalent. Featuring a set neck design, chambered alder body, and Schaller humbucking pickups, the Flame was surely a departure from the traditional Fender design and provided a host of tones not found on any other series of Fender instruments! While the Flame "Standard' was the most spartan of the Master Series models, it still retained the majority of the tonal features of it's brother, the Esprit (a Robben Ford mainstay), most importantly the Schaller pickups! This particular model has been professionally setup here at Mike & Mike's Guitar Bar, and features low, comfortable action and 10-46 strings.
Setting the Flame apart from the Esprit are two key features, one being the size of the body and the second being the subtleties of the shape. The Flame boasts a more "Les Paul" sized 13" body (1" smaller than the Esprit), and the horns on the body are also asymmetrical, subtly evoking the look of the SG. Production of these guitars was quite limited, with only a few thousand produced between all iterations (Flame, Esprit, and Ultra). The Fujigen factory is perhaps best known for the lawsuit era Ibanez instruments and Artist series guitars, and was a perfect choice for Fender's production of the Master Series instruments, maintaining a high level of quality that arguably exceeds many of the USA made Fender instruments of the era!
The neck on this Flame Standard has a fairly slender C profile, with a rosewood fretboard, pearl dot inlays, and creme fretboard binding. The dimensions of the fretboard adhere more to traditional Gibson spec, with a 24 3/4" scale length and nut width that's a hair under 1 11/16". The stock medium jumbo fretwire is in truly fantastic shape, and the frets retain their full, original height, with only the faintest wear in the first position and virtually no wear up the neck. The original Fender stamped Schaller tuners are intact on the headstock, turning smoothly and holding pitch as they should.
All of the electronics work well, with a three-way toggle switch coupled to individual Volume and Tone controls for each pickup. The stock Japanese wiring and pots are untouched, with original solder joints. The four original black Fender knobs are present as well, although the neck pickup volume control is missing the "F" cap on the top of the knob. The bridge and tailpiece are more traditional Gibson style equivalents that have been used in place of the original Schaller parts which are no longer intact, although the current bridge/tailpiece combo work great! The guitar is finished in "Autumnburst," a rich, brown sunburst that's a bit more stately and traditional than most Fender instruments of the era.
The instrument is in good overall cosmetic condition, with some notable chips and scuffs on the back edge of the body near the rear strap button. The top, neck profile, and headstock are particularly clean, while the back has one decent sized ding and a few superficial finish scratches, but no serious or structural wear of any kind. This is a fine example of a rare and well regarded Fender model from an era where the company was reinventing itself and producing a variety of pioneering instruments, many under the guidance of Dan Smith, a man largely credited with helping Fender turn the corner towards a second golden age of guitar production.
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