@FreundRA Thanks my friend. I was just checking out your Sunburst Performer on "Call Me The Breeze". She's a beauty, you play great, she sounds great. It's nice to have another Performer lover on the planet!!!!!!!!!!!! All my best and keep in touch! Scott
@RavenMadd9 Nope, not looking for any system ones. I simply was demonstrating this one. It's 100% perfect and appears to be unused actually. The cleanest system one I've seen.
Man it hurts to watch this video. That guitar is exactly like one I purchased in 1990 for $200 at a pawn shop in South Bend, IN. I gave it to my son on his 12th birthday 1998 and he took it apart, his mom sold it to someone for $25. I had mine set up straight because I didn't know how to play a tremolo, but talk about a sweet playing/sounding guitar. I want to cry!
I had a '68 Les Paul gold top with P90 pickups in the early '70s and traded it for a fender mustang bass. Saw one on Reverb the other nite for $18,000. Been kicking myself ever since.
Thanks for being so down to earth and straight forward with your reviews Scott.Real meat and potatoes analysis without any of the B.S. or pointless shredding.
happy new year from Glasgow UK Scott, thanks for putting up this review, brilliant detailing of this guitars features , I am a big Fender fan and often dreamed of what the ultimate Stratocaster and Jazz bass would look like, never knew they existed until now .
In 1985, just out of High School, I bought a brand new '85 Honda Nighthawk S 700, and an '85 Yamaha XT350 (One for the road, one for off-road), on a minimum wage cook's pay, for less than a third the price of second hand Harley Davidson. I enjoyed the hell out of those bikes for ten years, with little more than oil and a couple spark plug changes, one set of tires and a battery. All I had to put up with was the occasional dirty look, the 'finger' and the obligatory "Rice-burner" shouts and comments, but I never regretted it. In 1987 I saw the Strat Plus for the first time, and wish I'd bought one when I had the chance. (I have a Parts-Caster 'Plus' now, I built, with '90s Fender-Lace Golds, TBX, and a push-push neck switch from a Fender 'Player', thanks to your reviews. Hoping to afford a real Grafitti Yellow someday...) I didn't think much about Japanese as making great guitars in 1985. If you ever saw Japanese Rock N, Roll in the eighties, (like the band "The Plastics"), you probably wouldn't be buying a guitar from Japan, ever.
@TheAdrian86225 Thank you my friend. If there is ever any model of any brand that you want you to give you an honest thumbs up or thumbs down on, let me know. I love helping people shop for guitars. It's all about what you want out of it, what music you play, how you want it to feel etc. but, I've got a pretty good data base in my head on what most of them are about, so don't be shy about asking for my 2 cents. I'm always happy to give it my man! Thanks again! Scott
@SuperCornChip2000 You are so very welcome my friend. It's fun to show the stuff that most folks won't get a chance to see or didn't even know existed. I hope you find one that you like out there. Just check out guitars with "coil splitting" on the pickups and you'll find what you're looking for. Not a COIL TAP.....but, a COIL SPLIT switch and you'll be in business.
@xrayzerox I hear you! I was clueless to it too. I have a bunch of these different System One trems and never once that tool. It sure has changed things around though! I didn't know that could be done with it. I'm sure you could do the same thing with an Allen wrench though. How hard could it be? But, until Papatom did the work on the trem for me last week, I didn't know about them either. You learn something new every day thank God!
@guyinfuckinghat That's quite alright. I'm glad that you bothered to point it out to me. Super nice of you to do so. I just had to outbid a bunch of folks on another guitar on Ebay today. It is a blue Fender Japanese Telecaster HMT model. I have a few of them, but I like to give them all a good home. lol
@groovydjs Well that makes me a happy camper to hear that haha again thank you for introducing me and many other folks to these guitars (if they like or not) that are so awesome and laslty keep on rockin!
Scott, I absolutely love this channel. I have learned so much about guitars from you. I was product of the 80's, had a Strat in the early 80's as my first electric guitar. Played it for a few years and put down; that was a big mistake. The thing was destroyed in a house fire. Anyhow, I've been playing regularly now for about two years. Oh how I wish I could turn back time:( This Fender Performer is AWESOME! The perfect guitar in my opinion. I respected its tone even before you kicked in the humbucker, but once you did, HOLY SMOKE! Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
@thrasherlml Nope, not mad at all. Any reason? I'm with you. I don't like any guitars with the lock nut like that. It's a Floyd style lock nut which is the only kind that will work correctly. All others will have room for binding in the regular nut etc.
I want to build electric guitars at home. They're all going to have active pickups and 24 frets and floyds, you know, the whole metal deal. Watching these reviews has inspired me to try and make GOOD ones and has made me appreciate the quality that guitars SHOULD have.
Scott just wow i've had an idea like this for a guitar and here it is ive always wanted something like this, its so versitile! and it actual sounds good and works! to bad there is not a lot of these around sadly i want one so badly!
Late to the party here but I wanted to mention there are some similarities to the fender elite. Tremolo, volume knob, tremolo., 1983 model Stratocaster. The Fender Performer is an amazing guitar and puts out so much sound. Really cool.
@warnisxr Thank you so very much. You are 1 in 100 that actually like my reviews. lol But, as you can tell, I'm here to do a REVIEW, not to just be on You Tube and shred for my skater buds. lol Thanks so much again for checking in on the reviews. Very appreciated! Scott
@TolerancEJ 100% for sure. The basses are killer. I'm just trying to find the MINT condition ones. Everything I've located before has a chip somewhere. The first little sign of such a thing and I move on. lol
Hi Scott, I have a fender performer sunburst like yours. I love the playability of this guitar it want a different sound from the pickups. I want to put in 3 single coils so will need to cut the wood to make room for the middle pickup but don’t want to de-value it by not having it stock. I am already missing the tremolo bar, 3 long screws for intonation adjustment and all the locking nut parts. Maybe it’s already devalued. Should I cut away? Just needing to cut 1cm off to make room for middle pickup. You won’t notice the cuts if I put the pick guard back on. Can you provide me some guidance?
Howdy. I would sell it and don't chop it up. There is only one person on the face of the planet that has those parts that you need. I know him well and he purchased every last part for those trems when they quit making them. www.stratconnection.com/ He goes by Papa Tom. If you can just have him get you those few parts and you toss them on there.....you can add nearly another thousand dollars to the price you can get out of it. They sell for a REALLY nice amount of money if you don't let someone sucker you out of them. You can get 3 grand if you stick to your guns.
This is a great review, Thank you. I bought a mistreated Squier E7 series with system one a couple of years ago and had it repainted and got the tremolo parts, now with Lace sensor pickups is the sweetest strat ever. But I look forward to someday finding a performer for myself, even if it's not a mint one, I love building up my guitars. The performer caught my eye some years ago and it has this combination of new and old and weird and elegant (and good of course) that makes me want to put my paws into one.
Awesome. That's cool that you got into the quality stuff for your Squier! With the Lace's in there, it has to have THAT groovy sound to it. You would really dig the Performer. If you ever find one and need the System One trem parts at all, let me know since there is only one guy on Earth that has all the parts for them. Good luck hunting one down. It will be groovy if you land one!
I have been looking for one of these for 12 plus years and finally bought one off ebay, it is crazy but not many players out there know what it is! I love it! nice playing by the way the amp sounds great and the guitar is nice too!
@TeleGlider You are so very correct. The Squiers and all. Everything from the 80's out of Japan was just great! Somone showed those folks how to crank out the good stuff, that's for sure!
Hey man great review, although just an added suggestion, you should use a Mic on the cab so the audio is direct recorded and we can hear the full on tone of the instrument! Other than that I think you did a good in depth job.
I did all that for a while and by overwhelming response, everybody wanted the camera mic back. They have simply gotten used to that and what to expect things to sound like in person in relation to what they hear here. Everything just sounded TOO PERFECT when doing it all up "right". The worst amp and guitar EASILY sounded like a million bucks that way. I try not to hide that by doing what my subscribers asked for. Cheers.
but could you get the rarest of them all, the fender marauder, the 1966 prototype with the pickups underneath the scratch-plate and many different switches and knobs
@groovydjs do you have a few amplifiers that you can review? that'd be cool. or maybe your live setup? im looking for a bluesy amp i can play out and at home with you seem to be the guy to ask about that too
@LollipopMusicPlayer Very cool my friend! Great playing, great tone and I love the Performer Bass for sure. Isn't that a great neck on that thing? I love it. Proof that a bass neck doesn't have to be a baseball bat to be cool. I've got to get me one of those for sure. Just the right Bass neck for a Guitar player's hands. You have a ton of tonal options on that bass and it's just made solid as a rock too. Thanks for letting me check that puppy out!
what a sweet axe! very cool video. I actually enjoy the review/overview before the playing. the playing is cool too. I must say, for a country player you can shred! always enjoy the vids my friend.
These are one of the coolest fenders I've ever seen. I started with Fenders ages ago and then I got really into Ibanez. I've been thinking of going back to Fender but I'm still unsure. Maybe a jazzmaster of jaguar. I was 7 stringer for some time, so I was also thinking of a bassVI. What do you think?
Sure thing. Those and the Tele (Especially the Tele Elite) had more of a thought process put into a Fender guitar than those before them, but they thought themselves right into making them look and feel amazing and then to sound just horrible. A couple of tweaks to the choices in capacitors etc. would have turned it all around....but in standard fashion, Fender let them stand as is and they sank like a rock. So, they remain worth money ONLY because of the rarity of them because nobody bought them. Other than that, if you want a GREAT GUITAR.....just pull EVERYTHING electronic (including the pickups) out and just make them "Normal" on that part or go ahead and redo the circuit correctly and bring the thing to life. But, they will always sound really bad with the half baked idea that went into the electronics end of the guitars.
a great demo thanks Scott cheers NZ,, my son has a Jap Strat I bought for him from Guitar Shack Chicago back in 87 whilst on holiday from NZ and it has same trem and locking nut as your one, only frustrating thing is doesn't have individual string height saddle adjustment and hard to get action 100% but that life but learn a bit from that demo. cheers Dave
hey scott i have the same color of guitar that you do of the performer.and actually have the chance to buy it from a friend right now.the one question i have is i never seen a system 1 tremelo before.and i am not sure how to really use it?may sound stupid,but it really has me puzzled.the floyd roses i do know of but how to change strings and use the little round nobs on the tremelo like i said just puzzled.is there any videos out there to help somebody like me understand this system.i love this guitar and it is awesome all around.and really would like to buy this guitar.can you help me?thanks
Crap! I didn't know they made that little metal tool. I'm always using my fingers to tighten that part as best I can. I don't know why Fender didn't include it with the guitar's case candy. They put in a cable and three allen wrench's but left out that tool? Why?
@TheAdrian86225 Yeah, if you're a rock guy, go with humbuckers for sure. The single coil pickups in your Squier will just be too wimpy sounding an thin sounding. You'll want something with some balls and humbuckers have balls for days. Toss the distortion on there and you are in rock heaven. At least with a guitar like this, you have both in one. There are many guitars that will let you switch back and forth between the two. It's called Coil Splitting. Schecter offers a lot of guitars with it.
@masstarvation If I can get JUST ONE PERSON to walk away from a 3 saddle Telecaster, then my job on this Earth is done. lol Thanks my friend, I'm glad you are finding some stuff that you can use and trust in with my little videos. That's way too cool. You have to love that you live in a time that you can just jump on a computer and find this kind of stuff out too instead of just having to trust the moron at your local music store too. I love that too. I still learn every day.
I have one...purchased new in '86. Tobacco sunburst, played it enough to scallop out parts of the fingerboard pretty extensively. Several cosmetic blemishes from airlines and general use over the years. All the dings are actual "road worn" scars, not manufactured. This guitar rocks and I will never get rid of it. After 28 years of constant use, it is still really solid, and has never failed me. I have an american tele that does not feel nearly as good to play, or sound as good. Open tunings can be a bitch to get in because of the floating bridge, but once tuned...it stays there. Great guitar for slide stuff 'cause it has a very fast, and comfortable neck. Owning a half dozen other guitars, at present, and having had another dozen over the years, this one has remained the go to guitar because of its ability to go from single coil to humbucker.Versatile. Get one if you can find one. I wish I had two of them.
I could imagine Eddie VH using one of these for the kind of ballsy-but-pretty sounds he likes to get out of his gear. This is way beyond a '50's Fender design. It's closer to a very modern design.
I used to have a fender Heartfield (the guitar that later was called the Talon, but mine wasn't branded as a Talon). It was a great guitar, I wish I still had it today. Have you played one? It had an amazing neck joint, I did not appreciate that enough. Now I mostly play strats - I just wish I had a strat with the heartfield neck joint!
Hey Scott. If you are going to the moon. What guitar are you going to bring there if you are only restricted to 1 guitar? As always I enjoyed watching all your vids.
Just got mine this week, same color officially "Burgundy Mist" pinkies up and pass the Grey Poupon. I agree with all you said about how great a guitar this is. Also glad I went back to see the video as I could not figure out how to put in the bar. I do have the original fortunately, gonna have to find that hook tool or fabricate one. Case, hard shell plastic rectanble, says Fender USA so prob not correct. Thing looks unplayed. Yeah! Thanks for the tip on this guitar and great review.
@stonedrocker666 So true. lol I would never hire a person that wasn't a musician to work for such a well known company. It shows you that their grandfathers and fathers knew a lot more about guitar making and quality guitars than the kids that have it today.
I have a cream/pearl performer...one of the best guitars I've owned...the one that can do everything (well, almost).....and the best part is that I got it for a 100 bucks...altought it's not in mint condition...it's a 100% functional and it ROCKS!!!! I saw some of your videos with the T-60. How would you compare the versatility of this guitar to that peavey???? I'm also really looking forward to buy a t-40 bass :)
@eliecillo Comparing quality between this and the Peavey. That's a tough one. Nobody makes a better guitar than Japan, but they are pretty close. It simply comes down to collector's value on the Performers, they will keep going up and up while (sadly), the Peavey's will be plentiful and never worth much more than they are now. Performers in mint condition are a pretty hard find. You can expect to pay near $500.00 for the complete (mint) system one trem on the fender. Pretty equal axes.
@groovydjs and don't worry, if you ever take me on that I am more than willing to accommodate ! aha I have only 1 beauty that I use for everything and she is the 88' Am Standard I was telling you before =) She is really great and pairing her (with her TBX tone control) with Fender Lace Sensors was 100% Heaven ! The Lace Sensors fitted the TBX Control perfectly like you said ... so if you ever run out of space you know who to call ! haha
@groovydjs Yes!!! The way it shines when light hits it ... Now I know what guitar to use when playing "Shine on you Crazy Diamond" =) Honestly, that is the first time I saw a Fender Performer ... You are the first person I knew who owns that beauty ... never saw that model in my country ever
@groovydjs Yea haha i've done a fair amount of research on guitars. My Squier has yet to grow a pair, and this might sound ridiculous to an guitar veteran as yourself, but are Epiphones truly bad guitars?
24 fret, great tremolo (given what you say about it), splittable coils, extreme body shape, fender's quality check...what's not to like about this beast? oh, the fact that they don't manufacture it any more, maybe :( :( :( this is the saddest story about a dream guitar (at least for the 99.99999% of the people who will never put hands on it). Great video, man
@vintastic319 Yeah, I've got a few amps, but I got rid of everybody's favorites because I really, really hate them. I have gone exclusively to the Johnson Millennium amps and won't ever use another amp for any reason. I really hate the sound of tube amps etc. Stuff that is just the result of being turned up loud and getting "tube overdrive" and natural speaker breakup distortion, which is pretty much always associated with the whole blues thing. A great solid state amp and a pedal, just as good.
@SuperCornChip2000 There are lots of guitars now that offer the splittable humbuckers, so you are in luck. They've been slowly bringing that back of the last couple years to mainstream guitars. So, a ton of companies are finally listening to people and putting this whole thing back out instead of it being something that you have to have done as a modification.
@TheAdrian86225 LOL, Epiphones are honestly like any other company. The ones from back in the day (pre 70's) were AMAZING. Then, after Gibson bought them up, they had their really ugly period. They have their amazing models now and their junk ones like all companies do. So, it's not the name that's bad by any means, just certain models. Just buy the one that feels and sounds the best to you. Try lots of them and best of luck on your hunt.
@JackGuitarRock LOL, that's what it's about. Just soak up what makes sense and what sounds good to you and then just make your guitar decisions on what trips YOUR trigger after hearing them all and checking them out. Don't get what everybody else tells you to get. I sure didn't. lol But, that's what makes my collection different than every other one, I didn't listen to ANYBODY. lol Just like what you like and surround yourself with all that fun!
@JackGuitarRock I need you to write me every single day! 99% of the time I honestly have to delete the "SHUT UP AND PLAY SOME METAL DUDE" comments. lol You actually understand what I'm trying to do here! Just share some guitars with folks that can't find this info on Wikipedia. lol Thanks so much my friend. I am truly thankful that you appreciate it. Scott
@TheAdrian86225 They each have their place. I'm a country player and you can't get that country twang or quack out of humbuckers. Then again, the humbuckers sound better with some heavy distortion. So, my most recently made custom made guitar has 3 real single coils in it and 2 reas humbuckers in it for the best of all worlds and it sounds SUPER AMAZING with all 5 pickups on at the same time. So, it's just that I play country, clean tones 95% of the time and the singe coils sound great for that.
@Requius76 Very cool! I want to see it when you do it. There's so much REAL information on the internet on how to do them, the EXACT measurements for everything. There's really no way to go wrong if you are patient. The part that people ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS mess up is the FINISH. It NEVER comes out right. I would always let a professional do that unless you are a total pro with a humidity and temperature controlled spray room. Otherwise it will be nasty. lol Please let me check it out.
@groovydjs LOL Thanks man, im just trying to save some extra money haha. And good luck on your venture into more guitars! also, your reviews blow others away. I hate reviews were they play power chords and nothing more. its to hard to get a feel about they guitar, thanks to you friend!
One of the best-looking (minus that godawful headstock) guitars out there, and from the 5 minutes playing one I got a couple of years ago, one of the best-sounding fenders, and certainly the most versatile, I've ever played. GAS'ing for one pretty bad, shame I'm a college student and therefore too damn broke to afford one.
My buddy had a white one in mint shape that he bought in the 90's for $100- at a time when all things 80's were shunned. Who know what happened to it... I shared this video with him and he's crying too.
@LollipopMusicPlayer Yeah, the guitar is as awesome as a guitar can get and I'm equally as excited to pick up the basses too. I found them all on Ebay. They only come along about once a year in as good of condition as these. They come up about 10 time per year and are always beat up or non original, stickers on them etc. So, I always have to pass on those. I wish you the best of luck and they really are as superb as you think they are.
@geoprism930 Yeah, I really do love these guitars. I think the headstock is fine simply because it reflects the mid 80's well because EVERYTHING was all about being pointy. lol I'll always have a few if you ever get on through school and get to aching for one. As you know, they won't come cheap, but...I'll have them on the rack here for you.
there has to be a way to have a whammy that can go up and down and be able to keep one string (let´s say a bass one) not bend.......s selective whammy??!?!
There are devices you can attach in place of one of the springs that will prevent bends from moving the bridge unless a certain threshold of force is applied, meaning that the other strings will stay in tune at the cost of making the bar require slightly more force to move from its regular position.
Definitely an awesome guitar, the only thing, I have a bit of a hard on for the strat neck position sound. Everyone knows that sound I think. It's very distinctive. If they could make a guitar with that sound and humbuckers, I wouldn't care what it costs. I'd have to have it.
@groovydjs Well...thats pretty damn (excuse lingo) awesome... Dont be afraid to send one to me! haha just kidding man, and yea, that would be right. So if you were playing a song like...hmm i dont know Black Dog (mainstream example) you would use a humbucking guitar, correct? Currently, as ive only played for 6 months now, i am still on the Squier Strat...i hate it to be honest, but for a beginning guitar, its good. may i ask your opinion on a second guitar? (Humbucking, im a rock kinda guy)
I can see why you love this guitar. What a tone monster!
Had the bass version for a few years: wish I'd not sold it. Splendid machine.
@FreundRA Thanks my friend. I was just checking out your Sunburst Performer on "Call Me The Breeze". She's a beauty, you play great, she sounds great. It's nice to have another Performer lover on the planet!!!!!!!!!!!! All my best and keep in touch!
Scott
@RavenMadd9 Nope, not looking for any system ones. I simply was demonstrating this one. It's 100% perfect and appears to be unused actually. The cleanest system one I've seen.
Man it hurts to watch this video. That guitar is exactly like one I purchased in 1990 for $200 at a pawn shop in South Bend, IN. I gave it to my son on his 12th birthday 1998 and he took it apart, his mom sold it to someone for $25. I had mine set up straight because I didn't know how to play a tremolo, but talk about a sweet playing/sounding guitar. I want to cry!
Holy crap. That is a sad story for sure! We'll have to get together and have a massive cry over that whole thing......that is an epic bummer for sure!
I cry about every guitar I've ever sold! Should have kept them til death!
I had a '68 Les Paul gold top with P90 pickups in the early '70s and traded it for a fender mustang bass. Saw one on Reverb the other nite for $18,000. Been kicking myself ever since.
Thanks for being so down to earth and straight forward with your reviews Scott.Real meat and potatoes analysis without any of the B.S. or pointless shredding.
happy new year from Glasgow UK Scott, thanks for putting up this review, brilliant detailing of this guitars features , I am a big Fender fan and often dreamed of what the ultimate Stratocaster and Jazz bass would look like, never knew they existed until now .
In 1985, just out of High School, I bought a brand new '85 Honda Nighthawk S 700, and an '85 Yamaha XT350 (One for the road, one for off-road), on a minimum wage cook's pay, for less than a third the price of second hand Harley Davidson. I enjoyed the hell out of those bikes for ten years, with little more than oil and a couple spark plug changes, one set of tires and a battery. All I had to put up with was the occasional dirty look, the 'finger' and the obligatory "Rice-burner" shouts and comments, but I never regretted it. In 1987 I saw the Strat Plus for the first time, and wish I'd bought one when I had the chance. (I have a Parts-Caster 'Plus' now, I built, with '90s Fender-Lace Golds, TBX, and a push-push neck switch from a Fender 'Player', thanks to your reviews. Hoping to afford a real Grafitti Yellow someday...) I didn't think much about Japanese as making great guitars in 1985. If you ever saw Japanese Rock N, Roll in the eighties, (like the band "The Plastics"), you probably wouldn't be buying a guitar from Japan, ever.
Keep talking Scott. I always learn so much from your reviews.
@guyinfuckinghat I know that there's one on Ebay at the moment. If you have a link to a complete and mint one....you bet. I'd really appreciate it!
you have an amazing collection sir.
@TheAdrian86225 Thank you my friend. If there is ever any model of any brand that you want you to give you an honest thumbs up or thumbs down on, let me know. I love helping people shop for guitars. It's all about what you want out of it, what music you play, how you want it to feel etc. but, I've got a pretty good data base in my head on what most of them are about, so don't be shy about asking for my 2 cents. I'm always happy to give it my man!
Thanks again!
Scott
Thanks. I have owned a Performer for many years.. still learned a bunch about it from this video.
Thanks Scott, very good informative video!
@SuperCornChip2000 You are so very welcome my friend. It's fun to show the stuff that most folks won't get a chance to see or didn't even know existed. I hope you find one that you like out there. Just check out guitars with "coil splitting" on the pickups and you'll find what you're looking for. Not a COIL TAP.....but, a COIL SPLIT switch and you'll be in business.
@xrayzerox I hear you! I was clueless to it too. I have a bunch of these different System One trems and never once that tool. It sure has changed things around though! I didn't know that could be done with it. I'm sure you could do the same thing with an Allen wrench though. How hard could it be? But, until Papatom did the work on the trem for me last week, I didn't know about them either. You learn something new every day thank God!
@guyinfuckinghat That's quite alright. I'm glad that you bothered to point it out to me. Super nice of you to do so. I just had to outbid a bunch of folks on another guitar on Ebay today. It is a blue Fender Japanese Telecaster HMT model. I have a few of them, but I like to give them all a good home. lol
hi scott, if ever you get tired of your guitars, my little room is always open to accommodate them =)
@groovydjs Well that makes me a happy camper to hear that haha again thank you for introducing me and many other folks to these guitars (if they like or not) that are so awesome and laslty keep on rockin!
Scott, I absolutely love this channel. I have learned so much about guitars from you. I was product of the 80's, had a Strat in the early 80's as my first electric guitar. Played it for a few years and put down; that was a big mistake. The thing was destroyed in a house fire. Anyhow, I've been playing regularly now for about two years. Oh how I wish I could turn back time:( This Fender Performer is AWESOME! The perfect guitar in my opinion. I respected its tone even before you kicked in the humbucker, but once you did, HOLY SMOKE! Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
@thrasherlml Nope, not mad at all. Any reason? I'm with you. I don't like any guitars with the lock nut like that. It's a Floyd style lock nut which is the only kind that will work correctly. All others will have room for binding in the regular nut etc.
That's some sweet sweet tone! I'd love to see a guitar like that reissued sometime soon
That guitar just shot up on my bucket list so damn fast! WOW!
I want to build electric guitars at home. They're all going to have active pickups and 24 frets and floyds, you know, the whole metal deal. Watching these reviews has inspired me to try and make GOOD ones and has made me appreciate the quality that guitars SHOULD have.
Scott just wow i've had an idea like this for a guitar and here it is ive always wanted something like this, its so versitile! and it actual sounds good and works! to bad there is not a lot of these around sadly i want one so badly!
Late to the party here but I wanted to mention there are some similarities to the fender elite. Tremolo, volume knob, tremolo., 1983 model Stratocaster. The Fender Performer is an amazing guitar and puts out so much sound. Really cool.
@warnisxr Thank you so very much. You are 1 in 100 that actually like my reviews. lol But, as you can tell, I'm here to do a REVIEW, not to just be on You Tube and shred for my skater buds. lol Thanks so much again for checking in on the reviews. Very appreciated!
Scott
@TolerancEJ 100% for sure. The basses are killer. I'm just trying to find the MINT condition ones. Everything I've located before has a chip somewhere. The first little sign of such a thing and I move on. lol
Wonderful. I have a Fender Performer in Mexico. I am very happy.
@masstarvation I may take you up on that. I am SOOOOO very out of room here.
@yesterdayexpress My pleasure. Yeah, these pack all kinds of hidden, more than usable tonal treasures. It's a true honor to own a few of these.
Hi Scott, I have a fender performer sunburst like yours. I love the playability of this guitar it want a different sound from the pickups. I want to put in 3 single coils so will need to cut the wood to make room for the middle pickup but don’t want to de-value it by not having it stock. I am already missing the tremolo bar, 3 long screws for intonation adjustment and all the locking nut parts. Maybe it’s already devalued. Should I cut away? Just needing to cut 1cm off to make room for middle pickup. You won’t notice the cuts if I put the pick guard back on. Can you provide me some guidance?
Howdy. I would sell it and don't chop it up. There is only one person on the face of the planet that has those parts that you need. I know him well and he purchased every last part for those trems when they quit making them. www.stratconnection.com/ He goes by Papa Tom. If you can just have him get you those few parts and you toss them on there.....you can add nearly another thousand dollars to the price you can get out of it. They sell for a REALLY nice amount of money if you don't let someone sucker you out of them. You can get 3 grand if you stick to your guns.
Thanks Scott!
Hi Scott, I wanted to add that there are some scrapes and marks on the guitar is it worth me restoring it before selling it? Thanks!
This is a great review, Thank you. I bought a mistreated Squier E7 series with system one a couple of years ago and had it repainted and got the tremolo parts, now with Lace sensor pickups is the sweetest strat ever. But I look forward to someday finding a performer for myself, even if it's not a mint one, I love building up my guitars. The performer caught my eye some years ago and it has this combination of new and old and weird and elegant (and good of course) that makes me want to put my paws into one.
Awesome. That's cool that you got into the quality stuff for your Squier! With the Lace's in there, it has to have THAT groovy sound to it. You would really dig the Performer. If you ever find one and need the System One trem parts at all, let me know since there is only one guy on Earth that has all the parts for them. Good luck hunting one down. It will be groovy if you land one!
I have been looking for one of these for 12 plus years and finally bought one off ebay, it is crazy but not many players out there know what it is! I love it! nice playing by the way the amp sounds great and the guitar is nice too!
@TeleGlider You are so very correct. The Squiers and all. Everything from the 80's out of Japan was just great! Somone showed those folks how to crank out the good stuff, that's for sure!
Hey man great review, although just an added suggestion, you should use a Mic on the cab so the audio is direct recorded and we can hear the full on tone of the instrument! Other than that I think you did a good in depth job.
I did all that for a while and by overwhelming response, everybody wanted the camera mic back. They have simply gotten used to that and what to expect things to sound like in person in relation to what they hear here. Everything just sounded TOO PERFECT when doing it all up "right". The worst amp and guitar EASILY sounded like a million bucks that way. I try not to hide that by doing what my subscribers asked for. Cheers.
@TheGargoyleLives Same think my wife said. She likes it on that too instead of the Strat's and Tele's.
A contender for the Squier VM range?
but could you get the rarest of them all, the fender marauder, the 1966 prototype with the pickups underneath the scratch-plate and many different switches and knobs
@groovydjs do you have a few amplifiers that you can review? that'd be cool. or maybe your live setup? im looking for a bluesy amp i can play out and at home with you seem to be the guy to ask about that too
@LollipopMusicPlayer Very cool my friend! Great playing, great tone and I love the Performer Bass for sure. Isn't that a great neck on that thing? I love it. Proof that a bass neck doesn't have to be a baseball bat to be cool. I've got to get me one of those for sure. Just the right Bass neck for a Guitar player's hands. You have a ton of tonal options on that bass and it's just made solid as a rock too. Thanks for letting me check that puppy out!
what a sweet axe! very cool video. I actually enjoy the review/overview before the playing. the playing is cool too. I must say, for a country player you can shred! always enjoy the vids my friend.
These are one of the coolest fenders I've ever seen. I started with Fenders ages ago and then I got really into Ibanez. I've been thinking of going back to Fender but I'm still unsure. Maybe a jazzmaster of jaguar. I was 7 stringer for some time, so I was also thinking of a bassVI. What do you think?
Subscribed! Great guitar. Just another reason why I love Fender Japan!
@stonedrocker666 I know. I'm waiting for something exactly like that to happen. That will suck hard when it does for sure.
id love to hear your thoughts on the 1983 Fender Elite Stratocasters.
Sure thing. Those and the Tele (Especially the Tele Elite) had more of a thought process put into a Fender guitar than those before them, but they thought themselves right into making them look and feel amazing and then to sound just horrible. A couple of tweaks to the choices in capacitors etc. would have turned it all around....but in standard fashion, Fender let them stand as is and they sank like a rock. So, they remain worth money ONLY because of the rarity of them because nobody bought them. Other than that, if you want a GREAT GUITAR.....just pull EVERYTHING electronic (including the pickups) out and just make them "Normal" on that part or go ahead and redo the circuit correctly and bring the thing to life. But, they will always sound really bad with the half baked idea that went into the electronics end of the guitars.
Thank you !!
You're kidding, right? Ty Tabor - King's X.. He played an Elite Strat on those early albums and has some of the best tone ever, hands down!
weird ....you looking for a black system one?......I don't know if the bugger still has its bar or the tiny bridge tuners
a great demo thanks Scott cheers NZ,, my son has a Jap Strat I bought for him from Guitar Shack Chicago back in 87 whilst on holiday from NZ and it has same trem and locking nut as your one, only frustrating thing is doesn't have individual string height saddle adjustment and hard to get action 100% but that life but learn a bit from that demo. cheers Dave
hey scott i have the same color of guitar that you do of the performer.and actually have the chance to buy it from a friend right now.the one question i have is i never seen a system 1 tremelo before.and i am not sure how to really use it?may sound stupid,but it really has me puzzled.the floyd roses i do know of but how to change strings and use the little round nobs on the tremelo like i said just puzzled.is there any videos out there to help somebody like me understand this system.i love this guitar and it is awesome all around.and really would like to buy this guitar.can you help me?thanks
Do you have a Squier 51?
Crap! I didn't know they made that little metal tool. I'm always using my fingers to tighten that part as best I can. I don't know why Fender didn't include it with the guitar's case candy. They put in a cable and three allen wrench's but left out that tool? Why?
Those are beautiful guitars, how did you ever find all of those?
I bought one in 87. I was 17. bought it for $200-250 with amp included.
@TheAdrian86225 Yeah, if you're a rock guy, go with humbuckers for sure. The single coil pickups in your Squier will just be too wimpy sounding an thin sounding. You'll want something with some balls and humbuckers have balls for days. Toss the distortion on there and you are in rock heaven. At least with a guitar like this, you have both in one. There are many guitars that will let you switch back and forth between the two. It's called Coil Splitting. Schecter offers a lot of guitars with it.
@masstarvation If I can get JUST ONE PERSON to walk away from a 3 saddle Telecaster, then my job on this Earth is done. lol Thanks my friend, I'm glad you are finding some stuff that you can use and trust in with my little videos. That's way too cool. You have to love that you live in a time that you can just jump on a computer and find this kind of stuff out too instead of just having to trust the moron at your local music store too. I love that too. I still learn every day.
The Performer Bass is also highly respected and collectible among bassists. Have you tried one of those yet?
sounds dope, love the headstock
I gotta say that's the one guitar I like that color being on.
I've been looking At discontinued models of fenders. This one is wild. Totally different and something you have to be lucky to score for cheap
I have one...purchased new in '86. Tobacco sunburst, played it enough to scallop out parts of the fingerboard pretty extensively. Several cosmetic blemishes from airlines and general use over the years. All the dings are actual "road worn" scars, not manufactured. This guitar rocks and I will never get rid of it. After 28 years of constant use, it is still really solid, and has never failed me. I have an american tele that does not feel nearly as good to play, or sound as good. Open tunings can be a bitch to get in because of the floating bridge, but once tuned...it stays there. Great guitar for slide stuff 'cause it has a very fast, and comfortable neck. Owning a half dozen other guitars, at present, and having had another dozen over the years, this one has remained the go to guitar because of its ability to go from single coil to humbucker.Versatile. Get one if you can find one. I wish I had two of them.
I could imagine Eddie VH using one of these for the kind of ballsy-but-pretty sounds he likes to get out of his gear. This is way beyond a '50's Fender design. It's closer to a very modern design.
I used to have a fender Heartfield (the guitar that later was called the Talon, but mine wasn't branded as a Talon). It was a great guitar, I wish I still had it today. Have you played one? It had an amazing neck joint, I did not appreciate that enough. Now I mostly play strats - I just wish I had a strat with the heartfield neck joint!
Hey Scott. If you are going to the moon. What guitar are you going to bring there if you are only restricted to 1 guitar? As always I enjoyed watching all your vids.
While were on the subject of guitar preference... again, excuse my ignorance, but why do you dislike humbuckers, or in fact, just prefer single coils?
How many guitars would you estimate you have? Do you have a favorite?
@masstarvation Isn't that a great color? That puppy is beautiful for sure.
Just a guitar review that is about the guitar itself. Nothing more. Please just enjoy the axe, it's a great one!
@xmunful Sure enough my friend, PM sent to you with link.
Just got mine this week, same color officially "Burgundy Mist" pinkies up and pass the Grey Poupon. I agree with all you said about how great a guitar this is. Also glad I went back to see the video as I could not figure out how to put in the bar. I do have the original fortunately, gonna have to find that hook tool or fabricate one. Case, hard shell plastic rectanble, says Fender USA so prob not correct. Thing looks unplayed. Yeah! Thanks for the tip on this guitar and great review.
Love your playing. Nasty guitar, wish I had one
Thanks! Yeah, groovy guitar for sure.
@stonedrocker666 So true. lol I would never hire a person that wasn't a musician to work for such a well known company. It shows you that their grandfathers and fathers knew a lot more about guitar making and quality guitars than the kids that have it today.
they should deffinitely get back on producing this. And a Squier version as well!
I have a cream/pearl performer...one of the best guitars I've owned...the one that can do everything (well, almost).....and the best part is that I got it for a 100 bucks...altought it's not in mint condition...it's a 100% functional and it ROCKS!!!!
I saw some of your videos with the T-60. How would you compare the versatility of this guitar to that peavey????
I'm also really looking forward to buy a t-40 bass :)
@guyinfuckinghat You rock my friend, off to check it out now! Many thanks!
I had a blue one as a kid. I got it at an auction, brand new, for $250.
@eliecillo Comparing quality between this and the Peavey. That's a tough one. Nobody makes a better guitar than Japan, but they are pretty close. It simply comes down to collector's value on the Performers, they will keep going up and up while (sadly), the Peavey's will be plentiful and never worth much more than they are now. Performers in mint condition are a pretty hard find. You can expect to pay near $500.00 for the complete (mint) system one trem on the fender. Pretty equal axes.
@groovydjs and don't worry, if you ever take me on that I am more than willing to accommodate ! aha I have only 1 beauty that I use for everything and she is the 88' Am Standard I was telling you before =) She is really great and pairing her (with her TBX tone control) with Fender Lace Sensors was 100% Heaven ! The Lace Sensors fitted the TBX Control perfectly like you said ... so if you ever run out of space you know who to call ! haha
@groovydjs Yes!!! The way it shines when light hits it ... Now I know what guitar to use when playing "Shine on you Crazy Diamond" =) Honestly, that is the first time I saw a Fender Performer ... You are the first person I knew who owns that beauty ... never saw that model in my country ever
@groovydjs Yea haha i've done a fair amount of research on guitars. My Squier has yet to grow a pair, and this might sound ridiculous to an guitar veteran as yourself, but are Epiphones truly bad guitars?
24 fret, great tremolo (given what you say about it), splittable coils, extreme body shape, fender's quality check...what's not to like about this beast? oh, the fact that they don't manufacture it any more, maybe :( :( :( this is the saddest story about a dream guitar (at least for the 99.99999% of the people who will never put hands on it). Great video, man
@vintastic319 Yeah, I've got a few amps, but I got rid of everybody's favorites because I really, really hate them. I have gone exclusively to the Johnson Millennium amps and won't ever use another amp for any reason. I really hate the sound of tube amps etc. Stuff that is just the result of being turned up loud and getting "tube overdrive" and natural speaker breakup distortion, which is pretty much always associated with the whole blues thing. A great solid state amp and a pedal, just as good.
@SuperCornChip2000 There are lots of guitars now that offer the splittable humbuckers, so you are in luck. They've been slowly bringing that back of the last couple years to mainstream guitars. So, a ton of companies are finally listening to people and putting this whole thing back out instead of it being something that you have to have done as a modification.
@TheAdrian86225 LOL, Epiphones are honestly like any other company. The ones from back in the day (pre 70's) were AMAZING. Then, after Gibson bought them up, they had their really ugly period. They have their amazing models now and their junk ones like all companies do. So, it's not the name that's bad by any means, just certain models. Just buy the one that feels and sounds the best to you. Try lots of them and best of luck on your hunt.
@JackGuitarRock LOL, that's what it's about. Just soak up what makes sense and what sounds good to you and then just make your guitar decisions on what trips YOUR trigger after hearing them all and checking them out. Don't get what everybody else tells you to get. I sure didn't. lol But, that's what makes my collection different than every other one, I didn't listen to ANYBODY. lol Just like what you like and surround yourself with all that fun!
@JackGuitarRock I need you to write me every single day! 99% of the time I honestly have to delete the "SHUT UP AND PLAY SOME METAL DUDE" comments. lol You actually understand what I'm trying to do here! Just share some guitars with folks that can't find this info on Wikipedia. lol Thanks so much my friend. I am truly thankful that you appreciate it.
Scott
just saw this on Norman's page..
@TheAdrian86225 They each have their place. I'm a country player and you can't get that country twang or quack out of humbuckers. Then again, the humbuckers sound better with some heavy distortion. So, my most recently made custom made guitar has 3 real single coils in it and 2 reas humbuckers in it for the best of all worlds and it sounds SUPER AMAZING with all 5 pickups on at the same time. So, it's just that I play country, clean tones 95% of the time and the singe coils sound great for that.
@Requius76 Very cool! I want to see it when you do it. There's so much REAL information on the internet on how to do them, the EXACT measurements for everything. There's really no way to go wrong if you are patient. The part that people ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS mess up is the FINISH. It NEVER comes out right. I would always let a professional do that unless you are a total pro with a humidity and temperature controlled spray room. Otherwise it will be nasty. lol Please let me check it out.
@groovydjs LOL Thanks man, im just trying to save some extra money haha. And good luck on your venture into more guitars! also, your reviews blow others away. I hate reviews were they play power chords and nothing more. its to hard to get a feel about they guitar, thanks to you friend!
One of the best-looking (minus that godawful headstock) guitars out there, and from the 5 minutes playing one I got a couple of years ago, one of the best-sounding fenders, and certainly the most versatile, I've ever played. GAS'ing for one pretty bad, shame I'm a college student and therefore too damn broke to afford one.
@acdchiway2hell LOL, it happens.
My buddy had a white one in mint shape that he bought in the 90's for $100- at a time when all things 80's were shunned. Who know what happened to it... I shared this video with him and he's crying too.
I also use two backwards slanted hotrails, man I thought I had something original going on this time, but no :-)
@LollipopMusicPlayer Yeah, the guitar is as awesome as a guitar can get and I'm equally as excited to pick up the basses too. I found them all on Ebay. They only come along about once a year in as good of condition as these. They come up about 10 time per year and are always beat up or non original, stickers on them etc. So, I always have to pass on those. I wish you the best of luck and they really are as superb as you think they are.
@geoprism930 Yeah, I really do love these guitars. I think the headstock is fine simply because it reflects the mid 80's well because EVERYTHING was all about being pointy. lol I'll always have a few if you ever get on through school and get to aching for one. As you know, they won't come cheap, but...I'll have them on the rack here for you.
i WILL have one of these, one day...
As of today, there are 4 of them on Ebay.
+Groovy Music Lessons nice!!
+Groovy Music Lessons still interested the bass
there has to be a way to have a whammy that can go up and down and be able to keep one string (let´s say a bass one) not bend.......s selective whammy??!?!
There are devices you can attach in place of one of the springs that will prevent bends from moving the bridge unless a certain threshold of force is applied, meaning that the other strings will stay in tune at the cost of making the bar require slightly more force to move from its regular position.
@gamespot1999 Exactly!
Definitely an awesome guitar, the only thing, I have a bit of a hard on for the strat neck position sound. Everyone knows that sound I think. It's very distinctive. If they could make a guitar with that sound and humbuckers, I wouldn't care what it costs. I'd have to have it.
ahhh the pearl white !!!! killllleeeeeerrrrrrr !!!! i want to have one like that too =(
@groovydjs Well...thats pretty damn (excuse lingo) awesome... Dont be afraid to send one to me! haha just kidding man, and yea, that would be right. So if you were playing a song like...hmm i dont know Black Dog (mainstream example) you would use a humbucking guitar, correct?
Currently, as ive only played for 6 months now, i am still on the Squier Strat...i hate it to be honest, but for a beginning guitar, its good. may i ask your opinion on a second guitar? (Humbucking, im a rock kinda guy)