Squier JV 57 ri : what the heck is that date on the neck ?

[claustra]

Hello,

Any expertise would be welcome

I happily bought this Squier JV 57 reissue from a local retired musician who was the only owner since 1985 (and was primarily an accordion player)

The serial number suggests it was made mid 1983 from what I gather.

 

The one ply pickguard and raised A string pole pieces seem to validate this is a 57 ri model

 

The trussrod needed a little tightening when I swapped the rusty old strings for a set of 50-105s.

And then I had to take the neck off...

... and found these inscriptions which seem OK:

but this date : isn't it wrong ?

At first I thought it read 6-22 38, which could be a somehow reversed 22 June1983.

Is the 58 a joke from a Japanese employee?

Would any Fender / Squier expert have seen this before?

[LeftyJ]

8 minutes ago, claustra said:

but this date : isn't it wrong ?

 

At first I thought it read 6-22 38, which could be a somehow reversed 22 June1983.

Is the 58 a joke from a Japanese employee?

First off, what an awesome find, and in beautiful condition! Congrats 

About the date: you might be on to something with the reversing of the date! Here's another '83 JV heel, which clearly shows the manufacturing date:

Japanese writing is traditionally vertical, from top to bottom, with the lines read from right to left. However, when the Japanese write horizontal, it is in the same order as English. So this seems like a weird mistake to make! 

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

That's looking remarkably clean for its age. What a great find. I hope you paid the old fella the market rate for it.

[claustra]

8 minutes ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

That's looking remarkably clean for its age. What a great find. I hope you paid the old fella the market rate for it.

It is in really good shape, and has never been slapped or seen a pick, mostly played in jazz and blues over the years.

It deserves the JV series reputation, a pleasure to play, and 3.8kg.

Both the seller an I were happy.

[Chiliwailer]

Given the background, looks like a joke by the dude at the factory - I mean, why wouldn’t you?!

But a ‘58 would have a 3 tone burst, so in the world of geekdom the joke is on him 😝

Cool bass 👍

[claustra]

And the headstock decal is 100% 80s Japanese 

[Guest]

I think it does say 38 - the pen of the "3" seems to go on top of that horizontal line that seems to be the top of a "5"

[EssentialTension]

3 hours ago, claustra said:

To me that reads as ... 6-22 '58

Just as the other pic shown reads ... 8-5 '83

[Bassassin]

I think that's the Japanese calendar, in which the year derives from the reign of the emperor at the time. In the Showa calendar, which ran from 1926 - 1989, for the duration of the reign of Emperor Hirohito, 58 corresponds to 1983.

And that's a stunning JV. If you didn't give the chap at least a grand for it, you robbed him!

Edited June 23, 2021 by Bassassin

[claustra]

Well done @Bassassin
I had not thought about a Japanese calendar, and that makes total sense.
The guy at the FujiGen factory may have felt resentment against the American Fender guys.

Edited June 23, 2021 by claustra