1990 Fender Japan Order Made STD-57 KO-156 Stratocaster - Aged Sonic Blue

A particularly interesting Fender Japan Stratocaster from the early FujiGen era, built through Fender Japan's Order Made program and based on the vintage-style STD-57 platform.

This guitar dates to approximately 1990 and carries matching ORDER MADE / KO-156 markings on the neck and body, along with the STD-57 designation in the neck pocket. Rather than being a standard catalog ST57, the Order Made markings indicate that this guitar was built to a special specification.

The most distinctive feature is its scalloped maple fingerboard. Based on the matching factory Order Made markings, the finished scalloped surfaces and other documented KO-156 examples with the same configuration, the scalloping appears to be part of the guitar's original factory specification. The guitar also has a brass nut, giving the overall build a strong Yngwie-style influence. Fender Japan Order Made guitars from this period are considerably less common than their standard production counterparts.

Another fascinating part of this guitar is the finish. It was originally Sonic Blue, but decades of aging have dramatically yellowed the exposed finish to the creamy yellow color it has today. The original pale blue is still clearly visible in the protected neck pocket, providing a great look at how much the finish has changed over roughly 35 years. I would describe this as naturally aged Sonic Blue, rather than a yellow finish or intentional relic treatment.

Features include:

• Fender Japan Order Made construction
• STD-57 / KO-156 specification
• Made in Japan at FujiGen
• Approximately 1990 production
• Originally Sonic Blue, heavily and naturally aged
• Maple neck and maple fingerboard
• Factory-spec scalloped fingerboard
• 7.25" fingerboard radius
• Brass nut
• 21 frets
• Three single-coil pickups
• Vintage-style synchronized tremolo
• Vintage-style tuners
• 5-way pickup selector
• White pickguard and aged cream plastics

The guitar has just been cleaned, restrung and professionally set up and is playing great.

Cosmetically, this one has plenty of genuine age and wear. There are scratches, dings, marks and discoloration throughout, along with substantial oxidation and aging of the hardware. Rather than detracting from it, the wear gives this guitar a fantastic naturally played-in appearance. Nothing here has been artificially relic'd by us.

The maple neck has also developed a rich amber color over the years, while the scalloped fingerboard gives the guitar a completely different feel from a standard vintage-style Strat. The frets show some wear but still have plenty of life remaining; I would rate them approximately 9.2/10.

One particularly useful clue to the guitar's history is beneath the neck. Both the neck and body carry matching KO-156 / ORDER MADE markings, supporting that these pieces belong together as part of the original special-order build. The body pocket also retains noticeably blue paint beneath the aged exterior finish.

This is an unusual piece of Fender Japan history: a circa-1990 FujiGen Order Made STD-57, factory-spec scalloped maple board, brass nut, and a Sonic Blue finish that has aged almost beyond recognition. It has the look and feel of a guitar that has genuinely lived for more than three decades rather than a modern reproduction of one.

Case: Soft

Scale Length: 25.5“

Nut Width: 1.656“

Fret Wear: 9.2/10

Action at 12F (6th): .07“

Action at 12F (1st): .06“

Weight: 7lbs 4oz

Overall Condition: 7.2/10

Cool Factor: 11 out of 10

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Internal Use (Bin) - Floor