The “Oakland” brand of musical instruments was a French importer of the mid / late 1970s to early 80s. As such, it never produced guitars per se, but rather, slapped its logo on Japanese factory built instruments (in this case, most likely the Suzuki Violin Company of Nagano). The acoustic instruments bearing this name are mostly ho-hum copies of Hummingbirds and D-18s, but the Oakland electric guitars that I’ve seen are definitely worth chasing.
This particular example is a super fine and dead on copy of an early 70s Fender Stratocaster in Knopfleresque Dakota / Fiesta Red finish (the red background was a terrible idea, sorry about that!).
Classic styling throughout. What’s not to like?
Perfect, tight neck joint with no gap. Everything is perfectly aligned and assembled. Overall, a no-issue, well crafted instrument that represents Japanese best efforts.
I totally understand how the folks at Fender USA got mad when they realised the Japanese were cranking out copies that where for the most part better built than the originals!
Bridge saddles are quality, heavy bits. Spacing is the more modern 52mm from E to E.
The bridge block is a thick piece of steel. Again, that’s top shelf hardware and is mandatory for producing the classic Strat tone and sustain.
Classic 4 bolt neck plate, with “Made In Japan” engraved.
The neck has no skunk stripe, as it should. It’s a two piece, “maple cap” design, just like the original. Profile is a very standard, not too thin / not too thick medium C profile with a slight taper toward the body. It’s a very comfy profile and nobody will complain, unless you’re into baseball bats or pencil thin necks.
CBS type large headstock with “Oakland” logo. Bullet truss rod works just fine and the vintage frets (small) are clean and dressed.
Tuners are typical of the era, simple, no nonsense jobs. They just work, and they are very close in look to the original Schaller / Fender “F tuners” of the era. I would bet they’re interchangeable without too much fussing.
This babe is 40 years young and shows it. The body has some rub marks and dings through the finish, just enough to show that the body ain’t plywood, but all solid. The specie is unknown to me, but I can tell the whole guitar weights at around 3.2 kg, which is quite light and a pleasure to hold. Also, the finish is nicely applied in a thin coat, unlike the original Fender guitars from the era which had thick and plasticky polyester coats in many cases.
The 12th fret dots have the correct shallow spacing. Details, details… This thing feels, oozes and sounds so much like a real 1970s Strat it is crazy. If you can find one, go ahead and don’t think twice, they are very fun to play, chase and collect.
Here’s a shot of what’s under the hood. Pickups are low output ceramic (about 4.5k). They are kinda cheap and funky, but they sound FINE! Might be the low number of turns on the wire (vintage Strat pickups are usually wound in the 5.5k to 6k range), might be the magnets or the wax aging or a combination of this, but they do have a very vintagey tone that is nowhere near a modern ceramic pickup. They have a very seventy-ish feel to them, great for funk and Hendrixy licks, and they handle crunch really well, keeping definition and tightness. The Japs had a feel for making cheap stuff with great sound and these little pickups are a proof!
No funny bizness down there! Just a classic Strat routing (no swimming pool or humbucker hack jobs) with original finish inside and out.
The Vintage Guitar Blog 