Easy question for the Fender JV experts out there...

[frigid midget]

Just bought a '83 Japanese Fender strat on a whim...

As far as I can tell from google'ing the info, everything seems ligit, except maybe for the nut, which is black/plastic.
Supposedly an 'ST-85'. One things that kinda bothers me though:

The back of the neck looks worn, like you'd expect from a well used guitar this old. No finish left, which makes it smoother/faster.
But the frets...I'm no expert, but they're definatelly about twice the height/width of the frets on my MIJ Jazzmaster. Medium jumbo, if not bigger

Kinda surprised me, cause I figured this was supposed to be a pretty accurate '60s inspired strat, which I thought would come with skinny thin frets, no?

They're also suspiciously fresh, with almost no wear, while it's obvious that the guitar hasn't been sleeping in a case for the last 30 years (rusty hardware, dinged finish, worn back of the neck, yellow'd guard&knobs,...).

Is it safe to assume the frets aren't original, just based on the fact that they're farely large? If so, the bigger gauge kinda ruins the resale value, doensn't it? :/
I dig it otherwhise, but I don't think I'll be able to get used to those huge frets

[coldbrightsunlight]

Is the value of 80s Japanese fenders so crazy that hurting the resale a bit is the worst thing? :IDK:

That does sound like its been refretted. But that wouldn't necessarily kill the value, I mean if the reason is that the original frets were worn and horrible I'd say it's better off with new frets.

[frigid midget]

Yeah, that's what I figured...Better new frets that are a bit bigger, than original ones that are worn.
Prices of these higher end 'domestic' japanese fenders have actually exploded it seems. Most people can't afford an actual '60s fender nor CS reissues...So some of these old JV series are the next best thing, for a fraction of the price tag of an equally good american made alternative. The early ones came with american inards, Fullerton pu's, nitro finish, steel trem block, great overal quality,...