Jeff Beck Model made by fernandes
This is a story about my 1979 Fernandes FST-60J, a guitar from the famous “Stone Logo” era. Interestingly, despite having a technical issue where the strings would sometimes get caught, this specific guitar played a crucial role.
At the end of the 1970s, I had a Fernandes FST-60J. It was a gift from my grandfather to celebrate my entrance into university.
This guitar was a model from the so-called “stone logo” era, a Stratocaster type with a row of toggle switches sold as a Jeff Beck model.
A Stone Logo Gem with a Quirky Flaw
However, this guitar had a troublesome quirk you couldn’t know about until you actually played it.
Whether it was a faithful reproduction of Jeff Beck’s own setup at the time or not, it was an open-type model without pickup covers, and this proved to be a real pain… If you tried to get more volume by raising the neck pickup slightly, the strings would clack against the pole pieces (the metal parts of the pickup) during play.
It was one of those things you just had to deal with—playing with a wry smile thinking, “Ah, snagged again,” and using the neck pickup lowered as far as it would go. A real handful, but somehow endearing.
The build quality was rock-solid, far superior to the genuine Fender guitars of that era. Back then, Fender was in a bit of a slump, you know~
The Unexpected Story Brought by Three Switches
The 3-toggle switch wasn’t exactly easy to operate, but the sounds it produced were quite unique. Especially the “Phase Out” tone, which played the pickups out of phase, had a distinctive resonance you couldn’t get from other guitars.
A friend of mine who was a pro guitarist once took my FST-60J to the studio, saying, “This guitar has an interesting sound. Lend it to me for the next gig.”
That gig was the recording session for a diva who had come to Japan from the Philippines and was making a huge splash at the time.
The sound packed with the passion of those days
I remember feeling strangely amused, yet just a little proud, when I heard that the guitar I used to grumble about at home—“These strings catch, huh?”—had made its way to a professional studio and was now part of a sophisticated, urban fusion sound…
Today’s latest guitars are all model students; you hardly ever get issues like strings catching. But flipping those three switches back and forth, searching for my own sound—that playful spirit from those days feels like the very essence of musical joy that still resonates today.
Don’t you have one of those “high-maintenance but unforgettable instruments” in your collection too?
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