The first Squier Stratocaster Series were produced in Japan. The SQ09873 was built in 1983 or 1984. It has a maple neck and all the features of
the Fender Stratocaster made in USA, it weighs 3.62 kg. These guitars were built under Fender license with the goal to get a piece of the cake of low budget guitars
sales wich mainly came from Japan these days.
The list price was U.S$369 while the U.S. Standard Stratocaster was $699.
Due to the fact that these Japanese Squier guitars were built with a lot of care and skill they are as good (some say even better!) as the
guitars from the same time from the U.S. Collectors are therefore quite keen on the JV and SQ stamped models.