Re: The 1981 Fender Flame

: The Flan\me was manufactured in 1984 as part of the Fender Master Series. Three guitars were offered, the Flame, the Esprit (very similar, but with equalk cutaways and a slightly larger body), and the D'Aquisto archtop.

Right, finally got the hang of this internet thing! Just sent original message back by mistake. Anyway, I bought my Flame Elite new in 86 for £260, the rrp was then about £650,
but these were being sold off as Fender had recently been bought from CBS and they were no longer being marketed, according to the shopkeeper.The Ultra had gold plated fittings, block inlays and TBX tone controls, Elite had the TBX and snowflake inlays, the Standard didn't have TBX. I tried the Esprit and the Flame in the shop and chose the Flame as I thought it balanced better. Its a great guitar and I've never seen another one since so it must be quite rare.

:
: For each of these 3 designs, there were standard, elite, and ultra. The main differences were in the inlays and hardware.

: Note that the Esprit was the basis for the current Fender Robben Ford model, which is pretty expensive.

: These guitars were only manufactured for about 1 year, and all were made in Japan by a factory known for Ibanez guitars.

: I have owned 4 of the Esprits and Flames. They are very good quality - very similar to an early 80's upper line Ibanez, in my opinion. There do not appear to be many differences between a Flame and a solid body Ibanez Artist, which can be bought in the $500-600 range.

: I would think the elite and ultra variations would be worth a bit more than the standard model. My guess is in the $700-800 range for the standard model and closer to $1000 for the nicer ones, depending on originality and condition.

: : What is known about this guitar? Is it rare? Is it worth any money? Is it a good guitar? Thanks for any info

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