Hey buddy. Love your playing. So glad you got one. You are holding the James Tyler Studio Elite HD made in Japan. You can still get these from Kitahara. The color is called a Jimburst, like on Luke's Puffy. Most likely that model has our USA made Super Humbucker and JTS5500s and Demeter/Tyler midboost. We ship them to Japan. The bridge is Gotoh 510 with Hipshot tuners, just like the USA. Most likely it is Alder. The only real difference is that we do a 10-12 radius and Japan does 12 all the way.
Yes, I wish we could work with you on a USA guitar. I wish we were bigger but I am running the company and drive a 2000 Monte Carlo. We do it for the love.
And yes, we know the headstock is wack. I made fun of it when I went into Jim's shop in 1986. He was The Place for Bass and I was looking at all the Tobias, Ken Smith and Status basses and Neal Stubenhaus' 4 string Tyler was hanging there and I said to Jim, "Who made that? That headstock is hideous." and he said, "That is me".

hello paul,
thank you for showing this guitar and your patience & understanding in this matter.

James Tyler Guitars. The most beautiful bodies with one of the ugliest headstocks in the history of guitars. True Balance.

I love your channel Sir, regardless of whether or not I'm interested in the gear you demo, or if you rant, or you share production insights which I'm wholly ignorant about.. I still enjoy all the videos you produce.  And I say that to say, respectfully, I'm really enjoying people referring to you as "Paul".  I have a feeling it's going to get to you after awhile but I would encourage you to embrace it as an inside joke with your audience that has some legitimate longevity.    

Thank you for your understanding.

i like that they give you extra wood on the headstock so you can carve your own shape

I bought a USA Tyler with boost last year and I love it.  Super cool and well set up out of the very premium case.  Very nice!!

That is indeed a very nice guitar! Beautiful.

LOVE the guitar.
And of course Henning's killer playing.

BEAUTIFUL colour. That headstock remains a monstrosity though, no matter how ace the guitars (clearly) are. Great demo, Henning.

USA Tyler owner here. If you find yourself loving that Tyler Japan you should absolutely try the new new JTG line made in China. They are SPECTACULAR guitars. I actually gig mine more than the USA one.

Beautiful!!!!!

Excellent review. I could feel your excitement for this one. And the headstock (also McMull's) are wonderful things.

Beautiful instruments.

Thank you for showing us this wonderful instrument! 👍 You did really well, that you've followed your dream getting this instrument! 👏 ☺James Tyler Guitars are truly unique in the history of guitar making. You can bet no USA-made strat could get any better, than this Japanese, hand built masterpiece. Especially since 2024, when poor James Lee Tyler passed away (may his soul rest in eternal peace), these guitars may have some more specific "meaning" to their owners.

Oh, and yes, Kitahara Gakki still exist, and making theJames Tyler Guitars in Japan. Believe or not, your particular piece has the color named after the creator; it is called "Candy Jimburst". 🙂I suppose its even more cool, than the iconic "Shmear" finish. 😎Steve Lukather used to have one guitar from them in the same color.

And considering its specs, your guitar must have probably been made somewhere in late 2019, early 2020 I suppose...😉

I love the way they leave the headstock as a shape you can saw into a good one ;)

One thing for sure - They'll never receive a cease and desist order for closely resembling another headstock.

I'm sure it will be lovely after swapping that neck out. What a munter of a headstock.

Colour is called Jimburst

That headstock is trippy as hell.

Funny thing about the headstocks... I hated them for decades, then over the past 5 years warmed up to them and actually like them quite a bit now. I have no idea what happened. Maybe it's just middle age.