Fender '57 Reissue Stratocaster

ok, sunburst (and i mean the most beautiful burst i've ever seen, so mellow and smooth) 21 tiny frets, vintage fender 6 screw bridge/old trem, 1 ply guard, 3 57/62 pickups, vintage tuners, 1 piece maple neck, 2 piece alder body (2 piece body of something anyway), 3 way swtich, contoured body, nitro/poly finish, ntiro finished neck.

wierd part (i apolgise if i didn't spell wierd right, i can never remember) - ok i know for sure this is an american vintage strat, 57 reissue through various little checks i've done, however, the guitar came in the new USA standard's SKB case with all the USA standard strat's case candy, so no spare 5 way or ashtray :(, and the strap and lead are the modern type :(

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yyyeeaaaaaaaa, damn this is a awesome sounding guitar. i run it though an electro harmonix big muff PI NY (knobs at 12) into a Marshall Vintage Modern on the 1st gain stage with the mid moost NOT engaged (all knobs on usuall positions with both detail and body knobs full, EQs at around 12, presence off, reverb off, and master vol wherever depending on room/venue). i would say the inevitable that this is a treble heavy guitar, however, the natural bass thud with these pickups and treble work so well with the EH muff as to give a really even sound, i used to use only the neck pickup on strats when playing other peoples, however in the band the neck pickups looses clarity because it mixes frequency with the bassist playing high notes so i now use the bridge pickup. i left the three way in, i would have done anyway despite the fact i wasn't given a 5 way with it. you can still get the inbetween sound but i never bother. like i said i use the bridge PU.

tuning instability like a *****, but i havent replaced the original strings yet and it sounds like its only the nut so a bit of lube in there should be sorted, having said this i did a rehearsal for hours and it barely went out at all with frequent heavy vibrato use. the action was low for me (having played an un-setup gibson SG) and amazingly there's no fret buzz. gauge 10s have always been the ones for me so thats fine, the neck radius is so small and the frets so tiny compared to the SG so it took some getting used to, but by the end of the band rehearsal we were jamming tatoo'd lady for about half an hour and i was just happily soloing away getting well into it, so its not too hard to get used to.

its a strat so the guitar itself is BUILT. lol the tuners should be ok, may need replacing but we'll see. the nut annoyed me caus the strings dont slide well at all. but a bit of lubricant or even a nut change isn't a big job (just dont have any money left lol) the bridge is all good high quality metal. the knobs have a smooth turn in them (i use the volume pot to vary my sound, i dont switch channels or hit different pedals, i use the old method which sounds far smoother and organic)... i wouldn't like to gig with one guitar ever, but i will be honest i would rather gig with my Gibson SG if i had to rely on just one for a whole show because of tuning stability. but unfortunately for my SG, the strat is in danger of becoming my main guitar.

i go to a good music shop frequently who are friendly and professional and will set my guitars up for me becasue i've bought a fair bit from them. they even chucked in two packs of strings for me lol.

i've been playing for not even 3 years yet, i be 18 now and as much as i'm not up my own ****, i am better than alot of players who think they are good who have been playing for longer (modest aren't we?) i've played some awesome guitars and own two of them now. i knew everything about this guitar before i bought it, and when i finally had it i was not let down, in fact it exceeded my expectations. i was gonna buy a 62 sunburst, i went to the music shop and the chap said he had a new custom shop heavy relic 57 which he let me play, it was amazing (and i hate pre-worn guitars) and i said to him i'll have a 57 as i love the V shapped neck. i was half expecting the USA 57 to be crap compared to the custom shop heavy relic, but its every bit the guitar, and with more original specs (the heavy relic having modern apointments like a 9.5 radius and upgraded pickups etc etc)

You know what it is. At first worried about only 3 postion switch, but this is not a problem for me at this point. I like the soft V neck shape. So far the high radius neck is not a problem, but I'm not shredding any lead stuff. The small vintage frets don't appear to be an isuue. Athough a fan of locking tuners, these vintage slotted type work great and hold tune very well.

Best sounding guitar I've heard. A friend of mine who is a very accomplished professional player tried it and agreed. They nailed it w/ these pickups. Very punchy in the low end. Sure it does that Fender 'chime' thing, but can growl when played at high gains. Much more versitile than you might think. Not just a 'surf' music machine.

I'm amazed at how well it sustains. Ads for neck though body guitar maker want you to believe they have an edge here, but it doesn't seem to be the case.

First rate. Nary a speck of dust, crack, chip, etc anywhere in the finish, either painted or clear coated. Stetup nicely. This thing is a work of art.

Dunno at this point. I do worry about damaging the nitro finish. But it sure looks good and smells great. However, it's a Fender and should last a lifetime.

Lifetime warranty. They did forget to include the accessory kit, which includes the trem arm, pickup cover, but the dealer was able to get from Fender. Guess I'll have to take a point off for this oversight.

I've only been playing 3 years and still suck, but I love this guitar. It was my dream instrument. I only hope I can learn to do it justice.

I play it through both a Roland Cube 30 (sweet little amp for the money) and an Epiphone Valve Std, with a Boss DS1 for distortion.

I always wanted a Surf Green Strat.....I wasn't sure I wanted a vintage style, thinking I'd like modern features like SC pickups, S1 switching, and locking tuners.....in other words....a Deluxe. But after playing this one, I'd never switch. Beautiful and sounds great.

I've got a Carvin DC-127 and doesn't come close in sound or fit and finish.

You already know all this. If you wouldn't give it a 10, then don't buy it, it's not for you. There's plenty of other strats (or other guitars) out there.

I never realized how good it sounded until I compared it to my American strat. So nice and clear. So much so that I had to get rid of the American. It sounded dead compared to the 57. You won't get the huge, thick down and dirty SRV type tones, but that's not why you play this one. There's some pickup buzzing. That's the "vintage" part shining thru. Maybe something to do with the shielding?? But you don't buy a guitar and then complain or modify it.

Got it used and pretty beat up, but the nitro finish wears nicely.

16 years old and still going strong. I don't foresee any probs. If you doubt the durability of a well-made, high quality strat, watch Third Stone from El Mocambo.

I resisted this guitar for so long. I bought it before I really knew what was what, mainly because it looked cool and I got a good deal on it. The 7.25 radius really ticked me off after a while and I spent a ton of time looking for a good replacement neck. Then one day it just came to me. I picked it up and was just noodling around and realized how smooth playing the neck was. My fingers moved effortlessly. The one piece maple had such snap yet still wasn't too bright sounding. A light bulb went off and everything fell into place. The one ply pickguard looked so nice and simple. The shape of the body just melted into my body. I know it sounds stupid, but that's how it happened. I wanted a strat with a nice rich rosewood neck with a 9.5 radius, but instead, I was falling in love with this 57.

Alder body, white finish, gold vintage hardware, tweed case, 21 vintage frets, maple soft v neck. Mine is the 50th anniversary 57 reissue so it has a couple of added attractions like a commemorative neck plate and the gold hardware. It's beautiful.

Play it unplugged and it tells you it wants to sing baby. Plug it in and it sounds way way way strat. Cooler than cool. Lots of overtones and woody sounds. Takes me back to whe strats were strats and Gibsons were scared..

Nut needs a little tweaking, but other than that, solid as a rock.

See above.

? They could sponsor me if they want.

This is the real deal for strat players and lovers. This guitar oozes reality, oozes hipness, oozes got-it-right-the-first time. I can't thank my pal at the guitar store enough for saving this one for me. These anniversary models had a tag of 1600 dollars and they blew them out at the end of the year for a grand. What a steal! I've owned real 57 strats and this is like a trip down memory lane. You gotta try one of these on for size! This axe is a sheer joy to play.

Made in Corona, CA
This strat features a white blonde nitro satin finished alder body and a v-shaped neck. Also a special neck plate with the 50th anniverary of the 1957 strat with gold plate on all hardware. it has 21 huge frets and alnico 3 vintage pickups. one piece maple with a 7 1/4" radius V neck nitro finish. 1 ply 8 hole pickguard. Vintage tweed case and bunch of case candy.

I have too many guitars (if possible) this is just fun to play - different history felt in it.

came with a nice setup - very playable from the case

usa fender

never used it

been playing since '66 and collecting since '73
have about 89 currently mostly
mostly strats - favorites are fender subsonic with a standard tuning setup with a set of 8's, '63 gibson melody maker, '67 fender mustang bass from the band days of the 80's, peavey t-26 ash board and my itialia 12 string great guitar!

You know what your getting, If Volume is used excessively for clever semi tones with a delay or whatever, you can get some crackle, but this is because dirt/dust gets in the resister, so just get a vacuum cleaner and give it a blast, (gets the dust out)

I play rock, blues, and mellow, and it does it all, I think this guitar comes into its own when I play it lead over an acoustic or bass. I think it benefits from some sustain and compression, the compression acts as kind of EQ. (sort of) this is because sometimes you get louder string like on mine its the ???G??? string, it just plays louder, the compression really lets all the string be heard as individuals. I use a boss CS-3, with this pedal its probably the best clean guitar I???ve ever heard. Also if you can afford one of these then you can afford new strings, keep fairly new string on it, don???t let them get old and start oxidising, it doesn???t do the guitar justice and it can damage the hardware.

When I got mine the action was odd, I just changed it, it???s really easy, I think any serious player needs to change the action on a new guitar so this is no different. Be careful when lowering the action though, when the action is really low you can get some noise, which is never good.

My jack plug has come loose a couple of times, that???s it. This is a guitar that should be looked after therefore I cant comment on its ability to destroy a drum kit

never needed it. nor will you

if you can afford to buy the real thing the fine, if you cant then buy one of these, they are better in every single way than the modern day strat (which is still pretty good)

This '57 Strat is Surf Green lacquer and shiny as a new penny! Golly! The neck too. 'Cept it's aged solid maple with a 7.25 radius and real nice vintage frets, no railroad ties here. Has the famous Fender Vintage Stratocaster Pickups, and aged plastic parts (that's the knobs and pickup covers and such). Comes with the famous G&G deluxe tweed case with ORANGE fur inside. Orange. Well, that's what they had in '57. Also comes with a '57 strap, some wipe-o-clean and a nice rag, a '57 chrome bridge cover, a '57 cable, you know, all that o-re-genny stuff. Comes with a three position switch installed and a five position you can put in yourself.

The guitar is very exactly like in '57. Very.

This beauty has got some serious TONE! That's why I bought it. I use a Fender Blues Deluxe (40 watt tube) amp and the combination is just as cool as can be! That is, if you like to actually hear your guitar. Nice and clean with a little reverb (at about 150 decibels!) Ahh. It has the original type pickups (single coil) so it does get some noise from fluorescent lights and such, but not too bad. I absolutely love the sound of this guitar. It is real, uh, Strat! Yeah, that's it. What made the Fender Strat so popular is here. They did a great job of re-inventing their most popular guitar ever.

The guitar sounds very exactly like in '57. Really.

This guitar was perfectly set-up from the factory. I mean just right. You pay a little extra for that, you know. Beautifully smooth nickel-silver frets. Shiny. Whoa. Hand-rolled edges on the fretboard. Nice. Very nice. Won't be going to the guitar-guy for this one.

Fender Stratocaster: See; Rock. See; Sturdy. See; Un-breakable. See; Tough. See; Totally dependable. See; What is an electric guitar, and who did everybody else copy and why.

It has the lifetime Fender Warranty. I use a Fender dealer to settle any problems I have, and though I've had only one little one concerning something else, it was no problem.

I done been a-playin' ge-tar for nigh-on fourdy-fi year. Well, long enough anyway. I've pretty much spelled it out about this guitar, you know, after looking at a whole mess of others (Fenders, of course), and came away digging this one the most. I like the cool Surf Green color too. I mean, where you gonna find a 'Surf Green' guitar? But mainly, and I mean mainly, now I can say I have me a real live, honest to God, made in America Fender '57 re-issue Stratocaster! Where you gonna get one of these, hmm? I like it 'specially because of its simplicity and down-right accurate reproducto-ness. The word we're all looking for here is 'cool.' Never mind the incredible resale value of this particular guitar. I won' EVER sell it! You can't make me!

Made in USA, Jan '96., maple neck, alder body, 2 tone sunburst, vintage tuners and bridge, single ply pickguard, vintage style frets, 3way switch, vintage tweed case...evrything you asked from a strat!

This is a BLUES MACHINE, very rich in sound!Plugged into my '71. vox ac30 sounds unbelievable!Creamy, soft, mellow, thin, high, cutting, you name it!Also gets that crack when you hit the string, not at all like theese new fenders...

Bought used.Took me about an hour to adjust it for myself...has some cracks and dents on it, i don't mind.sohuld be nitro lacquer, but it seems not to be, i guess it's a big lie by fender benders...

Definitely great quality overall, i think it will outlast me and my grandsons too!

N/A

Guitar player for six years now.Blues all the way!I'm not planning on selling this guitar ever, this seems to be the ultimate stratocaster for me...Buy it if you can ;)

Ok, this is a review of my main axe,and it's pretty interesting. This is a 1982 VOO serial number 57 reissue that I bought from none other than Tom Murphy when he was at Gibson in 1990. It was road worn and incomplete when I got it- Tom refinned the body to a sweet 2-tone burst-the neck was so worn all over that it looked like a real 57!It only lacked pickups when I got it, the rest was there. Tom got it at the Arlington show and laid it on me for 250 bucks. The neck needed a refret and was really very small in profile.It had the "v" shape.After fitting in some dimarzio HS3 hum-cancelling single coils, I removed the neck, neck plate, and tuners, and sold them for 400 bucks to a buddy of mine. This paid for the axe and the pickups. I installed a left-handed Mighty-Mite tele neck that had a coat of sealer on it,schallers,and a generic neck plate that I bought used for 60 bucks. The profile is huge. The guitar remains in this form today and has been my main gigging tool for all these years.The vibrato is stock, but is blocked off with a length of drumstick. It has no case, but travels in a coffin with my other 4 stage guitars, so no bother.It's a marvelous unique strat that weighs 5 pounds-high marks here...

I just love it for the hard alt rock style I have. I primarily use a vox wha, ancient RAT distortion, 60's tube Echoplex,Hush noise gate/compressor, and MXR phase 100 for effects. My rig is 2 Blackface Bandmaster heads that have been modded with a master volume, an extra gain stage,and have 70 watts output each. These are each fed to 412 Ampeg cabinets from the 70's that have 4 EV SRO 12 inch speakers in each of them. Great rig that works great with single coils and has been very dependable for 15 years. The guitar has a very ballsy Strat sound and can get swampy blues to screaming high gain well. It also excels at smooth clean tones, and can get quite glassy. This strat as well as my other strats has been modded to have 1 volume, a master tone for all three pickups,and where the bottom tone is, a 3 position passive preamp that I have made for me by a tech I know.This preamp gives me Lo Impedence,+/-6 db gain,or phase reversal on the middle p/up depending on where it's set.I just love the versatility and tone of this axe! Just can't say enuff how much I love it!

I'm sure it was great, but I modded the hell out of it! I can't blame the stock neck..it was too small for my hand, but the guy I sold it too restored a late 60's Strat with it and still uses it today! Honestly,these are pretty darn nice guitars stock, and this one has been modded and taken care of by one of the best techs in Nashville,so it's always been perfect.

It will withstand horrific beatings and stay in tune while sounding incredible! It's as stout as a Mack Truck! I depend on it utterly and would be lost without it. The finish Tom put on is ass-whupped, but it's been gigged hundreds of times sice I got it together.It has spent years locked in a coffin out on the road in all kinds of weather.The strap locks are schallers I put on all my guitars.I never kick it without backup,too much could go wrong!

No warranty on a mutt like this!

Been playing close to 20 years, in one band the past 16.I have a lot vintage gear at home. I described my rig above; in addition to this modded 57 Strat reissue, I have for stage use a modded refinned 64 Jazzmaster,a stock(except for preamp mod above) 60's reissue Strat,a beat to death runover by a burning tank 68 Telecaster,and a 2003 single cut Les Paul Junior.Acoustic is a 71 Guild D25 with a Fishman Matrix preamp and a bluestick saddle transducer.I also have a 72 reissue Mex Strat with EMG's that is used by the rhythm guitarist in my band(he runs 2 late model Les Paul Classics the rest of the time)
If it were stolen or lost, there is no way to replace it. I suppose I'd have to have a copy built from parts.I love it's slapped together, beat to shit looks and it's incredible tone,as well as it's light weight. This axe along with my beloved 68 Tele and 64 Jazzmaster,are completely irreplaceable, but I'm not worried about losing them-they aren't out of my sight these days. My band hs gone on an indefinite hiatus, as we all have children,wives, homes, other careers, etc. Wev'e had a long run and a good time, but it's time to move on with life, and pass the torch on to the many fine young rockers coming along now!These relics of mine will stay in my home studio and get outed once in a while for special shows we choose to do. I'm not done by any means, just older and needing the balance in life that the road cannot yield.This guitar paid for everything I own, and for that, I can't thank it enough!

This is an 84 1957 reissue, Fullerton plant model. 2 tone sunburst, very faithful to the original 57 (I own a 58, so I can compare) Maple neck, with trem, and even ashtray. I bought this from the sleeping salespeople at a national chain music store for 1/3 of its real value. It was filthy, with a few small dings. Once TLCd at home it came alive and is UNBELIEVABLE to play. Came with the original case, hangtag, and original purchase certificate!

UNREAL! It mimics almost perfectly my 58. The 58 is ash, and this is alder so there is a slight difference. sound just jumps off the fingerboard, and it has those chimy midrange clean sounds. It also has the harmonic overtones when played up on the neck, that always drive old strat players nuts. I was stunned by the sound. I can't put the darn thing down.

Just like a 57, with the old-style finish. It has checked only slightly, but I believe it will check more over the years. It was used so I have no idea what the factory setup was. There is no swimming pool here. Correct routing. 3 way switch is not as springy as my 58 (good) and the vol/tone controls allow unlimited turning clockwise, but stop solid when returned (not like the original).

I don't know how it will hold up. It's not going to see abuse from me. It got ignored at the store and sat there for a year while people bought shiny new mexican strats. I confess I feel like I rescued it. I'll play it on stage but protect it. I always take a backup on stage anyway. Usually a G&L tele.

Never dealt with Fender

35 years playing. 53LP Goldtop; 58 Mary Kaye strat; 94 Heritage H-535; 99 G&L Asat classic; 67 Gibson Hummingbird; cheapo squier strat with DG20 pickups; 2003 carved top tele. Matchless Chieftain, Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, Carvin Legacy 100 watt all tube. IT'S NEVER LEAVING. I've actually thought about trying to find a second one in case this one gets hurt. FIND ONE.