Fender '57 Reissue Stratocaster

Standard Strat Features. USA made. 21 frets. 3 S/S/S config. Alder body with maple neck, Nitro finish.
It's from 1986 or 87. not sure if they've changed the guitar sense.
Mine came with the following: Tweed Case, Tremelo spring, 5 way seltcor switch, Manual whammy bar. Almost everything I was luky to get it!

I play Stevie Ray Vuaghan stuff and jazz. It's and ablsolute dream on almost any thing. my setup is usaly guitar Blues Driver and a Vox Cabridge 30 reverb. I have a Peavey and it dosen't sound as through it, but it's beutiful when played through the VOX or any tube amp. It some times buzzes(I'm used to Humbuckers)if you put your fingers on the string it stops most of it. that migth be a Single coil thing. Sounds are awesome like I said, if I get it set just right it can do Jazz, but when needed It can do country just as well, and it sounds good for almost anything, but not the best a metal though. a wonderfull sounding piece at that.

I bought it used so I don't know about the set-up.
Pickups are fine sound good to me.
2 piece book match body, a very nice fit. I think when I bought mine the nut had cracked (I bought it used) but other than that it's an awesome piece that playes like a dream and feels like one too!

I play at my Church on Wednesdays and goto Blues jams some, and this thing will certainly stand gigging! The hardware is fine the tuners are awesome, I've had it stay in tune for 3 days and not loose tune! We're talking quality you can count on! The only problem I've had is the nut, and that was most likely from old age. A dependable piece. Gig with out a backup? I don't have another good guitar. Only fear would be breaking a string, and once you get the trick down you can get string on easily.

Life time waranty it says in the manual non transfeable though :( . from what I've heard though Fender Customer support is a joke.

I've been playing guitar for bout' a year. I took Clasical for 6 but never did realy like it. I'm no pro but I have many friends who agree with me onn this guitar it is awesome, and some have played professionley for have 30 years. I have compared it too an American Deluxe Fat Strat and Stevie Ray Vaughan Siganture. The Deluxe can't stand up too it in my eyes, but the Stevie Ray is better in some ways, the 57' is better for me in many ways than the other two. If it were stolen I'd track the bugga down and get it back! buying a new one? Maybe but once you have your #1 you just aint gonna' give'er up! overall an excellent guitar, this is my first USA Strat and absolutley NOT the last!!!! Overall the 57' ressue is and excellent guitar

Mine is a true to the flag, American 57 Reissue built in July 2002. It's black as black can get with a nice medium weight alder body and that oh so gorgeous mample neck. The awesome thing about this guitar is that the dudes at Fender have now placed the black dot markers on the 12 fret in the 'right' place, in other words, they're wider apart and smack in the middle of the 5th and 2nd strings. I know it's only a small point but to me, being a persnickity character, it makes all the difference and really puts the stamp on this being a true 57 Reissue. The guitar comes with a three position switch (they also include a 5 position switch) that thankfully has a nice feel to it so it's very easy to detent into the middle positions. I was thinking about changing to the 5 position switch but I decided, just this once, to leave this puppy totally standard and play it like a real 57. Al the complaints about the noise, small frets, weak pickups blah blah blah is just ridiculous. If you're not happy with what it is, then don't buy it. Pretty simple. Just a quick word about the Kluson tuners. They rawk! I actually replace the locking tuners on my other Strats with these Klusons because they are in fact, the best locking tuners on the planet. Once you put the sting down the hole and wrap it around two or three turns, that's it - - locked and loaded (and they weigh nothing which means the guitar is lighter and better balanced. My guiat came with the fender tweed case which I immediately sold and replaced with lite weight fitted case. The tweed case is just too heavy for my liking.

We all know how beautiful a Strat sounds so what more is there to say. I've played lots of 57 Reissues and for the most part, they're all fairly close in sound. The amazing thing is that 9's are actually too lite on these guiatrs. I use 9 - 42's on all my Strats but for some reason, they seem to wobble all over the place on this baby so as an experiment, I put a set of 10's on and hey presto, more spank and a little more tension to the point where it now feels exactly like my other Strats with 9's. Funny world.
Now girls and boys, here's a little secret about Strats. Everybody says the bridge pickup is too bright and only good for causing people's ears to bleed. Very true. However, all you need to do is take the tone wire form the middle pup to the bridge pup and set it somewhere between 6 - 7 and forget it. This takes the ice pick out of the sound and the bridge pickup just comes to life and sounds much fatter with a very round tone that still grabs all the harmonics that seemn to lurk in 57 Reissues. I have made this mod to all my older Strats but as mentioned before, I'm leaving this baby 'as is'. Another thing to remember is that if you want to get a really cool bell sound from the front pup, you gotta pick the strings very aggressively between the front pup and end of the neck - that's the sweet spot!
I guess we all like the 'shlang' of a Strat on settings 2 and 4 and this guitar is quite exeptional in bringing out every note of a chord. BTW, another hint - go try a Digitech 'Bad Monkey' Overdrive pedal. They're so cheap but so amazing - just like a Tubescreamer but with separate bass and treble so you can dial in a totally fat, chunky sound that suits el Strato so well. These pedals are the best.
A quick word on the noise and hum you get form the guitar. It's not so bad really but one thing to note - if the hum is real bad it's a sure sign of bad wiring so always check to make sure the wiring where you're playing is safe. This hum is like an alarm so take note - Strats can save your life!

Action? Well, it's got a 7 1/4 radius so no matter what, you're gonna have to raise the action a little bit to stop it choking out. Mine was spot on when it came out of the box and has remained so ever since. Good job Fender! All pups are powerful (in Strat terms)and full of spank and twang yet when blasting though my Fender amp with full on distortion, they growl and moan and totally rock - the harmonics are forever getting in with the mix of the sound, so often, you'r playing notes with relevant harmonics flying all around so it sound slike two or three guitars playing at once. My other Strats don't do this at all! The finish is perecto, some small blemished from the frickin Tweed case but not to worry, they get battle scarred from playing anyhow.

I never, ever use a backup - in all my 40 years of playing in some of the worst dives on the planet, my Strat has never once caused any problems whatsoever. I've never even broken a string! True! I change strings every three gigs and put new top E and B's on every night before I play so I guess this is 'preventative' maintenance. The only slight problem that pops up every now and then is the volume control knob tends to slip around the shaft so you either have to replace it or oh so gently, insert a flat blade screw driver into the split shaft and gently widen it just a smidge - be careful 'cause you can easily snap one side off.

Never has to contact Fender. If I break something I'll pay for it. I own six Strats and every one of them as been a joy with zero problems.

I've been playing for over 40 years so there's nothing new under the sun for this old rocker. I've owned a few 57 reissues one of which was stolen in between sets - I owned it for 16 years so now some young punk is playing a nice surf green 57 Reissue - good luck to him or her - hope they love it as much as i did. For my other Strats, I tend to mix and match necks, bodies and pups to get the right blend for each guitar, however, I would never change anything on a 57 Reissue because it is a just that, a 57 Reissue and meant to stay that way.
Personally, I think a 57 Reissue is something you get and treasure all your life - don't pull its guts out and shove different pups in it, just love it the way it is. If you want a modded Strat, go buy some cheap Mexican Strat and have fun experimenting with that. 57 Reissue strats have a way of gracefully aging and believe me, they do get better with age.
Go get one and live in peace!

My Strat was made in 1993 in Japan. It has a great 2-color sunburst finish, and a nice vintage colored maple neck. 1 volume pot, and two tone pots. its a little different then alot of strats, the top tone pot is wired to the neck pickup, while the bottom tone pot is wired to both the middle and the bridge pickup. pretty much a your normal stratocaster, easy to use, not a ton of features, great guitar. It is a hardtail(string-thru-body) which i love about it. A STRAT THAT STAYS IN TUNE!!!!! I was told that there were only a few of the hardtails made like this one, so i guess its kinda rare which is cool. It even says "synchronized tremolo" on the headstock but its a factory original hardtail, SOMEONE SCREWED UP! haha, i like that fact though.

This guitar has two stock pickups and one Seymour Duncan pickup in the bridge(unknown model, but im pretty sure it is the vintage one). I play alot of Rory Gallagher, Jimmy Page(my two idols), Clapton, Knopfler, and Rolling Stones. I am happy witht eh sound but i think it could be much better, thats why im only giving it an 8. I am going to upgrade my pickups to Bareknuckle Irish Tour pickups to get more of that Rory tone.

Great neck, love the V-neck. fast and a great feeling fretboard. the action is a little high, but i like it like that. The finish is amazing looking, even though it has a few dents in it now from me. It actually looks like its 45 years old. The only thing that i dont like aobut it right now, besides the pickups(i like them but not enough to keep em) is that the saddles are all rusty, im going to have them changed out soon.

This guitar will let me beat the hell out of it and still keep working. Its my workhorse guitar and I love it. I got it so i wouldnt have to worry about it, not so it would end up being my favourite guitar, but it has gotten close. Everything is solid, nothings wrong. Seems like it will last forever, if thats possible!

never dealt with Fender

I have been playing 2 years. Its a great guitar, I dont think its possible to replace this guitar, its amazing, and will be even better when i get the new pickups in it. I have a Fender '52 Reissue Telecaster, Epiphone Elite Les Paul Standard Plus(with upgrades), Danelectro 3021, and then this guitar. I play all these guitars through a Fulltone Fulldrive 2, Fulltone Clyde Wah, Electro Harmonix Wiggler, and Electro Harmonix Big Muff. These are all plugged into a 1975 Fender Deluxe Reverb. Sounds amazing, I cant wait for the new pickups to be put in, but Im entirely satisfied with this guitar right now. I just wanted a different sound from it. I could be perfectly happy with the pickups now, but id be even happier with the new ones.

'94 Fender '57 Re-Issue Stratocaster, Made In Japan.
21 vintage frets.
Black, pretty thin layer of finish.
Standard strat set-up(volume, tone x2 etc...)
3 Fender Custom Shop Texas Special single coils(stock pickups). These are HOT!!!!
Maple neck, alder body(I think)
Vintage trem.
Fender vintage tuner(can't remember what they're called).
In a words: A standard, good 'ol stratocaster. You either hate it or love it.

I play pop, rock, metal, funk, and nowadays - country(I'm a kind of Jeff Beck, Brent Mason, Steve Hackett, Roine Stolt, Dave Navarro kinda guy). It covers these genres great, exept metal, where it sucks. But who buys a strat for metal?
I use a '85 Marshall JCM 800 with a 1922 2x12 cab, 2 channel. At the, really satisfide with my setup. Great for my style.
With full gain it gets noisy, but compared to other strats I've played(and I've played many), its actually pretty quiet.

Even though I bought it from an eBay-salesman, it was pretty nice on the setup. Cant complain.

I've used it live 3 times I think. It sure delivers the goods.
Would you use it on a gig without a backup? NO!!!! I you're serious about your playing, you should never enter a stage without an backup, even if its just for one song.

Been playing for 12 years(classic for 8), concider myself semi-pro(I study music). Have owned several strats, from Japan Squier(amazing quality), to USA Standard, but the bottom line is that I muck prefer Fender Japan than Fender USA, exept the expensive vintage series. IMO, the japanese Fenders are much more faithful to the original.

American Vintage '57 Stratocaster in aztec gold. Typical features, updated with 5-way-switch.
Has all features you'ld expect from a vintage style Strat. Comes with case, strap, additional switch.

Sounds very good. I also habe a AV '62 Strat. Both sound quite different. The '57 sounds "fresher", has a lot of bite on the bridge pickup, wamrth in neck position and quackiness in the in betwen sounds. Soundwise I like it a little better than the '62.

Vintage style neck with 7,25" radius and small frets. I am used to that kind of neck and like it.- No problems with bendings.
The neck shape (kind of V) is GREAT in my opinion. For me it is more comfortable than the shape of the '62 neck (round C).
The quality of workmanship and parts is very good. Nice finish.

no problems here. Time-proofed design and quality.

I play for more than 25 years. Have 10 electric guitars (Fenders, Gibsons, PRS...).
Would get a new one if it was stolen. Right now it is my favourite guitar together with my AV '52 Tele.

American made 57 AVS. This is true to the 57's and sounds as good or better in my opinion. If you need humbuckers or raunchy sounds then don't buy this or give it a bad review. I could even go for a 2 way selector-I never use the middle position.

It doesn't really fit my style for the band I'm playing in now. I need humbuckers even though I'm more at home on a strat. I will probably sell this and buy a used cheaper strat so I can switch out the pu's. I can't butcher this guitar-I have gone to a shop and bought a single coil humbucker and just couldn't put it in. It sounds exactly like it should.

The pickups are noisy-they should be. Hardware is nice and no scratchy pots or switch. I don't like the V neck even though it's nice for "thumbing" some tricky bar chords.

It stays in tune very well. It will last, but I writing this knowing I need to sell it. I hope someone out there gets this one and gigs with it regularly.

They should have better phone support. They make a ton of money and we deserve better.

I am very fortunate to have been able to pick up a Victoria amp which really makes me realize that my amp is the most important part of any electric guitar set up. I can make a Danelectro reissue sound great through my amp and this guitar sounds just great. I have owned a 62 reissue and a tele 62 both american. The tele was the best american guitar I have ever owned. The strat is great, but a little lifeless when compared to other guitars, but it's true to it's name. I wasn't blown away by the pickups, but they sound good. You can't go wrong by picking this up. Don't go buy a vintage guitar-they sounded great in the 50's because they were new at the time. Guitar Center is going around and buying up so many vintage guitars and setting them at rediculously high prices. Don't contribute to what they're doing. I look at their vintage wall here in L.A. and I just feel like they have a bunch of caged animals. For us working class it's hard to afford the reissue, but it's the most you should ever spend on a Fender. If you want to have the aged look of the vintage guitars then get off your ass and start playing a new one.

This is a 57 stratocaster reissue, that IS the feature!

3 Way switch, I bought it used so I didn't get a 5 way, though I was debating on having it updated some say it helps cut out the buzzing when you use the middle and neck pickup together.

Stock tremelo which is so solid that you can bend one note a whole step and the other strings don't drop a noticeable amount. (YAY!)

I played this guitar then played a 1960 Stratocaster (might have been a reissue?) and a 50th anniversary edition Stratocaster, and the 57 reissue had a noticeably warmer tone, with regards to the middle and neck pickups.

I played it on a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, and I was so impressed I bought the amp as well.

I see people saying they didn't like the sound and they yanked out the pickups. That makes me cringe, for the love of god, if you find yourself wanting a hot humbucker DONT bastardize this beauty, buy something else lol!

This guitar sounds nearly identical to the guitar Gilmour used for "Shine on you crazy diamond".

Great strumming sound, doesn't get too muddy.

Action is great, pickups great, bridge great!

The ONLY thing I would nitpick is the holes in the tremelo spring guard on the back doesn't match with the holes in the tremelo so in oder to change strings I actually have to take off the spring guard.

Seems sturdy, only had it for 3 hours. :)

I've been playing abou 20 years, I have a custom Ibanez JS 5 with a custom paint job by his sister Carol. It's a great guitar but after 10 years I really found myself wanting as different sound, and I was looking for something different and found this in a shop. Wish you were here came on the radio in the back ground and I felt like I was in the twilight zone, figured it was a sign. ;)

I would have payed $1500 for this guitar if they has asked it.

Sunburst "crafted in Japan" model. This was made for the Japanese market, never intended for release in the U.S. I bought it from "GuitarGai" who specializes in Japanese made guitars that are avaiable only in Japan. You can find his goods and the story of Japanese Fender guitars on Ebay and his website, "guitargai.com." The Japanese guitars that are sold commercially in the U.S. have been "dumbed down" with basswood instead of alder or ash, and less expensive pickups. The ones intended for release in Japan have Alder or ash bodies and American pickups, such as Texas Specials, which is what this one has. Guitars like this are a challenge to find, and even though the Japanese ones available in the U.S. are very nice, this is the way to go.

I have to say, this has got it. Perfect pure Strat tone. Simply amazing.

The guitar was used, so I'm not sure about the factory set-up. I'm not sure if the "GuitarGai" sets them up himself, but this one was very close to right on. I like mine set at Fender specs. The relief was on the money, string height great, intonation a little off, pickups a little off. Like I said, very close.
The finish is stunning, beautiful and flawless. Frets are great, no swimming pool body, very high quality. A few slightly loose screws and the pots are a little on the cheap side. I'm not sure why the Japanese don't go all the way with the pots and selector switch. Everything else, including the pickups, are right there. It's somewhat mystifying. I will say though, that in the end, it doesn't really matter, because it works and sounds great.

Ever seen Stevie Ray, work over his Strat on "live at El Macambo?" 'nuff said.

No warranty. Used. Don't need it. GuitarGai answered questions via email pretty fast. He didn't exagerate. I got exactly what he said and nothing less.

This is the 7th Strat I've owned, 3 Americans, 1 Custom shop, 2 cheap copies, and this one. This one comes out on top. It's about equal to the custom shop, but it's got a better vibe, a little better sound, same quality build and it just looks better. Is this as good as a Fender Custom Shop model? Probablly.

This is an American Vintage '57 Reissue (no, there are no Mexican '57 RIs, they are 50's Classics.) This has everything a Strat should have. The only change I see this guitar needs is maybe putting in the 5 way switch. Everything on this guitar is top notch.

Sound is a traditional Strat sound, you've heard it many times. Great clean, great overdriven. Extremely versatile, can get full-rich sounds, bright and jangly, just about anything. Surf, rock 'n roll, classic rock, even real metal ala Purple, early Priest. Why ruin by replacing the pickups, particularly humbuckers? Just kills the sound. The pickups are great and do what they are supposed to, sound like a vintage strat. If you want a high output high gain sound, then why are you buying single coils to begin with? It has the hum, but easy to live with because the guitar sounds great. The only thing I've heard that is noiseless and sounds good are Kinmans.

The finish was perfect, everything was properly done, the frets were finished very nicely. Stock setups are genereic and designed for evryone to play it ok, once you do a setup that is personal, then it gets really good. The guitar playes like a dream, I love the V neck, the 7.25" radius is so natural, the action is 3/64" at the 17th fret, it sounds great unplugged. These are well made guitars.

Very dependale, reliable, whatever you want to call it. This has nitro finish, so it will wear with playing and time, which is expected. Stays in tune very well, strings last a long time without breaking, and sounds great.

Great guitar, at a good price. From Buddy Holly to Ritchie Blackmore. This is the best of Fenders production line, along with the AV '62 RI. The guitar is great as is, the pickups are not weak, they are vintage strat pickups. I feel those who butcher these guitars by putting in humbuckers don't appreciate these guitars for what they are. There are plenty of strats made with modern features and 'buckers, please buy those and spare the hack job on these. Like I said, the only thing this can use is a 5 way switch for those who like the 2 & 4 positions, mine is stock. Even with the 3 way switch, you can get the in between sounds, that just shows the perfection in the design.

Made in Japan in 1995 (=> 21 frets)
Black Color
3 single pickups , vibrato & strato usual stuff.
The neck is excellent (++++) . It's possible to play very fast on such this neck.

I use it with a Peavey Prowler amp.
It is OK for Rock/Blues.
I like positions 2 & 4.

I bought it second hand for 470 Euros in Paris.
I just cleaned it with polish & Lemon oil (for the neck ;-)

I will use it on stage very soon.
Tuners do not move (even on bends)
It also own a nice Gibson Nighthawk that have more powerfull pickups.

Never use it

If you can fin a japanese strat (or other), I recommand you to buy it.
Don't listen to people who tell that only USA made guitars are OK.
With such this guitar, you can play Live in Clubs & do excellent recordings.
You can find Japanese new strat over the net if you search.
They are still built but not exported !!!!