Fender '57 Reissue Stratocaster

This is an American Vintage 1957 Stratocaster in White Blonde with an ash body. Otherwise it has all the same features of the original EXCEPT that there is indeed a layer of urethane beneath the nitrocellulose finish and the bridge parts aren't the same as the original.

The specs are listed in detail on Fender's website, so I won't go into depth here.

There isn't really anything stand-out about the sound of this guitar.

It sounds good enough to use for practices and performances, but I just don't think it's good enough to be featured on recordings.

It has flabby lows and harsh highs and overall it's pretty thin sounding.

The fretwork on this guitar is totally mediocre. The action can go fairly low, but I don't like anything under 4/32" at the 12th fret on this.
The neck has a V-shaped back contour, 7.25" fret board radius, and small fret wire. This fit is pretty accurate, but kind of uncomfortable and unwieldy. The Custom Shop has been using 9.5" radii and 6105 fret wire on their Relic reissue models lately, so... maybe they should rethink some of these other models as well.

The finish is nice looking, but as I said earlier, there's urethane beneath the nitro, so it's not totally accurate to the original, and the fact that the back of the neck is glossed makes it kinda sticky if your hand sweats during a gig.

Quality control is lax at Fender and almost none of their guitars are ready-to-gig right out of the box.

This guitar is totally solid construction and I wouldn't worry about anything breaking... except strings. Fender "orignal syncronized tremolos" are terrible. TERRIBLE. If Fender just went back to pre-CBS bridge design, they'd make me and about a million other guitarists much happier with their products. The bridge block is wrong, and the saddles are wrong. The plate's are pretty accurate, but dated and unstable. The bridge is going to break your strings. It's that simple. Everything else is reliable as well as durable.

The customer support is lackluster.

I wish I had asked to play a Ron Kirn strat, or a D'Pergo strat, or even a Tokai or Greco strat before I bought this guitar. It's just not very good, especially for the money.

I see that they upped the price considerably on this model and that's just sad. Save your money. There are other, MUCH BETTER options in this price range.

If I had known then what I know now, I would have tried to find a Tokai Gold Star Sound in good condition and have it re-fretted, change the the electronics, change the bridge, and change the pickups probably all for less money than what I spent on this totally mediocre axe.

Mine was made in 2008, has the white blonde finish and the ash body.

The features should be known to anybody who reads this: vintage style vibrato, three-way switching with optional 5-way switch included, Kluson style Fender/Gotoh tuners, 7.25" fretboard radius, Fender 57/62 vintage pickups etc.

The body seems to be a single piece of wood and the wood shines through the finish.

I really like most of the features of this guitar. Especially the nitro finish and beautiful ash body, the vintage pickups and the purist three-way switching (I hate the 2nd and 4th positions of the 5-way switches anyway).

On such a guitar, everything has to be like it used to be in 1957, so maybe you should not complain about features like the Kluson style vintage tuners, that make restringing rather complicated, and the trussrod, that can only be accessed after taking all the strings of and removing the pickguard. But the latter "feature" can really give you pain, if you are trying to restring your guitar with a different string gauge. This is why the guitar only gets a 9 from me in this category.

Great! Simply the best Fender Stratocaster I have ever heard. Very bright, but never harsh or biting. Very clear and defined with a very fast attack and response. A fresh and "juicy" tone. Sustain is not the major strength of this guitar, of course, unlike someone else has written here, but this is not what you would expect from a Strat anyway and there is still enough sustain for things like distorted leads.

The biggest surprise for me was that this guitar sounds really great with distortion. Okay, I do not play Heavy Metal, but singing leads a la Gary Moore or Jeff Beck are absolutely no problem with this guitar.

What is more it is the first Strat I have heard that can almost compete with my Rickenbackers for jangly rhythm guitar sounds (the middle pickup is excellent for this purpose).

AND it has THAT Hank Marvin tone, everybody is looking for.

I play guitars with all kinds of different fretboard sizes, finishes and radiuses as well as different scale lengths. Nevertheless this guitar took me some getting used to. Now it feels great. But you have got to work on it.

The V-shape neck was a surprise to me as it feels much thinner in my rather small left hand than I had expected. I like it.

1-ply pickguard. Do I need to say more? There was a reason that these were later replaced with 3-ply pickguards.

And a nitro finish needs much more care than a polyurethane finish, of course. But it also sounds much better.

Aside from that, the guitar seems to be very reliable.

I am playing guitar for 26 years and work as a professional music teacher. Aside from this Strat I have a Burns Marvin and a few Rickenbacker guitars as well as two acoustic guitars and a bass guitar. The school where I work as a teacher has a Fender Highway One Strat and I have owned an American Standard Strat for a while. I am also used to various Strats or Strat-type guitars that my students bring along.

Of all these Strats that I know, the ??57 American Vintage Stratocaster with its ash body (only available with the white blonde finish) clearly is the best one for me. The sound is unique and I love the nitro finish. I will replace the tuners with Gotoh locking machine heads and maybe replace one pickup with a Kinman noiseless pickup, because a three-way switching can sometimes be noisy. On the other hand this would be a shame: the sound of the Fender vintage pickups on this guitar is just perfect!

I simply love it.

Mine is a white/blonde over ash, maple neck and fingerboard etc. Made approximately 2005/6. I don't care to remove the neck and find out the exact date - they never feel quite the same when the neck has been removed...

I think a Strat has all the features you could ever need on a guitar, and even though the parts found on this guitar are reproductions on those used in the 50's they are of top quality. Beautifully resonant wood, smooth pots and tuning keys and damn does it look good. That slight tint on the neck is beautiful, adds a nice touch of luxury.

Fantastic. Nothing short of fantastic. I agree with everyone else who has said that these are great Strats. Has every Strat sound you could want. The pickups really are superb. They sound amazing - sparkly and smooth. The bridge position can get some really awesome biting lead sounds, snappy country leads sound great. In the neck position the the sound glassy and transparent. I love single coil pickups despite the inevitable hum. In fact, the hum doesn't bother me, and when the guitar that the hum is coming from sounds this good it really doesn't matter. If when you play a slight hum bothers you then, in my opinion, you aren't playing properly!

I play mainly blues and country, with some surf inspired sounds in there. Dick Dale is my all time Guitar Hero in the category of Stratocaster, though I don't really play like him. He has great tone!

I bought mine second hand, but the set up is superb. Given the narrow frets the big test is fret edges here, and they are beautifully done.

This is the first guitar I have owned with a nitrocellulose finish and I really didn't think that it would have much of an effect on the overall feel and sound. I was WRONG! At first it had a very sticky feel to it, in fact it was so bad that I thought I had made a bad decision in buying it. This has since passed and the stickyness is now gone. I attribute this stickness to the change in climate between place of purchase and where I live. I love the feel of the nitro finish. It feels more natural and (at the risk of sounding like a douche) more organic (I hate to use this as a descriptor but it is the easiest way I can describe it!!). I am looking forwards to wearing through the finish, it's going to look even better then. Fuck taking super good care of it, that's for fairies.

The 7.25" radius fingerboard took me some getting used to, as did the vintage style thin frets. Now I love them and when I go to my other main squeeze, a G&L ASAT Classic S with a 12" radius 'board and the jumbo-est frets ever, it seems that the ASAT is missing a certain finesse that is present in the Strat. And the V-shape neck! Oh sweet Jesus.

As an American Fender I'm sure it will handle a buttload of gigs and sweaty rehearsals. My band tend to get a bit messy due to substance use (definately not abuse) so I expect that smoke and alcohol will take its toll both on the guitar and myself at some point, but until then I saw play on. My greatest concern is the tuning keys. They don't look that sturdy and I expect they will be bent up sooner or later, but a nice set of Sperzels is only $60. The vintage trem system doesn't feel as strudy as the new one but I can only imagine breaking it if one were to use it in an improper manner.

This is a truly fantastic guitar. I haven't played a Fender Custom Shop instrument, but they had better be something truly extraordinary to be better than this guitar. I think they represent superb value for money.

If you want a great vintage sound this ought to do it. Very highly recommended. I think this is my favourite guitar in my collection.

Typical vintage strat, with extra 5-way (i actually prefer 3) a crap-strap & a sweet vintage case (might not be the same tanks clapton & beck lugged around, but it's sturdy enough & way better/cooler than the standard ones). One-piece neck! It looks cool and feels better (and mabye just to me sounds better). And i just love the ashtray, although it's useless as anything but an ashtray...

I play blues, rock, psykedelic, prog. you know, hendrix, yes, all the good old guys i guess. Basicly the same as most other fender-players. Playing through some dist. pedals tubescreamer or mp blue sky or somethin'into whatever Fender Twin or Hotrod or even an old gibson amp. The pups were pretty bright sorto hank marvinish, but swaped those for some fralins and wow! I've got the white one with ash body and (I've tried the normal quite a few times and the ash body rocks it) and it sings like a bird, you can actually feel it vibrate it's amazing! Its a controlled fat sound with a hint of brightness thats really sweet & good. One of the Best!

Action from factory was crap (as always & i mean it, always) But the rod was ok, did a minor adjustment to it but it sits pretty loose seeing as its new. Hardware was standars vintage nickel stuff, dont mess with a classic! All pretty good! No flaws, and wood was very good. The neck shape on this is incredible, at least for tumb-over style playing... love it! only drawback is the machineheads, no biggie but could use a change.

Its a strat! nuff said. naturally the top layer is old nitro laquer so it will wear a little easy compared to new plastic, but no worries...

No dealings with fender support.

looks awsome! Sounds like a strat should. And yes id get a new one! I have tried a lot of guitars and a lot of strats (fenders & others) & this is the best, unless you wanna pay twice for an old looking customshop replica, or you prefer the new deluxe style guitar (but seriously who would?). Only thing: had it been another brand it could've been cheaper (but not that much).

I have the modern reissue '57. Made in the USA. 21 fret maple board, two tone sunburst, single ply pick guard. It goes on. It looks really nice, and the V-contoured neck really fits your hand well....and it really breaks in well with time.

It sounds authentic, what else could ever be said. I've tried it through lame amps, and awesome rigs and is easily tweaked to whatever you want, again this is a Strat...it's a guitar that's known for versatility. I recommend putting in the 5-way for this one though. I gave the 3-way a good run but....

I bought it new so I had it set up to my taste. The pickups are amazing. They're incredibly responsive. You really hear what you put in. One flaw with the guitar, I have a bit of splay on the saddle for the D string. But I must admit it only adds to the character of the guitar. I also replaced the string guide with a rolling one instead just to reduce friction. I have to say that before that the guitar held tune fine, but afterwards...it would take a alot to through it out. Listen I use to be a Gibson man. This guitar is well made, needs love when it needs it(and you'll give it), and breaks in really well.

I only use this guitar, I have backups but thank god I haven't had to use them! The hardware is the best you can get, they really put some effort into this model. The finish wears off with use just like 1957. Strap buttons like all strap buttons have to be worked on after a while. Incredibly dependable guitar.

I wanted to have a Strat and I tried them all(I really did). This is the one that felt the most at home in my hands, but that's a personal thing. I like that it doesn't have jumbo frets. The first year was a learning experience but it really comes alive in your hands! It has great range, I've used it for heavy stuff, psychadelic stuff, funk, punk. This is the only guitar that I've been able to do all of that with quality tone.

I have the original Fender reissue. My 57 ri was made in 1982, the first year for Fender to reissue guiitars. It is just under 7 pounds.

-alder body - nitro finish
-7.25 maple neck -nitro finish
-3 single coils
-volume, tone, tone controls
-real bone nut
-vintage style trem and tuners
-etc...
T
Its a pretty simple guitar, no unbelievable features here. Although, I give the guitar an 8 in this category because it is an accurate recreation of an original '57.

This guitar suits my style to a tee. I play fusion, blues, and a bit of classic rock (the Eagles). I play out of a Fender Blues Deluxe for shows and recordings, and a Crate V5 (5 watt tube) for at home practice. The Crate, being a low wattage amp, allows me to get to the amp's sweet spot without angering my neighbours.

The guitar has the expected hum from a single coil guitar, but it is what I am used to. I mean, when you aren't playing just turn down the volume knob.

The guitar sounds exactly like a vintage strat should. It is spanky and full of treble, while it growls and snarls at the same time. Every note of every chord is so well pronounced that it sounds like each note is being played by a different guitar. It has a true "bell tone". Truthfully, it only got better with time, it is almost 27 years old now. (Older than the original 57's were when this guitar was made)

When i first bought the guitar it looked gorgeous, and played great as well. Now it has a lot of wear and looks awful, but plays better by the day. It seems the older and dryer that the wood gets, the better the guitar sounds. The more the paint wears off the better the guitar resonates. The finish has completely worn off the back of the neck and it feels sooooo good. It could, however, use a refret at this point.

All of the routing was done nicely, the pickups were done beautifuly. But keep in mind that mine was made during the famous "Dan Smith years". Even the custom shop has a difficult time making them this nicely now - and for this reason my review could be biased.

My rating for this category is based on the guitar back when it was new.

This guitar will outlast the player as long as it is respected. I mean, its a Strat, there can't be a more durable guitar out there. (Well, maybe the Tele). I have played this guitar on countless shows ( I mean hundreds and hundreds of shows), and only pull out my backup due to broken strings - which are then replaced between sets. In the 26+ years I have owned this guitar I have never had it repaired, but have it set-up atleast twice a year.

Never had to deal with them.

I have been playing for 30+ years.

My guitars:
-1957 Fender Stratocaster reissue (made in '82)
-1989 American Standard Stratocaster (rosewood fretboard)
-1964 Tele (bought this in '79 when it was chopped liver)
-Epiphone Goldtop P90 dealio (piece of crap, always something wrong)
-newer Martin Dm-18.
-1971 Yamaha FG-180 (Red Label)

Amps and effects:
- Fender Blues Deluxe
- Crate V5
- Ibanez TS9
- 1969 Fender FuzzWah
- Big Muff
- a tonne of studio gear

I've compared this to many guitars. I have only ever heard one guitar that I have liked better, and it was a maple neck 1962 Fender Strat. A friend of mine in the 80's owned it - it was unbelievable. But, other than that guitar, nothing beets MY Strat.

If it were stolen I could not replace it as I have only ever heard one other guitar sounds this nice.

I got the 2 tone sunburst. It's beautiful. 21 vintage frets, 7.5 radius. Made in the USA. I installed the 5 way, which is a pretty good idea imo. 3 great sounding 57/62 fender pickups, i got it second hand but it came with the vintage leather strap, bridge cover, springs etc and a tremolo bar. Also came with the vintage tweed case.

I give it an 8, because it doesnt have everything a modern strat does, but if you need all that stuff buy an american standard. I give it a 9 for reproducing the 57, it loses a point for the fact that one of the finish layers is poly rather than all nitro like the real 57s.

I play blues/rock/funk mostly. It suits it great. The bridge pickup is a bit sharp and bitey, but it might just be my ultra trebly fender blues junior amp. Havent tried any effects yet. Its got the normal single coil hum..

Pretty bright sounding, full and woody too.

It is very versatile. Sounds amazing. Very vintage sound.

I dislike the biteyness of the bridge pickup, everything else seems good.

Action was AMAZING. My only gripe was the bridge was too low, but that can be easily fixed.

I'd gig without a backup with this, for sure. Just make sure you change your strings before the show. Like a day before.

Stays in tune well, strap buttons work well. Finish is great, but will wear in with playing but not in a bad way.

N/A

I've been playing around 3 years. I have an epiphone sg, this kicks its ass. I'd buy it again I reckon. I LOVE THE NECK!!!

I wish I got the vintage lead with it...

My fav strat probably.

I'd rate it a 10, because I got it 1000 dollars cheaper than the australian shop value.

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.

Bought 2004 beautiful white blonde finish on alder body with V maple neck made in USA.3pickups,3 sounds but you can get in between if you try.Basic but very good.

This is a great gigging guitar that does the business and sounds great.Not quite up to the sound of my 52 Tele so gets a 9.
Feels good when you play.
Sounds much better than a modern USA Strat.

This was set up well and looks well made-no problems to report.

Should stay the distance as a gigging guitar and again no problems.

I've been playing a long time and find this the best Strat sound so far.Highly recommend this for any serious guitarist.
Beats most other guitars apart from my 52 Tele which sounds amazing.

Mine is a brand new 2005 in two-toned sunburst. Fairly lightweight at about 7.5 lbs. You all know the specs so I won't bother with listing all of that. The action, fit and finish were perfect right out of the case.

This is where this guitar shines. First played unplugged, the body is very resonant, which is the first sign of a great guitar. Plugged in, HOLY MOLY!!! I think I have finally found the sound I have been looking for for the past 30 years. The redesigned 57/62 pickups are the best sounding strat pickups I have ever heard. I've played Kinman, Lindy Fralin, Fender CS 54's and Fat 50's and nothing comes close to these. I've had older model reissue strats with the older pickups and they were junk. If you own a strat, go out and buy a set of these pickups. I play this through a Victoria 20112(tweed Deluxe) with a Celestion Blue Alnico. The sound of the two together is just amazing. This might have just ended my Gear Acquisition Syndrome. Well, probably not. But it has sure slowed it down a lot.

Action, fit and finish were perfect right out of the case. I tuned it up and away we went. I have never had any guitar from Fender that had any problems

Well, it's a Fender. You can through them down a flight of stairs and they'll still be in tune.

I've never had to call Fender with any issue. If I have a question regarding a product, I have my buddy at the local music store call them. And of course he has a direct line to them.

I've been playing for over 30 years. I don't have a lot of gear as all I need is one guitar and one amp.(But I've been through a lot of them over the years). If it were stolen, I would not hesitate to buy another one.

American-made '57 Strat re-issue, made in 1992, 2-tone sunburst with maple fretboard, 21 frets, vintage-style tuners. I think these originally came with a 3-way pickup switch, but the previous owner converted this to a 5-way. I bought this one used. No case was included, but they did throw in a heavily padded gig bag. Not as good as a hardshell case, but it'll do.

I play mostly country and classic rock, and this guitar is perfect for both. I also have a 2001 American Series Strat, and it sounds great too, but this is a different animal. These have different pickups than the regular American Standards/Series. This guitar has a very warm, vintage sound. I can't describe it, really, it just sings. The "in-between" settings aren't as strong as on my new American Series Strat, but they still sound great. This guitar sounds good, no matter what I play. I don't notice any excessive hum, but I can hear my pick hit the pickups on this guitar. My new Strat doesn't do this, so I can only assume it goes with the whole vintage sound thing. I absolutely love this sound!

Others have mentioned that the older re-issues have a C-shaped neck, but I'm almost positive that this one is a V-shape. The V-shape is so much more comfortable, it's not even funny. I like the vintage tint on the neck and fretboard, and I love the vintage tuners. String changing is so much easier, and the guitar stays in tune much better than my American Series Strat. They should put the vintage ones on all Strats. The 2-tone sunburst looks great, even after 13 years. There are the usual belt-buckle scratches and one ding on the end of the body by the strap button, but everything else is fine. I'll give it a 9, because of the scratches and ding.

As with my American Series Strat, I know I can depend on it. Strats and Teles are bulletproof. I'll probably switch between this and my American Series Strat for gigging. I'll bring the other Strat as a backup, just because a string may break, or something like that.

Never dealt with them.

I've been playing for 20 years. I really just got into Strats last year. Before that, it was all Rickenbackers and Gretsches. Don't get me wrong I still love my other guitars, but if I had to pick one type of guitar to play for the rest of my life, it would be a Strat. My American Series Strat is the 3-tone sunburst with a rosewood neck. I can't say I like this one better than my other Strat, it's just different. I do think the reissue Strats are Fender's best kept secret, though. If you like the vintage Strat sound, this is your ticket. Even at $1300 new, they're still a good buy.

It's a stock 57 reissue strat, what can I say. Made in 1982-1983 Japan. So we're going to consider a guitar that is over 20 years old at this point. At the time I bought it new in 1989, it was considered 2nd rate, or even junk compared to a new American-made strat, but now I understand they are quite desirable.

Exremely light-weight guitar, lightest strat I've ever seen, I suspect it is not an alder body, but rather basswood, as I've heard that some Japanese strats intended for US market were made this way to cut costs. The probable basswood body is why I give features an 8 rating.

It came with 5-way switch installed however.

Have used with Crate, Fender, Marshall amps.
Presently use with Fender Roc Pro 1000 amp, and also a Berenger V-AMP 2 effects box.

I have tried out all manner of strats (except more 57 reissues, cause I haven't seen any) and none of them feel or sound like mine. The classic pups, and the 7-1/4 rad C neck are unique.

Sounds better now than when I bought it 15 years ago. I wasn't really completely happy with the sound the first few years I had it...I think partly it was the amp and effects I had at the time.

I play blues and can get all the sounds I want out of it. It gets better all the time.

The neck pup is a wonderful hollow bell sound that goes to a beautiful raspy sound with distortion
The center pup, which I used to hate, has mellowed, and I like it for classic rock tunes.
The center and bridge pup combo gives a classic clunky sound clean, always has.

There's some hum but turn down the vol knob between songs, right?

I wish the guitar had more sustain, the notes seem to die too soon, but compression helps add sustain! This is probably because of the basswood body. Going up to 5 strings on the tremelo, or blocking it might help in this regard. I haven't done either.

I can't recall what the setup was like when new, I was a kid and just happy to have a strat.

The bridge routing is a little off, and there's a gap on one side of the neck, the little E will fall off if you don't string it right, but minor deal.

I set the guitar up with 1/8 inch string height from nut to body, and have filed the frets a few times to elimate scalloping, may consider a refret some day, but not yet.

Finish is basic nitrocellulose black. No body finish flaws, excepting scratches and dents from use, neck is holding up well. The edges of the neck have no finish...all worn off from playing, and the lacquer is breaking down between frets, no raw wood there yet.

Have replaced string saddles twice, with vintage style parts. I always use a little 3-in-1 oil on the saddles and the string tee to keep the strings limber, and let them float a bit.

Still

I have used it on many gigs with no backup...it's the only guitar I own period. It has held up really well, except the tone knobs no longer affect sound when turned.

The guitar has been dropped on its end, which left a huge asphalt pavement dent above the rear strap button. The damage sustained is further indication that the body is basswood. Its been knocked into things, fallen over, and generally suffered careless handling, but it keeps on going.

If anything the guitar has gotten better with every passing year and scratch, dent, ding, and bump on it.

Have no idea about customer support...never needed it.

I would like to get another one that is in less-played condition, in the event this guitar gives out...which is not likely. And with prices such as they are, I can't afford another one. If I was w/o a guitar, I would not even consider anything but either this or the Clapton strat (9-1/2 radius though)...I'd like to put a 25db boost circuit in this guitar! I love the 7-1/4 in radius of the 57 reissue strat.

This one is an '05 USA made, 21 fret, ash body because it has a see-thru Mary-Kaye Blonde finish; $150 US extra, but worth it. S/S/S/ pickups but you knew that. as a matter of course, you all about this guitar already, so I won't waste your time. Old school features for an old school guitar.

I've only had it for a few hours, and have only played it for about an hour, because it came from Wisconsin where it is very cold right now, so I put it back in the case to acclimate over night.
I play everything; it suits my styles very well. That is why strat's are so popular, they are indestructible and can do anything but maybe flamenco. As for amps, I use a variety from a kick-ass super reverb with Webers to a Vibrolux reverb to a Rectoverb 50 to a dual rectifier 412 to a JTM 45 to a '58 Tweed twin. I have many effects pedals but really don't use them because they aren't really needed. The sound of this axe is snappier than a regular Alder body. Almost Tele-ish, but with a more versatile sound palette. The 57/62 standard pickups are adequate, but I think Fralins are on the horizon for this one. I like everything about this strat, even though it's a crude instrument, it does everything it should.

In this category, Fender has come a long way. I have played for nearky thirty years now and have almost that many guitars. I have four strats and my real '57 doesn't play as well as this guy. The attention to detail is excellant, wire routing is pristine, finish is gorgeous and neck is flawless. i'm picky as hell but I feel like I really got a good one here. Love the soft V-neck too! Although the nut isn't as good as my'93 '57 R.I., it's still a very nearly perfect guitar.

C'mon; these guitars will outlast all of their non-Hendrix/Woodstock/Townshend owners. This stuff is generational. I've promised my collection to my teenage son and I'm sure his kids will have these Fenders long after guitar-driven music is a distant memory. The thing is, they just keep getting better with age as the wood and finish cures. I wish I did.

Never used them for support but they're always there for my nit-picky ass questions.

I've played a long time and own almost everything. Then again, do we really own anything? If stolen, I would hope to get another winner like this one.... and I'd papercut the thieve's eyes. This guitar is the best there is for what it does. Sure you can buy an Anderson or Grosh and the like, but why? I used to do that but I found that the drunk in the audience at the club wants to hussle the chick next to him and really could give a shit if your tone is "Holy Grail" or not. All those classic amps going to waste...

Update on an earlier review I made:

I've now owned it for about 4 years. A few mods:
* Re-installed 3-pos switch, rewired it like a tele (master volume and switch acts on the outer pups, the middle one uses the middle pot as volume so I can mix it in any combination, master tone)

* Graphite saddles to cut back on string-expenses.
They were installed at the same time as I did the wiring mod, dunno what caused the most tonal changes but it does sound a bit different.

It's still a strat and it's still very versatile. Even more so now.

The sound got a bit less bright after those mods, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I simply add a bit tremble on the amp-side if I want to compensate. The 7 pickup combinations are all great, the "all 3 at once" is fat and overwhelming, the "bridge+neck" sounds bigger than the 2nd pos out of phase (more tele-ish perhaps?).You all know the stock sounds, these two additional ones are great too.

It's still noisy, maybe even a bit more now with my poor soldering skills, but I'm gonna have it re-soldered to stock 5-pos. setup and add a miniswitch for the neck pup instead. Gives me all 7 sounds with less hassle.

It is now very well played in, I've adjusted everything to my taste as well. The 7.5 inch radius does mean that you need a bit higher action than on modern guitars, but I like to really "dig in" so I need high action anyway. I do keep the neck fairly straight so that I get a touch of fret-buzz when I hit it hard, adds a nice personality to the sound. The feel more than compensates for the disadvantages of radius and small frets, I still recommmend it.

I always bring a backup to gigs, but after installing the graphite saddles it hasn't broken a single string.

The finish has cracked a bit on the fretboard, exposing a hard and bright white polyester undercoat. Doesn't look good at all, but I can't feel it when I play.

The pickguard has also warped a bit, but that might have to do with my bad habit of sticking plectrums underneath it.

Overall: it doesn't look better with age, but it can still withstand a nuclear assault. Really solid construction and quality hardware.

The shop I bought it from had removed the small key that adjusts saddle height, so I e-mailed the scandinavian Fender importer and asked for one. It was in my mailbox 2 days later, free of charge.

This is the only guitar I've kept for this long. I've sort of grown more and more attached to it. Get one!

This is a follow up review of my 2001 aztec gold us '57 reissue. I've had it a few years now and just want to update my previous review. I havn't done anything to the guitar, no mods, not even installed the 5 way switch, don't need to, for position 2 and 4 you can just lodge it in between the settings on the switch. Isn't that what they used to do anyway before they invented the 5way switch?!

I still think that this guitar is THE strat to get. I think it has more character than the standard series, the 57 is just the basic strat, and it gets those classic strat sounds. Since getting this strat I have started using the bridge/middle and the bridge pickups selections a lot more, I used to find them to bright on other strats but they sound decent on this, obviously they can get a bit bright but as long as you play low down the neck it just sounds great, I find them excellent for playing with ur fingers, no pick, its a really organic kind of expirience. The neck pickup is still great and even a gorilla playing this guitar whilst wearing boxing gloves could get a great tone out of it. Ive even been using the middle pick-up on its own, how often do people bother with that, i think it sounds kinda decent. Overall it is a great strat that sounds like all the strat tones and sounds you have in ur head or uve heard on cd.

The guitar is now a good three or four years old, the nickel parts have dulled, personaly i quite like how it looks like now, i wouldn't say this was a defect, just the passage of time. Also the finish is starting to wear a little in places, mostly on where my right arm rests on the body, this isn't really a flaw, it is just what happens with nitro finishes, and as more years pass it will get even thiner and dry out, really letting the wood vibrate and resonate, I cant wait!

One thing that has happened is the pickgaurd seems to have warped a little bit on the top by the neck pickup, there is a good 2-3mm gap between the bottom of the pickgaurd and the body, it is a defect i suppose but it dosn;t really bother me, it makes a handy plectrum holder, it is probably keeping them there that has made the problem worst so its probably my fault.

All in all the guitar still looks absolutly beautiful! I'm giving it a 7 cos it dosn;t look exaxctly like it did brand new, it shows a few small signs of age, but these are all purely cosmetic. To me this dosn;t detract to how the guitar looks at all, infact i think it makes it look quite cool, but I know there are some people who don't like this kind of thing happening to their guitars.

I loved it when I got this guitar and I still love it now, it is starting to show signs of wear but then I have played it alot, i liked it so much, and ive played it hard, a few gigs here and there too.

The only downside with the guitar is that it constantly distracts me from uni and studying, I'm supposed to be revising now and I've only stopped playing the thing to write this cos my fingers actually hurt I've been putting of revising that long! I guess I should move it out of my study.

That is a 2001 '57 brand new sunburst stratocaster and when i said brand new it is brand new I open the carton box .with all case candy ... vintage gray wire ,vintage strap, polish cloth, ashtray bridge cover,5 way switching,tweed case.It the most simply guitar it is really easy to use.

This strat for me is not a shreded metal machine but that is what I wanted a vintage sound for playin' oldie (buddy holly). It sound like a vintage strat ...fully noisy when playing in the front of my computer.
I add the 5 way a year later when I understand I could not do the SRV tone in cold shot and many other song .

the factory set up is very look like a crap ... highly curved neck it take me 3 or 4 full turn of trusts rod adjustement screw. Floting tremolo with 3 springs is really bad it eat the sound of the guitar I reset with 5 springs .the strings are set too high ... after 3 years of playing I found in the finish a wood dust and the body where selected with the worst wood i seen the top of the guitar have a carved hole is not high but is there and the wood look like be scraped by a bear . The finish of the neck wear under and on the side of the neck start to show wear.

Fender exist for more than fifty years I think that is ok but for the case is another thing the case lactche spring broke after 10 month of use .

For the case waranty repair thats take more than 6 months to have another case and the music store dont pass me another case to put it in :S that is very bad

I been playing for 4 years and that is my main axe I loved it and if it is stole i re-buy again or i buy '52 r-i telecaster or a Sdr les paul maybe ?? not I re-buy a strat :) but I turn for a custom shop this time .If fender listen that I want pat. pendind saddle with right string guide placement.
for all its a great guitar for is price

1994 American Vintage '57 Reissue Strat Bought it used.

-21 frets
-4 Bolt on Maple neck, maple fretboard (the neck is not stock, but I believe it's still a Fender replacement neck for the RI's).
-alder body with NO SWIMMING POOL ROUTE! Nice s/s/s route, no cut corners.
-3 Fender custom shop passive single coil pickups (s/s/s)
-5 way slotted selector
-1 vol, 2 tones (I've modded this aspect though)
-turquoise green with finish that is naturally starting to relic... very good looking.
-vintage style tremolo bridge. No cover. These saddles need a special wrench to adjust them. The local tech gave me one for free.
-locking schaller tuners
-25.5" scale with standard vintage fender frets (medium sized.)

It's a strat, and it does everything it's supposed to do. Don't expect a metal-monster out of this, even through a high gain amp. Extremely quiet considering it's s/s/s. The bridge pickup has great bite, and the rhythm pickups are pristine and clear. Every sound a Strat is supposed to be able to make, this makes.

I play in a band with many influences (Soundgarden, Mars Volta, Primus, Jethro Tull, Mr. Bungle, etc), so I crank this. It's good for most of what I need, but I plan to get an H/H guitar to do what this can't.

When you buy a Strat, you're not supposed to expect heaviness to come out of it. It's a great sounding instrument.

Well, I got it used, and the setup was shoddy. Strings needed replacing. The bridge was pretty dirty, but I cleaned it a bit. Everything else is straight. It's used, so you can't expect much.

This guitar sounds best with 11's. Put 5 springs in the tremolo and tighten it down so that you can't divebomb, but still can use a vibrato.

I've played many a show without a backup on this guitar, and nothing bad has happened. Stays in tune even with the whammy used.

I need toothpicks for my strap button screw on the top horn, but it's a small issue. Nothing big here.

n/a

I've been playing for 6 years. I've owned this, a Squier Strat, and an Epiphone G-400.

I asked about everything with this guitar (product of research). On the description at the store, they said the neck was replaced with an Am. Standard neck. I pointed out that it couldn't be, as Am Standards have 22 frets, this had 21. Because of this, they knocked the price off from $550 to $400 for me. I had them open up the guitar so that I could see the routing pattern, everything. Top marks for the sellers also. I recommend them highly (ask for Dave Swick, the guy with the mohawk).

I made some changes to the guitar to suit my needs: I took out one tone knob and made the other one a master tone. In place of the old tone knob, I installed a kill-switch. Eventually I want to put a preamp booster in, but that's later on.

Considering I got this guitar for $400, I can't be happier. The locking tuners are godsends as well. I don't think I'm ever going to play live with a guitar that doesn't have these anymore. They keep you in tune even if you bend a note almost to the point of breaking the string.

2004, 21 frets,2 tone nitro cellulose finish. vintage frets, medium size V neck. Includes tweed case & 50's strap, cord, &ashtray bridge cove with 5 way switch. Beautiful finish & tinting on neck.

I play blues almost exclusively ( gotta get the old rock out of my system periodically). I play this through 2 Fender Bassbreaker amps. These are the custom shop version of the Bassman. The level of 60 cycle hum is amazingly low. I was quite suprised especially after having Joe Barden pup's in my Strat that I traded in on this one. The Joe Bardens are dead quiet. The sound is rich & full with a healthy balance & the right amount of brightness. Just like the Fenders of my younger days( when we could buy the real deal cheap). Classic vintage sound. Good job on the pickups Fender!

Guitar was set up perfectly which is suprising from the Fender factory & because I'm so picky about a perfect setup. I do all my own work & the set up was just as I would have done. Very little fretting out considering the 7.25 neck radius.

All vintage dependable hardware. Only ever had one problem with a Fender in 41 years. Had one pickup quit once. Not bad for the many, many Fenders that I.ve had over the years.

If you get John on the phone your in lick. He is a veteran & knows his stuff. The younger guys are helpful as well but have'nt lived the history of Fender. Never had to have a repair as the pick up was out of warranty & did it myself.

Been playing 41 years. Have Custom Historic Les Pauls, Custom Historic ES 335's. & this Strat. Traded a Custom Shop Classic Player Strat in on this. The quality of this guitar matches the '56 relic Fender Custom shop guitars. Played many of those & was able to do a side by side comparison on this one. The only difference I noted was that even though the neck profiles were indentical the '56 was slightly larger which I prefer but for half the price this neck is big enough for me. I believe the Vintage Series guitars (played a '52 Tele while there) are being made as faithful reproduction. I am 100% satisfied with this purchase. Would like to have two of these.

My babe is a mean green rock-machine and is bog standard except for a 5 position switch. It was born in Corona, Feb 7th 2002 so it's the newer version with the slight "V" neck and, like the reviewer pointed out below, has the little black dots in the right place at the 12th fret :-)
I have two of these, the other is a black 2000 issue and this new surf green babe differs in two ways from the black one. First, the pickups are way more powerful with a more full sound than the black one and secondly, the frets must have been dressed in such a way that the neck radius is flatter because I have the action set at 1.5 mm at the 12th fret and can bend the top E and B strings forever without it choking out. The black one has to be set at 2 mm and only just allows me to bend up one full tone. Green Strats!
Like the reviewer "Steve" said below, the Kluson tuners are the best non-locking locking tuners on the planet and like "Steve", I usually ditch locking tuners and retro fit Klusons on all my Strats, they are so light and never ever slip.

This one is real nice - - bell sounds, chimes, quack and twang all rolled up in one. I play it through a Keeley TS-9 tubescreamer, a Keeley Compressor and a Fender Vibrolux amp and with Keeley's pedals, well it's tone heaven. If you haven't played a Strat through a Keeley pedal then you're in for a treat.
Like all Vintage Reissues, you do get a bit of 60 cycle hum but not enough to be a bother. You just have to roll back the volume between songs and all's well with the world. There's no way I'd ever consider ripping out the pups and changing them for noiseless ones. It's like tearing the heart out of your mother! Even though the new fender SCM pups are just amazing, I buy 57s to be 57s, simple as that. I have a Deluxe Strat with the new SCMs and S-1 switch which I just love but you know, it's a different vibe to the 57 Reissue.
The one thing you have to be careful with is setting up the tremolo so that the outside screws are just level with the block and the inner 4 sitting a fraction above it. Once set up this way and with the help of a little glob of vaseline in the nut slots and under the string retainer, the guitar stays in tune all night.

fender always set the action a bit high because it reduces the chance of string buss etc and helps their instruments sel themselves so you always have to do a bit of tweaking. As mentioned above, this particular green girl tolerates a much lower action than her black sister so I guess its just a case of you get what you get!
I don't go searcxhing for like imperfections of finish, I mean, who cares. It's all about the vibe the guitar gives you and how it speaks to you and your audience.

keeley pedals and Fender Strats are immortal. I've never has any problems with Fender guiatrs, ever.

Never needed it

I've been playin for over 20 years and love all guitars. I have Les Pauls, Fenders, Guild and Gretsch and they all have their own vibe but if I ever get marooned on a desert island, I'd want a little 57 Reissue with me because they do two things really well, they sound beautiful and they make you smile.
Thanks Fender.

I picked this guitar up used in the mid 90's. It probably was a year or two old at that time. Pretty much an exact copy of the real thing right down to the 3 way switch. (I had intended to buy a Custom Classic Strat but it was gone when I came back with the cash.) Workmanship on it is very good and the weight and feel is very comfortable. A Strat is a beautiful thing!!! The neck aged very nicely over the years with some minor finish checking, spider web effect from adjusting to the climate. Looks real sweet.

I first bought this guitar because of the feel and the weight. I had been playing an Ibanez ES 335 style guitar which sounded great but was real heavy and quite uncomfortable to play the entire night. The stock fender pick ups sounded a little brittle with my setup so after a lot of research I finally swapped then for a set of Van Zandts. Can't say enough about those pickups!!! And, if you haven't heard a Strat with Van Zandts then you haven't heard a Strat!!! The Van Zandts have taken the brittle edge of the sound of this guitar and given it a nice warm round tone. Had George Ellison of Acme Guitar Works wire up a pick up assembly for it on a Mint Green 57 Strat Pickguard from Warmoth. I'm giving the sound of the guitar with the Van Zandts a 10 only because the scale doesn't go any higher.

After about 10 years of playing had the guitar refretted by the 12th Fret in Toronto Ontario. I had been playing at a resort south of the Bahamas and the humid climate and the salt water blowing in the background had taken it's toll on the guitar over the years. Went with a slightly bigger fret and the radius was flattened. Made the guitar a lot more playable. Ok so the guitar is no longer a stock 57 re issue but it has evolved into something that is extremely playable and if you ever check out original Strats you can see that they tend to evolve in the same manner.

The Guitar has servered me faithfully for over 10 years. Aside from the standard wear and tear that a guitar goes through it has never let me down. I have finally got it to the point where I'm real satisfied with the sound and feel of the guitar.

I have emailed Fender a few times on issues unrelated to this guitar. I typically have a guitar repairman look at my stuff so it seldom becomes an issue for Customer Support. My experience with but Fender and Gibson for that matter has been very positive.

I have been playing for over 30 years. My style is based primarily in the blues and R & B area with a setup that is pretty basic. Guitar to a Tube Screamer Mesa Boogie Mark I bit of Reverb... I have grown quite attached to this guitar and although there are times when you just need the sound of a Hum Bucker this is the guitar I play the most. If someone stole this guitar I'd be quited pissed!!! It's taken a long time to get it to the point where it plays this well. I might start looking for a backup so I have a spare but buying yet another guitar means I'll have to hear a whole bunch more nastiness from my wife about "how many Guitars do you really need" Come to think of it I wouldn't mind if someone got the idea to steal her I could live with that;-)... I would miss the guitar though if someone stole it. And if we forget about Political Correctness for a second you could always find another wife but another guitar that plays really good and sounds so sweet is much harder to find.

Mine is a 1998 American '57 Stratocaster Reissue. I believe this was the last year for the 'C' shaped neck, I understand the newer models have the 'V' neck. Another difference is that my pickups are of the non-beveled variety. I believe they sound the same as the beveled ones. Lastly, I have installed the five-way P/U switch (comes included).

Aside from that, my instrument is stock, see below for many fine similes of what that means.

On this instrument I play blues, classic rock and surf. Because I began playing in the era of Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhodes and Joe Satriani, I have a soft spot for metal. I would sooner put a saddle on my cocker spaniel and enter the Kentucky Derby, than I would attempt to belt out Eruption on this chap.

I originally purchased this guitar with the intention of substituting the original pickups with Texas Specials. Until I purchased this guitar, my Hot-Rodded Texas Special/Pearly Gates American Strat was my instrument of choice. It's now a tie. It depends on my mood. (Two totally different instruments.)

Somebody below mentioned "Shine on you crazy diamond" - that's a great description of the neck position sound. Forgive me if I have this backwards, but, if that is position 1, then position 2 makes for a great "Sultans of Swing". Position 3, I have not use for position 3. Position 4 makes for a great Dick Dale sound (that, assuming that Dick Dale were actually playing my guitar), or even "Mary Had a Little Lamb (SRV)". Position 5 (see position 3).

Back to my original comment though, I originally bought this guitar (used)in order to modify it. After playing it through my Fender Hot Rod Deville 4x10, I will change nothing. Let me say that again. I will change nothing. I don't even use pedals with this ax. I absolutely adore the clean glass-like sound of this instrument. While the Texas Specials may be more SRVish or Knopleressent, attempting those same licks with this axe will bring a big old smile to your face.

Yes, it can be noisy, but, that is part of its charm. Work with it. Noise is your friend. Embrace the noise! (If you don't like the noise, there are plenty of other great options from the folks in Corona.)

I started playing guitar 20 years ago and, back then, I would have hated this guitar - for the same reasons why I now love it. Turn up the volume on your amp and every little nuance of your playing can be heard, moreso than any guitar I've played. It breaths. It will make a good guitarist sound brilliant, and a bad one sound, well, bad.

I bought this ax with the intention of bolting on a '62 neck from the Fender Factory. When I brought this guitar home and really started playing it, I quickly realized that the original neck would remain. The action on this guitar is fantastic! I play it with 10's, which, I believe are factory spec. I have NEVER had a guitar with such close action and no fret buzz. I recently played a custom shop '56 and actually prefer the action on my guitar.

As for the finish. A used strat, to me, is kind of like a pair of jeans. It just seems to look better the more you use it. I'm not one to nit-pick, though, I must say that, for being five years old when I bought it (the guitar, not me) it looked pretty good.

I heard lots of whoeey about Nitro Cellulose versus Polyerathane. I've heard the Nitro (which this is) sounds better than the Poly. Really? In a SOLID body guitar? I'd be hard pressed to see someone substantiate that claim. (Most will disagree with me, and, I not a professional player.) What I do know is that the Nitro tends to age in a bit more organic way (more pleasingly to me lets just say.)

No corners appear to have been cut in the crafting of this fine instrument. It feels to me like a custom shop guitar. Wood looks well matched and cloth pick up wires are a nice touch!

The gents in Corona, CA did a very nice job on this guitar. Not only does everything work well, but, everything works well together.

Like I said, I bought this guitar five years old and the set up and sound were spot on. That should speak volumes. I doubt this guitar will depreciate much (what with folks paying extra for 'relics' these days). But it doesn't matter because I have no plans to sell it.

I've already said enough. I really like the 'C' shaped neck, though, I believe the newer 'V' shape is more historically accurate. If the guitar were stolen, I'd probably seek out a pre'98 'C' shaped neck version. That's just my personal preference.

I love everything about the guitar with the exception of the nitro finish on the neck. I don't dislike it enough to swap it out, but, I've gotten used to the feel of the satin-necks. Again, that is just preference. I would sooner put Sweet & Low in my Dom than I would change out anything on this ax.

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 !!!!

I have the mexican version of the '57 strat, I believe it was made in 2001, pickups are s/s/s with a 5 way switch. It is surf green with a maple neck and smallish frets. It has the vintage stamped tuners and a vintage tremelo.

I play everything from tom petty to AC/DC, the pickups are too brite for AC/DC but are great for clean sounds. I don't find it noisy unless I am near flouresent lights or a TV. You could cut glass with the sounds this thing makes thru my '72 gibson solid state amp.

The string buzz and the bucking of the pickguard drove me nuts until I added another screw above the middle pick-up and adjusted the action. I fell in love with this guitar and it's 1/3 tennis ball sized round neck and curved fret board. Stays tuned for days and days. The weather/humidty is about the only thing that will change tuning slightly.

This guitar will outlast me

I've had this guitar about 3 years and after trying many others I could not find a comparable replacement for what I paid.

Actually I'm just writing this review to try and explain Mr. Sony my point of view about the 57 fender reissue... It never ceases to amaze me how someone with 15 years of playing, gigging and gear experience could make such remarks about this particular piece of gear.
You don't by gear based simply on looks, you buy then because they sound good, at most, because they sound and look good, but never based "just" on the looks of it.
The neck is to fat? Well it's a 57 reissue, was it supposed to be "modern thin", what about the pickup issue! Why didn't they use noiseless? Is it so strange the fact that fender did not use noiseless pickups with a 57 reissue, please refresh my memory but since this is a reissue and I do not believe they had noiseless pickups back in 57, learn to live with the static man...
After reading your review I can't help but to feel sorry for you. I mean, you just spent 1200 euros on a guitar, that doesn't seem to live up to your standards, I believe you should stop and ask yourself wether that was a smart move... Maybe you need something like a standard model.
The only real flaw I can see with the reissues is the fact that the finish doesn't seem to be 100% nitrocellulose lacquer, which is not such a bad thing, if you think of it (even though I prefer instruments finished in oil, or 100% nitro).
So to sum it up, I believe fender has done a wonderful job with these vintage reissue series, these are truely great guitars, but you have to be logical about what you buy, and you have to know what you're buying...
In this case you bought a 57 reissue stratocaster, there is no complaining about low output pickups, static noise, fat necks or any other characteristics inherent to a reissue, you simply have to know what you're buying before you actually shell out 1200 euros for a guitar...

keep rockin...

2001 or 2002 USA same specs as the rest. ALder 2 tone sunburst. Nitrocellulose finish. v shaped neck, da-da-da-da-da... what it is is a strat - no extra features besides the face that Fender lets us have a taste of how they were originally made. Came with tweed case and all the other vintage goodies.

I have always wanted a '57 but lacked the $. It doesn't particularily fit my style as my main axe, but it is what it is - a legendary beautiful guitar with the best clean sound there is, period. It is noisy, but hey, thats single coils - but what a nice shaped sound they give. Not as loud as other stock SC strats. Everyone says the bridge pickup is trash. Maybe their amp is trash. If you want a guitar to put humbuckers in, buy a MIM strat and modify away and save your self some $. Eric Johnson gets a wicked sound out of his (original '57). BTW, it resonates unplugged better than most guitars, which is always good. Not the best axe for metal, but great for classic rock, jazz, country, BLUES, etc.

I got a deal on mine because the finish had a couple little blems. DO NOT HANG THESE ON STRING SWINGS OR PUT ON STANDS FOR LONG PERIODS! The synthetic rubber of stands interacts with the nitor and marrs it up. Be careful! Everything elese is great. Thes are not bookmatched, just pretty wood. V neck is awesome. I love the small frets and sometimes I hate them. Depends on what lick/style you're trying to do.

Strats are THE workhorse guitar of all time (along with Les Pauls, but you have to baby those somewhat). Jeff Beck said he threw his strat up in the air 15ft. and he missed it and it smashed onto the stage. He picked it up and it was still in tune with nothing wrong with it. That's a tank! Don't do that with a Gibson product though! Finish is meant to wear off like the old ones. Comes with the territory. Hey, people pay an extra $500 or more nowadays to have a "relic" look. I never gig without a backup.

I have only dealt with a Fender dealer and all was good.

Playing 21 years (since 9). If stolen, I may purchase one again if I could get another deal like this. I don't plan to play it too much as I have a MIJ strat modified to my likings. I own 2 other strats, A Marshall JCM 800 rig, Fender Precision bass, Martin D-16GT, and a Washburn J28SCEDL Jumbo acoustic electric.

I think mine was a 2002 version of the Fender 57 USA reissue. Sunburst and 22 Maple frets that looks like marble, and feels like marble too.

I play mostly blues based rock. Problem i have is that the stock pups seems not strong enough. the bridge pickup is not too good for harmonics and stuffs. the neck pickup is great though. AND WHATS WITH THE BUZZ? Strange why fender used these pickups when they have noiseless ones.
i have experimented on different amps, I am using a fender blues deville, and some effects...but most of the time i have to get the volume of the amp really high to be heard in the mix(over the bass and drums).
Maybe i need to play it more often,but right now, its just a back up to my Gibson Les Paul.

From the store, it had a very light gauge strings(.08's). I used .10's and when i changed the strings the first time, the action was really high, it took me some time to get the proper action.
but on the physical side, this guitar is a beauty....its just too beautiful to be played in...when i initially bought it, i just looked at it admired it like a showroom guitar...

I do not like the neck so much because it is too fat for me, this is actually the 2nd thing i dont like from this guitar next to the pickups...but its brand new, might need some getting used to.

who knows? but Fenders usually last longer than life itself.

Fender has Cust Support?

ive been playing music for the past 15 years now and gigging for half that time.i think i have reasonble experience when it comes to guitar gears and stuffs. but it still amazes me to see and hear great guitars..the reason i got this guitar in the first place is that it just looks so sweet,the fretboard is amazingly beautiful and smooth. Too bad the neck is too fat, its not a fast neck like the Standards, or the clapton and blackmore series...

Basic strat SSS setup, American Made re-issue
vintage sytle guard and knobs
V neck
very nice guitar
got used with some buckle rash on the back

Had a beautiful full strat - clean/blues/classic rock sound
NOT suited for metal, hey buy a metal guitar (I've got 5 of them)
nice big open sound, great neck PU sound, nice 'quacky' bridge/middle combo
all around, it does what it's designed for

OK, so it was used and had buckle rash on the back, that aside

This is a very nice strat, I've had a few
The aged look of the neck is great as is the feel
I CAN play super fast runs on it, but try not to

An all around sweet axe

My stepdaughter is using this to learn on as it's the only electric I have without a floating trem
It's built solid so I have no concerns

I absolutely recommend it if you can get it used.
There is nothing so special about ti that I would advise paying the $1200+ new price
I would buy another at $650 if I NEEDED another guitar.

1999 us 57reissue, surf green. It's a strat It hase all the features it needs. To me there is nothing better than a nice vintage strat(even reissue) into a nice tube amp.

For my musical it's beautiful. I think it's funny some the reviews that sayed they didn't like them. That's it's not good for metal or punk, well no Sh#t! Play it with some soul through a nice warm tube amp and it can't get any better to me.

Even the originals,(I have a few a 56, 63, and a 72) are inconsistant. I recommend trying a few out to pick your favorite. I tend to like the heavier weight ones for some reason they just sound better to me. All I've tried are sweet, but some just fit me more than others.

This guitar, not on purpose, has been through hell and back. Off stages,down stares and countless other things. It now looks like one of those custom shop relics. But the thing is just as strong as it ever was. I picked it up after falling down a flight of concrete stairs and it was still in tune!

never have dealt with fender.

If I came across any guitar in this price range with this kind of vibe, I'd be all over it. Thats why my girlfriend keeps me away from the store.

1957 re issue 1987 manufactured made in usa
bought new in 1987. stock single coils never been worked on sunburst paid
$850 in 1987 came with twweed case

when new 1st thru 5 years it sounded kind of tinny. after playing many many countless hours and getting older it sounds soooooo swweet did i say it sounded sweet.is it noisy you bet. i think the hum should be recorded just from strats would make a nice cd, though cause it seems the more they hum the better they sound.bridge pickup is trash but so were the originals. with a tube head it sounds just fine though. you must set it up for thicker strings but thast is no big deal.

built like a brick shi-- house. the finish is cracked now every one wants to buy it. frets are worn down but that only enhances sound. back of neck is worn. when these strats age (be patient) they get a truly best sound. i think they are still number 1 for sounds including my areas local guitar boutique maker prs. a strat does it all hands down thank you very much

screws have rust who cares i do not. as dependable as my old chevy truck.finish is identical to a real 576. for someone who vares for sounds not looks buy an 80's usa reissue you will pay as much now as then but i think they are as close to the holy grail for a guitar can ben

huh

been plyin 35 years all kinda stuff old school guy slow but steady. if it was stolen i would find another one,

Purchased new in July of 2000 from musicians friend for $1159. Made in USA (no Mexican Crap thank you very much) 21 frets, maple neck, alder body.

The stock pickups were horrible. All three were trash in my opinion. This is a great guitar... with a little work. I put a seymour duncan little '59 in the bridge and also put a ssl-5 and a quarter pound in. This fully unlocked the potential of this guitar.
With a humbucker in the bridge you can get the distortion you need for more aggressive music. I play everything from miles davis and joe pass to Slayer and this covers almost the entire musical spectrum. Strats are the most versatile of all guitars and of course i bought this for the clean tone. If you want a metal tone get something else, unless you're Iron Maiden!. I play my slayer, metallica, megadeth, entombed ect. on my flying V, not this. The tone you get from the neck pickup is outstanding. I can really nail little wing with this guitar. I'm giving out a 6 for the tone category just because of the original stock pickups.

This guitar was setup good, although I raised the action and put 13's on to get an even better tone. You should always play a guitar first before you buy it. The '57 reissue models have very sticky necks. Don't fret though, you'll get used to it and eventually in time the wood sets in and the neck becomes very smooth.

Very durable. It took me 3 and a half years to finally get around to writing this review, but over time my tremelo bar has started to rust and some of the screws have rusted as well. I never really polish my guitars so i'm sure that is the reason. But who cares about a little rust, it's only cosmetics.

never had to deal with fender.

Been playing about 5 years. I have a truckload of effects, a '62 reissue fender strat (USA), a gibson '67 flying V reissue, a marshall tsl 100 jcm 2000 amp and blah blah blah. This '57 strat is great and i would definitely buy another if i had to replace this one. If you have any more questions about this guitar you can email me, ladies don't be shy, i'll email you my picture if you live in the Albany, NY area and we can make beautiful music together.

New in 2003. American Vintage 57 Strat. 21 Vintage Style Frets. Alder Original Contour body (fits like a glove). 3 New American Vintage Strat Single-Coil Pickups, Vol,Tone,Tone. Fender/Gotoh? Vintage Style Tuning Machines, One piece Maple neck 7.25? Radius. American Vintage Synchronized Tremolo with ?Ash Tray? Bridge Cover. I immediately changed the 3 way switch to a 5 way witch that came with the guitar. Came with a tweed case loaded with goodies. Basically loaded with the original features.

I play Rock on this bad boy, and Rock it does! I have it plugged in to a little 30 Marshall DFX amp. It has that original crisp 50's style sound, and with the 5 way switch upgraded. You can get that 60's Eric Clapton sound too. I haven't found any dislikes yet. I'm still in awe over the work of art. I have a Gibson, and I wasn't used to the A/C hum that Strats produce. But I had already read about it, so I got used to it real quick.

The guitar was set up nice from the factory. The manual did warn about a bunch of factors that could alter the setup before arrival to its final owner, but mine came in great. Everything flawless.

Come on this is a Strat... A guitar for the rocking masses. All the vintage hardware is Sweet! I wouldn't think twice about needing a backup for this one. The body has a lacquer finish instead of polyurethane, and the finish was excellent. The neck had the nitro finish which is also excellent.

Limited Lifetime Warranty. This was a funny one. After reading the warranty. Fender basically warranties the body and neck for life, but nothing attached to them. So if the body crack, or the neck cracks. It's covered. Everything else had a shorter warranty.

I play a Gibson ES-335, and I bought this guitar for my wife. She was absolutely ecstatic. She rocked out on it right away. I got a chance to play it later, and I was very impressed. We've both been playing 25 years. If we lost it I would have to get another immediately. It is everything that I hoped it would be. I can't afford a 64' or earlier Strat. And this one is truly a faithful representation of the original. I can't say enough about the low cost and great vintage sound this guitar has.

This is just a standard reissue jap strat, so the features are somewhat lacking. However, if you are looking for that straight strat sound with no messing about and with a not so hefty prive tag, then this guitar is as good as it gets.

I play a fusion of jazz, rock and blues, so this guitar suits me down to the ground. It sounds like a strat should sound. Clean and jangly but when used with some valve overdrive (i use a JCM 800 with two 4x12's) it really opens up especially at the bridge. When using a clean sound, I suggest that the 2nd and 4th pickup positions as they are nice and fluidic. The only negitive point is that as the pickups are factory standard, when not used out of phase, they can be quite noisy, but are bearable!!!!

I simply cannot complain, the set up was spot on, the finish was prestine and there was not one flaw in the finish.

I love jap strats (hence why i got one) and i would say that this strat would stand up to anything that gigging and studio work would throw at it
The tuning pegs are stong and it has never let me down as yet. (fingers crossed eh!!!!)

N/A

I have been playing for 14 years and own a les paul black beauty custom and a '52 reissue US tele, so this strat is price wise the bottom of the pile, but when purchasing it, i tried a plethora of us strats and various other models, and i have to say that this is one of if not the most comfortable strat i have played. OK its features are basic and it doesnt have the monetry value or the poser status of a yankee job, but all that said and done, its sound and playability really blew me away and i would advise anyone who is looking for a good priced stat to try out one of these (if they come your way!!!) as with any guitar, its down to the individual of what you like and what you dont, but like i said, this guitar is well worth a look, I would most definatly be vexed is this was stolen, and would definatly buy another!

This guitar was made in the US, it has 21 frets, and it has a beautiful maple fretboard. This guitar has vintage pickups, that sound pretty good. My guitar has a nice color, you can see the wood through it, but it's kind of cream. It has a tremolo and the tuners are vintage tuners. It has the strat body of course, because it is a Fender Vintage 1957 Reissue. It is about 2 years old, I bought it 2 years ago brand new. The neck is very thing and the frets are small, which I like a lot. It doesn't have that many features, but what guitar has many features?

This guitar fits my music style perfectly. I play mostly heavy metal, hard rock, and I often play Metallica and Korn. This guitar sounds good for only one purpose in metal, the clean sounds, the nice warm clean sounds that it brings is really nice. Also, this guitar has a lot of sustain, the pickups are pretty hot. This guitar makes you want to shred your brains off, everytime I hold it I have to shred. It is an extremely comfortable guitar, especially the fretboard. I use this guitar with my JBL PA system at home. I use it through a POD, sounds pretty good. This guitar surely has a full sound. This guitar can sound from shreddy Yngwie Malmsteen style, to Metallica's ONE (the beginning). I like this guitar a lot, but as you know, no guitar is perfect. But it feels good, plays good, sounds good, what else do you want in a guitar?

When I first bought this guitar, I brought it home and it sounded horrible. It was buzzing like crazy, it sounded fine at the store, but once I hooked it up at home, the nightmare comes. The action was very very high, which pissed me off because I like my actin low. Also, when I brought it home I realized my tremolo bridge was messed up. Except for those problems, my guitar didn't have any physical flaws. I took it back from where I got it, and they supposately fixed it. They said they can't fix the tremolo and the put the action low a bit.

This guitar will withstand live playing because it is made really well and it is a really good quality guitar. The hardware seems like it will last forever. The strap button are kind of small, but it has a good hold onto my strap, it has never failed me. I can depend on this guitar fully, except I tend to break strings often, it's just me. I would use this as my backup, because my main guitar is a PRS and a Gibson Les Paul.

Ok this is the part that sucks. As you know, I took my guitar back to the shop I bought it from. They weren't helpful at all and I got really pissed, they simple said "we don't have the tools to fix it". I tried calling Fender, but guess what? They don't have a phone number, I looked everywhere. It is suppost to be under waranty, but how can it get fixed by Fender if I can't even find Fender's phone number?

I've been playing for about 3 years.The other gears that I own are:
-Gibson Les Paul 25/50th Anniversary
-Paul Reed Smith CE 24
-Fender American Telecaster
-Acoustic Ovation
I compared this to my other guitars. But, I like all of them, they all have their good parts and bad parts. The flaw I found in this guitar is that it's a pain in the ass to palm mute it, something bad for metal players. Other than that, it rules. If you want a guitar that you can palm-mute easily and play crazy metal, but a PRS.

Mine's a Mexican 57 Reissue that i picked up used. I knew i had to get it as soon as i saw it. Surf Green and I've installed a red tortise shell pickup to give it a unique look, i didn't like the flimsy white pickup it came with. Aged knobs and pick up switch. I like fenders two because they're small, light models with a superior sound and durability. This guitar is the embodiment of that. Also came with a cool, retro hard-shell case to protect it.

I play punk-influenced rock. For my distorted sound, i was never really satisfied with the mexican single coils: they were tinny, lacked a punch and were noisey as hell. I did replace the bridge pick up with a Dimarzio fast track 2. The mexican single coils on the clean setting get a solid sound, so i use the middle position for that.

I bought this used so there were some adjusting/realignment that had to be done on the bridge, but i've had that fixed. Compared to other fenders i've played the action is a little tight, but not so much. I'm so used to it and it's so minute, its not a big deal at all.

As a used guitar it had a few scratches and chips, and i've added a few more myself. I once even dropped it and threw out the nut, but after I adjusted it sounded perfect. This guitar also holds tune really well. I've a week and a half without having to tune it. The only reason i bring a back up guitar to gigs is for broken strings. I've never had to be concerned about any of the electronics, or durability.

Never had to deal with it.

the biggest "problem" with this guitar was the mexican pickups (which don't have a good reputation anyway), and i love to customize my instrument anyway. Those who want a great pickup sound/configuration right out of the box may want to test this instrument out first to see if they're satisfied with it. But it is a fender, which kind of speaks for it sefl. I use this as my main guitar and I love it to death. I plan on playing it for the rest of my life.

You know the features, 3 single coils, one piece "V" shaped maple neck and fingerboard, wammy bar, one master volume and 2 tone controls.

I've played and owned a number of strats. Started with a 1974 none trem model - blonde with rosewood 'board. Really skinny neck ("c" shape) and super low action wich I strung with a set of 8's. No wonder it sounded weedy. Also had a strat plus with lace sensors, but it didnt sound authentic to me. The 57 reissue, mines a blonde one, has that wonderful bell like neck pick up tone. That sound alone made me buy this guitar. Sounds just like Gilmour. Or Jimi, or Robin or SRV. Bags of bass n treble and loads of sustain. Ane even the bridge pick up kicks ass.
Play through an Orange Ad15, 12" speaker, revalved with Harma valves and a Boss GT5 that I may well ditch soon. It aint good enough for the guitar and amp. Was ok with my squire and Laney LC15. Want to get me a Deja Vibe 2 from Fulltone.

So solid and stable compared with other strat variants I've played. Neck joint is rock solid. To quote Keith Richards. "This aint no toy". Action perhaps a little high, but it makes for better sustain, less choking and facilitates digging in. It all adds to the vibe. The trem works fine, but does send it out of tune.. can't have everything. I cant work out how Dave Gilmour keeps his in tune.

Built like a tank.

Never had a problem that delaer couldnt fix, and no problems with this one. I have a rpo tech set it up every cuple of years or so.

A rock and roll icon and rightly so. It's also the best piece of furniture / art in my house. Just begs to be gazed upon.

my strat has a maple neck, three single coils, and a two tone sunburst - a '57 reissue, like Buddy Holly and so fourth. I think it's considered a V - neck. It has less frets then an american standard, maybe 21 frets. A classic strat from the old days. the tuners are the old style where you stick in the string from the top. Very small frets, neck kinda' fat.

i play start style on this guitar - funk, hendrix, so fourth. if I want to play stuff like Iron Maiden I pick up one of my other guitars which have a humbucker. This guitar has a vintage sound - you go threw the pickup positions and you recognize sounds from different records. It has all the vintage sounds the old strats made.

The pickups on this guitar have a nice tone but are weak. However, hte guitar has a serious sustain, don't ask me where it gets it from. one day i'll change pickups then see what will happen, 'cos now i can only see the potential of this guitar - it's not good enough with the original pickups, but i'll give it a high grade 'cos pickups can be changed.

I bought the guitar used, so the factory setup doesn't aply here. the guitar is made perfectly, no gap between the neck or body or whatever.

The thing i noticed the most about this guitar is that it's a little hard to play. possibly because of the small frets, and the fat neck. you cannot realy play fast on tiny frets as on jumbo. However, with the great sustain and your fingers barely moving on the neck you're imagining that your as closest to David Gilmour as possible - every note gets attention. It feels sticky, but that's maybe what this guitar is about. Accepting that, the guitar gets a 8. BUT because of the limitation, i couldn't imagine having this as my only guitar.

one problem however is that the truss rod on the guitar donesn't do it's work completly. even when completly loose, the neck still needs relief. I guess I'll change to 10's, but that shouldn't be a condition for the guitar to have a good setup. as it is right now, the low E string is creating a bad buzz.

The guitar seems to be totaly reliable.

never had to deal with them. maybe i should mention here that I rarely met a guitar repairman who realy knows how to adjust a strat - maybe it's only my bad luck. I've decided to always buy a new guitar from now on.

The guitar is great for what it is - an old stlye strat. Small frets mean slower playing and more difficulties, but that's the beast. Mine has some problems, but i played others that were great. The Japanease did a great job with this guit. Again, i would not like this to be my only strat.

Ny 57 Fender srat is japanese and was made sometime in the June of 1989. It has the two tones and a volume, it came with 5-way selector but i swapped it for a American 5-way selector. The finish is two tone tabbacco sunburst and the wood grain gives a tiger stripe effect on the back. The neck is Maple with 21 frets. I think the body is basswood. The tunners are Kluson like, the guitar stays in tune even though I use tremolo a lot. It came with nothing, i suppose if anything came with it brand new they kept cause i brought it second hand.

It sounds as near to the Buddy Holly sound as I want, they are full sounding even though its through a home use amp, i suppose you can get what ever sound you want out of it but i use mainly a clean sound, maybe with a bit of reverb, or i use a distorted sound. I cant find anything to not like about the sound.

I Have set the guitar to how i like it, the finish on it was alright had a few chips on it, because i used to like things to be perfect i had it relaquered, but i found it was pointless because of me using it all the time many of the marks have returned. The other thing i had done was a refret.

I Have had the guitar since 2001 and it has not let me down, everything stayed tight after neary 13 years. I can rely on this guitar, but if i ever went to a gig i would still take my other strat incase the strings brake. Before having the guitar relaquered the laquer seemed thin because when i put my capo on it lifted the laquer.

Never needed any

I have played since the march of 2001 and had my srat in the june of that yaer, i have a peavy acoustic, a squire strat and a American Deluxe Strat. If my giutar was stolen, after a mager brake down i would have a american vintage 57 strat. I think personly compares to my american deluxe i think it sound more aless the same and th build quality is very high. I am glad i have this guitar because i think the wood grain on it is better than any other 57 reissues i've seen.

I have 3 of these guitars 5 (I love them). They were all made back in 1982 in the USA Fullerton Original Factory. One is a gorgeous blond nitro lacquer finish which has become yellowish with age. And the 2 others are 2-tone SunBurst. The blond one has the highly sought after original red bobbin pickups. The 2 others have original black PUs. Body is alder on all guitars. Everything is 100% original on all of them.
I'll give them a 10 cause I do not need more than the features found on a vintage Strat.

I own several "real" '50s and '60s Strats and Teles from 40+ years of playing and collecting guitars. These early Fullerton babies have the sound and vibe. Exactly like the originals!! I would never sell those. I don't have to worry about finding another one were they lost or stollen. That's why I bought 3 when I could still find them easily. They are just great guitars, period.

I bought them used 19 years ago and had them prof. set up. The finish on all 3 of them is very thin nitro lacquer like the originals and has aged beautifuly as well.

What you would expect from a vintage Strat. Rock Solid.

Never had to deal with it.

I've been playing for 40+ years and play mostly the blues.
The only thing I wished was better on these early RIs is the head shape and body contour around the arm rest.
But when I play and hear the sound, I forget that!!!
The neck of these guitars is so sweet!!!

US made in 2002. Maple neck with a nice V-shape. White Blonde Nitrocellulose finish on a fairly light weight Ash body. Tweed case, ashtray bridge cover, strap and cable included a la 1957. The strap, cable and bridge cover I just put away for safekeeping-no need for them really-nice little additions though.

I play power-pop and alt.country, I use this Strat when I need more tonal variety in a particular song than what I can get from my '52 Tele reissue. I use this with a Vox AC30 and Tech 21 Trademark 60.
Noisey? a bit, but it is supposed to be as authentic to a 50's Strat as possible right? I find the noise level ok for my taste.
Might be the Ash body combined with the finish, but this Strat sounds great even unplugged.

Set-up was fine, though I did change the .009-.042 strings to a .010-.046 set (store must have put them on-Fender puts .010's on at the factory as far as I know. Added an extra spring to the 3 on there and loosened the claw a bit-bridge still flush with body.
There is a very small piece of finish missing on the lower part of the cutaway, the dealer took an extra $50 off for that. Pretty hard to notice.This particular store (chain) seems to have tendency to get it's guitars damaged in small ways by their cleintele.

I hope the finish wears down!...eventually. I have no use for the types of "thick skin" Poly finishes that Fender has used since they did away with Nitro on their standard instruments.
I'd say I could depend on this Strat. Would gig without a backup as far as I can depend on the electronics etc.

Haven't had to deal with Fender

Been playing for a little over 20 years. Would replace this straight away if I had to-would go for the White Blonde again-worth the extra $ to get the Ash body-not knocking Alder-just a personal preference.
What I like most about this Strat is how comfortable it is and (most of all) the sweet airy sound, especially plugged straight into my Vox AC30 or maybe with a little compression or overdrive from a Rangemaster Treble/Full Range Booster.
I did compare this with the '57 Reissue in Sunburst (Alder body). This just sounded better to my ears with a reissue Fender Twin in the store set for a clean tone. Unless you always use lots of processing I would recommend making sure the guitar you choose sounds killer with a clean amp setting-for my money that will make for a better sound no matter what you do with the tone, effects or overdriven amp wise.

It's black , chipped and came with a seriously worn maple neck. The guitar had been negelected by previous owners. I suppose the seller needed money for his habit. I rescued it for $300.00 which included tweed case. The frets were worn as well as a lot of the finish on the neck. The guitar was made in 1990.

I replaced the pickups with DiMarzio Virtual Vintage, Blues and Heavy Blues on the neck, middle and bridge. The neck was replaced with a 62 rosewood genuine Fender replacement. I replaced the tuners with Sperzel locking, the bridge with a Wilkinson and had a wilkinson Roller Nut installed.

Once it was set up and prts replaced , it was brought back from the dead.

Excellent now!

Never dealt with Fender

I will not take any amount of money for it and one of the jerks at Guitar Center wanted me to sell it to him in the worst way..Never!

You'll have to pry iy out of my cold, dead fingers!

A 1990 U.S 57 Reissue, 21 frets, original neck and middle pickup, I changed the bridge one for a 70's strat ( for a bit fatter tone),
us dollar 450.00 second hand(a bargain) Serial no V035638
I believe the 'V' designates american made.
It came with a tweed case

The sound is that typical bell sound on the bridge, a thinner sound than my les paul, I like the sound so much , I hardley use any effects, just some reverb and distortion , I am using a Laney TF200 tube fusion amp, its good for most stuff(except slide- a bit thin for that). This is a guitar that you can get lost in playing, I love just sitting down and messing around for hours . I travelled US and Canada for two years with a practice amp- it is all you need to enjoy it.

The only mods I have done - graphite string savers( mainly for sustain and a smoother sound) on the bridge and a 70's strat pickup , the setup is as per the factory( or the shop I bought it from), no problems with the quality, it has a great nitrocellulose paint job(lime green)

I don't gig with this guitar( I don't want it beaten up or stolen), It does chip if you hit or drop it, I changed the strap setup for a lockable type, I Have had this guitar for 13 years and no problems so far, so I don't worry about a backup.

I bought it in the states in 1990 and I live in australia, I bought it second hand from Norm's rare guitars.

I have been playing for about 30 years, I also own a les paul copy(now my slide guitar) a ibanez blazer, a amena classical, laney tf200 amp. If it was stolen - I probaly couldn't afford to replace it(in Australia they are very expensive)This is my favourite guitar (and best sounding), I travelled around LA at the time and played all the reissues in the shops and this one was the best sounding one( not to mention the cheapest) go on sound alone if you are buying one, the other things can usually be fixed later.

This guitar was made in 1989 (V044469). I have to tell you that I tried out at least a dozen '57 reissues before I found one that "spoke to me". Features were standard Strat, no need to rehash what a real Strat is. After trying out all the reissues the store had to offer and was dissatisfied the salesman said he had one in the basement that I might like to try. He was put off by its color, Daphne Blue. This just a bit darker than Sonic Blue and was a color I was not turned off to.
The guitar had its switch knob missing and the trem bar was missing as well.
This guitar sounded like a real Strat! Bell like tone, clear and clean. It just had that real Strat tone. You know that spank that spells Strat all over.
I had to have it!
It was missing some dubious accesories like the strap but it did have the ashtray cover.
This one was a good one!

How does it sound???? Like a Strat!!
Spanky yet warm.
I have played only one other Strat that sounded better and that was a '64 that I played trough a real refurbished '65 Deluxe.
If you have never played the real thing then you have no idea how great a simple guitar can sound through a simple amp.

I have refretted this baby with jumbo frets to make bending a bit easier. I play mostly blues so this makes some sense. I also did a rewiring job on the pickups. Check this out!!!
Using a three position switch..... The first knob is a master volume, the second is a master tone for all pickups including the bridge pickup!
The last knob is a volume knob for the middle pickup! I know you don't get this implication at all.
In the first position I can get the neck pickup alone or the neck and middle with the last knob turned up. Think about that! You can blend that pickup in.
In the second position I can get the neck and bridge pickup together or all three together! All the while setting the tone knob how I want in any combination.
In the last position I can get the middle and bridge together or the bridge alone... again with the tone knob available. Yes the tone available for the bridge alone as well!!

All this with a three position switch! The only thing you lose is the middle pickup alone... and who uses that!

Plays like a dream right out of the box. But like anything as personal as your right arm it needs to be tweaked.
I know a guy who does not play that well and bought a reissue and he loves it. It is a nice guitar but I would need to change some things before I would use it. This is not a bad thing. It is so easy to customize a strat that that is one of the reasons for it's enduring quality.

Wow! I have abused this plank and it just keeps coming back for more.

Never needed it.

Been playing for 40 years and have owned a Les Paul Custom, '68 SG, Telecaster, Ibanez pointy guitar, and many others... played even more.
I would definately buy another if this was stolen. After I had a nervous breakdown! Try a bunch of them till you find your voice.

probably made between 86 and 88. USA
Black laquer finish. I had the bridge pick wired to the midle tone pot. standard vintage pick-ups. I had the neck replaced with a 62 vintage rosewood. (genuine fender replacement part)
standard vintage trem and tuners. it came with a tweed case. I paid $500.00 for it.

I play everything and for some styles I use it instead of my 67 gibson flying v reissue.
It has a little hum but oh well. It has the jangley, glassy vintage sound.
I use a peavey 25 watt bravo with a vintage celestion 30 speaker, cry baby, boss metal zone and a boss compressor also a dod chlorus and mxr phase 90

everything is perfect for me

enough said

Glad I didnt get a reg/deluxe strat... those seem to be STIFF AND COLD. This guitar is WARM. the laquered maple neck is one of the main reasons why i bought this. The neck is soooo smooth, like silk! The v shape neck is awesome for the Hendrix thumb but also for classical-thumb behind the neck technique. Quite Versatile. Pickups are pretty hot but also noisy. Tuners are the oldstyle, pretty neat but irrelevant. The vintage case is cool but i prefer the new molder smaller case. Fender gives you other goodies including a strap. They might as well have sent you a shoe string, But this is irrelevant also.

Sounds like a Strat should!!! You can just feel Jimi or SRV screaming thru. Pickups are pretty hot but as expected very noisy. Im gonna try the Lace sensors.

Any guitar you buy new will need to be readjusted to your liking. I bought this online (zzounds.com) and they sent me a near perfect axe! No flaws.

USA strat, its a workhorse.

na

Owned this for 3 months, its still growing on me everyday. I love it. Glad I didnt get a reg/deluxe strat... those seem to be stiff and rough on the fretboard. This guitar is WARM. Play it with soul!

My 1957 Reissue Stratocaster was made in Japan during the first week of production in early 1982. It's Serial Number is JV-00339 and is not a Squier. The first 500 of these were not sold either to the Japanese or American public, but to friends of Fender Japan in private sales. The guitar has an alder body, nitro finish that is very well done, vintage two-color sunburst finish, 21 frets, 3-way selector like the originals, three non-staggered 1980 Fender custom wound pickups (Fender had not produced vintage pickups at this time and used American Fender hardware available at the time), tremelo, string through construction as you would expect, 8 screw single ply pickguard, four bolt neck, and soft V maple neck. I bought a vintage '70's Fender black tolex case for it. This is the early version that the Fender USA managers "almost cried" over due to the excellence of the construction and similarity to the vintage '57 Fenders. Also, unlike what another reviewer stated, most original '57 Fender Stratocasters bodies were alder, although the early '57's did have ash bodies. I'd rate the guitar as a 10, but as the Fender had not made vintage parts at the time, it isn't an exact replica - Fender USA wasn't up and running to make these vintage models until 1983, making this particular JV series (non-Squier) particularly historical as the first overseas Fenders ever produced.

My music style(s) are diverse and I play rock, ballads, folk, blues, and my own compositions. The Stratocaster is one of 10 guitars I own and it's talents can handle most of the music I play, other than the ballads and folk where I rely on my Martin D-35 (1971). The only amp I own and really need is a 1969 Fender Twin Reverb with AB763 "blackfac" circuit and Original Oxford speakers. The pickups produce a slight hum, but the hum is readily overcome once I play. The guitar can crunch or chime depending on how I set the amp and the pickups, plus any effects that I choose - it's a very versatile guitar. It doesn't have the robustness of my Tokai "Reborn Old" '58 LP replica or the twang of my Custom Esquire made by Rob Allen (Rob Allen Guitars), but is reliable in most cases. I can't say that there's anything I dislike about the sounds, just that it has it's limitations like most guitars based on the pickups, construction (bolt on vs. set neck) and woods used. It's quite capable of handling Eric Johnson tones more than my other guitars. My rating is based on what I expect out of a Stratocaster and I don't expect it to be able to do everything...so, it meets all expectations in this respect.

Action, fit and finish are all excellent with the action where I like it - low, with a little buzz - and how I set it up. The pickups "react" fine other than the bridge pickup seems to be a bit weak, but that's probably age...could be I haven't raised it close enough to the strings. I bought the guitar used from a collector in Japan...it has some minor dings that are not through the finish. Nothing's loose...all fittings are still taut after 20 years.

It's a Strat...so, it'll handle any banging around other than a Pete Townsend bashing to the floor. As a collector's guitar, it has been maintained extremely well and all hardware is like new without any tarnish and the paint still looks like it was done yesterday (other than those minor dings). Yeah, I'd use it without a backup if necessary, but I have plenty of backups and would a couple of them around mainly for different songs - I have complete confidence in the Japanese quality standards of the late '70's and early '80's, so as far as reliability this guitar is IT. Japanese quality standards exceeded U.S. standards based on their statistical quality control protocols prescribes by E. Deming, Juran, and Crosby and it shook not only Fender and Gibson, but GM, Ford,Harley-Davidson and American Motors. Don't let the "only good if made in the U.S." folks steer you clear of foreign made products based on quality, these Japanese Stratocasters and the old "knock-offs" (Tokai, Ibanez, Yamaha) were more consistently better made at a time when U.S. businesses were focusing on short term profits and lost market share to the Japanese because U.S. quality was unreliable - since I've started this diatribe, let me add that just because a U.S. Strat is "CBS" doesn't mean it's junk..there are some treasures out there (Heck, what do you think Hendrix played, Yngwie plays, Blackmore plays???)...it's just that Fender quality was inconsistent, unlike the Japanese stuff.

I've never needed to deal with Fender customer support and as this guitar was not subject to your typical commercial market sales, it probably didn't have a warranty per se other than the "handshakes" between Fender Japan and their associates who purchased the first 500 "pre-production" models.

I have been playing since 1965 and own the following gear: Tokai "Reborn Old" (1980); Tokai "Silver Star" Strat (1979"; Gibson ES-369 (Prototype per Gibson) (1981); Mosrite Mark I (1969); Mosrite Mark V (1969); Custom Esquire by Rob Allen (1996), Custom Esquire by Harry Quattlebaum (2002); Martin D-35 (1971); Fender Twin Reverb (1969); and run a Jekyll & Hyde overdrive. If the JV were stolen or lost, I'd be miserable as these are incredibly rare in the U.S. If stolen or lost, I'd have Rob Allen make be a custom guitar based on my personal specs - I'll be doing this anyway. I love the old vintage Stratocaster style with the small headstock, the two-tone sunburst paint scheme, the weight and the way the contour allows it to hug me. It's THE standard for solid bodies....When I bought it I didn't compare it to anything...I wanted a Strat that was unique and one that I could afford...and there it was. Wish it had? - Yeah, I wish it had more gray hairs and another 30 years age on it and it would be a REAL vintage Stratocaster. Sometimes I just stare at it...Leo got it right, bless his heart.

(This is an update to my review of the Japanese '57 Reissue below). The body of the 2-color sunburst is made of Alder, (not ash as I stated below). According to Fender's official support website (http://www.mrgearhead.com/), these Japanese Vintage Reissues were only manufactured for two years: 1996-1997.

This has become my favorite guitar due to the exceptional sounds it produces. The vintage staggered pickups produce the widest range of tones that I've ever heard on a Strat, all of which are very useful. I play heavy rock on occaision, so I'm tempted to replace the bridge pickup with a single coil size humbucker, (like a Duncan Little '59). You see I generally don't care for the bridge-alone pickup sound on Strats. However, the stock vintage single coil at the bridge of this baby sounds great. With the right amp settings I get a fat & creamy sound out of it. Also, the 60-cycle noise is very minimal on this guitar. It must be shielded very well. So cranking up the amp gain isn't a problem.

Great Axe! If you find one it's worth checking out.

Japanese '57 reissue made in 1996, which happens to be the Fender 50th anniversary year. A 50th anniversary gold emblem is located on the back of the headstock. It has 21 frets, one volume control, two tone controls, a 5-way selector, and three vintage-reissue single coil pickups. The body is ash with a 2-color sunburst finish, and the neck & fretboard are maple with a beautiful vintage finish. The bridge consists of a fender vintage tremolo, and the tuners are also vintage fender. A gig bag was included.

I tried every Strat that my FIVE local Fender dealers had in stock, and decided that the '57 Reissue was the model for me. The neck feels great, and the tone & vibe of this axe represent the Strat at its finest! The vintage reissue pickups have it all: warm lows, great definition, and bright highs that never sound harsh or shrill. I was dead set on buying a new American '57 Reissue, so I picked out the best one of the bunch and put a deposit on it. I stopped back a week later, to pay the balance, and noticed this identical, used, Japanese version that was just traded in. So I gave her a spin and walked away with the best player & looker - the Japanese one. For blues, rock, or jazz this is the one. It also does a great Eric Johnson sound when you play through a cranked up amp.

This guitar was purchased used, so I'm not sure how it was originally set up. Any ways, the neck is a nice tight fit to the body, with no gaps or shims required. I think this accounts for the unbelievable sustain of this guitar. The finish looks very good. The intonation is perfect. The action is great, except the high E bridge saddle wasn't level, so high notes from the 15th fret up would fret out during bends. This was an easy fix: all I had to do was raise one side of the High E's saddle.

So far it has held up real well live. She stays in tune well, even after wild string bends & transitions from my cold trunk to a warm room. The original strap buttons were okay, but I replaced them with the Schaler locking type. Why chance dropping such a pretty guitar?

This is the best vintage style Strat that I've ever had the privilege to play. I'm glad that I found her.

1982 made in USA, I got this guitar as a gift from a friend who owns many guitars (thanks Lulu!), it has the original pickups, the finish is 2 color sunburst, maple fingerboard. The guitar spent a long time on the road when I got it, the whammy bar was broken and the tuners were in poor shape, so I put in locking Sperzel tuners and a Wilkinson bridge which really help to keep the guitar in tune. I also added a graphite nut and a 5 way selector switch for the pickups since it came with a 3 way. It has a V shaped neck which I'm not crazy about but the guitar is quite playable. The guitar came with thin frets. I got it with the original tweed case.

The guitar sounds great. I like to play many styles and this is a versatile guitar. I run the guitar through a Fender DeVille with minimal effects. The pickups are very noisy. I usually prefer a rosewood neck since I find the maple a bit too trebly but as I mentioned this guitar was a gift. The guitar does a great job of staying in tune and sounds really great in a variety of settings and styles. If you're into the surf music sound this guitar will do it for you!

I have no idea how the guitar was originally. when I got it it wasn't in such great shape but with a luthier friend of mine we worked on it until it was comfortable again. It has excellent wood. I raised the action and string tension since I like to use .011s.

This guitar now is 20 years old and it survived many tours and abusive behaviour on stage. It's in great shape and adjusted splendidly to all the changes I did to it. The finish still looks great and all the scratches and dents add to the vibe of the instrument. The finish on the neck is wearing out by the 12th fret, but the neck is quite playable, I'm not into V shaped necks but it's not such a big deal. The guitar is very dependable and I use it as a backup for my American Fat Strat Texas Special (whew! that's a long name!) which is an incredible guitar and my first choice for any gig right now. I would NEVER take a guitar to a gig without a backup.

Never dealt with Fender.

I've been playing guitar for 15 years now and this is a great instrument. I love Fender Strats! There is a great mystique about the '57 Strats. I love the modern American versions too! But I would not recommend anyone to invest in the Mexican/Japanese/Korean crappy wood versions of a Strat. This particular guitar has that great Fender bell like trebly tone and it's also great for heavier playing. The pickups are on the noisy side, so I recommend it more for shows than for studio playing. If I were to invest in another Strat. right now I would go for a Custom Shop one.

My axe was purchased new from the chain giant Mars Music in 2001. It's dated 3/30/99 (EC's birthday). The 57 comes with all kinds of goodies like a cool tweed case, cord, ashtray bridge cover, cloth, and cable. Also included is a five way switch. The guitar comes with the three way out of the box. By far though, the single most awesome feature was the flame on my axe's neck. I don't know how this slipped out as a regular 57 and not a Custom Shop. It's hands down what made me buy this particular axe. As for the deep V shape on the neck, I love it, very nice for players with smaller hands.

No surprises here, it's a Strat. I did install the five way to broaden the tonal palette of the instrument and also to ease the 60 cycle hum in between songs. The neck pickup I've raised a smidge and recessed the middle for more Mark Knopfler out-of-phase-in-between tone.

Here's the downside to buying a guitar at Mars Music and possibly reflecting on Fenders quality control. The action was average, but that's ok because I was putting 11's on it and added the extra tremolo springs, so it was inevitably going to need adjusting. However, the fret job was somewhat unacceptable. Lots of buzzing on high E bends from the twelth fret on up. Even with a 7.5 radius fingerboard, this thing was buzzy. The finish of the frets was acceptable, especially considering it sat for a year or so on the rack

My experience with Fender includes a history of mediocre solder joints on my American Standard, but thus far this instrument is exceptional.

N/A

This guitar was intended to be a backup Strat and is now my main axe. I wish I could clip on a photo to let you see the neck. I'm still in awe that this much flame slipped past the Custom Shop. The Aztec Gold is discontinued, thus explaining part of the bargain. The guitar was bought new at Mars and had several big scratches/gouges, but it's dated a 99 and I bought it in 01, so that's par for the course I guess. Hell, I'll just call it a Relic.

2001 USA 57 Reissue (Note: Mexico and Japan Models are called the 50's Stratocaster, Im getting a little tired of people saying they have a Mexican 57 reissue...it doesn't exist folks!)Two-tone sunburst finish. Tradional strat - two volumes, one tone, three vintage reissue pick-ups. Cool soft "V" maple neck, and original (very cool) kluson style tuners. Guitar comes with sweet tweed case, strap, cord, polish cloth, and a 5-way switch to upgrade the installed 3-way. Tremelo bridge included, and man is it cool. I love shimmering those cords, or throwing the occasional Hendrix like dive bomb. (I do not however like the 80s hair metal stuff, yuk-but that is another thing)

The sound of a strat is paramount. It is a sound that has virtually defined electric guitar. (well, it and the gibson tone of your choice). These resissues, If they havent been modified, have "the" sound. A lot of reviewers have complained about the noisey single-coil pickups, Well, maybe you should have bought a different model. Personally, I feel that when you go putting humbuckers, noisless, or other types of pickups in this guitar, that you begin to rob it of the tone it was designed to produce. The strat is a very versatile instrument, I can get very cool classic rock tones (ala Gaines from Skynard, biting country slap, shimmering king of clean, and working with the tone knobs, even a smooth jazz sound. Everybody knows that the strat can do da blues. The only thing it doesn't do well is a heavy metal tone with its stock pickups (that is debatable however). But, you know what,who cares? There are plenty of guitars that can do that - I suggest a Gibson. I dont like to play that hard stuff anywho, not since I matured as a player and sought out a tone of my own.

All new guitars need a set-up. This one is no different. Even if a guitar is set-up spectacular from the factory, it still hasn't been set to the individual. And lets face it, we are all different and what I like in a setup, may make someone else sick. As for Fender in general, I applaud there newest guitars. They have really stepped up thier quality control, and finishing. I do however fell bad for those who bought a guitar in the late 90s, only to see Fender's new ad in the 2000s say "We are now building a better sounding, better playing guitar"! I mean if I had bought the models before that ad, I would be like " Hey, what are you saying, my guitar is flawed, and NOW you have decided to make things better!!! Wheres my refund!!! Anyway.

The strat is tough. It can withstand playing live, even in intense situations. The hardware will last, The finish will age gracefully, and this guitar is completely dependable. It isnt the most well-known electric guitar in the world for nothing! The best thing about the strat is that it is a bolt together guitar. If you know the basics of guitar repair, you can replace, adjust and modify until the cows come home. Then you can go out, feed the cows, and come back to turn the wrench some more!

Have not dealt with Fender, but Ive heard they can be stand-offish. I suggest getting to know a good guitar tech, and trust him with repair, unless it is a definate warranty claim. (Fortunately for me, I am a guitar tech... saves on the flow).

In summary, if you want to play Hardcore metal, buy a Gibson. If you want a modern version of the strat, but one of Fender's many other choices. However, If you want a fine, time-tested, beautifully crafted, tonefull, expressive guitar that breathes, then buy the 57 Reissue. If you want to save some dough and buy an import fine. Just remember you are buying the 50s or 60s strat not the 57 or 62 reissue. And also in my opinion - buy American if you can. If you can buy a used American for near the price of a new import, then go for it!

i think mine is a 99 model, not sure though. Basically the same controls as any strat, except it has a 3-way switch installed from the factory, but comes with a 5-way if you want to put it on.
the neck is a really nice aged maple, gives the guitar a much nicer look (in my opinion) than a standard plain american strat.

Mine is in shoreline gold which is a really sweet color, really goes well with a strat. It came with a tweed case which is very nice and a vintage cable and strap, plus an ashtray bridge cover and some other stuff.

its hard to rate this category b/c i dont know how many features you need on a basic blues guitar. (not many, i think)

Sounds awesome, like SRV, hendrix, anything in that area. Great vintage strat tone. I play it through a peavey delta blues 210 and a pod 2.0. It simply sounds great. You can make it sound like almost any strat sound youve ever heard.

I really liked the action from the factory. Usually I think strats are set up too loose and low to the finger board which i really dont like. this was set up tighter and higher which suits me just right.

As for flaws, there is some lacquer build up on the frets which chips right off if you pick at it. Other than that no problems. Excellent action!

no problems.

fender is usaully pretty helpful when u call them. But u usually have to wait for a long time till they answer your call which sucks.

The only guitars i would put ahead of this are custom shop time machine strats.

Its a strat-you know the features....

I like to play heavy rock or hard rock and the single coils didn't drive my tube amp enough so I put a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails in the bridge position which did the trick. The guitar came with very low action without any buzz-however the overall sound was a little weak so I raised the action and that made the guitar come alive. Very full sounding with a lots of sustain. I do wish the fretboard radius was about 9 or 10 instead of 7.5 but it still is very comfortable, very playable, and I can bend notes with no drop off.
This guitar stays in tune VERY well. Personally I think the tuners that come with this guitar are the best tuners ever made. But you have to know the correct way to string up. Put on new strings, stretch 'em real good, and it STAYS in tune. I don't use the trem. Fenders bridges are the most user friendly when it comes time to intonate your guitar.
One thing I would change is the truss rod. As it is you have to take the neck off to adjust the neck. It should be available to adjust at the headstock.
But this is a vintage reissue so Fender had to keep it like the original.

It's a strat man!

No need.

I've played everything but this is my first real strat and I wish I had been playing strats all this time. After all these years a good Fender Strat or Gibson LP can not be beat (well maybe PRS). I'm a strat man for good now.

I have a MIJ '57 RI strat with string thru the neck tail. Made in '93. gloss finish, maple neck, stock p/u's--I don't know which ones. help anyone?! 5-position switch.

Nice Country and Rock sound. I wish that I could hear this guitar
with a tremolo version...anyone have one of these and would like to share?-I'd like to read it. This is noisy on 1-3-5 and quacks somewhat
on 2-4.(a good thing) I can only feel comfortable recording with
pos 2 and 4 because I am not a fan of 60 cycle hum. Shielding as
usual is a weak issue. (but there is something about it!...somethin'
I kinda like, if ya know what ah mean?!sumthin' fishy about it!)

The action, I like. I adjusted the p/u's--raised them a little to
get a little more output out of them. I like for certain reasons,
my string thru bridge. It may stay in tune longer, better sustain
I hope. ---but does it have that classic tone? only you can decide!
pretty well-made for this category/price range.

This guitar is a workhorse type. I haven't played it enough yet
to even test it, but I know it could take it on the road. no b/up.

N/A

To tremelo or not to tremelo is my only strat question!
I think I'd buy it again.

I bought a 2001 from the big A-holes at Guitar center.I could go on and on about these guys but I want to talk about this awesome guitar.
I played a custom shop 57 that priced out at 1800.00 and almost bought it at Guitar assho Center,till of course at the register I talked them down (so I thought)to sell it to me for 1600.00+T.Then I asked to see the case and the goody bag that all 57 reissues come with,I happened to look it up at fenders site which shows what they ship the guitar out with,because I got such a good deal (200.00 $ off?)it didn't come with anything,I told the guy where to shove it and walked out.Anyway later I found an american 57 reissue at another G.Center (I know I like to abuse myself)on green tag sale for 699.00 played it and it was beautiful.And then I went to the register to pay and found out that I guess G.C. is teaching all their salesmen to be asshoe's.the finish is just awesome candy red,and I really hate red guitars but the finish is so nice.

I like to play country twang (a little) to heavy blues to real heavy metal crunch (mostly)and this thing does it even with the 3-way on it,I'd love to try it with the 5way that was suppose to come with it,but the a-hoes at G.C. did not give me one with it.play it with a prosonic head and tonemaster cab and the tone is so damn awesome I'm really amazed.Hook the pod up on 6-D kick ass,yea baby!!

The setup on my guitar was a pretty awesome job that the factory did.Pretty low by stock standards,took it in anyway for a setup and got a little lower on the fretboard,using 9's on it and its almost too easy to play that I'm losing the feel of the strings,might change setup to 10's,or sand my tips down a little so I can feel them.really no flaws except guitar Centers attitude.Oh one thing is that I blocked the trem just never really use the thing.finish is flawless.

Fenders were made to be on stage period,squire,mexican,japan and maybe (never tried it,probably never will)asian fenders.Always have a backup!I did get the schaller strap locks that came in the goody bag (cable,polishing clothe,paperwork etc.)but no schaller buttons to put on the guitar.Had to buy them the a-hoes did not know why the factory sent the locks but not the buttons and of course it was'nt their problem.The only prob Ive had is noisy plug ins on any fender ive had so I expect no probs with this one

Never dealt with Fender,never have had a reason to.But I sure am g and oing to call them and try to talk to them about how Guitar Center does business.I am really,really psssd off about the service and sales techniques they use.I mean O.K. Fender ships this package to Guitar Center (guitar,goody's,case all included)as a package as advertised on fenders site,at various other stores,on just about every music site I could find,then you go to guitar center and they tell you their price does not include the case,and you either buy the case that the guitar came in or as the salesman told me they sold the case that mine came in but I could buy a 190.00 case,then the vintage strap was not there,the 5way switch not there,the ashtray not there,and they act like your crazy for asking for them.Please email me on how G.C. has treated you, I'm going to contact G.C. headqrtrs

this guitar I love and will keep forever

American Vintage '57 Stratocaster
purchased in 2001
21 frets
3way switch equiped (comes w/ 5way to upgrade)
volume, tone, tone
S/S/S
American Vintage Pickups
Passive Electronics
Maple neck(every '57)
Dakota Red finish
Vintage Tremolo bridge
Non-locking vintage tuners
maple/thin neck
comes w/ tweed hard case cable, strap, polishing cloth...etc

i play punk/emo mostly and it's just a great strat
single coil in bridge position is noisy
the neck pickup has a great rich tone to it and the bridge position is a classic tiny strat sound
this guitar is well equiped for any kind of music
the sound of this guitar is flawless besides the noise the bridge position makes w/ distortion

The action is perfect, it's high, but not too high
The pickups are fantastic
the finish was damaged in the store before i bought it and is chipping, everything else seems great, stays in tune, strings never broken

aside from the finish chipping there have been no problems

It has a LIFETIME WARANTY, i'm not worried about it, but fender can be a pain to deal with; i once sent away an amp to be repaired and it took a month!

Overall i give it a perfect 10!

A complete gift, but no literature with it.

'Metalic' red, not sure of year, pretty beaten fetboard though, so not too recent. Where is the serial number ??? (please email if you know)

Maple neck, pickups hand-crafted by ol' Leo himself by the sound...more of that later

Standard pot / p-u configuration. 5 way selecter. White scratchplate a bit Hank Marvin-ish, so replaced with black

Tuners, non locking, but very solid. Wide neck (took some getting used to), but adjusting the action makes a set of 10's play v nicely, inspires a good bit of practice / stretch before playing. Hard to put down, though, very hard...

It makes all the sounds you would expect, with 100% authenticity. No compromise. A bit noisy, but I can work on that.
I play a fusion of jazz-tinged blues (& blues rock) & 70's funk.
A valve amp is a must, but still sounds dreamy thru solid state amps. It cuts through great live - use a bass-7 middle-7 treble-4 set up on my warmed up 50w Laney presently. Plenty of bass treble and fender growl and howl.

The neanderthall who owned this previously must have set it up to put off burglars, cos it played like a pile of manure. The top 'e' string hung over the edge of the fretboard, the action seemed to have been set up to be played by the hands of two evil dwarfs. The bridge & saddles appeared to have been dug up somewhere near Stonehenge. It was very sad looking, sat there in the dusty dark, unfashionable corner of the shop...

However, I needed a red strat, and it SOUNDED like the real deal as soon as plugged into a 50w marshall.

The guys in the shop said they could smell the Mississippi, and one of them sniffed back salt water tears ... My mojo started to kick in, and (sorry getting carried away there)

I can't comment on factory settings. The finish is sexy & authentic.

Unless I start playing cricket with it, this baby's as solid as the rock of gibraltar. Even a heavy whammy session seems not to upset it too much.. (although I have screwed the bridge back hard for tonal superiority...we all make sacrifices)

I've never tried, but I'm sure they're very nice

I've been playing for 20 years, all styles. This is just about what I will need for the rest of my career. I havs been using a telecaster custom for 7 years with Donahue 5-way,(trade in for a pristine but soulless Levinson Blade strat) beautiful, but decided to venture into slide guitar, so have reset the tele for high 'n' heavy strings. I stared with the strat when I was 17, so I guess i'm going to give it a few years of sweat ... at that gifted price, it would be rude not to....

This is a pretty straight ahead guitar, standard tone controls, tremolo, etc. the finish is nitro, something I've never had before. I'm a firm believer that the nitro finish lets the wood affect the tone more than the plastic finishes used nowadays. I think that may be one reason the old guitars sound better. This '57 reissue of mine is candy apple red, made in 2000. This guitar is nice and light, which is great, it just feels right when you pick it up. The one thing Fender didn't get right with this guitar is the tremolo block. They used cold rolled LEADED steel. Lead kills tone, duh. One of the mysterious reasons that vintage strats sound better is because they have cold rolled steel tremolog blocks which is where the sustain comes from. In the 70's Fender quit using this material and the sound died. The Mex strats have pot metal in them which really kills tone. Callaham Guitars on the web sells steel tremolo blocks if you want to make any strat sound right.

I plays da blues. Dis be a blues guitar, man. I play through a Blues Junior and a Hot Rod DeVille. This guitar and a Fender amp work perfectly together. The neck pickup in particular has that STevie Ray sound, just fricking killer. The pickups on this guitar are awesome, don't think I would change them out unless the hum gets to me. Then I might go to Lawrences.

Factory setup was ok, not great. I had a guitar tech dress the frets for really close action, but I always do this on new guitars. One word of warning here to new buyers of Fenders reissues. If you've never played a 7.25 radius neck before you are in for an adjustment period. You can get the action pretty low but if you like it really low you may be out of luck. I had my guitar tech do a compound radius fret dressing so the upper neck is slightly flatter. The great thing about this neck radius is that it fits your hand really nice, that surprised me. Chords are really easy to play due to this. One trick I learned by doing the wrong thing, is when you set your string height make sure that all the strings are more or less in the same plane. I goofed and got the g string higher than the first two strings and my first jam with it, I couldn't play the thing and didn't know what was wrong and why I was constantly stumbling on the neck. Setting the strings all the same relative height to eachother solved the problem. After tweaking with it a bit and getting just the right amount of neck relief and the string height, now it plays like a dream. I had troubles playing ten gauge strings before due to aging hands, but on this guitar maybe due to the neck radius I can play tens again, very cool. I am totally in love with this guitar, it feels right, sounds right and plays right.

Seems great, stays in tune pretty good, and Fender's warranty service is next to none. Only had to use the warranty on my Blues Junior and they were very fast to fix the problem, they are great.

Been playing for 35 years, am a Fender man. If it were stolen would get another one. The finish seems somewhat fragile but it will age nicely. The nitro on the neck does feel a bit sticky if you're sweating, but I don't sweat much. Mine didn't come with a case, maybe thats why the price was cheaper.

1999 USA `57 reissue model, as this model was redesigned in 1998 this example is one of them. 21 tiny frets, non veneered alder (I guess, solid finish and all), ex demo model w/ a few nicks and a nasty laquer-free patch where the neck touched the rubber-stand for 3 years...got it cheap, because of these minor flaws and the fiesta red finish, which isn`t as popular as it should be. I call it "salmon-red" :)

Fitted w/ the included 5-way switch at the shop, otherwise all original. Case, strap, useless lead (too short and the plugs are too short for a strat, you have to pull the cord itself to loosen it), ashtray, documentation/warranty, extra springs, the whole nine yards.

Gorgeous V shaped neck, slightly over-tinted for my taste, but it`ll look nicer with a little wear on the lower frets...

It`s a strat, lots of features. But the pickups arent too hot, so forget those eighties poodle-tapping moments.

Spiky pickups, lots of tremble/higher mids and bass, no fat in the middle at all. You`ll need to tweak your amp for a while to get to that sweet spot, it`s unlike any strat I`ve ever played before, sound-wise as well as feel-wise. I find that it sounds best with the all the equalizer-pots at about 5, flat out through every amp I`ve plugged it into so far. It`s more "polite" than say Texas Special loaded strats, but the best word for the sound this guitar produces is "classy". Just what you`d expect. Plug it into a fender or a marshall and add just a tiny bit of power amp distortion, and you`re in heaven. Turn up the spring-reverb and rip through the Shadows or Dick Dale-tunes. Up the gain a few notches and think early Pink Floyd, Jimi or even some Clapton-stuff. Jangly neck-pickup, great "hollow" sound, middle is "honest" and "Pure" and the bridge pickup is "sharp" but "full". The out-of-phase-sounds are spectacular, with subtle height-adjustments you can taylor your own sound.

Its rather noisy, but the tone compensates. It`s as pure a single-coil sound as you``ll ever want to get, so the hum goes with the territory. I opened it up, and found that only about one fourth of the pickguard was shielded, so I guess I`ll stick some more foil on it to see what happens.

I have no complaints what so ever in this compartment, I love it to bits!

The guitar was an ex-demo guitar, so I have no idea what the factory-settings were like. Fenders web-page says it comes with 0`10s, the shop put 0`09s on it when they got it and it stayed that way for a year and a half. The first thing I did when I got it home with me was to change the strings to 0`10s. The action was fabulous with 0`10s! Pickups were allright, I had to raise the bridge-P.U. a bit to increase output on solos. The middle one stayed put, perfectly balance for those out-of-phase sounds.

Everything on this guitar is great, pots and switch feel great, the finish is impeccable (apart from wear and tear from 1,5 years in a shop), tremolo is incrednibly stable, tuners to, frets are beautifully filed. One thing I dislike however, is the nitro-cellulose`s bed habit of reacting poorly to rubber, as in stands or straps. This guitar had a patch about an inch long and 1/4 inch wide without laquer at all on it on the neck, where it had rested against a rubber-stand for 1,5 years. But you get what you pay for, a `57 is supposed to stay in its case with de-humidifiers when not played.

The wood in the neck looks great, fine grains and very rigid despite the slimness. It`s almost impossible to perform a "tele-bending" with it(You know, holding the body w/ one hand and pushing the head back and forth to create a subtle vibrato). The hardware is great, saddles will outlive me if I file them gently from time to time and use 3-in-1 oil. The finish will eventually wear off, but thats the beauty of it, it doesn`t "get old", it "ages gracefully". The strap-buttons are good, will need to buy new straps from time to time to keep the guitar in place though, they`re not that wide. This is a guitar I`d use live without backup without hesitation, providing I`ve recently changed strings and oiled it well.

Every mail I`ve sent Fender Musical Instruments Co, has been replied to within a day or two. Great people. I`ve never broken a single piece of Fender equipment to this day, so I`ve never needed to test them properly, but they seem nice and customer-orientated.

I`ve been at this for 7 years now, and have owned lots of guitars. Les Pauls, Strats, ES 335s...not one of them comes close to this one in value and performance. I`d replace it instantly if it was stolen (I`ve insured it of course) The one feature on this one that stands out must be the neck. That V-shape fits my hand like a glove. The amazing sound is another great feature but it could have sounded like h*** and I would still have bought it because of the neck, pickups are replaceable.I traded this against a `97 us STD strat w/EMG DG 20 pickups and a 1981 Ibanez AS 200. Not regretted it for a second. It`s worth it.

Year: Brand New 2000
Made in: Mexico
Frets: 21 (I think)
Solid Body
1 Volume, 2 tone strat 5 way set up.3 single coils.It's been like this for 50 (!)years.
Neck: Maple
Body; (?)
This is supposedly a replica of a '57 stratocaster. As they made them in 1957

This guitar plays fairly well for what it is.
The pickups will buzz depending upon where you stand in proximity to your rig. The sound is bright and crisp. The typically gratifying FENDER TONE clean. Very Chunky with chords. Sustain is 1/2 decent.

For $500.00 this strat (made in Mexico) was finished better than a 57 re-issue (vintage) I purchased in 1984. The paint is clean, there are no fill holes, the finishing is just fine for an entry level strat.
I compared mine to a friends' who has a real 57' and the cut, shaping, and contours of the body and peghead( very important) are so close. Even the V-Neck feel is the same. (when I first got it, I didn't think it was close, but by golly, it is!)

In jam situations, which is the status I am in, this stratocaster is great.
The tuners (standard Kluson) could be better, but hey I'm pretending it's 1957. I gotta have a few complaints.
The knobs and switches feel like typical strat knobs and switches, nothin' great, but it's a starter.
I would always play gigs with a back-up guitar. Time onstage is too short.

I have not had to contact FENDER for anything.

I have been playing for about 17 years. If I lost it or it was stolen, I might get the same guitar, there are so many to choose from though. I like the surf green colour, and it is very playable. (I use 10's) I wish the neck was easier to adjust. The frets buzz a bit. You can't set it up like an IBANEZ.

My '57 Fender Re-issue Strat's headstock cracked all the way through the tuners from a fall off a guitar stand. Fender wouldn't replace the neck because the time of purchase did not have the limited lifetime warranty. Shop quoted 400.-500. for a replacement factory neck...F that! I got the neck glued...and bought a '62 reissue Strat instead. Other than the ease of damage, Great guitar overall. veiw pic of damaged headstock here:

http://www.photo.net/photodb/image-display?photo_id=404014&size=lg

Like butter.

Plays nice, Nitro finish can be sticky...check back in 20 years

I would not take a RI Strat to a gig, likely to get damaged or stolen. Noisy pick-ups in random stage enviroments.

Fender politely told me I was S.O.L when my neck cracked.

Nice guitar...too nice....If I could do it over again, I'd get a Squire Strat so I won't be so bummed when it breaks, like the '57 strat did.

'57 Reissue Stratocaster (built 1998) U.S.A., blonde finish over ash body, 7.25 radius tinted maple v-neck, pick-ups currently retrofitted with DiMarzios (HS-2, HS-2 & HS-3), I will be installing a set of Fender Noiseless pickups soon. Fit and finish were excellent, despite the fact I bought it second-hand (the previous owner must have strummed it once and packed it up).

My style is blues\classic rock (moderate gain, in other words), amp is either a Vox AC-30 or Fender 4-10 tweed Bassman w/an old Ibanez pedalboard out front (Tube Screamer, Tube Driver, Delay, Chorus). The stock pickups buzzed mercilessly with the gain goosed (and with the crap electrical systems in the scuzzy bars I usually play in), so they had to go. Plus the bridge pickup felt like an icepick through the eardrum.

An absolutely beautiful instrument! Not the lightest-weight Stratocaster I've ever owned, but the ash body really rings, the finish is perfect, the maple neck is very comfortable to play and intonates well over the entire length. I managed to snap the trem arm off, necessitating replacement of the intertia block (I broke it real good!). Can't they make them a little more heavy duty?

Reliability? Durability? It's a Fender! Ever watch Monterey Pop? Jimi Hendrix slams that Stratocaster into the stage seven times before it yields---AND it was on fire!! Reliable? Durable? Yes and yes.

As stated previously, Fenders are damn near indestructible, so I've never had to deal with the company.

I've been playing for 36 years, so I've owned just about everything at one point or another. This the seventh Strat I've owned, and it's a keeper, oh yeah! I also have a '62 Reissue (built in '83) that's in semi-retirement. The Stratocaster is THE quintessential electric guitar: ya gotta have one. It's that simple. Find a really good one and don't let go.

1988 model of a 57' reissue. Typical reissue features - vintage body with CAR nitro finish. V shaped maple neck. Stock except for texas special pu's in the middle and neck positions and a 5 way switch.

I bought this guuitar new back when I was a total novice player. In the course of improving and playing out live through a pro level rig at high volumes, I've become even more delighted with the sound than I had been before. I recently switched the bridge pu back to the original becuase the texas special I had there suddenly failed. You know what? It still sounds great and I can barely tell the difference. Everyone knows what a strat CAN sound like and this one is definitely capable of sounding amazing - in the right hands. I can get a great tone on a good night even without my TS9 but I have let others play it who blow me away and it sounded out of this world. It definitely sounds better than some recent American Standards I've played. I usually plays blues with some Rock en Roll. Pu's have the typical loud hum but that's part of the whole thing.....

Action can be tricky with the tight radius fret board as with all vintage fenders. I think however my playing is better because now I'm used to playing higher action to prevent fretting out up high. The finish is all nice and naturally aged now, chipped,and loaded with caharacter. The board finish is wearing way just like in old original strats. People think it's original from even a close distance.

Guitar is very durable except for the seasonal neck movement which comes with all vintage truss rod guitars it seems. I've dropped it and stepped on it (unintentionally) without a problem. The only thing that went bad in 13 years was the Texas special that I installed aftermarket.

Luckily no dealings needed to be had.

I've been playing on and off for 17 years. Play at a lot of blues jams. I also have a PRS ( that I've become bored with)CE24, a 1963 Jazzmaster that has the beck neck I've ever played, and a Takamine acoustic. Not only would I replace this guitar (which would be difficult and expensive considering how broken in it is) but I want another one - if not an original, then a 62' resissue.

57 reissue strat, 21 fret maple "v" shaped neck, 7.25 in. radius, made in USA in 2000. Outfitted with Texas special pick-up (a unique feature of the left handed model at the time when I bought it since the vintage pick ups were not made for lefties). Vintage style bridge and machine heads (apparently made in Japan - somewhat disappointing. You would think that for the money made in America would mean made in America). 3 and 5 way toggle.

It sounds great. I play blues and funk through a fender tube amp and it just perfect. It has five distinct sounds from the neck to the bridge. It is not as pronounced as a strat I had with Lindy Fralins in it but still very good for stock pick ups. The neck pick up is bright and bell like. The two posision has the great Fender "quack". 3 is a bit sharper but very good for classic rock and roll solos. 4 is dream, very Robert Crayesque. 5 is a bit thin but thats a strat for you. The 1 and 2 posisions are great for lead and rhythm respectively. There is a bit of noise but that really depends on what amp you play and where.

The guitar was very well set up. I have since reset the guitar since I play 11s and the guitar came with 10s. The pick ups, nut and bridge were set just fine. The finish is really quite stunning (two tone sunburst).

This is my main guitar and I gig with it about 8 to 10 times per months. We practice about 6 to 8 times per month and then I play at home. I have put a pretty good beating on her and she has stood up to it. I don't believe in pampering guitars. I'm sure noone will want to offer me what I paid for it but then I never sell guitars. They are tools of the trade not Picassos. I would definitely depend on this guitar through all kinds of weather (even summer festivals). Fender has even simplified the internal wiring. I have owned a couple of older fenders and the speghetti wiring is gone.

I suppose its a two year warrentee but I have never had to deal with it. I have corresponded with some Fender techs in the past and was impressed with their receptiveness. Its hard to fine that e-mail address though and it seems that they don't encourage it. If you get it though, the tech guys are extremely helpful.

I really like this guitar a lot. I have been playing for about 15 years and have owned several Fenders as well as other guitars. As with all strats the weak point of this guitar is the pick up. Fender stock pick ups just don't do it for me. However, the body, craftsmanship, neck ( the "v" neck is awsome)wiring, look, finish and tone are stratific. I think that if you are 100% satisfied with a guitar off the rack you are either complacent or tone deaf. The strat is the ultimate building block for a dream guitar. Being a lefty my choices are very limitted but with in that limitted choice range I think I chose the best guitar on the market for my sound. It was a bit steep, though. This is $1000 guitar selling for $1200.

This guitar is a 1989 US reissue with a sunburst finish over a two-piece alder body. I bought it recently and as far as I can tell is stock with the exception of a 5 way selector switch. It came with no accesories.

My 'sound' is built around the Strat. I use a Vox AC15ri with a Fulldrive 2 and a Fuzz Factory. This guitar replaces a Tex Mex Stratocaster with a rosewood neck. In a direct AB test the 57 sounded slightly 'better' for want of a ....better word.

This guitar plays well and the set up is ok. With any guitar it takes a bit of work to make it 'yours'. I have put 10's on it and blocked the trem. I have also given it a satin neck courtesy of a DIY shop varnish removing cloth. I did these modifications on my previous Strat.

Everything works as it should. Its not overly noisy.

The general appearance of this guitar suggests that it's been used not abused. The slightly battered look just adds to the vintage vibe. I bought it to play not look at. I cannot afford/justify a spare.

I have been playing 20 yrs. This guitar as previously stated replaced a Tex Mex Strat. I thought it was time to 'upgrade'. I stumbled across the 57ri in a shop window and tried it.

It does not strike you as a 'great' guitar. It looks slightly beat up and it plays and sounds 'ok' (it does what you would expect from a Strat). Then you realise that an hour has gone by.This guitar just wants to be played and it's very difficult to put it down.

This ones a keeper and my current band will be gigging next month. Talk about timing...

It doesn't get more basic than this Strat.

Playing the blues on this guitar is what life was supposed to be all about. Going into a Fender Blues Deluxe 1*12, it had a decent sound I guess, but the pickup noise was awful, and the tone knobs were worthless. I could not get much enjoyment out of any pickups except for the neck.

This guitar was poorly setup. The nut was cut wrong, and I had to have a new one installed b/c the E string was to close to the edge of the fretboard and would slip off when fretted. But the Candy Apple Red finish shimmered so well on stage.

Are you kidding, it's a Fender. Drop it on its head and it doesn't care.

N/A

10 years on guitar, and this Strat didn't deserve me. I sold it b/c I got sick of how poor it sounded and how poorly it played. If it were stolen, I would have put the insurance money in the bank. I chose it b/c it was gorgeous looking, and I didn't pay much attention to the fact it sounded so bad. Oh well, learn from my mistakes, save up and buy a real guitar based on how it plays, not on how it looks.

It was made in 1982 ( as per the serial number ) & it have 21 frets.
It is in green colour, control are as normal fender V,C,C & 5 ways
pickup selector. I'm not really sure about the body wood but it has
a maple neck & gotta a great finish of body & neck.
All the hardware such as bridge & tuner are from the CBS model.
Maybe...just maybe the pickups were CBS as well cos it nearly
sounds like my 70s Strat.

I play the blues & I play it alot. I'm using Fender 1975 Twin Reverb
Amp & Marshal BluesBreaker & some other effects. This guitar is noisy
as Fender CBS model. Sounds....more like a CBS model. It is just great.

At first is was very hard to play but since I gave some releif to the
neck its feel better & sound even better. If U asked me about its
finishing..it is just like the Custom Shop..I thought it was made by
the Unit that they call it now Custom Shop.

I've played this guitar live & still going on.
The hardware is gonna last forever.

None..except for several personal modification. ( setting )

I've been playing for 16 years. The first time I look at this guitar
i already fall in love with her. According to the last owner(shop) this guitar was owned by American who came to Malaysia to make just a single show & sell off the guitar ( this guitar was bought in USA )
It was really a closet classic. I had a CBS 71 & Les Paul 1984 Custom
& I love them as they are. They all got their own specialtise. It is not fare to judge which one is better than another.

USA Reissue Strat '57. I don't know the year but the serial number is V082072. 21frets. 5 way selector fitted with 3 Fender single coils. Alder body with maple neck. Black nitro finish body. Graphite saddles fitted, with roller nut.

Excellent bright sound with lots of depth. Used with a Carvin MS3200 100 watt valve combo. Usual noise expected with single coils.

I bought this guitar second hand with modifications already made. Excellent set up. Some marks and cracks in the finish but nothing major. The best feature is the neck which fits like a glove, best I have played.

Great guitar. I ytrust this guitar with no back up. everything seems well put together.

Never had occasion to use it.

I have been playing about 20 years and own a Jap 62 reissue Strat, a Levin Acoustic, and an Ovation. If it was lost or stolen I would replace it. I bought this type of guitar on the advice of Julien Kasper my friend and great guitar player with the Bruce Katz Band. (Check his playing out on www.Brucekatzband.com)I've tried a lot of Strats but this is the best.

2000 model
black w/ maple neck just like the one clapton used I guess. it is very light and resonate and it viberates when you play it at volume.

this thing has a true sound that is sweet and twangy and has bite. it is a bit more noisy then my 62 reissue but I can live w/ that.

I got it used and the setup sucked because it had all the clicks going from a poor setup. I tend to make everything very firm on the setup {IE} four springs tighten screws down more then factory things of that nature. because I use just a bit of trim here and there. it helps them stay in tune. this thing had a few minor issues not worth mention that may have been created by the poor setup from the first owner. my 62 reissue is new and it is as near perfect as you can get and I believe they maake them better then the 57.

I think it will be fine. a good strat is like a good woman and that my friends depends on who is twekking her or it. what I mean is if you treat her mean she won't last same go's for the strat.

who needs them.

I have a few guitars and I now have two main strats to use. they should last me quite a while. I got this one for a backup so I don't have to tune so often and if my 62 should break a string. I don't break strings ever because I use de addario chromes. they seem never to break and last a long time but they cost a bunch more. I tend to think that these strats fit me very well and I have no intention of looking for more as I am now leaning more toward blugrass and mild country. well its time now for a martin. hey I did not say I wasn't going to keep buying guitars just looking more at the acoustic side for a while.

American made, body and neck stamped 1987, rare surf green color, you know what else it has.

I play jazz mostly but also like funk and blues. I'm not really a strat player, but when I need that fender tone this delivers. The pu's are typical fender twang, I guess that's why I bought it. I thought about putting a JB jr. in the neck position to make it more versatile, but decided against it. The guitar is a little bright to be my main guitar, but I'm not going to take off points. This guitar is great for blues; nice and crisp, but not brittle. I replaced the 3 way switch with a 5 way, and re-wired the middle pickup's tone pot to work on the bridge. This is an easy and practical mod. that many session pro's do. Before this mod. I found the bridge pu to be too harsh to use.

The guitar was made is '87 and I bought it used in '97. This is a great players guitar, (one of the best playing guitars I own.) The action is very low and does not buzz unless harshly provoked. It has more than it's fair share of dings and chips in the finish, but it still plays like a champ. Some of the screws are rusted, and the bridge saddles are starting to show some rust but everything works as it should. I've replaced all of the pots since they were becoming problematic, but the pu's are fine. The finish on the fingerboard is wearing thorough in several places but this gives it a nice worn in look. The decals on the headstock have seen better days. The decal on the top by the high "e" tuner is gone and the "fender" logo is brown around the edges and very delicate. The finish on the back of the neck would get sticky if played for too long so I removed it using steel wool, after several years of playing it has faded to that relic like grey/brown color. The finish is discolored and wearing throught the laquer on the heel and back contour, but this is not unusual. The guitar looks like a relic, but it's wear has not been faked in any way. I think the wear gives it character, I can't wait to see what it looks like in 20 years! I guess this color is very rare for a '57 reissue, for this reason I wish is was in better shape.

It's built like a tank.

I've been playing 11 or so years, play professionally, and do studio work. It's a good guitar for what I need it for, I'd probably get another if needed.

Features of my '57 reissue Strat are V shaped gloss maple neck and f/board, 3 alnico V magnet vintage single coils pickups, vintage Kluson machineheads, high-grade light ash/alder body (mine's 2 tone sunburst) and finished in nitrocellulose lacquer which looks cool.
Fender Tweed case included with guitar cable, ash tray bridge cover etc.

I play blues/rock music and my '57 reissue Strat handles this style with ease. I play through a Fender '65 Twin Reissue amp and this combination is spot on. These alnico V magnet pickups are very punchy and powerful with quite a high output and I love their tone and they are also great with a little distortion from my Boss DS-1 pedal. Their sound is very smooth and quite Clapton-like with some distortion. It only has a 3 way selector switch which people always complain about (Strats made today have a 5-way switch) but I never really used those 'in-between' sounds much so it doesn't really bother me as this spec follows how the original selector was designed in 1957! Great tone for blues, Rock, R'n'b.....It's a Strat what more can you say?!

I ordered my 2 tone sunburst '57 reissue Strat straight from the factory and I must say it came brilliantly setup. There were no flaws in the finish, the action was slightly low and wobbly but I soon straightened it out with some Ernie 11-48 strings! The tweed case looks great and very '50s' and the extras as I mentioned above are great! I'm so pleased with my '57 reissue both lookwise and soundwise.

Had no problems with my strat for the last year. I think my Strat will last me forever as I take care of my Fender axes and the finish and hardware of my '57 seems to be in good shape. It's just a really well made guitar and I just love it! It's my favourite Fender out of my Fender USA Lonestar Strat and '52 reissue Telecaster. It seem to just handle everything with ease. Very pleased.

Never had any problems, never dealt with company. Don't fix it if it ain't broke, baby!

I've bbeen playing for over 5 years now (i'm 17) and my '57 Strat is my favourite guitar ever and it's really standing the test of time soundwise and lookwise. Very happy with the whole thing. Slightly expensive but for great playability, great pickup and great tone it's well worth it!

Mine's Candy Apple Red. That was the color I really wanted so I waited till I foun a used one in that color. The Guitar has the same features of a stratocaster from the 50s, one volume control, 2 tone controls, 3 single coil pickups, alder body, maple neck, vintage tremolo system. I don't know what year mine was made, butI don't think they have changed much since they were introduced in 1982. Its got all the features you want if you want a Stratocaster.

I think the sound is great on this guitar. To me, I hear vintage stratfrom this thing. My main setup is straight into a Marshall JCM 2000 TSL 602. This thing Screams. The neck pickup is thin and trebly, which I love. The brdge pickup is sweet and bluesy, and if you take the tone down to about 5 it is pretty fat, its not a hmubucker, but its pretty fat. the middle adds versatility. the middle by itself is good especially clean and the inbetween bridge/middle is great. It does Strat sounds - my favorite guitar sounds are all strats, Making Movies by Dire Straits, War and Under A Blood Red Sky by U2, Derek & The Dominoes Live and Slowhand by Eric Clapton, We Want Moore by Gary Moore - so I love the Stratocaster. I just bought a Gary Moore Les Paul which is Great and probably suits my band more than the Fender sound(more of a Stones/Crazy Horse big fat Rock sound. But I really love this Stratocaster

I would say the action is a little more difficult to play, because of the vintage style frets. Compared to my Tex Mex Strat and Mex Tele Special, I would say it is noticeable that lead work is a Little Bit more difficult, but this thing has vinage sound. Anyway, I've been playing for 17 years(played a beat up squier strat only until about 4 years ago)so if I can't handle a slight bit of change in action I think I should retire from playing.

Reliability is good the thing is solid. I generally play pretty hard (a la Pete Townshend) live, and I've had no problems. It was used so it was already broken in. has a couple nicks in the fretboard. Sounds Great. Fenders are Reliable. I beat the datylights (smashed it, jumped on it , etc. out of my 15 year old squier and the thing still works fine) so I'm pretty confident this guitar will be durable.

N/A

I love the Stratocaster sound, this thing sounds like a vintage Stratocaster to my ears. I generally play straight through a Marshall, and even at full gain on the tube amp it still is clearly a stratocaster (not a heavy metal sound). I mean maybe it is not an exact vintage guitar, but I'm a player not an investor. And I truly hear vintage sound out of it, just make sure you use a tube amp or forget about ever getting a vintage sound.

My Vintage 57 Stratocaster was made in 1991 and I ordered it through a local music store here in Johnstown, Pa. I ordered it in Fiesta Red which if I had it to do over I would go for a blue. Fiesta Red is a little too orange for my liking. It has all the features found on a 57 Stratocaster which in my opinion is everything a guitarist could ever want. I have been playing since 1961 and have owned close to 25 different guitars (including 3 other Stratocasters) and this is by far my favorite. I like the vintage type tremolo unit a lot.

It sounds like, well, a Stratocaster. The variety of sounds is endless but close your eyes and you still are met with that great strat sound. If you want the sound of a humbucking pick-up go elsewhere. I like to use the out of phase tones although as you know they can be a little weak at times. I play through a Twin Reverb 1965 Reissue, and practice through a 1966 Vibro Champ(all original that my wife found at a yard sale for $15 and it looks like day 1) so it keeps that great "All in the family Fender tone." Great Surf/Rock tone can be achieved using the Twin Reverb. It's "Pipeline" all day long ! Showing my age there.

The tone and intonation were great straight from the factory. Dealer never touched it and it was/is perfect. Finish is original type, meaning it will wear and age gracefully which it has done, but not too badly yet.

I would/have/do use it without a backup. I play it and enjoy it. It is very dependable. Never a problem

Never had to deal with Fender for any problems with it.

I love the guitar. As I said , I've played since 1961 and it is the best guitar I have ever owned hands down. Use it with my 2 Fender amps and love every minute of it. I also own currently own a 1976 Les Paul Custom and a Lake Placid Blue Japan Fender Stratocaster with 57 features both of which I have owned since new. I have dreams of owning a Coral electric sitar or the Jerry Jones Sitar reissue but they are a little pricey for a limited use instrument. The originals had poor intonation. They say the new ones work out great. As for the Stratocaster, if it wasn't such a great all around guitar, it still wouldn't be made and imitated. Get one !

I assume it is either a late 2000 or early 2001 USA built 57 Reissue Strat, mine is in Aztec Gold.

It has all the vintage stuff, 21 frets, single ply pickguard, 3 way switch, s/s/s, vintage bridge and tuners and thin frets. The body is premium alder and the neck is one piece maple, both are finished in nitrocellulose lacquer which is quite thin and has already started to sink into the grain.

The guitar came with a swanky tweed case with two ashtray covers, a 5 way switch, cloth, lead and strap as well as the documentation.

For me the guitar is just right, ie pretty basic, but I know others who can't get on with out loadsa switches and stuff. If an Esquire with a broken vol pot is 1 and a BC rich with built in lunch box and satalite navigation is a ten then this is a 4.

This guitar suits my musical style perfect, I play mainly blues and funk, through an all tube Marshall and ocasionaly a crybaby.

On the clean settings the neck pickup is amazin, sort of fat and thin at the same time, although it does get a bit muddy with too much drive, the neck and middle is also great for clean and I use these two mainly for cleanish blues as they sound absolultly killer.

I don't use the middle that much but it sounds ok clean or dirty, the middle and bridge is very straty sounding and with a clean sound you can nail the Mark Knopfler tone.

The bridge is a bit bright for me on clean but it is great on the overdrive channel of my amp, and it really cuts through, it works great for Hendrix style playing such as Voodo Chille or Foxey Lady.

The guitar does have the single coil hum but it comes with the territorry, and the guitar cand do most things exceldingly well but it is best at Blues, Funk Classic Rock and Country, obviously there are no Les Paul Sounds here.

The guitar came set up wonderfuly, right out of the case, I don't know if this is Fender or the Dealer, probably the dealer. Everything worked and sounded great. The vintage style trem is no floyd rose but for most things short of dive bomb mania it stays in tune well, plus it is a lot less hassle than a big old floyd rose.

One complaint is that the neck body joint could be a bit more tight, and there is a slight mark on the edge of the headstock other than that it plays great.

This guitar is built as close as possible to the originals from the 50s and they have lasted till now at least, so this guitar will to. It feels very solid, the hardware and finnish is all vintage style so it will wear down, the metal parts will dull and the finnish will get really thin, but this will add tone and character.

The only reason you would need a backup at a gig with this is in case you break a string which is unlikely if you look after the saddles and use a decent gauge string.

I have never dealt with Fender direct, and probably never will as I live in the UK so i would have to go to their distributer. I would rather go to the dealer that I bought this from.

I think it has a 1 year warrenty but am not sure, besides most things that can go wrong with a strat can be fixed yourself, they are pretty bsaic and not much can go wrong.

I have been playing for about 3 years now, I also own a Jackson Superstrat which is basically a pile of junk but i love it, it is pretty worn now. I have a EL34 JCM 900 but I am saving for a Reissue Bassman, i sometimes use a Crybaby for wah as well.

I would buy this guitar again if i could afford it, i would probably sell my granny to get another actually.

I did a lot of Internet research and in the end compared it to the Mexican Classic, whcih was nice but didn't sound as good as the US one, I also tried the Roadhouse and the Standard Strats but prefered the vitage feel and sound of the Reissues.

I wish it came with the 5 way switch installed but im not fussed the 3 way isn't really a chore, i din't want to mess up the wiring and install the 5 way.

It was expensive but then it is a high quality instrument that will outlast me probably.

Made in 1988/1989 in the USA. Its a standard black-bodied maple neck USA reissue strat with a vintage bridge, 8 hole white pickguard and vintage style tuners. I bought this off a former local musician who apparently gigged it alot.He sold it to me saying it was 60s reissue but the headstock decal,3 selector switch and 8 hole pickguard were too big a giveaway for a '57 reissue. The frets are hardly worn and the neck feels fat(just the way i like it).I'm assuming it's an Alder body but i did hear somewhere that some were made with Ash. Apparently the series 2 reissue strats were treated as rejects as many has problems with bad pickups and lousy finish jobs. The finish on mine is rather uneven on some surfaces but then again, since this was a gig instrument, it's hard to tell whether it's factory flaw or musician wear.

It is extremely resonant when not plugged in to any amp and sounds even better when it is.(even with the tremolo cover on!!) I play mainly blues and 60's rock n roll and this setup is great. Somehow with slight distortion, the pickups manage to sustain notes almost sounding like humbuckers.

The action was set high when i got it and had it lowered to suit my style without a floating trem. The finish is starting to look rather worn but that kinda gives it that "used" and weathered look.
My control knobs were loose and had to be tightened.

This would definitely be able to take alot of abuse.Having been used for recordings and live sessions and still being able to get to me looking the way it did is a miracle. I had the strap buttons changed to Schaller strap locks though, as i often have guitars threatening to fall off their straps.
Defintely dependable on any gig.The finish seems like it will hold and isnt flaky or anything.No refinishing/coating on was done as there are some scratches at some places and i can see the wood beneath.

never needed to get any.

American-made in 1984, it has a 22-fret neck, 3-way selector, volume knob, neck and middle tone controls. I prefer Maple necks, and this one is. It's pretty much stock, and maintained very well. I wish the radius of the neck were perhaps a little fatter, but other than that, I can't complain about the features. Mine came with one of those reissue tweed cases- the plush red carpeting as opposed to the orange carpet that accompanied some of these types of cases.

It sounds incredible. It's 100% strat- not pushy enough to sound like Stevie's, not dull enough to be Mark Knopler's (or however the heck you spell his name.) I play mainly blues, but I play many other types of music as well, and find that the guitar pretty well suits me in whatever I'm doing. I run a vintage Thomas Organ Co. Crybaby Wah into a Boss Stereo Chorus and finally through a Boss Blues Driver (It can kick a little harder than a TubeScreamer, though a little thin a times.) The low end is crisp, the mids are brown, and the high end can squeal. I have no complaints here.

Since I bought it from a well reputed guitar tech a few years back, there was nothing wrong with it. I will score it high just based on my personal experience with factory direct Fenders.

The guitar has been through a lot, but has never spontaneously quit or anything. The hardware holds up pretty well, although I do have to work the saddles pretty often with jeweler's rouge to keep from breaking strings all the time. The finish is great. I've replaced (but kept) the original strap buttons with some Jim Dunlop locking strap holders. It's very dependable, and I'd use it for several gigs without a backup if the strings don't have too many hours on them (I need some new saddles.)

I don't fool around with Fender customer service because I can pretty well repair my own guitar. There's no warranty, so if it brakes, I fix it.

Overall, I love the guitar. I wish I had a telecaster like it too go along with it. If it were stolen or lost, I'd probably cry and go get a real '57 (I'd be happy again.) I compared it to a lot of vintage stuff in great condition- there was a 60's strat I liked as well but was too pricey. I chose this one because it had great sound and unique feel. I can't wait to get off this computer so I can go play it.

This is a well-used 1992 model that I was able to buy for the unbelievable price of $175. Yes, it needed some minor work done on it; the neck pickup was dead, the neck was bowed, and the back has a large ding. Obviously, no tweed case was involved here. But it's a solid guitar that has become my favorite in a harem of 9. Just a basic black Strat with an amber tinted maple neck and 'aged' pickup covers and knobs. 7.25 inch fretboard radius with smallish vintage style frets. Kluson tuners - which I like, by the way.

As I mentioned, the neck pickup was dead when I got this axe. So I replaced all three pups with Rio Grande Halfbreeds and a Torres Engineering Bluescaster wiring harness. The bridge pickup has a Fralin baseplate. This is now the best sounding and most versatile Strat I've owned, and that includes 5 others over the years. It has a rich, singing tone on the neck and middle pickups, an almost Tele-like power in the bridge, and plenty of quack in the between positions. My style is mostly blues and roots rock. The amps I use are an Ampeg Reverborocket, Fender Blues Jr, and a Fender Blues Deville 4x10. I use a Boss BD-2 and a chorus pedal for some work, but usually plug straight in without effects.

The finish has a large ding on the back, some small scratches in other places, and the action was a nightmare. I spent hours getting the truss rod and saddles adjusted to the point that it became playable. The previous owner was a novice who'd bought the guitar used, and tried to set it up himself without any guidance. So you can guess what it was like Very high action that still had fret buzzing. After I spent most of a Saturday on her, she now plays and feels like a quality strat should.

It has already withstood its fair share of abuse and has come back to look, sound, and feel like a high quality instrument

N/A

This is now my favorite axe. It just has that feel that makes it comfortable to hold and the neck invites bends. The small vintage frets aren't my favorites, but maybe I'll get them switched for medium-jumbos some day.

I bought a new (2001) Vintage, US Reissue, Candy Apple Red, Strat 21 fret with the vintage 3 way toggle, maple finger board, and vintage trem. I fitted it with the EMG DG-20 Pro Series Actives I had installed on my 1994 40th Strat Plus. Rating is before the install.

My rig has a pretty extensive pedel/rack loop but the EMG's really boost the signal to give me a defined sound. I gig 5 nights a week and it's my main axe. No murky, muddy tone through the PA either. I play through a Hiwatt Custom 100 head and Hiwatt 4x12 celes cab.

Fender did a good job remaking the 57. Overall playability compared to a new Standard sucks....but if you want that 57 tone and feel, its a fair compromise.

This is the only guitar I tune up for a gig besides an acoustic. "Vintage"...yes. But hence the word "reissue". It has the same "build quality", I think, of any new Fender made now, so you're not sacrificing reliablity going "vintage reissue". And if it matters, A Strat is a Strat, is a Strat.

No probs yet.

I've been playing for about 16 years. Four years Army Band, B.A. in Music and Composition. Currently a part time (well ok full time + day job) gigging musician 5 nights a week. I am also an accomplished keyboard/piano, mandolin/violin, woodwind player. I use a Korg 88 key Triton and T2, Ovation Acoustics/Mandolin, and JB Sax. I have always stood by Fenders as great gigging guitars, that's all I'll buy for the stage. I use a P.R.S. Custom 24, Music Man Axis, and a 1976 Gibson Les Paul Signature Low Impedance, Semi-Hollow in the studio. So this guitar is great...but I give it a 7 'cause Fender went a little stiff on the price.

MY STRATS AN EARLY '80S MIJ REISSUE....THE USUAL PICK-UPS WITH THE SINGLE VOLUME DUAL TONE CONTROLS...5 POSITION SWITCH AND NON-LOCKING TREMOLA....I DID GET THE TREMOLA ARM BUT HAVE NEVER USED IT....21 FRETS ON A MAPLE NECK....SUNBURST TWO TONE WITH A WHITE GUARD...GUITAR CAME WITH NO BAG/CASE/STRAP/CABLES...JUST A GUITAR

AS WITH ANY STRAT I'VE OWNED THE SOUNDS ARE WIDE AND VARIED....THE ONLY COMPLAINT IS THE USUAL BRIDGE POSITION BUZZZZZZ...BUT I'M KINDA USED TO IT AND THATS THAT

THIS GUITAR HAS INCREDIBLE INTONATION AND THE ACTION IS ABOUT AS NICE AS I'VE PLAYED

THIS THING HAS BEEN DROPPED, KICKED(ACCIDENTLY) AND HAD A FEW SPILLS ON IT...MUCH LIKE THAT ANNOYING PINK BUNNY,,,,,IT KEEPS GOING AND GOING...THE FINISH SEEMS VERY DEEP AND WELL DONE .....NO RUNS OR OVERSPRAYS.A LITTLE TARNISHING ON THE PEGS AND BRIDGE(BUT FOR 15+ YEARS NOT TO SHABBY)

NEVER HAD TO DEAL WITH FENDER FOR THIS ONE

BEEN PLAYING A FEW YRS NOW AND OWNED A BUNCH OF GUITARS.....CURRENTLY OWN THIS FENDER A 2000 LES PAUL STANDARD,AN OLDER SG,AND A 90 SOMETHING AMERICAN STANDARD STRAT...A FEW DIFFERENT ACOUSTICS AND A FRIGGIN UKE....I'VE BOUGHT AND SOLD ALOT OF GUITARS SINCE OWNING THIS REISSUE AND THE THOUGHT OF SELLING IT NEVER CROSSED MY MIND..I KNOW THE RETAIL VALUE IS PROBABLY LOW BEING A JAPENESE MADE PIECE...BUT ITS NOT ALWAYS ABOUT MONEY..I REALLY REALLY LIKE THIS GUITAR THE NECK IS ABOUT AS NICE AS I'VE PLAYED ITS BALANCED PRETTY WELL AND I THINK THE SOUND IS REAL TIGHT... ITHINK THE PRICE I PAID 8 YRS AGO WAS FAIR,THE SAME GUITAR NOW IN THE AMERICAN SERIES IS ABOUT 1275.00(DID I FORGET TO MENTION,THIS AND ALL MY GUITARS ARE LEFT HANDED..WHICH IS GOOD CAUSE SO AM I) FOR A LEFTY...AS WE ALL KNOW THEY CHARGE US MORE FOR A GUITAR BECAUSE WE ARE SOOO SPECIAL(EXCEPT MARTIN WHO DOESN'T UP CHARGE)

This guitar is an american made, 1987 vintage reissue with alder body, 21 fret four bolt maple neck and Lake Placid Blue nitrocellulose finish. It was manufactured with a three way selector switch but that was replaced by a 5 way switch. It has an eight hole, single ply white pickguard, Kluson style tuners which I believe Fender had made to specs by Gotoh, vintage tremolo, one butterfly string tree w/o spacer, thin frets and 7.25 neck radius. It came with a G&G built tweed case with the fender amp logo under the handle.

I am not a professional musician, but I have played guitar for over 35 years for the sheer joy of playing. I play all types of music from blues to country with plenty of rock in between. This guitar fits the bill for what I need. I play it through a Marshall amp and find that unlike my other guitars it has a very versatile sound and is quiet for a single coil. Not too twangy, not too ballsy, just right for what I want! I would never change the pickups that are in this guitar, they give it character. I have played this guitar side by side with an original '63 stratocaster and the sound is dead on to these ears!

I bought the guitar used from a reputable new/used guitar dealer in my area. It had been evaluated and set to Fender factory specs with .09 strings. From there I set it up to my personal taste. The Kluson style tuners are adequate and I float the bridge, so it will eventually go out of tune after a long period of playing, but I know it's going to happen and I can deal with that. The 7.25 neck radius is great for chording and I find myself exploring some jazz stuff from time to time. It was owned by a person who bought the guitar from the dealer with the best of intentions to learn to play, but just didn't get the job done. So outside of a few slight nicks this guitar looked virtually new. My only complaint was the neck would become sticky after 10-15 minutes of playing. After wiping it down with a dry cloth the problem would be solved for another 15 minutes and then back would come the cloth. The neck had a beautiful aged amber appearance but I finally gave up and took 0000 steel wool to it. It looks a little worn now but it sure plays great!

This is a Fender folks. Leo built them for the everyday, working class musician and this guitar is no exception. For people like myself who don't honkytonk but just play at home, at a buddies house or an occasional small town talent show, this guitar will long outlive me and probably my grandkids. My only concern would be the nitrocellulose finish might begin to crack as it ages, but isn't it supposed to?

It's used and I'm on my own with Fender, but the dealer support has been great and they are long time Fender dealers, so I can only assume that they get good support from Fender.

I have been playing guitar since the Beatles first appeared on Ed Sullivan and have owned,traded or sold many guitars since then. Currently I own this guitar, a '98 G&L Commanche, an '83 Fender Squier stratocaster '62 reissue, and Larrivee, Applause and Lyle accoustics. The G&L is without a doubt my favorite, but I could never part with the Fender. This guitar is versatile and just a lot of fun to play. I know that this is not an exact reproduction of an original '57, but that isn't what matters. It's just a good solid guitar based on a design that is almost as old as I am and it still looks great. and I feel great playing it! The G&L rates a 10, but this is a close 9.

2000 Model Reissue with the detail upgrades. Alder body with thin and stunning Aztec gold nitrocellouse finish. 3 single coil "new vintage" pickups with hand beveled magnets as per the originals toggled by a 3 way (5 way is included). The neck is a nice soft V configuration in basic maple with slight vintage tinting. The control knobs, trem tip, and pickup bobbins are also "aged" and look the part of a vintage style strat. My Fender came with the usual tweed case, cheesy cord, cloth, strap and ashtray etc. I am always impressed with the Vintage Fender attention to packaging and plentiful "vintage" accessories....makes you feel like 1957 all over again. Lets face it, these Fenders are all about vibe so the "features" are in the nitro finish, classic sound and attention to detail.

Rich and full. I have owned many reissue Fenders. Many times, I have had to play many of them to find the best of the best. I noticed that each of the newer reissues are closer in tone than in years past. I did manage to pickup a real good one with that had extra "snap", "sizzle", and some extra sustain. Thorough my Bassman there is nice harmonic rich bell like beauty almost 3-d like. In overdrive mode through a cranked Marshall Plexi 100, the Fender does sound very powerfull for a single coil equipped guitar. NEVER BUY A FENDER ON COLOR ALONE...use your ears first. I am not too sure if Fender changed the windings of the reissue pickups or not but they seem to be more balanced and the bridge pickup has more balls to it. I won't change the pickups on this guitar. In all I am very happy with the sound of this instrument.

I have seen some quality control problems on reissue Fenders including new ones. Some pickguards are bowed, some have sticky switchs and some are setup really badily from the factory. Others have tone and volume pots which spin around and around. I would guess from what I have seen about an 80-85% quality control. Otherwise, the majority are beautiful instruments so look for the jem of the bunch. Mine sounded great but the single ply pickguard needs to be "settled down" on the upper edge (same thing with the last '62 I bought). Honestly, I have never seen a defect on a Fender custon shop Strat but the better production Fenders approach the quality to the custom shop instruments.

Looks as durable as any Stratocaster made. Should last many many years.

Never needed them

The new reissues have all of the details that the older Vintage reissues lackes. I am refering to the 12 fret markers, the beveled magnets on the pickups, and neck and body countours. More so, the '62 reissue has the correct clay dots AND the correct markers AND the green pick guard. At least these vintage reissues look more like the originals or as close and Fender has come so far. Playability has remained excellent and the sound probably similiar to the older series. I am very happy with this guitar but Fender should not have raised the price to over $1100. I bought my last '62 at $890 with case less than 2 years ago. However, when compared to Gibsons reissues, these are still a bargain for an American made classic and certainly a bargain for someone (like me) who could never afford to buy a true vintage Strat.

'57 Reissue Strat, 2 tone sunburst, '83 guitar; alder body, maple neck, you know the deal or you wouldn't be reading this.

Classic strat sound, but NOT like a real vintage strat. Decent, not great, pickups are mediocre, alder bodies don't compare to originals. NOT worth the $1200 they are getting for these new. Buy Used Mexican ($200-250) and put in Fralins- you'll get much more guitar for the money. You won't get your 1200 bucks back on these anyway, for the $400 bath you'll take, the Mex is bought and paid for.

Lousy for the money. Better off with cheapo used Mexican strat and put in better pickups. I've played REAL '54's, '59's, '63's. These reissues are VERY MEDIOCRE and NOT WORTH THE MONEY. Fender is all hype at this point, they are simply a very large corporation turning out very mediocre products.

You could beat this guitar, it will stand up.

Pro player, 30 years experience. I've played 'em all including REAL vintage strats (I own over 25 guitars). These reissues are a rip- they are NOWHERE NEAR vintage instruments, in sound, quality or vibe. They are just a way for Fender Corp to ride on their coattails and get those players suckered in who can't afford the sky high prices of the genuine guitars. My advice: save up for the real thing (it will maintain it's value) or buy cheapo Mexican and put good pickups on it. Remember: all the original Fender Fullerton factory workers were Mexican, so if you don't like Mexicans, don't buy ANY Fenders.

This is a left-handed, 2000, USA made Fender '57 reissue strat with adler body, 21 fret tinted maple neck, three single coil pick ups (I have conflicting reports about whether they are vintage or Texas Specials -I read in an accompanying manual that the lefty '57 reissue has Texas Specials - at any rate they are staggered-pole pick-up)and vintage tremolo bridge. The finish is two-tone sunbust (absolutely beautiful).You know the rest.

I play primarily blues. For blues the guitar is very good but is also rather versatile for other types of music. The tone of the guitar surprised me in that it is very mellow and "soft" but rather bright. Cords sound out-of-this-world, full and very stratty. For solos the 1 position is best and is ringly clear and beautiful. I play through a Fender Blues Jr. I use a little bit of over drive from time to time but general play clean with the natural over-drive of the amp. The guitar comes with a vintage 3 position switch and after I installed the 5 position it was noticable louder. As far as the 5 positions are concerned: 1. is fantastic (clear, bright, bell-like) 2. is a bit disappointing (not enough "quack" and a little too bassy) 3. is quite clear and good. 4. is the better of the the 2 -4 positions and 5 is very sharp. My other strat had Lindy Fralins in it and they blow the Fenders away. The guitar's tone is quite good and straty but the 2 and 4 positions are a little disappointing.

All of the adjustment out of the factory were A+. But now we come to the very reason I bought this guitar. THE NECK! THE NECK on this guitar is the best NECK I have ever played. Forget my griping about the pick ups. Pick ups can be replaced for $200. A set of Fralins and this guitar will be awsome. But the freakin' NECK on this thing. It fits in your hand like it was custom made for your hand. It plays faster, smoother and better than any neck I haver played (15 years). The "v" shape may not be for everybody but if its for you, man its like a dream. THe other excellent feature of this guitar is its ability to hold tuning. It tunes like Rolls Royce and holds tuning extremely well. ALl in all the guitar plays like no other I have ever played. It runs like a mint, vintage cadillac doing 80 miles an hour on a straight highway at night. No worries. By the way, the finish is stellar.

Fender is getting better at customer service. I hear they even answer e-mail questions on the fender forum. THe way this guitar is built I really don't expect any problems. They have even simplified the wiring inside under the pick guard. Very nice, new, simplified design. Its a solid piece of wood and should last at least into the next millenium.

See above

I have been playing for 15 years. I am now playing semi-pro (if I could only get more big money gigs!?!?). I have owned several strats and if this one was stolen I would contemplate murder. I thoroughly love this instrument. At $1200 dollars, howver, I don't if I could say that it is a "fantastic value" but its a damn beautiful instrument. A little bit of personalization and it will be worth $1,000,000 (to me anyway). I did compare it to the '62 but THE NECK! THE NECK! of the '57.