Fender 60's Reissue Stratocaster

Mine was a 2001 Lake Placid blue model. I had jumbo frets put on it and thats all that I did to it, everything else was stock. Really nice aged hardware and a really excellent feel to the neck. It can handle any gauge of string. It came with 3 60's re-issue alnico pickups and all vintage chrome hardware. It was made in Mexico but was of stellar quality. Really nails the 60's style Strat well as far as this column goes.

Well, here's the tricky part. I did not like the sound at all, the bridge pickup had awesome output but it was way to trebly and the neck pickup was the same way except it had horrible output. I ran it through a Marshall JCM 800 and I could'nt get the sound I desires from a Strat, quite frankly I have'nt been able to get a good sound from a Strat in a long time and I am losing faith in Fender's quality control. It just was not a 60's strat sound, trust me I have played a '62 and that was beautiful this was not even close. Not very nice, all I wanted to do was play a little Jimi and it sounded nothing close to that.

Action was awesome, finnish was beautiful and the guitar did not have a single flaw on the neck, body or the hardware. Great quality instrument.

Built like a tank, I had bought an American after I got rid of this one and I wish the hardware, neck and body were of this same quality because then Iwould'nt have gotten rid of it. As for using it on a gig without a backup, no way I always have a backup, if you break a string thats not the guitars fault (most of the time anyway) but if strings were unbreakable and I enjoyed the sound of this guitar then yes I would use it without a backup because it was so solid.

No problems, did'nt deal with them.

I really wish these pickups sounded better because I would have kept the guitar then. It was a great guitar to look at and play but just did not have my sound, but to each his own, so I traded it on my American (which also sucked, but in every way as apposed to just pickups on this guitar). If Fender had the same guitar with noiseless pickups or Texas Specials (which sound very similar to the overwound 60's pickups) I would buy it but not these pickups, no way. They have no balls or chunk to them. Try it, you may or may not like it but I sure did'nt.

M.Y. 2000, MIM Sunburst over Alder body. features the one thing it should TONE. Pre-CBS greatness.

Mine unfortunatley came with a mis-fit tortoiseshell pickgaurd and a HORRID set-up!!! Not to mention TINY ernie ball slinky's(eeew!)...9's on a strat..never!!! Not a perfect finish...which is cool..kinda a vintage vibe I was lookin for anyway. Great C neck shape, tinted neck, awesome early "Spagetti" logo on the early headstock. No one can tell its mexican until they are within inches, I've played REAL 60's fenders, and I've played lots of AMERICAN Fender RI stuff..and I really like this guitar, for the vintage vibe and the price...very tough to beat.

No wonder the last owner got rid of it, they OBVIOUSLY didn't know how to play it judging by not being able to bend the high E more than 1 step above the 15th fret! Fixed that REAL quick!

Its what it says it is...a 60's rehash from mexico. I might add most of the parts are the same as the american..and this things cost me 1/4 the cost and has GREAT 60's tone. Looks early 60s, sounds early 60's...nice job over at Fender...

Now if Fender could do something that even COMPARES to G&L in the American lime I'd be happy to buy something more expensive, you guys are DREAMING if you think those US *assembled* reiusses are worth even 300$ more than the mexican *assembled* ones...let alone 1000$ more.

Great...sounds like I 60's strat..no need to elaborate, read the other reviews. I like it better than most of the american strats that are out now...they sound dull, and cost waaay too much for a dull sounding guitar.

Thank god the last owner(s) didn't touch too much other than the pickguard and the bridge saddles.

trem is still set up well....

None of the Fualts were fenders, I played these new before I bought the used one!
From the factory they are usually set up well, everybody has things they like to fine tune.

Great, it survived that last owner! It's a fender isn't it...

I use it to play around, if I gigged I'd alternate it with my G&L ASAT, depending on the sound I was going for.

Everything is solid...

Never had to deal with em.

Great little guitar if you can find one used. Hopefully if you do find one used, it will come from a previous owner who appreciated it and didn't mess it up! Now I'm gonna go spend money to make it all "correct" again, and add a little touch of my own.

Beware of the "'62 pickgaurd" that comes on these..not standard issue.

2002 Fender 60's Reissue Stratocaster in Lake Placid Blue. I literally scoped this guitar out on the wall of the music store my son goes to for music lessons for 4 years. The flame on the maple neck back side is absolutely drop dead gorgeous. Custom shop one off quality all the way. Fender's UK website also took a tour of the Ensenada facility and revealed that the necks for the 50's reissue and 60's reissue are made in Corona California and shipped to Mexico for final finish and assembly. It's funny because I kept thinking " how come only the Lake Placid Blue 60's Strat's have this incredible neck figuring", duh it was the same guitar! And nobody bought it. It was always hanging in the nose bleed rack on the wall of the store. So I took it down 3 weeks ago and it played, felt and sounded great even with the original black and rusty strings. not a mark or a ding on it. I asked the dealer about a good buddy deal and walked out the door with that day. The Lake placid blue finish is very cool.

The neck feels great, the vintage frets seem to play better on a rosewood board for me. I'm an old blues R&B kind of guy so I'm sure this guitar will do me well, especially through my Blues Junior. I really haven't had a chance to put this puppy through its paces; but I will before New Years. I wish it had medium jumbo frets though.

The dealer put new strings on it and set it up the day I bought it. Finish is spotless.

I've been a big fan of the hipshot tremsetter and the newer smaller roller nut. I have another Strat setup like that and use it exclusively, no backup. I will probably have a back up for this guitar until I'm comfortable with it's performance.

I have had warranty service in the past and Fender has stepped up to the plate.

I've been playing a long time and have lot's of gear. But I am a minimalist when it comes to gigging. Guitar and amp does it for me. Blues Junior, Brown Deluxe w/JBL and my main axe. I love the feel of the neck and the overall looks, I prefer transparent/translucent finishes but the lake placid blue and highly figured neck makes this a real sweetheart. I wish it had med-jumbo frets, hip shot tremsetter and roller nut. After I've paced it in the next few months I'll decide which options I'll have installed then or maybe none installed. I will most likely leave the frets alone.

3 color burst...2002 MIM, Alder body blah blah blah

After a I set up the action and the crappy bridge i pluged in to my Roland Cube 40..The old orange ones...thinking i bought this new in 1980...sounded great, very little noise, love the 2 and 4 sets. I play mostly blues so this is a good fit for me. Would rank higher but theres better pups on the market...but for stock this baby sounds sweet.

I got mine used if ebay, first off the neck was loose, no big deal, I think the Ping bridge is chit....works ok i guess but i'm used to playing a 64 Frankenstien start with a real bridge. Spend the extra money for the 3 color sunburst, mine awesome, for a mexican made guitar the baby is pretty nice...I played alot of American made Strats and this is equal or better.

Play it every day and gig with, yeah i have a back up charvel but just in case i break a sting.

bought used no warranty

Been playing 30 years, own a 1980 Heritage Les Paul, Charvel, 64 Strat with Mighty Might Body, ES-335 dot board Mesa Boogie 60 watt stack and too many effects. This is now my main axe i really love it...cept the bridge but i'm just being anal there.

Standard for this model. Improve as noted above.

A fine sound stock, great platform for improvement with carefully chosen custom pick-up set, such as S.D. SSL series, Antiquity series, Fenders own Custom Shop sets, L. Fralin and other Vintage winds.
Also, balance the electronic choice with available string type and gauge. Fenders 150 series are warmer and more correct for this model than 250s', excellent against Texas Specials P.U. set, and so on.

Action set-up is generally good on these(I own three), but like the originals must be personally tailored to player.
Buzzing must be traced out carefully, and resides in the nut, saddles, bridge assy, trem block and neck relief. This should not deter purchase; a guitar that fits the player is made, not bought.
Spend the time to make the guitar yours.

These are as sturdy as this instrument design can be. The polyester finish will give more service than lacquer. Excess abuse will
eventually take its toll.
I do recommend replacing the bridge weight block screws. Factory used metric M4-4mm which are too short. Replace with stainless M4-12mm from Ace hardware bins.
This anchors the block to the plate, increasing sustain to very high degree.

N/A

Excellent. No better product can be had short of expensive handmade custom work.

Used 2001 Mexican reissue Lake Flacid Blue (more on this in Fit-n-Finish below) Strat: alder body, maple neck w/ dark rosewood (nice grain btw) fretboard, 21 frets, bone nut (?) w/ that aged butterscotch tinting Fender loves sooo much --- s/s/s pickup config, blah, blah, blah...standard reissue Strat stuff here except for the pickups. Previous/original owner swapped out the original neck & bridge pups for a set of Lindy Fralins...(nice); glad he did, 'cause I played every other Mexi Strat there (@GC) and the stock stuff is nice for the price but will leave your ears seriously unfulfilled.

I give this rating category a 10 --- not because it has all the best features, but because the features are quintessential Strat features. If you want something other than, get a Paul.

I give this an 8 only because w/o the upgraded pups it would rate a 6; almost Strat but no cigar. The Lindys help bring this baby to life, but it's no CS or SRV or Clapton or any-other-overpriced showboat. It's all-Strat, all the time and seems to work best through a nicely enhanced tube amp.

Just to torture myself, I took down one of the $2,300+ Fender Custom Shop 60s reissues and compared it side-by-side to this little Mexi. Then I grabbed a few more down and played to my ear's delight. Yes, there IS a difference. Huge...(but certainly not $2,000-huge)...which is why I waltzed out of there with the Mexi while the CS hangs indefinitely awaiting a visit from Trump or Gates. Yeah, 8's a fair rating, although, considering the price...it might deserve a 9...but that's my wallet talking.

Bought this bad boy used and abused. Previous owner was a blues player; played for sound, not for show. Dings, marks, scratches, rubbed, scared; yes, blemishes abound with this beast. Even looks like he may have either played it to death or put it through his own special belt-sanding, drag it behind the wife's Buick home-relic torture test. Not too bad, but enough to give it plenty of character. Other than the abuse, the neck pocket is virgin-tight.

Action was another story: HORRIBLE...for me, at least. Was set up very strange w/ every string at an ever-increasing distance from the frets w/ the 9-gauge E-string what seemed to be about a foot of clearance...and here's where I do my fellow Strat-brothers a favor...(hopefully). Now, I thought I had every Allen-wrench God ever inspired, but I was wrong as I couldn't find anything to fit the incredibly small saddle adjustment screws on this reissue bridge. They were even smaller than all the other Mexi Strats at GC. Was very weird and almost thought I'd have to invest in new saddles until an old friend and guitar gu-ru set me on the path of wrench enlightenment --- (.050 allen wrench is the answer boys, just in case you've been battling the same dilemma).

With that out of the way, WHY am I giving it a 9??? Two reasons: a) the saddles were easily adjusted once I got the right wrench, and 2) while I consider relic-ing totally poser, I am diggin' the look and well-worn in feel of this guitar. Just something about laying one's hands on a guitar that has sung it's heart out. I simply wouldn't refinish it all perty for anything.

Hey, if you read the above Fit-n-Finish comment, you know what my response here will be. For those of you who didn't, here it is: It's already been through hell, beer and who knows what else. I think it's proved itself in this department.

They're Fender. They make...what? ...like a bazillion guitars every hour? Never dealt with 'em and don't know that I ever would. I put more trust in my local guitar techs than in corporate Fender or corporate anybody else. "No opinion" on this one.

Been playing awhile and seem to know my way around guitars. Mostly own high-priced hand-made acoustics and a custom jazz guitar or two --- with one old vintage Tele just to keep me honest.

If it were stolen, I wouldn't buy a new one and upgrade the pickups; too much money. I guess I'd just wait for Mr. Fate & Ms. Kismet to get together and let another used-n-abused one like this fall into my lap. Either that or buy a used one on the cheap, run down the original owner of this one and get him to beat the sh!t out of it for me; worked on this one anyway ;-)

For $250, yeah...awesome value! For too much more...naaa.

Unlike a lot of the other reviews, I will be looking at this guitar a bit critical. It's a 2005 Fender Classic 60's Stratocaster in Olympic White with limegreen scratchplate and tinted knobs. This guitar was Made In Mexico. The body is alder like a real Fender, rosewood fretboard og maple neck. Vintage 6 point tremolo, and a 5 way switch(although the 3 way switch was the standard in the 60's). 3 single coil pickups, vintage tuners. Basically this is a Mexico Strat made to fit the 60's standards.

The frets are vintage and are rather small which is good for some players, but not so good for others. I don't really mind the small frets.

This is a cheaper version of the American Vintage 62 Strat, but the differences are minor. The tuners on the AV are Gotohs, if I remember correctly, and the ones on this one are Pings.

I give the features an 8 for overall, but 9 for the price. You have to pay over double for the AV 62 Strat, so you get a lot of bang for the buck on this one.

The stock pickups weren't mindblowing but decent. The neck and middle pickups where decent and the bridge was bad. They're alright, no doubt about it, but if you're concerned about tone you can get some new pickups. The bridge pickup was quite thin and annoying to the ear, but very country sounding. The middle pickup was more mellow, having a bit more bass and mid to it compared to the bridge pickup. The neck was the best sounding of the three. Very warm sound, great for blues. Since they're all single coil pickups there will be hum, but you don't really hear it when you're playing. The pickups aren't the best in the world, but are pretty decent. They are a bit muddy if you playing with overdrive or distortion.

I wasn't satisfied with the bridge pickup and changed it to a Seymour Duncan SSL-3 hot, which has a lot more output and therefor more ideal for rock music with overdrive and distortion. I also decided on putting an Antiguity Texas Hot in the neck which gives it a lot more warmth and clarity when played clean. I don't use the middle pickup that much, so it's still stock.

I play various types of music but this guitar is used for rock(hard), and blues. I play it through a Marshall TSL 100 watt head and a 1936 cab, and a Fender Blues Jr. With the Marshalls dirty sound and the bridge pickup you get the nicest sound. A lot of bite and bark, ideal for earlier Foo Fighters, Green Day, Pearl Jam etc.

With the upgrade of pickups you have an incredible sounding guitar depending on your own taste. Personally I would upgrade them because after you have a worldclass guitar!

Without the mods I would give it 7?, but after 9?.

The action is normal, a tad too high for my personal likings, but a trip to a tech and it's done. I'm just too lazy to do it myself. The intonation was great out of the box. The only thing really to complain about is that the thin E string a bit out of place on the fretboard on the higher frets. It has a tendency to "fall out" of the fretboard, but a Strat isn't an easy guitar to play on, and it wouldn't have its charm if it was.

I'm very confident in the mexicans craftmanship. They want to prove the "real" Fender in the US that they can make as good instruments as they can. The finish is nice and seems very durable. It would have been cool if they had a nitrocellulose lacquer like the AV series, but then the price would have been different. Basically this guitar is very well built.

I haven't dealt with them, but the store I got it at had a salesperson who specialized in Fender equipment and made me feel comfortably in buying one.

This is an excellent guitar for the money. I wouldn't trade it for a more expensive US Standard. In my opinion, this is superior to the US Standard, and is cheaper. If you have the extra cash I would buy an American Vintage 62 reissue instead and get the full treatment, but this is definately awesome!

I've been playing for 11 or 12 years now, and own a Fender Jaguar from Japan, an Ibanez Talman TC-720, a Morgan Acoustic, 2 different amps, and a new guitar coming soon.

I love the fact that it's made in Mexico and plays so nicely! I was a bit scared of the "Made In Mexico" tag, but after playing it I'm convinced that the reason why the US Standard series costs so much is because of the "Made In USA" tag.

I chose this after playing the US Standard. I hope you will do too.

Stock it's about 7, but if you change the pickups, you have a guitar at about 8-9. For the buck it's 10!

Who needs a USA '60s Re-issue which will cost double of a Mex '60s Re-issue? I bought a '60s Mex re-issue for #389 yesterday and, at themoment, have no regrets. It's the spitting image of John Frusciantes '60s strat, for those of you who dont knw he's the Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist. All control knobs, pickup selector cover and scrath board are vintage tinted. All hardware is standard fender and who needs better? Standard Fender hardware is more then enough. 21 Fret rosewood neck fits my lead guitar playing needs. When I picked up this guitar I just knew it was the one for me, the feeling you get where you just know this guitar is made for you.

I play Rock, Punk, Metal, just about anything and it fits every style I've tried to play. This is the gutar everyone can use. I run it through a Marshall 200W Silver Jubilee full stack with a BOSS GT8. Come on, whats a '60s Strat without noise? If you are complaining about a '60s Strat being noisy then go back to Guitar School. Kick your distortion pedal on, play the chord of E and just stand infront of your amp and let that chord ring! Rich, Full and Bright, hyou get it all from a Strat. There is endless variety from this guitar. Get it, experiment and enjoy! Thats what guitar playing is about. Explore this beauty! If you had a dislike about this guitar then why buy it in the first place!!!

Come on, it was made by Fender!!!

Live playing a Fender is what it's all about. Hardware is spot on. Finish, a guitar looks just as beautiful worn out as it does brand new. Strap buttons, with a new guitar you should buy Schaller strap locks, you don't have to worry about dropping your guitar whilst you jump around on stage, but that depends on the player themselves. Can you depend on a Brand new Jag (car)? You could gig your whole life with this guitar and not have a backup.

There is no need to deal with Fender once you've bought the guitar itself. Follow all the tips to keep your guitar in tip top shape and you'll never have to deal with Fender again, unless you buy another guitar from them, which I definately will!

Been playing 15 years. I own a Gibson Les Paul, Fende '60s Mex Telecaster, Martin Acoustic 000-15. I would never put this guitar in a position were it could be stolen or lost. I love all of it!!! You wouldn't compare a Strat to anything else, you'd be comapring other guitars to the Strat. I wish it came with a Marshall JTM45 100W full stack, but I'm not in heaven yet!!!

2002 Mexican, 21 frets, alder body, sunburst finish, rosewood fretboard, vintage hardware, purchased on Ebay, came with Fender Noiseless PUPS installed with original PUPS and pots extra. Have to give it a 10 for features because it is exactly what it is: a vintage style Strat.

Great for all styles but I play primarily Blues and Rock. Gear: '66 Vibro Champ, '70 Champ, '64 Gibson Falcon, '56 Magnatone Troubadour, Alesis Microverb, Ibanez DL-10 Delay, Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive and Tokai Compressor. After using it with the noiseless PUPS, I felt there was something missing so I re-installed the originals. This made a big difference in tone, esp. on overdrive. The originals were smoother and it was easier to get pinch harmonics. The noiseless were basically the opposite. Also, I didn't find the originals overly noisy so if a classic Strat sound is what you want, give the original PUPS a chance before spending $$$ on expensive replacements.

Guitar was in new condition when I got it a few months ago. Eveything was great except the nut needed to be recut on the G string which kept popping out of its slot. Otherwise, it was near perfect.

Time will tell but it should still be around after I'm gone [I'm 42]. Fenders seem to last forever.

Haven't dealt with Fender but I all my Fenders were bought used anyway.

Playing for 15 years, still a beginner LOL. Aside from the gear mentioned above, I have a Phoenix [Japan] '52 Tele lawsuit copy, '83 Squier Japan '70's Strat, Highway One Tele. If stolen, I'd kill the thief, if I lost it I'd kill myself for being so stupid. Love everything about it. esp. the chunky "C" neck. I've played the Mex. '50's Strat and Tele also and would recommend any of these guitars from this series.

awesome feel and finish, hard to believe its brand-new. feels broke in from the start, all vintage aged hardware. very stable klusons, aged knobs pickup covers switch cover and pickguard. Awesome! definately not a toy

i dont know if it came from the factory with custom shop pickups in it, but mine has them. staggered poles, vintage sound. kinda noisy in front of computer monitors or too close to fluorescent lights but you can move away from them. the tone is incredible. it is so easy to get that SRV sound even with light gauge strings. this guitar loves vintage distortion sounds and tremolo effects. a real bluesy sound! this is not for the metal guys!

the action is typical of an older strat but is surprisingly comfortable. i prefer the vintage frets. they arent too tall so they are easy on the fingers. the finish is impeccable, you have to love the vintage tinted maple neck. it looks like a guitar that was well-cared for while playing in smoky old blues lounges. the fretboard has rolled edges that make it feel broken in right out of the box. the neck joint is perfect. i couldnt find one flaw in the guitar and i can be picky

do i even need to answer this question? come on its a fender! this is easily capable of being your every gig main guitar.

never dealt with them, i fix my own problems, have no patience to wait for my guitar to come out of the shop

i have been playing 18 years and i am giving this a perfect 10 because i just cannot see the point in spending so much more money just to see made in usa written on my guitar. this thing plays better than EVERY usa fender i picked up at the store, no exaggeration! BUY ONE