Fender American HM Strat

I have two, one for my main stage guitar and one for back-up. Both have been modified with EMG 81 in the bridge and two SA-5 in the neck and middle positions. Stock blue/green finish with rosewood fingerboard. Both are 1988 models with original Khaler trems. Also have added the EMG presence control mod to both guitars, EMGs are kind of weak without them. Knurled speed knobs on all pots. Strap locs.

Both guitars, and any other I have ever picked up and played for that matter, have felt the same.Low slinky action with good response with 9s or 10s on them. Never have tuning problems even with heavy bar use.
Both can generate pretty much any tone im looking for at the time.

Amazing action that requires very little tweaking when the seasons change. Set very low and stays that way.Stock finnishes pretty much sucked, but im not too concerned with how it looks beacuse it makes me money. Kahler trem will rust though if not kept clean and oiled.

These are by far the most durable guitars I have ever owned. Less sensitive to temp than a Les Paul, WAY tougher than the BC Riches. I toured with them for 12 years and with all the banging around they got, they both still play the same, with a few nicks and scratches. The finnish did wear around the area where my pinkie rests but i put a silver dollar there and havnt had any more trouble.

Never dealt with them so i dont really know, but Fender has a Pretty shitty rep for that.

Ive been a working musician for 28 years and own several other guitars from Gibsons to Ibanez to BC Rich. If I lost one of these i would replace it in a minute, and wouldnt have any worries about it feeling the same.Ive dropped it, left it out in the rain and watched roadies throw it in a truck, its still kickin. Best guitars ive ever owned overall.

HISTORY LESSON
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This model guitar is the single real reason why Fender bought the company "Floyd Rose". It was originally outfitted with a "Floyd Rose Licensed" bridge made by Kahler, wherein lied a major problem ultimately. Kahler bridges had then been enjoying much success by outfitting builders such as BC Rich, Peavey, and of course, Fender. Here is what went wrong for Kahler.

KAHLER FLAW #1
They forged their components with molds and liquid metal. Many say this is common, but anyone with a physics or metalurgy background knows that this weakens the metals temper because the heating and cooling leave the metals molecules further apart in the end. In English: The metal breaks and strips faster and the tone is worse. Denser metal is stronger and transfers vibrations better thus improves tone (or at least degrades it less). The real Floyd Rose bridges were milled rather than forged for this exact reason.

KAHLER FLAW #2
All their measurements were done in metric when all other Floyd Rose and Floyd Rose licensed bridges were measured in the imperial system of measurements. Net result? If you broke a KAHLER part, only KAHLER could replace it, no one else's replacement parts would fit. Particularly frustrating if you, for instance, strip one of your allen-key-tightened locking screws - which would surely happen much faster on Kahler hardware than others because the parts were forged and not milled. Everyone else's replacement parts fit each others, but on a Kahler bridge, you needed Kahler for a replacement part.

KAHLER FLAW #3
KAHLER F#@!ING WENT OUT OF BUSINESS! Fender ended up with an HM Series American Strat with a doomed bridge for which replacement parts no longer existed. Thanks Kahler - you suck and I'm glad your gone.

Anyway, this pretty much had an impact on the short lived HM line being short lived, and sparked Fender into buying Floyd Rose outright so that it could guarantee never being placed in that position ever again.

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BACK TO FEATURES
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Aside from the Kahler Bridge (and the ugly original Turquoise paint-job), this guitar had excellent features. It played like a dream and never gave me tuning issues. Main complaint is that the body was three pieces of Maple rather than one or two.

Very versatile from funk, to metal, to blues, to Jazz, to Flamenco, to Classical. There is no style I haven't had this guitar to good use with eiother on stage or in the studio. Modifications were made however - see the "overall Rating" section for more on the mods.

Factory settings were abymal, but after I fixed the action and intonation and pickup-height, and adjusted the truss rod for real strings, things got a LOT better. Plays really smooth and kept up with my growing string demands up until a guage 13 to 66 setup. Since I bought the Les Paul, it now has the 13 to 78 setup, and the fender was backed down to 11 to 56.

after mods, this guitar was always dependable.

See comments on Kahler, then reason why their support sucks.

This guitar had the following modifications after I bought it:

1. Original black Kahler Spider bridge taken out and replaced with a gold finished Floyd Rose Pro 2 bridge, which involved filling the old posts properly and redrilling new ones - because Kahler loves metric the spacings were incompatible too but it was worth it to be rid of Kahler hardware forever.

2. Original turquoise finish sanded off by hand - mine. 14 layers is excessive, and the wood resonates MUCH more without so much goddamn laquor. Gave it a three coat diamond transparent finish, but have left the surface front unfinished to allow it to age faster, and also got a wood-burning it and burned an Ouigi board design into it so as to appear an old Ouigi board turned into a guitar rather than vice-versa. Overall, the wood finish and gold tremolo contribute to a blond looking body color scheme now.

3. Replaced original custom Dimarzio humbucker with a gold plated Gibson '57 Classic plus. The old one had gone microphonic, then a few years later the parafin wax wasn't doing its job anymore so it had to go, but the '57 adds the the body's blong theme.

4. Replaced the strap pins with Jim Dunlop strap locks. Never worried about dropping it since.

5. hung two ivory carved feathers from a thin beige leather strap tied around the headstock just below the fender trademark circular end as they were given to me by a native american friend of mine for luck and spiritual strength.

6. Replaced the pickup selector with one that didn't click so loudly.

7. Replaced knobs for tone and volume with gold plated metal ones.

8. Grinded the original Kahler locking nuts on the neck so that they could be locked and unlocked with a flat-head screwdriver rather than an allen key. Guess why? You got it, they stripped and replacement parts didn't exist. Also, the rosewood neck and black headstock and black nut hardware gave the neck all a black theme, which went well with the blond color scheme the body had - and I didn't want to retrofit a new nut.

End result - the best sounding and most badass looking Fender start I've ever seen. I love this guitar, and named it Angel. It was also my first "real" guitar. bought it from money I made lobster fishing when I was 15. It took a lot of work to get it here, but it was all worth it.

Fender HM Strat
White (nine ply body paint), 80s-looking 'STRAT' logo emblazoned on head. Rosewood fingerboard, 24 frets, 2 single coil pick-ups, 1 coil-tapped bridge pick-up, Floyd Rose licensed kahler locking trem, gotoh machine heads. 1 volume, 2 tone controls, 5-way selector switch.

Really versatile sound, excellent clean fender tones on single coils (glassy bright but nice and rich as well - perfect for funk riffs), which muddies up with higher distortion as well as letting out a nasty buzz. The inferior overdriven single-coil sounds are made up for by the bridge humbucker - this is perfect for rock/metal - good separation and f-ing hard! Pretty much uniquely flexible for the price - classic tones from twang to kerrangg!

Bought second hand - got it set up at a guitar shop later. The pick-up selectors click but what do you expect for this price? The main problem with this guitar is the tuning - the tremelo is pretty good if you're a whammy-bar fiend, but I don't know whether there was a problem with the neck, locking nut, bridge or some other isolated issue with my particular guitar, but this HM Strat does not stay in tune for less than 15 minutes - and with all the arsing about with an alan key needed to re-tune, this becomes a major - pretty much terminal - flaw, if you ever want to gig.

The build of the guitar is great - fender USA components, solid materials (except the coil-tap which I managed to snap off while playing - not the guitar's fault though). The only thing not dependable with this guitar is the tuning - and the tuning is just shite.

Heard that fender have rubbish customer service, so always took it back to the shop.

I've been playing for about ten years and this was my first electric - I tried it because I heard the poodle-haired guitar shop asssistant ranting to his colleague about how fantastic it was - I tried it, loved it, and used it for ages. I've sold it on because of the tuning problems and the fact it looks really dated now. If there was some way you could improve the tuning on it (the assistants tried and failed to fix it) I would never have got rid - you can always modify the look of it, and the sounds you can get from this guitar more than make up for the Def Leppard-factor.

my hm strat is early 90,s with the kahler spider bridge,gotoh tuners.has a seymour duncan invader humbucker and stock single coils.guitar was fusia and i refinished it in candy apple blue metel flake.guitar is awesome just didnt like the color,they seem hard to find so i bought it for $350 have had it for about 7YRS guitar shop owner had hard time selling it because of the color

sound is awesome!with the duncan ivader it has tons of power and sustain.i use a marshall valvestate 100 and it sounds great through it and the stock single coils are super clean

action is the low just the way i like it,the neck is the most comfortable i have ever played.i have never had to adjust anything on it since i have owned it

been a very dependable guitar,i dont play in a band but have put many hours on it and have never had any problems or had to do any rewiring or replace anything the seymour duncan humbucker was in it when i got it

bought used never had support

have been playing for 10 yrs and have owned many guitars this is the first guitar i have kept for this long and dont have any plans to ever sell it.i also own a gibson les paul studio,and a ibanez rg 560.and the strat is by far my favorite,maybe i have ruined the value by repainting it but the paint now is much cooler i hope to buy another hm strat someday they very nice sounding great playing guitars

My Fender HM Strat was made in 1989. I don't know if the guitar is made in Japan or USA. It has Fender USA on the neck plate. 24 fret, 25 inch scale neck, with a maple fingerboard with medium frets. Black headstock with large script style 'Strat' logo and locking nut. The tremolo was a Kahler Spider but I change it into a Floyd Rose Lo-Pro edge. The controls are: Volume, tone, tone, 5-way selectorand coil tap. Pickup configuration: S/S/H. I change the neck pick-up into a DiMarzio Fast Track II. In the middle I'm going to be a DiMarzio Fast track I. All passive. I scalped the last octave of the neck. Gotoh Tuners.

Sounds are great. This guitar has many sounds and a lot of sustain.

I never needed

I play for 20 years. I use a Roland GP16 with FC 100 MKII. Rocktro Replifex. Hughes & Kettner Tri AMP MKI. Marshall JCM800 cabinet. A Aria PE450 les paul guitar. Custom guitar with a Heartfield neck and a 1978 Fender Strat body. I tried different guitars before I bought my HM Strat. I tried the Ibanez JEM flower patern but I'm happy that I bought the Fender. I bought this guitar in 1989 and I'm still happy with that guitar.

Features
Usa, 24 frets, kahler tremolo. It has all the classic features for an HM strat.I have it since 1991 with all the signatures and the specs from Fender USA. I guess that is the only prove for its origin.

I think it suits all kind of styles, though folks this thing is not for jazz as some state here...! It screams if needed and can achieve a really melodic sound through an array of incredible combinations

It a 13 year old model now and the finish lasts incredibly.

Its a pure beauty

never needed

I think this guitar is seriously underestimated. Partly because 15 years back there were all these heavy metal freaks that supported the guitar companies and gibson had hard times in contrast with jackson that was flourishing with silly graphics and flashy logos for kids. Fender decided to get into the market. But it was too late. The others had gone a long way gaining years of experience. Plus the profile of fender would have seriously changed (see eric clapton). Then they withdrawed this model which was not selling good anyway and their mistake (to my opinion) was that they discontinued it. I think when the time will come this guitar will have an enormous price. It is actually happening right now that people look for this modelr and cannot find it as often as they did 5 years before. So give it 10 more years and you will see. The ugly look will become fashionable all of a sudden. Do you know any fender that is older, lets say, than 30 years is not simply extremely expensive?

I don't know whether this guitar is Japanese or American made. It has Fender USA on the neck plate, yet on the neck it says made in Japan. It's a 1989, Magenta-Red in color, with a S/S/H Pickup configuration, with an original Floyd Rose Tremolo. I got the guitar with 3 humbuckers installed; 2 Seymour Duncan Classic Rails, and one SD Trembucker. These pickups give any and all sounds. The neck is lightning fast, and paper thin, yet durable.

I play a little of everything - metal, punk, jazz, classic, ska, and classic rock. I can get every sound I want, with more to spare. I actually use the locking nut, and the guitar will not go out of tune for weeks using Ernie Ball Slinkies (.09). This guitar sounds better then any of the Gibson Les Pauls of SGs that I've owned, and plays better too.

I got the guitar used, actually recovered from a flood, so I can't comment on a little rust, but its only on appearance items. Everything else is perfect.

I've played this guitar at a few concerts, and I'd have to say that you will NEVER need a backup. It just won't die, even if you drop it from chest height!

I got it in the late 90s, far beyond warranty.

Excellent guitar. It's what's keeping me with Fender.

Probably made in 1988 Japan or USA....don't know. Back plate shows "Fender USA" on the back of the neck close to the back plate shows a "535" number
24 frets great fast neck. Light green/blue laminated body.
Neck pickup, middle pickup and bridge humbucker. Volume Control and two tone control + pickup tap switch. Pickup make and model unmarked.
Kahler locking tremolo, Gotoh tuners.

It's been designed for Heavy Metal and does it very well, although any music style will be acomplished with this guitar.
If there is an inprovement to be done would be a lower profile Kahler tremolo.

Good action, fit and finish on my guitar.

Reliability and durability excelent for all these years that I have been playing it.

Excelent customer support, very helpful

I have been playing for around 35 years and if I have to I wouldn't hesitate to buy this "Strat by Fender" again (different colour maybe)
The neck on this guitar is superb.......a gem, fast and pleasant. The best Fender's neck I have ever played. The Kahler tremolo never let you down, always on tune. The shape on this HM looks like a 17 years old....
beautyful !!!!!

Well its saaaaays made in America, but it was made in Japan, 87 I think. This is the guitar GREG HOWE (an incredible shred-fusion guitarists, ya'll should check him out)used in the early days, and still uses along with a cutsom ESP. Bolt on Maple Neck, 24 frets,
H-S-S, with coil taps. Stock pickups are pretty nice, but I put A Dimarzio YJM in the neck, and a Tone Zone in the bridge. Kahler Spyder Floyd Rose (very nice) and Gotoh tuners (very nice) The neck is Awesome, its a little thinner, wider strat neck. And don't let bolt on confuse you, this heel is about half the size of a normal strat. Having pretty much all one could want in it and the Coil taps give this baby a 10

Mmmmmmmmmmm. I love the sound of this guitar. The stock pickups are very quite. I'm usin it through a Fender Hot Rod deluxe (go tubes, well, thats another review) with a Boss MT2. Replaced the pickups, but kept the stock ones just incase. (They're exceptional for stock pickups) Very full (even the singles) but you can DEFINATELY get a strat tone with the help of the coil taps and a little down on the tone knob. This guitat is incredibally versitile, any sounds you want. There is one problem, holding it back from a 10- The neck pickup seems louder than the bridge, pretty considerabley. Not that bad (actually its good for me, because I use my neck pickup alot in my solos) but I think they should be equal. I should proabablly give it a 10, but I think a 10 in anything should be flawless.

The set-up was ok, but I'm very picky when it comes to my setup. I had the action lowered, (it was pretty low, but I like it like a limbo contest-as low as it can go!) I think there's something a little wrong with the tone pots, because there's a drastic change from like 5-4. Oh well, no biggie. The bridge was flawless, but I had it routed more. (Because I think I'm Steve Vai {I'm not!})

A Rock. Plain and simple.

Wouldn't know, but I've heard mixed reviews on Fender's customer support. I Hope their good though, cuz I got a boatload of Fender Products!!!

If you see this guitar-don't buy it. I WANT IT! Really though, at about $300 now adays, it is the best in that price range. I like it better than my $700 Ibanez RG770 and $800 American strat. (Oh yeah, Japanese is just as good American)I've been playing for 4 years and I play mostly Shred, Fusion, And Jazz. This guitar can handle all those and more. This is a sweeeeeet guitar. If it were stolen, I wouldn't care tooooo much, I'd just get a new one BECAUSE THEY'RE SO CHEAP!!!
This guitar is a GREAT backup or main guitar, so do yourself a favor-GET IT!!! If anyone wants some more info or you have questions, e-mail me.

According to the serial number (E9), it's an '89. S/S/H, Kahler, 24 fret. Great pickups... very quiet, even in front of my computer monitor. I must have got a good one because I have no complaints about the Kahler. Keep it clean and it works fine.

I would like if Anonymous could give the reasons he says Kahler equipped HM's are from Japan. This is news to me. I'm not saying it's impossible but I've never seen a Jap model that didn't have Made in Japan on it somewhere.

I use it for several styles and it sounds great. This is one of the few guitars that I have left the pickups alone. I like the center detent tone knobs and coil tap... lots of variety. The Strat tone is a little thick though. I revert to my other Strats with Rio Grandes when I need that SRV sound.

I use it with a Flextone II. I really don't care for it through a straight amp with no effects... too generic.

I bought it used. It needed truss rod adjustment, re-adjust the neck tilt (cool option I wish all guitars had), and lots of cleaning.

I went overboard. I completely stripped the plastic finish, bondo and all and re-finished the guitar in a classic maple stain with several coats of satin nitro on top. It's gorgeous. The center of the body is flamed maple with alder wings. I purchased a standard looking Stratocaster decal for the headstock... also very flamed. It turns heads everywhere I go.

Dependable and lovable. I put about $50 in finish, knobs, new tap switch, etc...

Great gigging guitar. Flexible sounds, cheap enough not to worry about it.

Never needed it.

What a deal. An old POD traded even up including a hard case. A couple weeks worth of evenings, stripping, cleaning and refinishing and what do you know a really cool guitar! Plays great, Sounds great, cheap, and looks awesome.

Stripping is hard work (ask a stripper) and to be done at your own risk. These guitars have the thickest coating I have ever seen. Attempt at your own risk. I can email pics if you're intersted in what mine looks like under alll that polyuerathane.