Fender American Series Hardtail Stratocaster

2001 American series Strat, Black finish, Rosewood fretboard hardtail bridge.
Gave it a 5 in "Features" because I, like most people, "mod" their guitars at some point. In this case I changed the pickguard to accomodate a DiMarzio Super Distortion at the bridge. I may change the single coils eventually, although they are working out o.k. at this point. I also replaced the bridge saddles with Graph-Techs, American standard style saddles don't fair to well after a couple of years.

I am fairly happy with the tone of this guitar, as mentioned above I changed the bridge pickup to an h-bucker. (I have always replaced the bridge pickup in my Strats) This guitar is a bit brighter than any tremolo equipped Strats I have owned, almost a Tele-ish snarl to it, kind of cool. I play through 50 & 100 watt Marshall Jubilee heads and 4x12's with 75 watt Celestions. I use it in a cover band and can cover alot of different material with its current set-up. I have been gigging with it for about 8-9 months.

I think the quality of this guitar is very good, nice frets, new neck radius is nice, tight neck pocket...(they aren't all this way!) but the finish has alot to be desired. I ordered this guitar and it came out of the box with some very noticeable flaws. You can see the lamination line where the 2 halves of the body are glued together (it is slight, and it is a Black guitar...more noticeable I guess), I have seen much cheaper guitars that don't have this problem). There is also a very noticeable flaw in the paint by the output jack, it appears that there is something under the paint. Action isn't much of an issue as I set up my own guitars (usually .10's sometimes .11's) Fenders' ads say "Better sounding" "Better playing" guitars, this may be true... too bad they don't include "Better looking" guitars. My advice, don't order a guitar, buy one off of the rack, that way you know EXACTLY what you are getting. (I have a '98 Lonestar with similar issues) Hey Fender, ya wanna repaint my Strats???

Reliability/durability is high, I have had few problems with Fenders' reliability in the past, I don't expect to have any in the near future. Would I play without a back-up? NEVER!, I play about 100 gigs per year, indoors and out, you should always have back-up gear.

Never dealt with them, just hope that they are heeding these reviews!!!

I have been playing 19 years and have used just about everything at one point or another. I think it is a good guitar, I did make some changes to it, so I can't give it a 10, not to mention the paint isn't too hot... But it seems to be reliable and plays and sounds like I had anticipated. If it were stolen I would replace it, I love Strats, although I wouldn't order one again. Buy 'em off the rack!

2001 Model. Beautiful 3 color sunburst alder body and maple neck. Basic, no-frills, quality guitar.

Bought the guitar to get the classic sounds and the guitar certainly delivered some excellent sounds. It also delivered some really annoying noise. Some folks might say "no duh, it's a Strat" but I say in this day and age, Fender should be able to produce (or get their hands on) good sounding noiseless single coil style pickups.
I have since installed Kinman A-vn Blues pickups. At this point, I couldn't be happier with the sound of this guitar. Pre-pickup change 8. Post pickup change 10.

This particular unit that I purchased was the most resonant Strat, and the only hardtail model of the Srats that resided at my local music store. I think that the hardtail bridge is a contributing factor. The guitar has really nice sustain.

The action was set up for 9's when I first bought the guitar. The music store set it up perfectly with the 10's that I use. I have received several compliments on the low action and lack of fret buzz. The finish is nearly perfect, with a few, barely noticeable blemishes where the stain sunk into the wood grain.
The neck and fretwork on this guitar is top notch. The rolled edges of the neck give the guitar a broken-in, smooth feel.

A couple of the tuning keys and one of the tone knobs were loose and needed tightening.

Built like a tank. I do not gig so with care, this thing should outlast me.

N/A

Overall, I am very happy with the Strat but wish Fender could provide quality noiseless pickups in all of their American series guitars. I needed to spend another $285 dollars for the Kinman pickups (which are awesome!). I have been playing guitar for about 30 years and this is the best built guitar I have ever owned. Very versatile!

2001 American Series Hardtail. I've been wishing for a strat (a real strat, not a copy or mexican made) for a few years and finally got one. I have no need for tremeloes with their springs and tuning problems, so I went with a hardtail. The only drawback is that it only comes in 4 different colors. Sunburst always looks good so thats what I went with. Typical strat features: alder body, maple fingerboard, 3 pickups, 5 way selector, delta tone controls on the bridge and middle pickups (with the control on 10, it bypasses the tone control).

I felt the hardtail would give more tone and more sustain. Upon plugging it in (directly into the clean channel of a Mesa Boogie Studio 22), it sure sounds like a good strat should. Neck pickup on the throaty side, middle pickup has that nice midrange honk, bridge pickup is bright but not brittle or thin. Positions 2 and 4 have plenty of quack but I don't use these as much as positions 1,3, and 5. I probably use the middle pickup more than most strat players. In summary, I feel that the new American Series has a very good sound but not a "great" sound or "the" sound. The stock pickups are good and are in fact much better than a Fender American Standard Tele I had a few years back. It seems Fender tried to mix a vintage design with a contemporary pickup of slightly more output (bear in mind however, that these are not "hot" pickups). Would more than adequately handle most types of music except metal. Will probably replace the pickups sometime in the future with Fender Texas Specials or Harmonic Design Pickups as I prefer a hotter pickup with more midrange response.

Heres where I have some issues with Fender. Once I bought the guitar, I raced home, plugged it in, and AAAHHH. It sounded terrible. Bright, brittle, and thin. The reason? Slinky strings, very low action, and pickups raised close to the strings. What a horrible setup. I immediatly lowered the pickups, strung it with 11's, and raised the action (I like high action). What a difference! Fender, at least use 10's on your guitars and don't keep the pickups close to the strings. The finish is near flawless, the controls worked fine, and there are no flaws that I can see. The low score is mostly for the set up.

Fenders can probably survive a fall down a flight of stairs. I have no qualms about the reliablity of the guitar or anything breaking. It stays in tune.

Never dealt directly with Fender.

I'm forty and have been playing for 22 years. I used to play in bands but only play as a hobby now. Occasionally jam and play in church. It's astounding that for around $800 Fender can supply a professional well made instrument. In my situation, a strat is the guitar to own. I may get some sort of epiphone in the future as a second guitar, perhaps a hollowbody or humbucker guitar. If lost or destroyed, would definitely buy another one. As stated earlier, I would prefer hotter pickups, but it is still a great guitar.

Well its a strat so you know the basic features: 3 single coil Delta-tone pickups, 5 way switch etc. Mine is a 3 tone sunburst (3 piece alder) with a rosewood neck and parchment pickguard, knobs etc. Mine is VERY light and resonant. The hardtail is unique to this model, which is why I had to special order it. The wood is beautiful on this guitar and the poly finish is very nice. The best thing about these new american series strats is the neck finish, which is an unfinished satiny feel... this, along with the great tone, is what sold me on this guitar. It came with Fender/Schaller sealed tuners, which I immediatly replaced with Fender/Schaller Chrome Locking tuners, which make string changes easier and increase tuning stability. I ordered mine with a deluxe tweed case with red poodle interior, very very nice... adds to the aura of the guitar. I give it an 8 because its a stripped down strat... that what I wanted and thats what it is designed to be.

The sound out of the box is very good and the Delta tones sound pretty darn good. Much better that the old stock American Standard pickups Fender has used in the past, but that just be me. I replaced these pickups with Lindy Fralin Vintage Hots immediately after receiving the guitar, and it made a world of difference. I won't rehash the Fralin lover speil here (check the other reviews on this site), but they are a great match for this guitar. It really quacks in positions 2/4 and has a great single coil tone at 1, 3, 5. I like the warmth of the alder/rosewood combo which is slightly ofset by the brightness of the Fralins. A great combo overall. In my experience some pickups just mate well with certain guitars, and the Fralins match up well with this one. I can't quite tell if the hardtail contributes to increased sustain, but I would suspect that it does slightly. it is VERY nice to do two-string bends and not have the second string go out of tune. Tel like in a way! I run this guitar through a Fender Cyber Twin using mainly presets from www.patchwizard.com to simulate a 65 BF Pro Reverb and a Bassman (among others). It really mates up well with this amp and I can get some great strat tones out of it. Tonally, there's not much I don't like about the guitar...except for the standard SC noise. With the Fralins, the tonal variety on this guitar is astounding.

It is difficult for me to comment here because I bought the guitar from Music One Workshop where a Gold-level setup is included, so the nut was recut and the frets were polished with a complete setup for 10-46 strings before I got it. It was set up very well but needed a tad more relief. The action is VERY VERY low (like less than 2/64th of an inch) and the neck is VERY fast because of this and the finish. It took a couple of days or the new neck feel to begin to fade and is breaking in nicely now. The fretwork on this baby is clearly superior to the stock strats I have seen and owned in the past. The rounded fretboard edges are very well done. The pickups were adjusted well (before I removed them). Overall, EXCELLENT but probably due to the work of Larry at Music One (great guy).

its a strat... its the mother of durable guitars. Properly cared for, it should last me a lifetime (but I tend not to keep guitars that long). It seems very well built and I don't expect problems.

Don't know, hopefully won't have to find out. From my experience with Fender employees at the FDP I feel it shouldn't be a problem though.

I;ve been playing for over 10 years and am a confessed "Fender Man" I have owned many strats and teles, and this one is a keeper. Some guitars just feel right, this one does. I like this guitar so much that I am ordering another within the week... a natural ash maple neck to complement this one. The new one will have Van Zandt Blues in it. Together, these two guitars should make a great strat pair. Fender is really turning out some great guitars out there in Ca, both Custom Shop and not. The American Series is an unbelievable deal... 710 for this guitar is a steal. I can't say enough good things about Larry at music one too. He is easy to communicate with, does great setup, gets nice quality guitars in, packs/ships well, and has fair prices. I will be ordering my second AmSe from him also. If my decision to by a second one of these guitars doesn't show how I feel then nothing does!!! I do think it is a fantastic value, but I have yet to find a 10 guitar... maybe someday!

Very light and resonant 3-piece ash body, 3-tone sunburst poly finish, maple neck, Delta-tone pickups with staggered poliepieces, staggered tuners. Pretty simple guitar.

I play blues, rock, funk, etc. and this strat sounds the way a strat should at all times. Great clean sound on the neck and mid settings, with plenty of bite at the bridge pickup. Each of the three pickups has a very disctinct voice clean and overdriven. Plenty of control with the volume and tone knobs.

The 60 Hz hum can be really bad depending on how I face the amp or what the ambient conditions are (TV's, lights, etc.) I often switch to the in-between positions between songs in live settings.

The hardtail body sustains very well and makes the thing feel alive.

For a production guitar, I'm impressed. It'll buzz and fret out if I set the action too low, but that happens on most guitars. Holds tune and intonation well.

I'm not really sure I wreck this thing if I tried.

Never dealt with Fender.

This is my second strat. The first is a '96 American Standard with a pair of humbuckers--a good rock guitar, but it doesn't sound like a true strat. This one does.

The usual Strat features but with a hardtail bridge

Strummed one of them for a few minutes, sounded like a Strat to me.

Caution this isn't pretty. I had been looking for a hardtail for over a year with no luck so I finally ordered one from Musician's Friend. DO NOT EVER DO THIS. Long story short, I went thru 3 Strats, all with major problems, before I said enough I want my money back.

Strat #1: improperly seated frets, finish chipped at nut, gash in fretboard

Strat #2: terrible nut work, finish chipped and cracked at nut, crooked string tree, stripped lower strap button screw hole, huge gap in neck pocket

Strat #3: finish chipped on back of neck

Srats 1 and 2 arrived in the factory sealed box. Srat #3 came in a previously opened box.

Fender has some really serious quality problems. How anything this bad was able to leave the factory is beyond me. I am not exagerating in my description of these guitars, they were terrible. The American Series is supposed to be their high quality product, their ads make claim to "highly detailed fret and nut work," none was apparent on my guitars. Just a mess.

Please understand I am a lifelong Fender user. I love (loved) their products but I don't know if I will ever trust them again.

Previous products have been great. These lasted one day in my possesion before I sent them back

Fender didn't seem to care about their crappy workmanship. Got company boilerplate about how high quality their instruments are and a plea to "stick with " them. Not with products like these I won't.