Fender American Standard Natural Ash Stratocaster

Although I bought it in 2006, the one I got is 1997 OR '98 USA made stratocaster. Stock single coil PU's, frets etc, are all original. It has an ash body, maple neck & fingerboard. The transparent finish lets you to see the beautifully figured ash body. I bought this guitar on ebay with all new black trim, pick guard pickup covers etc.

The black really looks great against the natural ash.

I had not been used to single coil pickups. I have a Guild Starfire III (hollow body) and and old Ibanez LP. This guitar is so bright and clean you will need to turn down some highs. I play through a Deluxe Reverb and use some effects; ME50 & real tube 901.
The guitar lacks the warm richness of the humbuckers and the Fat Cat (p-90 type) pickup I put in the neck position on my LP. What I do get is a very bell strat tone that can pierce through the mix. Clean to a little drive (I use a Dr Z Air brake attenuator) is what this guitar seems to be designed for. I do not play country music but this guitar could take on a tele for that fender twang. I would like a fatter tone at times but I would also hate to loose the classic bell tone. Perhaps I been a humbucker player for too long. The guitar does not do well for the driving swells and heavy chords. The tone improved using 10's from using 9's strings.
The guitar is very quite.

When I bought this guitar it was nicer than I expected, you never know from an E bay purchase. When changed from 9's to 10s I replaced the center spring with one I found (custom made) that had a higher spring rate. The tremolo bar now feels like my bigsby, tighter and much more solid and controllable and stays in tune well. Fender ought to look into this mod.
This guitar is very nicely put together, the all maple neck is as good as it can be, much better than the MIMs of the highway 1 guitars.

Very well put together. Well made parts.

never used

I have been playing 30 years. This guitar is a great guitar for what it does. It is not a "one size fits all" guitar. My modded Ibanz with a strat pick up in the center is a much better all around guitar but putting an stat pick up in an LP will not make it sound like a strat. For clean unbelievable pure tone, especially through a deluxe reverb, this is the guitar.

'97 Strat, two piece Ash, US made, with 3 vol/tone pots, and a pearl pick guard. Won't go over the specs, as they are set forth elsewhere, and I am not from the Department of Redundancy Deptartment. Added the LSR nut and Schaller locking tuning machines. Came with the square Fender case and the usual keys.I am rating the final product, as Starts are OK out of the box, but after a little tweaking, can be great...this one is, now, great. The Strat is as good as the tech and I found a very very good tech.

I feed it through a Boss tuner and either an Ibanez Screamer or a Boss Blues box, and into the Fender amp. Keep the set up simple, and this Strat has that Strat sound...very fine indeed. As noted above, techs are needed for the Strats to reach their potential, and after the adjustments, this Strat suits me fine.

I have no idea about the factory set up...the Strat was 6 or 7 years old before I bought it. It came to me with pick up wires broken, and had to be repaired...however, Strats are never entirely broken....they are just in need of various degrees of tweaking. This one needed serious work. The nut had been "worked on", and the high E kept jumping off track. The Fender quality was the usual Fender quality. Good start, needed work.

This guitar is part tank....historically, the Strats have proven to be very relable. It'll last as long as I take care of it, and I will. Dependable to the max. Take spare strings, but reliable is its middle name. Very solid build.

No idea about customer support....don't care. Mike Koontz in Ferndale, MI, is a marvelous guitar tech. He repairs 'em, improves 'em, and gives 'em back to you in excellent repair, and ready to play. Don't need no stinkin' customer support. Find a good tech, and give him or her the respect they deserve.

I've been playing a LONG time, and have owned a number of guitars. Almost always I have a Strat, and this one will be with me a while. Strats are like the old 1911 Colt .45s...out of the box, they are a project, but they will be all you want once you know what you want.....find a tech!!! It came to me broken, but it was saved, and I really like the look and the feel. I think this one is heavier than other Strats I've had, probably because of the Ash body, but it is rapidly becoming one of my all time favorites. I wish the seller hadn't shipped it in the codition it was in, but that all worked out. I will always have a Strat in some state of tweak. What do I love about it? Easy...the sound. What do I hate? The fact that it weighs 753 pounds (at leats at the end of the night).

2000 model, USA. Natural Ash - 2 pc swamp ash body, about as heavy as an LP, with clear finish (nice woodgrain!), white pickguard, pups and controls, 22 fret rosewood over maple neck. Medium frets, medium neck radius. Standard sss setup with 5-way switch and three vol/tone pots. UPGRADES: Settled on Joe Barden pickups (YESSS!!!). Good whammy made better by adding another spring. Good tuners made better by adding Sperzels. Good bridge made better by adding Graphtec stringsavers. From the factory it's an 8 but when you take care of the details it goes to 10. I'm rating the factory gear.

Great clean bell tones & chimes all the way to a nice hard edge with a lot of gain. Superb harmonics everywhere. The only gripe I had the factory setup was a little bit of noise with the single coil pickups (which had a great traditional Strat sound). Tried lace sensors and puked. Then put in a Joe Barden at the bridge and I heard a Strat from heaven, incredible tones, and DEAD SILENCE in between. Wound up putting Bardens in neck and middle too. Good quack in the out-of-phase 2 and 4 switch settings. The factory sound was an 8-9. With Bardens its off the charts.

I don't know about factory setup. There was one owner before me who knew nothing about this axe and it was a mess when I got it. BUT, as they say, she cleans up nice! I'll bet it was sweet from the factory cause it sure was easy to get it there. The neck is wonderful with a really fast satin/matte finish that doesn't bind on your skin ever. The nut was well cut but slots a little too deep (easily fixed). All the electronics were fine. Replaced the bridge saddles. Added another spring to the whammy because I only use if for dive and don't like messing with tuning. This setup stays tuned like a rock.

I've gigged with this and like all Fenders, it's tough. I hope never to test its durability though, it's too nice looking and playing as it is! The finish is superb and will probably still be good 20-30 years from now. The guitar came with straplocks, great! I'd never gig without backup but mainly for different sound/style. I'd trust this even with the whammy after putting on the stringsaver saddles.

No need to deal with Fender, which is the best customer support in my opinion!

Playing 30+ years. This is the nicest Strat I've owned, by a wide margin, even over some old ones I wish I'd kept from an investment standpoint! I love the sounds, the playability, and the clean natural look. Nothing to hate about this guitar, AT ALL. I would play it exclusively except there are times when you want more of a monster sound and that's not the Strat's home field... for that it's Bill Lawrence or Tom Anderson humbuckers on your favorite slab o wood.

Just an addendum to my earlier review. I've been gigging with my 1997 Am. Std. Ash/maple strat for a couple of years now and there are good and not so good things. The good is that the guitar is a rock. It has held up perfectly. That's pretty much what I expected from a good Strat, but you never know.

The Not so good is the versatility and pickup situation. I got the strat in hopes of putting together a sort of one-size-fits-all guitar so I didn't have to swap around when playing with my cover band. I'm closing in on my 'ideal' I think, but it's still not *quite* there.

I replaced the original delta tones with a Kinman AvN Blues set - pricey, but a nice change. The cheaper and even more usable change is one that I have come to rely on every time I play: I changed the wiring so I can get the neck/bridge pickup combination. That's by far my most used position now. At first I did it using the standard switch, but that makes the switching 'upside down', so I put in a Mega switch from Stew-Mac. I don't have the middle pickup alone anymore, but I never used it that way anyway.

Since that chance I have been swapping bridge pickups in and out in a search for more of an EVH or Richie Sambora kind of sound - while still keeping that single coil look. The closest I've gotten so far is with a Seymour Duncan hotrails pickup. I suspect the cool rails would be a bit smoother sounding (the hotrails can be somewhat harsh I think), but this combination is working pretty well.

The hotrails is, obviously, 'hot' and relatively loud, so I have it a bit lower to balance with the Kinmans. That powerful pup in the bridge position along with the sweet Kinman neck is excellent for getting a tele-ish country sound, and it gets a pretty convincing Rickenbacker/Gretsch vibe as well.

The bridge pup by itself does get into the harder rock soloing neighborhood, with nice harmonics and all, but it's still not quite what I'm looking for. I'm in no hurry to change it tho' because I love that neck bridge combination so much.

Although I bought it in early 2002, the one I got is 2000 model and USA made stratocaster. I did not make any changes on it because I don't need any. Stock single coil PU's, frets etc, are all original. It has swamp ash body,which is almost as heavy as Gibson Les Paul, maple neck and rosewood fingerboard. The transparent finish lets you to see the beautifully figured ash body.

I play electric blues blues which includes SRV, Hendrix, Eric Gales, Chris Duartee, BB King Jeff Healey etc. With those gears, this guitar gives me the 100 % clasic Strat tone I like. My gears with this guitar are; Vox Valve Tone over drive (The pedal which I owe my tone), Ibanez TS 9 reissue, c-tech sonnyboy, boss dd-3, marshall subervibe chorus, vox v-847 wah and 1969 model 4 x 10" fender super reverb. These gears, the hard and heavy ash wood gives me a balanced brightness and mid with great sustain in all positions. This allows you to have a growling overdriven sounds as well as balanced clean tones. I can say that the sustain is great with the neck position. However the bridge position is a little bit weak. Anyway, all the positions fits my style best.

Its playability is excellent. Some can complain about its heavyness but I love the heavy wood felling of this guitar. You can feel all the resonance while you are playing. Its neck is also excellent.The neck and fingerboard finishings are both great. There is no flaw with the guitar. A nice job of Fender Guys

It is totally dependable and reliable. It looks like it will last forever without any problem. The quality of the wood, bindings and the hardware seems to be high. One problem can be with the gloss finish. It looks like the gloss finishing layer is very thick over the wood. If you hit the guitar, nothing happens to the wood but the gloss finih gets broken easily. I hit the guitar once and the broken finish doesn't look good. But the guitar still deserves at least a 9.

To be honest, I have no idea.

I have been playing for 12 years. I also own '95 Gibson Les Paul Standard and '97 Fender Stratocaster (USA). If it were stolen I would definitely buy this guitar again. First of all I love the woody feel when I play this guitar. Secondly I love the tone that I get from the ash body, maple neck and rosewood fingerboard combination. Finally guitar easily outperformes the more common strats with alder bodies in terms of sustain and richness of tone. If you are playing the music closer to my style and you are taking playing seriously, at least you should give it a try.

Ash body (very nice grain!), maple neck, rosewood fretboard, tremelo bridge, 3-ply pickguard (wh/bk/wh), and other typical Am. Standard Strat features like 3 single coil p/u's, straplock buttons, hardshell case...etc...I give it a 10 because it's an American Standard Strat...it does what it's supposed to! Plus it's got a beautiful wood grain! If you want more features, you can get a different model like a Fat Strat or Big Apple Strat, etc.

I play hard-driving blues rock and slower "ballad" type music most of the time but I also write alot of my own material that covers other genres, so I need a guitar that is versatile. This Strat is perfect for my needs! There are a lot of different potential sounds in this one guitar as opposed to my old Gibson Les Paul that only had one basic sound. I'm VERY happy with what my Strat can do...especially when I'm playing that hard-driving blues rock!!! That's what this baby was MADE for!

The guitar wasn't "set-up" well at first, the action was WAY too high, the strings sucked, and it went out of tune ALL of the time...but I took it to the tech and within an hour he had lowered the action, put on some Ernie Ball Super Slinky's (pink package), and tightened the bridge down for tuning stability. Now the guitar plays like a DREAM!! Every once in awhile part of my wishes the bridge wasn't sinched down, but I doubt that I would really use the tremelo anyway...I never have had much use for them...unless it's a locking system their gonna cause tuning problems no matter what! Like I said, now it plays like a dream...but I'm giving it a 9 here due to the tremelo prediciment

I've had this guitar for roughly three years now...and LOVE it!!! It took me awhile to get used to the "Strat" style of tone and playability (I was used to my old Les Paul), but now I'm in love!! The finish is awesome; it's what made the sale for me. I love the woodgrain...guitars are made of wood afterall, so why cover them up with a solid color like black or red?? It's very dependable; in fact, I gig with it at least once a month with no backup...as long as it's got a good set of strings it will get the job done!!

I've never had to deal with Fender's customer support so I don't really have an opinion here.

I love this guitar. This is my ONLY guitar right now, so I'm looking for a good backup...in fact, I'm looking for another Fender American Strat!! I know that one guitar can't suit everybody's needs, but I'm a Strat-man, and I'm glad I've found a style of guitar that suits me so well. If it ever got lost or stolen I would cry...literally...every little nick, pick-scratch, and sweat stain on that guitar is MINE...and I hope to have it for a VERY long time! Fender puts out high quality instruments at very reasonable prices. Alot of people say Strats are "old-school" but you can't beat the original...besides, I think "vintage" type instruments have MUCH more style than alot of these neon-colored jagged-shaped things some people play...those things will go in and out of style, but Strats have a timeless quality to them!

1997 American Standard Strat, feautes are the same as others...blonde ash body, maple neck, delta tone pickups, standard trem bridge that has been tightened down all the way and blocked using a rosewood block.

The basic sound is good. The Delta tone pups are not bad, but they are a bit noisey. I do like them better than the toneless...err...I mean noiseless pups that came on the Deluxe strats. Still, I swapped them out for a Kinman AvN Blues set and was happier still.

Your basic strat sound - a little fatter and a lot quieter with the Kinmans. Outstanding for that shimmering clean strat tone or a bluesy - SRV type tone. Also does a real credible job at the Steve Cropper/Motown type sounds. The Ash/Maple combination is a bit brighter than Alder/Rosewood, so I think the AvN Blues set really works well with this configuration.

Absolutely useless for high gain or heavy distortion, but great for the clean to overdriven sound. Currently using this with a Mesa Blue Angel 1x12 and they sound real nice together.

I bought it used and it had just been set up nicely by a good tech. The ones I tried new were not set up as well and didn't have the frets dressed as well. It's pretty standard stuph. Fenders (especially the American ones) are pretty solid and relatively consistent as far as construction. The wood is nice, finish is that thick plastic - or whatever it is - that'll probably last through nuclear attack. The only physical thing I've noticed is that the neck pocket is not quite as tight as I've seen on some high-end strat types - although it's certainly not 'loose' by any means.

Still it's a strat. Construction is relatively simple compared to something like a Les Paul or PRS. On the one hand I like that because I have no problems taking it totally apart and putting it together. OTOH, the fact is that from a construction standpoint (at least IMO) it's not as elegantly put together as many other top-end guitars. That's reflected in the cost, of course.

That said, the strat doesn't stay in tune nearly as well as my Carvin or Les Paul. I'm not sure why that is, but during a gig I need to check tuning regularly (which I do anyway) and tune up every couple of songs. The other guitar sometimes seems to stay in tune for months at a time (only a slight exaggeration!).

Strats are planks of wood - that's part of the beauty. It's not going any where. All the wood and hardware seem very tough and I haven't had any problems at all. Other than breaking a string, there's not really a need for a backup at a gig (although I *always* bring a backup). Of course, I did all the pickup wiring and soldering so I'm comfortable with it. I've never had a problem.

Never had a need, although I haven't heard great things about Fender in this regard.

I've been playing 26 years (Yeowch!!!) at this point. I've owned many guitars, but have mainly been a humbucker player. This is my 4th strat-type guitar (had to finally go for the *real* thing). It's not the best guitar I've had, but it's really got a great vibe and is a lot of fun to play. There are some songs that nothing works better on.

I don't know if I'd instantly replace it if lost or stolen. I've got a home made strat that I like as much and another that's close.

Mine is the American Standard Stratocaster, but with the natural ash finish. It had some unusual modifications in that it had an L.R. Baggs bridge with piezo pickup for "acoustic" sounds. It also has a Roland GK-2A synth pickup installed. It included a molded hardshell case. Maple neck. The middle tone control has been replaced by a piexo volume control. The remaining tone control affects all pickups, which to me is an improvement over the usual Strat wiring.

It has the usual Strat quaxk in positions 2 and 4. The remaining single coil positions are much quieter than a MIM Strat, though not as quiet as my Strat Plus Deluxe. It is, by Strat standards, a very rich, full sound, though not a match for humbuckers on that score. I use it through a tube amp (Laney LC15), a solid state practice amp (Fender Amp Can - two inouts makes it easy to use the piezo and magnetic pickups at the same time without a second amp, just a stereo cable. I run it through some Boss effects (CS-3 Compressor/Sustainer, PH-2 Super Phaser, OD-3 Overdrive) or a multieffects box (usually the Johnson J-Station). There is an enormous variety of sound with the different pickups, but even just with the stock pickups, there are useful differences between all 5 switch settngs.

Absolutely gorgeous. I don't know if I'd spend the extra $150 if I were buying it new, but natural is my favorite finish, even more so than sunburst. No flaws that I could see, other than the two little holes in the pickguard needed to install the GK-2A. Intonantion was dead on.

Fendera are tanks. The only thing I'd add would be straplocks.

I never deal with them. Very good information on the Web site.

American made Stratocaster with natural finish and ash body. Built in 1997, I bought it second hand in 2001 for $ 635,-. It was still looking as if it was new. The usual stratocaster look (I don't have to explain that, I'm sure) with Schaller tuners, String-thru body bridge. I noticed that the springs to which the bridge was attached were a little too weak. One-piece maple neck. Complete with a nice black Fender-case.

The sound is wonderful. Played on the neck-elements a beautiful warm Hendrix-clean-sound. Played on the bridge elements with distortion presents a screaming high sound. I own a regular Strat with alder body, but this ash body adds a touch of magic to the sound. The guitar isn't noisy at all.

I bought this one second-hand and I had a strong feeling that the former one thought he was a guitar tech, but really was someone who could barely understand the basics of guitars. Anyway, he must have been screwing around with the bridge because I could see this wasn't the way it's supposed to be. Willing to admit I don't know enough about guitars and willing to admit I have to left hands, I'll have to bring it over to my regular guitar tech who will do a nice job, I'm sure cause he always does. So I'm rating the action high because I know it can be A LOT BETTER

I own two Strats now and I know you can depend your life on these guitars! They always sound good, hardly ever get out of tune. Everything is rock solid. Though I wonder what would happen if it fell down the stairs or something. I do not think I am willing to try that, though. Of course this guitar will withstand live playing, if it doesn't I do not have any use for it. I would never use ANY guitar without a backup. Not EVEN this one, though if there was a guitar I would use without a backup, it would be this one.

Never had to contact Fender.

I have been playing for 14 years I own a lot of different guitars (8 in total) including another Strat Sunburst, a Gibson Marauder and a Washburn HB-35(american made). This Natural Ash is one of the best!!

This is an absolutely fantastic guitar. It has the same specs as all the other reviews have said...natural ash body, 3 single-coil fender pickups, non-locking tuners....I'm giving it a 10 even though it is a relatively simple guitar...which is exactly what i wanted, and which is what makes it PERFECT.

This guitar will suit any style. I've been able to play everything from blues to shred metal to funk to jazz to anything under the sun on this instrument, and it comes out great. With the proper amp and effects setup, you can make this sound like whatever you want it to.

The action is very low and beautiful, with no buzzing at ALL. I use Ernie Ball pink slinkies, which are somewhat thin, but they sound GREAT. You dont have to worry about pushing down on the string at all, just THINK about the note and out it comes. For those of you who like higher action though, you could easily adjust it at the bridge.

The natural ash finish is a bonus for durability, because if it gets scratched at all, it won't show through so easily as it might if there was paint. The strap buttons are VERY sturdy, no worries there. I would definitely use this guitar without a backup, i think it can handle almost anything.

I've never dealt with the company before, but Fender is VERY well-known, so i'd imagine it would be very pleasant.

This is my first electric guitar, but i've been playing my Washburn D-21S for years. I would DEFINITELY buy this guitar again new if it were stolen or lost, God forbid that ever happened. I would be beside myself if anything even happened to it. I'm in the process of ordering a Boss GT-3 effects floorboard for it for stage usage, which should make it all the more useful.

I recently bought the 2000 model with a clear gloss finish over an ash body (She's so gorgeous in the buff, I've named her Godiva!). Solid tuners, straplocks, maple neck and fretboard, a genuine skunk stripe, easily adjustable EVERYTHING. . . Plus, Fender has started building American Standards with the new Deltatone pickup/electronics configuration. The bridge pickup is wound hot, and really cuts. The middle pickup has its own tone knob, as does the neck, but the middle tone knob can be disconnected from the wiring layout by a simple click past a built-in detent, essentially simplifying the wiring, and eliminating noise. Great feature. The mid pickup is reverse wound for hum cancelling in the 2 & 4 positions, but even soloed, all three are extremely quiet as it is-I only hear 60 cycle hum when I face my amp and stand 2 feet away or closer.
Don't get me wrong when I say "quiet", because I can get some mighty rude sqwackin' and snarlin' outta this axe. It's not by any means a corpulent humbucker distortion, but it's clear as a bell at any stage of saturation (I'll never get rid of my Les Paul Standard for that very reason-sometimes sweet and muddy is exactly what you need). It has the perfect amount of features for me. I gave it a 6, because 10 was listed as having "Tons of features". Tons I don't need-give me simplicity!

I play rock. By that I mean hard rock, old rock, blues, accoustic rock, ballads, quieter fingerpicked passages, heavily effected tunes, clean jazz chordings, and a general rhythm/lead style throughout, to support my end of a power trio lineup. I use a Crybaby Wah, a Rotovibe, and the old canary yellow Ibanez Flanger, and pipe it all through a 60 Watt, all-tube, Fender Blues DeVille 4x10.
This is not only a superior instrument, it smokes any other Strat I've played. It sounds the way I think a Stratocaster should sound. . . clear, cutting, expressive, with frequency peaks exactly where they should be. The pickups are not as quiet as EMG's or Lace Sensors (Used by Dave Gilmour and Eric Clapton, repectively), but the Deltatone pickups' sound is more HONEST, if you can imagine that.
The Strat is traditionally a trebly guitar, but there is a warmth, a resonance, a personality in ash that you cannot get from any other wood. This is not my first ash-built Fender. . . I owned a swamp ash Lead I about 8 years ago, and stupidly sold it because I wanted a guitar with more than 1 pickup. Big mistake. Tone starts in the life force of a great tree. Your pickups can only bring forth what already exists in your tonewoods. In Godiva, I've got both.

Fender is an awesome company. They do so many things so meticulously well, on such a mass scale, for so many years, how could they be anything other than the best guitar company in the world?
That said, I want to stress that there are NO guitars set-up, strung, or adjusted very well in any music store in the world. Not for me. I like high action, heavy strings, a bit of bow in the neck, and a bridge with absolutely no whammy. I play very hard AND very gently, and I want tone, dammit, with no buzzing or going out of tune! I do think Fender is very consistent in their set-up and intonation of everything that leaves their factory, but they know that longtime players like me are going to tweak it anyway, so they gear everything for the 16-year old kid who gets a stiffee over the guitar with the fastest action and the tremolo bar.
No flaws however! And as I mentioned before, everything on it is easily adjustable.

The one thing I really don't like about my Les Paul, is that dispite the fact that it feels like a ton of bricks around my neck, I'm always cautious with it for fear that I'll break it. You get to feeling like you're playing a piece of art. That's good in that it automatically bestows on its user a powerful feeling of elitist snobbery, but it's bad in that split second nightmare when you feel like you're going to drop it, or a kid grabs it, and the little accountant who lives in your head starts sobbing uncontrollably.
No such problem with a Fender. They are notoriously tough (and replacable). I heard a crash from the living room 2 days after I bought my Strat, and ran in to discover that the guitar hanger it had been perched upon had fallen out of the wall. Just one little ding on the neck, and 2 strings slightly out of tune. That's it. I still thank God it wasn't my Paul.

This is my 12th Fender instrument, if you count not only my guitars and basses, but my amps and the Rhoads piano (Wish I still owned 'em all). Their customer service department has always come through, and my only complaint would be that sometimes, as with any large coorperation, you get put on hold for too long.
Note-I define "too long" as a distinct and persistent crick in the neck.

I love, love, LOVE this guitar! It's so choice, I'm going back in the studio on Sunday to track over some parts that seemed okay until now (My 1st solo album, thank you, thank you). If anyone would like to share a story or a tip, or if you have a question, contact me.

Two piece ash body, maple neck with maple fingerboard, 22 frets. Deltatone pickup system and wiring. The bottom tone control works for the bridge and middle pickups and when at 10 (in a detent), the tone circuit is bypassed. The middle tone knob is standard, and controls the neck pickup. Three single coil pickups. Two point trem system. Included molded case. Pretty typical Fender fare.

This was noted playing through a '68 Bassman head into a Boogie 2x12 cab, a Velocette, and a Dr. Z Carmen Ghia. The guitar stays true to the Strat sound. The pickups seem very weak, and adjusted a little low. I raised them a bit, which helped, but they will still get replaced. Very noisey, lots of hum. The tones from the pickups are nice, it's just weak (doesn't push a tube amp or pedal very well) and noisey.

The two piece body is exceptionally well matched! The only way to even tell it's two pieces is to look at the side at the strap button. Neck fit isn't the best I've ever seen, but it's better than most. The gaps that exist aren't big enough for a playing card. The neck has a very smooth satin finish. Fret work was very good. Overall, the neck felt like an Am. Deluxe neck, except without the abalone dots. Everything worked as it should, with no scratchy pots or switches. Tuners were immediately replaced with Fender branded locking Schallers, so I can't comment on those. BTW, the Fender locking tuners are direct drop in replacements. No drilling of any kind required.

The instrument seems well made. And there are plenty of examples of older Strats that are still in use, even after being abused.

Can't comment, as I've rarely had to deal with them. In addition, most interaction will be with the people you bought it from anyway. There have been a couple emails that I've sent over the years, and they seem to be pretty responsive.

This is my second Strat. I also had a Mexi Std which I gave to my son to play. If you take the time to check out multiple instruments, I think you can get some Fenders that approach Anderson, Grosh, etc. quality. Notice I said approach. The boutiques will still win out in the long run, but then it becomes a question if that 10% is worth the extra bucks. Fender does have it's bad ones though. I originally went to check out a burgundy mist '62 RI, and there was a substantial gap behind the neck in the neck cavity where it joins the body.
Since many people tend to swap out pups anyway, anyone interested in an Am. Dlx may want to check out the Standards. Although you still need to get the tuners and such to match the features, if you find a good one, it'll be cheaper in the long run.

This evaluation maybe is not useful for you. When I saw this guitar I fell in love. 1999 Fender American Standard, natural ash transparent finish. Ash body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard, classic sealed tuning machines, Delta Tone control, American Standard tremolo, 22 frets, classic neck scale, radius and frets, Bi-Flex truss rod. The body is formed by three perfect seamless pieces of fine Ash wood. It seem very beautiful, the body transparent lacquer shines strongly and the neck wood is pretty covered by a satin finish. The early Fender logo in the peghead adds a bit of classic taste to this r-e-a-l Stratocaster. I've examined it in every curve, corner, screw, plastic part... all seems perfect even its hard contoured case!

The guitar gives rich classic Stratocaster tone. My main style is hard rock so I uses a Marshall TSL2000 head with a 4x12 Celestion speakerbox. This guitar doesn't gives a high output level but it's enough to get great distorted and fuzzy rock sounds. It really let me play classic sounds like I heard from Blackmoore, Hendrix, Clapton, etc. The clean sounds are pristine and covers a wide range of sound colors playing with the tone and pickup controls. Tied to a Fender TwinReverb this guitar offers clean tones that you must hear to believe. I like to play the guitar without effects but if I use my Boss GT-5 multieffects unit, I obtain pretty sounds. This guitar isn't specially noisy, maybe the tipical hum you can live with. I love it when it sounds like a beast growling if set my Marshall to 10!. Rock and Jazz players could love forever this axe. I say perfect again.

Pickup action seemed to be a bit lower. I raised it and sound got a bit stronger (fine to my rock style). There was a scratchy fret sound in 3rd string that I corrected slightly adjusting the bi-flex truss rod. As I've said the guitar seems perfect wherever you analyze it. I think I didn't get a perfect adjust from store because this guitar had to travel from US to Europe and it also was exposed in the shop under strong illumination. I've lowered string action to adapt this axe to my shred solo technique and it's now a perfect gear to me.

I've owned a 1991 Strat ULTRA. It seemed perfect unless some scratches. Fender instruments and amps are for life. This guitar shows a rock bulletproof aspect and touch. The finish seems very protective, mostly in the neck.

Leturiaga are the shops that offers customer support for Fender in Spain. Sometimes I've send my guitar to them, always performed an good work. But I prefer independent luthiers. This is the land of guitars and there's a lot of dark guitar workshops that give fine solutions for guitars.

I've playing for years using medium quality quitars. When I got my first Lace Sensor based Stratocaster I was like a dream to me because. it sounds great but when finally I discovered this Standard Stratocaster all changed to me. I heard the real Start tone!. If it was stolen or lost... don't talk about this!

1988 American Standard Stratocaster. No frets (I'll explain later). No controls. No neck. Gloss finish with beautiful wood grain.

I just bought the body after my friend snapped the neck off of his American Standard Stratocaster. He was too much of a brand name snob to buy a replacment neck, so I bought the body off of him. I'm a Les Paul/ p-90 kind of guy and never liked Fender much. This changed when I played my buddies Rosewood Telecaster and this swamp-ash Strat. The Strat had the fullest sound I have ever heard come out of a Fender. Clear as a bell and as full as a Les Paul. Weird. I play oldies, so I'm not known for the "Strat" thin glassy sound. This guitar hits that in between sound that is the best of both worlds (Gibson/Fender). I use a 68' Twin Reverb and Hot Rod Deluxe and this guitar likes them both. I put a nice Warmoth neck, EMG pick-ups, so I can't complain about any of those parts. I put a humbucker in the neck position so this guitar is very versitle.

Again, the body was great, I replaced the bridge with a newer American Standard bridge.

Fender? Huh? I know their old amps last forever. Though finish seems thick and really over-protective which may be why it sounds less "chimey" than other strats, but this is why I like it. Will probably take a good hit. I always gig with a back-up. No one pays to see your dumb ass change a string.

Can't email them even if they did post their address.

I've been playing for 16 years. I play in an oldies group (not a classic rock group). I own a 72' Gibson Les Paul with p-90's. If it were stolen I might consider buying another one if it sounded this good.

I purchased my American Standard Natural Ash Strat (hardtail) used, but it appears to be relatively new, around 1996-97 vintage. The guitar has all of the features of an Am. Stand. Strat, but the body is made of natural ash and it is a hardtail (i.e., no tremelo). The fretboard is rosewood. The guitar weighs hardly anything and almost half the weight of my other Strats.

This the most unique sounding Strat I have ever played/heard. The guitar is very loud acoustically and is brighter sounding than alder or poplar wood body Strats. Both chords and leads really sustain. The ash give the guitar a real chiming, bell-like sound to the chords (thing Little Wing). This is the first ash body Strat that I have owned and also the first I have ever played. I love my other Strats, but this one is truly special on its own terms. The standard single pickups sound good, but I think that some other pickups my accentuate the tonal characteristics of the ash body better. For the time being, however, I am going to keep the stock pickups. Overall, I think the ash Strat excells at clean sounds. However, I does sound good distorted or overdriven as well. This guitar is a definite 10, without any hype whatsoever.

The natural ash finish is sort of a light tan with visible wood grains. Although, the body is made up of three pieces of ash, from the front of the guitar, it is virtually impossible to tell it is not one solid piece of wood. The guitar is in spectacular shape all around and did not need any truss rod adjustment or any set-up work.

I have been playing for about 28 years and the Am. Stand. Natural Ash Strat/Hardtail is simply an incredible instrument. Fender did a wonderful job in producing this guitar. I have four other Fender Strats and the Natural Ash is a great addition to my collection, as it provides a very unique sound. I know that these guitars are hard to find, but if you get the chance to try one out, you will be pleasantly suprized. Warning: may produce severe G.A.S. attack!!!!

The other reviews have covered them well enough. Mine has a rosewood fretboard.

With this particular guitar, the styles of music I play are vintage rock, country, classical, smooth jazz, and styles that are more ethereal in nature. DISTORTED TONE: I play it through a Marshall JCM 2000 DSL 50 with the amps stock reverb and a Dan-echo for delay. I use the classic gain channel for dirty rhythm playing and a Fuzz Face for lead playing.In this situation, I use the bridge pickup primarily with the tone rolled down to about 5. This provides a nice, thick, singing tone that you normally would'nt expect from a strat single coil. Very reminiscent of Clapton back in the Cream days. CLEAN TONE: I play through 2 Fender Vibrolux Reverbs (w/ Lansing speakers) rigged together in stereo with a t.c. electronics chorus, Lexicon PCM81 reverb, and 2 Chandler delay racks. The clean tone can only be described as celestial. Absolute heaven. Ash bodies are known for having a "bell-like" tone, and this Strat delivers those tones in spades.The tone of this guitar will just take you to another place. My only suggestion would be if they could make this model with a vintage bridge instead of the new, American Standard bridge.

The input jack gets loosened very easily,and I wish the body could've been made out of one single piece of ash as opposed to 3 pieces glued together, but it's a solid, well made guitar.

This is a guitar that's built to last. Very solid construction. Naturally, I'd never gig without a backup guitar because strings breaking is always a variable that you have to contend with.

Haven't had to deal with them, so that's a plus

If this guitar was stolen or busted up, I'd be in serious trouble. I've been a Strat man all my life, and I test drive a whole lot of guitars, looking for certain intangibles in the tone and response of the guitar. I'd stack this up against PRS's finest.

I'm glad someone opened an area for this guitar, its definately a unique Strat! Its available with either maple or rosewood fretboard. I went maple for the ultra in bright glassy strats! I have had mine now for almost a year and I never thought that after 20 years of Les Paul and PRS playing I'd be saying how much I love this Strat! The guitar has all the features of an American Made Standard Strat which I'm sure are well documented elsewhere. One thing worth mentioning though is that I love the satin finish on the neck, it feels great. The guitar comes with a molded case that will fit in places those big ole rectangular things will never go! On the other hand, there's barely room for a chord inside it.

The sound is very bright, and one thing is for sure, this guitar has sustain out the ash! I replaced the original pick-ups with Joe Barden pick-ups and that gave the guitar a little more bottom end without losing the quack or glass, not to mention gaining the quiet! If you can afford it, I highly recommend the Bardens. I have a couple of examples of the sound available at my homepage at http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Studio/6153/ The guitar allows you to be very expressive when playing through a little distortion, with a twist of the pick, you can modulate the tone or squeeze out a harmonic.

The only reason I notched my rating here is that on the back of the guitar, there is one little feature that looks something like a worm hole in the wood. Some will say that adds character, all I can say is at least it is on the back. Otherwise the guitar is flawless, the action is great, the neck is great.

The more I play it, the better it gets.

The scale of the neck, the spacing between the strings, the placement of the knobs, all took getting used to compared to what I was used to, but now it seems this guitar is getting most of the playing time which I think is the ultimate testimony.

After a heavy GAS (Guitar Aquisition Syndrome) attack, I decided to purchase the Fender Swamp Ash strat that I've been drooling over for about a week. This is one gorgeous looking, sounding, and playing guitar. To anyone considering one of these, you'd better get one now. I think that they're semi-limited run and Fender may not be making these much longer - at least not at this price.
-Looks- This is a great looking guitar. Anyone who has ever seen one will probably agree. The body is solid swamp ash and it's available with a rosewood or maple neck. (mine's rosewood, of course). The pickguard is the standard 3-ply white pickguard but would probably look good with pearloid or tortise shell, also.
-Build Quality- Build quality on this particular strat is first rate. Fender used a top-quality piece of swamp ash to make the body and it was obviously cut/routed with precision. The neck joint is very tight - wood on wood. You can't stick a playing card between the neck and the body on this one! I commend Fender for their excellent work on this particular guitar.
-Case- The swamp ash strat includes a Tolex case similar to the Lone Star strat's, but this one has a dark burgundy interior (wine red). The guitar looks gorgeous sitting inside this case.

-Sound- Even though this guitar has the same electronics as the regular American Standard Strat, it sounds quite different. This is obviously due to the excellent resonant properties of swamp ash. The guitar has tons more sustain than a regular strat and has a much sweeter ring to it. Pickup position two (combination bridge and middle) sound almost acoustic! Unplugged, the guitar is much louder than a regular strat.

-Playability- My particular guitar was set up properly from the factory, and hence plays like a strat should play. They even used decent strings on this guitar and I'm not in a hurry to change them. Action is smooth and precise.

Typical Fender Strat. Great for gigging.

-Overall- I purchased this guitar instead of getting the PRS that I've been wanting. I couldn't be happier with my choice. I feel that I have a collector's item here. Since my style is mainly blues/rock, I'll probably be extremely happy with this guitar for a long time. I highly recommend this guitar.