Fender American Standard Strat

This is the first electric guitar i have bought from new and as a beginer i suppose i went a little over budget, but Fender are giving away a free amp with every American made guitar for a while.
Maple neck ............Black..............Almost Gilmore ?

Love the sounds even clean there is a huge variety of tones to play with/

Played it straight out of the case ...........as i said i am a beginer but my guitar teacher has given it the once over and has said he really likes the finish ............i think he covets it ?

Quality of the harware seems top not as for gigging i think i am some way off worrying about that?

Had no cause to contact them. The shop i bought it from ordered me the free amp which took about 2 weeks to come.

As a learner i cant fault it however in time i may swap one of the pick ups for a humbucker

2007 model, sunburst with rosewood neck. standart features. its got all a strat needs except fot locking tunning pegs. i didnt want a model with a humbucker, the balance with the single coils is never great, best have a strat for single coils and a gibson for humbuckers. also i didnt want one with noisless pickups, their sound seemd to ne smaler in frequencies than regular single coils.

the sound of the guitar is good, its a well made guitar if you can adjust it with no buazzing. the original pickups have lots of power for single coils and sound pretty nice. i changed mine to 62 reissue pickups, they sound more fenderish, but dont have the same mass in sound.

awfull.:)

very hard guitar to play. the neck is very big for me, even though my hands arent especialy small. Theres a buzz in almost every string height and neck adjustment. I will have to either sell the guitar or get a wormth neck - fender wont replace a neck unless it is defective. my friend also bought a new start which has a hugh neck. i guess fender made a decision to have their necks fit for basketball players or goliath.

the guitar is well built with no flaws, except for the top of the rosewood on the neck where the finish isnt great, but thats no big deal. it is dependable. i would probably allways gig with a backup.

they arent good, they wont replace the neck for a new one, im stuck with buying a no brand for a replacement.

been playing for over twenty years. had guitrs by fender, gibson and ibanez. i cant think of a replacement for a sstrat, i would suggest being very cautious when buying an american start, watch out for the necks. try maybe finding a used SRV strat maybe, or a second hand strat and get a new neck from warmoth. sadly, even though i wanted it, there doesnt seem to be a way to be a proud original fender owner, i tried it, and got an unplayable guitar.

American Standard 1989. White with maple neck.
How many frets??...enough for me...
First two things: put in texas special pickups (excellent for slide) and jumbo frets (who needs to drag wood when they bend??...).
Excellent guitar, does what it is supposed to.
I bought it in 1990- thanks to SRV and the obsession with sunburst finishes like his #1, price had been knocked down to $350 brand new- it had been picked up so little it had plenty of dust on it.Oddly enough, even though it was the 'wrong color', it still sounded like a strat......
I have not bought a guitar since- the only weakness of this strat is the guy playing it- in this case me....

Great with the texas specials.

changed all the action from the beginning.

you cannot kill this guitar....barely a mark on it after 18 years of playing....

I would buy another tomorrow if I lost it.....

standard american strat made in the usa, olimpic white, 22frets, maple fingerboard, pickguard.. 1 volume 2 tone controls,classic strat input jack, alder body, skunk stripe, schaller tuners, great, great hardshell case, strap, cloth, cable,,,ah, and vibrato bar.. tremolo fender bridge, my strat is made in 2007, ( before the new standard us strat) so you get a great guitar, don't know how the new strat is... i'm giving this a solid gold ten, fender is very great affordable, and gives you your moneys worth,,,sounds great....sweat...... great for blues rock, hey even metal.. why not.....

sound wise, hey standard fender pickups.. don't know the name of the pick ups, just look up 2007 catalog.. hey there ok.. i play through hueghs and kettner edition blue 60 watts, zoom for practice, pod... effects 90% boss... ds1. mt2. dd3. dunlop 535q wah, morley tramonti model. ibanez tone lock chorus. rocktron flanger.. rocktron purple haze pedal.. suites me well... hey a strat is a strat... like neck pick up , fat..nice .. bridge cool medium output... love the guitar.. color is great .. fretboard is great... plays smooth.. low action out of the box, innotation, was 98% accurate, neck...everything...

well, bought it new.. like i said 2007 olimpic white model maple finger board... played it straight out of the box... what else.. keep up the good work...

well if there's very very very old fenders out there.. well it speakes for it self.. this is going to last a life time.... can depend on it for sure.... will gig for sure.. :)

never had to deal with them.. for this guitar, well i had to deal with a jackson for repair under warranty, great support...

well don't let the name fool you, if you want a must have in your guitar collection, or first seriuos purchase, then get a fender it's a must have , it's great to play, fun , and it'll never go out of style.. i've been playing guitar for 16 years.. always had a strat and a gibson... but the strat always has been a keeper...

Link:

http://www.fender.com/products//search.php?partno=0117402744

I bought the maple fretboard model because I prefer the sound and feel of maple. The pickups in this thing are average at best. Very noisy and a TON of magnet pull on the strings. Traded them out for 2 Dimarzio Area '61 in the neck and middle and a Dimarzio Solo Pro in the bridge. Although noiseless they sound a ton better than the factory pup's. Play through a PODxt live at church and AC-15 on my spare time at home. The factory pup's are way to noisy to play direct into a PA and I hate having to turn the volume down on my guitar so you cant hear the 60 cycle hum.

The factory setup was mediocre. The action was your typical medium to high strat action which is ok but everbody is going to adjust to taste. Comes factory with .9's which are a bit floppy for me as I play .10's. Came with a floating tremolo which is a tuning nightmare without high quality tuners which are also lousy. So, I "hardtailed" the bridge buy adding a full set of springs and added some locking tuners. The nut slots were cut to small for .10's which cause binding at the nut so if you like a little heavier gauge strings you are going to wan't to take a look at that. I upgraded to a tusq nut which sounds better on the open strings anyways. The more I have this guitar the more I hate 2-point trem's. They are just not as toneful as the 6 screw vintage trems. They lack sustain and hinder your tone IMO. For trem work there is probably none better on a strat because it is very smooth. However, I'm not a trem user so it serves me no justice. The fret work is pretty good considering the price of the guitar. I would prefer a 12" fretboard radius for better bends like on the Eric Johnson strats (which is my next purchase) but the 9 1/2" radius is still good. One thing that is solid is the intonation. After a good setup and a strobostomp later she play's in tune all over the neck. The finish is almost flawless except for inside the control cavity and trem cavity. Didn't expect much detail on that part of the finish anyways.

This guitar is built well. She will stand the test of time without any problems. Upgrade to some Schaller strap locks. Always a very, very, wise decision to have strap locks. I have been playing on it for over a year now and still have not broken a string on it which is awesome since I used to break strings like mad on my old SG.

Fender's customer support is pretty well worthless. My trem arm didn't and still doesn't line up properly on the bridge so I called the customer support and they wanted me to send it to an authorized Fender repair shop which the nearest one to me is about an hour and a half away. Gas $3 a gallon! Forget that! Fender, I love strats and will play them 'till the day I die but your customer support is just a flat out joke!

If she were stolen I would be furious because $1000 on my money just got ripped. I would probably go for a different model strat though. I mentioned the EJ strat earlier which would be what I would try desperately to get. If $$$ are an option then the Standard American Strat is a very solid buy. A couple extra dollars here and there will make her an instrument to be satisfied with for quite a while.

No news and no frills here: everybody knows the american standard strat. If you don't, take a look at www.fender.com.
The only thing worth noticing here is that mine has a maple neck and fingerboard. I wanted the maple fretboard because it sounds a little brighter and looks better too.

I play blues and classic rock. What else do I need other than a good strat?
Great classic "quacky" strat sound. I play it through a hand-made copy of a fender twin reverb with an Ibanez tube screamer and it sounds great! I guess I've finally achieved THE sound!
The single coils are less noisy than I expected. When the tube screamer is on, my leads cut through the mix like a razorblade.
Did I mention the versatility yet? I'm in heaven!

Good factory setting. I only had to lower the bridge PUP a little bit.

Built like a tank. Period.

Didn't need it so far.

I've been playing for 6 years and also own an Epiphone Les Paul Standard with Seymour Duncan pickups (59 and JB), a crappy Squier Tele (my first axe) and a mexican strat. This is the guitar of my dreams and I would definetly buy another one if this was stolen.

1989 American Standard, Black w/white pick guard, maple neck. It came with a hard shell case, strap, allen wrench, polish cloth--22 frets that seem to be perfect for my hands. It has the original three Lace Sensors w/5 position switch, TBX controls, floating bridge. The wood appears to be alder.

This guitar is all I need. I play blues mostly, so I like to use the bridge/middle p/u combo which gives that SRV kind of tone. I use a Marshall with no effects--straight playing--it sounds like a clean vintage guitar. There isn't any noise from the guitar, just a small amount from the tube amp. I really like the rich deep tones produced on the middle pick-up. The bridge pick up with the TBX set below 5 produces a "Ventures" classic Strat sound. The neck pick up is perfect for mellow rock or jazz..sweet. The only dislike I have is too much lacquer on the neck. After nearly 20 years of good use, the lacquer has worn a bit.

It was OK out of the box but after having a professional tech in Tacoma, WA set it up it played nicely. The action was fast but, after substantially increasing string gauge, adding the two remaining tremolo springs and raising the string height, the action is slightly slower. The pickups were adjusted lower from the factory, but I had them adjusted to my particular tastes--primarily to boost midrange--sweet. There is one finish flaw...the lamination of the body has a tell-tale seam joint that stands out like a sore thumb.

The guitar has withstood much live playing..I play very agressively, yet the only the volume control loosens which is a minor issue. The finish is solid..it pretty much looks like new. The strap buttons are not a problem. It is very dependable; yet, the only reason for a backup is occassional string breakage.

Never needed any service or warranty work.

I've been playing for 40 years..I've had three other strats..believe it or not..all were stolen. I've had Les Pauls, SG's..no contest. If this guitar was stolen or lost I would probably buy a 60th Anniverary or an Eric Johnson model. I love the guitar period: it's comfortablr, it sounds and plays great..my favorite feature is the termolo arm..what's a strat w/o that? I live on that thing. I chose this one because I apparently picked an excellent specimen the first time! I liked the lines and good fit & finish..believe me, that guitar isn't plywood!

It has been over 7 years when this guitar was bought, so i don??t know the specs that good, the colour is cream white (just like Hendrix had) and it has fender??s delta-tone pickups.

I have tested multiple guitars, but none of them has been as good as this! I think that this guitar was my first love when i got it at the age of 10. I??m gonna keep it for the rest of my life, even though i??m planning to buy a shred guitar, this is going to be the nr 1. forever. And btw the sound suits for all genres. I have played everything from jazz to metal and this guitar does all of them nicely.

Don??t remember anymore how it was like when i got it:D But when i got better in my playing, I started to realize how easy it was to play. I have adjusted it about once a year, just because i wanted to. It didn??t need that at all.

Have used it in multiple gigs. Never lets me down. I play hard rock with my band, even though i??m buing the new guitar this is the guitar i??m gonna use on the road.

never had to deal with them!!!

Rock solid guitar. Awesome. Classic. It??s sound is so rich. I actually like the fender pickups. I??m gonna keep it that way and not start changing parts in it, they suit for me (have suited me for so long). The emotional value of this guitar is priceless, i would hunt the robbers down and hurt them bad if it was stolen.

3 colour sunburst, one piece alder body,
one piece maple neck (include the fingerboard)

staggered single coil pu, staggered machinehead

delta tone system for middle and bridge pu

two point floating bridge

i can really get a classic strat sound with more output, balance and purity, very great improvement that adding a delta tone system:(the 2nd tone at 10 = bypass)

but it still exist single coil hums, but it's negligible, i like the little hum,

factory setting is horrible, all parts were loosen, neck relief was very concave

i spent a few days to check the parts, and fix the problems.

fortunately, i can fix all myself,

only one problem: there is a lot of unstable harmonics when i play the 6th string on higher frets

i give it 5 because of bad factory setting

i think it's reliable if u don't use the whammy bar

the machine head is special designed for more stable tuning,u have to tune it very carefully,

strap button is extra large, so i don't need a strap lock

for 20 mins gig, I don't think i need a backup,

for more than 1 hours show, backup is a must

don't expect too much after u paid

playing for 7-8 years

i had a lot of strat copies, and they are all user friendly and versatile.

this american strat is the most expensive guitar that i own, the most important thing i have bought is the spirit.

it has modern feel but can still sound classic and vintage,

really great improvement on a strat

come with a hardcase, very collectable

American Standard 1989 3 colour sunburst,rosewood neck.I have read a couple of people saying this year they made plywood guitars,what an idiot,if mine is its embossed with steel cause my guitar is a little heavy compared to 70s strats.

Usual strat sounds,sings if you can make it.The great thing about a strat is the range of tones.

Everything was beautiful from purchase in 1989,neck and frets silky smooth.

I have had this guitar since 89 and not a problem,a few dents on the body,not bad for the plywood its allegedly made of.

no dealings

playing 30 odd years and first review, as I had to answer the plywood remark,if it was stolen I would hunt the thieves down like the dogs that they are.I have so many guitars but always end up coming back to this.Fabulous piece of plywood!!!!!!!

It is a 1986-or 87 with a "EE" serial number. Very unusual for this period. This would be one of the first US built series when Fender was bought back from CBS. Delta tone, bathtub routing , black with maple neck. In fact, I just bought it because it was not expensive but wait for the surprise.

Now, this guitar has had a lot of use; she will have to be refretted to perform to its maximum; I have many guitars, including 2 other stratos (Mexican an american serie). To my biggest astonishment, this one has "the mojo Strat quack tone" that you hear when Hendrix plays clean on Axis bold as love. Much on the bright side without being piercing. She is perfect to get the Sultan of Swing vibe. My other Olympic white US Strat sound dead compare to it. Even my Fulltone Fuzz 69 and 70 sounded much much better with it. What a surprise.

As I said, the frets will have to be replace, but other than this, the setup was perfect. Stays in tune and great intonation. Neck pocket is very tight.

This guitar already went through 20 years and have many more to give.

None required.

I am surprised myself about this purchase. I just acquired it to noodle around and resell it after. It will most likely become my numero uno. I wish everybody this experience. It is quite unique to hear how a stratocaster was designed to sound like. Your amplifier, pedals, effects take a new life. I am not kidding you. I am a schooled musician and started playing in 1967. Up to now, i have had over 60 guitars , mostly Fender's , Guild's and Gibson's. Some of them were quite expensive; well this one was not and will stay with me.

All the common strat features and some unique to the US made standard strat
such as Delta Tone, No Load Tone, Bi Flex truss rod (some other models have these things as well anyway). Just check fender.com for the complete feature list.

My USA standard strat is a 3 tone sunburst with rosewood fingerboard. A classic.
From what I see, it's made of a 2 piece alder body (center split). The tuners have a screw on top of each head to tighten it after tuning (i like this one).

The guitar comes with a hardcase and a fender strap which i wanted for the longest time.

The sound is very warm or bright when switching pickups - very nice indeed.
I hear the bell like harmonics on this thing on a clean amp. very impressive.

Without an AMP, the guitar is very resonant. Try placing your ear against the top of of the upper cut away and strumm - the vibration just travels through you.

On distortion or overdrive, there should be a little bit of time spent for getting the right sound, the right drive and gain setting, after all we're dealing with single coil pickups. The bridge pickup is a high output type, not like the usual such as the one in the MIM 50s strat where the volume drops when switching to the bridge pickup. The American Standard bridge pickup could be your favorite setting, especially when overdriven or distorted.

I had to re-set it (action) up because I changed my string gauge to 10s (D Addario 110s).
There was a buzz on the E A D strings so i had to raise the saddles a bit. I also had to screw the metal plate (where the springs are connected) further down to adjust the height of the bridge to the recommended height. The US standard only has 3 tremolo springs so using a thicker string gauge will really pull the bridge up that's why I had to make this adjustment. I wanted my action to be a bit high but not too high. I'm not in to the shredding thing, I want to hear note for note as powerful as I can.

The finish is superb, shiny, and wood grain is very pleasing to the eyes.

I bet it will last, I mean, it's not the first strat in over 60 years of Fender history.

This is a great guitar, probably the only one you'll ever need. Very well balanced. All the strat comfort and all the strat sound, plus the prestige of course. On it's own (without effects) it sounds really great, so if you don't like the sound after putting on effects, it's probably just your settings. Let's educate ourselves on effects instead.
I'm happy even if I spent more or less a thousand US dollars on this one. I give it a 10.
If you really love playing guitar, or want to be a musician, get atleast one instrument of this calibre in your lifetime.

Mine is a 87 U.S.A American Standard Stratocaster.Made in the Corona Factory in California.3 single coil with 5-way selector switch.The body is 3-piece alder solid wood{non-plywood}contstruction which appears to be the same for any other late 80s U.S.A strats i've played, never seen a plywood one before.Neck is 22 frets with Bi-flexi truss-rod with skunk-stipe and rose wood fret-board.Bridge has 2 mounting bolts wit stainless steel saddles with floating tremelo with whammy-bar.the guitar came wth rectangular black hardcase with pressed Fender U.S.A logo.

The guitar is best suited to a blues sound for me.I play this guitar through a Fender pro 185 and get that clean strat fender sound happening.Sounds great

Have neve had to make any Truss-rod adjustments on this guitar since i bought it 15 years ago.Everything is well fitted and still in working condition

Never let me down once in 15 years

Haven't needed FMI yet

Overall if its that strat sound your after,this guitar is the buiseness.I also own a U.S.A elite strat just love the expressive tone strats produce through fender amps.

American stratocaster made in USA, has 22 frets, solid body, has 1 volume and 2 tone nobs, 3 standard american single coil passive pickups, alder body with a rosewood neck, comes with a trap, molded case, extra cable and cleaning cloth.

I play mostly Metal but I also really enjoy blues, here is the problem with this guitar, great quality guitar but the standard single coil pickups are noisy, I hate the fact that standard pickups are already bad even though I spent over 1200$ on this guitar, I have a Mesa\Boogie rectoverb, these amps are mainly made for hard rock music so its really hard to get a nice bluesy sound with it, these pickups do sound decent if using most fender amps, but I have to say the clean sound is the best bright clean sound I ever heard, you gotta respect Fender for that.

The action was decent, I mean it is a blues guitar so you can't really have low action on it, the store checked the guitar and adjusted it before I took it, the guitar seemed very well built, it better be for 1200$.

I'm certain that this guitar coulld withstand live playing and will last for a lifetime, I replaced the strap buttons to Dunlop strap locks as I do for all my guitars. I would definetly use it without a backup.

The support team is good, I've spoken with better, I was originaly gonna buy another Jackson, I gotta say just because they bought Jackson, they absolutly suck when it comes to providing service for Jackson, and that kinda made me hate their customer support.

I've been playing for about 3 years, I own a Japanese Jackson with EMGS, a Yamaha with Seymour Duncan, Gibson and Dimarzio pickups, I own a Mese\Boogie rectoverb, I don't know If I would buy that guitar again, I checked so many guitars but I found that this would definitly be a guitar that I would always love, I mean I definitly believe that this is the most versitile guitar ever.

2006 American Standard Stratocaster, Three color tobacco, rosewood fingerboard. Everything you need.

That Strat sound... worth every penny. Warm and expressive.

I personally don't use the whammy bar, so the action is a little bit high for me, but the guitar plays itself even so.

So far, it has performed unquestionably, can't comment on service.

See above.

I've been playing for twenty-five years or so, and I've generally only played acoustics; I've had electrics, but nothing like this. This guitar is a true instrument. What you feel is easily conveyed to the solid (rosewood) fretboard. What an experience! I love this guitar and I will never trade or sell it.

2005 Chrome Red, maple neck, USA Fender. I saved all my lunch money for a year so I could finally get a USA Strat. I've wanted one for over twenty years.

This is where the story goes south. This guitar is a pile of crap, tonewise. The pickups are so muddy and lifeless, it's a pain to play. I'm playing thru a '69 Marshall Plexi amp, and I cannot get ANY good tone out of this guitar. For as much as I paid for the guitar, I don't want to have to shell out another 250 bucks for new pickups. Also, this guitar has weird vibrations thruought the instrument. I cannot for the life of me find the source. I've had the guitar totally apart looking for the demon that causes the rattle. Cannot find it. You can 'knock' on the base of the neck, where it bolts to the body, and hear the vibration. this vibration is also evident thru an amp.
I got ripped off, and my heart was totally broken. Fender kicked me in the nuts on this deal.

The guitar is beautiful. Cameron Diaz is beautiful also, until she laughs, if you know what I mean.

I'm sure this is a reliable guitar, but I hope it catches on fire and burns to ashes.

I'm not even gonna try. It's going on Ebay soon, and I'll probably get negative feedback, even though I'm going to lose about $200 in the long run, and toss in a new strap and strap locks.

I've been playing for 25 years. I'm a Marshall guy, and I mainly play a Les Paul, well, now that's all I play. If it were stolen, I'd buy the theif a beer. I'll never buy another Strat.

American Strat, 50th anniversary back plate, 2x tone, reverse wired middle pickup for humbucking option all, all the normal stuff. Bad moulding on the tone and pickup controlls though. Rosewood fret board and normal headstock (not large).

reasonable fender pickups but this guitar has really really bas sustain, don't know why though. I have played other strats in my time but none have had sustain this bad. Maybe its because: no large headstock, two seperate woods in the neck. I tried a boss CS-3 on it and spent hours fiddling with it but I could only get a bit more sustain. There was a lot of hissing in the background from putting the level right up on the pedal. This guitar could do with a mid-boost circuit,its got a pretty whimpy sound, and a feedback sustainer or yngwie malmsteen style, brass nut and all maple neck.

There was a lot to be done on this particular model, I have it set up by a pro, action, pickup height... and i trimmed the whammy bar and made it lower, much better now. Also keeps its tune better.

You know the american series. Pretty solid. My friend's survived hiroshima so I assume its pretty strong.

nope

most strats i'd give a 9/10/11 but this particular one 8

The feature shave been done endlessly -the only thing I'm going to add is that Feneder pickups suck big time -picture Adam Sandler saying "YOU SUCK" and that's how I feel about Fender pickups.Shame on a company with it's resources to build these fine guitars and through in the garbage pickups.
Enough whining -went out and bought a set of Seymour Duncan SSS-L vintage staggered and voula a real Strat was born.

Using it in a Mesa Mark 1x12-straight in -rich full sound with the classic Strat sound .

The original delta pickups "suck"-replaced with the above-well built guitar -nice and light alder-do my own tonations and setup and with the micro tilt neck you can get the string action down real low.Like the way you can adjust each strings individual height-excellent feature.Fenedr still uses good quality CTS pots and good caps.

Just ask Pete Townsend how well these guitars are built-by the time he had those Strats in pieces he pretty well had to be helped offstage.FEneder supplies straplocks now which is an excellent feature.you can only play one guitar at a time .I take a Les Paul Standard along because some songs require a big beefy humbacker sound.

The individual dealers are always offering service but I've never had to take in for anything other than a fret scrape which is normal wear and tear.

Gibson Les Paul -USA tele-AM Lonestar Strat-Godin LG-Godin SDXT-MArtin D40(drool,drool)Feneder USA Strats are still the best bang for your buck-especially used -you can't beat them

Hello.. for those who BUY USED Strats on ebay that's your own fault! If you buy from a dealer and the neck warps or needs shimmed you'd have it fixed or replaced... Heck they wouldn't even sell one to you like that at the dealer! If the guy on ebay didn't take care of it of course you're gonna feel the quality sucks! 2nd, 3rd, 4th hand reviews are crap! At least you admit you got it used so you don't totally tarnish Fender. What's up with this plywood claim on fenders? Some dude said they had plywood fenders in the 80's! I DONT THINK ANYONE HERE IS BUYING A 1980 FENDER!!!!!! Things change even if that's true(plywood). People like you just jabbing on Fender are so annoying. It's like your politians.. all full of crap. :)

they do lack customer support. Go through a local dealer.

My American Strat was made in 99. It is painted Inca Silver with cream perloid pickguard. Rosewood fretboard. Volume and two tone controls. 5 way selector. S/S/S Texas Special P/U

This Guitar fits my musical styles very well since I play mostly blues, Southern rock. and when I'm not, I play in our church worship band. I use a Marshall JCM 900 50 watt w/o reverb. I also use a Fender 40 watt virboking. Both tubed. Pedals used are Boss delay, Boss DS1. I am surprised that this guitar isnt more noisey but it sounds pretty clean. The sound is real brite but doesn't really have as much bite as i thought it would've. I had a choice between an American strat with lace sensors but I chose the Texas Specials. I wish I would've chosen the Lace Sensors. Nevertheless, the specials are ok. I've been using my American Deluxe with noiseless P/U more lately and they seem to have more bite, something I would't have expected since the SRV strat comes with these same type Texas Specials. I don't like that it lacks bite. I might use my deluxe more and trade for an American Tele instead

I dont know how the set up was since i got it used but everything seemed good for my playing. The body seems tight and has a good finish, not to be compared with my American Deluxe Strat. Selector switch keeps falling off.

All strats are made to be played and this one is no exception. If I take care of this guitar it should last long enough for son to get and sell for a better guitar. I would gig with it without a backup and I know I can depend on it.

I've never dealt with them, I've never needed to.

I have been playing for 13 years and I wish I had played the Lace Sensors more before I took the texas specials. I do like it but I have better and i probably try to trade for a tele.

Late 80s American Standard Strats feature plywood bodies. Mine has a alder veneer over a plywood body. The sunburst finish is great as masking this perversity.

sounds like a plywood guitar

poor fret work from the factory. the first neck warped in under a year and had to get a replacemnt. the second was okay from then on.

plywood is not very durable because when my guitar came off the strap and hit the floor it broke into a lot of pieces.

disgusting. the American Standard should be renamed the Corporate Standard. the usual histories of Fender all claim that the company really got its act together in 1988 well, in my opinion, plywood bodies do not sound like getting it together to me.

Beware: late 80s fender guitars have plywood bodies.

A mid 1980s stratocaster finished in fiesta red, rosewood fingerboard standard single coil pickups and tremelo bridge.This model has the TBX electrics and a five way selector switch, controls are master volume a tone control for the neck pickup and a master tone for the whole guitar. The guitar is quite heavy for a strat and the neck is the fattest I have ever played on any fender. The tuners are stamped f and are of good quality. This is a four bolt neck with the microtilt facility.This isnt my first strat I used to own from new, a silver 25th anniversary maple necked model.

I play everything and own lots of different guitars so I dont expect to get humbucker or P90 tones out of this instrument. I bought it because I wanted strat like tones. I dont use any pedals just the guitar and some amps, like a boogie a musicman and a hiwatt. The guitar isnt to noisy well its no worse than my P90 LP,and when the switch is in the two pickup mode its very quiet. This guitar sounds good on only one setting the neck pickup, all the others sound synthetic and lifeless. Close your eyes and this could be any one of thousands of run of the mill strat like clones, sound wise its no better than a cheap copy. And thats not just my opinion but of lots of people who have heard it some of them music shop staff. I think eventually I will replace all the pickups for some better quality single coils.

OK hands up all those of you who have bought a guitar off ebay because of the pretty pictures? Yeah Ok hands down me included. When this guitar arrived by mail there was a big dent just beloww the jacksocket, if it was there or not before shipping who knows. The strings were so old and greased up they snapped when I turned the tuners to remove them. The guitar must have been stored in a garage or something, because the pickups and bridge had lots of rust on them. The bridge allen screws had seized up in the saddles, and I stripped the sockets inside three of the screws trying to get them out. The neck needs to be shimed because the action is still to high even after dropping the whole bridge and every string saddle. The frets are not to bad for a twenty year old guitar. But here is my personal favorite, some fool had lined up all the bridge saddles to exactly the same string lenth. So they all sat in a neat straight line, so the intonation was waaaaaay out this guitar must have been untuneable as well as unplayable.

Strat construction is legendary these are very tough guitars, if you have seen footage of guitar heros smashing them up it takes a lot of effort. The finish on this guitar was good it had some surface scratches but nothing through to the wood, ( with the exeption of the big dent near the jacksocket ) and the neck has not lost much varnish. This guitars big problem was tuning stability, string bending was a nightmare after a few seconds the whole guitar would be out of tune. When I looked at the back of the guitar I noticed it was fitted with three springs, so I added two more and problem solved. I dont use the tremelo facility, even if the guitar had a tremelo arm which it didnt. Even though the guitar is two decades old the electrics are still in good shape.

Yes I have had dealings with fender on the rare occassions I managed to get them to pick up the phone. No warranty on this antique.

I have been playing off and on for 35 years, I have owned most of the major manufactureres guitars at one time. Burns epiphone fender gibson vox and yamaha to name just a few. I had been out bid on a few strats previously, its a shame I didnt get beat on this one. If it was lost or stolen I would start hunting for n replacement strat, because I dont beleive any other guitar gives the same tones. I just love the look and feel of the stratocaster, the two pickup combinations are to die for with that hollow matalic twang that no other guitar can match. One thing though twenty five years ago I had the chance while working in a music shop to test two strats side by side. An early seventys three switch model and a 1980 five way switch model. The difference was incredable the early seventys three way sounded totaly diffrent when jammed between pickups!! Good strats sound wonderfull but bad ones are just so tragic. The thing I love the tone, but why do you have to wade through truck loads before you find a good one?

2003 USA Strat maple neck, Olympic White, heavy sucker, probably Alder for body wood. Every Strat I've played has been a totaly different instrument in the way it sounds and plays. It took me almost 2 years of playing stratocasters to find one that I liked, and I had fun and loved every minute of those 2 years.

The delta American standard pickups sound great. They bring along all of the nastiness and harmonics only a single coil strat can give when going thru a volume booster then into my Peavey Delta. I tried the deluxe noiseless, and they're too sterile for me. Jammed with a guy who had a 65 strat and afterwards he was very interested to know what year my strat was (nuff said?) Warning!!!! these pickups are not for everyone. If you must shred or plug into a stack, you are missing the point, and the unique sounds only this guitar can get.

I must say that to get a really good strat, you probably need to play a lot of them. Some play good but sound awful. Some sound great and play like crap. It's not as bad as the Gibson situation where you might find one good Les Paul out of 200, but it pays to play a lot of them before buying.

Something happened in the production of American Strats in the last couple of years. It seems that quality and playability have taken a giant leap forward. This thing rings acousticly when unplugged which I attribute to the flawless neck joint. Only complaint so far is that this is a very heavy guitar. I've tried the custom shop stuff and Johnny, I aint impressed. If you can't do it with this standard American, you aint doin it.

No reason to have a backup with this animal.

I solve my own problems, even if it costs me some money. I do not use warranties, or send my guitar away for repairs. Too many unknowns. Fender is a big company and I'm sure I don't mean shit to them.

Playing over 20 years and this one is better than my 72 by a wide margin. If stolen I would go on another 2 year search for the ideal Strat and have fun doing it. Only wish fender would go back to the 7.5" radius so it would feel more like a baseball bat.

My Strat is a 2001, Sonic Blue with a rosewood board and a block trem tailpiece. Strictly stock throughout.

I play blues, ragtime and celtic stuff, both with a flatpick and fingerstyle. My amp is a '73 Deluxe Reverb.
The Strat/Deluxe combination is like Bloomfield and Butterfield, tuna fish and mayonnaise, hot dogs and mustard, summer days and cold beer...you get the picture, they go together perfectly. The sounds? This is a Strat, not a knock-off of one. Since it's a Strat, it naturally makes some of the primal sounds that originally defined the sonic pallette of the solid body electric guitar...about the only sounds that are as genuine and defining come from Teles and tweeds, and from the Les Paul/Marshall mixture. This is the real deal in sound, and limited only by my skills and imagination.

I bought this guitar used, so hoo nose about factory setup? Felt fine from our first kiss, anyhow. Near as I can tell, the build quality is very good, with no noticeable problems and excellent attention to detail in the body or electronics. I'm giving it a "9" only because I can't vouch for how it came set up from Fender.

This thing is the proverbial brick relief station. I wish most stuff being sold these days was built as solidly and well as my Strat. My first Strat gave zero problems for twenty years, and I was an idiot to sell it. This one's just as good. Should go the distance.

No idea here. Used guitar, no warranty.

I've been playing guitar since the late 1960's. I've owned old Les Pauls, Hagstroms, a Guild Starfire, a Kappa 12-string, a paisley Tele, an older Strat, a Mosrite Ventures model, a couple of ESD-335's and a 340, US-made Epis, and a wide variety of upper-echelon acoustics by Collings, Santa Cruz, Martin, Froggy Bottom, Bourgeios, Tippin and Taylor. Amps have included blackface Super, Vibrolux Reverb, Princeton Reverb, Ampeg Reverbrocket, Acoustic 370, Mesa Boogie 50 Cal, and probably some others I've forgotten about.
Over the years I've played for money, for love and (much of the time) just for the hell of it. Some nights I'm untouchable, and some nights I can hardly play a C chord.

I'd buy this guitar again in a minute if I ever lost it. I was stupid to sell my first Strat. Why? Well...because it's a Strat. This isn't some disco ball, this is the heart of the matter. A Strat is what you get when you ask a little kid to draw a picture of an electric guitar: try it and see. This is the guitar that was good enough for Buddy Holly, Jimi, Stevie Ray, Clapton and a whole raft of other guys who play better than I do. Who am I to second guess Buddy Holly, for Christ's sake?

Owning a Strat is like owning a piece of the rock. Perfect. A Strat isn't even really a guitar, it's a solution to a series of problems. Do what Leo Fender did...ask yourself how to position a fingerboard correctly for a player to use when he's standing in front of an audience. Ask how to make it hang there, just right, so he can reach where he needs to. Then figure out how to weight it so it stays balanced. Think about how to put a body on it, massive enough to allow the strings decent resonance but not too heavy, and contoured so it's not digging into the player's rib cage. Figure out where the player's right hand needs to sit, and how his arm needs to hang so it won't cramp up or be uncomfortable. Contour the guitar body to suit. Then think about where the pickups need to go in order to give the player a wide choice of tonalities, and where the controls need to sit so the right hand can get at them quickly and easily, but placed so they won't be in the way. Then figure out where you need to put the strap so the whole assembly stays put in relation to the player's body. Better put a kind of horn up top so the strap pin's where it needs to be, right? Now give some thought to where the tuners should go so they're easy to adjust and accessible. Think the same way about the bridge and saddle.

Solve all the above problems and you've pretty much re-invented the Strat. That's why, after all these years, there are still so many Strats being sold and so many copies being made. The concept of the Strat is a master class in ergonomics, and Leo Fender's ticket to immortality.

I've played lots of stuff, and some of those guitars knocked me right out. I still miss my '60's gold-top Les Paul and blond 340. Sexier than hell. Yet if I can only own one electric, it'll always be a Strat.

Nope, I don't wish it had anything that it doesn't already have. It doesn't need anything...perfect just the way it is. Lots of people have created ugly little monsters by screwing around with the basic perfection of the Strat. Look, if God had wanted Strats to have on-board computers and extra pickups, he'd have had Leo put 'em on there.

Somebody ought to write a love song to this guitar. Maybe I'll do that sometime.

Black ash body maple neck
made in 87( Itook the neck off)
Hated the thin sounding stock pickups put in EMG SAs
2 point trem
put on sperzel tuners ( I'm lazy about string changes ) to keep it in tune too!

this guitar is my girl freind !
I have played EVERY STLE OF MUSIC with itand it has always passed the test I use a tube screamer wah and a twin 12 amp
the ash body singsssssss for ever

finish is startin to show bumps ( hey it was new in 87)
the only original peices are the body and neck
every thing else has been played to desath

I have one big problem !
the trem posts are starting to bend
I don't use 13 s i use 10's so
it must be age

learned to fix most of it myself
except nuts (thanks to Bob)
most things are easy to update
thanks Leo F

I would seek a new american standard if this was lost stolen or sold bay my wife LOL

just a standerd strat made in mexico with 21 frets solid top with a mapel fret bored and a crappy standerd tremlo

this thing sounds killer for just a regular mexico made strat
has a great sound i think the 3 singel coil pick ups are awsome
very good for all diffrent kinds of music from beck to clapton,beatles,zeppelin,stones,james gang,skynyrd,cream,and harder stuff like metallica and sabbath its just a killer soundin guitar

nothing was really wrong with it excepth the tremlos a pice of junk if you try and use it for like halen or steve via it comes out of tune very easyly

its a very solid guitar
uhh i havent had any flaws with it but once agein it comes out of tune easy if you use the whammy bar too much if you dont use it its a killer guitar
uhh i really have no need for a back up guitar

uhh havent had to deal with them yet and i hope i dont

over all its a great guitar
sounds awsome
plays awsome
ripps hard
really no other guitar needed if you have a strat
best guitar i have ever bought

and if any one has any idea on how to fix the tremlo please e-mail me

2002 American Std strat. alder body maple neck rosewood fretboard. SSS style. I gave features a 5 because of the lack of knobs but don't be fooled this guitar is one of the most versatile guitars i've ever played.

I play classic rock, blues, funk, psychedelic. the guitar can a bit too bright but that's not really a problem only if it's in the wrong hands. The people who said they are replacing the single coils for a humbucker are really wasting the strat single coil sound. its unique and if you didn't want the sound then why get a strat in the first place? Does most sounds excellent but doesn't work well with those playing metal or just using distortion. My fuzz loves the strat.

The finish looked crappy the pickups didn't seem screwed on right. maybe it was just mine. The pickups can buzz but i don't really find that to be a problem. Also, the intonation was incorrect. so i had fix all that stuff.

yes. rock solid.

never had to deal with fender.

This is a great value guitar no wonder players like Hendrix, Clapton, and Jeff Beck uses these guitars. I've been playing strats and Gibson SG's for 15 years. Both are great guitars. I'm using this strat with an original dallas arbiter fuzzface, fulltone deja vibe 2, fulltone octafuzz, original vox wah, and an electro harmonix memory man through a marshall superlead. sounds great to me.

*Made in the USA*Original Contour body stratocaster*Floating, fulcrum style tremolo tailpiece*Jumbo frets, Maple fretboard

Over all, the features on this model make it a big step up from a Mexican strat. (Which I've been using a while)

The tone is nice when you setup properly. I find that if I select the neck & middle pickups, and turn my tone knobs up high I get a nice warm humbucking sound.
The middle pickup is still a little noisy by itself though.
For stuff like Skynyrd & Clapton it works great.

Factory setup was pretty good but, it still wasn't as low or even as I got it. Making adjustments was easy though.
The woodworking on the body was flawless! A beautiful top.

I must admit I haven't road tested this guitar yet. So I can't say how durable it is. THe hardware appears to be a lot more rugged than anything else I've used. Finish is beautiful. The strap buttons are slightly larger than my Mexican strat. I doubt I'd use it on a gig without a backup though.

I've never dealt with Fender's Customer Support. So I have no idea how good or bad it is.

I've been playing guitar for about 5 or 6 years now. I would definitely replace it if anything should happen to it. I love the tone and quality of it. I don't like the fact that Fender didn't put a locking temolo in it! The maple neck w/ rounded edges is great. Compared to a Gibson Casino, & a Gibson SG the American Strat still has the competition beat(for now). I wish it had the S-1 switching.

It's all been mentioned already, so I'll skip this one. Mine has a 3-tone sunburst finish with a maple neck. The rolled edges on the neck give it the broken in feel that I like.

I play lead guitar in our church Praise and Worship band. I had been using a guitar that was equipped with humbuckers, but our band has 2 other guitarists (acoustic rhythm and an electric rhythm player)and my
leads didn't really cut through that mix well. Since I have been using the strat, no more problems with that! I really love the sound of the neck pickup on this guitar! It has just the right amount of bass/treble response for my liking.

This strat was setup perfectly for my tastes, but I had to try out a few before I found this one.

I just bought this guitar, so time will tell. I have owned other strats before, but never kept any of them for very long. This is
by far the best (and most expensive) strat I've ever owned. I think it's a keeper.....

Never had to use them.

I have been playing since I was 13 and I'm 40 now. I have owned alot of gear in that span of time, but now that I'm getting older I can appreciate the "less is more" way of thinking! I play this strat through a Yamaha DG100 2x12 amp. It has all the effects I need; tape delay, chorus, and tremolo built right in. Other than the effects that are already built into my amp, I use a Boss GE-7 graphic EQ in the effects loop of the Yamaha, but only as boost for solos. I also use a Morley Bad Horsie wah-wah pedal on occasion. That's about it.
If this guitar came up to missing, I'd buy it again in a heartbeat.

You know the drill here. Made in US. 3 single coils. Yadda, yadda, yadda. New Delta Tone control.

It sounds wonderful like I'd expect an American Strat to sound. I played the Highway 1 and Jimmie Vaughan Strats side by side with the American, and it blew them away. I wanted a guitar that sounded like Strat should, and it really does. Nice and clean. Not heavy and griding. Crank in some distortion or overdrive, and it cuts through nicely without muddying up. Rock, country, blues. It hits them all. It's not nearly as noisy as I thought it would be either. I've never been a fan of single-coils, but the guitar is not really noisy.

Just about perfect. I had the store set it up with 10s to replace the whimpy 9s that Fender puts on them. Finish is beautiful (Chrome Red!). The fretboard and frets are perfect. The hardware is chrome/stainess and plastic. Beware: The Delta Tone pot has a detent in it. It will seem like it sticks a bit right as you approach 10, but that's by design.

Heavy finish should last though just about anything. Thousands of pros use them live all over the world. I'm sure it will survive my trips back and forth to church and work choir gigs.

No idea.

You will be pleased. Don't bother with the Highway 1 series. It's nice, but the American is simply better. Better tone, much better fit and finish (especially the bodies). It's the real deal.

1991 Fender American Strat. I bought it new and it has been my main axe since. Gun Metal Blue with a maple neck. I did'nt like the stock pickups so I changed to Van Zant Blues in the neck and middle and recently pit a Seymour Duncan in the bridge. I dont like the bathtub routing or the stock piickups. After the changein pickups, it sounds much better.

I play a Blues/Rock/Outlaw country variety and this guitar suits me perfectly. I have a 60 watt all tube Gibson Falcon that I used with thie guitar for years and recently purchaced a 1979 Acoustic 124 amp with 4 10s and 100 watts to give the Falcon a Break (Needs Repair) and the guitar sounds great through both amps.

The only effect I use is a light overdrive with a Tubescreamer and maybe some reverb.

I dont use the trem bar and I wished I would have bought a hardtail.

I have played every musical style with this guitar. Sweet.

With the changed pickups thie guitar has TONE. The frets have worn over the years and may need a re fret job.

Action was sweet straight from the store. Nice Paint Job. No Known Flaws.

This guitar stays in tune nicely. I have worn the neck silly. The maple neck has numerous battle scars and wear marks and I think it looks cool. This guitar has led me through countless gigs and I have gigged without a backup. This has been my main axe since 1991 and I love it. Her name is Minerva.

Never needed customer support.

Ive been playing for 17 years and own a Charvel 525 D acoustic electric, Fender Gemini II Classical and have recently am having a custom built Heritage 535. If this guitar were lost or stolen I would Buy another Fender Strat (but maybe a roadhouse). I dont regret buying this guitar but would rather buy one with great sounding pickups to begin with.

Maple neck and fretboard, sky blue finish, 2 pt. tromolo, blabla...Came with a hardcase. The lining seems to be perfumed. Guitar always smells sort of like vanilla when you pull it out of the case.

I play metal, punk a little bit of blues through a Mesa F-50 plugged into a homebrew 4X12 cab. Absolutely no complaints, except that I had to get a Gibson SG to rip off Iommi's riffs and have them sound right. The Fender sound is maybe a little thin for covering Black Sabbath. What would I expect, though? The Fender has single-coil pickups, and is a signifigantly different guitar design. With the 5 position switch in the first or fifth positions, there's a hum. To be expected. You're only using one single coil. It becomes inaudible when you actually play. It'll get me anything from a vaguely Hendrix-like tone to harsh and metallic, for bashing away at 3 chords and the 7 words you aren't supposed to say on the air.

Perfect, except that it was sort of toneless with the stock strings. Changed to heavy guage, adjusted the tension on the bridge to get the gap between it and the body back into spec., and it started to sound marvelous. Very easy to play. I was surprised to see that this guitar got an overall lower rating than the SG Special I have did. It's definitely a better guitar. Played through the clean channel on my amp, it gives a much better sound. Maybe even 2 C-notes better, which was the price difference. There are just a couple of sounds I can't get it to do for me, which is why I have that SG.

Wouldn't use anything without a backup. Why make somebody watch me fuck with a broken string? The rest of the guitar seems like it would survive being dropped off a 5 story building. If used heavily, the tremolo will make it go out of tune. Unless you're completely deaf, and if you are, can't afford a tuner, it takes maybe a minute to put it back. Strap buttons are great. Much nicer than those on the SG Special. The finish is nicer than the Gibson's as well. Of course, that's just my particular low-end Gibson. An LP Standard will likely have a better finish than my Fender.

It hasn't broken.

Total of about 6 years playing. Started playing again a couple of years ago after a long hiatus. I'd buy this guitar again in a heartbeat. I'd also try to find the guy that made re-purchase necessary in order to beat his face absolutely flat. I don't finger pick, so breaking my right hand again might not be too inconvenient. When I bought it, it was the first guitar I looked at. I played it, it just felt right. It was also American made, which may or may not be a stupid reason for buying something, depending on your point of view.

It's a 1990 american std strat.

Lifeless poplar body with the "bath tub" routing.
Will never know how many pieces of wood was used...
Maple neck/ satin finish/ 22 frets
Sustainless two point tremolo (now blocked...)
Texas specials (rather WRONG choice) replaced the original PU's
Push-pull tone pot for two extra sounds (cool) /had the TBX control removed. It was never really useful anyway...

The neck is very well built, highly detailed and it plays well with any amount of action.
Although i prefer the vintage style radius and width, it's still a good one for me.

The overall construction of the instrument is perfect.
After 13+ years of use it is still in mint condition.
That's the only thing i can't complain about, so i rate it a 9

Even from day one this guitar sounded weak and thin and sustainless.
When i jammed with others the difference in output was more than obvious.

I tried heavier string gauges, to get a small improvement.

Then i installed the Texas Specials to get a hotter output.
OK, the output got stronger, but the harsh sounding pickups along with the trebly empty sound of the multi-piece poplar body give a strange result...
It is not always a bad sound to my ears, especially with a little tweaking with the controls on the guitar and the pedals and the amps.
But it surely lacks the resonance of a higher quality body.
Fundamentally the sound is empty, shrill, trebly and midrangy (?...)

After blocking the tremolo with a piece of wood, the sustain seems endless compared to what it used to be.

For some time in the past i installed iron plates under the pickups to roll-off the highs and get some more output (it really worked) but
i had enough of the "sterilized" feel (there is no "air" in the sound) and i had them removed.

I think that the problem with this guitar is the body and the bridge.
Low quality multi-piece poplar with "bath tub" pickup routing and the two-point tremolo, just kill the tone!
Add the thick "anti-resonant" urethane finish, and you get the picture...

I seriously think about buying a high quality body with a six-screw trem and a normal SSS pickup routing.
(This time it will be one-piece alder with nitro-cellulose finish)
If i change the frets, the nut and the tuners, it will be ok...
(these are the only worn out parts of my guitar after almost 14 years)

I know, it feels like i will cange almost everything, so why not buy a new one?
Tonewise, i think it will be better because new Fenders don't have one-piece bodies (even the vintage RI), and if you order a custom shop guitar (which i cannot do in the country i live in) you will have to pay quite a lot...

So maybe i'll do it and re-review the guitar... :)

Concluding, i rate it a (generous)5 because the guys in Fender have done a terrible job trying to suppress the cost of the strat back in the 90'ies...

As i mentioned above, the action, the fit and the finish are Excellent!

Absolutely no copmlaints about the setup!

It's a US Fender...

After almost 14 years of every day use (ok, and good care)
it is in MINT CONDITION!

Beautiful and shiny like the first day!...
The neck has tinted a little over the years, so it looks even better!

I THINK FENDER USA HAS MADE A VERY BAD CHOICE IN THEIR DEALER FOR MY COUNTRY.
IT'S A PITY FOR SUCH A HISTORIC BRAND TO HAVE SUCH INCOMPETENT DEALERS!!!!

Of course, whenever i needed to contact the company in the US, their response was immediate and really helpful.
Even in the snail-mail years they responded immediately (regarding the distance...)

A 10 for the US and a big 0 for the ones in my country.

A very well built guitar with a very poor sound.

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN MARKETING AND FINANCE DEPARTMENTS GET INVOLVED IN THE PRODUCTION...

the rating is up to you... :)

1995 American Standard Strat (bought Jan 1996). Made in USA (Arizona factory at the time?) High gloss Poly 'Lipstick Red' (color no longer avail?) Standard features for that year's model - White S/S/S pickups, knobs and three-ply WBW pick guard. C-shpaed, Maple skunk-sripe neck with 22 frets on Rosewood fret board. Med-Jumbo frets good for bending. 'Fender'-scripted logo on neck plate (no 'Corona'). Satin finish on neck. Fender sealed tuners. Truss rod channel on headstock. 2 string trees (D/G and B/E). 5 way switch, 2-pole 'knife-edged' floating tremolo unit.

I think the American strat has evolved over time and implements many improvements over the 'vintage' strat. If you want the vintage-vibe go for the reissue, but if you want one of the best 'working' guitars being played, get the newer 'American' version.

I currenly play part-time in several groups that range from 30s-40s standards to cajun fiddle music and country to 50s oldies to 60s-70s dance rock. Currently I go straight into a HotRod Fender Deluxe or a small Marshall Valvetronix (line out to the PA). No effects just a hint of overdrive and reverb. My strat is great because it is so versatile. 1-2 positions are great for comp-chording and the 3 to 5 positions are good for rock leads and country picking. Of course a Les Paul and a Tele would do a better job for particular styles, but this strat seems to be a good 'jack of all trades' guitar. I will say that my only knock on the general strat sound is that straight into the amp with no effects, it does have a thin almost transparent tone. I do play a Tele on occassions when I want more balls (... don't really like humbuckers). But again, if you doing a 'mystery date', the strat is your best bet. To summarize: Versatility is the best thing about this or any strat.

I use a standard 10-based set so I initally changed from the 9s and lowerd the action accordingly. I have played the guitar for about 7 years without any adjustments. I have heard knocks on the tuners, but these tuners stay in tune, even with a lot of half-step bends and light whammy bar usage. The guitar has no defects in the way of workmanship. It is virtually perfect. The finish is probably a poly-based finish. In spite of some brutal handling from time to time, the body is relatively unscratched and is sort of 'bullet proof'. I will say that I believe the heavy finish does reduce some of the sustain though. I recently bought a HWY1 Tele and I have to say the thinner Lacquer finish seems to allow for better sustain overall, but I still love this strat. It's a keeper.

I have used this guitar for about 7 years and felt abliged to get another guitar to give this one a 'breather'. It is a real workhorse. I only had to tighten the volume knob once. I do not have a very aggressive style and so this guitar NEVER breaks strings (but note that I change them every week if I am gigging 4-5 nights a week). Also, I use lemon-oil on the fret board during string changes to help preserve the fret board. The frets have some worn areas but are still usable. Summary: Very dependable.

I have never contacted Fender - never had to.

I have been playing off and on since mid-60s. I am not particularly fast or flashy but I am a decent player and get paid to play on a regular, part-time basis. All the gigs are small clubs. I can play a reasonable facsimilie of light jazz, blues, rock and country. I use a combination of pick and fingerstyle playing. My bending in more in the half-step range. I mainly use a HotRod Fender Deluxe or a small Marshall valuetronix (w/ tube preamp). I own an Epiphone Sheraton II (with Seth Lover PUs and Grover replacements), an autographed (Semie Mosley) Venture's model Mosrite that is a real treasure, and recently bought a new 2003 HW1 Tele. However, this strat is my 'main axe'. It is very dependable. If I could only own one guitar, it would be this one. It does a reasonable job adpating to any style. I realize the price of the American version is now over $800 but my investment of $540 was worth it. You might want to try the HW1 strat. I have never played one but it might be the way to go.

1999 fender standard strat with a natural ash finish and rosewood neck. The only thing I changed is I replaced the 2nd pickup with a seymour duncan. A little more ummph to it.

I think the natural ash weighs a little more and gives this guitar a little more smoother sound. You can just feel the vibration through the guitar itself if you play unplugged. Perfect harmonics

the action fit and finish is great. The only thing I wish I ordered was a hard tail.This guitar is flawless though. Why of course, it's an american fender strat. The natural finish really shows itself off. I think the dude I bought it off of really didn't know how to play or handle the tremelo, so I went and had it adjusted and now it's like new.

This guitar would probrably outlast most of us. You can switch guitars, go to the new fancy ones-which I myself will admit, have done-but returned to the original rock guitar. Don't fix what doesn't need fixing.

Bought from a personal seller. Solid as a rock. Never repaired, just adjusted since the idiot didn't know how to handle the tremelo. It's perfect now though. Got it for $400.00-I did tell you he was an idiot, didn't I.

I've been playing 30 years and I will have this one another 30(I hope) As I stated earlier, the only thing I would change is to have a hard tail instead of the tremelo. But since I bought it off a private owner, I'll settle for this one.

1997 American Standard ..American Standard Pickups, and 5 way selecter switch...Basic Strat stuff

Live sound is awesome but studio sound was a bit dirty with this guitar. Had to use another guitar for studio work.

Action was a little high and I had to have it adjusted by a luthier because the tension rod nut was almost stripped.. this was because the tension rod was very hard to adjust. My Luthier friend adjusted it for me and its better but still a little high anyway Fenders tension nut on this model turn both ways so you cant loosen it and replace it...be carefull adjusting your neck!!!

Well Im not a rockstar but Ive gigged with it and its very nice..I used it with a jap tele for back up and I switched over to the Tele and put this one in the case

Never called

Ive played for 25 years on 71 Strat,Aria Pro 2 ( cool cheap guitar!)2 more Fender strats and a gibson SG, a Robin(made in Houston)

1998 olympic white/ rosewood fretboard.usa standard 22 fret.sss delta-tone. Purchased online(ebay) used for $550.00.Has been re-fretted.No dings, scratches, or finish wear(damn!)Original case with red square with logo. New style two point tremolo. Pretty normal..

My main guitar is now a Les Paul Custom,but I've played strats and strat style guitars since 1980, until I jonesed for a paul and sold my then #1 strat for my Custom.I missed my strat after selling it because I play alot of SRV,Clapton,Hendrix and such,and missed the comfort of my familiar rig( and nothing sounds like a strat!) So I looked for a used one.This one was not very good sounding(compared to my old ones) due mainly to the shitty pickups.I then played many strats to try different pickups. The SRV strat neck was my favorite but didn't like the Texas specials, I found them to be too hot and mid-rangy to do clean strat tones, but wanted more heat than the 54's.With lighter strings, the Texas Specials sound good but I use GHS nickle rockers 11-58's.A friend told me about the Fat 50's, which were modeled after the 1958's hotter windings.I bought them used (ebay) and must say that they are PERFECT for me! Just hot enough to howl and wail, but clean up beautifully with the volume nob.Classic strat tones will flow from these pickups, and are better than any of my old strats!Woke this guitar right the hell up!Also, I prefer the vintage tremolos for sustain.My way around this was to replace the 3 black springs with 5 vintage silver springs( extras from my old strat) I always keep parts like this.They have 45 degree angles on the block end.I set my neck dead flat,(as all my necks) and set the spring tension so the bridge sets fairly firmly on the body, but not too tightly.Gives me the sustain I desire,returns firmly to original note when using the whammy,nice stiff feal for accuracy, and the added reverb that a strat should have.Takes a minute to thread in the tremolo arm, but this one rarely sees a case anyway. A minor inconvenience for excellent tone!Try this setup on yours and you'll see what I mean. I also bought a Jimi neck plate and installed it for a little personal MOJO! cool!

The only thing I don't like is the cookie cutter body that has the routing for humbuckers.Strats should be single coil eguipped so they can do their thing-clean to medium gain! They should be able to make bodies with and without the route, depending on what pickups are desired.I don't know if it really changes the tone but I think it must to some degree.Also, my guitar looks new and thats not a good thing!I like a strat to look beat! Like it's been in a few bar fights,or maybe used to row a boat across the East River.This is too nice!I hate to relic it but I may have to do it.(getting too old for bar fights!)Unless I start an SRV tribute band and play my old seedy dives for free beer!............not a bad idea......................

This guitar NEVER goes out of tune.Really. Have to depend on it, it's my only strat!I can't play Texas Flood on my Les Paul! If I break a string, I'll play without it if I can, or everyone can wait till I re-string!

No warranty. Never delt with them...

I own the strat, my Les Paul, an old Charvel model 4, and run them through a boogie Mark 3head and 2, 1-12" thiele cabs.I also have a 1968 Gibson Hawk 1-10" amp that sounds sweet with my strat and a modded TS9( get one of these online from ANALOGMAN.com) Outstanding!Have a cry baby, and a Boss tremolo, and DD-6.Now looking for a blackface Fender amp to complete my strat rig....I don't know why fender doesn't put the fat 50's on a strat from the factory. They only come as standard equipment on their crappy showmaster series.WHY???

Bought new in 1987. 22 frets. Typical strat setup. Rosewood fingerboard.

Changed all the pickups to Dimarzio humbucker rail styles. Fast-track I at neck, Chopper in middle, Fast-track II at bridge. Fabulous sound. No single-coil hum.

Guitar was set up well. Tried out more than a dozen before settling on this one. Considered buying a used "vintage" one. They are a rip-off. Overpriced. Buy a new one...it'll be "vintage" eventually.

Used live with no problems for 16 years now. No backup necessary.

After purchasing, I discovered an imperfection/buzz on the low e-string around the 15th fret. Brought it back where I bought it and had it back a week later with the frets perfect.

Been playing almost 40 years. I have 7 guitars and a bass. This is my primary electric. Play primarily through a Hot Rod Deluxe.

After Submitting a mostrous review only to be cut offline...let's just say that it's the best thing I've ever played....2002 American Standard...2 tone sunburst..swampash body..maple neck and fingerboard

Mine is a 1998 Sunburst model.
Still has all the original features that made the strat such a classic guitar.

I play alot of rock, hard rock and blues, and I will give my opinion on the sound of the american standard coming from someone who is looking for the classic strat tone. Of course other people maybe looking for something different and the tone that this produces maybe adequate for some.

I have always loved the classic strat sound from the 50's/60's, and out of the box this guitar required alot of work and tinkering to get the sound I was after. Straight from the factory this strat sounds completely different to older vintage strats... basically because of the pickups and the bridge.

The pickups are terribly muddy (the bridge pickup is absolutely terrible, the others are not much better though I can live with them) and after many hours of pickup height adjustment I was convinced that these pickups will never sound good regardless of where they are set. I eventually replaced the pickups with a set of Kinman pickups (Neck Avn 52, Middle Avn 62, Bridge Avn 62) and these remarkable pickups improved the sound 100% and was actually starting to sound like a 'strat', reminicent of John Frusciante, Hendrix, or Knopfler.

Another thing that I dislike about the american standard is the two-pivot bridge. I feel that the bridge is responsible for preventing the strings to resonate through the body, since it has only minor points of contact with it. I investigated replacing the bridge with a vintage style bridge but I read on the internet that someone had simply added an extra spring to the tremelo and set the bridge near to the surface of the body. I tried this and my strat now has an extra twang and warm tone that now makes it a pleasure to play. The extra spring and the fact that more of the bridge is on the surface of the body means the strings are resonating through the body more so then before giving it extra twang and sustain. Adding the extra spring tightened the tremelo and made it heavy to use but it doesn't take long to get used to.

After making these changes, as well as others like changing the gauge of the strings, I find that I'm 98% happy with the sound I'm getting. I can actually play a Frusciante riff and actually have it sound like the vintage strat that he uses. Perhaps if changed the bridge altogether the sound will improve even further.

So straight of the factory I give the sound of this guitar a 4, now after a pickup replacement and adjustments I give it a 10. I guess this goes to show how easy it is to setup a strat exactly the way you want it, which was one of the features that made it popular in the first place.

Fantastic, the neck on these guitars are great, compared to much earlier models. Some might be asking why didn't I just buy a 57 reissue if I was after the vintage sound, well it is simply because I don't like the neck on them.. to me it's like playing a baseball bat. I must say I love the neck on this guitar and the finish is superb. Unfortunately though Fender need to improve consistency.. I was lucky enough to get a good one, I've seen some pretty dodgy finishes and wood used in the neck in some guitars I've seen in stores.

I've never had any problems with it so far. I can definately depend on this guitar when playing gigs and it hasn't failed me yet.

After setting it up the way I want it I give the overall rating a 9. One major problem I have is how expensive these guitars are (especially in Australia!!).. particuarly with the terrible pickups they included. It makes you wonder why do they have to tamper with a classic? If the pickups were great in 1962, why change them??

I bought this guitar in 1999, and it came with a fender case. I think the majority of features have already been covered.

I liked the sound from this guitar. The factory strings are kind of dull sounding, but I replaced them with bigger gauge and now the guitar has that singing sound that the stratocaster is famous for. I play through a 360w 2x12 Fender amp, and I love the sound it has. The guitar is great for playing rock, country, blues, and pop. The one weakness it has would have to be metal.

The guitar from the factory is decent, but some changes have to be made. I bolted down my tremlo, because it had a tendency to pull the guitar out of tune, and make it hard to tune it. Other than that the guitar has stood up well these last four or so years. The wiring and all other components have held up very well.

It is a American made Fender Strat, it is built like a rock. I love this guitar, it has been my number one guitar for the last four years and has not failed me yet. From what I can tell it looks as though this guitar will hold up very well. I feel very confident in the build quality of this guitar.

Never dealt with them.

I have been playing guitar now for about five years, and I have been around my share of guitars. I have played dozens of guitars from dozens of companies, and I know for sure my next guitar is going to be a fender. I will proabably buy a higher end version of the strat or a vintage reissue. The one thing that I wish I would have done when I purchased this guitar was get it in a different color. I opted to get it in black which I still love, but I wish I would have gotten the sunburst color to make it a little less plain.

2000 Model, American made Strat. It has a custom paint job (Corona Calif. plate on neck joint) that is exactly what my buddies '98 strat has. It is dark purple with metallic flake, a maple fretboard and since I bought it used it came with EMG vintage pickups in it. Nothing you haven't heard already. It doesn't have a lot of features, but it makes use of what it has.

This is only my opinion, but I love the sound. I think it's incredible. Keep the Les Paul, keep the PRS, give me the Fender. I've never really owned a strat before, but I have admired the sound for quite some time. I use this to do Rush, Iron Maiden, Yngwie, Eric Johnson, Megadeth, Deep Purple, Zepplin, Ozzy, Fuel. When we hit Metallica, Pantera, Godsmack, Saliva, and Tool I have to put it down though (sometimes you need a humbucker). I work in a Trans-Siberian Orchestra tribute and while it is too late this year I can't wait to try it out. I give it a 10 because it sounds amazing, not perfect (what is?) but amazing.

I bought it used and really have no need to touch it. It was set for 10's and it rocks. This is only the second time I got a guitar and didn't have to modify it. No complaints yet.

I always bring a backup. You just have to. Does it look like it will last? It's a Strat, they just kind of last

Couldn't tell you.

I absolutely love this guitar. I've used it through my Peavey Ultra 112, a Red Bear MK-60, a Sovtek Mig-100, a Sunn 50C(that may not be the exact model #), and a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. It sounded great through every amp I ran it through. I would definitely buy another one without question. I also have 2 handmade B.C. Riches, a Fender H.M. Strat, 3 Ibanez guitars and a Charvel. I have been playing for about 7 yrs now and this guitar is a welcome addition to my family. There's a reason it's a legend.

Made in october of 2002. I got it in chrome red with a maple neck (better than the rosewood). I still have the stock pickups in it which I dont plan on changing because they sound great. There are 22 medium frets.This guitar came with a case, cable, straplocks, whammy bar, and a strap.

I play many different kinds of music styles in my band. This guitar sounds great playing rock, blues, jazz, and punk rock. I run this guitar into a Nady wireless, Digitech GNX2, and a Marshall MG80RCD. It is amazing how many different sounds I can get from the GNX2. This guitar has a bright sound, (as do most single coils). The only kind of sound you can't get out of this guitar is a metal. You need humbuckers for that.

This guitar was set up great. The neck plays great and the pickups sound great. There was not a single scratch on it. I love the Chrome red finish, it really stands out. Enerything is great on it

I havent had this guitar very long, I know that all fenders hold up great though. Im hopeing to play it at least 20 years.

Never dealt wit them. I bought this guitar from lentines music store. I would reccomend anyone in northeastern ohio to visit lentines music. It is a great store with unbeatable prices.

I have been playing for about 3 years. I started out playing a Jay turser, Now I have this stratocaster, a custom built stratocaster, a gibson les paul studio, and an alvarez acoustic

I have a 2002 American Series Stratocaster. It is chrome red and has a maple fretboard. I has the no-load tone controls, with delta tone pickups. It has the 2 point trem, and stralocks. it also had the meduim jumbo frets which are nice. It's a strat it has what I need to make music.

I really like the delta tone pickups, they have a sweet tone. The no-load tone controls are also nice, I like being able to control the tone of the bridge pickup. I play punk rock and some blues, and it dones it great. This is a great punk guitar, I see Fenders in a lot of punk videos. This guitar can do just about any kind of music.

The finish is beautiful, I love it, it even smells good. The action from the factory was good, I really don't care too much about it, I can play high low action. There is no fret buzz, which I like. I did not even need to adjust the neck when I put on 10s it still plays great.

It's a Strat, it's built like a tank.

Never conacted Fender. I have a local shop I go to for help.

Overall I really love this guitar, I would bu another American Series Strat right now if I had the money. I will never part with this guitar. It does everything I need it to do and more.

1999 American Strat.
Natural finish. Ash Body, Maple fretboard and neck.
It's an American Strat. you know the deal.
You either get it, or you don't.
You don't buy a Strat for the fancy features, the fast play, the screaming harmonics (as other people have complained about here).

The American Strat is the epitome of the solid body electric guitar.
And oh ya, for those of you who say that Fender is crap and don't compare to Gibson, well, it's all a matter of opinion.
We're comparing two totally different styles of guitar here.
You're either a Gibson lover or a Strat lover.

I'm a strat lover. Give it up, neither is better.....just different.

Classic ctrat sound.
smooth. best clean sound available.
ya so it can be noisy, and maybe some of the metal heads can't screetch with it, and no I'm not putting that down but that's just not what this guitar was specifically made for.

It's just your all round graet quality bang the shit out of it, play it for 50 years electric guitar.
done and done

Action (irrelevant you can set it up however you want)
Fit: For me great, for you maybe not.
Finish: Smells like maple syrup, even after 4 years. You just can't beat that.

Do you need to ask about the reliability????

People are still playing Strats that are 50 years old. I don't think any other guitar manufacturer (maybe Gibson) can make claims like that.
You'll have your strat for the rest of your life.

Never needed it.
I get support through my local music stores if need be. They support all of their products.

There is no better solid body electric guitar in the world and there hasn't been since 1954 when the Strat was first released.
For $1200 you can get a guitar that will last you your whole life. can any other guitar make that claim?

Mine is a 2001 model. USA model with 22 frets. Transparent finish (nature, 721). Case included, very solid. All the standard features of a strat. Bought it some weeks ago.

No particular style, but suits everything well. I use it with KORG Pandora PX-4 (just bought it) and a Suprem 180W Guitar Amp.
It is a little noisy when coils are used single. With combination
(pos 2 and 4) there is no noise at all. Have yet to get the hang of the tone knobs, currently i think the possible settings are not as variable as i'd like. Great sound, good in clean and dist setups.

Hmmm, i think i will have to change something here. My other guitar is far easier to play. The booklet says everything about adjusting it, so that shouldn't be a problem. The guitar has no flaws whatever in finish or machinery. The tuners are working well and keeping the tune so far (have given it a hard time). Just the two tuners with the string guides are a pain to adjust.

Looks like it can take a good hit. The hardware is rock solid, cant be destroyed by normal use or even hard treatment. The finish looks and feels very thick, doesn't get scratched easily. Strap buttons are ok. Can't say anything on reliability.

Not needed.

I'm playing (or trying to) for about 6 yrs. I have a Westone Pearl guitar (nice acoustic like sound) which i would trade in happily for this piece. I would get the same model if it would get stolen. I love the sound of that guitar. The factory set up is not very good and needs to be worked on.

98' Modal
22 frets
1 volume 2 tone knobs
3 single coil pickups........ Its a Strat you know the rest

My Band is kind of a punk/emo Rock band (think At The Drive-In or Thursday) And this guitar is the finest instrument to fit my kind of style, and probably any other. I have yet to come across a guitar that has sounds better than this. My friends dad had a 2001 amer. strat wich sounded amazing and that is why i initially wanted to buy a strat, but let me tell you that the older 97', 98' models blow the new ones away. Delta tone pickups are shit.

I would always look in magazines and think wow sunburst looks cool, but when you see it up close words don't even describe how amazing this guitar looks. The finish is absolutely amazing, couple minor dings and scatches, but its used no big deal. The setup was pretty nice too, I had to adjust the pickups though.

Strats are complete rocks, I bet I could smash this over my amp and stiil be able to play it (not that im gonna try it) and the finish isn't gonna fade anytime soon. My only complaint and the ONLY thing wrong with it is the tuners are shit, i gotta tune every couple songs, but im fixin that.

Ive never dealt with them, but my buddy ordered a bass that was supposed to take 8 days to 2 weeks to ship has taken so far 6 weeks and still counting so based on that they get a 5

I've been playing for 5 years, I have 4 other guitars A squier strat, Fender Standard Tele, a Ibanez AR200 with a Duncan invader in the bridge and a Guild Acoustic and this is absolutely my favorite piece of equipment. If it were Stolen I'd hunt down the guy who did and castrate him with a rusty spoon then go buy hunt down another 98' strat.

1996 Fender American Standard Stratocaster. All stock. Vintage white, or as my wife calls it, ugly yellowish. Three single coils. Rosewood neck.

I think there is no better clean sounding guitar. I play it through a 70's Fender Twin and I just love it. I never cared for the sound of it with distortion until I got my Marshall JCM2000 TSL602. This amp really brought out the character of the guitar and I switch alot now between my Les Paul Custom and the Strat. It is a very versatile guitar, and I love the feel and action. Very fast neck. I play the Strat through a digitech RP200 then an a/b switch to either the Marshall or Fender Amps.

The finish is perfect, seems to hold up well. Very solid guitar, as all my Strats have been. I got it used but the set up was great. It had 9's on it and as I play 10's I had to redo the set up a little to compensate, no prob.

I use it live all the time and have never had any problems or concerns. I think it will hold out longer than me. I would depend on it without a backup if I had too, but I have a Les Paul Custom. Its not a back up, I use both guitars equally. Like most Strats I have had, tuning is a constant activity, I don't mind it much, it helps me with my ear, lol. I live with it because its such a fun guitar to play(Especially when my shoulder needs a break from my Paul)

Never had to deal with Fender.

I have been playing off and on for over 20 years now. I have owned a ton of guitars and amps over the years. I play mostly classic rock, pop and blues. I own the Strat, a 1990 Les Paul Custom, a Fender dreadnaught accoustic\electric, my digitech RP200, A Marshall JCM2000 TSL602, and a Fender Twin Reverb. I am satisfied I can achieve any sound I desire. Live, I use both amps with an A/B switch relying on the twin for my cleans. I would definately buy another Strat if it were lost or stolen, it is an integral part of my sound as is my Paul and dreadnaught. In summary, I guess I would have to say that no one guitar is perfect for all sounds. I love the sound of my Les Paul and Marshall, and I love the Sound of my Strat and Twin. Two of the best combos of all time in my opinion. I have heard people say that if you like the feel of a Strat, you won't like the Les Paul, not true for me. I love them equally. You can read my other review of the Les Paul.

Okay, I got this baby a few years back, and it's great. It's a metallic aqua marine strat. I've only got one problem, it's tremelo bridge. I liked it at first, but now it's just a hassle. It can't keep tune, and can barely be tuned in the first place. It's not so bad when ya got your distortion piled on, but clean, you better have some tone-deaf people listening to you.

I love the sound of this guitar, it's beautiful. The crisp bridge pickup is good with a slight distortion and you can rip out some serious smashing riffs.

It's one of the most comfortable guitars I've ever held in my arms. The finish doesn't have a single scratch on it.

The only thing I would worry about in this catagory is that the tremelo bridge won't keep tune long enough, I'd need a backup or two.. Maybe even more. Everything else is like a dream.

I haven't had to deal with anyone in cust. support

This has been a fabulos guitar, I have no complaints other than what was stated

I purchased a NEW AMERICAN STRAT 2002. I can honestly say I do not know much about better guitars, since I have owned Jap's and Mexican teles and strats. But this one sounds better and plays better then anything I have owned before.

I play blues,classic rock,jazz,experimental,alternative,and emo. I currently run my new strat and several other guitars ( mex strat,jap tele,1965 memphis hollow body) into z.vex seek wah,wah probe,fuzz factory,ts-9 tube screamer,vintage big muff,peavey volume pedal,ibanez delay,fulltone deja-vibe custom,and dunlop ts-1 tremelo into a peavey classic 30 and or 69' super reverb. I know it's alot but I like to be creative. My new strat gives me various quality tonal options for recording and playing in several different situations. Thank you Fender America !!!!!

Action plays good. Had to do several adjustments to action. They seem to send there guitars with 9-42 stock strings. I play 10-46 this changed the action on my guitar. I also noticed the bolts holding the tuning keys were also loose. The finish? Hell, these guitars were made to play, gig, and last a lifetime. I'm not worried about finishes our scratches.

You read my last comment didn't you?

Never delt with fender.

I have been playing for 14 years now. And have become some sort of a accomplished player some say. I purchased this guitar knowing of it's finer quality and durability. I'm looking forward to purchasing something with humbuckers in the future like a prs mccarty.

Made in 94 (40th anniversary). Well documented spec.

The stock pick-ups are very good. People write such rubbish about pick-ups and seem obsessed with upgrading?? I have replaced the bridge pick-up with a SD 59 trembucker, not because there was anything wrong with the original but because for a while it was my only guitar (hard times) and I needed a humbucker. Sounds good through all the amps I have owned (JCM 900, JCM 2000 TSL, Peavey Classic 50/410, Fender Pro Junior @ Sovtek Mig50). Stays in tune very well even when using trem (set floating 10-46 Slinkys). Basically sounds like a good Strat should. Covers a lot of ground musically.

Factory set up was very good but still improved with a pro set up and change of strings. The guitar is a masterpeice of modern manufacturing over poor quality materials. CNC routing and thick plastic finish's hide all manor of evils. One of the bridge locating pins started to wobble after about a year of use. This had to be re-inforced with Araldite. The original sunburst finnish over the 2 pce veneer hides a a low quality 5 YES 5 Peice body made of alder off cuts that were probably rejected as fence posts. There are no end of #200 guitars out there useing far higher quality materials. I found this out when the original finnish became damaged and I had to refinish the guitar. I feel RIPPED OFF and will never buy another Fender guitar. If only they had used aproper 2 pce Alder body od good quality this would have been one of the best Strats ever. It is a testamount to Leo's orignal design that such a crap guitar can sound and play so good. For this money do yourself a favour and buy a Gibson Les paul Special.

See above notes on fit and finish.

Never used them, never will now its too late. This is not an honest product. Like many people I thought I was buying a quality guitar with a 2 pce Alder body and a higher quality product than the Fender/Squire far eastern products.

I have been playing 30 years and play mostly Rock and Blues. I have owned many guitars Fenders, Gibsons, Lowdens etc. For the reasons stated above I will never buy another Fender.

1998 make,cali/corona

Features 4 a strat??? com'on this is a classic. mine is natural finish which has turned out to be ma fav, after i bought mine. action, great.no floyd rose? if you need it! to be frank i need to tune the guitar from one string change to the other (i don't use the vibrato bar anyhow?!) case is an off-road hell blaster. been through rain and all that and NOTHING ELSE MATTERS. dropped mine once (f***ng strap) few scratches. a tortoise shell pickguard would be better i say.

it's the best for r'n'roll, blues and funk:))) i use it through a marshall 65r VS and only a BOSS comp/sust. need nothing else at all. sound is damn rich, twangs like a tele (high pickup settingsss) some hissing on 1-3-5 positions, but 2-4 are great. i think some pickup modi is needed?!?!

no faults on intonation, neck adjustment nor factory set-up. thanks to the cali factory for all?!

no backup needed if you can neglect broken strings !!!

never needed any, it takes are o'itself ;)

itz been like 18 years i've been playing the guitar. i would like to have a gibson les paul for the tone only. played like hundreds of guitars, none of them sound, feel, look, play like this one actually.

Made 1997, somewhere in California, Usa. 22-frets, volume, 2 tones, 5-way selector. Original pickups passive S/S/S, model? Maple body and neck, rosewwod fretboard with jumbo frets. American stantard bridge and fender tuners. Came with Fender cheap-plastic-case.

It's a strat god damnit! Need I say more. I use with Line 6 Pod-pro and studio monitor system. It's not noisy but not too quiet too. Hums a bit becouse of the pickups. It plays the whole rainbow of typical strat sounds well but will not get that fat, juicy mahogany-body guitar sound out of it. I personally adore the sound of good-old strat.

The finnish was really great for a guitar this cheap. Factory set-ups were all-good. For this price range almost fabulous but can't compare it with 2000$ custom-made instrument. Does not hold the tune if you use the trem.

Not only you can drop them on their heads, with this guitar, it sounds good too. Well, maybe not! Doesn't keep the tune verywell. The tuners suck. Two of the tuners keep the tune allways what ever you do. Two of the tuners doesn't hold the tune at all.

What?

Been playing about 3 years. Study to be a music technician. I also own a handmade tube combo don't know the make, Line 6 Pod-pro, Morley badhorsie wah-wah and some other effect pedals I test a lot gear in school. I replaced the original pickups with Seymour-Duncan Duckbucker humbucking in single-coil-size pickups. Allso replaced the tuners with Fender locking tuners and I stronly advice anyone who owns this guitar to do the same replacements. Otherwise a great guitar.

What can you say? It's a Strat. 3 single coils, 5-way switch, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, alder body, etc.

I've been playing for about 10 years(rockabilly, blues, punk, you name it), and I've always played various Mexican, Japanese, and Squier Strats. This puppy smokes 'em all. I use a Crate VC-50 with a 410 cab and a Tube Factor. Incredible tone!

I bought it used so I don't know if it has been re-setup or not. I've been playing it with nines ever since I got it though. The pickups are every thing Fender stock single coils should be. It has a gorgeous three color sunburst finish with no flaws that I can detect. It has the most incredible neck of any guitar I've ever owned.

The guitar didn't have the whammy bar with it, so I bought an official Fender replacement bar. It broke off in my hand and so far I haven't been able to get the rest of it out, but that was just a defective bar.

Never dealt with them, but I've owned lots of Fenders and never had to.

If this guitar was stolen, I would cry. Even replacing it with the exact same make and model would not be the same, although that is exactly what I would do. I really don't care for sunburst, but this guitar sounds and plays so good that everything is is superficial

1988 American Standard Strat - 22-fret, sunburst alder body, super straight maple neck, maple fingerboard, 3 stock single coils, wilkinson trem, non-locking tuners (at this point). very standard, nothing special at all but it's the design that I prefer to all guitar shapes and styles - common as they are, I love strats. Mine came with Fender's classy tweed hardshell case.

The sound is great and it doesnt go out of tune too often, but maybe one day I will upgrade by punking down some dollars on locking tuners and new PU's.

I play funk, rock, rockabilly, punk, jazz, experimental crazy prog rock and anything else that's in my mind at that moment, and a good American Strat plays can play it ALL. That's the beauty of a good strat: versatility. Metal-type music is alyways better on a humbucker, but let's face it: if you're playing metal, you're probably 13 and reading the latest ibanez or ESP reviews, if any, right now.

5-way selector switch affords a surprising number of sounds. thick n bluesy with the neck PU, sharp n twangy for country with the bridge, and everything in between. Of course Single Coils are noisy, but if that's a big problem for you, just drop in a set of Noiseless or Lace Sensors and you'll have humbucker-quiet. I was going to immediately drop in a set of Noiselss PUs when I got it, but have really learned to like the stock jobs. noisy and not very loud, but with tons of character.

I play fender amps b/c they have great sound and aren't insanely expensive. A strat through a bassman or a twin is killer guitar tone. I'm pretty minimalist - I stick a wah, delay and a few other effects in front and it's a little noisy, but overall I am very happy.

I bought mine used so I can't complain about typical Fender factory setup, but I'm well aware of the horror stories and have shaken my head more than a few times playing off the rack strats at Guitar Center and Sam Ash. Mine was 13 years old when I bought it, which means there are predictable nicks and use, but that's just more character to me. A guitar without any marks just doesn't look right. Chrome isn't showing any rust and the wood is all very straight and solid.

Live paying is fine, and I do it without a backup. I am considering upgrading PU's for extra quiet and reliability, but I'm fine for now. All knobs and buttons are solid and secure. Non-locking tuners keep tune fairly well, but if you beat on it, well, it's gonna go out of tune. Strats are built like tanks, and if not destroyed, should last 30 years. I depend upon it as if my sanity depended on it. and it does.

Never dealt with Fender.

Does anyone really care how long I've been playing and what other equipment I own? I've been playing 15 years and own very little in the way of stuff. You try living in Greenwich Village and see how much stuff you can fit into your closet-sized apartment, forced to shove everything into a taxi every time you have a gig. You learn to keep it to a minimum. One guitar, a pedal board and small powerful combo amps are the best for me.

When I play it, I want to CREATE, not just emulate. With my strat, I can play cover tunes, the band's tunes and noodle for hours. The neck begs to be held. I can strum Jimmy Nolan funk rhythms or slam SRV solos. all crazy like. Pick up a les paul and tell me you feel creative. Stick to the studio.

For me, it was worth it to buy a used American Strat over a new Mexican. The sound and sustain an alder body affords is worth it for me. the mexican is durable and just as well constructed, but in the end, poplar just kidna sucks. I paid 5 bills for mine - one helluva value.

THE MINE IS BORN IN MEXICO IN 19XX,SOLID BODY 21 FRETS
CONTROLS ARE STANDARD:1 VOLUME,2 TONE,A 5 POSITION SWITCH
PICK-UPS ARE S/S/S STANDARD STRAT,BUT MORE WARM THAN AMERICAN'S STRAT
ELECTRONICS PASSIVE (I HATE ACTIVE THAT SUCKS!)
FINISH:PURPLE SATIN
BRIDGE ARE '54 VINTAGE (SO LOVELY...) AND TUNERS STANDARD..

PERFECT FOR BLUES AND 70'S ROCK
I PLAY IN MANY AMPS:JCM2000 TSL,VOX AC-30 JANNINGS,VOX PATH-FINDER,VALVESTATE 65R,ACOUSTIC SOLOIST AS100D,AND MORE...
BEST IS AC-30,PATH-FINDER,JCM 2000.
PICK-UPS ARE A BIT NOISY WHEN SINGLE,BUT I'VE SHIELD
SOUND IS GRASS AND DARK,AS I LIKE IT.
IS A VERY VERSATILE GUITAR,REALLY!
LIKES?I HAVE GET AFTER 7 YEARS.IS MY MINE NOW!HAHAHAHAHA!
DISLIKES?FUCK!

THE SET-UP IS STRANGE....
I'VE EVER PLAY WITH LOW ACTIONS,THIS ONE HAVE A HIGH ACTION BUT,I DON'T NEED TO LOW....IT'S STRANGE.
I LIKE THE HIGH SUSTAIN OF THIS INSTRUMENT...
LIUTERY IS OK!
WOODS ARE VERY GOOD AND FINISH

FENDER!!!

FUCK METAL,PUNK,HARD CORE,CROSSOVER AND OTHER SHIT!
THIS IS A BLUES-ROCK GUITAR,BOYS!

Made in US of A in 1988. First year for Corona, Calif. factory, after they got rid of all the spare parts from the previous years. 22 frets. Volume, tone and regular 5-way selector. Someone installed a Seymour Duncan Hotstack (bar magnet) in the bridge position w/ a DPDT switch mounted on the pickguard. The pickup is basically a "stacked humbucker". I rewired the new toggle for series/parallel and series/split/parallel. I get an awesome boost when switched. And its so quiet you can hear a mouse pissing on a cotton ball. But still get 60 cycle background noise with the other 2 pickups.

Nice big slab for a maple neck with medium jumbo frets. And the grain! My gawd, the wood grain is awesome in that neck! Aquamarine metallic finish, only one chip on the bottom edge where you can see some wood. I bought a trem bar for it, tried it out and then couldn't be bothered, nice to have anyway. Goes out of tune a little (sharp) when using the whammy bar. Maybe a bit of graphite in the nut slots will cure that.

The way the pickups are set up on this guitar gives much more options than a regular 3-single coil strat. I play through a mid 70's Musicman 210 Sixty-five which is loud and clean and REALLY brings out the sound of this guitar. Perfect combo I'd say.

Don't know about factory settings, I usually set them up the way I like'em. But the action is great using medium strings, I do all my own adjustments, pickup heights to factory specs. etc. No flaws, this guitar is purrrrfect.

This guitar can take anything. Its the working man's machine , no doubt. Bullet proof and would probably make a good weapon if one was so inclined.

Warranty long gone, I guess. But who cares?

Been playing nigh on 28 yrs. I also have a 67 Hagstrom III, Fender Gemini II acoustic, Fender Newporter 3/4 acoustic, 70's Teisco tube amp, EKO archtop acoustic set up for slide playing, no-name classical and just gave my Dad an Ibanez Roadstar that I rebuilt.

Nothing else I needed to ask when buying this guitar, I knew what I was getting. I only went in to buy some strings. I asked the guy if he had any deals on strats and he went to the rack right away and yanked this guitar out. I plugged it into a Fender Twin and I gues I must've blacked out for a little while. Because the next thing I know, I hauling out my credit card, LOL.

If this guitar was stolen or lost I would definitely replace it with another of similar vintage, if I could. Anyone caught stealing up or messing up with this instrument is taking his life in his own hands. I might just black out again.

Its not possible to hate anything on this guitar. I've seen some other reviews from people who called their strats a POS. Well...they must've screwed things up in some manufacturing years. As far as I'm concerned 1988 was a good year for American Stds.

I took my garden variety American Standard with 3 single coil pickups and added an acoustic sound to it...installed the graph-tech F.A.S.S. system and it is a big time improvement. Of course, the install was tricky but after the guitar is plugged into the right amp, I cannot believe my ears. There isn't an acoustic guitar with a pickup that sounds more acoustic than this baby. Unfortunately, the "right amp" turned out to be a SWR strawberry blonde. My '65 deluxe reisue didn't cut it at all.

UN***BELIEVABLE...I am in awe.

Guitar had usual set up stuff goin on...I redid it per the book and it works just like it outta now. My guitar was pretty well made but it ain't no custom shop...tonation was perfect however.

You could run this over with a truck and play a gig right after...this guitar is the humvee of music instruments.

Is Fender still in business? I liked it better when Leo was cranking these babys out in a garage.

Been playing since time began...when I added this baby to my guitar, a new sonic door to heaven opened up for me.

It has every features the others have, except the case.

As I read in another review, my guitar also doesn't stay in tune. The pickups are very very noisy... And when I turn the distortion on, it gets worst... I called a luthier to see the guitar and he said that the pickups are very strong and he told me to lower the pickups. I did it and it's better but not good. So he gave me another solution, change the string gauge from 0.09 to 0.10. I didn't tried it, but I will leave the guitar in his own hands to take care of it and re-setup the guitar. If after the setup the guitar keeps out of tune I will sell it or trade it. I'm having a lot of trouble with this guitar.

I wish I had my money back and give back this shit to those suckers. I've been playing for 6 years and I had a Hurricane Stratocaster (that was much better than this shit), an Ibanez GRX 20 (blargh! dont even think about it... It's a sin and you're gonna pay!), Golden GH-88 DX (same shit as the GRX20...), 2 Ibanez RG 470 (this one is very good for the price), Washburn Dime 333 (Very good guitar... Like a Gibson with hot pickups and floyd rose... Perfect for metalheads!), Jackson King V Standard (the best guitar I've had), Fender Stratocaster Am. Standard 50th Anniversary Celebration (Trouble... Double Trouble). I think the guy who made/setup my guitar was pretty drunk... Motherfucker...

This is a 1994 left-handed American standard strat which is black with
3layers(WBW) white pick guard,22 frets,3 Am. St. singel coil pickups,a volume a tone and a TBX knobs,Am. St. bridge,rosewood fretboard,5-way pickup selector,Am. St. machine head(tuners)

It sounds good specialy for classical rock and bluse and for playing the Henrix,Claptone,Beck and Yngwie stuff.
Althougt I use an old FBT amp (probably from the first world war!)the clean sound is cool specially in second posision of pickup selector(bridge & middle pickups).But it isn't good enought for the high gain works specially when you are going to use the amp distortions.(in this case a humbuker pickup in the bridge posision is highly recommended.)
But because of the BOSS SE-70 effect that I use,I haven't had any problem till now even when I play the Vai's fire works.

For some reasons I had to set-up this guitar by myself and I couldn't see the factory set-up.the set-up is pretty easy specially when you read it's catalog carefully.any way the action is very good and it's a very comfortable and playable guitar.
the finish is very nice and it will be clean easily.

Take a look at the steve ray vaughn's guitar...should I write more?!!

I didn't need any supports and I won't need any supports for the feuture to come.
...all supports had done by creating this guitar.

I play the guitar for about 10 years and I always wanted to have a left-handed strat.actually I love it's shape.
I think it doesn't matter how many other guitars do you have.you need a strat too!
If it were stolen,I could able to find the thife in a moment...HOW?!!
..It's easy because the thife must be a left-handed guitarist!! How many left-handed guitarist do you know in your town?!!

made in 1996, sunburst, Seymour Duncan '59 pickups . 400 quid used but virtually mint condition.

It sounds great!!!!!! I have a Laney HCM60R and it has a fantastic warm, clean sound through the clean channel and through the the overdriv channel it creates an amazing crunch sound. Very Much like that of Guns 'N' Roses. OVERALL FANTASTIC!!!!!

Mine had a few scratches from the previous owner. But is justifiably fine. Not 10 'cos nothing os perfect in finish (except Paul Reed Smith).

Strap buttons a bit wobbly but apart from that it is as solid as a rock.

WHO GIVES A DAMN!

I am 14 and have been playing for four years and i have only just got it recntly to replace my old Epiphone Les Paul. Before tat i had a Squier equivalent of this one and you can tell the difference from when you first see it! If someone stole it! i would be really pissed off! I COMPLETLY AND UTTERLY RECOMMEND THIS FINE BIT OF MUSICAL GENIUS!

1997 American Standard Strat, three tone sunburst, 3-ply white pickguard, Fender standard tuners, and a maple neck featuring a S/S/S configuration (with Fender's standard single coils), 22 medium jumbo frets, 5-way switch, one volume and two tone knobs, and a standard floating bridge. This badboy came with an ugly harshell case that can't fit more than the guitar itself and therefore isn't worth the weight to drag around. Also, it came with Schaller strap lock buttons as a standard feature, but did not include the actually locks themselves. I will say, whoever decided upon that was an idiot, although I ended up shelling out $10 for the locks themselves (which ALSO came with buttons, too - if anyone needs some Schaller buttons, give a holler, and I'll give em to you for free!).

I've been playing Strats for the last 8 years, so I pretty much knew what I was getting into with this one. Like every other strat that I've played or owned, I knew that the single coils would buzz...a lot. Yes, it's annoying, but you can't beat the clean from a single coil pick-up, compared to any humbucker out there!! I play this strat through a Fender Twin Amp, and the clean sounds amazing. It can go from warm, for almost a simulated acoustic sound, to twangy, for more funky material. It's pretty verstile in the respect from going anywhere between really bright to quite mellow. I use a BOSS OS-2, as my distortion effect, and the strat does okay, although I also own a Fender American Double Fat Strat, and that does a lot better. Needless to say, the single coils only do so well once the crunch and overdrive is kicked on.

Initially, the guitar was actually well setup. However, Fender puts 9 gauge strings as their standard for showcasing, which I find too light. Obviously, due to the pressure change from 9 gauge strings to 10, the guitar had to be re setup, which ended up fine. Later on, I get fed up with the floating bridge, and since I never use the whammy bar, I ended up fixing down the bridge by installing two more springs. Once again, I had to reset the guitar. Through out all of this, though, the neck on this guitar is amazing. Even the repair guy said, "You have a righteous strat! The neck rocks!" By fixing the bridge, I got much better sustain and this guitar has been staying in much better tune.

This guitar is great for live playing. However, I do use another guitar, just because I generally only use my Strat for stuff that's clean. Either way, I could still play a live show without a back up because I've hardly ever had a string snap on me when I change my strings regularly. The finish still looks new, and I think I'll probably keep this guitar until the day I die. I have Schaller strap locks on it, which keeps me stress free about dropping or losing my guitar.

Never had to deal with it, and probably never will, but Fender includes a limited lifetime warranty. Yep. Whatever that means.

I've been playing for close to 9 years now, and the reason I choose Fender instruments was because of several factors outside of those listed above: price and comfort to play. I'm a girl, so naturally I have smaller hands and I'm not as willing to hold up a heavy Les Paul for a three hour set, persay. Fender necks are thinner than any LP's I've played, so the instrument itself I find VERY comfortable. At the same time, when I was shopping for my first guitar (which was a Standard Mexican Strat), I wanted a guitar that could take me a long way, that I knew I wouldn't be ashamed of playing if I decided to keep it ten years down the road (which didn't end up happening, since I upgraded to an American Strat). In the same reasoning, I'll keep this strat until the day I die, and if something happens to it, I'll try to find another one just like it, although, I'll always keep in mind that guitars are like wines; there's good years, and bad years, it's all about testing the waters for yourself. The Fender American Strat is a terrific guitar that has helped make history. I wouldn't recommend it for thrash and death metal, but it definitely upholds it's great reputation.

This guitar was USA made around 1997, is equipped with the Delta Tone electronics system, 5-way pickup switch, new American Standard bridge saddles, 9 inch radius maple neck, and 22 fret fingerboard, tremelo bridge, Alder body, regular Schaller tuners, chrome/nickel plated hardware, with Schaller strap lock system included. I paid close to $50.00 extra for a Fender tweed case instead of the black molded plastic "poodle" case. The finish is metallic candy apple red, and the guitar has a 3-ply white pick guard.

This guitar satisfies my appetite for the Stratocaster sound. It rocks, it surfs, achieves jazz and blues tones, and is probably the best all around electric guitar that one could purchase. I plug it into a Fender Deluxe Reverb II tube amplifier, and the sound is pure classic strat. This is an exceptional amplifier that I am using, but after pluging the guitar directly into my soundcard, and recording it direct without any amplification, I would have to say that the guitar's tone is authentic, and very soulful. The pickups are acceptable, but are noisy except for the in between positions. The bridge pickup is not too brash or bright, the neck pickup is full and rich, the middle pickup is seldom used alone, but the in between positions are the best of all combinations. I would like to eventually get some Lindy Fralin pickups for this guitar, but what I have will easily do for now. I have compared this guitar to the new and improved American Series Stratocaster, and although that guitar has some slight physical differences that have improved the overall strat design, to my ears my American Standard is sonically the same. The overall sound of the American Standard guitar is very good.

Quality construction and the perfect working man's guitar. All for around $750.00 dollars. Makes it hard to even consider a Gibson. The original set-up was not right for me. The slinky feeling .009s had to go and were replaced with .010s right away. This was a major improvement but the guitar had to be tweaked due to increased string tension. The set-up instructions in the manual provided all of the information that I needed for a professional feel, and to get the superb action that I expected. This guitar plays excellent. I tried moving up to .011s since they are used on my Cortley Strat Copy (Japan-late 70s), but the Cortley has a longer scale which makes it easier to bend the .011s. I will stick with .010s on the American Standard. Excellent finish, hardware, and feel, with good pickups. The pickups are the weakest link on this guitar, but are still okay if you are short on cash and cannot afford the Fralin replacements right away.

A solid and dependable guitar. It stays in tune even when using the tremelo. My guitar is set-up so that I can use the palm of my hand to activate the tremelo by pressing on the string saddles. The tremelo is only used to color certain notes. Dive bombers may need to tune more frequently. Great strap lock system that will never fail. No backup is needed. This guitar will last a lifetime if treated with resonable care.

Never needed for the guitar. Have notified Fender for amp information and they responded fairly well.

I have been playing for 30 years. I have always wanted an American Standard Stratocaster. I you could only own one electric guitar, this is the one. It is the most versatile guitar made, and can be used in so many ways, and achieves so many different sounds. Fender should offer Fralin pickups at a fair upcharge, that can be fitted in the model of your choice. I like the new improvements on the American Series. Mainly the approach to less routing in the body cavity to make room for the pickups. This guitar is a great value for the dollar. (See my Fender Deluxe Reverb II amp & Ovation Patriot reviews)

I have a 2001 Fender American Standard Stratocaster. It was made in the USA, Corona, California baby. It has the regular 22 frets. I have the volume, tone, and the 3 way selector on this one. Standard pickup configuration. Active electronics. Maple nec. Hot Rod Red finish. It has a string through body, which is standard. I got a free case with mine and anyone who buys a american fender stratocaster will get a free case.

It suits my musical stile because I play blues, metal, rock, and it all sounds great. I have a 70 watt Peavy Envoy 110 which is very good with this. I have a Digitech RP100, a boss ds-1, and a vox wah. I like the guitar because it never gives out the scratchy crap that sucks major. Basically I love the sound and the way i have variety

The guitar was set up dissent at the factory but the guitar shop finished the rest. The pickups were a little high but the guitar shop done them for free. The bridge was properly routed. The guitar did have any flaws when i got it from the factory or from the guitar shop.

This is a 1996 American Standard Strat made in the USA (hence the name I assume)Its got the standard 22 frets. Maple neck, 5 way pick up selector, 3 single coil pickups. Straigh Black finish with white pick guard and pickup covers. It has the American Standard bridge and it originally came with the American Standard tuners, but I replaced those with locking tuners. It also came with a hardshell case. Its a strat how much more could you ask for

With this guitar I play rock/reggae/punk/ska/hardcore and it sounds awesome. With one of my old amp setups, I could even play metal with this guitar. Right now, I use a Roland JC-120 with a Electro-Harmonix Big Muff PI, as well as a Crybaby wah, a Boss OC-2 Octave and whatever else I feel like using at any given time. I love how this guitar handles everything you put it through. The octave pedal sounds kinda weird through it, but it even says it works better with humbuckers. I've found ways to get around that though. I also have noticed that when you have the pick up selector on one pickup its a little noisy, but thats what the humcancelling middle pickup is for. All in all, its one of the sweetest sounding guitars clean and distorted I've heard

I traded for this guitar from a friend and he had the guitar set up beautifully. I'm not sure of how it came from the factory. I've played a few of these in music stores and they are set up aweful, but mine is now perfect, its the best feeling guitar I've ever owned. Some of the frets are getting a little worn, but I think its just the finish on them. I also noticed the cable jack likes to get loose a lot, I've noticed that on almost all Fender guitars though

I beat the crap out of this guitar, plain and simple. I don't take care of this guitar when I'm playing, I punch it, drop it, hit it, and it takes it all and yells for more. I've played with out a back up to this guitar a while ago and I never broke a string during a show. This is mostly a back up guitar now, but I break it out on a few songs. I've put some dings in the neck, fretboard, and the body, but its all very solid, I've never had a problem with how it was made. I just had to replace the tuners because I didn't like those. I snapped on of the strap buttons off one day so I had to drill a new hole. I always have a back up guitar so I can't say I wouldn't use a back up but I can say I can depend on it

I've never had to deal with them

I've been playing for about 5 years. I also have a Gibson Les Paul Junior Special, and Epiphone SG-310 and I've a had a lot of guitars over the years, but this is by far my favorite. If it were stolen, I would find the jerk (putting it lightly) who stole it and put them in a world of pain. But if I couldn't do that, I would attempt to find a new one, but that would be impossible. I love the fact that this guitar keeps making me happy even though I beat it so much, it keeps coming back. I hated the original tuners, thats about it

This 2000 Strat was made in America (duh). 22 medium-jumbo frets. Has 3 single coil pickups, and a 5 way selector switch. 3 knobs; volume knob, tone knob for neck, and another tone knob for the middle and bridge pickups. Uses the standard Stratocaster pickups. My guitar has a 2-tone Sunburst Finish with a Ash body and Maple neck. Uses an American Standard Bridge with Tremolo action! Non-Locking American Standard Tuners. I came into the the store wanting a Strat with an Ash body, Maple Neck, and Sunburst Finish (you would be surprised how hard this is to find without going to the Fender Custom Shop) and found exactly what I was looking for with the American Standard.

I play Bluesy rock (Jimi Hendrix, Cream, etc.) and this does a pretty good job getting the sound I want. It has a nice bass pickup, too, that is great for playing Hendrix. I practice on a dinky 8-watt Crate Vintage Series Amp and it sounds good. My only complaint is that the Standard Strat pickups are a little weak and I am planning on buying some Seymour Duncans for it in the future.

Well, to my surprise, it was set up pretty well. There was a little problem with some of the frets but I had them shaved down a bit and it plays fine now. Also, the tremolo bar is kinda high and you have a tendency to push on the tremolo bar when you areresting your palm on it. I had the tremolo bar bend down a little bit so I could palm it while playing and not have it move. Besides that, the guitar has absolutly no flaws and works perfectly.

I can see this guitar lasting a long time. It is a rugged and tough. It really shows how good the quality of American Fender guitars are. I would probably use a back up guitar if I was playing live. The reason or this is the fact that using the tremolo makes the guitar go out of tune a bit. There is really no noticable difference in the sound only if you don't do any divebombs or pull the tremolo hard backwards. But this is usually something that comes with owning a Strat so it isn't a flaw. This guitar can withstand a lot of abuse.

Never had to deal with Fender or Guitar Center.

I love this guitar, it sounds great, plays great and looks great. Pickups could be stronger but it is still a pretty awesome guitar. It is everything I expected in a Stratocaster. I would definatly buy another if I had it stolen.

Standard strat body, 2 tone knobs for specific pickups, volume knob, standard bridge, 3 single coils, standard neck. I don't usually try to force my opinion on people, but I had to clear up the confusion in that American Standard forum. The American Standard has no doo-dads and thats why I bought the thing. I wanted a guitar with no floyd-rose and no silly puddy body, I wanted a strat, so I am going to have to rate the features as a 9, why? because Schultz doesn't try to hide anything from you, he says here's a guitar, buy it if you like the features, don't if you don't.

I'm using the strat with a blues junior, and I get a great rich full-toned bright yet thick bluesy sound on the neck pickup, I gotta say the bridge pickup is a bit thin for me, but then again I never use it because I never shred. Again I gotta rate the sound a 9 because I played the guitar before I bought it, and it is what I wanted for blues/jazz. Don't buy it if you want to play death-metal, for that you need some humbuckers.

The guitar was set up fine, and I understand why they use 9's from the factory. Personally I don't like 9's I like 10's or 11's so that takes a bit of adjusting. It fits, has a nice low action, and a good looking finish.

This one is durable, as is a lot of Fenderware. It comes with a lifetime limited warranty, don't know how good that is though, never had to use it. I've never had any problems with the guitar.

Lifetime Limited Warranty

Ok guys, this is what I really wanted to say ... go play the thing, see if it fits you ... it's not an increadibly versatil axe. You can't go from blues to death metal in the flick of a switch, but you can get some very good sounding jazzy/bluesy notes outta it. I hate to see people buy a guitar and then knock it over here on harmony because they didn't test it out enough. I'm gonna rate it a 9 because it's what I wanted, no surprises, no let downs. Also, the differences between this one and the mexican strats? They're subtle ... certainly the sound quality on the American is noticeable, but body construction (upon inspection) is more meticulous.

I bought this guitar in 1997 from a local dealer. It was made in America, has 22 frets, and is a nice looking blue-green color that has since been discontinued. All the parts are stock: 3 single coils, factory tuners and bridge (with tremlo), blah blah blah. You get the jist. When I bought it, it came with a really nice hard case which I consider more valuable than the guitar itself.

I play this beastly machine out of a Peavey Bandit 112, which is a beastly machine unto itself. However, when I say beastly machine, I am not praising the guitar. I am more or less refering to its primitive and crappy sound. When I play clean, this junker always seems out of tune, especially the G string. That G string is always out of tune and there is nothing I can do about it. I am pretty sure that the tuners are just horrible, but I am not buying new ones. When I play this guitar distorted, it sounds like I am playing in a garbage can or something. Pure rubbish. If you pick the strings individually with the dustortion on, they either sound muffled or the string next to it will automatically vibrate, creating this annoying side-effect noise. Oh yeah, and the single coils buzz like crazy when you are only set on one of them, but I expected that. But, golly, it doesn't even sound good clean.

The factory set up was ok. Nothing to be ashamed of except for the fact that the tremlo was raised about an inch off the guitar! What is up with that? At any rate, I lowered the tremlo, but I still like to tune the guitar down a half step for two reasons: It keeps the bridge flat to the guitar and I like Weezer. Who uses a whammy bar anyway? Posers, that is who! People who wish they were Jimmy Hendrix but aren't.

This guitar looks brand new even after four years. However, that is probably related to the fact that I take exceptional care of the guitar, despite the fact that the guitar does not deserve good care. I am just a nice, caring person and I couldn't, with a clear conscience, let the guitar go to hell (where it probably belongs) by not taking care of it. Sometimes the connection between the power chord and the guitar gives out, as a result of the guitar being worthless. Believe me, it is not the chord because I have tried numerous chords and the same thing always happens.

I have never dealt with the Fender people, but I will just assume they are morons.

I wish I had not bought this guitar. It was not too expensive, but still was definitely not worth the price. In fact, I would dare say that I utterly hate the guitar. It just does not sound good at all. I'm sorry, but that is the truth. I wish I had some nice humbuckers to reduce all that buzzing. Ughhh, the buzzing! It kills, I swear. And let's not forget about the worst feature of the guitar: It NEVER is in tune. Every ten seconds it is literally flying out of tune. It hates being in tune and I feel it hates me too. My stupid guitar hates me! Ughhh! My advice is this: get one of those warmouth copies and you will be much better off. Peace.

This is a 1997 USA Strat that I picked up used, has a standard 22fret neck, all the normal controls. I do like the maple neck and fret board...this is the first guitar that I have does not have a rosewood fretboard. It's lake placid blue, kind of a shitty color, but I spiced it up by putting on a pearloid pick guard....It looks much much better!!

I knew single coils were noisy, but Jeez! This thing is out of control! I think a set of Lace Sensors or even a set of Hotrails for the Neck and Bridge would sound much better. My standard getup is a Peavey Classic 50 head w/ 410E open back cab...Depending on the song, I'll use the Peavey's overdrive, or I'll keep it clean and use a Korg 104d (great pedal)and a Danelectro Cool Cat (peice of shit, but I got it for free...and it works!!) The Strat sounds fantastic through a tube amp...It has a nice fat tone, and I love the response I get out of it, but I hate the noise. Variety wise, the Strat is great with a clean tone...the single coils are not bad without the OD. It has a great clean quality to it.

I got it in pretty nasty shape...I think that's why it was so cheap. I do most of my own repairs, so I set the bridge (which was almost 1/4 of an inch off the body) and intonation (that was the worst part), did a little truss rod adjustment, cleaned all the dust and shit off it,and it was ok...the frets needed to be leveled, so I had a freind do that and now it plays great! The only thing on the guitar was that there was a chip on the back of the neck, looks like the original owner leaned it against an amp or table or something, but no real harm done. All hardware was in good working order.

This thing is built like a brick shithouse. That's what I like Fender for....They really make a decent product...I don't know if I'd buy a new one though...800 bucks for this is way overpriced...that's what they run for at Guitar Center...even more at a Mom and Pop shop. The way I see it, used is the way to go with Fender. These things will survive a nuclear blast and stil come out with only a few scratches...so a used one is just as good as a new one. I can definatly depend on it...I used it live a few times already, and I really like it for the lighter rock/blues type stuff. It hasn't failed me yet...I've had it now for almost 6 months. I will NEVER play a gig without a back up....I don't care if I had a custom Fender Gibson Hybrid Lesacater made by Leo and Les' baby....no way will I go on stage without a backup.

Never dealt with them...although their website is pretty cool...so they'll get some points for that!!

Overall...I gues I couldn't get a better used guitar for the price. A little bit of work, and I have a fully functional Strat, and I can now join the masses of people who own one. I have to say the one thing I love about it is it's versatlity. You can play so many genres of music with it...it's not classifed and being a blues, metal, country guitar..you can use it for any one of these types and much more and get away with it,and that's not easily said with many other companies. I hate the friggin noise. I understand the why and how of the single coil...but Strats are really nasty with the buzzing. I have an Ibenez RG270 with a mid single coil, and a Washburn BT8 with a SSH, neither one has an "out of contol" buzzing problem. Other than that, the Strat is a good sounding, reliable guitar that can hold it's own. I havn't tried anything other than fender Strat, but I'd like to take a shot at a Tele some day....used, of course.

2000 Model Made in USA 3 color suburst Vibrato Tailpiece 3 single coil pickups

These new strats seem to need some tweaking right out of the box. They come from the factory set up with 9-42's but since that's too light for me I changed immediately to 10-46's. Bending strings now makes unbent but sounding strings go flat so I've tried adding another spring to the tailpiece. These guitars are without a doubt a tweakers dream but can be maddening to set up properly. Action must be kept fairly high to avoid buzz and to glean that bell-like tone from the unit. This particular guitar needs the recommended 12 thousandths relief at the seventh fret or the souhd gets messy. I only mention this because it's difficult to ascertain this guitar's playability when it comes strung with 9's. These guitars are very versatile and work very well for me (blues, pop, country, etc.) but need to be altered to suit your style. I play through a Savage Rohr 15 and a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and find I can get proper Strat tones. Both the neck and middle pickups seem fine but the bridge is nasty. If I set the EQ to work on the bridge the others are too muddy and vice-verse, a common problem and one leading to the lining of the pockets of aftermarket pickup manutacturers.

Action was set fine for 9's but changing to 10's requires a bit of work. Obviously the claw needs adjusting but the truss rod does as well. I would highly recommend Dan Erlewine's books as a guide if you like working on your own instraments. Everything else about the guitar was as it should be and there were no surprises.

The nut seems tight for 10's as perhaps it should, certain strings stick when the vibrato tailpiece is employed and benefit from some lubricant. I changed the strap buttons to schaller locks. Fit and finish are fine but this guitar seems to need more seasonal truss-rod adjustment than other guitars I own.No

No contact

35 years playing. I also play a 52 Reissue Tele, a ES-135, a Martin D-16 and an Epiphone Sorrento. If I had it to do over I would possibly buy a Mexican built strat and find a set of better aftermarket pickups for the same money.

Year : 1997, US-made American Standard Strat, 22 frets, bookmatched alder body (suspect it has laminated veneeer?) 5 way pickup selector with no-load setting on bridge tone pot. Pickup config. S/S/S stock.
Solid maple neck, sunburst finish. American Standard tremolo.

Price w/ case US$ 680, purchased in 1997 at Guitar Center

I play a variety of styles usually blues, clean R&B stuff and occasional hard rock. I have played it through a Peavey Transtube Studio Pro 112, a Line 6 Flextone and a Fender Prince (2x25).

I use a little bit of delay with some chorus. For the slightly overdriven stuff I use a TS-9 Tube screamer reissue. I really hate
the American Standard pickups because I found that they are very
shrill and trebly sounding, overly bright. So I changed all the pickups, in the neck position I installed a Seymour Duncan APS II
pickup which has very nice smooth sound, although it really has a lot
of output(quite loud).

I find that it really sounds great in the neck position with the
Tubescreamer turned on. WHen I plug it into the Line6 with the Black Panel model, I can get a very, very crisp and sweet Fender clean tone
especially in the bridge & middle pickup setting (setting four).

Bear in mind I did change my bridge pickup to a DImarzio HS-2 and the
middle to a HS-1 because I couldn't stand the Hiss in pickup positions 3 and 5 using the stock american standard pickups.

I find that the guitar is really suitable more for dirty blues or
clean rhythm type work. In my opinion nothing beats a humbucker in the bridge position for a straight-ahead rock sound.

again it really sounds great with the neck pickup but then again
I changed it to a Seymour DUncan. I think the tone is a little more
full because I use .010 to .046 rather than the regular .009s to .042s.

So overall I am not too impressed with the stock pickups. That is
why I changed them to try to reduce the brightness that is already
inherently there with a maple neck.

I walked into the store with the intent of getting a rosewood neck.
After trying 5 different American Standard I walked out with the maple neck one, primarily because it sounded the best, also the other
four were SO badly setup. On most of them the neck was way out of
adjustment which made them really difficult to play. Also the fretwork
was not polished enough also I supposed this would have taken care of itself once the guitar was broken in. I found that the bridge was really floating too high above the guitar body.

I like the bridge to be flush with the body, so in the end I made
all the neck, saddle and bridge adjustments myself, having put in
an extra spring in the tremolo cavity, adjusting the saddle and bridge height and straightening the neck a bit. I like a slightly high
action and I have to say after adjusting the guitar, it played
very well.

Problem is, I went to one of those guitar warehouse places that sell
guitars so quick they really have no time to adjust them. I found that
in smaller stores, almost every Strat I played was set up well and played well when I picked it up. However the price was also 150 dollars more.

Regarding the fit, the neck sits very snugly in the pocket, there is
no movement/looseness at all. The neck finish is superb and this
makes the playability really good. Also the sunburst finish on the body was very good from the start. Four years later, it's still very good. THe bookmatching is very good.

I noticed that in the tropical Malaysian climate, the metal parts
ie. bridge, screws, etc have really suffered. After I moved back
from the US to Malaysia, I could really start to notice the corrision/
wear on the bridge parts, primarily because I sweat so much.

Reliability wise, this guitar is really very tough, I have dinged
the neck a few times. Also I find that if I stretch the srings right
after a putting on a new set, my strat stays in tune very well (I bend strings a lot since I play blues). So no complains about the tuning, even with only about 5 wraps on the post for each wound string.

I would say this guitar is reliable for live playing. However once
in a while you would need to clean the pots, switches, jacks, etc.
This has become my main live guitar so I feel realibility is not
an issue.

i have been playing more than 10 years so i feel that finally I have
managed to develop some taste as far as finding a good guitar and
listening for tone, etc.

I also own various effects, Tube screamer, chorus, Korg, Roland stuff
and a Studio Pro 112.

If I lost it I would definitely buy a Strat again but I would go for the Rosewood neck one since I am looking for a slightly warmer tone.

I love the tone, playability and reliability the most.

I hate the fact that you really have to adjust the setup a few times
before you are comfortable with it. I have found that this situation
exists with many Strats especially the foreign made ones. I find that the Strat copies made by other companies are generally better setup than a Fender-made Strat.

My advice to those lookng to buy a Strat -- it's a really versatile
guitar because you have a whole bunch of tones, as compared to a Les
Paul type guitar which basically has the straight-ahead humbucker tone.

Also make sure you try all the Strats in the store before you get
one--hey, it's your $$, not theirs!!. And if you're not cash strapped
and are not too sure how to set up your guitar, it's better to go
to a smaller store where you get better service, and also you can probably keep going back to the store if you need free guitar adjustments. However you also have to pay more.

US made standard, so not much to add than Standard.

Well, burn me! I don't like the sound through my Marshall Amp!
I have a Les Paul that I can't make sound bad, yet this Fender seems to be a muddy mess when using distortion. OK for the clean and twangy sounds but thats it.

Beatifullt set up and a joy to play.

I think so, don't you - but it will be tested by another owner as I will sell it.

I think the name Fender drew me to the purchase. Now after a few years I know a little more and really don't see the premium tag is justified for a Fender. They are SIMPLY guitars with crap trems.
I really believe many other guitars at the price of a strat offer better value.

I,ve been playing guitar for about 12 years now,8 of those playing an Ibenez R.G. Through a fender stage amp and a Yamaha GW10 pedel at the time i was mainly playing hard rock , metal then once i started playing live gigs i found that i never had a very versatile axe which made me lean towards the standerd strat.

The only thing i have thought about changing are the pickups i have found that they have a little too much treble and not enough low down punch, so I think i'll go the humbuckers .

Mine is a 2000 American Series Standard strat. s/s/s with sync tremolo. Maple neck and fingerboard 22 frets, volume and two tones, with 5 way selector.

I've played a couple of strats before, and I think that the american strat truly lives up to its legend. The sound ranges from warm and fat to the classic fender twang. No fret buzz at all, with an extremely bright sound. I play it on my roland jc-120, and you will not find a more vibrant tone in any other guitar. Definitely one of the best guitars ive played, and i'd recommend to anyone.

Perfect spick and span finish. 100% quality from the start.

I think it'll last me my whole life, and im bettin ill be passin it to my grandchildren.

Haven't tried it out yet... cuz .. well... no need to!

I've been playin for about three years and i have two other strats. I'd definitely buy another if stolen... except... i heard they stopped production of this model!!

i love this guitar it is my favorite!

i play a mixture of funk matal rock and sca and i love this guitar anthing i want it to do it does it goes from treble funk in the bridge pickup to bassie blues in the neck pickup

the only problem i had was the neck is slightly bent but that is b/c it is used and it doesnt make a difference

never had to call

cmon its fender