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.