Fender American Standard Stratocaster

This is a 1976 F-Series Strat, American made, natural finish (gorgeous, by the way!),standard string thru body bridge w/ vibrato rod, standard non-locking original tuners, maple neck, I think medium frets, no accessories, just the guitar!, solid body (one piece of wood), just the standard 5 way selector, one volume and two tone knobs, standard original Fender single coil pickups, no electronics (which would be an insult on this guitar anyway!), neck is maple w/ that standard/original dark stripe of wood on the back of the neck wherein lies, I assume, the neck adjustment rod. I think it's an ash body because it's a hard wood as opposed to alder which I think is softer wood, but whatever it is, it's the original thing.

I play folk, rock, blues, country/western and contemporary Christian. See my other reviews (Dr. Sound Good) for my Marshall JCM 800 2210 and 1965 Fender Twin Reverb Reissue for more details on my amps: In addition to those 2 just mentioned, I have a '67 Fender Blackface and 1977 Silverface Princeton Reverb, two 1977 Fender Vibro-Champs, one with reverb and midrange boost added, Marshall 8008 stereo valvestate amp, and use Boss pedals: flanger, compression, chorus, distortion and overdrive, digital delay, Cry-Baby wah-wah. It's not noisy in an obnoxious way, but does pick up stage light, RF and grounding type buzzes as single coil pickups are wont to do and which humbuckers do not. Strats have an amazing tonal range and what I say "can make any color of sound you might imagine, and many you cannot". I think they can make any sound you want. I have a '76 Les Paul Custom, a 1989 ES-335 and a 1994 Eric Clapton Signature Strat. I think the Strat is the best shaped electric guitar ever made because it was made to fit your body and it does. I've always felt like it was an extension of me whereas my Gibsons felt more awkward and were not designed to fit your body. Plus I love Strat maple necks which are also the fretboard. The sound you get out of these pickups is so classic. It has a very bright kind of stinging/biting top end that cuts through any mix, live or recorded, but also great midrange and bottom end. Very balanced throughout its tonal range. I almost always use the middle setting on the 5-way switch. It's the fullest and most articulate setting for my playing style. The neck pickup is great for a really warm, somewhat mushy jazz sound. I find the bridge pickup too harsh for my ears generally, but when things are mushy and you need to cut through the mud, just crank the volume knob on the guitar and put it on the bridge pickup. You WILL be heard! The only 2 things I don't like about Strats are that they do pick up stage buzzes and that angled cord jack. Always problematic. Looks great but sucks electronically because the plug in the socket is always under strain and will eventually wear out the plug, make horrible noises as it moves in and out of connection. You have to pull the cord thru your strap and secure it pinched between the strap and the guitar body to avoid that. Everybody does that.

I bought the guitar when it'd been used for 5 years before me. It looked like it lived in club gigs for those years with the remainder of a cigarrette burn in the headstock which is used to hold ciggies by some smokers. Never did I do such a thing not being a smoker. Bought it in 1983 for $162! Now I think it's worth from $1,500 to $2,000! What a scream that is! As to factory set up: don't ask me. I got it used but I made very few adjustments to the pickups, none of which I recall, having played it for the past 24 years. Mechanically this instrument is flawless. It came with a minor finish blemish or two, but nothing really noticeable except on very close inspection.

I had the bridge replaced in 1995 because the original one was shot. I saved it. Also had the frets dressed at the same time. When I picked it up at Jensens after work I met Richard Moore (hope I remembered the name right..it was 12 years ago...) formerly of the Troggs (remember "Wild Thing?") who said "Beautiful guitar" which it most certainly is, and I jammed with him a short while later at Art's Bar. Had to replace the plastic knob on the selector switch because the original white plastic know simply disintegrated one day! It was replaced w/ a black one because that's all they had at the Jensen's at the time. I'll get a white one soon. Original black pickguard w/ original white knobs. The finish is in excellent shape. They made them right back then, I'll tell ya! It is an utterly reliable guitar. I'd use it and have used it on gigs with no backup, but I don't recommend that for a professional musician. Always have a backup for everything except yourself which should be irreplaceable. Original strap buttons are solid as a rock as is the rst of the guitar. It's a very strong guitar and looks beautiful as well as sounds beautiful.

The warranty having long run out, I take it to an excellent luthier whenever it needs work. Here it town, for me, that's Jim Lombard. Never dealt with Fender Co. Never needed to.

I've played guitar for 42 years. See above and my other amp reviews for my gear. I have a whole lotta great high quality gear. If this guitar were stolen, it'd be a sad day. I'd get another one. 1976 natural finish, top shape, alder body. What I love about this guitar the most is its gorgeous, classic, very musical sound. Also its solid and durable construction and finish. I prefer my Eric Clapton Strat because it's far easier to play and I love the onboard midrange boost and compression. But the simplicity and stinging yet full bodid sound this guitar makes is "like buttah".

How long have you been playing?
since 1994

What other gear do you own?
I own Ibanez, I owned Fender Japan, Ibanez USA PA, Vigier Excalibur, Vantage (not bad for beginner).

Is there something you wish you had asked before buying this guitar?
No I wanted this guitar.

If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else?
I would have issue to refind an another made in 2000 purple american standard stratocaster.

What do you love about it?
Sound, comfort.

What do you hate?
Nothin'

1987 American Standard Stratocaster- black with white pick guard and three single coils. Maple neck. The guitar is completely stock.

It's a great sounding/playing guitar. I love the Strats from this era and newer. Great tone without too much noise. As everybody knows, you can cover any style with a Strat. Very versatile.

I owned two Strats from the 70's before buying the '87. An original '76 and an original '77. The '76 was a terrible playing/sounding guitar. The neck shifted so bad that the low E string would literally hang off the neck. I had to put wood shims in the neck pocket to keep the neck from shifting. I couldn't really adjust the bridge due to rust and the pickups were very noisy. Why do people pay so much for these early Strats? Anyway, thinking it was a fluke, I bought the '77 and had similar issues. The '87 is by far a superior guitar to the earlier models and plays/feels great. I got the action set low and the bridge really behaves. I don't use the twang bar. The tuners are not the best, but they're the original ones and they're staying on the guitar. I've played guitars that are assembled with more precision, but I love Strats and this one is really a terrific guitar.

It's your typical Fender and I know it will hold up.

N/A

I've been playing for 21 years and teaching for over 5 years. There are many great guitars out there. I don't think Fender makes the greatest guitar, but nothing else sounds like a Strat. My first guitar was a Cort strat copy that was black with white pickguard. That may explain my love of black Strats. One thing about Fender guitars, they all feel/play different. I can pick up any Parker Fly and expect it to play superbly, however, I have played many Strats that were down right horrific. Fortunately, I found a keeper. If you're thinking about buying a vintage Strat (late 70's or earlier), get ready for some serious compromise. It broke my heart to offload those vintage guitars, but they just didn't facilitate my playing. I've played the newer 2000 models and think they are great. I'm not a huge fan of the satin finish on the neck, but thats the only thing I can fault, and thats just a personal opinion anyways. Long live the Stratoblaster! By the way, with the legacy that Fender has, its nice to see these guitars still selling under $1,000 bucks! What gives, Gibson????

Maunfactured September 1969 S/No 279136 in USA
Alder body,three coloured sunburst, maple neck(C contour) with rosewood fingerboard.
F style tuners, synchronised tremelo, three way switch, staggered pole pickups, white laminated pick guard (W,B,W) with pearl back. Absolutly original, although vey basic by todays standards was at the cutting edge in is day.
Purchased with a Stamford (Australian)hard case

Music style is basic rock, country rock to blues.Played predominately through a 1980 Marshall 50w 2X12 combo, occasionally through a 15 w Marshall MG practise amp. No effects(why would need them?) Sound is very rich and smooth. The natural sound unplugged is the smoothest I've ever heard
The only down side is the typical 60s - 70s hum

The quality control on the guitar is perfect. The fit and finish was great in its day, by todays standard; unbelieveable. Flawless
The action is low and fast

This guitar is rising 40 years old with over half of that time live playing, the pick guard has yellowed slightly(smoke filled bars etc)the nickel plating has worn off the bridge and some arm and stomach wear marks on the nitro finish, but as sound as the day I bought it.

Cannot comment. Never had to deal with them

Been playing for 40 years.
Other guitars are ST50 Ibanez 1979, Santa Cruz, Takamine and Ocvation acoustics.
Although $595 was a lot of money in 69, the value of it now is staggering. It has been through all of lifes ups and downs.
Regrets:- none of my 4 children play guitar, heres hoping one of my grandchildren wished to have it. I could never ever part with it

My Strat was made in the year 1996 and is probably the 50th anniversary model by this time in candy apple red. It's got all those features a strat should have except a more modern vintage-whammy, which I don't use anyway. The body is out of alder, a maple neck with a rosewood fretboard and standard singlecoils which I replaced against Texas Specials...

I play Funk, Rock 'n Roll, Blues and Souljazz and for these styles a Strat was made for, especially with the Texas Specials which get a real fat tone! Sounds nice! I'm using it with a Fender Blues Deluxe reissue and an old german Dynacord Twen tube amp. Effects are: Seymor Duncan Pickup Booster > Vox V847 Wah pedal > Electro Harmonix The Worm > Boss Tuner Tu-2, that's all. The Texas Specials are a bit noisy but I don't care 'cause they give me this bright sound I'm addicted to. The only thing a changed is the middle setting of the 5way selector. Now bridge and neck pickup are forced together which gets you a nice Tele sound! Love it...

The guitar was set-up very nice and there were no compliants to make...

It's an U.S. Fender! What should I say? I know, there a Japan Strats in same quality range, but this one never let me alone...

Never dealt with them...

I've been playing for 13 years and own a lot of other guitars, but this one's my main workhorse! If it get's stolen I'll find the guy and beat the shit out of him...

USA made in 2003

Best guitar I ever played, even better than my Les Paul. May have competition with my new to me Charvel Model 5 that I just got though.

Factory setup remains to this day.

Rock solid

N/A

I'd get another one if lost.

mine has a maple fretboard/neck, originally was aquamarine metallic body finish, but I sanded this down and applied white shellac primer and left it at that, and it looks very cool, with a little help from some black letter stickers. neck is ever so slightly thinner than the new "american series" guitars, but still comfortable.

I tried an american series rosewood fretboard maple neck on this guitar for a while, but I was never quite happy with the sound, always blaming it on pickups and strings. I have decided that one piece maple/maple board is the way to go! all my other guitars have rosewood boards though and sound fine, go figure. I tried bill lawrence L-280 pickups, but the stock pickups sound great, maybe even a little better than the lawrences (more cut). no need to change them, in my opinion...I hardly ever notice the hum. I changed out the no-load tone pot for a standard 250K, and wired for a master tone control, which I roll back to about 6 or 7. I don't see why you'd ever want a sound so bright as the TBX provides, and I like bright sounds. maybe for that danelectro super cutting thing. I also installed a deaf-eddie fat-o-caster pot, which allows me to get a tele-like sound by combining the neck and bridge pickups in parallel, and doesn't change the appearance of the guitar (takes the place of the middle tone control, uses the same knob, it's a rotary switch). definitely a different sound than just the middle pickup by itself. really improved the versatility of this guitar, as that's a sound I really like on my two pickup guitars (I don't use the other deaf eddie positions much, but they are interesting). the sound this guitar produces is beautiful and classic (you've heard this on a million recordings). cutting and light. I'd say the real deal is worth it, as opposed to the mexican standard or cheap off brand imitations...although some of those mexican and japanese vintage reissues look pretty sexy to me (esquire...yum). I like this guitar quite a bit better than my sister's american series fat strat texas special, but just because of the pickups and maple vs. rosewood. american fender guitars are so cool. classic and inspiring

really was a beautiful guitar...when i was 16 (this was my first electric guitar) I used to just stare at it, beholding it, smelling it. i fucked it up and I think it looks even better now. neck pocket is not super tight but I don't care. I can't remember how it was set up when I got it, but it's easy to adjust. I love how the bridge and saddles look on these compared to the vintage style ones (but on a tele I like 3 saddle, go figure)

a very solid guitar, it's one of my main gigging guitars. the volume pot became scratchy after a few years (it's a 1998, bought it in 99, now it's 2005) so I replaced it. nothing else has ever needed work. just clean the fretboard when it gets grimy with finger scum, scrape it with a hard guitar pick, clean the back of the neck with soap and water when it gets sticky, and wipe off the body when it starts to look dirty. I've settled on d'addario strings. plays nicely and stays in tune well, even with crazy bends and stuff (tremolo/bridge is tightened to body, just the 3 original springs though, I never added any)

I'd say buy one of these used, just make sure it's in good shape (neck and frets)

I've got two Am.Std. Strats. One was made in '91 (my dear) and one on '90.
22 frets with fantastic maple neck,alder body, the first chrome red, the second candy apple red.
Two fantastic guitars, but very different instead are the same model.The first is heavier (I think 1 lb-0,5 Kg.), with more basses and resonance.The second got more treable, it remember me Frusciante Strat sound.

I love Strato sound.With this guitar there are no compromises:you can love it like a fool, or you hate it.I first replaced standard bridge pu with a Duncan's JB-BJ but I prefer the standard one. I'm a bluesman on inside and I play my own music and, sometimes, Pink Floyd,Hendrix,Clapton and so....I'f you play this kind of music this is the only guitar you can have!!!I played Ibanez and Steinberger but only with this instrument I'm totally happy.
With my Laney and Vox, I can have a fantastic british sound.
I think only the vintage Strat I had played a few years ago, an original sixties strat played for 40 years,is better(a lot ;-) and problably some custom shop of 2500?

Very beautiful finish.All you can ask to a guitar.Only custom shop are better.

This guitars become more and more beautiful and better with years and play so....

I don't know...

I think the best guitar ever!

I just purchased the 2005 American Strat about a week ago.It came with 22 large frets(I'm not exactly sure if they're jumbo or medium jumbo, 3 single coils, two tone knobs and one volume knob(with "delta tone"), an alder body, a maple fretboard, non-locking tuners and a floating trem, and came with some wrenches, a case, a strap, a cable, and a polishing cloth. This guitar has everything.

I play a little bit of everything except country, and this guitar can handle it all. I play through a Fender dyna-touch 3 deluxe 900, also very recently purchased. The guitar sounds great, and I love playing around with the delay and reberb on my amp. Although not suited for ultra-heavy metal, this guitar handles very well. I love the bright sound of the single-coil pickups. The bridge pickup is perfect for hendrix, and it's nice to have the quiet positions when you turn it up.

This guitar is almost flawless. The pickups are fine, the finish is great, and I haven't been able to find a single flaw. The action is really low and fast, but it buzzes if I play it too hard. I'm thinking of adjusting the, but I'm too afraid to mess this beatiful guitar up. I'll have to get help from my guitar teacher.

I've only had this guitar for a week, so don't have much to say about this. The poly-urethane finish seems great, though and I think it will last well.

Never had to deal with them, hope I never will.

This guitar is amazing. I love it so much. Everything about it is just awesome, and I can't beleive the deal I got on it. This is such a huge step up for me, before this I was playing an imitation strat that couldn't have been worth more than $5.

American standard strat made in 2000 or 2001
Maple fretboard
sunburst color
standard features, nothing fancy.

I'll put a 10 just because of the versatility of this guitar
Maybe it's just me, but I would prefer a 3 way switch like the old strats. I just hate the sound of the 2 and 4 positions and a 3 way switch would be easier to work.

This guitar sounds great. The only reason I put a 9 is because I'm not to crazy about the stock pickups. It came with delta tone pickups and they're not bad, but it's time for a change. I'm gonna swap em out with fralins then the sound would be a 10 for sure.

Great action, the neck feels great. The guitar was set up really well from the factory. It's an easy guitar to adjust yourself. I've made my own adjustments to the truss rod, the bridge and the micro tilt neck with no problems. My only gripe is that the saddle for the high e string hits one of the screws on the bridge when you hit the whammy bar and it'll go out of adjustment after a while.

I love this guitar, but I treat it bad. Real bad. I've owned it for five years and I still haven't gotten a case for it. When I take it somewhere I just throw it in the passenger seat of my car. I've dropped it, I've thrown it, I've slammed it numerous times, and it has remained completely solid. It's amazing how durable this guitar is. I have never had any problems with this guitar.

I've been playing for five or six years, I own a les paul and some accoustics. This was my first new guitar.

I would definately replace it if it was stolen

I love this guitar, if you're looking for a strat, I would reccomend the american standard. Don't get one of those crappy mexican ones.