Fender American Standard Stratocaster

2008 American Standard Stratocaster - Corona, CA
Tinted maple neck - Chrome red alder body
S/S/S pickup configuration with Delta no-load
Bent steel saddles and copper-infused inertia block

Came with the newer Fender/SKS so-called "flight" style rectangular case w decent latches, cord, allen wrenches, Fender strap.

Suitable for any style of music. I use it for everything from Jazz, Blues, Country, Rock, and even Showtunes and BigBand.

I use Tech 21 Trademark 60 and TM 300 amps generally, though sometimes a tweed Deluxe clone. Generally no effects except sometimes some amp distortion, depending. It records well through a rack POD to Pro-Tools too.

Humbucking noise reduction is available in switch positions #2 & 4.

The pickups are moderately strong sounding enough for more modern Rock sounds, but not overwound to the point where highs are compromised.

The general sound is a single-coil crisp and bright signature, and the pot tapers work well to take the high end off when desired.

The Delta system denotes a hotter bridge pickup and the No-Load lowest pot also has the bridge pickup wired through it as well as the middle pu.

Close to Tele sounds are available, and it still has some "sweetness" to the tone available, though not quite as much as softer 57/62 pickup sets.

For high distortion use I like to combine bridge and middle pu for noise reduction and roll off quite a bit of the highs. There's still enough left for pinch harmonics and through almost any amp I sound like what I'm after. No surprizes or bad tones lurking in there that I stumble across when I'm going for something else.

It sounds like a modern Strat with single coils and modern wiring, which I find plenty versatile for all the styles I want to play.

Flawless.

Durable by design.

The new strap buttons have a relieved area that the strap drops into very securely, though they look just like normal old generic Fender style strap buttons.

Lifetime warranty.

I've never needed anything from Fender on any of their guitars.

49 years experience.
This is my #1 workhorse guitar for sideman jobs in several catagories and also around the house grabbing for pleasure or practice.
There is also a self-assembled partsocaster kicking around the house for when I want humbucker sounds, which is rare. I can usually get what I need over a wide range with the s/s/s Strat.

I love the neck. It's perfect for how I play and feels great.

I have had the AV '62 RI Strat in the past, and though I like those too I appreciate the refinements and improvement schemes onboard this more modern take on the same idea. It's more versatile sounding and the neck fights me a bit less and flows more. Sustain seems the same between the big vintage block and the new copper infused block, and I like the bent steel saddles over most die-cast, though the stainless and chrome plated brass on some models are fine.

I had an AmSeries hardtail with a second pickguard loaded with humbuckers -and GraphTech saddles- I sometimes used in the past for Jazz gigs, but I don't bother with that stuff anymore. The pots work well enough on this Standard.

I use GHS Nickel Rockers: 0.011" - 0.050" strings.

Oly white, rosewood board 2006 model good tuners crap electronics, frets are way to soft, neck shape is great I love the original contoured body

I have owned a few strats and i must say this one dissapointed me first the pick-ups I found the stock ones were lacking sustain, no power so I replaced them with a set of DiMarzio virtual vintage noisless, that helped. I bought this guitar in 2006 and i'm already looking at having the frets crowned, I can't beleive how fast they are wearing i'm only a hobby player I guess there are differant hardnesses of frets and i would suggest if someone pays good money for a guitar find out what kind on junk they used for frets. Other than that i guess i'm happy! My next one won't be a standard! Iown several guitars with more miles than my strat and no visible wear

everything about this guitars look and finish is great. my only problem really is the fret issue. I think the medium jumbo frets are too round if they were flatter like gibson frets they make last longer.

sounds great(now)frets wont last another year

fret wear is not coverd under warranty

not worth the money!!!!! With a few upgrades fender could hold their heads high

This is a 2008 model with 22 medium jumbo frets.5 way selector switch, volume, tone for the neck and middle pickups, and a "Delta" tone control for the bridge pickup. Three single coil Fender pickups, The body is made fron Alder and the neck is maple with a maple fingerboard too. The finish is Blizzard Pearl. This guitar comes with an excellent new style Fender case.

I play in local pubs and clubs as a one man band using backing tracks. I play everything from Country, Pop, Irish, Rock, you name it,and in typical Strat fashion this guitar covers it all with ease. I use a AwardSession JD10 pre-amp straight into my Peavey XR600 PA Amp. Can be a little noisy on high gain settings though not that much more than my other guitar that has Gold Lace Sensors. This guitar is very versatile. Played clean the neck is very full and classy without ever being muddy,i.e like a humbucker. The middle is a little brighter again and I dont really use the bridge for anything other than high gain sounds which is where it excels having a bit more body and gain than expected and certainly more than my Strat Plus with its lace sensors. I like everything about this guitar.

The guitar came with 9 guage strings which I changed to 10's. The factory set up was pretty good though I made minor adjustments to the truss rod and string heights to suit my own tastes, and had the nut grooves lowered slightly, I screwed the pickups a little higher to the strings. One small thing about all the latest American Standards I've noticed, is that there is a small gap between the bridge just at the angle where the tremelo arm screws in, and the body routing for the bridge. Its quite tiny and I suspect the routing is very slightly over large to accomodate the larger bridge on the Deluxe Strats. This makes not one bit of difference to the sound or playabilty of this otherwise excellently made guitar, but I thought I'd mention it anyway.

Built to last a life time. I use only this instrument when I play now. My other guitar, a 1989 USA Strat plus has had 20 years of hard playing and is still going strong, though I've put it away now for safe keeping. It has a rosewood board and I fancied a maple, so bought this new Standard and was surprised to find it knocked the socks off my old guitar in every department. Its quite a bit lighter in weight than my old guitar too.

Never had to use it.

Have been playing for 37 years. As previously stated I have a 1989 Fender Strat plus, and I also have a Squier Precision Bass fitted with a Seymour Duncan 1/4 pounder pickup. If it were stolen I would buy the same model again straight away without hesitation. I love everything about this guitar.

It's a standard U.S.A. Fender Stratocaster made in 2007 in black finish, alder body, c shape maple neck & fretboard (22 frets)w/ white pickguard & knobs etc., 5 way selector switch two tone and one volume knobs 3 american strat single coils and a 2-Point Synchronized Tremolo with the new changes they made to it plus a hardshell case, a strap and a fender cable, bought brand new for about $ 900 shipping included.

It suits me more than well in the music I play wich goes from blues, to 70's rock like led zeppelin, 80's glam rock/metal like motley crue, hanoi rocks, poison, guns n' roses, skid row etc. and also 80's metal like metallica, megadeth, and all metal in general such as pantera, lamb of god, nevermore etc. and also 90's nirvana, alice in chains, pearl jam, smashing pumpkings, and even offspring, so you see, I cover A LOT of genres and the srat doesn't stand out, but does the job well, I use it with a Zoom GT9.2tt (wich is in grand part responsable for me being able to play almost anything) through a Fender '77 Twin Reverb 2X12, it isn't noisy on any kind of distortion/overdrive because of the pedalboard, wich yet again allows for any setting, it does have a brighter more bitting edge to it than the rosewood fretboard ones, and in clean mode it's just heavenly, but it doesn't have as much sustain as I would like and the tremolo does detune it when used, as a tip for the tremolo I read in an interview to Jeff Beck that a Fender factory worker told him to set the bridge at 45 degrees of inclination because it's designed to go back into position and reduce strain and wear as well as keeping the tuning, I tried it, and it works! again, not as well as desired or possible, but it works.

It came perfectly set-up from the factory, the action I already described above, The pickups are fine but I raised them to have them closer to the strings, properly routed and without any factory flaw.

In my experience it does withstand live playing, it's my only guitar and I even change tunings from song to song sometimes and it comes through, the hardware seems durable, I depend on it 100% and as I said it's my only axe in gigs, no backups and no need for them so far.

I've been playing for 8 years, I've owned mexican strats, peavy predator, a U.S.A. Jackson, a schecter C-1 and an epiphone L.P. custom, presently it's just the strat and a washburn D10SCEDL electric/acoustic dreadnought style, if it got lost or stolen I'd probably buy the new Ibanez RG1550M prestige series guitar, wich is basically a strat on steroids.

2007 USA 22 fret Fender Stratocaster ( The real deal!)
volume and 2 tone knobs, S/S/S
One piece solid body, maple neck.
Arctic White (classic Hendrix look)
Standard bridge, the new models have rolled saddles which apparently sound more vintage and add to the stability of the instrument.
New molded hard case.

I normally play Classic/Psychedelic/Progressive rock and overall it suites my style of playing very well.
I put the guitar through an Orange Tiny Terror head, through an Epiphone valve junior cab (Eminence Lady Luck speakers)< Not bad for ??60
It sounds really raunchy and wild, a LOT of crunch. The standard pickups are really hot and I would not recommend changing them.
I have played an American standard with noiseless pickups, (kinmans Woodstocks) and it sounded way too thin and lifeless compared to the standard pickups.
mind you the hum from the bridge and neck pickups can be annoying.
you can never win can you?!
There is a lot of variety on the sounds you can get out of this beast, without using any pedals, I cant get glassy clean on the neck pickup with the volume knob on 7, then turn it up to get some serious bluesy crunch. with high gain sounds you can get some serious vintage tone from the the mid and bridge mixed. then flick to the neck for solos. it is a very versatile guitar.
The bridge pickup is to die for!

The setup was okay from the factory, but i had to get it setup by my local guitar guy (Les - the roadie from Venom)
It plays really well after being set up.

I have to say that the hardware had absolutely no problems what so ever.

I have recorded, practised and gigged this guitar for over a year now and it has had absolutely no problems.

however... uhh there's is always a however!
I did take everything off the body ( even the neck) about a month ago and stripped the paint off completely using a power sander...

now let's forget that this was absolutely crazy and irresponsible.

I put everything back together and had it set up by Les again ( he nearly killed me when he saw what I had done)
And now it plays just as good as when i got it, even a little better cuz the neck is now worn in.

And it looks the dog's bollocks... ( It's a good thing btw!)

iunno!?!?!?!

I have been playing for a year and a half.
This was the first electric guitar I bought.
If it was stolen i would definatly buy one again.
possibly a red one, then i'd get bored of the paint job and strip it again. :)

Just purchased a "brand new" 87 Stratocaster, the first of the American Standards, and it is NICE. Usual 22 frets, 5 way selector, 3 single coil pups, has two string trees, which is not found on the later Strats. Body is alder, I guess, standard tuners, rosewood fretboard, original molded case which is sweet!

Oh, the sound. Is as glassy and clean as you would want a classic Strat to be, and then some. Play essentially everything from rock to country and this axe can handle most anything. Use this with a Roland Cube 20x at home and Fender Twin on stage. Is noisy on 1 3 and 5 settings, but on 2 and 4, quiet as a mouse. The sound is, well, a Strat sound! Chimey and glassy on the out of phase settings, and full on the bridge and neck settings. Want to put noiseless pups in this, but will screw the value up, so will deal with it. All around tone monster!

Action is pretty good, I figure someone in 20 some years would have taken this thing to get setup, but action is fine as it is. Pups had to be lowered initially, as they were pulling on the strings magnetically. Now, tone is better. This thing is fairly old, and it has hardly any problems with rust or otherwise. For all the reviewers with newer purchases, rest assured that your axe will last a LONG time...

This thing will withstand a great deal of punishment, though I will not do such a thing :> This guitar is made with quality in mind, and will last a very long time. Finish is glossy, and appears to be made to withstand more than regular usage. I could depend on this thing on stage without reservation, period. I would gig with this w/out backup, but I bring my Tele just for the heck of it.

Support for an oldie like this is nonexistent (virtually). Still, was able to download a manual from fender.com for this particular year. No warranty, dont need one

Playing for app. 20 years, have a Gibson LP and Mexican Tele. If this were stolen, would hunt the perp down, and he would be toast. Would buy another one of similar vintage, but this is the one for me. Love the sound, is dead on Strat goodness. Only dislike is the hum, can rectify, but am gonna live with it. Compared to new Highway One Strat, and 08 American Strat, but with the price I got it at, it was totally a done deal! Strats RULE!

Well after all my odd japanese fenders, I was told to get a strat by everyone I knew. White USA Standard Maple neck rosewood fretboard. 21 frets - not enough, The knobs hit my hand every time I pick a note which is annoying. rosewood fretboard because thats just how I roll. The bridge is standard strat of course and the little screws tear up my and when I do some crazy palm muting thing. 3 single pickups - no interesting sounds. The body is contoured which I hate also it is wide and square-bottomed unlike my Jag-Stang. The neck too big for me, I prefer shortscale for shredding. also the neck is flat and you get RSI after 10 minutes of playing. Tuners are too close together too. It comes with some fancy accessories - nice case and stuff.

I play lots of metal and there is just no way this could compete with my jagstang. There is just no range on this guitar, it is not heavy enough and all the pickup settings sound the same. One thing that really bugs me is that there is no tone control for the bridge!

In conlusion, it sounds good but not right for me. This is just a blues guitar and cant take any distortion.

Well its a one year old guitar so no damage or decay but it is well made and fairly reliable. Having three pickups and that 5 way selector switch I wouldn't dare mod it

This guitar is solid, no doubt about that. It will probably survive till the apes take over the earth. I know it would survive a gig, no doubt about that. The finish thogh is easy to scratch

10 year warranty, don't know the details

If this was stolen, i'd think oh crap there goes ??700. To me it is worthless as a guitar because it is so mediocre and dull.

My other guitars are Fender jagstang and an eastwood Hi- flier, both of which are better than this. Strats just don't have that capacity to 'blow you away'.

June 2008 American Standard Stratocaster, made in Corona, CA, 22 frets. Solid one-piece body alder body with Blizzard Pearl finish, rosewood fretboard, S/S/S with american standard strat pups, Volume, Tone, Tone controls. Comes with the new molded SBK case (case itself is fantastics) and all sorts of case candy.

I mostly play progressive pop--so, Trever Rabin Yes, Asia, late Rush, Boston. Plus classic rock like Steely Dan, Doobie Brothers, etc. I run this through a Zoom G7.UT modeler with a 12AX7 tube preamp, and run that output to a Hughes and Kettner 15 watt that has a Celestion 10" speaker. Going through that H&K cab, the guitar sounds fantastic. It can go from very clean, to a funky clean-with-flange or clean-with-chorus for fast-strum chording, to somewhat heavy rhythm, to soaring leads to great clean leads. The single-coils can be a little bit noisy some times, but nothing compared to the MIM Strat I had before this. More importantly, you can get a more balanced lead tone from the American than from the Mexican. The only thing is that the pups could be just a little bit hotter. But that can be dealt with by cranking the speaker volume...

The fit and finish were flawless. (Just one note about the fit and finish--someone below said that they saw poor bookmatching on a Sienna Sunburst model. But the body is actually a single piece of wood--I took a close look at a Sienna in the store the other day, and that's also a single slab. That doesn't address, though, the complaint about poorly figured wood, which could still be an issue--the model I looked at had rather plain figuring, FWIW.) The setup out of the box was very good, too.

The guitar should be fine on stage--hardware, finish, components, all seem built to last. In terms of reliability, I would gig without a backup (but as I like different sound textures, I would still bring the Tele and LP...)

N/A

I've been playing for 25 years, although I hadn't been very active for about a span of about 10 years, before starting to play very much again 3 years ago. If it were lost or stolen I would get a new one as soon as possible. It feels great to play, and to hold, and even sounds great unplugged. I get every strat sound I want from it, and it responds very well.

2008 Model made in '08 as well, in California (nothing beats American quality). 22 Frets, solid alber body in Olympic white with maple fretboard. Volume pot, 2 tones (one with a detent at 10 to remove all filtering), 3 single coil pickup (considering putting in a JB at the bridge). Single coils are standard passive AlNiCo V pickups from the factory. String thru body style. Came with kick *** molded flight case from Fender.

I play everything from Goo Goo Dolls to Bon Jovi, to Van Halen, to Hinder, Black Crowes, to music from RENT. This is the most versatile guitar I have EVER played. My old guitar was an Ibanez RG 550 hot rodded with a Tone Zone. The thing screamed with distortion, but on cleany sounded way too brown. With a strat, each pickup configuration is it's own distinct rich sound. It's phenomenal. The only thing that bothers me, and I knew about it when I bought it, was the bridge pick-up gets too bright for me...that can be fixed with some tweaking on the amp, etc. or with replacing the pickup. It's just my opinion though.

Perfect. The only one in white in the GTA. The tech at the guitar shop threw on 11's for me, and the thing booms and roars. It's amazing. I wish I had gotten one 5 years ago.

It's a Fender. 'Nuff said.

I've been playing guitar for over 10 years. I've toured the country, playing in a different town every night. I've played a number of guitars over the years, but only ever stuck to my old tried and true Ibanez. I've got a Line 6 spider but that's going to be getting upgraded soon as I pay off this bad boy. If this guitar was stolen I would hunt down the bastard that took it, beat the **** out of him, take my guitar back, and then slash the guys tires. This is an outstandig guitar.

The finish is great. It's white, it's simple, yet it's just got this shine and gloss to it that makes it jump out at you. I wish it had a floyd on it just because I like the locking systems out of years of having one on my Ibanez, but to be honest, this thing stays in tune considerably well given how hard I'm playing it.

I played an HSS strat and found that there wasnt much of a difference. For the same price, I wanted the traditional strat look. I thought about buying an Ibanez JEM but it sounded way too similar to my RG. I chose this guitar because of it's beautiful tone, and it's absolute versatility.

Buy Fender, you won't be disappointed.

2008 american standard stratocaster mad in USA.
22 frets maple fretboard, 3 single coils. floating tremolo
includes case, cable, strap, cloth, and all the tools and manuals.

Its a good guitar but the floating tremolos are something to get used to. I really dont like them

The action was good right out of the case.

The case bolts on mine are really loose and look and feel like they are going to break.

didnt deal with them.

its ok. If it were stolen i would get a american vintage 57 reissue stratocaster:):)

The NEW American Standard Strat, 2008 (s/s/s) model. Made in USA in surprisingly enough ..... 2008 !
This is the slightly more expensive Sienna Sunburst finish on an Ash body (the solid colours are made with Alder), maple neck and fingerboard (gloss finish on fingerboard, satin on the back of the neck). I'll come back to finish later, and if you're thinking of buying a 'transparent' finish it'll make important reading.
22 medium jumbo frets, solid all the way through, 3 American strat single coil pick-ups, Fender Deluxe staggered tuning machines, and 'Delta' tone circuit. New style Fender SKB hardcase which is fantastic, so much better than the case that came with the previous model.

I've been playing just over 18 months (and I'm 36, not some kid who doesn't know what he's talking about) so I'm still learning, but I know my guitars, and this one sounds great. I play blues, rock, pop, and funk mainly. I play this through a Marshall JCM DSL401 all valve combo.
This guitar sounds fantastic, it's range is better than any strat I've played, even my Blade which has the VSC circuit. Using the Delta tone you can range from really bright texas twang through to some pretty full-on grunt with no problem. You can even get a pretty good acoustic tone out of it on a clean channel. I compared this to a new 2008 USA Standard Tele and the 2008 USA Standard H/S/S strat and I found that this one had more versatility and bite.
My only dislike is that I wish Fender would swallow their pride and add on something like the excellent Blade VSC, because a VSC cicuit on this guitar, coupled with the Delta tone would make it perfect !

Action was a little high, but I always hardtail my strats so by the time I'd taken the slack out of the trem it was fine. The pick-ups were fine and all the hardware appears flawless. The 'hand-rolled' fingerboard edges are a dream to play. As for the finish, this is the important bit I mentioned earlier.
I knew I wanted this finish and I went out to buy expecting all the guitars I saw to look pretty similar, this was NOT the case. I must have looked at six Sienna Sunburst guitars and this was the only one I would have considered buying. Fender charge an extra hundred pounds for the transparent finish on Ash because they say the wood costs more, and I guess that's fair enough if you think they have to find an attractive piece of wood 'cos its gonna show through the finish. Of the ones I looked at they hadn't bothered with the wood at all, I'm amazed they even got through quality control. The grain had major flaws, the joins were awful, and the wood looked cheap. I was about to give up but the store I was in at the time said they had a boxed one out the back so I asked them to get it. The salesman opened the case and there it was, the guitar I had set out to buy.
This one is perfect. If there are any joins in the wood you can't see them (and I've looked hard), the grain is beautiful and rich and it shows perfctly through the clear finish, PRS eat your heart out!
PLEASE DO NOT BUY THIS GUITAR ONLINE - You need to see what you are getting, some of the examples I looked at were awful, they were so bad they could have been 'B' stock (they weren't). If you want a 2008 Fender with a transparent finish SHOP AROUND !
I'm scoring this catagory 10 for my guitar, but overall based on what I saw it should really be a 2 or 3.

It's a USA Fender so of course it's a gigging guitar. I wouldn't doubt any aspect of this guitar.
The case is BRILLIANT, really tough and so much better than anything Fender have offered before.

I've been playing eighteen months. I currently own this Fender, a Blade Texas Pro, a Peavey Generation EX (my travelling guitar), and a Taylor acoustic. In the past I have owned the previous USA standard strat, a Les Paul, a Mex strat and a Tele.
If it were stolen I would definately buy it again as long as I could find another one this good ..... which I doubt. I love the playability and the wealth of tones available. I miss the VSC of my Blade, but it's there when I want it.
The finish on mine is perfect, something to drool over, real guitar ****! But as I said earlier they aren't all like this so shop carefully.

Brand new Fender Amercan Standard Strat in Black with rosewood fretboard plus case

Tool kit and cloth ,included also a comprehensive hand book [take note Gibson]

The delta tone is very trebly at max setting. I run this Guitar through a Boss DS1 into a Marshall DSL50 head to a 1936 2x12 cab

I usualy set the tone knob on the guitar to 8 which sounds less spikey ,the bridge pickup is quite powerfull and sounds quite humbuckey for a single coil .The neck pickup sounds all strat ,very Robin Trower ,exellent

I work on all my guitars myself. Out of the box It played and felt good, allbeit with a high action,and quite an under bow on the neck.

I flattend the neck and lowered the action a bit, it felt a lot better.
I dont use the trem so I blocked it off with two small taylor made mahogany blocks. its now rock solid and feels 100 percent better

I also own a mid 80`s Japanese standard Strat which is the nicest strat I have ever played,It feels good against that

I have used my Jap strat for 20 odd years live with no problems at all.

I have used the American on a couple of gigs so far and it was great.
It will outlast me no problem

Rock solid tuneability is all I ask for live, It past with flying colours

The hardware is solid ,the new bridge saddles in particular. I am more used to the old fashiond bridge and saddle assy ,but I soon got used to it

Never delt with Fender ,But Peter Cooks from London Are exellent

Guitar wise I own an 80`s Jap Standard Strat, a Gibson SG Classic,a Gordon Smith GSI thick body,and now the new American Standard

A Marshall DSL50 Head with a 1936 2x 12 cab

Overall the American Standard compares well with my other guitars

I will use it all the time

Standard Strat configuration, Olympic white alder body with a 22 fret maple neck, Fender tuners, new American Standard Tremolo, really nice SKB style case.

The sound is typical for a Strat. The stock neck and middle pick ups have enough output for most types of music. I especially like the tone I can get on the neck pu for the Los Lonely Boys tune "Heaven", nice and rich. The bridge PU was not ballsy enough. I replaced it with a Seymour Duncan Lil' 59 humbucker, and now the guitar sounds just right. Very quiet for a Strat, with virtually no 60 cycle hum evident. I play in a cover band doing everything from Pretenders to Green Day to Blink 182, so the versatility of the Strat can't be beat. I play through a Fender Supersonic, with a Fulltone Fulldrive pedal, and use a Maxxon OD808 overdive pedal for leads. I also have an old Boss stereo chorus and a couple of homemade boost pedals.

I absolutely love the feel of the neck of this guitar. This is my 4th Strat, and by far the fit and finish out of the box was the BEST! The guitar was set up with .009's, which I changed out to .010's. All that was required was a minor neck adjustment and tremolo adjustment, and it was good to go. The new Fender neck finish is terrific. It is a satin finish on the back of the neck, and a shiny finish on the fingerboard, and exhibits none of the "stickyness" that some maple neck guitars have. The frets are nicely finished, with no rough edges anywhere. The Olympic white finish is flawless.

Is it durable? Well, I have an 83 Strat that I've used for 25 years, and I think this new one is built better than the old one! The hardware is the standard Fender issue, and I have no doubt that it will last for a long time.
I would not play ANY gig without a backup, but this guitar has already become my main gig axe, and I play it for more than 85% of the tunes we do.

No opinion.

I've been playing for about 30 years. I own an '83 1962 Vintage Strat re-issue, a 2005 Eric Johnson strat, a '97 Les Paul Classic, a '91 PRS Custom 24 and a custom built Telecaster. I also have a 1967 Fender Bandmaster.
If this axe was stolen, I'd have to go get another one.
The best feature is the feel of the neck. For me, it is the most comfortable neck I own. Sometimes you don't choose the guitar, it chooses you. All it took was 5 minutes playing this one and I was sold. The great case is an added benefit, too!

USA made 2008 (new redesign) Fender American Standard HSS - Sienna Sunburst finish. Normal fender 5 way switch, 2 tones, 1 volume. Includes hardshell case, strap, 10' cable, misc wrenches. The new redeign includes the addition of a small spring that fits in the tremelo arm hole, which helps to "tighten" the tremelo arm connection with the block. I read about this modification a couple years ago in a guitar repair book - and thought it made sense. But...one small annoyance is the spring falls out if you don't remember to cover the hole when the trem arm is out. I remembered, but my setup tech didn't and lost the spring. The problem is - dealers don't seem to have them or know how to order them. I e-mailed fender and after 11 days have had no response. I e-mailed them again...we'll see.

Features-wise, its an american strat.

Its good for for crunchy blues. The tone is excellent and that's a result of the wood, pickups, etc. Worth the price by comparison to a couple other guitars I have at lower price points. Generally, I'm happy with the purchase.

The HSS pickup is a bit tinny sounding - a bit harsh - but can be accomodated through amp tone controls or EQ pedal.

Bascially though - it sounds like an american strat. It's tinnier sounding than say...the SRV with Mongo gauge strings and different pickups - I had one of those home for a while but the neck is a bit too fat for my tastes. So American Standard HSS it was.

The factory set-up sucked. Intonation was way off, neck needed adjustment, pickups needed adjustment. But with a $75 set-up at a quality repair shop - its good.

I've seen better wood on a couple other "identical" guitars since I bought mine - I'm a little annoyed now at the lack of quality control in selecting the wood for consistently, but I could see it when I bought it, so that's my own deal.

Too new to comment but stratocasters seem to have the reputation of being pretty indestructible unless you squirt lighter fluid on them and light them on fire on stage. :)

The finish is good, strap butons are solid, I don't gig but if I did I'm sure I'd take more than one axe. However, I have no doubt this product will be durable and reliable.

As noted above, I e-mailed Fender regarding the tremelo arm spring (not the tensions springs, the one that goes in the block hole with the trem arm, to help secure it and also to prevent overtightening and damaging the block.

11 days later - no response.
The dealers don't stock or know how to order the part. I have tried Guitar Center and 3 other local quality stores that carry the fender line. So -- really poor preparation for launch of this newly redesigned product. Fender obviously knew it would be an issue as their literature warns about losing the spring. I remembered, but my tech didn't and lost it. So how come they didn't include a part number for re-order, or better yet, include 5 of these 2 cent springs with the thousand dollar axe...and a part number to order more.

What do I say, the Fender Stratocaster is the absolute perfect guitar. Leo Fender just got it perfectly right

I use a Marshall 50 Watt transistor amp with Genesis effects and this baby just sings its hear out. It has a rich full sound and heaps of sustain

The action on this beautiful baby which has a sunburst finish is absolutely perfect with Light strings fitted but its cool with any size strings I'm using D'addario, the wood finished is perfectly bookmatched and the clear satin finish is perfect. The tuning pegs are perfect and it never goes out of tune. I was especially impressed with the moulded flight case it came in which protects my baby and keeps it just right, you pull her out of the case and it is rarely out of tune, I just love this 1999

Customer support is via Kosmic sound in Osborne Park Perth Western Australia but I've never needed it but I've heard it's A1

You simply cannot go wrong with a fender stratocaster

Made in 2006/7. 22 medium jumbo frets, Rosewood fretboard, satin finish on neck, sealed non-locking fender machineheads (the ones for the 5th and 6th strings have longer posts for optimised string pull angle which is great attention to detail), 2-pivot post standard bridge / vibrato, master volume, tone for neck pickup and shared tone for bridge and middle pickups, 5-way selector switch, sunburst alder 2-piece body, routing for H-S-H (factory standard) though comes with S-S-S configuration on a white 3-ply scratchplate. Pickup cavity painted with conductive paint for shielding. Fitted Fender case included.

They say they have improved the strat and they really have, in all the right areas. It's really refined yet still feels like a Fender Strat.

Ok, I bought this model over the deluxe because the SCN pickups are horrible. I mean really really poor. They sound really hard and unmusical. They might have no noise but they have no tone that I would be happy with. The stock standard pickups sound nice and stratty and would be great if you wanted a traditional strat sound. For me however they were a little weak and being standard singlecoils were too noisy so I replaced them with Kinmans (Woodstock plus if you're interested!). Other than that this a great sounding guitar. The bridge is excellent for subtle vibrato when setup correctly (see below).

The refinements they have made have retained the whole strat feel. As soon as you start using carbon fibre reinforced necks, graphite nuts, wilkinson trems, locking tuners, S-1 switching etc etc you completely lose the soul of the instrument. It ceases to be a Strat and that's why I think the latest standard Stratocaster is right on the money. Rating 8 with the stock pickups, 10 with Kinmans!

The neck on this guitar is great. Perfect C profile (no disgusting V's of clubby D's here!) and perfect radius which allows for easy chording and fluid soloing, helped by the perfect size of fretwire! The finish on these is generally excellent. The build quality is superb, the paint is perfect, the neck pocket is perfect, the cavities are shielded very well with conductive paint. Although I'm not a huge fan of satin finishes (only because they look cheap to me) the feel and quality of the satin neck finish is great.

From my perspective the downsides are as follows;

The bridge is really really good but because of the length of the trem block, the springs rub on the backplate (and no, I don't have the bridge set stupidly low or anything) causing it to snag slightly and go out of tune. Here's a tip for you - put Big Bends Nut Sauce on all string contact points and the bridge pivot points. Set the bridge up so that it is floating about 1mm from the body at the pivot end so that it is clear of the body and then raise the backplate to give the springs more clearance. I just used several layers of PVC tape around the perimiter of the underside of the backplate for this and belive me the difference is unreal. You'll have a strat that really holds it's tuning and has a beautifully responsive bridge rather than the sort of on / off feel vibrato you get from the factory. Now I can do real nice vibrato like you can on wilkinson trems and the G&L Dual Fulcrum trem but without the issues particularly the latter has.

The wiring in these things is really really neat and the electronics are almost totally free of grounding buzz when you take your hands off the guitar.

The cases are SHIT. Really cheap feeling and the aluminium extrusion bends way too easily so the case is awkward to shut. The catches are cheap too.

Fender - have a look at Gibson cases, understand why they are so much better than yours and rethink! The last good cases you made for standard starts which I have experience of were from the 60s!

I've owned the following Strat guitars and I will compare them to this guitar to substantiate my ratings!!!:

Mexican Strat - great starter guitar but tuning issues and generally cheap feeling (but then, they ARE cheap!)

USA Strat Plus Deluxe - had a Fender / Floyd Rose bridge (quite like the bridge of this standard but with string clamps), locking tuners, LSR roller nut etc etc and still didn't hold it's tuning as well is these guitar when set up well. It also had horrible flat jumbo frets and a generally awkward neck to play, plus 3 different types of Lace Sensor which didn't sound great. This was nowhere near as playable as this strat.

G&L Legacy USA - very very well made guitar with a really nice feeling bridge but the thing was awful for staying in tune and had a really clubby neck with sharp edges

Mid 80's Jap Strat - Had a similar profile neck to this which was really nice but skinny frets and a quite small fretboard radius made it very hard to solo on.

Fender have honestly got this strat close to perfect. It's just SO playable. Highly recommended.

This Strat is an American made Standard with the silver 60th anniv. emblem on the back of the headstock. NOT a Brown emblem like the Fender 60th Anniversay Commemorative American Stratocaster. The 60th Mexican made also has the silver emblem, but this guitar clearly says "Made in USA" on the front of the headstock! Also the neck plate says Corona, California. I bought this because of the sound and not where it was made!

I got this '06 Strat from Guitar Center in 7-07 and all I know is that it has the "delta tone" wiring on it and I'm trying to fiqure out if the pickups are Delta Tone's, American or American Vintage. The Mexican made has the Tex-Mex pickups. Otherwise this guitar has a Alder 3-tone sunburst/maple modern C shape neck and parchment pickguard. Classic.

Usually I dont write reviews because I think everything about playing guitar is so differant from everyone else's way of playing. So much depends on other things like Amps, guitar wood, cable's, room size. How can you justify anyboby's review, even mine. I play from clean to slightly distorted and I use differant picks and pick attack to get my tone's. So there may as well be reviews for $0.35 picks out there, hehe. But for know let's talk about this Fender Strat!

THE SOUND, this is why I'm here. When I went into Guitar Center I was looking for a Amp. Lately I've been playing with my Tele's but the Amp I was going to try had this strat already connected to it so I thought I'd try the strat first and then try a Tele later. The moment I played that guitar completely satisfied my strat tone quest I've been searching for all these years. I played for 10 minutes thinking it was the amp that sound so good. So I grabed a Tele and played awhile, it sounded ok. The salesman brought over a couple more Tele's to try. Some sounded good, some sounded bad. Then I decieded to play the strat again. It was the most open musical snapping sound I ever heard from a strat. So I thought that this amp must love strats, I must have tried 5 other strats priced around $1300.00 with the amp, NONE sounded as good!
I needed this guitar sound but hated the 3 tone sunburst color since I already have 2 strats that look just like it. I put it on layaway and waited til the next weekend to bring in my best playing strat to compare it too. The 60th made my other guitar sound like the tone knobs were turned down halfway! Not even a close fight, thats why I switched to the tele lately, to get more snap and I but all gave up on getting a great strat sound, Until Now!!
As it turns out I didn't know this guitar had the Delta Tone in it. It is a No-Load on the middle and bridge pickup when the tone knob is dimed. And it gives the pickups a bright sound. If you love the 2nd position on a strat as much as I do but what more clarity, you'll like this alot! Yes it may be too bright on the bridge pickup and I'm going to try a Fralin in the bridge position for a warmer, hotter tone. But the other pickups are awsome!! For classic rock and bluz, u can't loose!

I love to work on my guitars so other than a warped neck anything can be adjusted. After taking off the .009 strings and putting on .010's, tighting the tremolo springs for the heavier strings and raising the action a bit. I like it a little higher than most people for better bending and NO BUZZ!(hate the buzz). There were no problems, it is new. Intonation is very impotant to me and it was spot on from the factory.

Fender dependability!

Not for me, don't care.

After about 20 years of playing at this time I own around 26 guitars, I fix and sell some. 7 of the usual keepers are Strats (Clapton, USA Strat Plus, another USA standard, '94 Mexican, 50th annvi. Custom Shop '54 and 50th annvi American Deluxe with the S1 switching). The reason I got this guitar was because of the sound! But it does feel and play like a nice broken guitar which is always nice. I will wire up another Strat with the Delta Tone knob to see if it helps on other pickups, but I think the vibe of guitar with the electronic's and the tone woods made it the best strat for me. I feel lucky that I finally found a musical weapon!
Played guitar thru amps I own, Cyber Twin SE, Bassman RI, '65 Deluxe RI, THD Univalve and tried it thru a Fender Super-Sonic (Real nice!), Vox AC 15 and Blues Deluxe. Sounded great with all. High gain seekers need not apply, they make other guitars for that.

2005 American Standard Strat. Candy Cola red with a maple neck. Came with 3 stock single coils. Ash body.

The neck pickup gets a really nice warm tone, great for alot of clean tone stuff. I replaced the stock bridge pickup with a Seymour Duncan Hotrail. This thing really wails now!! I love the sound of the neck pickup. I can only rate the sound of it a 9 because I put the Hotrail in.

Action is amazing.

Only had it 1-1/2 years so I have no complaints as of yet. I changed the original knobs and put chrome bell knobs on it.

1993 American Standard Stratocaster - Three-Toned Sunburst.

Typical stratocaster setup, you know the deal. Three pickups, 5-way switch, floating bridge/trem. Nice machined bridge saddles to help fine tune the setup. Maple neck with a rosewood fingerboard. Has the high-tech looking plastic and metal string trees. The guitar looks nice. Looks like what it is: An icon of rock 'n' roll! Tuners are fine. No need to upgrade. Neck profile, I believe, is a soft V. I'm not certain but it's certainly not as chuncky as the 50's style necks. Think the frets are medium-jumbo. Pickups, single-coil of course. No frills. Still, it's art. Not sure what the body is, maybe ash, alder? Has some heft to it--a beefy feeling guitar. Noticeably heavier than my son's Mexi Satin strat. Feels great in my hands! We've had a relationship for years.

IMHO, this guitar has the widest useful sonic range of any electric.

To start out, my guitar even sounds good "unplugged"! The tones are accurate and true. I rarely plug in at home, unless I'm working on a technique or something that needs the amped signal.
Electrified, it gives an even, single-coil sound. Not dark, shrill or sterile. Just a nice 'balanced' sound that can be greatly adjusted via the various controls. It's not as plunky or spanky as a Tele (have one, 2001). It's more compressed, mid-rangy--the sound of rock 'n' roll (and, ... pop, funk, the blues, etc., etc., etc.) It's beefier than the thin Jag (have 1962 'original'). Way brighter than a Gibson (had a 1967 SG and played others) and with more versatility (and, ... perhaps, personality?). Much of the strat's sonic rainbow depends on the guitar's settings. There are sooooo many variations. That's part of what makes it so versatile. I like the lower tone knob way up. I keep the middle one down, and tweak it up for more cut and punch. I noodle the 5-way a bit too, often putting it in the in-between positions (out of phase), particularly the one towards the neck. I'm not one of these that leaves all settings the same all the time. I experiment. The stock pickups are entirely adequate and not noisy with my tube amps (Fender Blues Deluxe, Crate V58, Ampeg SR212-RT, Mesa-Boogie Nomad-55, Peavey Classic-50 410, ToneMaster 261 High-Fidelity). The guitar takes pedals and other outboard gear well too. But, you know what they say, ... start out with a "great guitar" and put in "great pickups" and, ... BAM!! Tones to die for. I may experiment some day. My friend has changed his pups at least three times on his 50th Anniversary strat. In a store not long ago I played a white, early 1980's strat with a locking trem setup. Lots 'o hardware. It felt like it weighed twenty pounds. It had coil taps and some space-aged looking double-wide (humbuckers?) pickups and a mini toggle. When I plugged it in it sounded pure in-your-face metal. Like a Jackson Randy-Rhodes through a Big-Muff. Crazy over the top gain. The guy in the music store said it was a Fender model back then. You could order it. That shows how most solid-body guitars will be what you want them to be. Look at Eddie's FrankenStrat. I love my Stratocaster guitar.

Can't say how it was new, but the guitar was setup reasonably well when I bought it, around 2000-2001. But a few years later I took it to a local luthier/guitar wizard in Milwaukee, Jim Ianelli. Awsome work. Rock solid setup. He knows his Fender strats. Talk to Greg Koch on that. Jim builds amps too. He changed the volume knob on mine, which was acting flaky. The volume knob could be all the way down but you could still hear a little volume bleeding through. He put another pot in, along with the setup and 11's. He set the bridge to float just off the body. The way it should be for standard trem usage. The trem has pretty firm springs. I think I have three in there (can't remember removing any). The guitar stays so 'on' I can use strings for months and and they still sound good. And I play nearly every day and gig once or twice a month. I do use D'addarios (XL's 11 to 49) and they're pretty good. Heavier strings last. I must say though, Jim in Milwaukee did a masterful setup for me. Jim you're GREAT!

This guitar is tough. I mean, didn't Hendrix and Stevie stand on theirs? I dropped mine while carrying it down stairs. Slipped right out of my sweaty hand. Carrying too much at once! Only bent the end-pin (strap peg). By setting the guitar down kind of hard in the softshell case (tweed gigbag) that same endpin screw finally broke. I unscrewed the broken screw with a pliers and put another screw in there. Gotta get a hard case for her. The end-pin was somewhat stripped when I bought the guitar. Had that fixed (dowel and paint work) early on. Still, the body and paint are in great shape. This guitar is very sound. It will have it's small maintenance issues like any guitar that is well used. No major failures or serious issues here though. It should last as long as me. That's all that matters.

Never called Fender. Why would I, with the wealth of good techs and luthiers around. My guitar was bought used and is over ten years old.

Brother, it's a Rock ICON. How can you go wrong. And I got mine cheap. You want something more raw and in-your-face? ... change the pickups dude! Buy an HSS strat. Put a high-tech whammy on it, ... whatever! It's adaptable. Stock, this guitar is the best choice for modern electric-guitar tones. It covers the most bases. God, look at everyone who's ever played a strat, for every type of music. I play it through tube amps mainly, but I've played it through PA's and it still sounded good. My favorite is with a lower wattage tube amp. Blues heaven. I'm 46 and have had played many guitars. I own seven electrics, including a Yamaha arch-top and a Samick semi-hollow (335 style) and have to say, if I was stranded on the proverbial desert island and could have only one electric, it would be the Fender American Standard Stratocaster. Did I say I like Rock music?

PS - Reviewers who give ones, especially all ones, are major a-holes. I've occasionally seen that in these reviews. Shameful BS. It's like they have an emotional need or urge to try to discredit a brand, model, etc. ... like some demented, disgruntled ex employee trying harm a company. Well, this site is not the place. I'm sure others agree with me.

Mine was a black 1993 USA Strat with a white pikguard. It was just your basic, stock Fender American Standard Strat with 3 single coils. It came with a beautiful American molded case (best case ever) and Fender American tuning keys rock as does the American standard tremelo. Very nice.

I don't know what it is but I could'nt get this guitar to sound like the American Strat I had owned before. No matter what I did it was super glassy, like way to trebly and not enough out put even when I raised the pickups. I have owned an American Standard Strat before and it was my favorite guitar, stuff happened and I had to sell it, but this one just can't hold a candle to that guitar. I have owned Mexican strats that have sounded better then this guitar. Just bad pickups, not the strat sound I am used to at all. No noise though, bonus I guess, but that can't suffice for the terrible high treble garbage that this thing puts out. This guitar had no warmth at all and no Strat chunk. Just bad.

The action was terrible, I took it to three different guitar techs and they could'nt flatten out the action on this thing so I took it to a luthier and he still could'nt do it. The thing was fine and played great with 9's on it but as soon as you put 10's on it the neck bowed horribly and don't even think of putting 11's on it because then it was totally unplayable. It was so bad that I am now a reformed Gibson man, and I used to be a Fender man all the way. I bought the guitar used and it played great and sounded great when I bought it then I get it home, change the strings to a new set of 10-52 strings and it was screwed and there seemed to be no fixing it.

The finnish was great and all the hardware was top notch but I woud'nt even dare try to gig with this thing because I would probably have smashed the piece of junk. It is the worst Strat I have ever owned and I have even owned Squire and Mexi Strats. I cannot believe that something like this would come from Fender USA. So, because the hardware and the finnish were so good but the playability and dependability are crap I will be generous and give it a 5.

Bought it used and changed the strings after the one month warranty was up.

I have been plying for 14 years and I have owned 11 strats from all over the world. I also own a Gibson Les Paul Studio, Gibson Les Paul double cut faded, Fender Mexi Tele and a Squier Tele custom 2 and every one of these guitars are better then the Strat. I run all my guitars through a Traynor YCV40 and a Marshall JCM 800 with an A/B switch so it is a good combo to get a wide array of sounds and no matter what I did I hated it. It was so bad that I traded it For my Gibson Les Paul Double Cut Faded and I wont look back. If it were stolen I would thank god and use the insurance money to buy another Gibson.

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...