Fender American Traditional Stratocaster

mine was built in 1999 in USA, some reviews mentioned there are some Jap-pieces in.
It has 21 frets and had SSH PUs first.
Like almost all Owners I replaced PUs - in fact I replaced the complete electronics. Its now SSS with USA parts and Hot Fender Noiseless PUs.
Very smooth neck but frets are a little too soft.
Rating after mods: 9

Formerly no bad, but no really good sound. Not like I expected from a USA Fender.
After the mods (Fender Noiseless PU, new electrics, tremolo blocking) brilliant sound with rich sustain.
I play rock, this guitar sounds perfect with and without distortion.
But this is no Metal-Axe.
Rating after mods: 9

Factory setup was good.

Rock solid - hey, it's a strat!

never dealt with them and probably will not.

I love this guitar and will never sell it.
It became my baby after I did the mods.

If it was stolen I would have to go and buy a new Fender strat.

Rating after mods: 10

Made in USA, year 1999. Poplar body. Thin maple neck with 21 frets and rosewood fingerboard. Thin sounding bridge and thin sounding ceramic pickups in S/S/S configuration and not the best electronics but still worth the money. This really is one of the cheapest USA Strats ever.

First sounded very thin but when I replaced the pickups to Duncans and bridge to real American Vintage Synchronized Tremolo, it became one of the best guitars I've ever played. Poplar body is not a bad thing at all, just a bit different from alder. I think poplar is very good with clean sound, but lacks with heavy distortion. I still have to give the rating with stock parts :(

With only little modifications it would be 9!

This is where it shines. The neck is very good and it's just comfortable to play. Many have said, that my Am. Trad. is one of the the best Strats they've ever played without knowing how cheap it is. Set-up at the factory was great and finish was great considering the cheap price.

Electronics started to make crackling noises pretty soon. Otherwise everything has gone well. And it has seen some accidents too.. Very durable.

I don't know if this statement belongs here or not.. But I really can't understand why Fender would make "Made in USA"- Strat with that kind of pickups and bridge. If those had been replaced with just a bit better ones, the price would have been what..? 50 dollars more? SO? Now I feel like there had been some cheating going on. I bet some buyers thought, that they were purchasing a pure American Strat, and later noticed that there was some Chinese Squier too.. So Fender did't play fair game here. But Fender still is my favorite guitar manufacturer :)

I have seen many guitars over the years and this is one of the best. I also have an excellent EJ Strat and Gibson Les Paul Custom '57 RI and still I want to keep this American Traditional one of my main guitars. After little modifications, every little thing in this guitar is very good. It was very cheap, so with new pickups and bridge I got a very good guitar and still the price was very reasonable.

1999 usa made, bought in england. 21 frets alder body artic white, tortoise shell scratch plate(changed to black)factory pups maple neck

i play rock , funk , heavy...im using with hr deluxe and goldentone amps with varioue fx...the original pups were a little crappy, i think they were mexican..i now have dimarzio, blue velvet, red velvet and a chopper in the back and i got a re fret with 6550 wire and a repacement bone nut, plus i got them to anchor the bridge hard up against the body and the little baby sounds awesome!oh and i put a push-pull switch in to get the 7 pickup sounds too.and replaced the plastic nobs with chrome ones!!

pretty poorly set up from factory

with the changes made this guitar has gone from pretty average too f.....g great! my no1 for sure

no supprt asked for

Arctic white - near vintage wite, HSS, poplar body, maple/rosewood neck, stock pickups.

I play rock (Brian Adams/Keith Scott), blues (Muddy Waters, ZZ Top), country (Shania Twain) and contemporary gospel music (Hillsongs, Michel W. Smith). I use some boss effects (OD3 overdrive, CS2 compressor sustainer), and an old mesa/boogie studio .22 amp.
It's a cheap stratocaster with vintage sound. I have heard better and worse strats, the sound quality is 10 with this price, and 8 compared to any kind of strats, so I give 9. Sometimes more expensive strats have worse sounds...

I always have backup, no problems in last 3 years.

I love this strat. Perhaps one day I will buy an old relic strat, but I will keep it for backup forever.
You can make everything with it, comfortable playing, vintage sound. Use a real amp (I have a mesa), and you won't get problems...
I've been playing since my childhood (now I'm 28), I have a H1 Mex Tele, an Explorer (Gibson), a Furch dreadnought acoustic, I love my guitars, I love good sound, sound is everything to me :)

My little one was born in 1999. Made In Usa. The frets are changed to big bass style. It's black, but resprayed with very thin nitrocellulose laquer for the cleaner tone and I want to overrusing soon, because I like so much the battered stratocaster. The wood is maybe poplar or alder, I don't know. The neck is one piece maple with rosewood fingerboard. The original tremolo was a piece of sh*t, so I changed. It's now a 2-point American Standard tremolo system.
It's now a good guitar.

The sound is great, dirty, warm, mellow. I use only tube amp. It's the best ever. I have a '63 reissue Fender Vibroverb, and a '68 Fender Vibratone Leslie. The pedals are: Ibanez TS9 and TS10, Crybaby Wah, Fuzz Face and Octavia. This is the ultimate Stevie Ray Vaughan sound. I like so much!

The original setup was not too good. The electric parts (pots, selector switch) are awful, I'll change them. The tremolo was a cheap non-vintage thing.

It was brand new, I bought it in 2000. I play on this Strat so much. I love it! It was a cheap guitar with bad parts, but after the repairs and updates it's now a very nice guitar. I never sell it.

Made in Usa... As all of us would already know. There are 21 frets, and I think that the neck is fantastic. Pick-ups though, bloody crap I have to say. I am trying to save up some money to replace my pick-ups to fender 'noiseless' ones. Neck wood is made of 1 piece maple wood which i really like. Bridge is not very good, could do a bit of change to this guitar and could sound better then the custom shops I reckon. No hard or fender case with this guitar.

My style is based on rock and fast action. I like to play yngiwe malmsteen songs... ( Arpeggios from Hell). Anyways, I am using this guitar with a Marshall RG30 - not that good. However, I dont think I get good, long, cruncy, sustain out of the picks that came with the guitar. The pickups cant handle too much distortion... eg. I put my amp on the overdrive channel and use a boss Ds-2 distortion pedal on turbo. The sound is terrible I am telling you. But without the the tubo and with a touch less distortion, this guitar sounds great!!

My guitar was set up 'Crap' in the factory. Well this guitar could do with a bit of change and it will be fantastic. Change of neckplate, new tremolo bridge system, strings, nails (they were quite rusty) and the 'PICK-UPS'!!! The pickups 'Hummm' with distortion just like the bhuddist monks! It really annoys you, I hope you people get what I mean. Other than that its quite okay... not much is it??

I played for over 5 years with this guitar and it is really solid and reliable. A true USA fender. It would probably last a life time if you take a good care of it. I would gig but with the 'Crappy' pickups on these guitars, your 'humming' noise will sound probably louder than what your playing.

The warranty was a year i think. But i had no problems with the guitar for 5 years...

I've been playing about 6 or 7 years now. I own a RG Ibanez guitar. This fender is much better than it. I wish I could have asked for another set of pick-ups before buying this guitar. If this guitar was stolen/lost then I probably wouldnt buy this guitar. BUT I just love the feel of the neck. The neck is the only thing I love about this guitar. I hate the - you can probably guess now... the 'pick-ups'!!! I chose this guitar cos it was cheap as chips for a usa stratocaster. Overall, a good solid guitar...

1991 model, black, 21 frets, maple neck/scale, Fender/Schaller tuners, poplar body, ceramic pickups in S/S/S configuration, 3-ply pickguard (the back cover was 1-ply), very cheap 6-screws bridge. Came without hardshell case.

Those ceramic pickups are awful, very bright and thin. The poplar body was not resonant enough and the bridge rattled a lot. Played great (the neck and tuners are very good), but sounds like shit.

Cosmetically it was fine, but it had some fret buzz from the factory when new and intonating using heavier strings were impossible due to the cheap bridge.

Had no problems with it.

These guitars are just for deceiving those who want an American Fender. The neck and tuners are fine, but the rest of the guitar is just useless. These guitars should be discountinued.

1999 model Made in USA, 21 frets, maple neck/fretboard, 5way selector, S/S/S pickup configuration but the body is routed S/S/H,poplar body,stock ceramic pups, olympic white color, vintage type trem but different from standard starts looks the same in squire strats, tuners are the same from american standards, no case included

the pups are very decent and is much louder compared to other strats. i replaced the bridge pickup with a duncan custom humbucker because the stock bridge is very bright and is not very good when it comes to distortion.The in between positions has the strat quack and it quacks better than my dads american standard. with the humbucker installed this strat is very versatile and can do any kind of genre from jazz-metal.. i might replaced the two single coils though when i have the money.

The store when i bought the guitar made the setup so i can't comment the factory setup, i adjusted pickups higher though.. the hardware is not very durable because it rusted when it was only 6 months old and the paint of my strat changed from olympic white to almost vintage yellow.. also i changed the intonation when i changed my string gauged from .09 to .10

This guitar can withstand live playing if you only take care of it and don't abuse it. maybe the paint may fade but that's ok because i like a faded strat.. maybe i will just change the tremolo because i goes out of tune more often than the american standard.. the strap buttons are ok.. i would gig without a backup because this is my only guitar and i wont bring the other strat because it is my dads.

Never dealed with fender..

Been playing 3 years.. i also own a peavey bandit and a marshall vs65r(sucks) If it would be stolen i can't buy this model because it has been discontinued and i would rather buy a Lonestar strat.. i love its neck because it has many flame figures. i choose this one over the mexican strats because it has better feel and quality. i wish it had better hardware espescially the tremolo..

It was made probably in 1999 or 2000, according to the serial number. It's made in USA. It's got 21 vintage style frets. Has 1 volume control, 2 tones, 5-way selector, three single coil pickups (standard-ceramic magnets). neck is maple, rosewood fingerboard and body probably poplar or alder. It's a blue agave strat, with a vintage style synchronized tremolo. Fender/Ping Standard Cast/Sealed Tuning Machines. It came with two allen keys in a fender box.

I play mostly blues and rock. some hard rock also. It's very versatile, and you can play a lot of styles with it. I use a studio pro II transtube by peavey, and with the vintage it sounds great. With distortion is just incredible. The bass notes sound gorgeous. Must be aware of statics in places with neon lights or white lights.

Great action....the fingerboard is smooth and the guitar almost plays itself. pickups nice, but it depends on the sounds you want to get. A bit higher you'll get more bright sounds, and more vibration.

For live playing it's just great. Don't know if the hardware will last much, but the guitar itself seems solid and well-made. Perhaps i'll stay with it my entire life.

Haven't talked with them. Post CBS fender seems serious.

I've playing for 7 months and it's suited all my needs. Perform live and it's a semi-professional guitar. with some adjustments, it can sound like a pro.

I dont know if i'd buy it again, maybe would try with a american standard strat. I'd wish a better hardware, but it's great anyway.

It's just a basic stratocaster, like all stratocasters. Give it a 10 because a strat is just a strat, a floyd rose or something is never standard on a strat so the basic features are all you get.

The original elements sounded very poorly, and not like a stratocaster at all. I replaced them by Lace Sensors an thinking about replacing then again bij Dimarzio HS3 of YJM elements.

I bought this guitar second hand from a good friend. He bought it 2 years earlier new and after a half year he got it the neck torque-twisted. No service from the dealer so he had the frets adjusted by an amature, a very poor job indeed. I bought this guitar as a piece of junk and had it modified by Rikkers in Groningen (Netherlands), now it plays like a rocket with an extremely low action.

Since the neck twisted while he kept the guitar in a climatized room i give this guitar a 1. A twisting neck makes the guitar useless and a very expensive factor.

Mailed them very often, never got a reply. Called them, and the guy could not even tell me if i could buy a new neck for my guitar (even the local dealer could order me a new neck!!!, but is was as expensive a new strat)

Been playing for 8 years, after the mods this guitar is great but before it was a useless piece of junk.

Standard type strat features, maple neck. Brought in 2002 manufactured in 2000 (according to serial number). Made in the USA according to the label but rumour has it some of the parts are sourced out of the USA. Standard 3 single coil pick up configuration. Came as a bare guitar with a plastic bag full of manuals (but no specs), some stickers, a trem arm and a couple of allen keys.

I play all sorts of styles but mainly electric blues, Tex/Mex stuff. Played it through a variety of amps with no problems. Noisy? well its single coils so it hums a tad but I'm happy. The bridge and mid pick-ups are a tad gutless but crank up the volume on the guitar and they are creditable - they quack like a strat should. To me it has a good all round strat sound. I played a heap of different model strats in the shop and it sounded as good as most, better than some, worse than others.

Guitar set up from the factory was fine. After playing it hard for a week the action required adjusting but its been fine since. The paint was a tad thin around one of the edges on the back contour and there was a heap of powder from the buffing in the body cavities (guitar not mine!)which was a bit disappointing - you would think they'd take the time to clean it out. A lot of parts were loose when I got it, I had to tighten tuners, screws on the scratch plate, some of the hardware under the scratch plate (it would buzz when you played bass notes), strap peg. It was no biggie just anoying.

Solid? she's bullet proof. I can't see anything even looking like breaking. Dependable as.

1 year warranty (New Zealand) - I've never had to use it. I contacted Fender to try and get some info about the traditional series (it wasn't included in their book of specs) and got no reply. Perhaps they're ashamed of them.

Playing acoustic for 20 years, electric for 1 (wish I'd started earlier what a hoot!). I also own an Ovation acoustic and a Samick strat copy (so the kids leave my srat alone). If it was stolen I would probably look at getting an American strat Texas special - just for the pickups and slightly better hard ware. I love the neck on my strat its really silky and the action - its so playable. There is nothing I really hate about this strat. The most negative thing is the top e string being too close to the edge of the neck - if you start bending it round heaps it tends to roll off the side of the neck. You get used to it. I do wish it had slightly hotter bridge and mid pick ups.

Some people look down on the traditional strats as inferior sounding simply because they are cheaper than American standards etc, and probably push the definition of made in the USA. I say play a range of models with your eyes shut and then talk to me about sound ya snobs.

Everyone knows strat. This one is cheapest "Made in USA" strat ever made. And it could be seen and heard.

Neck and tuners are only decent parts of this guitar. Similar as in American Standard exept fretboard have only 21 frets. I don't know what body is, but it just doesn't work. It don't sound like a a strat should sound and it could be heard both unplugged and with amp. Sound is something like those cheap copies made of plywood (I guess this one is not made of plywood, but it just souds like it is. Body is all black and wood can't be seen even under pickguard or neck joint). Pickups and electronics are just pieces of crap. Similar as in cheapest chinese Squiers. And Bridge is also similar to cheapest strat copies.

I guess with new electronics and bridge this would become a decent guitar, but for sure not a good one.

Basically it sounds like strat, but just like a cheap Samick or Squier strat.

Poor buzzing and feedbacking pickups make playing live like hell (I tried it once). But for jamming home it suits quite well...

Finish is as good as in Mexican strats.

It was cheap and It was made in USA strat. I think it was a decent deal for 180?, but I've seen some people paying in web auctions over 500?. American Traditionals were sold for something like 400? (at least Thomann sold, but under 500? everywhere) new. I hope no one gets fooled to pay too much... This just can't be compared with any other USA, Japan or Mexican strat. Closest thing is a Squier.

I don't play this one anymore. Right now it hangs on a wall in my friends restaurant and for that it works fine.

Because headstock says "Fender Stratocaster Made in USA" I compare it with US-made strats. Compared to a Squier it would be a bit more.

I don't Know the year was made, but it wasn't hanging too much time in the store. 21 frets, 1 volume and 2 tone controls, tremolo bridge, standard fender tuners. i don't know much about woods, but everyone seems o agree in the wood being poplar. mine has a supersmooth maple fingerboard, shit, I never though maple was this good!

well it does the job very well. I play all sorts of strange music, I like blues and afroamerican rythms, and the strat is the most versatile guitar I have ever played. I play with many differents combinations, but I like to play clean, or with a bit of chorus. I have a Marshall jackhammer, a ibanez chorus CS9, a Marshall Compressor, and a zoom 505II, wich I'm starting to hate. the guitar itself has an awesome sound, unmpplugged or plugged. it sounds thing when I use the zoom, or too bright when use it with the ibanez chorus, but I think is because I don't have a good amp too. the guitar sometimes is very noisy, but I can live with that. it could have better hardware, but is not bad in my opinion.

nothing to complain.

it's very well constructed, stays in tune very well also. I play live without backup, because I don't have time or money to fool around with backups, but I can depend on it, because it's and instrument to play music, not a piece of shit for smashing it on the people, walls, ground, etc., so, as long I use for the thing it was designed, I shouldn't have problems.

I haven't deal with them, but they seems to be a nice company, so I don't have complains

I have been playing almost 3 years. I also own a Yamaha SE200 (very old guitar, older than me). I was thinking for a moment it wasn't what I was looking for, as I wanted an american standard, but I don't regret my buy, in fact it worth every cent I spent for it, with its lows and highs.

OK this a update on my original as i have upgraded this strat way beyond stock ,so i thought you may want to now if it works
I bought a fender custom shop texas special pickgaurd assembly fully loaded and wired.along with the other upgrades like lsr nut trees etc (see Original)

OK as for the texas specials in this thing they take a bit of getting used to i couldnt find a nice sound straight away but when i did woooooo they are nice , im using it now through a 1964 bassman head and 2x12 cab realy nice but like i said you have to search for the sound so yes they will work with this guitar no problem

see original
I have tried 10s on this guitar but it dosent like them much better with 9s funny as my 74 strat is better with 10s?
just goes to show not all will do for the same type of guitar!

Built to last thats why you can buy nearly 50yr olds (if your loaded!)

ha ha ha I dunno???

Its too late to get a new one now and they are going up in price judging by ebay not a lot of these around but be carefull they were not expensive new dont go paying #500 for one look for a roadhouse they seem the best to date for the price and you get the texas specials in them

THIS AN UPDATE TO MY PREVIOUS REVIEW!!!

Nowadays I know more about its features than before. This strat is more international than american because it has parts from all over the world. But the headstock says "Made in USA". The body (poplar and routed for H-S-S as any other MIM body)was made in Mexico and it has an arctic white finish that has gone a bit yellow. Bridge is the cheapest part of this guitar. It's an import bridge, probably from Korea with vintage looks, not vintage specs. Sure, it's a six-point tremolo like the vintage ones but it has saddles that looks a bit like those found on the american series except from the fact that they're chromed.

The neck is the nice part of this guitar, I really like it. The maple used has flame patterns and the rosewood is figured nicely. I don't have any complaints about the frets. They're ok but not great. The tuners are the same as those you'll find on any american standard strat. They're ok as well but I'm thinking about getting some locking tuners instead. The headstock has one vintage style string tree. I think I'll swap it for a roller-tree some day to increase tuning stability.

I've heard that the electronics were made in korea as well. Now, a little more than a year after I got this guitar the pickupswitch is worn out and needs replacement. When I can afford it, I will replace the stock pickguard and all the electronics with a prewired pickguard from Lundgren Pickups, a small custom manufacturer here in Sweden. Lundgren makes some incredible pickups at a price lower then Seymour Duncans or DiMarzios massproduced lines of pickups.

My guitar is stock except from the nut I replaced. I use GHS 10-46 strings.

The pickups have ceramic magnets just like the MIM pickups. But these are of inferior quality. The pole pieces are chromed and they don't have the same spacings as the singlecoils found on other Fender Strats. This makes finding replacement pickupcovers very hard. They're a bit microphonic (they pick up sounds from other places than the strings) and brittle. Bridge position is the least used position, it's so thin and brittle. Neck postion gives a "woody" sound, but not as throaty as I would like it to be. The middle pickup has too little midrange honk to be interesting. I use for both rythm and lead play. Neck position is too dark for chording, it lacks definition. I only use the bridge for distorted stuff with the treble rolled back on the amp. The wood of the body deserves better pickups, it feels alive when you strum the guitar unplugged.

It hasn't got the best neckpocket. There's a little gap in it but it doesn't make it feel less alive than strats with perfect neckpockets that I have played. The tech who did the present setup didn't do a very good job on the action, it's low so I have to play a bit less violent than before to avoid fretbuzz. It's a strat so I'm not very careful when I play it. I've dropped it a thousand times so it has a few dings but it's nothing anybody will notice. As I can remember I had better tuning stability when it was new. But these days i do a lot more hammer-ons and bends so it could be because of my playing. Soon I'll shell out some cash for som Schaller locking tuners and a tremnut. Might even get some stringsavers while I'm at it.

It's still a strat. It will never break. Even cheap stratcopies are durable.

Never been in touch with fender.

If you're into upgrading your guitars this might be a guitar to your liking. Otherwise, shell out the extra money for an american series strat. Or, get a MIM strat. It's basicall the same stuff as this one except from that this one has nicer figures than on any other strat I've ever seen.

made in USA 1999 21 fret rosewood/maple neck 5 way switch bla bla ( come on we all know what a strat is and this looks just the same as they made a million years ago) nothing fancy its just a cheaper version thats it no fancy pickups(3 single coils they also came with a humbucker at the bridge I didnt want that)/paint or hardware. I installed a LSR nut, put new type string trees on and started upgrading the hardware except the machine heads ( they are good fenders own ).came in a box from the store no bag or case just the allen keys . I think I paid #380 ish for it I thought that was cheap untill i saw them for less elsewhere bloody typical .im going to give it a 9 because it had evey thing I expected from a strat

Hank anyone? Jimi perhaps? Mr Clapton? look they all used Strats and none of them sound at all alike If Santana used a Strat you would still know it was him playing with your eyes closed.I use a Fender princeton amp and also a multi stomp box this thing sounds great for most things yes its noisy with single coils thats how they are dont panic about it live with it or buy something else. Strats are the do all guitar it can be used for ANYTHING it has so many variations of sound you cant fail to get it to your liking .the only thing you wont get without some type of pedal is les paul type sustain probably because it has the trem on it (they didnt have a hardtail when i bought it and I am not sure they did one in this model).I have read about someone going on about the G string being a bit noisy ,I too noticed this on mine I thought it was the nut I put 2 new ones in (same) then an LSR (better)eventauly put extra string tree on it (sorted) Im giving it a 10 because like i said it has loads of sounds but if you dont like the sounds your getting WHY DID YOU BUY IT???

The set up from fender was good out of the box not perfect, but how the hell are they supposed to know how i like it anyway? As I have said I put an LSR nut in brilliant for making small adjustments using the shims and it gives a brighter tone accousticaly (cant notice the sound difference pluged )I keep using bullets as it has a trem on it they sound good and last well enough every thing worked as it should I saw it played it and was happy and this was my choice to buy it so no complaints 9/10

its a tank !! nothings fallen off or loosened up in the 2 years i have had it . its as good, no its better than when i bought it i play it nearly every day but i look after it .Would you use it on a gig without a backup? DUH if you have more than one use them

dont know never talked to them , they are probably too busy making coffee but what others have said???

How long have you been playing? I have been playing for bloody hell over 25 years christ im an old fart now for gods sake .
What other gear do you own? Ive had lots in the past I'm now sorry to say I wish I kept the lot.:(
I chose this as it was a cheap USA strat why else It was a bagain as far as Im concerned the next usa strat was like twice the price but nowhere near twice the guitar if i lost it or it was stolen , I would get another strat but I will never buy a new guitar again it was the first and last guitar I will buy new in over 25yrs of playing

American made and purchased in Indonesia. The Standard Strat features of 3 single coil pick-ups, 5-way selector, tremolo arm with a burgandy body, white scratch board and maple neck. The guitar came only with a soft case.

As a purely recreational player, I have been happy with my old Telecaster for longer than I care to say. The sound off this guitar has left me wondering why I didn'y buy it a long time ago! I generally play a broad spectrum of music types and it's sound is clean with or without distortion (no growl). I also get much more sustain than with the Telecaster.

I have not touch the guitar since buying it two months ago and I can't even remember having to adjust the tuning more than once, even after using the tremolo arm extensively. This is amazing given the varying and often high humidy in Indonesia. I have not found one flaw yet.

Two months isn't long enough to answer this properly. But to date, I would have total confidence in this guitar provided you had good strings on it.

I have not had cause to go back to Fender (This includes 20 years with my Telecaster)

Although not a serious guitar player, I have been playing for recreational purposes for 25 years. I have previously used Yamaha accoustics and a Fender Telecaster and I'd rate this as far superior to these. I would definitely buy another one is I lost this one.

American made, my guitar was made back in '98, I've heard of "traditional" guitars made in Mexico but this one's american. It features all the traditional stratspecs like 5-way selector, 1 volume, 2 tone and a tremolo bridge. It has three staggered (looks a bit fake) singlecoil pickups, standard tuners. Rosewood fretboard, body is olympic white, I exchanged the 3-ply white pickguard for a turtleshell-colored and got aged plastic parts for it. Nice. All metalparts are chromed nicely and the neck has satin finish.

I play various types of music, blues, rock, reggae, Ska and punk. cIt has a pretty classic strat sound, since I'm a pretty rough player it produces a nice growling sound on the clean channel of my Rocktron. i don't use a lot of distorsion, but when i do it gives me nice crunch either through my Boss DS-2 or just with the amps overdrive (nice gain expander on the rocktron). Everything's pretty much in its right place. The sound from position 2 could be more distinct.

The action and intonation were pretty much Ok from factory, perhaps a little low to suit my taste, haven't really gotten around to ajusting it just yet. I raised the pickups for some extra growl. The guitar was pretty much flawless as I remember. Still, some details feels a bit cheaper than the standard strat. For example, there is no ingraving in the neck backplate etc.

This guitar seems VERY solid, but hey, it's a fender. The tuners are great, it seldom goes out of tune, not even with intensive tremolo use (get bullet strings and stop complaining!). EVerythings seems robust, body finish is great, the paintjob shows no signs of whatsoever in terms of scratches and wear, and it probably won't. I gig without backup since it's my only electric

If I would be a citizen of the United States of America I would be enjoying a lifetime warranty. But I don't. Since it hasn't broken yet I haven't repaired it yet and I haven't had anything to do with company officials.

I've been for a couple of years, it's my third electric after a Squier Strat and a DeArmond M65. It totally beats the crap of my previous guitars but if it was stolen or lost I would definetly save for a new american series strat, they kick ass. Basicly, I chose because it offered american manufacturing to a reasonable price. Good price/performance.