Fender Big Apple Strat

98, Transparent Orange, Ash Body, H/H all stock. Case was included

The sound was OK stock. I have since swapped the bridge pickup to a Duncan JB and moved the Pearly Gates into the neck position. Now the guitar sounds as good as it plays. The tone cannot be described. The JB is the best sounding pickup I have ever heard. The Pearly Gates seemed thin in the bridge position.

Perfect setup for my playing. I bought the guitar used from Ebay and had to change the strings and setup the action where I like it. Once that was done the guitar plays like butter. The neck and body material is first rate. USA Strat all the way..

I am sure this guitar will last for years. Built like a tank. The finish is stunning to look at. Everything seems solid, no loose screws etc.

Would not deal with any customer support. I would prefer to fix problems myself.

Almost perfect, add a JB to the bridge and it is perfect!!!

1997 USA, rose fingerboard, 3-color sunburst, seymour duncan '59 in neck position and pearly gates plus at bridge, 5-way switch, standard(9.5inch radius) c-shape neck. pearloid pickguard. lame hardware.

i play bluesy stuff and classical with this one. i use marshall amps with boss bluesdriver. i first bought this guitar in 2001 and was in a good condition and i didnt touch it for a year because i didnt like its sound. than i noticed the set up sucked so i set it correctly and it was a miracle. this is a really uniqe sound if you set pgp high you get the classic feel of strat without hum and a real long sustain with guts. i started using it in recordings after a few replacements. some people doesnt like the sound of pearly gates but it evolves greatly in time.

i bought it second hand and was setup really bad. it has shiny gloss finish.

this ones like wine it just gets better. neck is loosened a bit because of agrressive playing. (i dont use the tremolo arm i use the neck instead.)seems durable.

theres no support in my country

playing since 1988. this guitar sure needs replacements like a vintage sync strat tremolo. i dont use the stock switch. if it was lost i wouldnt buy another but id be really sorry because of evolved pgp. this is not really a strat if you want a real strat buy a '56 or '57 or '69... i really like the tone. its a good choice if you want something familiar to strat. i prefer this to the new SRV with pau ferro fingerboard.

mine is a 99 in transparent sunset orange over med wieght swamp ash. all stock. you know the feature list.

since i discovered that i don't really like the middle pup or notch positions of a regular strat, the humbucker thing has really started to work for me. the sd's split well, and drive the front end of the amp perfectly. very adequate clean tones as well. of course, it's not gonna sound like a stock strat, but then, that's one reason i chose it.... my fave combo is thru a vht pittbull.

it's made as well as any well made fender guitar ever was. cuz that's what it is......i love the look of the trans orange over the swamp ash body wood. i think a better grade of rosewood could've been used. i like it dark. this ones a bit light colored for my taste. and the finish could've been buffed out a little better.....great, but not perfect.

fender's reputation is well established in this dept. all good. every blue moon you might find an anomalie, but, seeing as how they turn out millions of guitars every year......

fender is hard to reach. they appear to be a little standoff-ish. i can usually find spare parts anywhere else, tho'. and fenders, being the industry standard....you can find repair help in any city, any state, any country. so, i guess it doesn't really matter about cust. support.

been playing 25+ years. i've had 2 of everything. this one's main attraction was it's rare color. i got it as an investment, knowing what rare colored fenders do after a couple of years. it's a great guitar. i can't say anything bad about it. i think if an offer came along, i would trade it for my fave axe, a ernie ball music man axis super sport. until then, IT will be my main axe.

1998 Fender Big Apple (U.S.A made) with 5-way switch, and a great sunburst paint on it. Has a mapple neck and 22 frets. Still perfectly clean...

The tone opportiunities are a lot...Has this great fat tone, which is great for like blues, and ofcourse the clean tone is as much as good at it too. But when you start to increase to distortion a little the sound starts to get lost because of the humbs. Works great with the wah- pedal for the funky stuff...

The guitar setup was almost great for me...But adjusted it anyway when I shifted to Eb tuning...But the pickups caused a little problem at first, when playing funk. The high E string was getting caught to the humbucker causing the string break sometimes. So had to play with the pickups...One thing is that the volume differences within the 5-way switch...You have to be a very good handling person to get used the gap between.

No problem at all...Doesn't get damaged easily...The only problem is that it get out of tune easily. But not hard to handle too. Think it will last a long long time with no problem...Maybe it's going to take long time to erase the stereotypes about this guitar...But I'll play and they will understand it when the time comes...

I've got it repaired; actually controled once. Wasn't under warranty.

I've ben playing with this guitar for 5 years. Would buy one more if something happened to this one...It's like a Fender Strat with some soul of Gibson Les Paul inside...Try...

Made in USA, 22 frets, Seymour Duncan '59 in neck, SD Pearly Gates Plus in bridge, alder body, maple fretboard, brown sunburst finish with brown tortoise shell pickguard, two tone knows, one volume knob, string through body hard tail bridge.

This thing is versatile as all Hell. From the first time I played this thing in what used to be a local Musician's Friend (now Guitar Center), I fell in love with it. Everything from ultra-warm jazz sounds to kick-ass metal and everything in between. When using my Danelectro Fab Tone with this and setting the pickup selector to the middle position and turning the tone down all the way, I can NAIL the Santana sound, and it sustains forever! This this rocks!

Don't remember how the action and pickup height was (got this thing back in '98) and have since made some adjustments based on my preferences, but I'm sure it kicked ass. As far as the body goes, it was flawless. Still is. Perfect!

I use this thing everywhere. It will last several lifetimes, guaranteed. Extremely dependable, just like a nice bottle of Jack Daniels!

Never had to deal with them.

If this were stolen from me, you can bet yer ass that if I don't find the asshole who stole it and beat the shit out of him/her, I will definitely replace it. It's waaaaay too versatile to pass it up. I can't help but wonder, too, why Fender stopped making these. Definitely worth the purchase if you can find one!

2000 Big Apple Strat, Standard Fender neck, USA Made,H/H, 5way select,Alder Body, mapel Neck,Standard USA Bridge,Did not come with case (think the weird Guitar Center guy that sold it too me stole it)

The Guitar sounds like a Strat with humbuckers. Not quit like a gibson and not quit like a strat. I have a LS-6 gibson and this sounds like the LS-6. I also have a SG special and they are night and day sound wise. I like how the B/A Strat sounds, wish I had two. I can't understand why they don't make them anymore.

I did not like the factory set up. After lowering the strings this thing plays as well as anything out there. I have had mine for four years and it sounds better now than when I got it. I'm sure somebody out there knows why. I've heard that pickups change after some time but I am the wronge guy too ask. The finish is lack luster and I noticed some flaws in the paint. Besides that I am a sweaty guy and paint has held up. The coler is sort of an off white and smoke seems to have made it evan more off white(but in kind of a cool old fender way). The guitar is well made but I have seen fancier Strats that seem more solid. Like I said it is well made but the ones that list for well over a grand seem to be a cut above.

I have had no problems. I play the guitar almost every day and it seems too be taking my abuse very well. Is it gig worthy? Yes. Not woried about this thing fizzing out in the least

It's a fender. Fender are very good about warranty.

This guitar is alot of bang for the buck. I love too play it, if it where stolen I would buy another. Strats are very comfotable too play,in my opinion much more so than ether of my gibsons. I don't know if it's the tremelo bridge or the bolt on neck but it is very fast and easy to bend notes. Can't imagin not having a fender too play.

Year 1997, Made in USA. 22-Frets. Solid Alder Sunburst Body. Rosewood fingerboard on typical Stratocaster maple neck, and I'm guessing medium-jumbo frets. This is tremolo model utilizing the American Standard bridge. Non-locking Fender USA tuners A dual-humbucker version of the classic Strat. Knobs are Volume, Neck Tone, Bridge tone. Typical Strat 5-way blade switch switches from Bridge Humbucker to Bridge Coil Tapped single, to both humbuckers, to Neck Coil Tapped Single, to Neck Humbucker. Purchased it knowing it had thse features, so can't complain can I?

I am very pickey when it comes to tone, and chose to purchase this guitar because I want one instrumet that covers as many bases as possible. My musical style is mostly electric blues and rock, and covers many styles within those genres. My amp is an 85-watt Marshall Valvestate single 12 combo. No outboard effects. Here's the rundown:

Position 1 Bridge Humbucker - I am very pleased with this Duncan Pearly Gates. My favorite Les Paul is equipped with Tim Shaw PAFs which I love, and this pickup really comes about as close as I could expect on a 25.5 inch scale bolt-neck guitar. It creates that "swell" of airy crunchy tone like old PAFs. Very good at high and low volumes. Sounds like ZZTop (as it is supposed to). Not a great clean pickup, but I dont use it for that.

Position 2 Split Bridge Humbucker - Not so good. I am a single coil fanatic, and this one is way too processed for my liking. Very plastic. It is always difficult to get a good single coil tone out of a split humbucker because humbuckers sound better positioned closer to the strings while the opposite is true for most single coils. I tried to hit a happy medium with pickup height, but after playing with this one, it only loses output the farther it is from the strings. It is ok in clean strum mode and could work for some more trebly styles, but I can't solo with it.

Position 3 both Humbuckers - I can get "Woman Tone" by playing with the tone knobs. That's what folks want in this position, right? I don't often find a use for it, but it is available and correct to my ear.

Position 4 Split Neck Humbucker - Kind of like a Telecaster neck sound. Really nice for clean solos, and strumming. Not as good distorted, but I can almost grab a passable imitation of an SRV like sound that would be ok for stage use (in the studio, bring your real Strat).

Position 5 Neck Humbucker - I am not too thrilled with this one, but I don't feel the need to run out and replace it either. I find it non-descript at best and somewhat muddy at worst. I have used these Duncan 59's before - with and without covers, and experienced similar issues. No personality to it. I like my neck humbuckers to sound like Slash's tone - this one does not. Better clean than dirty, and nice jazz-style tones with the tone knob dialed back.

Overall, better as a two humbucker Strat than anything else, but the added single coil options are passable for most live peformance appications. If you must have true single and double tones in one guitar, buy the Texas Special Strat and give up on the neck humbucker, or do what I might do: Take advantage of the universal route under the pickguard and install a real single coil in the middle.

My first "new" instrument since 1983 (I buy vintage typically). Though technically pre-owned, was absolutely mint with the protective plastic on the pickguard...

Setup was pretty good out of the box, and considering it sat for 6 years, this was a bit of a surprize. I had to replace the strings of course, but action, pickup height and intonation were A+. I set up my strats with the Tremolo bridges pulled all the way back, so whatever had been done was then upset by my preferences. But this change resulted in increased sustain and better tone too, so I recommend it to everybody using this bridge. It set up nice and easy after my changes (like all good Fenders do). Everything works. Volume knob is really tight, but this will lossen up over time.

My advice to anybody who still complains: Don't buy a traditional Strat tremolo and expect it to stay in tune for Van Halen solo stuff. You need a Floyd Rose to do that. We true Strat guys live with the faults like vintage auto guys live with their 60's Jaguars.

Heavier chunk of alder than I expected this day in age, just on the good side of heavy (guessing 8.5 lbs). Finish is nice. The smooth satin neck finish will take some getting used to (I'm a nitro lacquer guy), but it seems nice. Body finish is beautiful.

Fret edges are finished better than anything new I have picked up in a while (better than the 80's Fenders). Fret tops are a little rough, but could have quite a bit of corrosion due to no playing for 6 years.

Overall, it feels great and very comfortable to me as a long-time strat guy. Like putting on an old well worn sweatshirt. I was whipping off any lick I play on my favorite guitars within 24 hours and not thinking twice.

I have had over 40 Strats. They are bulletproof. I will have to see how the 2-screw tremolo holds up over time, but otherwise no weird electronics or other things to go wrong. General maintainance should be sufficient for 50+ years of hard playing.

I find myself touching the tape of the open coil humbuckers a lot with my paying style. I'm used to having rings on my humbuckers and covers on my single coils, and my pinky actually rests on the tape of the coil while I play (not good). We'll see if I end up damaging them over time.

I've been playing for almost 30 years. I have certainly owned well over 100 guitars in my life. All guitars have pluses and minuses. I currently own what I consider to be a perfect Telecaster, a perfect Les Paul, a Gibson ES-330, and several wonderful vintage Stratocasters each with their own distinct personality. I have built guitars from Warmoth and Chandler parts, I have tried Tokais, Suhr's, Andersons, PRS, Kubicki, Gibson SGs, Danelectros...

I am looking for the one guitar that can do it all in a live situation. With this guitar, I like the fact that I can get a good Les Paul tone out of a more ergonomic Stratocaster, but it is not 100% of what I wanted, but I think I may be able to get it out of this instrument, so I am not ready to give up yet. Fit, finish, playability... are fantastic, but I need good single coil tones too. Perhaps adding the single coil in the middle...

1999 Big Apple Strat. Made in USA. 22 frets, dual humbucker, you know the guitar! Rosewood fretboard, hardtail, string through body. Shorline gold. Ash body, 1 volume 2 tone 5 way selector, coil tapping. Seymour duncan pearly gates bridge, Seymour 59 up front. Maple neck, regular satin finish. Standard fender tuners. Medium Jumbo frets. 25 1/2 scale 1 11/16 nut.

Our band mostly plays heavier progressive stuff. Before I bought this guitar, I bought a couple of emg 81 pickups for it. After I bought and played it with the stock pickups, I never even installed the 81's like my other guitars already have. It suits my music style great. I play mostly through a Peavey XXX halfstack with a digitech gnx2. My setup is very quiet with this guitar. The sustain is incredible with the string through body. With the coil tapping on the pickups, you are able to get a very full creamy humbucker sound to an extremely bright single coil sound. Very versitile sound. I love this damn thing all the way through.

Action was a little low when I bought it. Pickups were dead on. No flaws. Almost like a good custom shop guitar (without the birdseye).

This guitar is like a rock and withstands live playing very well. Hardware will last just like all of the string throughs do. Finish is factory Shorline Gold and is withstanding my abuse now. Strap buttons were replaced to dunlop locks. I can depend on this guitar to get me through a night, but does anyone gig without a backup?

I have been playing for 18 years. I own a couple of older Kramer guitars, a Jackson Kelly model, a Washburn dime 333, a telecaster and an ESP KH-2. If it were stolen, I would definately buy another. I love everything about this guitar.

seymour duncan pickups, five way switch, teal green metallic

The sound of this guitar is great for anything from blues to heavy music. nice strat sound but beefier. Have played every thing from hendrix, srv, tool, smashing pumpkins, system of a down fits all of them.

plays great the best feeling strat i have played

have had it for over five years with no problems, put locking tuners on it always stays in tune. has been dropped a few times, glass broken on it and it still looks and plays great. would gig with out back up.

never needed

I would definitely replace this if it was lost or stolen. i love the variety of tones that i can get with this instrument and they all sound great. people that don't like strats have toold me that it is a great guitar

This is a follow up review to the one I did 18 months or so ago. I had only been playing for a couple of months at that point and I really had no idea what I was going on about. I have a bit more experience now so I feel I can give a better view.

The features haven't changed! Still have the dodgy pearloid pickguard that will probably stay on the guitar for life now.

Likes everything from blues --> hard rock. Will even do a bit of metallica-style metal if you hit it hard enough. I personally don't think it does clean mellow enough for jazz or country.

Neck pickup is gorgeous in humbucker mode. Smooth, flowing rhythms to be had here, some nice lead here as well. Bridge I am not so keen on, possibly a bit ruder could have been good? Keep in mind that Angus Young and Zakk Wylde are my inspirations when I play! I don't use any pedals when humbucking, they sound fine on their own.

I WAS disappointed with the single coil mode, right up until I plugged into a tubescreamer (into marshall). Changed my mind right quick! Trust me, try it.

Still good. I look after her pretty well.

Couldn't ask for more. Stays in tune fine (after I liberally add graphite powder to anything that touches the strings directly). Nothing has broken, everything looks to be solid.

N/A

I really do love this guitar. I now have a Dot 335 (Epi) sharing space with it which I like, but the strat is my first love. Fits my hand and playing like a glove. A guitar for rocking out on!