Fender Big Apple Strat

This frame was birthed in 1997 AD by an ancient titan before she departed for the Eagle nebula. she resided in the once-fertile lands of the Americas, and in such country was it inaugurated into the world of aural duty. Obtained the dual-fisted glory of two humbuckers, both alternating between loving and hating, living and dying..the neck position equipped with a Duncan '59, the bridge opens up with a matching Pearly Gates. The coils can be split for the additional weaponry of two single coils. An indespinsible addition to your arsenal of sound. Alder flesh, tremolo spine, rare and sought after tranparent sunset orange skin, smuggled from the Silk Road of yore. It waits on the edges of cliffs in Grandest Canyon. Waiting for the sun to die in the twenty final minutes. The Big Apple is armed more than most.

The vigor of the Pearly Gates was worn, and it has since been retired. Its replacement is the Dimarzio Super Distortion, veteran of the empyrial frontlines. Rock and roll pours through the vocal cords of this wild and untamed creature, spouting forth from the mouth of its engine steed, the Marshall JCM 900. Together they are a 100 watt behemoth grazing in the jungle, tranquil like a brooke, but when provoked will rage with the fury of a demon from the fourth layer of hell. It has been trained to communicate and attack mostly in rock and roll. Alternating pickups can achieve the sweet purring and laughter produced by the full '59, like cherubim annointing it with a halo..Whereas engaging the Super Distortion full on is like punching an alligator in the face: teeth, thrashing, and a lot of pain. The crunch is not unlike the bones of its victims. Slipping into the Distortion's single coil mode and letting down the reins of the tone knob will give you smooth yet vocal wailing akin to the patron saint Santana. Try everything with it. It will bless you unduly.

Well atuned and taken care of. It has been given vaccinations and properly cleaned. Surgical procedures such as the replacement of it's left lung, the Pearly Gate, have been done by the finest local guitar surgeon; the tribes of Maya will be pleased.

It works hard. Unlike others of its kin, it was not born for the approval of others, not externally gifted with aesthetics, although its beauty lies in it's primitive eyes. I depend on it like I do my arm. It carries out its orders and will honor my ancestor's bones when I am gone.

The titan has not been dealt with.

This guitar needs brothers. I wish only that its siblings were not so scarce, as having a twin would be a joy and suited for proper companionship. Four years have I been traveling the kingdoms with guitars as companions. It will endure. Fight with what you have.

First off Mine is that off white color with the dark tortise shell pick guard matched with white Seymour Duncan pickups & white knobs maple fret board (the maple fret boards were discontinued early on in the big apple series ).features Seymour Duncan pickups, schaller locking buttons, American Fender quality & play ability just feels right. all for under $1000 incredible.

With two Seymour Duncan humbucker pickups, this is an excellent American made guitar for those who like a warmer, fatter sound than is usually associated with the standard Stratocaster single-coil three pickup configuration. However, a 5-way switch allows for single or double coil operation so that a more traditional Strat sound is available as well. Also featured is the Pearly Gates Plus bridge. I liked the feel of the 59' neck and found this to be an extremely versatile guitar that was just as easy to playing screaming blues licks and harder edged rock on as it was to play country and jazz styles.I use this guitar for many different styles I prefer the more modern high gain rock I play in a cover band therefore blue's, country and jazz all have to be accessible this guitar does it all I play through Mesa equipment I also use PRS guitars but the big apple has its place at every one of my shows.

The Fender Big Apple Strat is no longer and production guaranteeing it a classic status if you can find one of these monsters I would suggest snapping it up these guitars are getting harder to find their keepers most people are hanging on to them for their versatility

1998, 22 frets etc same as rest
love the two humbuckers, split coil sounds not perfect but definitely useful!

I run this through a fender blues deville 2x12" and with the bridge pickup on the overdrive channel, you just want to kiss this guitar.. my favourite tone, neck humbucker can muddy up some distortions but gives a cool sound if you play with it a bit.
If I want to switch from neck to bridge pickup, I usually backoff the bottom tone knob when on the bridge as it is fairly harsh

beautiful, beautiful. Only flaws are scratches from the guy who owned it before me's belt buckle.. and he left some nice wrapping plastic

I'm scared to let anyone else use it in case they drop it, not that it'll break but the paint job will be ruined!!

seems sweet, frets seem to be wearing down, but not overly quick
changed saddles to graptech string savers and haven't briken a string since (I was chronic before that.. at least a string a week!)

no idea..

brilliant.

Might downgrade simply because I get too stressed owning a guitar this perfect.. no excuses for bad playing either!

Fender Big Apple Strat, USA, (late 90's?)candy apple red, pearl pickguard, Seymore Duncan '59 humbucker in the neck, and SD Pearly Gates HB at bridge. Alder body, Fender/Schaller tuners, maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, nice sized frets, standard tremolo, 5 position toggle switch, Fender hardshell case and accessories (wrenches)

This guitar fits my style to a "T", as I play hard/classic rock and blues rock. I run this through a JCM 800 Marshall with minimal effects. This guitar is 3 or 4 guitars in one - strat, tele, Les Paul - I can achieve so many sounds with this guitar.

Action was perfect from day 1. Used it the night I got it! I was so amazed. This neck just has to be played to appreciate it. No flaws. The only problem is feeding or removing the strings in the back with the tremolo flat against the body ( as I keep it)is sometimes difficult.

I use this live as my main axe. It plays so well. The first night I used it, I could not believe how smoothe the neck was, but action is not sloppy (like a Gibson). 10's make this guitar just right for me. Finish is a standard Fender paint job - not as fancy as Gibsons work, but I'm not "scared" to take it out and play it. Fender guitars are meant to be played, not locked away as a "keepsake". Very beautiful guitar in its own right. Strap buttons occassionally need tightening from straplocks. The only thing is I break alot of strings, but, then again, I break alot of strings anyway! Time to go to 11's! Have to have my old blue strat as a standby however. I wish it had a Floyd Rose or a hardtail. The tremolo is not for serious whammy users!

Not with this guitar. Fender was more than helpfull in the past with my other strat.

I'm 30 and have been playing since I was 9. I have a 80's Japanese strat I have totally customized and has remained my #1 guitar until the Big Apple came along. I use Marshall, Dunlop effects, and have a Martin D-16GT acoustic (sweet!) If stolen, I would replace it, maybe with sunburst. I love everything about it. Hey, I traded my Les Paul for it (It had headstock finish damage). No comparison, it blows it away. 10X more versatile than a Paul - don't let anyone tell you different. Again, needs a different tremolo/bridge.

This guitar is a 1998, which was bought at the fender NAAM show by my local music store for a music store employee. About a year later he traded me for a 1978 strat that i've groan tired of, it had a stripped truss rod but it was set up by my local guitar tech, which did an excellent job. The Big Apple was practically bran new and very hot looking as it was a Special Sunset orange transparent with an ash body. I was really attracted to the nice set of Seymour Duncan Humbuckers, and the super switch capabilities. I had my tech set it up for 10s, had a bone nut custom fitted to it. I had no tunning problems with it whatsoever, put a set of sperzel made for fender locking tunners on, they help it stay in tune better when using the whammy bar. which i don't use much. I like the rosewood fretboard.

This guitar is a real tone monster, it can go from sweet pristine bell like tone to fat butter like through that sweet 59' which is my favorite. I'm happy with all the selector versatility, I like the pearly gates, and i'm happy with it. But the 59' is better. If i ever make another change on this guitar, it would be a 59' in the bridge also.

Action is super, especially for 10s. The body has a very good cut out of the transparent paint job ash bodys that i've ever seen, this guitar has an exceptional grain that jumps out at ya. The finish on it is definatly awsome.

No worries with me, this guitar will never break. I treat em real good.

no need for it.

I've been playing for 32 years, i've had a lot of guitars, I never keep over one electric and accoustic at one time, both of mine are set up super good. And the two that i own now would turn any guitar player on to touch them.

Translucent Sunset Orange model with rosewood fb, otherwise same features as all the rest. Made in 2000.

Isn't sound why we buy a guitar? Ballsy blues, a little jazz, classic rock, heavy distortion, a little drop-d crap when playing with my daughter. It works well for everything I play. The split positions are somewhere between okay and very good for single-coil work, especially if I'm being lazy and don't want to bring a sh*tpot full of guitars to a gig. Overall, pretty darned versatile!

Fit and finish was flawless. Setup was, well... the way setups always are - needs work. Setup was probably okay on a particular day at the factory, but it got shipped to Florida, new climate, different season, etc., so the relief needed work. Intonation was correct. Switched to 10's, added a spring, and readjusted the trim and all was good. Finish was better than flawless. I can't remember seeing a more attractive guitar.

Ask me in 20 years.

Never used it.

I bought it to get a good humbucker sound for higher gain work. Something with a little more punch than a hot-wired single coil, and it works well for that. Been playing Hendrix since Jimi played Hendrix, owned lots and lots of vintage stuff when it wasn't vintage(wish I still had my original '62 Strat that I sold for $200). Settled of a few US Strats, a Prosonic Combo (lugged way too many stacks in my time), and a 2X12 Tonemaster extension. This thing works extremely well with the Pro on the clean channel, saturating the power tubes easily, and really shines on the drive channel.

Stock big apple -USA, rosewood fingerboard, maple neck,Alder Body, standard trem bridge, seymour duncan humbuckers-59 in the neck -pearly gates in the bridge. Fender schaller tuners. Med jumbo frets, 5 way pick up selector, fender flight case. It would get a ten if it had a floyd rose ( Im sure thats up for debate)

I play all stlyes but mainly metal and rock. I mainly use a 5150 mk2 with a marshall vintage quad.
The neck pu is classic gibson territory. Lots of warm tones not overly gained. Brown sound. When it is split it gives a Ok single coil glassy tone. I have heard better but it will do.
Bridge pu has more gain and bite. It is quite trebly and cutting in nature. Suits heavy distortion as whell as power rock. Good for leads. When split it can become a bit thin. Not the best single coil.

I like both humbucker sounds but I can leave the single coil sounds alone. Original strat pu do it better. For an easy assessment it sunds like a realy bright lespaul with that srat like bite.

No flaws. Action had to be set up. It feels really fast. The trem puts the srtings out of tune too much so I dont use it. ( thats why I like a floyd rose )I changed the nut to a graphite one hoping to improve the stability of the tuning whilst using the trem. It didnt work, I should of kept the original nut on there.

I play all the time. I mean all the time. It goes in tour,gets knocked around on stage and battered when Im teaching. This is the most reliable guitar I have owned.

Never needed it

I have been playing for 14 years. I use tremelo quite a lot. I have another strat with a floyd rose for that. This guitar is reliable and easy to change strings on. It is the perfect partner for my other strat. If it was stolen I would buy it again.

Made in 2000. Standard strat features, but was hard tail Big
Apple, since I wanted sustain from fixed bridge. Tuners were
Fender. It was your typical high-quality Strat body and neck.
Had Rosewood fingerboard.
Came with good case.

At first I LOVED the sound, but started to hate it, since
the bridge pickup is too raspy and trebly when playing the guitar
clean. I don't ALWAYS want to have full-bore distortion on a strat.
The neck pickup was too muddy and dull sounding. The in-between
sounds were mostly a joke and did a poor imitation of a single-coiled
strat. I could have kicked myself after owning this guitar for
1.5. years - WHY didn't I get a regular strat and put Joe Barden
pickups or just leave stock Strat pickups on it? Answer - I was
trying to simulate a Gibson Les Paul sound with the light weight of
a Strat. Kind of dumb thinking if you ask me!

The setup was ok - I could move around fast on the neck, but I
got cramps in my hand, after playing the guitar for a few hours.
I know you are supposed to be a "man" when you own a Strat, but
this is ridiculous! I think the 2001 Strats blow away the other
strats in playability. I guess Fender wasn't kidding about making
some dramatic improvements in the Strat's neck. The finish was
beautiful and all my friends were in awe of the guitar. The neck
pocket was not as tight as it should be for a $750 guitar.

Built like a tank. It could be used as a weapon. Only 2 minor
complaints:
1. One volume pot was half stripped and would keep rotating, but I didn't
bother getting the guitar fixed over that, since if you used a light
touch, would stop at the maximum setting.
2. The bridge saddles would cause a string to break nearly every
gig, but I did not want to get the graphite bridge saddles, since
the sustain would have been compromised, slightly. I was able to
live with breaking strings a few times a month or less.

I have no idea.

Been playing since 70s. Have owned all kinds of guitars, like
Gibson SG, Gibson ES-335. I sold the guitar, since I was sick of
it. The pickups just didn't cut it after a while. At first, I
loved the pickups. But, I didn't like the trebly, tinny bridge
pickup sound when trying to play clean and the muddy neck pickup
sound. Sure, when cranked up through a Fender, it sounded fairly
good, but did not sound like Rory Gallagher's single coil pickup
strat sound.
Since the guitar was hard to play for an
extended period of time in one sitting or at a gig, it did not
make me want to keep this guitar.

If I were getting a Strat again, I would get the much cheaper
Standard Strats that cost 300-400 bucks or so. It would have stock
pickups and maple neck. If I got sick of the pickups, I would
install Joe Bardens. I would LOVE to get a strat with a decent
non-Floyd-Rose Whammy bar. I played one of the newere strats and
it had a fairly good whammy, but the guitar got out of tune when
you really flailed on the whammy.

Big apple red w/perliod pickgaurd. Rosewood fretboard, and all the standards. I really like the brushed steel saddles. I customized it with chrome knobs, looks cool.

I have always leaned toward Strats and this is the best of it's kind I've ever had. I use it for gigging, and home recording. The single coil tones don't quite match a dedicated single coil Strat, but they are useable. The humbuckers just crush. Sounds awsome for any kind of music you play. Sustains for years. No complaints

Set up was nice right off the shelf, until I restrung it with 10's from the factory 9's. But that's to be expected. It snapped right back into shape after minimal tweakage. Finish is all good. Would have prefered a different color other than red, but it's all they had so I got used to it. Comfy nech. Really great guitar, won't sell it.

I've already suffered a nice DING from a gig, but that's live music for you. I think I could slam it around some more. It's built solid like a tank. Heavy. Very reliable. Keeps in tune very well, I don't use much tremelo. You could depend on the guitar.

Fender is usually good I guess, never had to call 'em

Been playing 16 years or so, had alot of guitars. I still want a nice classic Strat with single coils, but this dual humbucker set-up is a real monster. I love it. It stands up against a Les Paul pretty well, and it's easier to play.

I am not sure what year it is, but I bought it used from dreaded GC. It is black with the red turtoise pickguard. Dual Seymour Duncans with coil taps integrated into the 5way switch. Very intriging. The level of volume between single coil and full-on hummer is large.The Duncans are snow white in color. It is a hard tail so no tuning problems. Mine has a rosewood fretboard. Small style headstock. Very nice.

I play mainly heavy origional music and this guitar holds its own in that genre. In different settings, it is an excellent blues guitar. Especially the neck p/u with the tone rolled back. Very pleasing. The sustain is endless. Either p/u. Right now I play it through a Mesa Mark IV and it is tone heaven. I will probably be selling my GT-3 now. Also, when I hear the p/u's becoming muddy, I just dial back the distortion a bit and all is good.

Action was fine from GC. The finish is flawless for a used guitar. It is a beatiful guitar. I am almost afraid to play it because it is so shiny. When you kick in the distortion on either of these Duncans, watch out. For being used, I can't tell anyone ever even played it. Plastic from the origional pickguard protector was still under some of the screws in the pickguard, sticking out a good 1/4". Basically brand new.

Having only owned it 3 monthes, it is hard to qualify an answer. But, it seems very sturdy. I always have a back-up (to everything!!).

n/a

I have been playing 15 years and have and had too much gear to list. I really love the action on this guitar, but most of all, the tone. I play lead thru the Mesa and the rhythm guitarist playes a PRS thru a JCM 2000 and this baby more than holds its own-It rules....I recommend that if you see one, grab it up {and give it to me!!}