Fender Big Apple Strat

I bought my guitar in Hungary in 1999. Maybe somebody thinks that it was too much for it but unfortunately the musical instruments are very expensive in here. Green metallic color, ash body, 22 frets.

I mostly play jazz-rock and funk and also in these styles it works very well.

Fortunately never needed yet.

Big Apple Strat..H/H..Candy apple red..perloid p/g..maple neck..rosewood board

Neck Humbucker is awesome...middle posistion (both HB on) is great too. Neck HB is too muddy for my tastes. In between posistions..I never use. All the tone I want is there, though.

Great detail..and, perfect finish.

Built like a tank.

Fender has always been very helpful..

Already bought another.

Big Apple Strat, not sure of the year, probably mid-2000 'cause I think Fender stopped producing 'em at that point for the 'double-fat' strat.

Red finish with that bullsh*t tortise shell pickguard, ash body, maple neck, normal fender trem (which I locked straight away), 2 seymour duncan humbuckers -> see other posts for the specs 'cause I don't know offhand. Everything else is pretty standard strat.

Got a pretty cool hardcase with it, thing is very bloody heavy though, need a gig bag if you plan on carrying it for any great length of time.

Guitar itself is a fair bit heavier than other strats I tried, must be the ash body. I wanted a heavier guitar anyway, normal strats feel like toothpicks in my hands. I like the heavy 'plank-o-wood' feeling I have with mine. Les Pauls have a similar feeling, but don't have the same versatility IMHO.

I give it a 7 because a strat is a pretty basic, straight-forward guitar.

I am just 4 months into playing guitar so I really haven't figured out exactly my style of playing yet (hell, I am yet to master ANYTHING about playing guitar just yet). I have a pretty wide range of stuff I listen to: from Limp Bizkit and Sick of it All, all the way through to Wes Montgomery and George Benson, and out the other way to Slash, EVH, and Angus Young. This guitar seems to do most things well, but really doesn't seem happy until you get down and dirty. Think Led Zepp, AC/DC, or even Aerosmith. Suits the hell out of me, but thrash metallers, country players, and clean pickers probably should look elsewhere.
Rated it a 7 because what the hell is a perfect guitar sound? Also, I haven't plugged into anything big and loud yet (I use my Marshall G15R-CD at home) so I can't really say how she goes at really high volume.

Action was about as good as anything else in the shop. Not outstanding good, not outstandingly bad either. Fine for my experience and skill.

Zero flaws from the factory. I mean it, the thing did not have a scratch, dent, or imperfection. When I took off the backing plate to adjust the trem spring, there was grease or whatever all over the joint, is this factory practice?

No problems with the workmanship, very good. Rate a 9.

Well, it seems that the guitar will outlive me. I would trust strap buttons from any manufacturer, use strap locks at all times. Finish etc seem fairly permenant to me.

I sure as hell would not gig this thing without a backup. I didn't believe all the reviews I read about strats breaking strings, trust me - they are true. One every two or so weeks for me. I don't play all that hard. When I do, pop! SO I play mellow and they last 2 weeks. 6 for this reason alone.

N/A. Never had any dealings with 'em.

I love this guitar, wouldn't buy it again if it were stolen because I don't think I could find one this perfect again (I try big apples when I see them and I never find one as good as mine, opinion only). Probably go for something totally different next time, like maybe a 335 or something.
I don't give high ratings, but this one deserves it.

Mine is the special edition burnt orange color, transparent. This is an awsome guitar. I love mine to death. The only thing is that its a little heavy because of the ash body, but its great sounding on stage. Its has a very dark maple neck. Any one who dosent like this guitar is not very smart. That is just my oppion. Its a great buy for any one who is thinking about getting one.

Mine is that off white color with the tortise shell pick guard.It has a tremelo.All the other features are the same as the rest.

This guitar sounds great. I cant believe all the people who say there going to buy new pickups for this guitar what a waste of money. The cool thing about this guitar is that all the sounds work in a live situation.

This guitar was set up pourly ( the fellow at guitar center informed me he had just set it up ).I`m the only one who can set up a guitar for me any ways which I did after I got it home.I set it up with no relief and lower than Fender specs and it plays pretty well.The nut could be lowered a bit and I`ll get around to doing that. I`ve played alot of these Big Apple Strats and this was not the best one by any means.The neck pocket is`nt real tight but I dont think that matters as much as some people seem to think it does. I`ve got alot of guitars and my two cheapest ones have the tightest neck set,(A yamaha PAC112 and a De Armond Jet Star Special.Most old vintage stats and teles are pretty bad in this area and it doesnt seem to hurt them.All and all I`m pretty happy with this and after I get around to lowering the nut and dressing the frets it will be a real player.

It`s a bolt neck fender what could be sturdier.

Ive got a friend who just bought one of those new Strats with the noisless pickups and it was set up terribly. When I set it up to Fender specs for him it freted out on evey fret after the 12th. I told him he should have the store that he bought it at do a fret job and Fender agreed to pay for it so thats pretty good.They did a lousy job but he`s a lousey player so he didnt notice and I figured ignorance is bliss so this time I didnt say anything.

Did you see what I paid for this thing brand new with plastic on the pickguard and hang tags .They had 2 at this price and I wish I could have bought them both. That why I wasnt concerned about Fenders set up, at that price I`ll set it up myself.I`ve been looking at this guitar and a Godin double humbucking for about a year now but none of them had good enough fret work for me to want to buy them. If I`m paying 800 to 1200 dollars for a guitar I dont want to do fret work on it after I buy it. At $399 I dont mind doing the fret work my self.I drive by guitar center every day at my job as a truck driver so I seem to end up getting a lot of good deals.I got this $1250 list Strat for $399, a Dano 56 U3 for $119, a Dearond Jet Star Special (I love this guitar) for $59 thats right $59 and I traded a old cardboard silvertone 6 watt amp that I paid $13 dollars for for a Squire Bronco Bass all in the past 6 months.All of these guitars were brand spankin new no shit.I love this store.Now when I walk in there I ask "what are you giving away today.I just wish I could have aforded the PRS gold top they were selling for $1200 new.

98 or 99 3-tone sunburst model called "Sunny". Maple fretboard. Alder body. Standard tremolo. Nice thin and fast neck.

The guitar sounds great in all pick-up configurations. I mostly use position 2 (neck single coil), position 3 (both humbuckers), and position 4 (neck and bridge single coils). I run the guitar through a Line 6 POD and a Barcus Berry 60W amp. This guitar has it all: fast neck, a spectrum of sounds and good looks.

I have not had to make any adjustments to this instrument. It has no flaws and spoke to me the first time I played it. I chose it over an SRV strat (I still would like to own an SRV though).

This is one tough sturdy guitar and I believe it will take alot of punishment.

Not Applicable. Have had no problems.

I've been playing for 29 years and own this Strat, an Epiphone Sheraton II, a Fender Newport acoustic, a 67 Fender Mustang bass, a Line 6 POD, a Barcus Berry 60W amp, and a Peavy Bass amp. I would replace this guitar if it were stolen. The best feature about this guitar is it spectrum of tones you can dial up. The only thing I would add to this guitar is coil taps on both humbuckers for additional tone coloring.

my guitar is a late 99 strat,i know this because it has the new body routeing for the pickups like all new starts now.Its black with a tortise pickguard and it has the tremolo.It came with schaller locking buttons but i had to buy the locks for the starp.It also came equiped with seymor duncan humbuckers.I havent done any modifications except adding 2 more tremolo springs.the guitar is great but i want to change the pickgurad and the pickups.

the guitar can sound either like a start or a les paul because of the humbuckers,i dont like the way its set up because i dont think the single coil selection sounds good distorted,i am definatly chaning the pickups,its not noisy at all and the guitar has alot of sustain.

my start came set up perfectly,plays great,awesome action,i just want to get graphtec saddles and nut for ease of tuning and so i wont break strings as much

it will play anywhere and its very durable

i striped a strap button and guitar center fixed it on the spot,i have never dealt with fender so my rating is for g.c

good all in all,i just want a differnt sound,i love fender there the best,i will definatly change the pickups for sound,pickguard for show,and saddles/nut for playability

97 or 98 model, silver color (very close to the "Inca" silver on newer guitars, but a slightly different shade) with a cool mother of pearl pickguard. 2 duncan humbuckers with a 5 way switch that gets single coils at positions 2 and 4. Mine is a hardtail version (no trem, strings through body). Maple fingerboard.

This guitar is well suited for many different styles. I play hard rock, heavy metal, blues, and other styles and this guitar is very versitile. It really doesn't shine for really distorted heavy metal. A Jackson or Ibanez or some other full on metal guitar would be better if that's your main style. I'm able to get a surprisingly good SRV type single coil sound from this guitar with the coil splitter switch positions. I can get some really good 70 and 80's rock and early metal tones from it as well. Think ZZ Top, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, etc. I really love the single coil sound, and that's my main use for it. The clean sound is pretty good from this guitar as well, but I don't use it as much.

I bought this guitar used and the only adjustment I made was to lower the action a bit. No flaws that I can detect that weren't caused by the previous owner.

Fenders are very sturdy guitars in general, and this one is no exception. The finish is thick, but not "cheap guitar super thick" if you know what I mean. The previous owner had drilled a small hole into the body (!) so I can see exactly how thick the finish is. As tough as any guitar out there...

never dealt with Fender

I have been playing for 17 years, and I have an American tele, Gibson marauder (great guitar for the price!), and a Jackson PS-4. I have a mesa boogie .22 caliber and a line 6 spyder. If this guitar were lost/stolen/abducted by aliens I would absolutly buy another American Stratocaster, but not sure if it would be a big apple because: 1) They are pretty hard to find used. 2) they are way too expensive new (and they make "fat strats" now instead of big apples. 3) I think I would like a plain old normal strat just as well. I think the Gibson and Jackson I have get slightly better humbucking sounds than this guitar, I really use it for the single coil sound 80% of the time. Therefore I'm not sure a 3 single coil guitar wouldn't be slightly better. I really bought this one because it was a hard tail, and I think that's pretty cool. The only complaint I have about strats in general is the 2 tone knobs - what's up with that? But I guess a design that has lasted this long with only minor changes has something going for it..:-)

2000?
22 FRETS, SOLID PLANK-O-WOOD, DUAL HUMBUCKERS (SEYMOUR DUNCAN; PEARLY GATES PLUS AND '59 CUSTOM), ALDER BODY/MAPLE NECK/ROSEWOOD, CANDY APPLE RED, HARDTAIL. FOR THE GUY WHO EARLIER QUESTIONED THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A PEARLY GATES AND A PEARLY GATES PLUS IS THE PLUS HAS HIGHER OUTPUT TO MATCH THE NECK P/U.

PLAY BLUES/ROCK/SOUTHERN ROCK THRU A PEAVEY CLASSIC 30 WITH A CELESTION BLUE. IBANEZ TS-9 PEDAL. NO NOISE WHEN PICK-UP SWITCHING OR EVEN PLUGGING-IN TO AN AMP WITH VOLUME UP. ABSOLUTE RICH FULL SOUND, IN FACT A LOT OF BARK AND GROWL TO THE H/B'S. S/C'S ARE SWEET. ALL MY FRIENDS LOVE TO PLAY MY AXE.

ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING WAS SET-UP PERFECT ON THIS AXE. BOUGHT IT FROM THE LOCAL MUSIC STORE AND THEIR SALESMEN/TECH.S/PLAYERS ARE WELL VERSED IN GUITAR SET-UP.

IT'S A GUITAR FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE (45 YRS). VERY DEPENDABLE, VERY GOOD HARDWARE. WHY WOULD I WANT TO USE ANYTHING ELSE?

NEVER USED THEM, HOPE I NEVER HAVE TO. EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SUPPORT FROM DEALER.

PLAYING 6 YRS. YES, I WOULD BUY IT AGAIN. IN FACT, I WOULD BUY IT AND IT ONLY. WELL, MAYBE IF IT CAME IN A SET NECK. LOVE THE FEEL/PLAYABILITY OF A STRAT AND THE HARDTAIL/HUMBUCKERS COMBO. HAVE TRIED OTHER GUITARS THAT FELT BETTER BUT WERE COST PROHIBITIVE. I WISH IT HAD CAME WITH THE RECTANGULAR CASE VERSUS THE FORM FITTED.

About a year ago i bought a 99 Big apple strat, being entranced by it's seeming incomparable versatility and tone. It's a very beautiful looking fender guitar, much more so that all of the standards. I bought it in black with the dark colorful pickguard and a maple neck. Since then have put a graph-tech nut and string saver saddles in there to take care of the tuning problem i had while using the tremolo. Basically, the tremolo was unusable without the guitar going out of tune! Anyhow, It's a very good looking guitar, and all the people who have come to see my band play can instantly recognize it. I would have to say that it is the best looking and sounding fender i have ever bought. Came with standard schallers and medium jumbo frets. Probably the best feature though, is the five way switching between the humbuckers.

I absolutely love the sound of the neck pickup run through my Fender Hot Rod Deville. It gives a very dark tone. Pretty good for jazz. I play a mix between jazz and satriani. Kind of a hard thing to imaging the two together, but that's what i play! The bridge pickup can kick out some pretty nasal distortion that is pretty rich in harmonics, and some of the in between spots are actually decent sounding single coils! Pretty good for tapping out of seymour duncan.
I would say that the guitar puts out a pretty smooth tone overall.

The guitar was set up like i expected any strat to be set up. The action was too low, the tremolo needed adjusting, the truss rod needed adjusting, but at least those people at fender did a good fret job for me! The worst thing about this guitar is the nut. It is a good nut normally, but the minute that you start to use the tremolo, the nut takes it right out of tune. After getting so aggravated at not being able to use the tremolo at all because of the severity of the problem, i put a graph tech trem nut in there and i haven't had any problems since.

Couldn't really see this guitar giving out on me, so i most of the time use it without a backup. Especially now that i have the string saver saddles on it. It's almost impossible to break a string with those things! If you leave the regular saddles on it, make sure to have a back up, or that floating bridge will take you right out of tune.

N/A

I've been playing for quite a while now and the combination i use now is doing me fine. I run the Big Apple through a Boss GT-3 and a Crybaby 535Q into my Hot Rod Deville, so i pretty much get a very versatile difference in tone out of all three. I can get close to imitation tone differences from satriani to vai to russell malone. I think the look of it leaves me quite satisfied and the feel of it makes me keep coming back. It is my number one axe right now, but i've already got my sights set on a Tom Anderson Hollow Drop Top Classic. If you ever have enough money to spend on a guitar in the 3,000 range, pass up PRS for a tom anderson, and you won't ever think twice about it, I PROMISE! Oh yeah, I think that i have possible found the best store to shop at. It's calles the music loft in Raleigh NC, and they have such an inventory that they take up to forty percent off list price! Check out the website ----------------- WWW.INDOORSTORM.COM