Fender Cyclone

Made in Mexico. I believe it is 2002 and is orange. I got a good deal because the shop said they couldn't move this color guitar, I like the color a lot. It actually looks really beautiful with the rosewood finger board. Everytime I take my guitar out of the case or play a show it draws more attention than I want. In fact, while it is on the stand before and after sets, a lot of crowd members and other bands make there way over as close to stage as possible to get a better look. I guess I'm trying to say this guitar has a unique look without being outragous.

This guitar works for everything I want to play. I run it through a Fender Hot Rod Deville 2x12 and use a Boss DS1 distortion pedal. This setup is the exact sound I want. I found the guitar to sound a little bright when used with cheaper solid state amps, but when run through tubes, it is rich and full. The neck pickup is really great for clean tones and warm bluesy riffs. The bridge pickup is perfect for distorion and full sounding rock. Like I said, this setup is perfect for me.

The action was actually pretty well from the factory. I did some changes to set it up how I like, and I've never felt more comfortable playing than when I use this guitar. All the hardware was in perfect shape. The pickups were set a little high so I backed them off a bit. The neck didn't have proper relief set to it, almost perfectly straight. I had to loosen the bolt about 3/4 of a turn to get the relief right, but like I said, now it plays just right.

This guitar is great for live playing and has never failed me. I don't use a backup and don't feel like I need to. The finish is very resistant. I always use strap locks so I don't know how the buttons are. I wouldn't want any other guitar on stage.

No experience.

I've been playing for about 11 years. I have a Les Paul Studio and Telecaster. The Cyclone is my favorite out of the guitars I own and I will always pick it up first. I actually bought it before I ever played just becuase of the great price and now I can't ever imagine not having it. I have a couple amps, Marshall, Hughes/Kettner, but I use my Fender Deville almost exclusively. I don't really use effects, just distortion through a DS1 and somtimes wah. If this guitar was lost or stolen I would probably go into deep depression. Every guitar, even same brand and model, is different. This is MY guitar and we belong together.

Enough has been said by the previous reviewers about the features. I like the simplistic beauty of the Cyclone. Fender put some great quality hardware on this baby.

I've used this guitar in a practice room with a Bruno amp (not sure what model) but it sounded excellent! The tex mex p/u is my favorite - very SRV/Hendrix sounding with plenty of volume. The jury is still out on the Atomic Humbucker. Initially, I thought the sound was a little trebly and not my cup of tea but with a little effort on my part, I've been able to dial in some decent sounds on the fly -- it hasn't disappointed me yet. In any case, it's nice to have the option of a good, powerful pickup.

One of the most comfortable guitars I've ever played (I've owned Jazzmasters, Teles, an Explorer). Very light and great craftsmanship.

A real workhorse! I can't see any problems.

N/A

I've been playing for many years and I have to say that the Cyclone is one of the greatest deals -- EVER! This guitar can get almost any sound you want from jazz - heavy alt rock. The bottom line is that this guitar RAWKS!

1 atomic humbucker, 1 tex mex strat single coil, strat tremolo, made in mexico,3 way selector, 24.75 scale length.

This is where the problems come in, no, not the sound problem, its the player problem, this guitar was made for grunge, punk, alternative, surf, none of that old country music bullshit there is, if you want a fucking ugly guitar for fucking pathetic music like country, get yourself a telecaster. Any person who doesn't play grunge, rock, punk, go fuck yourself, this guitar is meant for that! It sound great by the way.

It was set up good, nothing was loose, I can slide my hand down the fingerboard perfectly. I changed the strap buttons to Dunlops.

IT'S A FENDER FOR FUCKS SAKE. OF COURSE IT WITHSTANDS LIVE PLAYING, I PLAY GIGS ALL THE TIME. I NEVER GO TO A GIG WITHOUT BACKUP, YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT CAN HAPPEN. EVERYTHING IS SOLID.

I spoke to Fender Customer Support for a showmaster, and they weren't that helpfull.

YOU OLD GEEZERS, GO GET A DIFFERENT GUITAR FOR YOUR SHITTY MUSIC. You can tell what kind of sound a guitar makes just by looking at it, and basically fender only makes 1 guitar for crappy music...the Telecaster. This guitar is awesome.

Its Mexican made and Candy Apple Red in colour with 22 frets.
It has 1 volume control + 1 tone control (some might see this as a negative but i like my guitars to be quite simple in that respect)
1 "zebra stripe" humbucker at the bridge, single coil at the next with 3 way pickup selector
Body style is similar to a Fender jaguar, with a jazzmaster style headstock- looks almost like the jag-stang but less mishapen (and in my opinion nicer)
Has a rosewood fret board which i always opt for over just the plain maple fingerboard. Il give it 10 because i honestly think this guitar is truly a great guitar and although it only has the one set of volume and tone controls it suits me perfectly!!! I fixed the bridge on mine so i can use alternative tunings without worrying about the intonation being knocked out.

The music I play in my band is alternative rock (Pixies/Smashing Pumpkins influenced)and this guitar is fantastic-sounds great with distortion when set to the humbucker and offers some woody hendrixy tones when set to the single coil and also really nice strat-like clean tones. Its great for jazz,blues,classic rock also- all in all a very versatile guitar with a very bright tone which will cut through the mix very well.

Only finish flaw was inside the guitar there was a hole drilled badly for the screw to enter but this is a minor cosmetic detail that doesnt affect its performance (and you dont see anyway -it being inside the guitar!!!) There is a volume drop when switching to the single coil but thats always expected.
Finish is of a very high standard. Action is nice and low with very little buzzing even past the 12th fret.

Its a great guitar for playing live- very robust.
I have used it with out a backup each time i have used it live.
I own a Gibson SG- but out of personal sound and tone preference I have started opting for this guitar.

Never had to contact them.

I have been playing for about 8 or 9 years now and Its definately my favourite guitar that I have ever owned.
I use a Roland Bluescube Amplifier and Boss DS-2 Distortion (otherFX also) -sounds perfect to me.
If it were stolen the person responsible would be in fear of their life.
I would descibe the guitar as playing/sounding like a mix between a fat-strat and a jaguar. great price-well worth the money (got a case thrown in as well.)

This is a Fender 2000 model Candy apple red Cyclone.
22 Fret guitar,
9.5in fret radius,
1.685 nut width.
It has a 3 way selector switch
1 volume, and 1 master tone control
Single Tex mex and an Atomic Humbucker
Poplar wood (heavy)
Offset body
Vintage style tremolo
Vintage style tuning machine heads
Included: Deluxe gig bag
459 dollars on musiciansfriend.com

The Cyclone suits my music style perfectly. I use the humbucker for my rock tones and the single for the jazzy latin tunes. I play out of a Fender Frontman 15R amp, with a Digitech RP 50 Effects petal. It isnt noisy at all. The clean effects sound perfect, my other guitar sounded distorted on the clean chanel. I love that I can bend or use vibrato and it stays in tune. There is nothing I dislike about this guitar.

It plays perfectly right out of the box. The only problem I had was the trem springs loosened up a bit, but a screwdriver can fix that! The pickups were a little high for my taste, but fully adjustable. Everything is tight. The pickup switcher, the jack, the pot's, etc.

This guitar definitly will withstand live. It is heavy so it is durable. I've bumped the head on my computer desk, and no chips or dings. The strap buttons are secure and I can mash blink 182 on it and the finish withstands that. I'll gig it without a backup.

Never had to

I've been playing for about a year and 8 monthes. This is my third guitar. I have a Squier Affinity fat strat, a Fender Resinator, and the Fender Cyclone. If it were stolen, I would hunt down the culpret, beat him, then take back my cyclone. I love the single humbucker as I've said, and the 3 way selecter instead of the 5. So far I've played (at stores) A gibson ES-333 a Fender highway 1 strat, a fender telecaster, a squier showmaster, a BC-Rich Warlock, and a PRS Custom 22. The ony guitar I would chose over the cyclone is the PRS.

i'd just like to do a follow-up. i've read a few more of the other reviews here, and i'm bothered by how brutal some of them are. one could do a helluva lot worse for 300-400 dollars. compared to a squier, korean epiphone, samick, or any of those entry-level jacksons, ibanezes, washburns, and bc riches.....this is a great guitar. the reason guys that have played for 30-some odd years don't like this guitar is because it's NOT DESIGNED FOR THEM. there are plenty of top-shelf american made guitars with hand-polished bloody pickguard screws that undoubtedly sound and play better, but unless you're 50 with a good job and only buy equipment to impress your friends or "add to your collection" to get back at your wife, this is about all you can afford. no-one will be plugging this guitar into a boutique amp...the people who buy these guitars buy the same kind of amps-not a blooming bogner or top hat, more like a crate or a peavey or a fender. i own a bloody vintage gibson les paul. people swear by the things, pay thousands for them. in my eyes, it's a heavy, uncomfortable (due to the square edges), finicky (due to the low action and nearly un-intonable bridge), one-sided guitar. it's beautiful for sure, but it's not for everyone either. i stress that these reviews are here to provide helpful input, not make people feel like the thing they own and love (or would love to own) isn't worth it because somebody with a very different opinion said so.

made in 2003 in mexico
22 frets laminated

controls: 1 volume 1 tone (later removed) 3 way pickup selector 1-NS, 2-NS&BH, 3-BH. (<-- had to repair the selector a while after I got it because the hardware was malfitted)

pickups: 1 tex-mex single slanted below the neck & 1 atomic humbucker at the bridge

electronics: passive

wood: maple neck on alder body

finish: polyester

body style: mustang

bridge: "Vintage Style Synchronized Tremolo"? looks like a regular strat bridge to me.

tuners: "Fender/Ping Vintage Style Tuning Machines"

neck/scale: 24 3/4? (629 mm) (mentioned "jazzmaster neck")

accessories: came with a gig-bag


-removed tone pot (no use to turn it down)

rating: 8, i had to do some work

I designed this guitar in shop class before I found out that fender was selling it, so I bought one. The pickups were nice and loud once I fixed a minor output-jack prob, it suits me because I play loud music. The humbucker is excellent at picking up vibration from the body and feeding back, if you like that kind of thing... think sonic youth or noise rock like that..

rating: 9, i was suprised actually..

the guitar was fine out of the box, although I did file down the nut a little more for comfort and I had to move the ... string-holder-downer-thingy on the headstock up a little so the string wouldnt fall off the nut (I play at a drop-dropped tuning)

rating: 6, they designed it for preppy-ass hair-metal tuning

seems durable and have played it live.. i use tape locks, and yes I did use it without a backup. (easy to replace a string fast too)

rating: 9, that was an easy one

after all my warranty voiding maitainence? customer support? psshh

like I said, this was the guitar I designed.
Perfect for heavyer genres of rock.. damn expensive though.

Mexican Fender Cyclone made in 2003, 22 frets, alder body (like a thick mustang), 'tic-tac' orange, cheap 'vintage-style' hardware, three-way toggle, volume+tone knobs, a tex-mex single coil in the neck and an atomic humbucker at the bridge. a good word is basic.

instead of picking apart my sound, i'll call it undistorted rock. lately i've been playing a Greco ES-175 copy, and switching from that to the Cyclone is not unlike moving from one coast to the other. i'm still getting used to this thing, despite playing a strat for almost ten years. the tex-mex pickup is a little toooo punchy for a neck pickup - the atomic humbucker sounds like the average humbucker. sometimes the low end drowns out the high end and that's no good. i'm thinking of replacing the neck pickup. the sound isn't too thin, and it can growl when you want it to.

This guitar was a special order from a music store (they only had graf yellow), so it was shipped directly from fender - still had the little humidifying packet and stickers all over it). the neck was on TIGHT, and there wasn't a single scratch in the paint job. Aside from a tiny bubble of paint and polyester at the neck joint, the finish was flawless. The neck was also in perfect condition. I didn't pay too much attention to the hardware, since I replaced most of it as soon as i brought it home.

After upgrading the tuners and string saddles, this thing is a tank. I've already accidentally banged the headstock against a couple of walls (tight spaces), and the tuning didn't even budge. The main reason I got this thing was because I always feel extremely cautious playing my ES-175 live, and hollow guitars hate humidity and any temperature that isn't room temperature. I would definitely use this at a show without a back-up.

I've been playing guitar for ten years. I have the 175 copy, a 50's Stratocaster, and now the Cyclone. I play through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (6L6's), and a Fender Princeton 65. Before buying the Cyclone, I read up on it and noticed that everyone's number one complaint were the tuning machines. They were junk, really, but I replaced them with the Fender Schaller Locking Tuners. To anyone looking to buy this guitar, definitely get replacement tuners. And if you go with the locking ones, know that they won't fit the slightly smaller holes of the headstock. Oh yeah, and unless you are completely confident in your wood boring skills, have them replaced by a luthier (I did it myself and now there are a couple of scratches on my headstock booo). I changed out the string saddles with graph-tech saddles and added two more springs to the tremolo, too. At this point, overall, I really like the Cyclone. I'll like it even more once I get used to it.

fender cyclone. i think its a 2000...i bought it new that year. it has a black body (made out of _______wood?), maple neck with rosewood fretboard, medium frets, tortoise-shell pickguard, one humbucking pickup and one single-coil (three-way switching). vintage style trem and tuners, one volume-one tone knob.
all fender standard parts, made in mexico.
has lots of mojo...buckets of it.
it came with a gigbag and a sticker.

this guitar has a great sound in my opinion. fenders have always had a twangy-thing going on, which is true for the humbucker...even though i've had it rewound. the single is much more up my alley. with some time put in, the height of both pickups can be adjusted to where the top end isn't too shrill and the bottom end isn't warbly. i've been playing it through a 15 watt vox, a late 70's 100 watt music man, a pre-dsp fender ultimate chorus. it sounds great through all three of them, even though the music man needs to be rebiased. i wish that fender had opted for separate tone controls, because switching from the single to the humbucker results in an unpleasant twang unless the tone is backed off a bit. overall, it's a very versatile guitar, sound-wise...capable of fat clean and overdriven tones as well as screaming metalstuff. i've played radiohead, atdi, anah aevia and cream on it all in the same night through the same amp.

i've done numerous modifications to the guitar...i replaced the knobs, installed straplocks, had the bridge p/u (humbucker) re-wound a little hotter, i even tightened the trem claw down all the way and crisscrossed the springs, so it's basically a hardtail. the hardware on the guitar, namely the tuning machines and the bridge, is all i don't like. the tuners are imprecise and cheap...and the bridge isn't too hot either. i don't like tremolos, hence the immobilization...and the saddles leave something to be desired. i think my string-breakage problem can be attributed mostly to the cheap saddles fender uses on everything under $1000. i plan to replace them as soon as i can come up with $50. otherwise, the fit and finish are great. the frets are all even and smooth, there are no blemishes (well, now there are...) and the rest of the machinery is just ducky. the action is perfect, at least for me.

the guitar is a tank. it's seen several years of pretty heavy use. the lacquer on the treble side of the neck is wearing off, probably because i play it too much. but it's been dropped, nicked, hammered on and obssessed over alot, and nothing has broken. the thing sounds great no matter what, and i have to hand it to fender for having a reputation for building tough guitars.

so far, nothing has gone wrong...so i've yet to deal with fender. my hope would be thery're nice people. but i'll leave this one blank.

i've been playing seriously for four years...i'm currently in a 5-piece original rock band that sort of denies a genre at this point. i use the amps listed above, a late 60's gibson les paul custom (which isn't mentioned here because i don't play it much) 2 taylor acoustics, a 76 alvarez classical, and an ampeg g-60 head (without a cab...) the fender was one of my first purchases and probably one of the wisest. i never let the thing out of my sight, but if someone did manage to steal it, i'd be heartbroken, but would sell a limb to get another one. i've never seen anyone else playing one, which is cool, so i don't compare it with anything. it's in its own league as of now.

made in mexico 24 3/4 scale length. alder body with rosewood frettboard. 1 vol 1 tone 3 way switch, texmex single coil and atomic humbucker. vintage tunners that wont stay in tune!

well writting about sounds is impossible and eveyone has a different view on sound but here goes.... the neck pickup is ok its loud enough to not have that much a drop in volume when switching from the humbucker but its a little too trebly, the lower notes seem smudged together to allow the higher notes to ring out. now the humbucker has a nice loud output and gives a great alt rock sound which i think fender designed the guitar for, its got lots of middle but nearly now bass or treble response. the best sound from this guitar comes from the middle switch position when you blend both pickups together. it gives a nice warm well balanced blusey kinda sound which is a nice stark contrast to the high trebleness of the guitar overall.

When i got this guitar the finish was flawless and the action ok, the intonation was nearly spot on a first with all the guitars ive bought.
now heres where we have problems. whatever the fretts are made of is weaker than the stuff earnie ball uses for his strings. ive had the guitar for over a year now and the first 5 fretts are allready pitted. i know what your thinking but i play all over the frett board and have 4 other guitars to play so it just cant be me playing open chords too much. the neck is a little too narrow for my likeing as when you go to bend either E strings they get choked on the fret edges , this on a 1/2 step bend!!!! the truss rod is great however and really lets you get the neck straight. I play 1/2 step down on normal concert tunning and use 11's to compensate on the string tension and the guitar handles it well, you'll never be able to get the action super low on this guitar without excessive acoustic string rattle but you can get it low without the rattle comming through the amp. the tremelo on this guitar might be good i wouldnt know as i dont use it and have clamped the bridge right down. the weight and balance of this guitar is perfect and apart from the issues ive raised i find it a real joy to play.

like i said the fretts wont last long but mine might be the only one with this problem. im looking at a refrett pretty soon. the tuners will hold well if you use heavier string gages but when i used 9's or 10's they would constantly fall out of tune. the neck is prone to warp slightly with climate changes but dont worry because the truss rod is really great at composating for this. id say this guitar would withstand constant gigging obviously the body is prone to dings etc but the neck is rock solid (apart from the fretts!) i dont think it'd fall apart or smash apart too easily.

never dealt with them but im gonna check to see if the fretts are included in the limited warrenty or not. probably not, but we'll see.

I put this review on here to help people decide if this is the guitar for them as i allways check this site before buying anything new even after ive tried the guitar/amp out its nice to know if things are still great a year or two down the line.
Ive been playing for around 10 years and this was the first fender i bought and based on this guitar alone id buy fender again. the guitar is reliable and sounds good in the right situation, the finish was flawless and all the parts seem built to last, if your considering buying the reissue mustang dont! buy this instead it'll give you more pleasure and last at lot longer than the mustang will.
if the guitar should get lost or damaged id buy it again definatly but id like to see a better colour chice than the yellow or orange the ydid them in when i bought one.