Fender Cyclone

Bought a 2002 Mexican made Cyclone. Okay factory setup.
It has all the same features of the stock Cyclone, which you can read about. I did replace the tuners with Schallers. (Kinda expensive)
REALLY like the pickup configuration, though I want to replace the Strat Tremelo bridge with a hardtail. Tuners could be better, and I would reccomend placing them if it is a problem, though for most people it hasn't been.

I play pretty much everything, (except pop and obviously hiphop and folk crap) Newer rock mainly, but I like to play some great hits from previous decades. When you adjust the pickups just right it gives great sound. I play a lot of Chili Peppers, and with very slight overdrive and hard strumming using only the Tex-Mex single coil, you get an almost identical sound as Frusciante's strat. Under the Bridge sounds great like this. If you jockey with the settings it can also give a very bright, clean acoustic type sound. Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven comes out almost perfect. Now to the humbucker. The Atomic Humbucker can be both great and horrible. If you like light rock and grunge, like I do (Nirvana, Weezer, Green Day), you can get a nice, crunchy sound, which you can vary from playing Nirvana/Green Day to the little bit more distorted sound of Weezer. However, you have to have the tone and volume all the way up or you get a rather muddy sound. If you want a death metal sound, look somewhere else. With heavy distortion the humbucker is really blurry. If you keep the drive down, you can palm mute it pretty well if you're careful. Clean you can get an good, twangy sound out of the Humbucker. I like to play Sweet Home Alabama on it, and it comes pretty close to duplicating the Gibson sound. Don't really like Gibsons, well, actually I freakin' hate 'em, but this guitar does have the capability if you ever decide you want it. I think the sound competes with and even beats Epiphones/Yamahas/Ibanezes that cost more than 300 dollars over the Cyclone. In a lot of ways, especially in the range of sounds, it beats even "nice" Gibsons. ("nice" means expensive here, becuase "Nice Gibson" is an oxymoron)
Still, it's no Jaguar, but then again, what is? (I hope to get one soon) I don't believe anyone could ask more as far as sound from this guitar, even if its price were bumped up several hundred dollars.

Action used a little setup to get right, e.g. filing down saddles, adjusting hight. The workmanship on the body is really excelent. No complaints. The medium-jumbo frets take some getting used to if you're coming from a guitar with thin frets, but you can get some great hammer-ons ang pull-offs. I have a deep contempt for the Strat-style tremelo bridge. I removed the tremelo arm and never use it, as it just gets in the way. The tuners needed replacing, because they would never hold tune for even ten minutes of play. Most people haven't had a problem here, thought. I replaced them with $80.00 Schallers, (a bit overkill, I think) but I haven't had any problems since. If the tuners woulda been better, this category would have got a 9 or 10.

The first time I played on this guitar for an audience was to audition for my High School's Jazz Band, which I made. (I give credit to the awesome guitar) This was before I replaced the tuners. It went through the four-minute song without getting noticably out of tune, but other times befor I replaced the tuners, I ended up not playing at all because it sounded like absolute crap. I have dropped the guitar, quite hard, actually, and it has stood up without a scratch. I've taken it completely apart and put it back together, It has had over 200 hours of playing (I play at least 2 hrs. a day) and is still in perfect shape. It's very dependable, but I would definitively take a backup on a gig, because some envious person with a good taste in guitars might swipe it the second you turn your back. That'd be a shame really, because I'd have to run them down and bludger them to death with it. (I really don't think the guitar would be affected tham much)

Haven't had to deal with them, though I probably should have in the case of the tuners, but Schallers are better, anyway.

I've not been playing that long, A year and a half really, but I play every day at least two hours, as I mentioned above, and have have lived and breathed guitars ever since I got my first one, a crappy Squire Affinity Telecaster, which I'm thinking about completely overhauling, spare no expense. I have loved music my whole life and, though I don't want to suggest I'm a guitar prodigy or anything, it is something I have most excelled at. In chosing this guitar, I compared it to at least twelve other models, and though I'm ashamed to say it, not all of them were Fenders. Now that I've set it up myself, there's nothing I don't like about it, and I absolutely love it. I have played many guitars, from crappy to mediocre guitars, and even rather expensive ones. Ya, know, the ones when you pick 'em up in the store, the sales people look at you like, "What in the hell do you thik you're doing?", or "Put that down, because I damn sure know anybody like you who doesn't drive a Beamer can't afford it." This guitar is truly outstanding. As I mentioned above, if it were stolen, I'd track the unfortunate person down and beat them to death with it, but in the unlikely to nearly impossible scenario of me not finding them after ripping the wolrd apart looking for them, I would definitely by another one.

This is one of the older Cyclones - IE before Fender messed them up by putting the Competition Mustang stripe on them, and using the S/S/S combination with toggle switches instead of the proper and simple H/S combo that is all one would ever need to make rock music.
It's red with a white pearloid pickguard.

It has one volume and one tone but I think I would like the guitar better if it just had two volume knobs.

I do, however, like the three way toggle and the way that it's positioned right next to the cutaway. Much like a Les Paul, it makes it easy to change pickups in the middle of a riff.

I'm pleasantly surprised that stock, this guitar smokes for the type of music I play. The main band I play in writes screamy hardcore along the lines of bands like Orchid, Neil Perry, Honeywell, et cetera. Tonally I prefer something with a lot of gain and a lot of bottom end (IE Mesa/Boogie.) It's not everybody's thing. I'm sure a lot of kids instantly saw this guitar as the quickest way to copy Kurt Cobain when they saw them, since it has the Mustang body.

Well, it doesn't take a lot to cop the grunge tone if you've got a thick distortion pedal or an amp with a lot of gain and you take out the mids, so the bridge humbucker will definitely get you there right away. No worries there. It's got a pretty good amount of midrange bite that helps cut through, although it's not vintage sounding in the least to my ears. I checked it out through my friend's Fender Twin at both 3 and 10, at 3 the clean tone was terrific, and cranked to 10 you can get a terrific rock sound a la the Stooges or the MC 5.

The Tex Mex single coil is exactly what I expected - the classic Fender single coil sound clean. It gets the standard Fender Strat neck blues sound with a little gain, and you can do Elvis Costello sounding stuff with a Twin cranked and the single coil engaged.

I haven't had any problems with microphonic feedback with either pickup! I don't know if I just got lucky with my particular guitar, or if this is the case with all of them. This IS a production model guitar, just like any of Fender's Mexican made guitars, so I wouldn't be surprised if there are any inconsistancies, but I think they did a really good job with the Cyclone as well as the Toronado.

This guitar can do jazz, funk, rock, and country. I've tried all of them out, and if the rest of your gear is tweakable and you've got good fingers, then this can do pretty much anything you want it to do.

Everything was proper and in order when I bought it from Music Go Round. The only problem I've had with this guitar is every now and then, when I try to switch to the bridge pickup, there's some kind of short that makes it go completely dead, but if I switch to the neck and back again it goes away. Weird.

The only problem I've had with this guitar is every now and then, when I try to switch to the bridge pickup, there's some kind of short that makes it go completely dead, but if I switch to the neck and back again it goes away. Weird.

This guitar will hold up live, I'm sure. With the proper care, the hardware will probably last as well. The tuners seem pretty solid although I wouldn't go beating them with a hammer or anything. I've seen these Fender bridges get rusted really badly before with previous Fender instruments I've owned, but then again the example I'm thinking of was a Squier I owned about 5 years ago.

I definitely plan on playing out with this guitar, but I bought it as a backup to my SG. If something happened though, I would have no qualms about using this as my primary guitar.

I've been playing six, almost seven years. I own a 1970 Gibson SG, a Mesa/Boogie Mark III, a Mesa/Boogie Recto 2x12, an Electro Harmonix Holy Grail reverb, and a Line 6 Delay Modeler. If this guitar were for some reason stolen, I would be upset, but this isn't irreplacable. I've just always wanted a Mustang since I was 14. Yes, Kurt Cobain did make me want to pick up a guitar. I've since moved on to other forms of music, but seeing this in music stores made me a little nostalgic for the years when I was just learning to play guitar. However, most Mustangs have a bridge configuration that I hate, single coil pickups that would need routing for a proper humbucker (I hate stacked rail type pickups), unreliable tuners, and a small neck with even smaller frets that my hands don't like.

I had a Jazzmaster before that I'm still kicking myself for getting rid of (one of the less expensive Japanese ones with a fake flame maple top, in tobacco sunburst with a red shell pickguard - d'oh!), and I've always loved the way their necks feel. This is about as close as I'm going to be able to get to the way that guitar played without searching Ebay for one of the less expensive Japanese imports that I love so dearly.

At the price these are going used, these are a steal for the quality.

Its a 1998 mexican model with the standard tex mex single coil and humbucker at the back. Its black with a tortoise shell pickguard and i think it looks pretty cool. alot like a mustang, altohugh aliitle cooler. Ive only been playing for 2 tears and the only other guitar ive got is a yamaah pacifica standard which cost me #180
so this is a bloody big step up! i really like the solid feel and the sound is great.

I play mostly grunge like silverchair and nirvana and also a bit of black sabbath and it seems to tie in with that pretty well. Im running it through a BOSS GT3 effects unit and a 90w Carlsbro keyboard cobra amp (not bad for a 15 yr old :P). Ive gigged it a few times and it sounds a lot better than the pacifica.

I bought it second hand, and had to adjust the action a little as it was a bit high. The finish i thought was of high quality and the whole thing was pretty flawless ( alothugh the previous owner had thrown it a bout a bit: fancied himself as the next Cobain:P)

As i say ive only gigged it the once but it stands up really well in my opinion. A really grungy guitar.

n/a

Absoultley ten times better thn my pacifica :)

My Cyclone is a 2002 model, with 22 frets, and an alder body. Tex- Mex Single Coil in the neck and Atomic Humbucker in the bridge, with a 3- way switch. Nice hardware and a rosewood neck too. There are more specs on fender.com.

I play Hendrix/ Zeppelin/ Who and other blues based rock. The Tex- Mex is great for the clean, bluesy sound and in my opinion is the greatest Single Coil ever created. Its great for SRV- type tones also. The humbucker gives me the extra puch, overtones, and midrange boost I need, but noting compares to the Gibson '57 Classics on my SG. I use the Cyclone through a Marshall 100- watt valvestate and sometimes a Fender twin and it sounds fantastic. It is very versatile with these two pickups, although it could use another single coil. One isn't really powerful enough.

One not- so- great thing about this guitar are the finishes. They all kinda suck. I would vastly prefer a 3- tone sunburst or white, but the black and candy apple red are okay. Right out of the box, the action was great. Fast and easy to fret, but without cutting the volume too much. I like maple fingerboards better, so it would be nice if it had one. The bridge is perfect, and I really like the mustang/ jag type body.

I gig once a week, and this definately lives up to my standards. Sturdy hardware, nicely done finish, and wery dependable. A well built guitar with high- quality materials.

I don't know, i've never dealt with fender. I do all setting up myself. The warranty seems promising, though.

This guitar is great. I've been playing for 10 years and own 7 other guitars, but this is my favorite to practice and 2 favorite to gig. If it were stolen I would definately replace it. I love the unique, full tone and look of the guitar. Check one out, it's great.

You can read all the specs on the other reviews...

I play Nirvana, Silverchair, and Weezer, so mostly punk, grunge, and alternative. This guitar is great for that kind of music. The humbucker is louder than the single coil, but like someone said in an earlier review, its good for softer songs. The single coil also has an acoustic feel while the humbucker is bright with a slight crunch. I use Danelectro pedals...and with the T-Bone Distortion on, it kicks some butt!

The guitar was set up perfectly, no problems. Pickups were set great. The candy apple red is the most beautiful red I have ever seen. My neck is also a beautiful milky rosewood with creme inlays. The backplate is properly aligned to put the strings through, although some people said it wasn't on right. Also mine doesnt go out of tune while using the tremelo and I like it a lot.

This guitar can definitley stand live playing...it was meant to take a beating. The hardware is very good although you might have to put straplocks on just in case. The finish is really thick and looks like it could never be cracked. I would gig with a backup anyway in case a string breaks or something.

Have not dealt witht them for this guitar...but fender is great with repairing.

I've been playing for a few years now and already own a Fender Standard Telecaster. I tried it out against a 50s Strat and an Epiphone G-400. I really liked the Epiphone but Fender is more my style. I actually bought it without trying it out but it just had everything i wanted. The sound is great, the neck is sooooo comfortable and the guitar's body, color, and headstock are so beautiful. If it were stolen I would kick the guy's ass and take it back, because it is so wonderful for me. It reminds me of a mustang, but one thats a lot cooler. I recommend this to anyone looking for a good rock axe thats fun to play and very dependable.

Mustang body, vintage trem, master vol, master tone, 3 way toiggle switch, 22 medium jumbo fret 24.75" scale length, rosewood board on a fairly chuncky neck. Vintage style tuners, tex-mex in the neck position, atomic humbucker in the brdige position, colour Graffiti Yellow.

Aah, if you want anymore info, check out the Fender site.

I replaced the atomic humbucker with a Seymour Duncan '59 Model, switched the strap buttons, put a set of 11's on it, and set the trem down.

I will say this though, as far as a rating goes, it gets what it gets from my because when I bought it, it wasn't a patch on what it is now. If I bought it the way it is now, it'd get a 9 or 10.

It's got all the features I need, some were just not to the highest quality.

With the new bucker, it's got a lot of versitility. Very different from my vintage sounding strat, but despite being so different I have no problems utilising theses new tones. It does rock and blues very nicely, and that's what I need. The Tex-Mex is a firey, full sounding vintage single coil, with balls! The 59 I have in, is a great sounding pup, sweet but cruchy, and full of harmonics.

I'd give it a 10 with the new pup, but as the old atomic was over half the tone of the guitar as it was originally it gets something lower.

Setup is hard to comment on, as I immediately changed the strings. I'm not a fan of trems so I set them down. The guitar was setup fairly well, but I wouldn't say it was good enough that I wouldn't have wanted it tweaked atleast abit. The intonation wasn't too great as I remember. I'd like to say more but I hate 9's so I hardly played it before I set it up myself.

The only flaw with build that I could find was that the neck didn't fit aswell as I would have liked it too. It wasn't a wobbly fit, just a bit gappy in places.

The 11 gauge strings I fit, slipped straight into the nut without having to cut it at all. The backplate was a bit disapointing, I had to cut a huge hole out of it just so I could get access to the strings.

One thing that really annoyed me was the lack of a little hex-key which would not have been a problem except that the supports for the saddles seem to need a smaller hex-key than practically every single other guitar on the planet!!! I eventually found one to do the job, but even the Toronado (cousin to the Cyclone) had the normal sized hex-key slots. This was most frustrating.

This guitar should now stand up to some really sh*t! The build feels tough and the guitar feels very substantial, I wouldn't want to drop it, but if I did, the floor night wanna move outta the way. The switch concerns me a bit, as I always feel toggle switches are a bit delicate, but other than that the harware seems pretty tough. If I were to only use one guitar for a gig, then I wouldn't bother to back this one up.

I never deal with Fender directly so I wouldn't know about customer support. Afterall it's not a PC or anything, it's a guitar.

I've been playing around 10 years. I've got one other electric, a Squier ProTone strat, that has had so many modifications made, if it wasn't for the words on the headstock, no-one would know what it was.

Because I'm used to strats, the main complaint with the Cyclone right now is that it doesn't feel like a strat against my body. I can hear you now, saying "Duh! It's not a strat!", I know it's not but the torso cut in the body feels weird.

I love the tone, and that it sounds, and feels different to play, from my strat, but getting used to the body will take some time. I particluarly like switching to the bucker for solos.

If it were to be stolen I would want to buy another but, money, or the lack of it would probably stop me.

This guitar was below average for the price I paid for it, and by this I do not mean materials, I mean all the little things like the hex-key slots being smaller than usual, the backplate holes not being positioned right, and so one. I got what I expected to get, and made it into what I expected to make it into.

This guitar do not have to be for grungers, or talentless loosers who want to make awful sounding, poor quality music. Blues, Rock, and Funk players could get alot from this guitar if only they would set it up properly and get a decent bridge pickup.

So do I rate it on how it was when I got it, or how it is now? remember, that a setup can take a while to do yourself, but once it's done, that should be it. If I were to rate it as it is now, I'd give it a 9, 10's are reserved for G&Ls and Customer Shop fenders.

I'd like to point out that I have rated the guitar, both on how it originally was and on how it is since I 'personalised' it. And the latter got much better results.

However I'm going to give it the actual rating based on how it was originally. It's an extremely cool guitar with alot of potential.

This can be seen in any of the other reviews. It has a single coil neck pickup, aomic humbucker, everything is as was in the factory, so check specs or other reviews.

I play rock/blues/funk, alot of classic rock and jam band stuff( fam bands are like phish, dave matthews...etc) and i get alot of the tones i need out of this guitar. I have one complaint, it doesnt cut through on the clean channel as much as say a strat. but this has a lot to do with how i have my amp set up. The single coil buzzes but easily remidied but simply turning volume off during non play. I play alot of blues, and i can get it well, alot of guitarsa people will complain dont get sounds they want, thats because they dont understand how to set up an amp, i find messing with the tone knob also helps alot, bottom line is i enjoy this guitar, you may not, i would recommend it, it distorts well,(i use little distortion) is strums open chords well, it gives you anything you'd expect from a fender. i recommend not disgracing the guitar by just playing punk with it, it's got more tonal depth than that

I've done alot of messing around with the action, so its not now as it was in the factory, thought it works out fine for me. I play really hard, so it comes out of tune often, but i blame that mostly on how hard i play and how old the strings are i generally use( i change only when they break, whats in a string anyway??)

I beat the guitar to death, I'm not rediculous and throw it or anything i just really get into my music and beat up on it alot, just by playing hard. and the only trouble i have had is i broke the nut when i first got it by stringing it wrong. otherwise it has held up beatifully.

the nut was under warranty! never dealt with company, so i cant rate this

I just love this guitar, its nothing glamorous, its a fairly inexspenive guitar, that i love to death. I can get some great sound out of it, tons of rocking solos, as well as clean pretty stuff.

Overall i love it, i've been plahing for 3 years, had it for 2.5, i've played strats, tele's, gibsons or all natures, and thought all these guitars are great, the cyclone it everybit as good

THE DRY ICE FACTORY IS THE BEST BAND IN THE WORLD

Poplar body, 22 med-jumbo frets, M neck, tex-mex pickup in neck, atomic HB in bridge, synch tremolo.

The body is identical to the old Mustangs and Musicmasters, with a Jazzmaster-style headstock.

Red sparkle finish with a pearl pickguard. It's gorgeous.

I go back and forth between shoegaze-y, Slowdive/Bloody Valenine stuff and power-chord rock. I modified the guitar quite a bit before I was happy with it, but now that I have, I would rate it a 9.

It sounded a bit dinky with the Tex-Mex single coil, but after I threw in the red Fender-Lace sensor, that all changed. Tones are relatively versatile, but were even more so after I got done with it.

Other mods included a coil tap in the humbucker, an LSR roller nut, and a TBX tone pot. Thanks to the weaker magnet of the Lace Sensor, I can raise it up to compete with the humbucker, so I now have the clarity of SC with the sustain of the HB.

With the two pickups together, the sound is quite full and round. The Lace Sensor by itself is more bassy and the HB is a little more harsh and midrangey. I sometimes like these sounds, but I usually have both going at once.

I play the Cyclone, and a Clapton Strat, through an Ernie Ball volume pedal, Mesa-Boogie V-Twin tube pre-amp pedal, Alesis Quadraverb into a Fender Deville 2X12.

Once I ditched the Tex-Mex, and threw in the TBX tone pot that makes the Clapton Strat jump out so nicely, I find I dig the sound of the Cyclone more than the Clapton- by far a more expensive guitar.

I bought mine used, so I had to get it set-up again. Whoever had it before me took very good care of it, though. Everything seems to work like a dream. No repairs necessary, just the mods.

I've been using the Cyclone as my main guitar now for about 6 months live, with the Clapton as backup. I have had no reason to use the backup, however. It needs some straplocks, but that's about it. Very sturdy-ass guitar.

Used guitar. No warranty. Repairs would be done at local shop, so I wouldn't go through Fender, most likely.

Been playing guitar for a little over 5 years now, in a band for about 4. I basically bought this one to sort of scratch my Fender Oddity itch, and I do love it, but if it were stolen, I'd probably buckle down and get the Jag I've always wanted.

I love the versatility of it, it can sing and it can crunch. I hated, hated, hated the Tex-Mex, but that was easily remedied. The Atomic HB sounds fine to me, but it is my first Humbucker guitar. I just ain't a gibson man, so I wouldn't know a humbucker from shinola.

But I think that, having played the Cyclone for the past 6 months, that the Lace/HB combination is my favorite feature. The added sustain of the HB enabled me to get rid of my compressor pedal.

I now prefer the sound of this to my Strat, and might wind up trading in said Strat towards a Jag or Jazzmaster.

For the money, especially used, this is a very nice-sounding guitar. If your playing is more twangy or rockabilly-oriented, you might enjoy the Tex-Mex more than I did. My first impression hearing this guitar with overdrive was that Billy Zoom would dig it.

I think that my cyclone was made in 2001 in mexico, it has 22 frets, laminated top, 1 volume control, 1 tone control, 1 Single coil (tex-mex, neck) and one humbucker (atomic humbuker, Bridge). I think this is like a mustang body, a Jazzmaster headstock, and Sub sonic electronics. All the material is really high quality, no cheap shit.

This guitar is very versitle. I traded a les paul for it( prove it very versitle) It is not at all noisy. Really good at high volumes. Right now am using a marshall AVT50 and a Marshall MG-15RCD, run it through a metal zone and the guitar is great with. The single coil is extreamly clean. Although Peavey 5150 are not all that clean sounding the cyclone made it sound clean.

This guitar was flawless when it got it. It is way better than my dean Avalanche and my Gibson les paul classic. I think that the les paul was a little to bright for me. Everything suit me perfect.

I think this guitar can withstand anything.

never delt with them

Ive been playing for around 2 years and own two marshall amps a DS-1, DS-2, MT-2, CH-1, original crybaby, and a big muff and it works great with all of them. I love everything about this guitar, but my favorite feature is the pickup and body. tghey suit me perfect. Theonly thing it needs is a Dimarzio DP-100 super distortion.

One s/c and one muthafucka of a bucka, really hot humbucker in bridge. Selector switch is a wierd way round. (doesnt switch up and down like sa an SG) Jag type plate with master vol and tone. Torty scratchplate. Mine came with some fender stamped tuners (non 0riginal) and whoever replaced them had done a bad job and cipped away half of the headstock! Medium scale neck. came with a crappy gig bag

Great soundng guitar! I bought it as a back up for my les paul and ended up leaving my les paul at home!!! The pickups do have a big output difference but thats what yo get with a h/b and an s/c. Humbucker sounds like a hot gibson, really warm. The neck p/up is also warm but in a different wa, you lose clarity under distortion but back the gain of a bit and youve got a lovely SRV type tone. This is how good it sounds: I had to sell mine when things got tight. If you have on for salein any condition email me at cycleboyuk@aol.com

Mexican fenders are surpassing their USA counterparts at the moment and this is no exception! Personally i would have prefered a glossier finish to the neck a la 70's fender but thats personal choice. Neck is of a good thickness which is god considering fender usually go for the thinner options.

This guitar will take anything, i threw it offstage once at the end of an emotional set and it hit a table and broke it but the guitar was untouched! You cant touch it! stays in tune well and the trem is as ood as strat types get. I have used a cyclone without a backup many times!

never had to deal ith them on this guitar but arbier are not very customer friendly.....damn box shifters

I own a Gibson les paul and a marhall 1978 JMP, i was happy with my set up but i desired a back up for the ''what ifs'' of life on the road. The cyclone ftted in perfectly and somewhat overtook my favours for a while because it didnt need babying like my les paul did, i could jump round with it because i knew it wouldnt break. If you get a chance to buy one of these snap their hands off!

not gonna do all this explaining on the features when you can go look it up on musiciansfriend.com. but i will say mine is perfect.

absolutely perfect. i play punk and grunge(nirvana and silverchair) and some other alternative and rock. soon to have a danelectro fab tone distortion. played with dod big pig distortion. sounded great. very very very very full sound. a lot of variety here. nothing i dont like.

recieved it in perfect condition, played wonderfully and had no problems. still doesn't. no flaws and everything was good.

this guitar is great. no scratches on it, no dents. everything seems like it would last. finish is great. everything solid. i would never play a show with only one guitar. not because of the guitar, but in case a string breaks, i'd like to be able to put it down, grab another, and continue.

great. came with deluxe bag, several manuals, warranty, etc. but i've never had any problems, so i've never had to contact fender.

been playing for about 2 years. if it were stolen, i would be very mad and would want to get a new one, but couldn't because i dont have any money. nothing to hate. compared with some danelectro guitars. i enjoy this guitar very very very much.

Basicaly this is a mixture of a mustang ,duo sonic,musicmaster....same body shape.........I shall not bore you with the details or spec.....look at other reviews.....mine has a seymour duncan at the neck...

Good variety of sound ,bit like a mixture of a strat and a les paul......played thro my fender valve twin it sounds awesom

when i bought the guitar it had quite a few scratches.....i polished these out with car cutting compound...great...they do put a good layer of laquer on these instruments

good solid instrument......would play without backup

arbiter uk not as helpful as some

Ive heard some reviewers that have a dislike for this guitar......well generaly these people seem to be the older ones that have become set in their ways and only make references to that which has past.Putting it simply 'A SOUND IS ONLY BAD IF YOU ARE UNCREATIVE AND BLINKERED'.......I should know ive been writing alternative and original material for more than 20 years...
GOOD GUITAR!

It's got basically everything standard.
Atomic Humbucker pickup in bridge, little weak, but when played loud, is a very good pickup. Some pickups are so strong that they become quiet when played loud. Nice neck, I love it because of its damn nice neck. It's also got the cool graffiti yellow finish. But it probably has one of the worst bridges EVER. I had to buy two more springs for it. And Then I had to put graph-tech saddles, then have a professionbal intune it to get it "ok" Other than that its got some good stuff.

Fits my style, (nirvana, silverchair, etc.) But like I said, it sounds best played loud.

Great action, I was kind of surprised. Finish is really nice, I was impressed on account of the fact that it was made in Mexico. Is best when it's got some 10's on it.

very good, this thing feels like it weighs like a paul, of course this guitar could never match a pauls durability. I feel more confident now that it has graph-techs, but with the old saddles, I would never, ever trust it live, I'd have to definitely bring a backup. fenders look good dinged up, so I wouldn't really care if it hit it on something, it woudln't hurt it. this thing is solid

never needed to

Been playing for 3 years, used other guitars, most blow it out of the water, however, on stage, loud, the thing looks and feels great. It's kind of more for the "coolness" of it

22 fret rock axe, made in mexico, mang. maple neck, rosewood fretboard. tone and volume controls, 3 way selector. i bought it from hartland music in wisconsin and it had been fitted with a custom shop lightly flamed neck and a custom shop bridge. didnt come with anything. some fender texas thing single coil in the neck position and a fender "atomic humbucker" in the bridge, S/H ya dig.

i've noticed this is pretty much a rock axe. i'm not an extremely diverse musician, i only like different types of rock music and it fits me just fine. so, in that respect, not a ton of variety in sound. bridge pickup sounds nice and grungy on drive and twangy and sweet on clean. kinda noisy. works well with my mxr phase 90. i think if your willing to shell out $450 (i payed $300) then it makes a good first guitar. not much to say about it, it works well as a rock axe...what can i say?

neck is pretty fast. wider than most other fenders i've played, but not so wide that its uncomfortable. had to raise the bridge humbucker, but besides that it was decently set up. woods great, i guess.

muy shitty. this is the major setback i have with it. i'm no great guitarist, but i tune my guitars correctly and often and i had to baby this thing like you wouldn't believe just to keep it in tune at first. however, the more i wore the strings down the better it stayed in tune, still have to tune it quite often which sucks. about a month after i bought it, the 3 way selector cover popped off which made the switch fall into the guitar which had to be repaired. input port also fell apart on me which also had to be repaired. other than that, i, um, guess...its...fine. if/when i buy a gibson les paul junior special, that'll be my main guitar and i'll use this bitch just to mess around with and play for fun cuz its still a good rock guitar and is fun for grunge and punkier stuff, but don't gig without a backup.

haven't had to deal with them, but if i did i'd probably give them a piece of my mind about how shitty it was shortly after i bought it and then they'd put me on hold for an hour till i hung up. i'm sure they're good people, but i've heard things.

i dont know man. for a beginner like me (playing for over 3 years, so i'm relatively new still) its a good guitar, but i'm not able to easily pick out flaws in a guitar like others. i like it for its rock credibility and it plays decently when clean but the durability of it pissed me off cuz i've never really had that many problems from the start with my ibanez rg, squier strat, or samick piece of shit gibson sg copy (don't buy samicks, they're gay guitars man, gay), so that was surprising to me. once you get used to it and if you tune it and don't beat the shit out of it then it should last a long time and is ok for the price. still banking on that les paul though.

This Cyclone has a few nice appointments. The mustang style knobs are nice, the vintage style hardware, and MOTO pickgaurd are atractive, and so is the Jazzmaster style headstock.

This is one of the worst sounding insturments ever made by Fender. The Humbucker is overly bassy and thick. There is no definition in the sound. The single coil is weak, and sounds like tin. By the way, don't expect to use effects, it muddys them up to much.

The neck is way to big for my tastes.

I couln't rely on this guitar because the neck pickup somehow stopped working. The G string buzzes all over the fretboard. At least the rest of the guitar is built solid.

I would rather play a Mexican std. Strat than this thing. Do yourself a favor and buy somethig good. Thank god I was able to sell it.

I have two year 2001 cyclone. they have 21 frets, with a bueatiful finishes.they contain a volume and a tone control. the atomic humbucker was not great until i put a seymour duncan distortion pickup and lowered the single coil pick-up, and now it sound great. the minute i felt the neck i knew i had to get it is perfect. I have a yellow and a black one I would have to say i like the yellow the best. This is one of my favorite guitars out of my gibson les paul standard plus , custom les paul, my mustang, and jagstang.

I play alot of grunge, trash, and hard rock(led zeppelin)and my cyclones suite me fine. my amp is a mesa boogie single rectifier with mesa boogie cabs, I have a line 6 distortion modulator, a boss bf-2 flanger, ph-3phase and super shifters, mt-2 meatal zone, dd-3 delay ds-1 and ds-2 distortion, vox wah wah, electro harmonix small clone and big muff and they work great with them.the sound is rich and it can make any sounds i think of.

the pick-ups were a little low on one but other than that it was built great.the finish are perfect they are like one of a kind.

I dont know if they can stand live playing because when i play i sit down, i think they can when my friends play it they jump alot so yeah they can.I think that after they it would be great at a gig .

it 3 year warrenty and i have not delt with the company and probably never will.

these are my favorite pieces of equipment when i fisrt got it checked what has the best sound between my guitars even throw my les pauls sounded better I think they are my favorite pieces of equipment because jimi hendrix used fender and to me hes the best guitarist ever. So i love fender.

I bought it this year (2001). The features a all listed above or below.

I usually play hard rock with a dash of metal. This guitar can suit hard rock well. The atomic humbucker is okay, but I'll probably replace it when I get the money. The Tex-Mex is great for when I play bluesy music. My effects are a Polychorus and a Boss DD-3(Delay)and my amp is a Marshall MG-30(or something like that). It sounds pretty good, but not perfect so I gave it an 8.

When I got it the humbucker had to be lowered(it touched the strings)and the action raised, but that was no problem. The problem was that the pickguard was not cut good enough. Though not to obvious, there is a gap by the bridge, and its too short for the metal plate where the knobs are located.

As for reliability, this guitar seems to be pretty sturdy. I dropped it once, and only a very small dent appeared.

I've been playing for almost four years. My other guitars are an Epiphone G-400, an Epiphone acousitc, and a Squire Affinity Strat. If it were stolen, I'd collect the insurance and apply it to buying a Trem-O-Verb(only because I want a better amp before I buy another guitar). I really love the neck. I wish it had a better humbucker and a humbucker, humbucker, single coil setup though.

The Cyclone that I bought was new (2001), and made in Mexico. I got the red version. Everything else is the same as the other reviews below. The list of features is an impressive one. Unfortunately, it is also a bit overweening. If the features were what one would think they should be, I would give this 10 stars. They aren't.

I don't know what these other reviewers are talking about. Listen to me, this thing sounds as bad it anything can sound. It is a very cheaply made toy. If you try to put it through anything professional, it will squeak like a microphone from the front single-coil or hum so loudly, it might as well squeak. The so-called "Atomic Humbucker" in the bridge position is a sham. It bucks the hum, yeah, but the pickup sound is very poor, especially for the money they seem to think is appropriate for this thing.

From a distance, it looks great. Upon closer examination, you can see how they used the most low-end parts.

Anyone who plays, much less plays live, would never -- in a million years -- use this thing.

Doesn't matter.

I have been playing for 35-plus years. I have a bunch of guitars, most of them Fender and Gibson, US made. I love Fender guitars, but if this Cyclone is any indication of the Mexican-made line, I would suggest staying as far away from them as possible. I brought mine back to the store where I got it. I was refunded completely, so no harm was done, except to Fender's reputation. What are these guys thinking?

Look, unless you want to take advice from kids who really - apparently - don't know what a quality instrument is, avoid the Cylone. Get an American Series Strat, or a Gibson Les Paul Speical, etc. Save your money.

I cant really be sure when it was made but its from Mexico obviously, its got a three-way toggle switch, a Fender designed Atomic Humbucker in the bridge, and a Fender Tex-Mex (mexican made Texas Special) in the Neck. I originally wanted the white with the brown shell p/g, but now Fender is queering up the colors on everything so they replaced the sunburst and white and aged white with like graffiti yellow or wahtever. so i got candy apple red. the body is that of a mustang/musicmaster/duo-sonic, really really pretty. the pickguard is more early duo-sonic and is white moto. i wish they could have used a mustang style on instead but its who cares its only a pickguard. the bridge is a fender vintage tremolo. im not sure why they put it on this guitar but it looks nice. the tuners are just fender vintage style. the neck is really comftorble and fast. its rosewood but on mine the wood is more tan than anythig else. it came with a gig bag.

i read this whole page several times before i decided to purchase the 'clone over a double fat-strat (i wanted the wide tone range). i just played it and i was amazed. i mean it was the sound ive been looking for since day one. the single coil practically sounds like an acoustic and the humbucker produces a really plucky thick warm tone that goes great with distortion. i dont usually use both of them together, but when i do it sounds good. yeah i have noticed that the single coil is really quiet but that really suites softer songs. Some people have said that the Humbucker is crap but i love it. i dont know maybe they arent all made equally but mine is great. i play through a boss DS-1, a poly-chorus, and sometimes i use my amp's distortion channel for extra feedback just for fun.

the guitar was set up alright at the factory, not to buzzy, action was a little high, really really out of tune but thats because it was shipped. no flaws at all.

im not sure about live playing but i think this guitar seems pretty dependable. i would definetly use it in a gig without a back up (well i dont really have a back up anymore). umm i dont know ive had it for like not even a month. i can definetly say that this is going to be my main guitar from now on. im gonna put some strap locks on it within the next few days just to keep it secure. otherwise i dont plan on changing anything. maybe in like two years if i feel like it needs some modifying ill customize it but for now im fine with it.

warranty seems good. i dont know i havent needed anything just yet.

i love this guitar, if it were stolen id be really angry and id buy another one but probably have to sticker it up to cover all the retarded tom delonge colors theyre selling it in now. id eventually get my candy apple clone back and probably injure the thief for taking it.

Fender Cyclone (I'm pretty sure it's a 99)

22 Frets

One volume, one tone (I don't really use the tone knob)

One Atomic Humbucker(bridge), one tex mex single coil (neck, but I don't really use it)

Poplar body in candy apple red with a beautiful white pearloid pickguard

Tune-o-matic bridge with a tremelo I never use

Vinage tuners

24.75" scale neck made of maple/rosewood, just big enough for my large hands

Mine came with a dimarzio strap, straplocks, fender tuner, and deluxe fender gig bag (what a great deal!!!)

The backplate's holes weren't lined up correctly and had to be enlarged, and it was missing a tuner bushing when I got it, but both were easy fixes, so I'll only dock one point

I play pure punk through my crate amp, and with distortion on, it sounds amazing! It pulls some really great punk tones with it's atomic humbucker. Originally, I was originally opting for a Tom Delonge stratocaster becuase it seems well suited for punk and it was beautifully simplistic, but I just had second thoughts about buying an "artist signature guitar" becuase I hate people thinking I'm copying people, and this guitar had glowing reviews about it's punk tones, so I went for this, and it gave me a helluvalot more than I expected! I just never use the neck pickup, tremelo, or tone knob, and it's just as simple as the tom delonge and sounds just as good if not better. I occasionally use the neck pickup, but it's about half as loud as the humbucker, making it kinda worthless. Maybe if it was a different pickup, I'd use it more, but I can't dock points for the theoretical, so overall, this guitar has great sound!

This guitar has a beautiful, sparkly candy apple red finish with a complementing white pearloid pickguard. It was really well put together, had great action, and everything was aligned. The only problem I had with it is that the person I bought it from shipped it with heavy gauge strings, and they were actually pulling the bridge upwards (the bridge probably can't handle heavier gauge strings), but this didn't really bother me that much since I normally use Ernie Ball Super Slinkys, which, despite the fact they're light gauge strings, sound great, but even these pull the bridge a bit.

The finish is really thick, and I think that it will last a while. As for the hardware, I can't really judge that cuz I havn't had the guitar that long. This guitar shipped with straplocks, but unfortunately, one of them is too loose and goes loose very fast after I tighten it. I might have to replace it in the near future. Besides that, this guitar will probably last a long time.

I havn't done anything to mess up my guitar yet, I don't plan on having any modifications done any time soon except maybe changing the humbucker to a seymour duncan invader or distortion, and I'd have that done by my local music shop, which luckily is a licensed fender dealer, and since fender's have lifetime warranties, I don't think I have anything to worry about.

I havn't been playing nearly as long as some of the other reviewers, but I know a great guitar when I play one! I've been playing a squier stratocaster (what can I say, it's not like I'm rich) for a while, and finally opted for a better guitar. This is a great guitar for punk and alternative music, and feels more comfortable than my strat ever will. If it were stolen, I'd try really hard to get it back, but if I didn't, I would just save up again and buy another one brand new, because I love it that much. As I said, I originally wanted a Tom delonge strat, but this one fits the bill just as well, and I don't feel like I'm copying somebody else. If I could redesign this guitar, it'd have a hardtail bridge (just cuz I don't really use the tremelo), the tone knob would turn into a volume knob for the other pickup, it'd have vintage frets (I don't really do much string bending, so I don't need medium jumbo frets) and the other pickup would be a seymour duncan hot rails to keep pace with the humbucker. But as it is, it's a great guitar that goes perfectly with my style of music.

I bought my Fender Cyclone in 1999. It is candy apple red and has a maple neck with a rosewood fretboard. It has 22 frets and a vintage head. I love the Tex Mex Strat single coil in the neck and Atomic-Humbucker in the bridge. I personally love the size and the way it fits my body. Its contoured body is perfect.

The body of the cyclone is not huge like many guitars made today so it is perfect for doing crazy solos and it doesn't way me down when I play standing up. As far as the sound of it, it has three varieties to choose from. The toggle switch is also in a convenient area on the Cyclone so it is easy to switch sounds and play hard with out hitting your hand on it. I like the sounds and pickups that came with my Cyclone but I wish that it had at least one more pickup. Something deeper or maybe more clean.

Everything on my Cyclone was put together great. The controls all work good and I like how it stays in tune despite temperature changes.

This guitar can withstand a lot more than a few other guitars I've seen in the past. Someone got a hold of my Cyclone one day and dropped it on a concreit floor and to my amazement it wasn't phased a bit. That is a some tough heavy duty guitar, trust me!

When my guitar hit the concreit slab I was worried it would be messed up so I called the place I purchased it to see if they would take a look at it. They took me right in and gave me an inspection for no cost.

I have not been playing guitar for a very long time, in fact this was my first guitar, but I fell in love with the way it looked and sounded and bought it with no second thought. I have since then bought and played other guitars and I must say none can even compare to the Cyclone. I love the size and shape out of all the things about it. I play punk/metal music and it is great for both styles. My other guitar, a 1974 fender mustang, costed a lot more and is no where as good. So I definitly recommend the Fender Cyclone to anyone.

has an atomic humbucker and a single coil the guitar is artic white with red pearly pick gard its pure beauty

i play punk rock and its perfect it sounds better than gibson lp's when it comes to punk fender guitars are the best

everything perfect only prob is the part in the back the holes are a little small but take a knife and make em larger its only a 2 min job

i have played without a back up this guitar is my main guitar.sometimes at gigs i buy a cheap epiphone and smash it then use this one this is the best never ever had to tighten anything and stays in tune verry well

never delt with

i have owned a gibson studio les paul cost me 800 i ended up selling it for 800 when i met the fender cyclone because the cyclone kicked the shit outta the les paul face it gibson lost the punk scene to fender if it were stolen id kick the shit outta the person and get it back or buy a new one

pretty simple..22 medium jumbo frets, one atomic humbucker(bridge) and a tex mex single coil(neck), one tone, one volume, and a toggle switch, original jazzmaster head, synchronized tremolo, etc.

i play punk, this guitar is PERFECT in my opinion. i can never put this guitar down, Ii'm always playing it, i love it! i covered it in stickers, but it is candy apple red(this color looks beautiful on this guitar!) not very noisy either, i guess depending on amps, i really like the shape of the body, its basically like soneone took a regualr strat body and just stretched it out.

pretty darn durable. i've mistakenly banged the head into either my dresser, the wall or anything, and it is yet to have any scratch on it (thank god!!)theres not one sracth on the body either, but i guess thats a little bit harder with all the stickers. this is my main guitar, i also own a Fernandes Monterey X and in about 2-3 weeks i'll have a Gibson Sonex. i would most likely gig without a backup guitar. again very durable.

havent had to deal with them yet

i've been playing for about 6 years now. Just to echo what i said before, i also have a Fernandes Monterey X and soon to have a Gibson Sonex. right now i have a Crate GFX212, i hate that POS, im selling it in about a week, then im either buying my friends older Ampeg VT tube combo or a Peavey transube Special 212. if it were stolen i would be soooooooooooo pissed, i would DEFINATELY buy another one!theres relly nothing i hate about this guitar besides it being heavier then most guitars, but thats not a problem for me anymore cuz i have adjust to the weight.

2001 made in mexico atomic humbucker, tex-mex sigle coil 22 medium jumbo frets one volume one tone 3 way pickup select candy apple red finish. pretty basic.

this guitar is great for my sound i play, grunge alternative and punk. you can so many different tones out of this guitar its awesome!

a very comfortable guitar. no problems with the finish when i got it. the pickup selector isn't noisy at all and is in a very convienient place.

i was carriyng it out to my car in the soft case it came with and i dropped it, i was so pissed off it was like 6 in the morning i yelled SHIT! as loud as i could and ran into my house to look at the damage and there was only a small dent on the underside of the guitar, none of the finish chipped off at all, that is impressive. But i was still pissed.

never called em

ive been playing for 3 years, and i have a jaguar and i would this guitar is every bit of good as my jag and sounds great is i lost it or it got stolen i'd definetly replace it. buy this guitar its really good and very affordable.

Some Mexican made piece of crap. Fender probably pays something like $2.00/hour to the slaves who make these pieces shit... and then they sell them for $400.00. Thanks Fender! Thanks for giving all our jobs to Mexico and reaping the profits! Also, I hate how they put that plastic wrap stuff on the pickguard, because whenever I try to take it off it gets stuck under the tone knobs, and then those little plastic frizzy thingies are sticking out for the next five years. Plus the pickguard feels sticky and rough instead of being smooth like it's supposed to be. The atomic humbucker sounds good... muddy, but good. The single coils sound good too, no doubt since they were NOT assembled in Mexico. Wood body. Rosewood neck (nice). Candy Apple Red finish (pretty good). Comes with a wimpy case (I wonder where it was made, probably some other banana republic).

The humbucker suits my sound just fine. It's fine for making some KMFDM bone-crunching power chords. The single coil sounds like all other single coils on the planet. I use a Marshall amp; MG series to be exact. It's sounds fine. The combination of the humbucker and the neck-position single coil sounds kind of "different." Actually it sounds like shit; you can't use that combo for distortion, and when used clean it sounds really clanky... like a humbucker that's broken or has too much treble. Basically you can't use the pickups together for any decent kind of sound.

The place that I bought the guitar from set it up all wrong. There was one major flaw that really pissed me off which I didn't notice until after I wasted my money: the white plastic cover on the back (the one that you poke the strings through) was aligned improperly, or else it was just screwed to the guitar in the wrong spot. Therefore, every time I want to put strings on I have to un-screw that thing from the back and take it off. The guy at the store just said, "I don't play with it on anyway. Most players usually leave it off." Well, that's nice, but I don't want a gaping whole showing on the back of my guitar. Lastly, the tuners suck. I've got better tuners on my Squire Strat.

The input jack has been a piece of crap since the day I bought it. If I wiggle the cord any the signal crackles and dies. I already had to have the guy open the guitar and bend something back once. No telling when it will need to be bent back again. Cheap pile of crap. This could be just an isolated incident though.

Does anyone really deal with Fender directly or just the dealers at your local music shop. (Dealers who don't give a damn, at least where I live.) The guy said he'd order me one of those things for the back of my guitar, however, I'm still waiting-- it's been almost a year. Oh, and the time that I got my guitar fixed (remember, the input jack) the guy scratched my guitar with his electric screwdriver, it was a small scratch, but nonethless a scratch. What a moron! I wanted to get my money back, because this all hapened within a week after I bought it, but the guy said I could only trade it for another one of his shitty guitars.

I've been playing for 6 years. So far I've owned a Samick, Squire, and now the Cyclone. Durability wise the Squire and Samick are better. I used to stab the Samick with my knife (one time I removed all the strings with a swift slash to the fretboard) and, I bet it still works better than the Cyclone... I think I'm gonna go play it right now, for old-time's sake. Next time I'm just gonna get a Rogue guitar like the kind in Musician's Friend, at least I won't worry about that guitar and get depressed when something goes wrong.