Fender Deluxe Strat Plus

1990USA 22frets 5way blue silver red pups bought used off ebay,not sure of body material(alder?) very heavy(lespaulish) beautiful crimson, cinnamonburst roseboard standard 2point trem locking tuners tremsetter(removed,was told only needed if pulling up on bar)

Have had many guitars over the years,prefer PRS,they are not overated,they are computer milled to perfection,finished impeccably, and the note/chord articulation blow anything away. But,oh yeah, this is a Fender reveiw! I would have to say this deluxe strat plus does everything soundwise my prs's can do, and some things better(single coil tones which my McCarty does ok). I never heard a strat sound so good overdriven! There is one determining factor: PLAY WITH THE PICKUP HEIGHTS. What I like to do is sit in front of my Tech21 trademark60(a great amp).Put ch.2 on(overdrive).Put the pup selector on bridge(down). Start banging on an open D chord.Adjust the pup height screw on the high E side(bridge red pup) until it sounds "creamy". Now do the low E side banging on a three note e shape bar chord. Move the pup selector to the middle, do the same. Move the pup selector to the neck, do the same. This is doing it by ear, and I think this is way better than taking a micro measuring ruler to it.Try for yourself.These pups lose no character whatsoever, just noise.

no flaws

should withstand any situation, a real tank

DUNNO

Playing 20 years,would definitely buy again,love everything except the custom kitchen countertop formica wrap. WHY?? on any guitar, leave that wood alone.Had a strat, bought new in 82, could never get used to the overwhelming single coil hum. Thought I would try a strat with the lace sensors, love them.Clean they are beautiful, overdriven they rule.Buy this guitar while they are verry afordable!

My 1997 Fender Deluxe Plus was purchaced through the mail, (to get the Blue-Burst color I wanted). This guitar came with Red, Blue & Silver, single coil Lace Sensors. The Floyd bridge, LSR roller nut, locking tuners and white pickgaurd. I suggest you replace the Floyd bridge with a Standard Fender bridge.
The light satin neck is why I got one of these. It is near to a custom shop guitar as you can get, befor going to the custom shop and spending $1200 more. The neck is good. Very good! You just can't imagine!
The color is cool! Showing through the translucent blue is a book-matched maple top! A rare find on a Strat, for sure! I wish I was the guy that found one in a Pawn Shop for $300, I'd feel lucky!

Ditch the Lace Sensors if you're gonna play Rock 'n' Roll.
I put a bunch of pickups in, tried a bunch of combos, and the best I came up with was a SD-Pearly Gates or a SD-J.B model in the bridge, a Lace Sensor in the middle and an old Texas Special in the neck.
When you combine a Lace Sensor and a Texas Special, it had a very pretty sound. That's the best I can do in describing it! Pretty!
SD-59, J.B, Pearly Gates and similar pickups all come in a single coil size but are double coil pickups. Humbuckers are a must for Rock & Roll. The combo of Lace Sensors and Humbuckers is different to say the least. It calms the sound, makes it milder. This set of three pickups gives the widest array of sound that I've heard on a guitar. You'll not go wrong by switching the Lace Sensors with something else, but keep one or two just for something different.

Dead solid perfect!
I block off the bridge, I don't use the vibrato much anyway.

Look, most pro equipment will last reasonably long and perform for years if you keep it up. I've never had an axe break down on stage yet.

One of the best companies out there.

I've been playing for 25 years.
I wish I had played a Les Paul before I bought this guitar.
Lost or stolen? I'd buy a Les Paul to replace it.
Wish it was a Les Paul.
Buy a Les Paul! It makes Strats feel like toys!

1988 Fender American Strat Plus (has 1984 neck "E 4" serial number, but the 1988 strat plus model apparently used older necks), 22 frets, jumbo frets, rosewood neck, 5-way selector, 3 gold lace sensors, Pueter(same color as Clapton's Strat, but I got mine before his series came out) Sperzel Tuners, Nut lock thingy, Custom add-on:Trem-lock (device that sits inside one of your springs which somehow prevents detuning when a string breaks)

I grew up in West Virginia listing to hard rock, but played country in the clubs. This guitar allowed me to do both.

Currently running my effects through Line6's Guitar Port, this has been a fun little toy.

It is very clean and unnoisy, but recently I'm getting a lot of crackle from my pots. When I work them furiously for about 5 minutes the friction seem to burn out the problem, though.

I have had my neck pickup drop out once, but a quick pat got it to work again.

Love the "straty" tone with the neck pickup, and the warm tone of the bridge/middle setting.

The distortion I get is, of course, more Hendrix-like than that Gibson/Marshall combination you hear a lot of, but through the Mesa Boogie setting, I feel I get a very unique distortion sound I'm very happy with.

When I got this guitar Christmas of 1988, I had only been playing for about 6 months and wouldn't have known good action from bad, or any other problem.

Obviously, I have since checked intonation and action, and everything has been great for all of these years of constant playing.

This guitar has been in the worst clubs of southern West Virginia, in the harsh cold of Boston when I went to Berklee, and now in the humidity of Savannah, GA. It has been through it all and has held up quite nicely.

I play this guitar live every week. Hardware sometimes, as mentioned before, is sometimes a little tempermental, but otherwise A ok.

I do have a fret wear problem on the g string 1st fret. It has a bit of a jagged groove there I am unhappy about. Thought about having it filed, but haven't done it yet.

I'm amazed the finish hasn't came off. It is a great paint job. The strap buttons are solid, I've tightened them once or twice, of course. This is the only quality electric guitar I own, so yes, I depend on it and gig without a backup. I'm not worried, been doing it for years.

And like I read someone else say, It's a Strat, enough said.

Strat repair guys, I believe work with guitars that have been thrown out windows or crushed by lighting equipment, not guitars that break on their own. I've never known any of my Strat playing friends to have that type of problem to know what Fender's Customer service dept. is like.

Been playing since July 1988. If stolen, I would probably look at the PRS guitars, but probably get a new Strat as soon as possible. I would also pray daily for the thief to be infected with sores until he returned it.

I love the Strat history and aura of magic associated with it. I love the versatility. I can play Jazz, Country, Rock or anything with it. I've recorded with it on dozens of professional recordings.

I almost went with a flashy paint job BC Rich guitar, but thankfully, did not. That piece of crap guitar would be in a landfill somewhere by now.

The Lace pickups do not magnetically tug on the string, giving you great sustain. They also reduce all 60-cycle hum and you can adjust them as close to the string as you wish without compromising tone. I personally like the lace sensors, but do not have much to compare them to.

I also would look for the locking tuners and locking nut for my next guitar. Very smart design.

If you intend to seriously learn guitar, you will never regret getting a strat. It is an essential guitar for your collection if nothing else.

'97; USA made; 22 fret maple board; blue-burst finish on a solid two-piece ash body; white pearloide pickguard; "swimming pool" pickup rout; 5-way switch with TBX tone control, Blue, Silver, and Red Fender Lace Sensor pickups, locking Shaller tuners; LSR roller nut, Fender/Floyd locking tremolo bridge (no trem setter); Fender molded plastic case.

The guitar is very resonant with good sustain, full and punchy. Unplugged it has a nice tone, and the body and neck resonate well with each other, I would say that the guitar feels pretty "alive". As far as how the guitar's design affects its sound: some people feel that the "swimming pool" route, the roller nut, and the bridge rob tone and sustain: I disagree for this guitar. The guitar is very reponsive, it has good sustain, and a nice punchy tone, and the neck and body really resonate with each other. To my thinking this means that the wood, nut, and bridge are all working well with each other (my pedal steel guitar has a roller nut, too, and it has awesome sustain, too). The bridge has a heavy steel block which helps, too.
The Lace Sensor set works well for me and gives a pretty wide range of tone, but they're not a traditional sounding set-up. The three pickups are voiced differntly: the Blue pickup is in the neck position, it is dark, thick, and smokey, but not muddy or muffled, it's a great blues pickup, darker than a traditional Strat pickup. The Silver pickup is in the middle and it's the closest of the three pickups to a Fender single coil tone, it's a nice clean rhythm pickup, a little spanky, the best balanced and most traditional of the three. The Red is harder sounding, not as rich as the Blue or Silver, but it's not brittle, I suspect that if it were moved to another position it would open up (I may try swapping the postions of the Red and the Silver), the Red works best with distortion and overdrive, it reallly comes alive when pushed and it's a great hard-rock pickup. This is how they sound clean: Blue--dark and smokey; Silver--clean, snappy, bell-like; Red--like the Silver, but hotter, sharper, and less open. This is how they sound with distortion: the Blue and Silver become punchy, thick and compressed (in a good way), the same wirh the Red, but it gets more edgy and while it takes on the compressed quality it seems to open up and work best with distortion. The #2 and #4 switch postions blend the tones of the pickups, but you won't really get the tradtional quack tones (more quack with #2 than #4). These are great pickups for blues and hard rock, and they cover a lot of ground. The TBX is nice in that you can open up the Silver and Red tone for more edge and presence (I mostly do this for solos). I mostly use the Blue and the Silver, and I can get a pretty good Buddy Guy tone. I think for a good Fender clean, like country or funk tones, you can use these, but they perform best with bluesy and distorted tones. These are really great with heavy overdrive and distortion and the Red really shines. For a Strat this is nice as you get a thickness that has the qualities if a double coil, so if you're after good rock and blues tones these are great. These are noiseless pickups. I play through a Rivera open-back combo, a Rivera head with closed-back cabs, and an old Gibson combo. The guitar sounds best through the stack and the old Gibson...interestingly, it sounds most traditional through the Gibson with 6V6 tubes. I think that for what the Lace Sensors do they're great, but that takes the guitar out of the traditional Fender Strat terriotry (which may have been Fender's intention). Some people may want to change out the pickups because of this...however, that may be the way to go for some considering the low prices these can be had for. To be objective, I think it's a great sounding guitar that compliments my more traditonal Fenders, but I'll take off a few points because of the peculiarities of the pickups and the TBX.

I got the guitar second-hand, but hardly used, and it was setup fine except I had to adjust the intonation. The bridge is not as easy to work with as a standard brdge, you pretty much have to remove it to adjust the intonation (Fender shows pushing it down to access the allen screws, but there really isn't the clearance that is needed to this). This a hassle, but once it's set it's set, and the saddles aren't going anywhere. The truss rod adjustment is done at the headstock which is nice. There is a micro-tilt adjuster for the pitch of the neck, but once the truss rod and bridge are set the action is great. One plus is that action is adjusted by raising and lowering the two pivot bolts, rather than doing each saddle individually. The saddles are differnt thinknessness to match the curve of the fingerborard. This seems like a good design to me, however some people may prefer having individually adjustable saddles (I think that the time saved for setting saddle height is compensated by the time required to remove the bridge for setting intonation, so for an overall set-up it probably ends up taking the same time as for a standard bridge. Once the guitar is setup the tuning stability is great. I have mine set-up for 9's and I float the bridge, and I can do heavy beding and dive bombing and the guitar stays in tune. I think the system of the tuners, nut, and bridge is very, very good. The guitar does not break strings prematurely, but when they do break it's at the point where the string is flexed at the saddle from using the whammy bar. I find that this happens after about three-four weeks of daily playing (just like a pedal steel where the stirngs are exercised by the pedals), but if you change your strings every couple of weeks you shouldn't have any problems. They only weakness I see in the system is the fact that you need an allen wrench to change the string, and this is a little more complicated that just running the string through the bridge, but as long as you keep the wrench in your case it's not a big deal. You could replace the bridge with an American Standard bridge, but you may not get the sustain and stability that this bridge offers.

The neck and the fret work are excellent, it's a great feeling neck and the jumbo frets are fitted and finished very well.

The body is fantastic. The finsh is a really nice burst that is an aqua color in the middle that blends an opaque blue at the edges. The body is very light and the wood is ash (swamp ash, I guess becuase it's very light) with a nice heavy grain. I was told that these guitars all have alder bodies, and for the bursts they used an ash veneer, but this guitar has a solid two-piece ash body. While the tummy contour cut is opaqu, the forearm contour cut is translucent, and the grain of the qwood follows the cut. The fact that the body is solid was confirmed by removing the neck and the bridge and checking the grain chevron of the center seam with the grain on the surface of the guitar.

The neck pocket is super-tight. The build and finish quality of this guiat seem as good as anything that Fender is putting out; who ever built it really did a careful and fine job, or they had a good run with these in '97.

I've been using this guitar regualrly for about 18 months, and it's become my main guitar due to all it can do...it's definately the most versatile guitar I've ever had, and while it may not be the best for all styles (see my comments for "Sound"), it'll get by for most stuff and it excells for rock and blues. The guitar is rock solid, has held up great, nothing's come loose or gone out of whack (i'm not abusive, but I use this guitar a lot). As far as using it without a backup, yes I would and sometimes do, if there's one guitar that covers a lot of ground this is it.

Never dealt with Fender, bought it used so no warranty. These are the ultimate in user servicable guitars, and are so universal that support is not really an issue.

I've been playing for about 20 years. In addition to this Strat I've got a Warmoth '52 style Tele with SD pups, a USACG '62 style Strat with CS54 pups, a Gibson J45, a Showbud LDG pedal steel, Rivera and Gibson amps. I love my J45...I've had Gibson electrics in the past (would like to have some again some day), but I've gravitated to Fender electrics.
This Strat is a great compliment to the traditional Tele and Strat.
I love this guitar. I never would have thought of getting a "modern" Strat like this if I hadn't aquired it as part of a larger deal for a price that was too good to pass up. Now, I couldn't see getting rid of it as the neck and body are fantastic and all the parts and sounds work really well for me. I could see changing out the pickups, but that's generally true as a possibilty for any Strat (one of the things I like about Strats is how easy it is to do mods to them). If I do change the pickups the fact that this guitar has the "swimming pool" rout opens up a lot of possiblities. Some people don't care for these because of the breaks from the traditional Strat, but I think that the features work well, and that the design is a good evolution of the Strat. If it were stolen or lost I would be very very sad. I would look to replace it with a Strat Plus species of Strat as I think these are overall top notch USA Strats that can be had for great prices. If I ever came across one like mine again I'd get it.

1989 Strat Plus Deluxe, USA. 22 frets, rosewood fingerboard on maple neck, ash body (heavy too), gold lace sensors, wilkinson roller nut, american standard trem, hipshot tremsetter, tobacco sunburst finish, sperzel locking tuners, medium jumbo frets. Pickups since replaced with EMG's (SA/SA/89), saddles replaced with Graphtech FAAS piezo string-saver saddles, white pickguard replaced with black (looks cool on the tobacco sunburst body), stock fender knobs replaced with black metal dome knobs (looks very cool). Pickup routing is a fender 'universal' rout, so changing your pickup configuration is possible without having to take to the guitar with power tools (!).

This guitar is a really nice sounding instrument, very warm and full sound without the harsh top end that I've had in other strats. Didn't like the lace sensors that came with the guitar (a little noisy and lacking in sustain) so I swapped these with the EMG's (SA/SA/89) that were in my previous guitar. Still, the natural sound of the guitar comes through. Very versatile sound from Jazz to Funk to Hard Rock. Not sure how it would go for metal though. I've also added a Graphtech FAAS piezo saddles recently which is a great addition and increases the versatility of the guitar even more.

Purchased second hand, and wasn't well setup at the time. Very well constructed though, so didn't take too much to get it playing really nicely. The trem is ok, but doesn't maintain pitch as well as a full locking system does. Some of that might be the wilkinson nut though -the strings (esp the G) seem to stick a little. If it was a huge problem I would have had it replaced by now though! Very nicely finished fretwork (no nasty edges). Tremsetter had also been taken out (most people do this) but I had mine put back in which the techs hate me for as they're a pain to adjust. I just like the strings to stay in tune while (for example) I'm bending other strings and the american standard trems do move a little in this situation (not as bad as floyd bridges do). Nice finish except for some minor self inflicted dings and wear.

I've been playing this guitar for 12 years and never had a problem with it. It's definately built to last, and I've probably done 2000 gigs on this guitar in all that time. I look after my gear too, which helps. I would normally have a backup on a gig, but with the addition of the Graphtech FAAS saddles (which are piezo equipped string saver saddles) I've virtually wiped out string breakage so now often go out with just the one guitar. Strap buttons I had replaced with schaller strap locks.

n/a

I've probably brought and sold a dozen guitars since I've had this one and I keep coming back to it. I would cry if it were stolen. It's just such a nice playing and nice sounding instrument and after 12 years it's setup, configured and played in just the way I like it. When I purchased the guitar, I was actually seriously considering a Valley Arts but fell in love with this one. A few years later I purchased a Valley Arts, and it's a great guitar in it's own right but has nothing on the strat.

My DSP is a '94 spec (according to the manual I asked Fender to send) with a '93 neck serial number - it doesn't have 40th anniversary badging. The colour is "too-much" red (aka crimson burst), and it came with an off-white pearloid scratchplate (since changed to a plain 'mint green' Fender replacement). It has a 22 fret rosewood board, maple neck, ash veneer over alder body, and the 'deluxe' hardware - Fender Floyd-Rose bridge, LSR nut and Sperzels. Pickups were the red, silver and blue Sensors mentioned in other reviews and it had a TBX control. Inclusion of shielding paint in the cavity is a nice touch.

I bought it second-hand a bit over a year ago, and it came with its Fender shell case & its 'tremolo' arm, but was missing its 'toolkit'. I bought it having done my research and decided to buy a used strat with a rosewood board. I'm no expert but after testing some of those available thought it had a great neck (average sized, but substantial feeling, sleek & played-in), general feel and unplugged woody musicality and resonance (almost everything else on a strat can be fixed).

6 months after buying it and having bonded with it I had it professionally set up and the pickups changed and some rewiring done by the incomparable Chris Melville (Melville Guitars, Brisbane Australia). It now has a set of Kinman AVN Blues on board.

I'm pretty much in agreement with many other reviewers about the Sensors. They must have seemed like a good idea at the time to Fender. I found I could only use the middle three positions on the selector - quite liked the silver Sensor and the blue was not bad.

Having said that, the guitar itself sounds great, unplugged. Again, no expert, but my impression from my DSP is that they were well made using good tonewood (leaving aside niggles about the veneering) and well thought out hardware. They seem to be a great guitar 'platform' for creating a range of quality sounds depending on what pickups are fitted.

Regarding the hardware, while not initially convinced about the Fender Floyd Rose, now I think it is a very solid bridge and set on its 2 posts probably contributes to the solidity of the sound projected by the instrument. Of course this means it is not at the spranky, vintage toned strat end of the spectrum; its undertones are more smooth, rich and substantial which leads me to...
the Kinmans, which have been set up to complement the natural sound of the guitar. These pickups are truly excellent - read about them elsewhere on this site and at the Kinman website.

Bought second hand, so can't say much. My DSP was seems to have been treated pretty well by its former owner/s, although had to replace the Sperzels with new ones because 3 came with parts missing - they have to be treated with care.

I think all guitars should be set up professionally once you decide you want to keep it for a while, decide on string gauge, what you want to use it for etc.

Am a guitar enthusiast not a performer, but as above the instrument seems well designed and made. Will no doubt stand up to the extreme rigours of jazz lessons, home practice and occasional jams.

Limited experience here: mail ordered the manual and received it here on the other side of the world within a couple of weeks - no worries.

Have played for 20 years, off and on, have recently taken up jazz lessons and developed a liking for Bill Frisell's music. Other 'heroes' include Neil Young, Elvis Costello, Mark Linkous, Jay Farrer and David Rawlings.
Other current guitars (not a collector): Seagull Grand acoustic which I love for its somewhat flat but breathy, immediate, no 'airs & graces' tone; my first electric, a home assembled Les Paul copy made from scrounged parts which has died and been reincarnated many times; Amplifier: Trace Elliot Velocette Twin, highly recommended, read about them elsewhere on HC. For quiet practice, use and recommend Korg Pandora PX3 with headphones - also sounds pretty good when run through the Velo!

My DSP, as modified, is what I currently want in a guitar. It has a good tonal range, no annoying habits, excellent playability and sounds very fine.

1992 American Made Strux (strat deluxe plus). Beautiful sunburst three color with Ash body and thin Maple, 22-fret neck. All bells and whistles, through body string-thru body bridge (MUCH better than clip and clamp, which is sort of ridiculous), Schaller locking tuners, LSR roller nut. Has the red (bridge), silver (middle) and blue (neck) Lace Pups. Came with Black plastic Fender case.

Great from blues to ballads (for me). Would like a bit more punch, but so far not able to make it happen with this setup.

Used: action was terrible! However, a quick neck adjustment and a height adjustment at the bridge to even out string height made it excellent. Then raised the pickups, which enhanced sound. A 10 AFTER the tuneup.

Haven't played live, but yes, positive this brickhouse can take a road trip.

Website needs PDFs for user manuals. They can't be making any money on $5 to get manuals mailed out. Never dealt direct.

I've been playing for about 25 years. I own Yamaha, Negoya, Sigma, and Martin acoustics. My only other electric is a mid-60s solid body Kay (sounds sort of like an OLD telecaster). I am 100% satisfied with this guitar. If it were stolen I would do bad things to the thief! Then I'd save up and buy another Strux if I could find it. I chose this guitar due to its beauty and features. The price just made it a no-brainer purchase.

If anyone knows how to get more of a full blues sound out of this guitar without modification (i.e. different amp setups or effects), please email me.

I bought a '93 American Fender Deluxe Plus Stratocaster. It has the usual controls. It has three Fender Lace Sensor Pickups (Red, Blue, Silver). It has a black finish. It has a Wilkinson Bridge and LSR Roller nut and Sperzel locking tuners. I changed out the standard pickguard for a turtoise.

I think that this guitar is one of the better Strats that I have ever played. I think that the three different Lace Sensors give a variety of sounds. I usually play rock, so I love the bridge (blue) pickup, but I like the fact that I can get the variety if neccessary.

I got the guitar used, so I don't know factory settings for this particular guitar. I took it home and did some minor adjusting and the guitar is almost perfect. I think that it has held up well so far. I like the look of the black finish with the turtoise pickguard.

I think that this guitar is very reliable, but you should always have a spare. Strap buttons look to be Schaller ready. I think that anybody can depend on this guitar. It sounds great.

Never dealt with Fender.

I think that this guitar is going to be a great guitar in my collection. It will sit right next to my '54 Strat.

Mines a 40th aniversary (1994 I believe). The hardware is premium with frictionless nut, and the bridge is a a three spring trim which requires you to cut the stings and secure them with six allen bolts. Has a snap in tremolo arm. The floyd rose bridge is weak and didn't have enough spring in it to keep from pulling out on me. This is the one biggest dissapointment of this guitar. Beutiful black with subtle green speckle paint finish. Good action, never goes out of tune

Great for light genres of music, but when it comes to heavy stuff you need to crank on humbucker position which kinda sucks. Super good with clean tones and virtually noisless.

Nice, no buzz. Neck laquer is kinda peeling from the sides of the neck which is a little anoying. I have looked after this thing with a velvet glove. Everything else is as good as a 2200 dollar guitar should be- honed to the max!

floyd Rose has come out on me a couple times but otherwise this guitar doesn't loose tune nor does it's hardware lack. No crackle on the nobs or quarter inch in after 8 years of steady use.

I've been playing this strat for about 7-8 years. I wouldn't probably buy it again but I won't sell it either- it's a quality guitar. It doesn't totally suit my style of playing all the time but it shines above all others at times when it fits into what I am doing.

USA Stratocaster Deluxe Plus of 1996. It have a lot of nice things: 22 fret maple neck with LSR roller nut (very very nice), Fender Floyd Rose bridge, 3 lace sensor pickups (blue at the neck, silver at center and red at the bridge). The mine is black with pearl pick guard.

I play a lot of everything...old surf tunes, psychedelia, rock'n'roll, alternative rock and noise... this guitar it's what i was looking for. I use it with a Fender Twin Amp, several Boss pedals and a digitech Wammy-Wha...
1 - No noise
2 - Fantastic clean sound: every pick up has its sound: i use the red and the silver together for the surf, the silver alone for the ballads, the blue for the blues, the red for the other things.
3 - The tremolo arm it's the best I ever played with. No intonation problems even with a great unse of the arm.

It's obvious that if you play metal this isn't the guitar for you. :)

All ok

I've had a little problems with the central "tone" control...it turns over and over the 360? !!!! But now it's all ok.