Fender Deluxe Strat Plus

I bought this guitar new in 1990 directly from Fender with an optional tweed case. It is a beautiful sunburst with an unusual grain. It has an ash top with alder body-the best of both worlds! It has Schaller locking tuners and a Wilkinson roller bridge that won't accomodate any string sets fatter than 10-46, which is what I luckily use. It came with a Tremsetter that I've never used so I can't comment on it. The pups are Lace Sensor Blue, Silver and Red in the bridge. I like them alot, particularily if you process your sound with effects, but they sound fine plugged straight into your amp, especially the Blue neck pup. Neck is all maple with a 9.5 radius and medium frets. The back of the neck has a nice worn in feeling-not sticky at all, like my '57 vintage reissue. The serial number starts with E9 (1989) although I ordered it in '90. The hang tag is stamped May 1990.

The sound may seem a little sterile compared to my '57 RI but the variety of sounds and the ability to use effects with no added noise makes this guitar extremely versatile when performing live. The red bridge pup is fine for lead playing and the blue neck pup is great for everything else. I use a wide variety of amps, vintage and modern, and they all sound good with this guitar. I've been playing since '65 and owned over 30 guitars during that time including the 5 Strats I have now and this one is a keeper.

This guitar was shipped directly to me from the factory and was perfect. It was the second one I got from Fender directly as the first one was sent back a day after I received it. I check the "snugness" of the neck/body joint of any guitar I buy. With the strings and neck plate w/screws off I check to see if I can hold the body off the ground for a few seconds with the neck pressed into the neck cavity of the body. If it can't it won't sustain well and it'll sound "plunky" not rich. I've seen many Strats that can't pass my test (even Custom Shop models) but I don't own any of them. My five Strats all passed this test and that's why I still own them.

It's a Strat but I never gig without a backup. It seems bulletproof.

Never dealt with them for warranty work.

I've been playing for 37 years and own a dozen electrics currently including my five Strats-this Strat Plus Deluxe, a '97 VooDoo Strat, a '57 USA reissue w/ Custom Shop anodized pickguard and pups, a '91 US Strat and a US'88 HM Strat. They are all fine guitars that I plan to keep forever, but the Plus Deluxe is by far the most versatile. If I was going on the road and could only bring one guitar this would be it, it does everything well. However I must admit that the '57 RI is my favorite of the five because it it feels so good to play. Would I look for another to replace the Strat Plus Deluxe if it was stolen? Yep, but it would have to pass my test first and that is harder to find than it might seem.

Made in the USA in 1997 Fender Deluxe Strat Plus.
22 Fret Maple neck with LSR roller nut
Two Tone controls and one volume control & 5 way selector
Three Lace Sensor Singles; Bridge position is red, mid is silver, top is blue.
Beautful Dark red finish with wood grain showing through.
Pearl pick guard.
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.
It has Sperzel locking tuners.
It came with a plush interior hard shell case

I play a variety of music; metal, country, bluegrass, and classic rock. The Fender Lace Sensor pickups are color coded for different kinds of tones. The blue one on top has a rich 50's tone. The mid has a great tone for country. The red single at the bridge position is hot. It is great for metal and soloing. It packs a better punch then many of my guitars with double coils.

I have several guitars and this one is by far the best. The different sounds from the pick ups let you play a wide variety of music without having to switch guitars. The Sperzel locking tuners are wonderful for quick string change. The sound quality is the best that I have ever played.
Here is my only critisism: Though the roller nut helps give this guitar wonderful tone and sustian, it will not keep it in tune with any real tremolo action. The red Lace Sensor bridge pick up provides great hard pounding sound but you will you regret doing any deep dives with this trem if you expect to stay in tune. Why would you put a Tremolo on a guitar with a roller nut? Light trem action only for this guitar.

This guitar seems and appears to be quite durable but I will never put it to the test. In live play I would use it when the spot light is on me. This guitar is a real show off piece. For harder play would rather put the wear on my USA HM Strat or USA California Strat. Also, the Lace Sensor pick ups have the words "Fender Lace Sensor" silked screened on them. It won't take alot of play to wear the silk screening off. I think I could use this guitar w/o a back up but who would ever do a show with only one guitar.

Never had to use them

I have been playing for about 16 years. I own a 1968 Fender Bassman with a 2x12 cab and a Fender Concert head with a 4x12 cab. I also have an Ibanez, a Jackson, a Fender USA HM Strat, A Fender USA Corona California Strat, a Washburn with the best trem ever made....WASHBURN WONDERBAR, A Fender Telecoustic, two Yamaha Acoustics, And A cheap ole VANTAGE Flying V with 2 EMG doubles and the Washburn Wonderbar Trem.
I play through a Zoom 8080 Studio Player effects processor when I am trying to impress and a Zoom 1010 when just playing around. In my opinion, the Deluxe Fender Strat Plus is a Fender masterpiece. If you put it up against a Gibson, you would be throwing rocks at the Gibson!!!!

10 years old, blue-grey colour that's growing on me. Maple body & neck.
Features as with the other listed reviews, although after a bit of research on the Lace website I found that a Silver sensor is a fatter, 70s style Single coil sound, whereas the Gold is more the 50s sound.
A Gold sensor is not necessarily better than a Silver one ('All that glisters ...')
Came with sturdy hard case.

The sounds available are wonderful & versatile.
The Blue (vintage humbucker, neck) is my favourite - turn up a little distortion & play PJ Harvey's 'Is This Love?'. Warm, bassy, great clean or distorted.
The Silver mid sensor is warm without the harsh treble of a trad pickup (to my ears).
In common with many other reviewers, I found the Red pickup disappointing, but found it sounded very tingly with lots of gain on a rectified amp. Came to life with a crunch.

Bought 2nd hand, so nicely set up.
Bridge blocked off, which I prefer.

Ten years old, gigged by previous owner, and yet still perfect.

Web site is a bit weak, but no need to contact them.

I enjoy recording my own songs, so this is really a toy, but what a toy.
I use it mostly with a POD2 pedal, and the flexibility of the POD's amp tones & the guitar's pickups gives an infinite range.
I would definitely buy this over a Standard Strat plus due to the Blue pickup.
I bought this as it was cheaper than a new US Strat with better features. The build quality is superb and guitars are relatively uncomplicated, so I have none of the worries I'd have buying, say, a 2nd hand car.
Pairing this guitar with a POD is not a purists choice, but for a top quality range of sounds it can't be beaten.

This guitar is made in USA in 1997. It has 22 medium frets on a slightly stained maple fingerboard. Neck is standard profile with 9.5" board radius. The body is solid swamp ash I think (might be alder, but it feels too heavy for that), and has a nice fine gold flake finish. It comes with Blue, Silver and Red Lace Sensors on a aged pearl pickguard, plus the regular American Strat controls and switch. LSR roller nut, locking tuners and Deluxe Locking Tremolo (formerly known as Fender-Floyd Rose). Comes with Fender hardshell case and all the necessary Allen keys. Fully featured with the classic look.

I use this Strat into a BOSS ME-8 effects and a Marshall DSL-401 combo. I play mainly rock and blues (think Satriani + Clapton) and this guitar is very good at it. The neck position is fat like a vintage PAF, and I use it exclusively for slightly overdriven blues. It is quite balanced although the bass is a little too much and I had to lower the bass side of the pickup. The neck-middle position has the distinctive Strat "quack" when played clean and sounds very authentic. I never use the middle position but it sounds a little like Texas Special with less tonal character.

The bridge Red Lace Sensor is biggest problem with this guitar. It is thin and lacks low end. Mids are totally absent and it sounds like it can do nothing but some hair metal. Really horrible pickup. Got no balls for lead. I wish there was a Blue variant here. Because of the bad bridge pickup and general lack of character from the Lace Sensors I am considering changing the pickups to Kinman Blues.

The guitar came with a back-warped neck. The strings were buzzing like bees and I had to immediately adjust the truss rod. The intonation was fine but the string height was set too low. Turned the bridge pivots a couple of turns and adjust the claw springs for a floating bridge plus to increase the string height. I often pull up the tremolo arm and floating bridge is a necessity for me, even though I heard that it reduces sustain. The pickups were also too close to the strings and I had to adjust them for a balanced output. The bridge Red Lace Sensor was a nightmare at this.

After an afternoon's work at it, it played very well. I must say that the fretwork is good. The bends are not choked, and tapping was easy because of even fingerboard. I am very particular about an even sounding fingerboard for this purpose. The locking bridge and roller nut are very good and the tuning never goes out when I use the whammy. It also has a low profile and smooth feel, unlike the original Floyd Rose that feels like a respirator on your guitar.

One minor problem I had was that the tip of the 5-way switch was coming off. I am going to drip a drop of glue into it and fix it back. Other than that the guitar is fine. The finish is nice, and the aged pearl pickguard is really attractive. The neck joint is also tight and snug. The output jack is a little loose and I had to tighten the hex nut. The strap buttons sucked and I installed Schaller straplocks effortlessly.

This guitar is supposed to be the cream of Fender besides the signature and custom shop series. It should withstand live playing well. (Even my MIM Strat did!) The hardware is sturdy but I think the straplocks are necessary for any guitar in this range. The finish looks fragile and I better be careful with it. I can depend on this guitar only after I change the pickups, but I will not gig without a backup no matter what guitar you're talking about.

Never dealt with Fender. The local dealer Swee Lee is quite good and gave me a free setup.

I've been playing for 3 years on the electric and more on the classical and acoustic. I have an old Yamaha classical with sentimental values (my first guitar!) and another Fender MIM Strat with EMG pickups. This guitar is great for the price I paid, and it feels very good and sleek. The only thing I hate is the Lace Sensors. They suck! I am getting Kinmans! Anyway it feels similar to my MIM Strat but has a heavier body and smoother neck. The bridge is also much more stable. If it were stolen, I would save up and build my own signature Strat. But I won't mind getting one again.

Made in U.S.A., maple neck and finger board, 22 frets, ash body with beautiful transparent blue finish, hip shot trem setter, schaller locking tuners, L.S.R. roller nut, red, silver, blue single-coil lace pickups, and hard shell case.

I love playing lead using the blue neck pickup, real fat sound. I do not like this guitar for rhythm it's a little muddy. The lace sensors are o.k. I would have preferred a blue or silver pickup in the bridge and gold in middle and neck position. I don't like the lace sensors when driven with distortion. I'm looking into replacing the pickups I'll probably go with Reo Grande's, Muy Grande in the bridge and Tallboy's in middle and neck.

The guitar play's great and stays in tune if you don't use the tremolo, which I expect from any non locking tremolo. However Fender's workmanship on the maple neck was and is poor. I'm guessing Fender put the frets in the neck and then poured on the finish over frets and all. What happened was as I played the finish chipped off the frets which was a nuisance, but worse yet it chipped the finish off the maple finger board as well . I took the guitar to a luthier he contacted Fender, Fender sent out a new maple neck and it did the same thing. I then gave up on Fender and had a luthier do a fret job for $60, and I will now live with a few chips in the finger board finish.

I bought the guitar new 1/25/95 and have never had any problems except for the maple neck. It is the only electric guitar I own and I'll probably keep it for the rest of my life. I would use the guitar any where.

Read the above section on action, fit and finish and you tell me. I would have given this rating a 9 had the neck they sent me fixed the problem. The only reason I give this a 2 is the finish on the neck has fewer chips than the original neck.

I was also looking at a Hamer Daytona for $625 when I bought this guitar. This is the guitar I now wish I had bought and would recommend to anyone looking for a strat. Unfortunately I don't think Hamer makes this guitar anymore, but it would be worth finding a used one. The reason I bought the Fender was the roller nut, which I still like, and the lace sensors which I like sometimes and hate others depending on what I'm playing.

1999 made in mexico, has 21 frets, 5-way and button pickups, transparent finish, strat body, medium frets.

Great for SRV and Hendrix type music. Use monster cable with a 65w peavey amp. Sounds good with any echo effect, not so good with alot of distortion. Full rich sound. Can't scream though like my a guitar with humbuckers. Very texan tone, not good for rock, and metal.

playes perfect, haven't busted one string since i got it, for real.It has gold plated hardware, and some of the gold has wore off.Don't get gold plated hardware!

It will last forever, but as for the hardware, don't get gold plated!I can depend on this guitar, but i do have others just in case.

fender is the best, but i think the next guitar i buy will be a Gibson.

I have been playing for 6 years. I also play any other stringed instument brought to me, the drums too. I love playing songs on it by artists such as pearl jam, chili peppers, hendrix, clapton, king, and eric johnson.I wish i would have bought humbuckers, next time.Fender makes very nice guitars, and i will alwasy trust the fender company.

1984 American Strat w/ 22 frets. Ash body is deep blue w/ white pick gaurd. 5 switch selector controls 3 lace sensor pick-ups- all gold. Thin Maple neck, Shaller locking tuners. An after market LSR replaces the Wilkinson roller nut - the Wilkinson was a POS. American Standard Trem sits tight with all the springs in place. 3-wind 11's finish the guitar off. No bar, don't use one.

This is the do it all guitar if there is such a thing. From dirty blues to country to metal to bluegrass.

I bought the guitar used in a pawn shop for $400.00. It needed the nut replaced (the Wilkinson, not me!) and the frets needed to be milled. I through $225.00 bucks at it and wa-la.... I own a great playing guitar.

I took my guitar to Strait Music in Austin, Texas and let me tell you they are by far, and I say this with all of my heart, the biggest bunch of screw ups in the music business. Hands down a Minus Ten. I even called Robert Strait up and told him about all the problems I was having with his business/service/staff and he was anything but concerned. So I took the guitar to a guy named Shannon at Mars and he not only fixed the guitar but for about a 1/4 of the money I had already paid Strait Music.

So it worked out like this:

Strait music had my guitar for 2 months and did not do what I wanted and it cost me $175.00 (yeah, you'd think I wouldn't have paid a dime, right?)

Shannon at Mars (he still works there by the way) had my guitar for a couple of days, charged me $50.00 and broght my guitar back from buzz city.

This guitar is bomb proof but it must get a tune up at least twice a year, once if you play less. I see no reason why it shouldn't be passed down to generations of players.

Gig w/o a back up? Sure, if you could invent strings that wouldn't break.

no warranty, i am the second, (third? forth?) owner. I have never communicated with the Fender company.

11 years of playing and I still can't get it perfect! The Strat will always play better than me! If my Strat were stolen or lost I would look until I found the guitar that felt right. Heck, when I bought my Strat it was all out of wack, but it just felt right and in the end my purchase paid off! This being the case, if I had to replace this guitar it would not necessarily be with another Strat Plus, but it would be with another quality guitar!


With Best Regards,


Chris in Texas

ps My next guitar is going to be a Taylor 410CE.

1989 model in a teal green finish. 22 fret rosewood/mapleneck.Blue lace sensor in at the bride and silver lace sensors in the middle and neck poisition. Standard two point tremolo with the tremsetter and a wilkensen roller nut.I think the neck is a wide thin with standard frets??? I bought it brand new while playing in high school jazz band.

Beautiful tone! A true work horse. I've used it for jazz, metal, you name it. I've ran it through any amp you can name and it always sounds great.

No flaws here. It came from the factory set up perfectly and after over ten years of use is about ready for a fret grind. This guitar is so smooth!

It's a strat! Nuff said.

Never needed it.

I've been playing for 14 years and have owned several other guitars but I just keep coming back to that Strat. I recently pickud up a 1973 Strat that has quickly become a favorite.

1993 MIA strat. 22 frets. Solid ash body. 1vo2tone. 3 lace sencor (belch) single coils new pickupswould be an improvement. Passive electronics. 1 piece maple neck. Beautiful sunburst finish. String through body strat bridge. Locking schaller tuners. Thin neck.(oval?)L.S.R. roller nut. I say 7.(10 with new pickups.)

My musical style veries a lot. I play rock, blues, and some alternative. It suits me well although some new pickups will be in order soon. I really hate the red lace sensor in the bridge position. The locking tuners make my life a lot easier.(10 with new pickups.)

I bought it used so I don't know about the factory setup. It plays like a dream though, and the finish is beautiful.

Let's face it strats are tanks. No need for a backup.

never dealed with them.

After I replaced the pickups with handwound Rio Grandes The guitar is perfect.If it were stolen I'd kill the person who stole it. It works well with my current gear. I have a Mesa Boogie rocket, a boss me-30, and of course monster sp-500 cabels.

1989 USA; 22 frets; TBX; Bridge: Seymour Duncan Hot Rails, Middle and Neck: Lace Sensors; maple neck w/ skunk stripe; standard bridge; tremsetter; Sperzel locking heads; Wilkinson nut; some wierd dark brown, semi-see-thru, metallic finish, i've never seen another with this finish; came w/ hard case.

You can play anything on it & it'll sound good. I usually use it in a DI, thru a Big Muff. Hardly ever use anything else. Used it with a whole bunch of amps, mainly Marshall and Fender tube amps. Sounds soooo good.... The Hot Rails humbucker sounds good thru the Muff regardless of what amp it goes through. My neck pickup's gone a bit wonky though, gives out a very weak signal for some odd reason.... gotta fix it.

Bought 5 yrs ago used, set-up was amazing, the neck pickup came wonky though (nearly never use the pickup). Frets were slightly worn, pickguard screws rusting a bit, a coulpe of knocks here and there....I've added a few more over the years.

Survived a whole bunch of gigs, will last till sometime in the 18th millenium. Everything's pretty solid, starting to wear gracefully. No strap locks, have been using good ol' masking tape. Now who goes without backups? Never needed to use the backup though..... (except for the occasional broken string)

Never communicated with Fender. 2nd Hand, the warranty was long gone.... will someday take it in to fix the neck pickup, but haven't sent it in for repair yet.

Absolutely in love with this guitar. My first Fender, will never part with it. It's like a sentimental bond. It's irreplacable. Wish I could find another one..... If anyone finds a strat plus, it's worth it. But sit down, take a bit of time to play it :)