Fender Deluxe Stratocaster

The Usual... S-1 switching, SCN Pick ups, beautiful select alder sunburst finish, locking tuners...

I use a heavy bottom/light top gauge (.10-.52 I believe) and its sounds great!!! Tried initially a .10-.46 gauge, and while these still sounded good, they were just a little flappy sounding in my opinion. As for the guitar itself... it is a more modern sounding instrument, much like a strat sound still but just more solid, sleeker sound I think.

Bottom line though, if you're still using .10-.46's (or .9-.42's, yee gads!), change em up! Nothing will improve the tone of your instrument quicker or more dramatically than a heavier string gauge. Once my fingers are used to this current gauge, I'll be taking it up another notch.

Needed some adjustment after swapping string gauges, but once fixed it plays sure and solid and just feels... like quality I think.

Gorgeous sunburst finish over a beautiful piece of Alder (it looks like it's on fire...) and glossy headstock with sliver reflective logo.

Just a beautiful, quality instrument.

Haven't had it long enough to comment. But feels very solid and sturdy.

By far the best guitar I've owned/played.

May not be to everyones taste as it is a slight departure from the authentic "strat" sound. Don't get me wrong, it sounds like a regular strat, just a bit "bigger"...

Everything about this guitar has got me smitten though, I love it.

A modern day classic!

Made in US, 22 frets, 1998. Wood is "select ash", which is a fancy term meaning only 3 piece ash. Fender Noiseless pickups. Finish is transparent crimson red (or something like that). Rounder edges. Maple neck with round C shape, medium jumbo frets, abalone inlay. Pop-in tremolo bar. Fender locking tuners. 1 vol 2 tones... damn, you know what a strat is.

It sounds quite good but the I still have a bit of uncertainty about the noiseless pickup. I backed them inside the pickguard yet they are a tad bright and I might try the mod of changing the 1meg pot to a 500k. They are really noiseless, as in "silent".

Totally shitty setup for the neck. The rest seems allright.

I never gig with a backup anyway, and I always assume that my guitars will get through it without falling apart. If one ever does, it will experience my wrath. Everything seem sturdy on this one.

I don't care about them. I would not call them up since they probably don't care about me either. C'mon it's a strat anyway so any retard could set it up or fix the problems on their own, or ask a luthier if they are too clueless.

Ok, here we go. The goddamned maple neck on this thing made me freak out. I was stupid enough to buy it sight unseen over the internet without playing it first. Which in retrospect, is a pretty dumb thing to do for a 1 grand guitar. First of all, they seem to have put some varnish over the frets. I had to scrape that thing off and I obviously damaged the wood a bit (small chunks of varnish would come out of the fingerboard or me leaving sanding marks over the wood... I was pretty pissed so I wasn't very precautious, that should have been done at the fender factory). Then, the radius is very round compared to my american std. There was no way I could get a low action on it without buzzes and rattling bends. I played with it for a few day and when I noticed the higher action caused me to sound more sloppy (I have a very light attack) I was very pissed, took it off, and used it as kindling. It's sad because it was nice, with the silver engraved thing on the headstock and the comfy rounded edges. Seriously I put back the neck of my american standard which has a flatter radius, and a less sticky feel. I kept the fender locking tuners though. Again, I felt a bit stupid of dissing the neck of a 1k guitar I just brought but damn, it was a piece of shit.

The rest of the guitar is great though. Esthetically, it is killer. I like everything else on it big time. Not that I am a big trem user but the pop in trem arm is great also. Overall, besides the neck, this guitar is fine, but fender still piss me off. I think I'll go cover the fender logo on my headstock right now because I don't want to promote this goddamned corporation. I think in retrospect, I should have forced myself to deny the years of marketing brainwash they did and go for a G&L or John Shur or something. If this is the "best step before Custom Shop", they should try to get a clue because right now they live on their name, the other sub-companies they bought, and the outsourcing and neo-liberalist business model they have. I hate having to dismember 3 fender guitars in order to make one that is decent.

Made in USA, 2003. Typical Strat configuration. Noiseless pickups, S/S/S. S-1 switching system. Locking tuners. Modern C-shape neck. Push-in/pull out (i.e. screwless) trem bar. Rosewood fretboard. Came with hardshell case, strap, tools, cable.

I generally play solo: jazz, latin, classical, show tunes, blues, 50s-60's guitar classics, etc. Use Roland VGA3 and Cube 30 amps because they have that great JC-120 clean sound as well as excellent effects, yet are sturdily-built but light and easy to haul around.

With the S-1 switching feature, the Strat Deluxe can make almost any sound you want--everything from jazzy-almost-hollow-body, to Tele-like icepick in the ear, to screaming distortion. Most versatile Strat ever. Noiseless pickups are exactly that, but they are singles nevertheless and cannot quite duplicate the special tones and timbres associated with humbuckers.

Guitar came set up exactly to factory specs. However, I did some tweaking to better accommodate my finger-picking playing style (I don't use a pick). I found no flaws in the finish, hardware, or anything else.

Action is easy and comfortable--comparable to my PRS. I've owned many guitars (yes, I'm an addict) and this Strat is at the top of the list in terms of great action and playability.

The trem bar works well. Even without a roller nut, the guitar stays in tune even with extensive trem use. I suspect the locking tuners help maintain tuning stability--not to mention making it a breeze to change strings.

However, I have one very subjective nit-pick: the color. I chose Mongego Black because I like black guitars (chips and nicks are easy to fix with black automobile touch-up paint.) Montego Black has a very light gold flake which can make the guitar appear slightly dusty. Additionally, the OEM pickguard is gold-colored and looks cheap. I would have preferred plain ol' black paint and a white pickguard. I replaced the the gold pickguard with a black pearlite one which is more aesthetically appealing, in my opinion, and matches the pickguard on my black Tele.

Built like a Strat. Expect few if any problems. Should last a long time.

I've called the company regarding other Fender products, and customer service reps have been very helpful. Also, emails have been answered promptly and fully. In my experience, Fender's customer service compares to Peavey's, which is of legendary quality and arguably the best in the industry.

I've been playing guitar since I was 13 (I'm 60). Classical, rock, jazz--everything but acid, punk and rap. I've owned many guitars made by Fender, Gibson, Peavey, Ibanez, Cort, etc. Ditto for amps in my quest for that elusive "perfect tone." Over the years as my fingers (and the rest of me) have thickened, and arthritis creeped in, I've settled on guitars with 25-inch or greater scales and relatively wide-at-the-nut (41mm or wider) fretboards. Fender guitars are in this category. Much as I love Gibson and PRS products, I find their smaller scales and fretboards less comfortable as I age.

As far as the Strat Deluxe goes, I believe Fender came up with a winner that should meet the needs of guitar players of a wide variety of styles. Unless you're not satisfied with anything but a humbucker, I don't see how you could find any serious fault with this guitar. It is totally versatile, a pleasure to play, and of the highest quality. If it were stolen, I'd replace it.

In terms of value, the guitar is relatively expensive. You can buy a fine standard American, Highway 1, Mexican or Japanese Strat for about half the price or less...but no S-1 switching. To me, the S-1 swiching system is what makes the Strat Deluxe so versatile and in a class all its own.

If you decide you want a Strat Deluxe and don't want to pay top dollar, try Ebay. I've bought several guitars and amps at very good prices via Ebay, and I've never been disappointed. The secret is to establish PHONE contact with the seller. After a short conversation, you can usually tell if you're dealing with a jerk or with an up-front person who knows guitars and simply wants to make an honest deal.

It's made in the USA, 2000-2001 ish, I suppose. 22 fret, no nonsense neck, with LSR Roller Nut, locking tuners, and the Floyd Rose tremolo system, with tuners on the bridge (yes, on the bridge). S/S/H configuration, 5 way pickup selector, 2 tone and 1 volume control. The pickups were your standard issue single coils. The addition of the tremolo, locking tuners, and the LSR are appreciated.

As usual, I got the Smashing Pumpkins sound I love so much out of it, since similar guitars were used during the recording of three of their albums. Used with a Vox amplifier, it sounds great, with little noise. It has more of a bright sound, not the big beefy Gibson sound. When used for leads, it sounds pleasant, but for rhythm, you may have to crank the bass settings on your amp a little. No real dislikes here.

Pickups were fine, flawless finish, no nonsense.

It was pretty durable, and it had a strong finish, but as always, it's gonna wear off sooner or later. Really dependable, but you always need a backup.

Great sound, feel, and built to last. I compared this guitar to more expensive American Deluxe models, but I preferred this one, due to it's excellent price/value.

beautiful instrumet, tinted maple neck with abalnone inlays, see through blond finish, ash body, premium hardware with locking tuners, totoise shell pickguard, three noiseless fender pickups.

Beautiful, crisp, great 2nd and fourth position sounds. As powerful as custom shop vintage reproduction as you can get if not better.

looks great, required some work to set it up, but that's my shtick.

Instrument still newe, but if experinece is a teacher, once they start out this good tey stay good for a long, long time.

Great as usual.

A fender classic!