Fender Highway 1 Strat HSS

2007 Highway 1 HSS, Sunburst, Vintage Trem, *Satin/Nitro Finish, Greasebucket tone circuit, large headstock.

This is really a unique guitar for a strat. It is very "rough" feeling and sounding. The humbucker is very full and meaty sounding, with lots of natural harmonics. The more gain you give it, the better it sounds. The neck pup is fuller sounding. This has to do with the finish as well as the pup itself, I suspect.
Overall, it's got a heavier rocking sound than a typical strat, which I definitely prefer.
I don't know why in the year 2007 Fender refuses to put noisless single coils in these guitars. It's really just kind of stupid to have to deal with all of the noise produced by a single coil when you're playing high gain. For most guitar players (who play rock) a normal American strat ($1000) with 3 noisy single coils is pretty much useless until you change the pickups. Fender is just too pompous to really take notice of what it's customers need, I supose.
Thank God for the SCN.

Don't be fooled by the "nitro" label. This is not the same finish as you get on a Gibson or a 50's NOS Strat. This is nitro with some "satin" finish on top, whatever the hell that is. It's kind of cool and it feels almost like plastic. The finish reminds me of those Ovation accoustic guitars with the plastic backs, if that makes sense to anyone.
Don't get me wrong - I like this finish much better than the poly crap that they put on everything else. Again, I don't know why Fender can't just use a real nitro finish like Gibson or like they do on the vintage strats, but I suppose it doesn't matter since they save a few cents and they're selling these things by the ton.
The strings were set up high and when I lowered the action at home it fretted out at 21st. I guess I'll take it in for a set up and see what they can do.

This is a pretty cool guitar. It's not finished like a bowling ball like most other strats, so it weighs less and feels better. No suprise, the single coils are noisy on high gain, but the humbucker sounds very good. These are not set up very well and you're most likely going to have to spend some time making sure it doesn't fret out when you lower the action to a reasonable level. Many people say set up isn't a big deal, but a pro set up in NYC can run you $75 at GC or $150 if you care to get ripped off at Rudy's Music...
A good, light weight American Standard HSS is probably better if you can find a good one that doesn't weigh 50 pounds, but this thing has a little edge to it with the big headstock and flat looking finish. If I ever get the chance to run Fender, I will have 4 models of stratocasters - red, white, black and sunburst. They will all have real nitro finishes. They will all have noiseless pickups. They will all weigh under 8 pounds. They will all have 22 frets. If you don't like one of these, buy a Gibson!

2003 fender hss american (amber wood grain) rosewood neck.i read alot about this guitar before i finally bought it.i couldn't be happier its a great guitar.ive been playing lespauls for 20 years but i think i like the strat better now.it has a great clear tone for blues,jazz and the humbucker rocks for heavy stuff.the pickups are stock and i like em i don't think i will ever change them there's no need to

i play blues/rock/country and heavy metal and this guitar works for all these styles.i love this guitar and everything is totally stock.i am gonna sell my lespaul and buy another one for backup.this has a lot of different sounds more than any guitar ive ever owned before

mine was used but mint condition.there was a little string buzz but i fixed that and its perfect now

this is a very dependable guitar.i still can't believe this is supposed to be there (starter guitar)its better than any of the other strats ive ever played even the ones that cost twice as much.i would use it on a gig without a backup for sure but i am gonna buy another so i won't have to

ive never called for anything and never needed to

ive been playing lespauls for 20 years and this guitar turned me into a stat man.i am gonna buy another one for sure

2007 American made HSS Highway 1 Strat. 3 tone color like a tobacco burst, smoooth Nitro finish, Rosewood neck with Jumbo frets, STEEL trem block, 2 - Alnico3 single coils PU, 1 Diamondback Hummy ( I can't find specs anywhere on this PUP), Larger 70's headstock, Vintage Trem pivot (6 screw), Pickup covers and knobs are colored BLACK. 2 - Tone controls affects Bridge and Neck pickup only, "Greasebucket" type contour affecting high tones only, not bass or midrange tones. I have not played the previous version of H-1 , prior to 2006. The 2006 and 2007 are "upgrades" to the original H-1. There should be a seperate review catagory for the upgraded model which is markedly different than 2005 and prior models.

If you are looking for "that" Vintage Strat sheen, sparkle and high end, you may be disappointed with this guitar. If you are looking for a more modern sounding Strat, ready for heaiver type music and still do Blues, 50's - 70's Rock, this is the one for you. Some sparkle can be had by turning the volume and tone controls all the way up. This is a good place to start in finding the guitar's tonal pallette, can't stress this enough. (Note:As stated above, Greasebucket tone control just cuts the highs, the volume control when not all the way on 10 cuts the highs also and some mids. This is a known Strat character. Installing a volume contour kit may help but may also affect the greasebucket circuit.) Sometimes I like a less high end sound With the volume control on 10 and playing with the Bridge PU tone control one can go from a PAF sounding hummy on 10, to a dark, midrange sounding for heavy distortion on 5 . Very good sustain attributible to the Steel trem block and larger headstock. As a bonus, the Bridge has a single coil sound to it and can be a bit noisey for a humbucker. I have not experienced these sounds before on a MIM Strat with hum-pup in the bridge. With any of the MIM HSS STrats I owned, the bridge hummy was shrill, shreik, not listenable to my ears (these are always in the used market). The H-1 Neck and middle single coil PU have that Strat sound but a little darker. Blues, Jazz, Modern country, whatever, can be played on these 2 pickups. Not very noisey for single coils. In fact all 3 PUPs compliment each other and are not too far from each other tone wise, none of them are "super hot". The sound on this guitar is very versitile. In fact I'm willing to say this is the only guitar one needs, well, except for today's Metal.

When Buying a guitar nowadays, I take a Fret rocker with me. You know the ones that guitar techs use to check fret level.
I do this to weed out bad axes. When BUY5ng a $500.00+++ guitar, one wants to make sure it is right, thus the fret rocker. After checking the frets , I play the guitar making sure its what I want. I know I'm probably being a bit anal but I do not want to take my guitar to a tech,even under warranty for a fret level, shouldn't have to. One thing I noticed with this tool, ever since Fender switched from Vintage small type frets on their MIM Strat to the Medium Jumbo type frets, height variance has gotten worse. Not too big of a deal if one sticks to Fender's standard 2mm string height but if one likes 1.2mm or lower string action, frets have to be even. That said, this H-1 Strat has no fret height variance and the neck is straight with the right relief. The nitro finish has no flaws, everything works fine. The only thing to do was lower the action as I pleased and play away. Very cool.

Fender markets this guitar for the busy professional and is built to take it. I see no reason why it would not standup to live use.

I have dealt with Fender for warranty claims, no issues

I have 6 Strats, all except this one are MIM and different configurations. This is the BEST attribute of a Strat, they can be almost anything you want for sound and performance. Fender basically says the H-1 is a 70's copy. This H-1 is not similiar to the 1970 reissue I have,, ash body, vintage frets, different pickups and trem block (Big block zinc type, ugh!). They sound miles apart. The '70 has Fender Vintage PUPs sparkle and sheen, great sounding guitar. Fender's marketing got it right saying the upgraded H-1 is a middle road in terms of tone, very versitile but not for "that" vintage tone. In regards to jumbo frets.. I do not know what a scalaped neck feels like but I imagine these Jumbo frets are close in playability. Real smooth string bending. All my Strats except the '70 reissue and this H-1 have mods of one sort or another. I can't say the H-1 is my best Strat (none really are), though this Strat gave the least trouble in setup, no need to modify pickups and sounds excellant out of the box.

Hss config.
Flat Black finish....nitro
Alder body

I really am a glutton gor punishment. As much as I bitched about the poor electronics on this guitar as well as the crappy tuners...I went and bought 2 MORE!!! a brand new 2007 and a 2003 off of E-Bay. I Just buy them them to mod the shit out of them....then they become AWESOME axes!!

BOTTOM LINE............The stock pickups bit ass!!

The guitars look gorgeous!!! The finishes are GREAT!! I love the headstocks!!

Electronics aside........The guitar's a tank!!

I wish Fender would pony up and put some good pickups; like those in the 60's classic player for instance, in these babies!! Then they would be KILLER axes.
I HATE the fact that I have to drop another $200.00 or so dollars in the guitar to make it playable!!

I bought a brand new (2007) one, black with rosewood. A really nice package... some "good old" features (like the vintage trem, the regular old strat electronics) and some new ones (easy-access truss rod, roller string trees). The feel is excellent... the neck is first class, and it all feels very solid; moreso than the MIM strats I've tried. Jumbo frets are a bit of an odd choice, but you get used to them pretty quick. Comes with a decent padded gigbag, a cleaning cloth, and a couple of allen keys.

It really sounds terrific. Unplugged, I think there's a noticable difference between the H-1 and the MIM strats. Don't know if that's the larger headstock, the paint, or what, but I think the sustain is noticeably better.

Plugged in, it sounds fantastic. I'm playing it through a vintage tweed Champ (an amp with one sound), and I can't believe how much variety I can get out of the H-1. Great dynamics; responds enormously to different picking, attacks. Those Hendrix/SRV tones are right there... that sweet spot in the middle of the neck sounds so fab I've been spending hours there since I got the guitar. The humbucker gives a whole nother facet, too. Clean, it sounds very nice and bright; overdriven, it sounds like, well, a humbucker.

The one complaint I have with the tone is the #2 pickup setting, between the bridge and middle, seems to use the whole humbucker rather than a tapped version, and so it's not quite the slinky tone that I expect there. The other 4 settings are all quite fab. Between the humbucker in the bridge and the single coil in the middle it's like there's two completely distinct guitars in there. Add the 2 neck pickup positions and you have that classic bluesy strat thing going on as well.

I got this at a big Fender shop, and it came just perfectly set up. I had them put 11s on, and adjust accordingly, and it is damn near flawless. A little fret buzz on the low E when unplugged, but otherwise it's perfect. I took a ruler to it and checked the adjustments according to the specs in Paul Balmer's Strat Handbook, and it's just about bang-on in every instance. Whether this is the factory or the shop, I don't know, but there's no doubt about it taking a good setup.

Stays in tune fine, too. I haven't been whammying, but it's hardly needed a tweak in its first week of playing.

Seems solid as a rock. I've only had it for a week. It's a strat; they're engineered pretty well.

Fender has authorized service shops all over the western world, so I don't think there's an issue with basic service. Never dealt with Fender itself. Lifetime warranty, whatever that means.

I've played guitar and bass for 20 years, but not seriously in 5 or 6. Getting this guitar has put me back in the woodshed for hours each night 'cause it plays and sounds so great. I'm extremely happy with it, ho wit feels, and the sounds I can get out of it. I'm glad I didn't settle for a MIM, and I'm also pleased I didn't spend an extra $300+ on an American Standard.

Two single coil pickups and one humbucker, 5 way switch...etc.
I could have spent the same money with Carvin and bought a MUCH better guitar.....and had better customer support!

I have been playing since 84' and this sounds like(I ordered it without playing one BIG MISTAKE!)a MEXICAN STRAT! Because it has MEXICAN HARDWARE AND ELECTRONICS!! This guitar should not be able to say "Made in USA" I gave it a 3 because that's all it deserves. The pickups are weak and noisy.

The action from the factory was pretty bad(when compared to my AMERICAN GUITARS!)so I set it up and when I tried to set the intonation the saddle for the G string did not move....The screw was stripped out, I bought this NEW and the intonation was never messed with before.

The finish is REALLY thin. If you are looking at one of these consider spending your money on a Mexican strat and get the same pickups and hardware and a MUCH better finish! The BODY and Neck are made in the USA and EVERYTHING else is made in Mexico. You can verify this by calling fender.

I called about the stripped out saddle, Hoping to BUY one and I was told to go to the Hardware store and buy a new screw........I FINALLY got someone who gave me a part number to order what I needed. ONLY THE NECK AND BODY are covered under the "Limited lifetime Warranty" So I am guessing that they think.....American CNC's are better than Mexican CNC's??

Like I said, I have been playing since 84' and have played everything from jazz to metal and I have owned and still own quite a few GREAT guitars......with the exception of the Highway 1 strat. I'm sure that there are people out there who love these guitars...to those people I apologize, This is just my opinion based on years as a professional musician.

Marks off for non-locking tuners, a plastic nut instead of the roller nuts used on USA standard models, a cheaper stamped bridge instead of the cast variety, and a finish that is very vulnerable to the elements. That being said, the Highway-1 was "dumbed down" to drop the price far enough to make a USA-made Strat affordable, although, it isn't THAT much cheaper than a Standard.

What I like about the guitar features-wise is its stability and its employment of very good pickups (all alnicos I believe).

Here is where this guitar shines. I have played through quite an assortment of guitars including several high end and low end strats, and few of them came close in terms of their tone to the sounds produced by the Highway-1. The closest thing to it was a Korean-made Fender Lite Ash strat I modded heavily. The Highway-1 sounds spectacular right out of the box. Having no need to mod my guitar is such a huge thing for me. I'm picky about tones, and all I needed for my sound to come to the fore with this guitar was a change of strings!

For cleans, Fenders have always been tough to beat, and that remains as true for the Highway-1 as it is for their more expensive brethren. The only minor exception being the clean tone on the bridge humbucker, but honestly how often do any of us use the bridge pup for clean work?

The "magic tone" of the bridge/middle pup combination is right there, and the greasy blues neck tone is there in spades. Funk, country, blues, and southern rock are at your beck and call.

For gain sounds, the neck pup is extremely good and ranks as perhaps the best sound to be culled from the guitar's tonal pallet. Pile as much gain as you like in this position, and you'll still get note definition and clarity like you can't believe.

Switching from the neck to the bridge pickup is like switching entire guitars on the fly. Harmonics jump and squeal at the slightest provocation, and chords ring with harmonic overtones for eons. For those complaining about the sound of the brige pickup: what happened to your ears? If you think Seymour Duncan distortions and JB's are great improvements, you should seriously get your hearing checked. I've tested three different Highway-1's with the stock humbucker and was extremely pleased at its sound each and every time. Thin sounding? On what planet is this pup harsh? Dial your mids back in, Silly! I've used a lot of guitars with SD's and have found most of their models to be vastly over-rated. SD's are trendy now, and every guitarist under the sun is clamboring to buy guitars with them. Ridiculous. The only SD's that are all that impressive are the Alnico models and the Screamin' Demon.

This guitar will do nearly every sound you can conjur if you pay attention to things like your strings, your picking attack, your amp and its settings, and your speakers.

Eh. I don't get too fussy about this stuff. Even very expensive guitars can have setup problems. I assume I will have to spend time setting up every guitar I get no matter how great it sounds when I buy it. Setting string height, intonation, etc. is not a big deal, guys.

That being said, I was pleasantly surprised to find that minimal tweaking was needed to get things rolling with my Highway-1.

Construction and materials are flawless. Even considering it's rough finish, this guitar looks, plays and feels solid. Plus, as I've played the guitar, the finish is wearing in in a way that has brought out it's shine. The transparent finishes look much better than the opaque ones by the way.

Those complaining about the tuners make me curious. I've had zero issues with them.

I don't play live, so I'm a bad judge of how durable this guitar would be in a gigging situation. However, the finish on the Highway-1 is more easily scratched and dinged and/or damaged by moisture than a typical gloss finish. But you know what? I've played Ibanez guitars with gloss finishes that were just as flimsy. Anyway, the guitar feels quite sturdy to me, much better than the Mexi-strats.

If properly cared for, this type of guitar should present few problems.

Nothing to report. Have never need to contact Fender.

If you can't stomach the price of a Standard Strat, grab a Highway-1 and forget about it's pricey competion, because sonically, the Highway-1 models are every bit as good as most of the standard and deluxe models, and better than many of them. For the money, you'll be getting an absolute steal.

The Hummmmbucker sounds pretty loud and has a definitive tone. As for the single coils it's standard strat...if you like you'll like. I play trashy blues stylings so it all works out for me. I compared to a mexicain H/S/S strat and sound-wize I'd say there's a little somthing something that comes with the Highway 1. Im contemplating upgrading the single coils....but that's just cause Im addicted to tone.

I'd say the factory setup was pretty awefull. I brought it in to a luthier within 10 days after purchasing it...which was to be expected. My luhtier did an excellent job with it but was a little concerned with a slight buzz-that-wont-go-away on the low E 8th fret. I settled with the buzz as it doesn't bug me to much....it's very slight. Still I don't know....it requires a little compensation when setting it up which I guess is not a good thing. Other than that the guitar plays like butter. I've played my share of Fenders and a few Gibsons....it's up to par. Oh yeah there might be a slight issue with the G string....it goes out of tune a little to quickly...again compensation.

The finish is well .... lets say prone to scratches. I've had this guitar for less than six months and it's riddled with scatches in some places due to my normal picking technic. Any other finish ...the guitar would be scratchless. I don't expect it will be worth selling this instrument in a couple years...much less months...I expect it's resale value to be low due to the extensive scratching. Other than that I've only had this intrument for six months so....time will tell for the hardware, etc...

No idea....havent gone there yet.

It's a sweet guitar. Sounds great and plays like butter. BUT in terms of an investment....I dunno. The whole situation with the finish and the early problems with the frets....feels like I'll eventually (possibly shortly) reitre it, get an american standard and keep this one as a backup. I personally regret not getting the American Standard from the get-go. THIS GUITAR WILL DROP IN VALUE MUCH FASTER than an American Standard. Still I'm playing butter and it's sound pretty awesom......trade-offs.

I have a 2003 model that I bought in like new condition in 2004, still had the plastic on the pickguard and everything. I purchased a brown fender tolex case as the original gigbag was MIA. 2 vintage staggered Alnico single coils and an Atomic Humbucker in the Bridge. Vintage style (i.e. six screw) fender trem. I gave it a 7 because the tone knob didn't control the bridge, and I would like something similar to S1 switching.

Great for blues, even pulls off somewhat decent jazz. Not very noise, the sound is typical fender. I love it for clean rhythm in blues and distorted blues leads. I don't care for the bridge pup, its sounds very brittle to me. Love the two single coil sounds though, and a mix of the mid and the bridge is decent. I use this with a Fulltone OCD, a Fender Hotrod Deluxe and a Peavey 5150. Gets an 8 because of the Bridge pup.

I always do setups on my guitars because I tend to use heavier strings. I also had it modded for a blocked trem (not because of tuning issues, but because I wanted to see if there was a difference in tone. I think there was, your mileage may vary.) and I had the bottom tone knob modded to control the bridge and middle pups.

Thing is built like a rock. Leo did well. Finish has held up well for the last 3.5 years, a little finish checking in a couple of places but nothing major. I baby my guitars. Strap buttons are alright, I replaced with locking ones, Schallers. Would NOT do that again. the smaller screws started to strip the top button. My own fault. I use Dunlop plastic locks now. Much better and no mods to the guitar. I can gig with this and I wouldn't need to have a backup. In fact I have done that. I would say this thing is on par with my Gibson Les Paul Classic.

didn't use.

I've played for over 10 years now. This is a great guitar. I already mentioned my amps and my Gibson, but I also own a Taylor acoustic and a Samick Hollowbody. The fender gets a little less playtime then the others, but that is because I mainly play jazz now. The fender is a great guitar, but I find it better suited for rock and blues. I love almost everything on this guitar, especially the transparent honey finish. Wish it had a better bridge pickup though. For the $400 though, I got a steal. I probably wouldn't buy this guitar again, but thats only because I've change my views a bit in the last few years. If all I had was 400, then yes in a heartbeat. Otherwise, I think I'd go with either the EJ strat or a 50's American Reissue.

As much as I bitched about this guitar in my review of the 2005 model.....I went out and bought a 2006 HWY 1 Strat HSS and did the same routine with this one.

I bought the totally gorgeous SUNBURST finish model. The flat nitro sunburst is a thing of beauty to behold!!!

The 70's headstock is always a deal breaker for me....I love them!!!

Once again.....brass tacks time!! The pickups totally sucked!!! The Ping tuners ever so sucked!!
Once again I resorted to a Gibson humbucker....a '57 Classic Plus (not a Burstbucker Pro as previously stated) and put in two Fender Vintage Noiseless in the neck and middle (I LOVE those things!!)
I topped it off with Ferraglide Saddles and Fender/Schaller locking tuners.
NOW.....this be-otch is road ready!! You have to hear this monster now!! It kicks an American Deluxe's ass!!

The finish is truly Gorgeous!! The 70's headstock is very eyecatching!
It was set up like crap from the factory!!

(Sorry fender....I love you guys....but you gotta stay awake at the quality control center!!)

After much modification.....this thing (like my 2005 model) is a frikkin' monster!! A total rock and roll machine!!

I hate the fact that I have to do all these things to the guitar before it's "suitable" to me!! Oh well.....it's a lovely starting point for some guitar mods!