Fender Highway 1 Strat HSS

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!

Features:
Looks: The thing is GORGEOUS!! The nitro finish is a welcome change! Love the big headstock!!

Looks aside let's get down to brass tacks here!

Upon purchasing my 2005 Cocoa Brown(pre-"improvements") HSS I had to do a few things to make it roadworthy! First.....the PING tuners BITE ASS!!! They're WORTHLESS!! I had to put on a set of Fender/Schaller locking tuners. Tuning problem solved!!
Second....the pickups totally SUCKED!! I dropped in a Gibson 498T in the bridge and two Fender Vintage noiseless in the neck and middle. I also changed the color scheme to LOOK like the new ones. Black pup covers and knobs. Now....this thing is a MONSTER!! Yeah it cost me $200 in extra parts, but now this thing kicks an Amer. Dlx's ass!!

After doing all that to the guitar....it suits me PERFECTLY!! Such a ballsy sound from the Gibson pup and such nice Strat sounds from the noiseless!!
I use a Fender Hot Rod Deville 4x10 60 watt amp.

ANY guitar from the store NEEDS to be set up!! I use heavier strings and higher action and need to have these adjustments made upon purchasing!

This baby is a BEAST!!! A total rock machine!!! I like the look and feel of it so much I'm buying one of the new "improved ones" and gutting it the same way but with a Burstbucker Pro in the bridge this time!

I've been playing 20+ yrs. I hated the fact that I had to do all that to the guitar before it was suitable to me. Let's face it....I bought it on looks and feel alone....not sound! Although it did resonate amazingly acoustically....the sign of a really GOOD piece of wood!! The electronics (pups) and the tuners totally SUCKED!!!
Sorry Fender....I love Fender guitars but sometimes the quality control and hardware choice people are either sleeping or they just don't give a damn!!

one thing i love about the highway1 guitars
is the satin nitrocellulose lacquer finish. i believe
it's the only ones with this kind of finish and
i prefer it a great deal more to the normal glossy
finishes of other strats.
it features a vintage style synchronized trem bridge like
most fenders, fender standard cast/sealed tuners,
alder body, single-coil strat pickups with staggered pole
pieces and alnico 3 magnets on the neck and middle pickup
and some humbucker i cant remember on the bridge (mine's
now an SD custom). the original neck wasa 22 fret maple neck
with rosewood a fretboard. my new necks the same but without
the fat headstock (pity). it has a 5 way pickup selector
which i plan to change to a 3-way because i just about never
use the 2nd and 4th pickup configuration (which are the ones
that involve more than 1 pickup at a time).

if you know strat sounds, you'd have a clearer
picture of what this one sounds like. it's not
the typical start cause it's not as sweet
as... maybe the '61 or something. but it doesn't
pack as much of a texas twang as the SRV (which
i bloody love). well maybe leaning slightly
towards the twang... it's a good balance. sounds
extremely good for the price.

the neck single coil is my fave pick up on the
guitar. sounds very fat and thick with a lil of that
fender texas twang. perfect if you're gonna play
a blues tune. roll down the tone knob a little and
you've got yourself an excellent little wing kinda
sound.

the middle single coil is much like the neck one
in the sense that it has that little twang thing
going on too. but being in the middle position, i
like to use it for stuff which needs more punch in
it. doesn't have that full round sound you get
from the neck, but that's the whole point.

the humbucker i'm sorry to say i can't really
remember. what i do remember is that it didn't
sound as crunchy with overdrive as i wanted. so
i changed them to SD customs (which sound really
good when the tone knob is turned down a little).

all in all it's a really great sounding guitar.
everything i want from a strat with this pricetag
on it. i put it through a modded boss ds-2, dd-3
and dunlop crybaby535 into a vox ad15vt at home and
whatever amp i get outside (for the record i loved
the sound off it from a marshall modefour and a
randall... some model i cant remember. but i'm dying
to plug it into a vox ac30) the ds-2's gonna be replaced
with a proco rat 3-way with a lil mid boost by next
week because this strat sounds particularly good with
a distortion pedal that sounds so rich and creamy it
almost sounds like a fuzz... yeah. highway1 HSS+fuzz...
think hendrix.

i know it's just my piece. but when i got the
guitar. the neck was messed up. towards the
7-9th frets the neck was thinner than the rest
of it. so i had to change the whole damn thing.
manifacturing problem. and a real bummer too
considering 1 thing i really loved about this
model was the fat 70s headstock.
after changing the neck, the thing is great.

knobs may have been slightly stiff when i first
got it too... if i can remember right.

other than those 2 things. i have no complaints
about the action or the body or the nuts or whatever
else.

i'm giving this a 10 because i'd rely on this guitar
till hell freezes over and beyond. it always seems to
perform when i need it too and has never given me much
of a problem other than in the start. but after changing
a few parts it's perfect.

another thing is that, it's subjective, but in my
opinion, nothing on earth ages as well as a fender
strat. so that covers durability... cause personally,
minor scratches, dings and the finish wearing down...
i look forward to the day it does...

basically everything that has to be said has been said in
the previous sections so i wouldn't repeat.

i've been playing for about 6 years and own a cortg260,
used to own an ibanez rg470, a yamaha fgx413sc acoustic,
and a crappy yamaha classical which i keep cause it's my
first guitar.
in the effects department i own a dunlop crybaby 535,
boss ds-1 (which is yet to be modded), modded ds-2,
proco rat2, marshall jh-1 and a dd3.
amps, i've owned a peavey (rage or soemthing i cant remember),
marshall mg15cdr and now a vox ad15vt. i don't have any
big amps cause if i play any louder at home the neighbours
will complain... they already have been...
oh... and with relation to the fender highway1 HSS, it
sounds great through my current rig.

if the guitar were stolen i'd hunt down the guy who stole it,
pound his face in, then i'd probably get the same guitar. so
far i haven't found another strat within this kind of budget
with that twang i like sooo much...
unless i have enough to get myself an SRV, i'd stick to this
one.

ok. about the guitar, the thing i love most is of course
the tone and that it has a humbucker... really... on a strat
you wouldn't think to have a humbucker... but the advantages
i got out of it are endless... it's really really really a huge
+ point. i love the strat feel and playability. its as
comfortable as a guitar gets.
what i hate is the stupid state i got it in... you can refer
back to the action/setup section...

i play some rock, classic and modern both, blues, and i like
to do a little exploration into everything else like jazz, metal
(which was my first love, hence ibanez rg) and pop and what not.
the guitar's served me really well so far and i couldn't ask
for more. i can't think of another guitar i'd rather have. maybe
a LP. but with one, my main axe would still be this one.

made in us, in the year 2002.
22 frets
alder body, maple neck.
they included a gig bag, witch is okey. not the best gig bag i have seen but, who gives a shit.

i mostly play metal, rock, prog.
at home i play a crappy peavy envoy 110.
i like the sound of it. i LOVE the single coil sound. its fantastic!
but the single coils has very low output compeard to the humbucker.
the humbucker is okey, but i am changing it to a dimarzio z2n soon.

the finish SUCKS!! I almost dont have any left!
the action when i bought it was veeery high, i had to do some adjustments on the truss rod and the bridge. but thats normal when you buy a new guitar..isnt it?

well the finish wore off very fast, but the rest of the guitar seems quite solid. dont need a backup on a gig. (yet)

newer needed them.

been playing for some years.
if this were stolen or lost, whould i buy a new one? yeah...think so.
love this guitar, this guitar is mine for ever. i will never sell it to anyone...well the paint wore off...so what? it really dosent mean anything. after you have adjusted the truss rod and the bridge.
its great!

2004,American made with HHS pickups. Thin satin finish, walnut stain, fat 70's style headstock.

Bright, typical Strat sound. Pickup configuration allows for a great variety of tones.

Good setup right out of the box, no complaints.

Finish is thin, but very nice. This is an entry level American strat and they have saved money on the finish to keep it at this retail.

Have played for 40 years, this was my first really good guitar. Bought a Gibson SG 61 reissue, worth twice as much, but still played my Highway 1 more often. I would highly recommend this guitar.

I recently purchased a Gibson Explorer, didn't like it and ended up trading it for two new Highways One's. The H-1's are 2006. One Amber colored, the other Walnut. Both HSS with rosewood necks and alder bodies. Both have the non-glare satin finish. Tuners are stock. Has a Fender "60th Anniversary" emblem on the back of the 70's style headstock, very cool addition. Just a personal note, I would have liked to see the Fender company logo engraved on the chrome back plate wherre the neck is bolted tot he body like it is on theo other American made models.

These two guitars have the new "Fender Greasebucket" wiring system. I don't know that its all that much of an improvement. All in all I own 6 Stratocasters. All but two (the H-1's) are American Deluxe models with the LSR roller nut, locking tuners, etc. They each have their own sound and all are capable of getting the deep tones you need sometimes for that rich rock sound. The H-1's are lighter sounding. The bottom sounds are not there. I play through a Vox 60 watt VTX and a Marshall TLS half stack. My other Strats can do anything from rock to blues to country, jazz, etc. The two H-1's can do most of the same but thay cannot reach the bottom like the others. I guess the correct wordage would be 'too bright' for my taste. Other than the 'too bright' comment, the sounds are just as good as the more expensive Fender models. I was very impressed for what you get for the price you pay.

When the two guitars came in I opened the first box while the guitar salesman opened the second. He looked over the walnut model, I looked over the amber model. On mine I noticed a low action, no bowing in the neck at all, it was slightly out of tune but all of them are when they come from the factory. I was please with what I saw. Then we switched guitars and I observed the same with the walnut H-1. Wow. Both of us were impressed. I was planning on leaving the guitars with the tech at the music store but niether one needed a thing. Low action, no buzzing, good tight jointwork. They literally came ready to play right out of the box.

The frets have a thinner width than my other Strats but I seem to prefer it. It plays fast and chords easily. There were no blemishes on the body, neck, headstock, etc. For a low priced guitar I was very impressed.

I play daily and have recently joined the church praise team as one of the guitar players. I've never had a problem with any Fender guitar. They remind me of a hand tool-like a screwdriver. If you take care of them they'll last a lifetime. They'll even last if you mistreat them.

Mine came with the gigbags which was cool because I'm running out of space for storing hard cases.

Never delt with them.

I've been playing for about 8 years. I've had many guitars during that time but always gravitate back to the Stratocaster. It just feels right. It just sounds right. If it were stolen I'd get another one the next day. I have Strats that I paid way more than the price of the Highway One. I honestly cannot see the $500.00-$900.00 difference between the H-1's and the American Deluxe.

your typical strat......

it was that typical strat sound that sold this guitar to me
all the pick-ups sound fine to me

ok...here we go......the kneck was bolted on at a slightly off angle and it was hard to get a good set up....so i took it to a guitar tec and he had to shim the kneck,put it back on straight,stone the frets and i got him to put on a brass nut and now its lovely so im afraid the new condition of the action was very,very poor

the paintwork is extrememy thin and fragile and i have found knocks on it that i didnt even know i had done.
as i said earlier the nut was replaced with a brass one and that really livened up the guitar.
other than that its a strat......drop it and it will bounce back(minus the paint work)

2005 usa 22 fret
Same as the others. Killer 70's headstock. I have floyds in all my other guitars and to my surprise the trem on this is great. It does look a little shoddy, but it sounds great and is easy to adjust. I did not like the pickups so I put a Duncan Custom Custom in the bridge and a Dimarzio Red Velvet(incredible p/u) in the neck. It had some tuning issues so I installed Sperzels and they work flawlessly. I can dive bomb with no tuning problems. The stock nut is excellent and does not bind up at all. Came with nice gig bag. The tone controls really add some variations to your tone. A lot of guitars have all these knobs and what-not and they really don't change the sound much, but not this guitar.

I play metal mostly and some blues. I have a VHT Ultralead and a little Line6 practice amp. The sound is great. It is sort of "open" sounding if that makes sense. It isn't like super tight sounding but it is very defined. Pretty bright sounding, in a good way. You can change that with the aforementioned tone knobs. Harmonics fly off this thing. With the Dimarzio neck pickup on the clean sound is absolutley amazing. Better than my PRS or Jacksons. It has that chimey, bell like tone. It's a Fender.

Well, I am not sure where this was assembled at (us, mex) but it did need some work. Nothing much though. Just a couple of turns in the truss rod and some bridge adjustments. Otherwise it was perfect. I love the finish. It is going to look great 10 years from now. This is definitely a guitar that will just get better and better with age. Plus it cost 1/4 the cost of my PRS. The more dings and scratches this guitar gets the better.

Seems to be built great. When I changed the pickups I inspected the electronics. Cheaper guitars usually skimp in this area, and the solders and everything were perfect. Very clean and organized. With the Sperzels I would gig with it. Without the new tuners I would still gig with it but would stay away from the trem bar or really wide vibrato.

Never dealt with Fender.

Manufactured in USA in 2003. Alder body. Maple neck. Rosewood fretboard. 2 single coils and 1 humbucker as fitted. Came with Fender gigbag, cloth and manuals. When I went to Peter Cooke's I wanted a 3 single coil version. Fell in love with the SSH when they plugged it in.
I decided I would buy a USA Strat but haven't got a grand for a Clapton or Custom Shop etc so chose Highway 1 on reviews in Guitarist. I have not been disappointed and all they say about this guitar is spot on.
My only other electric is a 30 year old Yamaha SG30. I was simply blown away by the range of sound the Strat produces.

I play mainly acoustic, but plug the strat into a Line 6 Guitar Port so I don't wake up the children. Sold my amp years ago. I play along to many songs from Steve Earle to Jet. The Strat sounds fantastic. Probably even better through a good amp.
The humbucker gives a very warm cultured sound at high gain. The setting for the neck and middle together is awesome. Individually the SCs are great too. I've only had the guitar for about 7 months so I'm still experimenting with the sounds but I've been inspired to play things I only dreamed about previously.
The pickups are a bit noisy and the SCs lack the output of the HB but then they are supposed to.
I can't think of anything I really don't like about the sound.

Action was not brilliant from the box although the bloke in the shop did some setting up.
Finish on the body was flawless and very neat indeed. The body on mine is 3 pieces which have been bookmatched very well. The fretboard was very dry and had a few minor lateral scratches i.e. at 90 degrees to the grain. Have restrung and treated with lemon oil a few times and its getting better.
Frets were finished to a good standard. Tuners worked fine, nut well cut.
I did have it profesionally set up by Dr Robert who adjusted the neck and the action, fine tuned intonation and dressed the frets. The guitar is now at least twice as good as it was when I bought it. He also tapped down the magnets on the single coils and adjusted the height of the pickups which has improved sustain considerably.
Overall, good setup out of the box but you have to have it set up to your own tastes.

Definately for live work. This is an alround workhorse which will probably look and sound even better with a few miles under its belt. I haven't gigged for a few years but other than for broken strings wouldn't want a back-up.
All hardware is solid if basic.
I use the tremelo accasionally and it never goes out of tune!

Have never had to contact Fender.

Been playing for 25 years (break for about 12 - family).
I have a Yamaha SG30, Yamaha FG423 and a Yamaha FG312 12 string. I also have damaged Fender DG4 which I have given to my 10 year old son.
Didn't really compare to others except a Mexican Tele and a second hand Yam SG2000. Chose this because of the range of sounds, and to be honest, the strat is the best looking guitar around.
I would not buy this model again because, now I have more knowledge about Strats I would spend the extra #100 or so for an American Series with a hard case. The gigbag is a bit of a joke. I bought a cheap hard case on ebay for #25 which is much better.
Wish it had a coil tap, but look at the price! Awesome value, a gem.

My HWY HSS strat is a new 2004. Had to order it from my local music store, because they did not have it in stock at the time I wanted it. Ita has a rosewood fretboard, 22 frets, and a light stained amber color body. I chose the amber color because I liked it. Its a strat with a humbucker in the bridge and two single coils in the mid and neck. Has late 60's - 70's style headstock. Came with a nice Fender gigbag.

I play many styles of music, including classic rock (VH, 60's, 70's and 80's stuff), jazz, blues, fusion. This guitar has handled all styles so far with ease. The humbucker seems to be very hot, great for that raw rock sound. The single coils are noisy, but what do you expect from them. All and all, the guitar handles my styles greatly.

When the guitar arrived at my local music store, I went to pick it up and gave it a test run. The action(setup) seemed great. The neck played very good. I could and still do not see any flaws in the finish. I dont care about all that, because I bought this guitar to be a work horse, and do not care it it gets scratched up. I think it adds to the personality to the guitar anyway. It speaks of where a player has been in his musical life.

The guitar will def withstand live playing. The guitar came off with no problems the other night. Rock solid. Like I said before, the finish is a ligh amber color, and I dont care if it gets scratched up or banged up. Im going to play it until it falls apart. I never gif without a backup, so thats not even considered.

Never dealt with fender.

I really like the HWY 1 HSS strat. It fits my styles very well. Looks great, plays great. I may later on replace the 6 point vintage trem with a Wilkinson 6 point trem for better tuning, and also may replace the neck with a Warmoth all maple neck, because I really prefer maple fretboards. All and all, the HWY 1 HSS is a great guitar, and for the price tag and quality you cant beat it. You get alot of guitar and more for the money.