Fender Highway 1 Strat

you have already heard from others. honey blonde/ maple neck very vintage looking... have been told its "pretty"..hey looks are half the battle..

great clean sound through my hot rod deluxe. the overdrive channel is a bit middy sounding and depending upon fine tweaking of the tone controls and the position of the moon i do get a great overdrive sound.positions 2&4 to me suck i mainly play in position 3 seems to get the most out of this guitar

plays fast tunes easy and stays in tune.everything is straight and seems ok so far...

i have used this gigging with no problems yet .its been used for indoor and outdoor shows in summer and winter.. the finish has yet to show wear so maybe i got a good one as for aging we will see where that goes

never had to deal with it

i love mine she has been good to me.. if you buy one get a tube amp to really appreciate the tone of this beauty..and try an after market overdrive unit or put it through an EQ, unless your sound man lets you turn it up to get that sound you want...HEY ITS A FENDER THROUGH AND THROUGH . GOOD ENOUGH FOR JIMI GREAT ENOUGH FOR ME

3 NOISY PICKUPS
CRAPPY FINISH
CHEAP SADDLES
JUNK TUNERS
MEXICAN STANDARDS AND DELUXES ARE BETTER.
AMERICAN SERIES BLOW IT AWAY.

ACTUALLY USED IT TO DEMO SOME PEAVEY TUBE AMP COMBOS AND IT WAS SO FUCKING NOISY ON ALL PICKUP POSITIONS THAT I HAD TO GO GET AN AMERICAN SERIES SO I COULD CHECK OUT THE AMPS WITHOUT ALL THE NOISE THIS THING CREATED.
If you like noisy guitars than this one`s for you. They did a shitty job sheilding the pickups in these but hey, it`s supposed to be a stripped down, affordable American Strat so.....

Not Bad actually but still a cheapo finish that will disintegrate quickly. Again cheapo hardware=cheap price.

I`ll give a seven because it is still a strat.

Fender is OK.

I`ll give it a 5 and that`s being generous.
Too noisy. Tried it with a Peavey Classic 30 and a Delta Blues 2x10 The American series blew it away. Spend the extra cash and get a real strat with a real hardshell case.
This one sucks.

I played several of these in GC and most were beat up pretty bad - this was during the Christmas rush and people were out of control. But I liked the overall sound of most of them and took a chance and ordered it over the net from Sam Ash. Fortunately, mine arrived safe and sound, blue saphire finish, maple fingerboard, straight neck!! Factory setup was not quite to my taste, but not bad. Stays in tune pretty well, even when using the whammy bar.

As some have pointed out, these guitars seem to sound better than many of the more expensive strats out there right now. Is it the lighter finish? The pickups? I dunno, but I think it sounds great.

I was nervous about ordering w/out playing first, but I was very happy with the results. Mine is finished nicely all the way around.

The finish is much lighter than most other strat models. This may contribute to the great sound of the guitar, but it also makes it much more prone to dings. If you're 'anal' about your instruments than this may not be the guitar for you. Hardware seems pretty solid, though.

I play mostly blues/rock/jazz, with the emphasis on blues. I've been playing for about 25 years, sometimes professionally. This is a terrific guitar - a lot of fun. I'd definitely want to replace it if stolen.

Coco Highway 1 Stratocaster
Maple Neck
Old style bridge

The standard set up for this product.

I'm an old guy and in the old days you'd have to plunge through the masses of Strats to find the one to fit your taste. Today is no different except that you have to go through a lot more guitars. They are mostly garbage. Even at the higher prices. Sorry, but that's just way it is. All the mass manufacturing cannot replace quality wood and skilled hands.

The one that I found with a maple neck has a great tone. Very Hendrix-ish on the clean side. Just remember that you need to have these set up for you as opposed to the added few hunderend dollars to do it at the factory. They probably shipped these out the door as fast as possible. "It doesn't have to be perfect" was probably the motto.

But, it sounds great like an old Strat!

Gut renching and horrific. Most of the Highway 1 Stratocasters that I've seen are awful. The necks are bowed, the bridges and tremolos are out of wack. BUT the parts are there and are OK in if you can find a guitar tech that can fix the issues. The necks (especially the maples should be burned and broken in a heap) should be inspected before purchase. Make sure that it's not beyond repair. Thanks for the cheap price though. It would still cost about the same to build your own. Again, the pieces are there, just not put together with love.

The cost cutting finish is a disaster. Very fragile if you want to keep it clean and scratch free, forget it. For you SRV fans, they will definitatly "RELIC-UP" with normal use.

It's a Strat. Hardwarewise - stand on the thing...who cares?

The finish will go to to dogs - but that might be cool for some, although the coco color wasn't nice to look anyway. I bought this guitar because it was cheap and sounded great. It is a great sounding Stratocaster!

Who talks to Fender? It's always the dealer.

Been playing for 20 years. This is a good guitar after some work and care. It is a great sounding axe besides the lack of set up at the factory. If you're looking for a new guitar, you could do a lot worse. It's a pretty solid piece of hardware, especially when late 70's Strats are going so high (EVERYTHING WAS MADE LIKE CRAP IN THE LATE 70'S...SAVE YOUR MONEY!)

With quality guitar prices going through the roof, it's nice to have the opportunity to get the good "stuff" for an affordable price.

Just make sure the neck checks out.

Cheers!

I have a 2002 Highway One I purchased from Guitar Center for $550, that was originally honey blonde. I say originally because I refinished it to a three color sunburst using nitrocellulose lacquer paints from Reranch. Nitrocellulose was used by Fender up until about 1969 and allows the wood to show through on the sunburst coloring. I used about 15 coats of clearcoat nitrocellulose lacquer over the sunburst and sanded that to a very nice shine. I did this to help keep the body from the dings that Highway Ones seem to otherwise accumulate. I replaced the pickups with custom shop 1969 spec pickups. For those of you that have not peeked under the pickguard of your Highway One, the body routing is the same as the 1960's strats. By this I mean that each pickup has its own routed slot in the body. This is in comparison to the Standard American Stratocaster that has one large routed space for all three pickups. Combine the body routing with the six screw bridge on the Highway One (which is what Fender used up until the two screw bridge was developed for the current version of the American Standard)and the Highway One probably has more in common with a 1960's Stratocaster than it does with its 2000 American Standard counterpart. I was trying to take the vintage feel of the Highway One and build upon it so that I ended up with my own version of a Fender reissue, at a fraction of the cost. I also replaced the standard fret markers with pearl dot inlays just for fun. These did not impact the sound or feel of the guitar in any way.

My Highway One sounded good before I made the above described changes and it sounds fantastic now. I play through a Fender 65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue and the combination of this guitar and amp produces a rich, full sound that is perfect for my style of playing which is primarily blues and blues based rock. I have a couple of other Fender guitars that I play (American deluxe telecaster and American Standard Stratocaster) and I consistently find myself migrating to my Highway One. Since both of these other guitars cost me more than my Highway One (inlcuding my modifications) this says a lot about the sound of the Highway One.

The set up to this guitar was good. I had to make some minor adjustments to the string height but nothing that couldn't be done in 30 minutes or less. The neck plays well. It is not as fast a neck as my deluxe telecaster, but it is straight and there is no fret buzz. The guitar came with a very small indent on the contoured side of the body. Because of the refinishing I did, I was able to fill and cover this so it is no longer present. The refinish I put on it has kept it ding free since then. I was not a fan of the original finish and I don't believe that the finish adds to the sound of the guitar. I think the Highway One's vintage tone comes more from the routing of the body and the bridge, both of which are consistent with the earlier stratocasters. My rating reflects the poorer finish, but this is an aspect of the guitar that is plain to see at the time you buy it and so if you are OK with its looks, this should not be a factor (or you can refinish it).

I have owned my Highway One for a year and it stands up well to consistent playing. I am not playing in a band and so I have not gigged with it but I would not hesitate to play it in any situation. I did not like the strap buttons that were on it and so I changed them out to Fender's locking strap buttons. This is a very simple and inexpensive switch and I encourage anyone that plays their Highway One a lot to go ahead and do the same thing. Given the Highway One's soft finish, avoiding the dreaded strap drop is important and strap locks will make sure your Highway One stays on its strap.

Never had any reason to seek repairs. I probably voided the warranty with all my upgrades anyway.

I have been playing for a few years now although I still think of myself only as an intermediate player. I think my ugrades cost around $160-$180 including paint, pickups, strap locks and fret markers. The labor was free because it was me. This means a really good vintage sounding 1960's style strat, which is how I think about my Highway One now, cost me about $700-$740.

I really enjoy playing this guitar and I would hate to lose it. If it were stolen I would buy a good used Highway One and then redo the modifications I've described above. Of course I would have to track down the SOB that took it and beat them for the touble they were causing me.

Well I think that this guitar is a great value. I here the complaints and they are very un researched. Like Ed with the neck comment. I have seen many expensive guitars with bad necks that come from either the factory or the shop handles them badly. I just bought a Highway 1 and to tell you the truth I wanted the Jeff Beck model but I like the tone of this guitar way better. The light finish is for tonal response not a production cost. The guitar has all vintage fender hardware excluding the string trees and the machine heads which imo doesent matter. A string tree is a string tree the guitar doesent know the difference it only can respond to the height. The keys on this guitar are fine. People who complain about keys don't knoe how to properly string a guitar so it will stay in tune or set the intonation. The guitar is great for blues and country not metal or grunge rock. So those who are comparing a fender strat to a les paul should not even own a guitar. I am a blues/rock country guitar player and this is what this guitar is for. I have a 67 fender deluxe reverb black face and just a little boss over drive pedal. thats all you need to get great tone so all you assholes buying the i pod and millions of plastic effects processors get back to basics thats wear the tone is. This is a great guitar and is great for certain styles of music.

Very vintage strat-good blues SRV and Jimmy sounds and sustains well.

Needs a set up and action must be raised but the bridge seemed to be set up very well.

It's a strat will out live me and my grandkids.

Never delt with.

Been playing guitar for almoste 15 years and this is a good guitar for the money.

Same as the rest - it's a Fender Stratocaster, 3 single coil pickups etc etc plus a "Deluxe" gig bag. (Does anybody do a non-deluxe one?).
Got a free strap with mine as well. Colour on mine is the less popular Cocoa which earned me a BIG discount (#100 off - that's $150US) purely because this colour doesn't seem to sell - what do i care what colour it is, you don't buy them to look at!

Sound like a vintage strat - just what I was looking for and at a fraction of the cost of a vintage one and considerably less than the American Series.
Sounds great through a valve (tube for our US cousins) amp - great Hendrix like tones. A little noisy for my tastes but then my main guitar has humbuckers so I'm used to low noise levels. A great tip here - I use an Engl Screamer amp which has a volume boost from the footswitch. This can be set to increse the volume when switching from a Les Paul to a single coil guitar so you don't need to worry about volume level dropping.
Main selling point for this guitar is the neck - a great feel. My other guitars are a Les Paul and a Rick 330 which both have heavily lacquered necks, this makes a really nice change.

Came fine out of the box - not changed a thing. Haven't tried the trem yet - not my thing. Finisg looks fine - not as glossy as my Rick, but then what is?

Seems sturdy enough - a real workhorse. Finish will probably rough up a bit, but that's what it was designed to do judging by the sales blurb from Fender

Haven't needed to find out

Been playing 10 years. As already stated own a Rick 330, Two Les Pauls - one Epiphone, one Gibson 2002 Standard. Use an Engl Screamer amp with just a chorus and a wah. The amp has the sweetest overdrive on the planet so don't need anything else. Bought the strat to fill a gap in my sound - have resisted for years as my first ever guitar was a terrible Encore Strat copy which was the worst guitar on the planet and put me off strats - I now know that it was just a bad copy, not a problem between me and strats. Wouldn't say I love this guitar - my loove goes to the Rick and the LP, but am already very fond of it and will keep it safe. Have tried the US Series and the Mex Standards, I prefer the tomes of this one, but tone is VERY subjective - some people like Country Music ;)

Watch out for H1 models with bad necks. All of the models I've tried in different stores had a more or less pronouced bow starting at about the 15th fret down to the nut. There's no trussrod able to correct this. You'll have to remove the frets and level the whole neck or better, have the neck replaced.

I guess Fender is using wood that has not been seasoned long enough.

Even 1 $ is too much for any new guitar with such a bad neck.

My Fender Highway 1 Strat has the features I would ideally hae in a Fender guitar, and I'm not normally a hughe Fender fan myself. It has 22 frets, one volume knowb, two tone knobs and a five-way pickup selector. As most Strats have, it has three single coil pickups. It has and alder body (which I love for weight and tone) and a maple neck and fingerboard. It has a satin crimson transparent finish. The neck is nice and thin. The tuners aren't all that great, but that's to be rectified soon. And plus, I got a gig bag for it. Cool.

This guitar is very suitable to my style of music. I mainly play funk, jazz-fusion (sort of) and just rock. I can't tell you what kind of rock since I'm very lousy with the categories. As far as amps so, I use a Crate GX-212. I used to have an old Vox Series 90, but that's a long and sad story. My effects include a Boss Super Phaser, an Ibanez DE-7 Delay, and a Crybaby wah. This guitar has a great sound. The neck pickup is nice and clear on the cleans, and the bridge pickup handles the distortion without muddling it. It's also very easy to switch pickups for dirty and clean sounds. I use the middle pickup when I'm trying to get a more jazzy feel, but I always use it with either the bridge or neck pickup on as well.

You know, as nice as this guitar is, the factory has some horroble presets for it. The action was a bit low since I could hear the strings buzzing through the amp. The G was the worst of all. It sounded like a sitar, even at the higher frets. The pickups were fine.

Well, I've had this guitar for quite a short time, so I can't yet say.

Nope.

Overall, this guitar has everything I love. Everything I find wrong with it is just a small variable that is easily rectified. I love the feel of the neck (mosly cause it's maple. I think Fender should only put maple on their strats. It looks and feels the best.) I have tried many guitars in my area, and the Fender has beaten them all as far as looks, sound and feel go. I would definitely get another.

Everything what is useble on a Fender strat.
3 single coils, Honey Blonde, and rosewood fingerboard.
I allready have my 3e Highway strat, the first had damage on the body finish because in the shop they put it on a standard with neoprene protection, this is what the Highway laquer not likes. On two spots the laquer had came off. I discovered this the same evening off the day i bought it. I contacted the shop and finally after a lot off dicussion they ordered a new one of the same specs.
The first one had a body off 3 peaces Alder and was sounding very, very good.
When i get the new one, i discovered that the body was made off 4 peaces Alder.( I don't like that, by 3 peaces the neck and bridge are fitted on the same peace off wood and i think this the best way to get a good sustain ).
The sound off this second one was poor compared to the first one. The G string was very dominant, it sounded not well balanced. I played it for a half year but always preferred my Tele. Now recently i saw in a shop a very nice Highway strat, Cocoa with maple neck and a body off 3 peaces Alder. The finish on this Cocoa colored Strat is very nice, it looks much better than the Blonde one.
This 3 peace bodyed strat is sounding very well balanced like the first one so i bought this one and the shop bought my Blonde one.
I am very glad now with this Highway strat.
So take a good look at the body, they are not all the same.
A good peace off wood is the base for a good guitar.
Its only a 7 because not all Highways are made off the same body wood specs.
The neck off all guitars was were perfect.

The sound is perfect, like a good Strat must do.

Only the nut needed some work for a good action.

This is a real Fender, a good guitar made off good material.

Fender lifetime iss oke, the shop also did good work.

I play a few years.
I also have a Fender Highway Tele, an Ibanez as 73 and an old Yamaha steelstring acoustic.
I will buy another Highway but look very good to the wood off the body.