Fender Highway 1 Strat

This is a typical Stratocaster. The finish is different from the average Strat due to laquer (translucent satin finish, mine is red). De Luxe gig bag included, tools, etc.

When I bought this guitar I tried at the music store an American De Luxe Stratocaster and compared it to the Highway. I was surprised that the Highway had by far a superior tone at half the price! I was astonished. This Highway 1 has a superb Fender tone (which is what I was looking for), very well balanced, quite dynamic and with a good spectrum of sounds. I tried other Highways and the other three in stock had the same sound. I chose mine 'cause I liked the red color, but the sound on any of the other Highways was equally good.

I'm mainly using a Zoom Palm Top Studio for practicing and a Line 6 POD. The single coils are a little noisy (as any pickup of this type). The guitar can make a lot of differente sounds, from jazzier tones with the neck pickup to poignant solos. I play blues and I wanted a versatile axe for Jazz and Blues, and this guitar is perfect. I really like it, and for the price you can hava a genuine USA Fender with great sound. This is one of the best Stratocasters I've ever played. I also have a Stevie Ray Vaughan Stratocaster that has by far the best Fender tone I've ever heard, but this Highway sounds quite good (and costs less), I'm very satisfied with the sound and tone of this guitar.

Although I'm not a metal guitarist, I cranked up the distortion and had a very good tone also. I'v been trying heavy-metal riffs, power chords and hot soloing and the sound is also really good, so it's not only a Jazz-Blues guitar. I like to use just a slight overdrive, and you retain all the original rich tone.

Very good sound, exceptionally good may I say.

The guitar was not perfect from the factory. I adjusted the action, the intonation and the pickup height. Minor adjustments and mainly to perfectly suit my needs, but I have to say that the factory set up was decent overall.

The general finish is perfect. The USA quality is there, no doubt about it. The only thing I disliked was a scratchplate with some scrap around it.

My guitar had some flaws and dents. When I read the manual and the flyer regarding the laquer finish I found that it reacts when in touch with rubber, latex or plastic. I have to say that I saved about $100USD due to these flaws, but I always like to have my guitar in a guitar-stand to play it any time, and practically any of these devices have rubber, latex or plastic, so in time the finish will not last. I also found that the laquer is not rough at all, you can wear it off very easly. I think the finish will not withstand years of use. Actually I do not have anything against a well worn guitar (just think in SRV's number one Strat, pretty cool to me), but if you really want to have it in mint conditions for many years it will not be easy.

The hardware (bridge and tunning pegs, mainly) are quite good, much better than Mexican Strats or Chinese Squiers, wich is really good.

I think you cand depend on it, and the core of the guitar will withstand many years of use. The finish is another story as I told, so take this in consideration if you're planning to buy this model.

I've being playing for 16 years, and in all my life I've owned more than 40 guitars (I keep about 20, I tend to get rid of the bad ones). I also have a PRS CE22, a SRV Signature Stratocaster, a Santana SE, an Ibanez Joe Satriani among other guitars.

I love the Fender sound, it is just incredibly good. The finish is nice too. I really like the Stratocaster model and I was looking for a long time for a good one.

For many years I've been looking for the perfect guitar. For me the perfect guitar has great sound, is quite versatile and doesn't cost you a leg or an arm. There are superb instruments if you are willing to pay up to $2,000, but I've found that when you have a $2,000+ axe you are actually somewhat afraid of playing or damaging it.

This Highway 1 is -as I mentioned before- a real USA made instrument, a real Fender (not that Squier crap, nor a made in Mexico guitar -I am Mexican, but the quality of the Mexican Fenders is not as good as the Americans, that's for sure-). This Strat that sounds just as it's supposed to, and you pay less than $1,000. I think the bang for the buck is quite good.

If you want genuine Fender tone and quality in a mid-budget and you can live with scratches and dents on the finish, I think this is a terrific option for any range of guitarist.

Brand new American made fender stratocaster (tag says 2002).
It has everything you would expect from an american strat which says it all really.22 frets, dot inlays, modern "c" shaped neck, 3 single-coil pickups and syncronized tremelo. Mine's in transparent teal green with mapel fingerboard and looks the dogs bollocks!

FANTASTIC! I play types of rock and blues and inparticular love solo work from Satriani, Vai, Gary moore etc. I have a 69 les paul deluxe through a Marshall avt 150 head and jcm 900 cab, though I bought a strat for one reason. HENDRIX!!!
As awesome as my les paul is I could never quite get that classic hendrix tone from it, so I was not dissapointed when I bought this as it re creates his sound perfectly.
It sounds fantastic both clean and distorted and totally lived up to my expectations of an all american strat.

Again flawless. The guitar was set up perfectly as soon as I took it out of the box. It plays like a dream and is so smooth which I have found to be unusual in new guitars as the ones I have tried usually feel quite chunky.
I love the finish and was actually the main thing that attracted me to this model in the first place as I had the readys for an american standard though I was completly sold on the laquer finish which resembles the classic cherry sg look with the grain of the wood visible through the gloss.

Feels totally sturdy to me. Would definatly gig without a back up.

Never had to deal with them as I have had no problems.

I have been playing for 4 years and wanted a strat ever since I first saw hendrix tear his up and this model totally lived up to my expectations! It looks, feels and sounds fantastic and is also budget friendly. The only reson I can think of for its price is that it does not include a hard case, though it did come with a very well paded gig bag as a suppose fender have got to cut costs somewhere becouse they sure as hell didnt cut them in making the guitar!

Highway 1 in Honey Blonde with black pickguard. Rosewood fretboard. This baby came already loaded with Fender Noiseless Pickups. Other than that all stock.

As i said it came with the Noiseless pick-ups, so i've had absolutly no feedback. I play it through a Marshall MG30DFX amp. On distortion this baby is warm and full. I usually only use the bridge pickup with distortion, becuase of it's brighter sound. On the clean channel the guitar is very bright. My favorite part of this guitar is it's vast tone variety. Using the pickup selector i have been able to create a sound that sounds almost exactly like an acoustic, so there is no need for buying an acoustic. I play lead guitar for a Hard Rock band (AC/DC type of music) and boy does it pump out those fat distorted tones. The only sound it will not do very well is Metal. If you want metal don't buy this guitar! Even with the gain and contour at 10 on my amp, i can't achieve metal on this guitar. but otherwise, a perfect 10.

I bought it used, so i don't know if the guy i bought it from adjusted the actoin or aynthing. But the action on mine is perfect; low for clean playing. The input jack is also a little loose, but nothing to worry about.

Finally, the finish. Why the Highway 1 guitars are so low in price are especially because of the lighter finish applied. The finish is very light, therefore more vunerable to scratches and dents. On my guitar, a kid wearing bug spray was playing. His arm was rubbing against the front and bug spray stuck onto the guitar. The only way to get it off was to scratch it off. unfortunatly the finish couldnt handle our nails and the paint fell off in some places. Also, around the edges where the guitar hits your body, the paint has worn down. not worn off, just worn down. I like the look of a used guitar, but any good guitarist knows of the scratches that just appear out of nowhere. on the Highway 1's the scratches are much more abundent. But the finish feels really nice.

If i had to play a show, i would not doubt for a second, the ability of my guitar. I would trust it and have no need for a backup. (of course no matter how much you love your guitar, always take a backup. what if a string breaks? what are you gonna say: "hey everyone hold on for 10 minutes so i can put in a new string." no.)

As i said before, the finish is thin. Over time the finish will wear off where the guitar rubs against your body. But everywhere else, there is no sign of the finish wearing off.

My guitar has only fell once, and thats becuase my strap got tangled in a way that it fell. It wasn't the strap buttons fault. (luckily i caught it!) It's a Fender so i know it's going to last. I know plenty of guys who still use their Stratocasters from the sixties and they play like heaven.

never dealt with them. hopefully i'll neverhave to, knock on wood.

I have been playing for over a year, and this was my second guitar. My first guitar was a Squier Bullet, And i have an Epiphone Les Paul Custom in the mail as we speak. If it we're stolen or lost and i didn't have another guitar, no doubt would i buy it again. This baby is amazing and it looks sweet.

The pluses of the Highway 1:
Stays in tune well
Easy to replace strings
Fully adjustable bridge just in case
FAST neck. very smooth
Such a wide variety of tone

Bad things about the guitar:
The light finish
Doesn't bend too well (might just be me)
When using a whammy bar, it goes way out of tune

For pictures of my guitar go to:http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/markboy252/lst?.dir=/Guitar&.view=t

I would highly suggest getting a Highway 1. its a great value and a wonder to play. Rock on.

Feel free to email me any questions at Markboy252@yahoo.com

I'm reviewing the H/S/S 2003 Hwy 1 Strat I bought. It comes with a large headstock (lates 60s, CBS era), a transparent color (cocoa in my case), and a thin layer of laquer (acrylic, not nitro). It has medium jumbo frets (taller and just a little thinner than my LP custom fretless wonder) and a vintage tremolo. Five position switching gives you the sweet 2 and 4 position sounds even with the bridge humbucker. Only one comment on features. What's up with two white covered single coils and a black humbucker? Looks kinda funny. My singles are getting Black covers. :)

Overall, this guitars is very versatile.

I play blues and hard rock/classic rock. I did enough of the "weedlie weedlie weedlie" stuff back in the 80's. I play through a variety of amps. My main two are a 65 Ampeg Gemini II and an early 90's Ampeg VL1002. I go straight into the VL1002 and sometimes I'll put a tube screamer in front of my Gemini II. My setup is pretty simple. It tends to accentuate differences between guitars :) . This strat is one of the best sounding strats I've played (I've gone through 6 strats, Japanese and American). Typically, when I've had a strat for more than 3-4 months I get really fed up with the bridge pickup sound (thin) and trade or sell it. I'll play my tele (52 reissue),then my strat and the strat hits the road. This strat is different! It has a bottom end response that other strats just don't have. Not to mention that the bridge pickup makes it sound like I'm playin' a friggin' SG! Because of this, I get the 2 and 4 position sounds that keep me commin' back to a strat and I get a great lead and rock rhythym tone from the bridge pickup. Very nice. Now, whoever is saying these guitars sound thin must've gotten a bad one of the bunch or I got the top o'the heap. This guitar has ton's of balls on any of the pickup settings. I suspect that the amp or effects could be producing thier thin sounds (weedlie weedlie wee) :). I don't mean to be cruel, but some of these guys talkin' about guitar tones are playin through J-Stations and head phones! A J-station is a great tool for practice and quite playin', but hellfire, they're like toys and they process the sound so much that just about any guitar would sound the same through'm. Never played a POD, but I suspect the same from them.

Fit and finish was fine. Only issue is how light color the rosewood fretboards are getting these days, but that's a fact of life now (scarcity of nice Brazilian rosewood). The thin laquer coat suits me fine. I never was a fan of the 1/8" finish covering the body of a strat (ok maybe its more like 1/32", but you know what I mean). One of the reasons vintage Fenders are so nice is that the finish has thinned from use or the nitro laquer has had a long enough time to breath and oxidize. At least that's what I think.

As far as setup out of the box goes...who cares! I always put Ernie Ball 10's on each guitar I get and set the action, truss rod and intonation. You think these guitars don't flex and change from the time they leave the factory until you grab it?

Gig without a back up...right? I knew you were kidding :). The strat seems as solid and durable as any Fender. If the neck breaks, put another on it. My compatriot in our band dropped his strat plus from chest high. It got a ding on it....oohh. I was hoping it would've broken the neck and the body, but no luck. I hated the thin sound of that guitar (lace sensors..oohh). Could've been his Carvin Nomad 4X10 half stack, but I don't think so. (Hey, Dave...if your reading this).

Don't have a clue!

I've been playin on and off for about 17 years now. I quit playing between the ages 17 and 25 (started when I was 13). Picked it back up and have enjoyed it ever since. I own a few LPs (75 deluxe, 72 custom and a 96 Gem), an Amer. 52 RI tele, Hwy 1 Strat, 72 SG Pro, couple of DeArmonds (Helluva guitar...Starfire Special and X155), 2002 LP DC junior (faded), Squire Deluxe tele (another Helluva guitar), and I play through a few Ampegs. I've got an Ampeg GV22 (late 60's Gemini), Gemini II, VL1002, SB12, Jet-12T reissue, and a 68 Fender Bandmaster with 2X12 cad and a 4X12 Fender cab. I used to play an ART ECC through the Bandmaster.

This strat is the most flexible and best sounding strat I've had. It sounds great through my main rig as well as my other amps. Its a welcome tool to add to my tool box.

Made in USA, I guess 2003.
21 frets, 1x volume, 2x tone, 5way-selector, vintage bridge /w trem
3 single-coils
maple neck and maple fretboard
finish is crimson transparent red(looks gr8!!)
gigbag

i use a marshall 60w valve amp. the sound the guitar makes is exactly the sound i was looking for, jimi hendrix-style :D. there are a lot of options because of the 5way-selector and the tone controls.
i'm afraid the bridge pickup isn't really able to get along with disortion for some rock, so i rate the pickups with a 9.

the guitar is set-up and adjusted perfectly. there aren't any mistakes or whatever. the wood is awesome, i just love it. :P

i can depend on the guitar. i would also use it for a gig without backup. solid guitar, solid bridge, solid strap-buttons.

didn't deal with the company

i love jimi's music, so this guitar was made for it. great guitar, perfect for its style.

First thing, I had to submit a review because it's obvious that one of the latest submissions had to be of a different guitar (mexican?)not a Highway 1. The guitar was said to have tiny frets and small strap buttons. Just the opposite. I have a green H1 with a maple neck and board. Medium jumbo frets ( an old Ibanez Artist I have from the 70's is the only thing I've seen with larger ones). The strap buttons are so large I had to increase the size of the holes in a strap I bought for it!That said it has a nice alder body (pretty grain)and the standard strat features. I was able to get guitar center to switch the gig bag for a molded plastic case. Some stores will sell this guitar for as low as 499. Ask them to take the price of a gig bag off of a molded plastic.

I play mostly classic rock on gigs. At home everything except thrash.The pickups are not very powerful but they sound great. They need to be adjusted as close to the strings as possible without causing intonation problems. Most people including myself angle the pickups a little lower on the bass side. A little harsh sounding on the bridge, nice in the middle, cool blues on the neck. The position between the middle and bridge pickup is GOLD! I use this guitar with a hot rod deluxe and it sounds great. The amp has plenty of power so the lack of powerful pickups can be compensated for.

The guitar was set up well and had good action. I never had a strat before so when I changed the strings to 10's (from 9's) I wasn't ready for the tuning problems due to the tremelo springs. I tightned the springs a little and everything settle down. I use the vibrato sparingly and this guitar stays in tune very well (surprisingly so). The neck plays like butter. The finish has a few minor flaws. Anyone who purchases one of these knows about the finish anyway. Lemon pledge really seems to work well with this finish it seems to drink it up, turns darker and deeper looking. Could help protect it a little as I haven't noticed and new dings.

I've played several gigs with this guitar and it seems to be holding up nicely. Certain clubs have bad wiring and only a humbucker will do.On most gigs the single coil hum is only bad at extreme settings. I usually gig without backup, I have three other electrics so I guess I'm lazy in my old age. I've been playing for over thirty years and this is a great guitar for the money. Just be a little careful with the finish.

I also have a telly and the hot rod deluxe. I haven't had to contact them for anything. The deluxe needed a minor repair at the local shop I purchased it from and it was covered - no charge.

As stated, been playing a long time, have the Highway, a 2001 american telly, an old les paul junior and a 78 Ibanez artist. I play these through the hot rod deluxe (another lot of bang for buck product). I this were lost or stolen I would by another. I've never been a strat guy but this guitar has changed my mind. The overall rating could have been better with a better finish and slightly stronger pickups. Then again, it would probably cost a couple hundred more and that would defeat the the whole idea of this thing.

it looks like a strat,thats where it ends.

sounds like crap! i went out to buy a used guitar to get me by because it let me down.got a peavey strat copy it blew the highway one away in sound and playability

this was the main problem. it never takes me more than 15/20 minutes to set up a guitar, i tweeked on this bitch for dayz
never finding that sweet spot. mainly because it did'nt have one

if your a 3 chord strummer in the first three frets you,ll do fine
i think?

lets not go there

been playing for about26/27 years
i use a hotrod deluxe in the clean channel / boss pedal/fulltone
fulldrive2/wah/univibe clone
i wish i could have set this guitar up before i bought it, it would have stayed at the store!
please someone steal this guitar
the last 3 fenders i,ve bought all sucked!i will never buy another fender guitar again! buy a godin!sd.
thought i,d give fender another chance, mistake! 550.00 MISTAKE!
PEOPLE DONT BE FOOLED BY THE NAME! THEY HAVENT MADE A GOOD GUITAR IN YEARS. THEY JUST MAKE ALOT ,THAT MIGHT BE THE PROBLEM.

Made in USA in 2002. 22 frets, a laminated green top. Normal fender specs. Volume knob is too close to strings, a pain in the ass.

This guitar has absolutely NO SUSTAIN. I play alot of Yngwie, but wanted to try a regular strat before putting out the big bucks for the Malmsteen signature. I have a Line 6 spider, and the DOD 250 overdrive pedal. This guitar makes a ton of noise on whatever setting and sounds like trash. Frets are tiny, and not comfortable for soloing. Sounds thin and very harsh.

The actions was not good, within a week of owning it, I had to get it fixed because of fretting out and buzzing. Guitar center charges a helluv'a lot for that.

I think this guitar would stand live playing barely. I much rather prefer my Les Paul. Strap buttons are tiny, and has almost hit the ground countless times.

Fender is so unaproachable, and I wish they hadn't bought Jackson. Their website offers no help or way to contact them, only hot to buy their products and why they are so good. Its much too corporate of a company, and it looks like unless you want to pay thousands of dollars for a guitar, their massed produced ones are terrible.

I have been playing for about 5 years, own a Les Paul, RR1 Rhoads, and an ESP. If it were stolen, I would laugh at the idiot who stole it and never buy a fender again.

This guitar is best conceived as the bottom of the US-made range made by Fender. It has a nice rosewood fretboard with 22 medium-jumbo frets, white dot markers, excellent tuners, walnut skunk strip, faux bone nut, one piece maple neck. The neck is thin, but has a curved fretboard so if you're used to modern flat fretboards, like me, this will take some getting used to - especially if you like large string bends. For complex barre chords, however, the curvature is a dream. The string trees have rollers to guide the strings, thus alleviating some of the hassles trees can cause when the vibrato bar is used.

The body is constructed of 2 pieces - of Alder, I believe - and is finished in a very thin nitrocellulose satin transparent off-white. The finish is quite vulnerable to the slightest knock and must be kept away from vinyls as they will eat through the vintage-style lacquer. The pickguard is a 3 ply white-black-white affair and looks quite handsome against the off-white body.

The bridge is the traditional Fender vintage bridge - adjustable saddles for each string, finished in a very high quality chrome-plating. The bridge is good for what it was designed for - light virbato, not dive-bombing etc. It is set up so you can raise the pitch a quarter of a tone, as you would in some Stevie Ray Vaughan songs, like 'Pride and Joy'.

Rob, the owner of the guitar store I most often frequent, described the Highway One as a replica of a 50s Strat. The neck, bridge and finishing materials are examples of this, as are the electronics. The three passive single coils are from Fender's vintage series, and the middle pickup is not reversewound so you do not get hum-cancelling in selector positions 2 and 4. This is tolerable, but I have already decided to get a reverse wound for the middle slot as I love using a bit more drive with positions 2 and 4 to get that Texas sound.

It came with a Fender gig-bag, but as this baby cost me 2 weeks' pay I'm not entrusting it to anything less than a proper hard case.

I give this guitar a ten for workmanship and features. It hasn't got tons of features - it is a Strat and a damned good one at that.

I like blues, blues-rock, jazz and a little shred so this guitar meets most of my requirements. Once I get that reverse-wound pickup in the middle position, it'll be perfect.

I play this guitar through my Fender Deluxe 85. It is a solid-state amp, but should not be dismissed on this basis. It has a tone that always attracts compliments and perfectly suits single-coiled Fender instruments.

If you bump up the gain too much, of course this guitar will hum; but, if you're a gainiac, then you really ought to look elsewhere. The sound ranges from ice-pick through the middle ear on the bridge position (think early Led Zeppelin Tele sounds - it can be a really useful sound) through to super warm, round and fat on the neck position. In between, it can sound country through funky.

Nothing beats the variety of a Strat, except maybe a Strat with a bridge humbucker with coil-splitting, but humbuckers are left for dead by the pickups on this guitar.

In terms of sound, there is NOTHING I don't like about this guitar. I merely want to extend it with a new middle pickup.

Rob set-up my guitar when I bought it so it was perfect from day one.

The pickups are adjusted really well, and the strings articulate clearly and at the same volume if you pick consistently.

The build quality of this instrument is exceptional. Having owned cheaper Strats and Strat copies, I have come to know the weak spots of Strat design and the makers of this guitar have certainly paid careful attention to ensure this is a toneful, strong, beautiful instrument.

My only concern is that the finish is very thin and easily damaged. This is in part intentional as it is supposed to end up looking like a vintage instrument, but I think the whole vintage fetish is just ridiculous at the moment. Some old guitars are very nice, but why would anyone want to buy a new one that will look like damaged goods in a few years. Fender, you need to offer proper finishes on these Highway Ones.

The documentation, tool kit, advice and one year warranty was reassuring. Fender seems quite interested in customer satisfaction with their US-made instruments. Hopefully I'll never have to test them out about warranty matters, etc.

I've been playing for 7 years and have dreamt of owning for an American Stratocaster for at least a decade.

This guitar is my baby and if anyone were to take it I don't know how I would react - so don't test me.

Made In US, HSS configuration, the colour is a beautiful Amber transparent. The body is three piece Alder. The neck is the modern
"C" shape with a rosewood fingerboard and 9.5" radius. The tuners are Fender/Ping Standard Cast/Sealed Tuning machines. This strat
is the Highway 1 fat strat so it has two Standard Vintage Style Singe-Coil strat pickups with stagered Pole Pieces, Alnico Magnets in the neck and middle and an Atomic Humbucker in the bridge. The guitar has master volume and tone controls for the single coils, no tone control for the humbucker. The pickup switch is the usual 5 position blade. These guitars of course come with Satin Lacquer Finishes, which makes for a nice sound, but we'll see about the durability. These guitars also have Large 70's style headstock and decal's. The guitar also features 22 medium jumbo frets, nice neck
to play. For an affordable American made Star how can I not give these features a "10". This guitar is Strat through and through.
The guitar also features Vintage Synchronized Tremolo (which I will
never use) see "action fit and finish".

Classic Strat sound on the single coils with the extra flexability of the humbucker in the bridge, makes for a very diversified array
of sounds. All positions on the blade are unique in sound. Other reviewers have suggested that positions 2 and 4 are not hum cancelling, but they seem quiet to me. This guitar can go anywhere from Jazz to Country to Rock (not shred metal of course) but 60's and 70's rock, which is the only music worth playing anyway. For Christian Contempory music this guitar is a nice addition to the music arsenal. I recently bought a used Fender Prinction 112 plus amp
(about 5 or 6 years old I guess)and the two make a good combination.

The finish is fine so far, I suppose it will look like a relic sooner than the high closs finish guitars, but this is where most of the $ savings comes in. The guitar was set up for "9"s and I prefer "10"s, obviously the Trem didn't handle the 10's very well so I had Rick at the Arts block the trem (I don't use it anyway) and adjust the intonation, neck and action to suit the 10"s. Now it plays great. This is pretty subjective as all new guitars require
some tweaking.

Strats are time tested for 50 years, I'm sure that all but the finish will endure. Everything else on the guitar is solid. I'll give this a 9 because I know the finish will go.

I have never dealt with Fender, any decent music store should be able to solve most problems.

I've been playing since 1975. I also own an El Degus Telecastor(great copy from 1976), a Segull M12 Gloss, a Martin D15, Fender
Mexican P-bass. In terms of Amps I have a Fender Princton 112 Plus
and a Yorkville Am 100 acoustic amp. None of my gear is expensive
but it does the job. These Highway 1 series guitars are a great value just like the "15" series Martin guitars, which is why I have invested in both. I gave up on looks and finish and settled for the
classic sounds.