Fender Highway 1 Strat

2002 American Made Blonde Beauty with Maple neck. Now thats a true blonde! Was not too impressed with the slightly crooked string tree, but at least the other one was straight. I got ripped off by the salesman who never told me it came with a quality gig bag and ended up paying extra for a hardshell case. Body is three piece and I admit I always thought they were cut from a single piece of stock. Shows what I know!

My only other electric is a Les Paul that I have had for three years. The most notable difference is the weight. After playing my new "Buttercup" for a couple of days, I picked up the Les and almost dropped it. This Strat sounds good to me thru my Blues Junior amp and cannot even be compared to other types of guitars. It is afterall, a Strat. It rings like a bell on lead.

Action is smooth and no worry of getting fret cuts off the sides of the neck. I have seen guitars with rough fret ends selling for much higher many times. I personally like the finish and realize that is what gives it so much sustain and tone. After all, I want to play it, not put it on display. Pickups are perfectly aligned for proper amplitude. Neck is set very well. I am impressed by the overall finish and fit for a 600 dollar guitar.

Well, if you are thinking of lighting it off with a flammable substance or slamming it into the drums, forget about it! If you are like me and wipe it down and put her back into the case or on the stand next to your favorite chair, it should last a lifetime. Dont forget to give her a little kiss after you just hit that favorite lick and put that big smile on your face.

I doubt I would need any customer support since if the need arises, I would take her down to my favorite guitar man and let him do his thing.

I wish I could say that I am a retired rock and roll star but the truth is, I am just like all the rest of you zombies out there who just love to turn up the amp and piss off the neighbors. I have a Johnson Marquis JM60 and a Fender Blues Junior. My axes besides this beauty are a Les Paul knockoff by Crate and a Martin accoustic. I am pleased with this guitar and for all the naysayers on this board, "get a life". What did you expect for 600 dollars?

It's a great guitar for little $, looks like the mexi standard body with it's hum-single-hum body routing, finish is a nice thin satin lacquer finish that almost looks like a pro refin, just don't look like a traditional fender finish. American stardard style 22 fret neck with good frets and cheap tuners. vintage style tremolo, alnico tex mex style pickups. with fender gig bag

a cross between an old tex mex model & califorina special, both discontiued models but overall good strat tone

looks & feels more like my old mexi standard than a US American Standard or US Vintage reissue, but still worth the $

typical good fender quality

fender warranty as expected.

for a 100% new fender made in USA , while I believe it's probaly mexican bodies with american standard necks and tex-mex pu's, it's worth the $460 + tax I paid.

Summarily, its an American Standard Strat with vintage tremolo and satin finish on body and neck.
Chose the teal green transparent model with a rosewood fretboard ?the most handsome combination in consideration of the matte finish.
The details:
http://www.fender.com/gear/gear.php?partno=0111100

Well, ? it?s a Strat.
The staggered poles piece balance the string volumes nicely.
Am pleased with the sustain and tonal color of the rosewood fingerboard.

Love the neck and fretwork, hated the wimpy strings.
The dealer set it up to my specs: (the stainless bullets were out of stock so I settled for) Super Bullets 3250 M (Gauges: .011, .014, .018, .028, .038, .049 ), add 4th spring, tremolo flat to body, but operable.
The magic of the satin finish is that its non-stick; no more ?gee I?m sweat-welded in place!?

Well, ? it?s a Strat.

The dealer has Fender-trained personnel and handles all warranty and repair. No problems expected; not worried about surprises.

Love it.

2002 Stratocaster, usual features, blue matte finish, vintage bridge, modern tuners. Great gig-bag.

very good for blues, country, & rock. It has a really clean sound with great sustain. Distorted is pretty raunchy, but if you like a grinding "in your face" assault, it will deliver in spades. It really kicks ass in the funk and country departments. The "in between" settings with your amp clean are pure Average White Band, and the single settings are totally Vince Gill all the way. This baby sounds so good set clean I want to piss in my pants every time I strum it. It has just the right amount of sustain and delicious tone to keep me diggin' all night.

I checked out about 10 of these Srtats, and none of them disapointed in the fit; all were pretty good. The finish is kind of drab, though. Fender calls it satin, but it looks more like doggy-doo if you ask me. The salesman said it is a "sparesly applied finish meant to optimize tone, not looks". I have to agree with sparsely applied part, I found a small nick after buying, and the finish was chipped to the bare wood! It looked really thin, like there was only 3 or 4 coats! At this rate I'll have a a "vintage" look in about 5 years! But that's cool, maybe the lack of finish is part of why it sounds so good.

I could break it if I really tried, but I'm in love. Would you hurt the one you love? Yeah, maybe your g-friend, but not your guitar(s).

Who?

If you are prissy about the looks of your machine, stay away from this model. It's not exactly what you'd call pretty. The finish is not what you might expect on a Fender (in fact I don't think Fender has ever done it before). But it looks decent, and you'll get used to it. Tonally though, the sound is premium. It absolutely kills for a clean sound, and has a distorted bite that a humbucking axe can't come close to. I like to think of it's vibe as a tool in my arsenal (God, that sounds typical). It's got a couple of outstanding sounds that my LP can't duplicate.

2002, American made Strat, features (I think) a good mix of vintage and modern standards: vintage bridge, modern 22 fret "C" neck, vintage lacquer used but in a modern satin finish, modern die-cast tuners, and modern electronics with an ultra clean, but available vintage vibe.

Included is an excellent quality gig-bag (not one of those crappy cheapo jobs) and hex wrenches to adjust the action.

The sound can be described in one word: Stratocaster. Everyone knows a good sounding Strat is a guitar gold, and this one is all of that. What really surprises me is that my local guitar shop just got in 6 of these (in various colors), and only 2 were dogs. Most of the Strats I have tried out over the past few years are life and colorless. My guitar tech tells me that one of the best reasons these satin Strats sound good is because of the laquer finish. It is applied pretty thin, and so does not muffle the tone like the ones with polyester finishes. It's not as pretty as a glossy polyester finish, but there is no comparison in the tone and sustain. I had a really hard time choosing between the 4 good Strats. I finally settled on one that sounded (to me) only slightly better than the others.

Anyway, on to the specifics of the sound of this axe...It is truly one of the best sounding Strats I have ever owned, and I have had 5 of these over the years. I'm generally poor, so I got rid of the others in trades for other gear, you know the story. The two best things about the way it sounds are the clarity and the sustain. I have been a Les Paul guy for about 3 years now, and after doing everything but installing single coils in my Paul could not not get a really clear sound from it. Don't get me wrong, the Paul is a wonderful sounding instrument, but you can't really use it for a country or a Stevie Ray type blues sound. My Paul sounds great for distortion rock and jazzy stuff, but the real twang of a Fender can't be achieved. So I searched for a Strat. Man, let me tell you, a great sounding Strat is hard to come by nowadays! Part of it is because compared to a Les Paul, most Strats don't have much sustain. But his one has plenty. I won't say it sustains as well as the Les Paul, but it is very close, and the character of the sound more that makes up for any difference.

I'll tell you (if you're a novice) how you know you have found a really good guitar: you can't put it down. You can play it for hours and still anticipate with joy, the next note or chord. When you can go to bed after playing endlessly on your axe and look forward to playing it again tomorrow you are there.

The action is really good after adjustment. The fit is also good; I have tight neck pocket. The finish is rough. It is not what you'd call "factory". But this is where the money was saved so that you could get an American made Strat at an import price. The condition of the finish is actually a good thing sound-wise. Instead a getting a thick tone robbing poly finsh you get a thin laquer coat and a minimal wood filler which doesn't kill the sound, and which will get better with time, as the laquer shrinks and gets closer and more ingrained into the wood. It's not a bad look, just different. Instead of being shiny and flashy it is warm and glowing. It grows on you. And when you play it, you're not thinking about the finish, you're just thinking about how damn good it sounds.

It's a Strat...nuff said.

Who needs it?

Not that it matters about how long I have been playing, and I normaly wouldn't say, but I know that this review wouldn't be taken seriously if I wasn't experienced, and I do want Fender to get due credit on this guitar, so...25 years. Believe me I know what a good guitar sounds like. No, I'm not a Van Halen or a Danny Gatton, but my ears know sound. And this is a great sounding guitar. Don't you be fooled by the looks of this beast. Don't let the rough finish make you pass this guitar by. Let your ears, and not your eyes, be the judge.

All the features have been detailed by others so I wont go into all that again. It is a basic "no frills" Stratocaster with an unusual finish. Features (for this price range) I'll give a 6. Has a trem so that is an extra feature.

Sounds like a Strat. That's the bottom line. Has the normal Strat hum but nothing unbearable. Staggered pole pieces even out the sound. So far I've used it with no effects into a Laney VC30-210 and a Vox Cambridge 30 Reverb. Sounds good. Versatile. No complaints. For a Strat sound I'll give it top marks.

It was set-up ok at the place I got it from. The action is a little high and it has 9's on it. I want 10's and a little lower. The intonation is very good though (Buzz Feiten aside). The few I got to try didn't have any finish problems at all. The wood grain can be seen through the finish and mine is nothing spectacular (but that isn't a complaint - just an observation). I think the nut needs a little work but it will anyway with the string guage change. No big deal for me...every guitar I have purchased needs a pro set-up to begin with.

One criticism (this isn't just for the US Special) - on the majority of Fenders I checked out, USA and Mexican, the neck pocket isn't as good as it should be on the lower edge. Appreciable gaps were present on nearly all the Fenders with the exception of the American Deluxe. My cheap Samick bass has a better neck pocket than the majority of the Fenders I tested! The top edge is nice and snug however and I don't foresee it being a problem. It is a QC point Fender should look at though. Otherwise everything was ship shape.

I've only had it a couple of days so I can't really comment on longevity.

Everything seems pretty standard and being a solidbody it wont require too much babying. The strap buttons are not the locking type but reasonably decent. Tuners are decent - no slippage. Trem/Vibrato stays in tune unless I go berserk on it. It will need attention for the change in string guage I want but that's normal. No idea about how the finish will hold up.

I wouldn't use anything at a gig without a backup.

I'd be surprised if, with a little care, this guitar doesn't last me until I can't play anymore.

N/A.

Been playing on and off for 11 years but only fairly recently started to get serious. I am very happy with the guitar overall. Price was right for the sound I was after.

I may have picked a Mexican made Classic 50's model instead but the neck and frets wasn't quite right for me. Price was very similar.

Only real gripe is I wish it came with a proper case instead of a gig bag.

I also own a Rickenbacker 370 and a Gibson LP Studio Gothic. The Strat definitely isn't as well made as the Rick. Nor were any I got to test out. No worse than the Gibson for care of construction though. The Gibson is a set-neck and requires more work but the fretwork on the Strat wont need to be touched. My Gibson needed one straight out of the box.

Overall it's a great guitar and I'd buy it again.

The teal green transparent model with a rosewood fretboard. 2002 model, of course. The frets are the same as on an American Strat, with the medium - jumbo feel to them. Usual Stratocaster pickup config. except the middle pickup is nit reverse wound / reverse polarity or whatever, but it doesn't seem to matter in that it is well - shielded or grounded with little to no noticeable hum. Pole pieces on pickups are staggered height and seem to have good balance. Finish is satin, almost flat, very thin, but it shines up quite a bit with an initial polishing. Bridge is like the vintage, six screw model with screw - in arm. Tuners are the American - style nice sealed and tight string through the post - type. It has two string trees (retainers) on the e,b, and g,d strings, respectively. The neck is 25.5" scale and is relatively thin in profile and plays great. Comes with gig bag and the usual stickers and inspection tags.
A nice, straightforward, no - frills Strat.

It sounds great, although compared to my other Strats, it's a little on the bright side. It really does a good job of bringing out the lower notes with snap and that's something that often lacks on my other, more expensive Strats. I use a Mark IV Mesa head with a Marshall 1936 2x12 sealed cabinet. I play through a Clde reissue VOX wha, a Digitech distortion pedal, a Boss DS-1 (the best cheap distortion pedal out there, period! It works!), a Boss Chorus Ensemble pedal and have a Boss digital delay in the effects loop of the amp. The guitar is surprisingly free of noticeable hum in all pickup positions. It has a good bright sound and sounds especially good with distortion. A lot of tones can be had between the five pickup positions. I am one of those guys that sets the tone controls wide open to full treble and alters the bass and mid content on the amp itself, so the tone controls don't really affect me one way or another. I don't dislike anything about the guitar.

The gfuita came with action a little on the high side from the factory, but it is an easy adjustment anyone can do in a matter of a half an hour (intonation, action, trus rod relief). After a change of strings from the .009s to .010s, and the tweaks I mentioned above, the guitar plays as good if not better than a few of my other higher -end models.

The pickups came adjusted too close to the strings, so I lowered them to the usual standard for vintage pickups, which is around 7/64s to 8/64s, allowing the bass side to sit further away from the strings. The neck pocket is soild, there is no tilt - neck adjuster or bi - flex truss rod. Good feature is that the truss rod still adjusts at the headstock through a hole in the end of the walnut skunk stripe, making it easy to fine tune the relief in the neck. I like mine almost flat, with little relief, but also with no fretting out when bending strings in the upper registers. The neck was generally better and more consistent than some American Standards I have ownwed or presently own. I did the usual tightening of key screws at the neck joint, tightened the nuts on the tuners at the headstock face, readjusted the trem to properly float when tuned to pitch, which for our band is a half step lower than concert pitch. The only problem I initially had was that the high "e" string was breaking at the hole under the bridge saddle where it comes through the trem block. There must have been a burr or sharp edge there, so I used a small round needle file to carefully remove the sharp or burred edge and since have had no problems occur.

It is a Fender Stratocaster. Like all other Fenders I have owned and that would be too many to remember them all, it is a solid piece of gear. The finish shines up almost to a gloss if you polish it regularly. The finish looks nice and the wood is nicely grained beneath. The neck is satin in finish as a typical American Strat is. The only funny thing is that I get a sticky residue buildup under my hands on the neck after a while, which normally does not occur with my other guitars. I had the same thing happen with the Voodoo Strats I have owned, but it's not the kind of thing to make me want to declare the guitar as a poor instrument. In fact, I really like it for it isn't equipped with any bells and whistles, yet doesn't seem as inherently "cheap" in feel when compared to the average Mexican - made Standard Strat or Telecaster. There is a notoceable difference in appearance and feel and tone between the Standard Mex model and the American - made guitars. The Mex ones are good guitars, but I just prefer one that comes from the actual home factory. Call me nationalistic, patriotic or maybe even neurotic!

Fender has always been good to me and helpful...I have to wonder about the horror stories told by many others, because they have always corrected what little problems I've had with their products in the last 31 years I've been playing guitar.

I really like the guitar. I'm not some bozo who plays in his bedroom and has little experience. I have played guitar nonstop for 31 years and I think that this, like all the other Fenders in my stable, is a great guitar. What is great to one is not always the same to another, but this is a nice guitar. It is different in that the finish is not buffed to a high gloss, but it has it's advantages in that fingerprints and sweat don't readily show up as they do on gloss.

Standard Strat features. You know the drill.

Doesn't sound any better than the Mexican models. The first thing I usually do is replace the pickups anyway, so this probably isn't a problem for those of you who like to mess around with the electronics as I do (leave vintage originals to collectors, I just want to play!).

Terrible. Fender really screwed up here. Trust me, get a Mexican model for $200 less or pay $200 more and get the real thing. You could even find one of the 70s "lawsuit" copies and you would still have twice the guitar at less than half the price. I, however, like the finish: it has an aged look to it. To me, the looks of the guitars I use come AFTER its playability anyway. That is, after all, what really matters. This guitar is for the person that HAS to have a US strat, but I warn you, THIS IS NOT THE QUALITY OF A REAL AMERICAN STRAT, IT IS NOT EVEN THE QUALITY OF THE HIGHER END MEXICAN REISSUES (the 70's strat is awesome, by the way).

I'm not keeping it to find out!

I love Fender, I do, but this was just a mistake (as was the Smith Strats of 83. CBS almost ruined Fender forever, but thats another story). Oh what the Highway 1 Strat could have been...

As I said, I love Fender. I have 3 Strats: a custom 70's reissue with a brass nut, 2 Dimarzio YJM's and an HS-3 at the bridge (Yes, Yngwie is god), a Mexican standard fat strat with a Air Norton humbucker, and another Strat mutt that is so customized you can hardly call it a Fender anymore. (scalloped neck, newer warmoth bridge, replacement pickups, the works). I also have a Les Paul, a 70s model Epiphone EA-250 hollowbody, a 1937 Gibson J-35, and many other guitars, some vintage, in my collection of over 20. At the moment I'm looking for one of the Japanese HM Strats of the early 80's.

See Website

Sounds like a strat. I replace all my pups with Kinman anyway so I don't get that much into the stock sound. I am pretty picky with my set-up, if I owned this guitar I know I would have it sounding exactly how I want it to.

I tried one out at GC yesterday (that's probably part of the problem)and I was not impressed. The guitar needed a set-up badly as the action was way high...but it did play and sound like a strat. It was solidly built but I just can't get over the finish! I saw a trans blue one and the one I played was trans blonde. The finish looks very toy-like. It may look vintage or worn to some but to me it looks cheap. Someone on the Fenderforum used "orange peel" to describe the texture and the one I played was just like that. Overall, its proabably a good guitar but I will stick to strats from 84-00. Those years, although not vintage, are really great guitars--I have 8 of them so far. Easy to work on, sound great, and very versatile. Plus you can buy'em for 400-500 on eBay. I only wish Fender made the American Standard Strat in Butterscotch or Vintage Blonde!!!

Fender Strats will survive almost anything. I am sure this one would as well.

Never needed them yet.

It's a good guitar but I would pass and get a used American Standard. I really wanted the blonde color one but after trying it I changed my mind. IMO the new finishes look very toyish and not vintage-like at all. They play fine but you can pretty much set-up a strat the way you want. $599 is alot for a guitar without a case with marginal, at best, pick-ups.

2002 Fender Highway 1 Stratocaster. (see Fender's website for specs.) This guitar is a "no-frills" American strat with basic functionality.

The guitar sounds OK. Not as clean as an "American Stratocaster" model, but not bad.

I've played three of these to date and have been disappointed with the overall fit and finish on them. The action was poor, and the trem setup was off -- both of these could be fixed by a good guitar tech. My main complaint is the finish on these guitars -- two of them had poorly matched 3-piece bodies (another reviewer stated his had a 4-piece body), and the stain/finish looked like something I would produce at home with a can of spray paint.....no kidding here. Some areas appeared heavier coated than others with varying degrees of "orangepeel" and smoothness throughout. I can't say that I've ever seen this kind of finish on any american factory finished guitar.

Fenders, in general, are very dependable and durable guitars.

Never had to deal with them

I love Fender guitars, especially the American, vintage, and custom series. I really wanted to like these new ones that just came out. All the specs looked good on them -- vintage vibe with modern neck, etc. What a disappointment! For $599, it's just too much for what you get. For $550, the Mexican reissues and the Vaughn series are just a better guitar. If you really want to go with American made, the $200 you need to add to get an American Strat is money well spent. And, that $200 gets you better pickups, hardware, finish (major improvement), hard case, strap locks, strap, cable, etc.... The Highway 1 guitar idea would have been great had Fender just did a decent finish job,