Fender Highway 1 Strat

first off: i love this strat but i hate mexican parts. i didnt actuly know how much of it is mexican until i did some research. the pickups, bridge and probably tuners: all mexican. although i love the finish and the sound it gets.

i play alot of srv stuff and this thing (despite basicaly being a mexican strat made in usa) can really handle it. the pickups despite being a bit weak and the bridge pickup too spikey, can sound good with the right amp settings. just dont expect it to be able to handle distortion. and the pickups tend to be quite noisy. as for the finish, apart from looking great gives fantastic sustain and resonance. every strat should have a finish option like this. it really lets the guitars true voice shine out. and the greasebucket tone controls are a great feature too. they roll off the highs without adding bass. its more off a bright sounding guitar and although it cant really take distortion, it can take a hell of alot of overdrive. although if your into intresting thick tones, it can do that as well.

i brought it from a shop and took it back after a few months to have it properly set up to be easier to play. its a beatiful guitar to play and the finish feels nicer to play on than the polyurethene finishes the american strats come with. but because the bridge isnt a proper us vintage and is a mexican one, it just dosent stay in tune when using the tremolo arm. im not sure if other people have this problem but i shall probably get it set up (again) with a proper us bridge and extra rear springs. i also intend to change the pickups to texas specials. apart from that, its action plays fantasticly, and the big frets and modern c shape neck also help make it a great player.

the finish dents slightly easier than the polyurethene finish and the mexican hardware seems to be wearing considerably. but you just have too be careful with it. if anything the finish will probably wear more like stevie ray vaughans but im not too fussed. i replaced the strap buttons with strap locks as the strap would occasionly slip off the buttons.it is very dependable although i would definantly need a backup as strings break fairly easily on this (even though im now on 11's!)

this a guitar that needs hot rodding. new pickups and hardware should do it as i intend to. effectivly, i am a person who was strapped for cash but wanted a us made strat. i got it and still stand by my dessicion even if it dose need sprucing. i love the finish, dont like the mexican parts. if lost or stolen, i would be devastated. i love this guitar so much, not only because i can get some good sounds from it, but personal attachment. its the first strat ive owned and its so much better than my lil old squire. and by upgrading it with new pickups/hardware, you really can make this into the american dream. in my opinion, it could be better that an american standard. and next time i woudnt just go straight for an american standard, i'd get another one of these and make it all american. but as standard, its a brillant guitar for the price.

Mine is Honey Blonde (alder body) with maple neck (22frets) and 3 single Vintage pickups, satin finish... all as factory originals. It has a Vintage style (6 screw) tremolo with 3 springs which has a very thick and solid base which makes the guitar a bit heavier than Standard (Mexican) Strats... (3.7kg) but improves sustain greatly. Tone pots give control over bridge and neck pickups.

Came with a standard Fender gig bag and allen keys and got a spare set of Bullet sttrings and a cable too. The little allen key wouldn't fit the screws though - a mess up in the factory?

The gitar has quite bright sound (thanks to its vintage pickups which are not very "hot") but special tone controls which can roll off highs without adding bass are quite useful for creating a warmer tone. The pickups are great compared to noisy ones on my Mexican Standard Strat... and pots and switch are very smooth to operate, without any clicks and scratching sound. This guitar has wonderful sustain!!! And I mean it! I play modern rock and a bit of Jazz and some 60-70ties stuff. This guitar is really versatile although I will probably replace the pickups with 'hotter ones" (perhaps even a humbucker).

The factory setup was average. Action quite low but terrible buzz... After playing with rod truss and the brigde height I achieved acceptable results but still not perfect. I had to dress and polish the frets. They had almost no crown - flat!!! But after doing that the guitar changed from an average Joe to a monster. It is now very playable and feels great. It has very low action and no buzz whatsoever. The workmanship is on the other hand just great. Finish is perfect, the neck is dead straight and very smooth. All the hardware works fine, looks good and seems to be installed properly.

Well, nitro cellulose finish is not as durable as polyurethane but with proper care this guitar should live for a very long time. Still, one can have the body sanded and resealed with 2 pack polyurethane (like I did with my Mexican Strat (I hated the colour).... at any time). The neck coating is no different from other Strats and all the hardware will last! It is certainly my working horse - no backup needed. I have other guitars only because of different sounds/ styles.

The warranty is 1 year ... the salesperson in the shop I bought from was very helpful and friendly. I was really happy with the service. My only objection is the price (sort of a rip off compared to USA prices) but that is the reality in NZ and AU.

If something happened to it I would buy it again but would have to have more pieces available to choose from (dressed frets, better setup) and would buy if outside of NZ this time - for a better PRICE.
I wish it had a humbucker instead of a single bridge pickup and a switch for more pickup combinations. Also it could be shielded with copper and bridge could be 2 point instead of a 6 screw tremolo.

mine is a 2005 honey blonde satin finish body with a maple fretboard neck. It is USA made in Corona CA. 22 frets and by now you all know what the other spec's are. I've been playing it steady for 6 months now and it's a workhorse. If your a working player this is a great investment in a dependable work piece. It's alder and has the vintage style tremelo bridge/tailpiece. I blocked mine because I always do.

I play the bules / Jazz / Country and R&R . Mostly the Blues. I use a 59 Fender Bassman with 2 Tung-Sol NOS 5881's/2 telefunken 12AX7's/1 Mullard 12AY7 and a Mullard GZ34 rectifier. My board consists of an original Alfonso Hermida solid state ZENDRIVE OD pedal, a ZENDRIVE Tube driven OD pedal and a Boss DD2 delay. I've never percieved any noise but I swaped out the original pickups for a Lindy Fralin blues special at the neck, a Jason Lollar special with a Fralin base plate added at the bridge and an Amercian standard at the middle. This guitar can cover almost any style of music you could want. Remember in the end it comes down to the player. His or her God given talent, heart, ears and soul. The instrument is just the tool thru which the player expresses themselves. I give it a 9 here because I swaped out the pickups.

Mine need a few minutes of set up time but nothing out of the ordinary, minor adjustments that almost all guitars need out of the box. Remembering that I changed the pickups to Fralin's and Lollar's and a Fender American Standard. This was done because I perfer the sound of Fralin's and Lollar's The Ping Fender gears are fine and hold true. The jumbo fret's are very nice.

it will defintely stand live playing, it's an American strat for God's sake. The satin nitro-cellous finish might wear sooner than the poly cleared ones but look at the tone SRV got with his Strat. Did it have a pretty and shiney finish? I rest my case. If you play for a living and you have to answer the back up question, I have to wonder why. I can and do depend on it.

Never dealt with Fender. I think the warranty is 1 year but it's a real USA Strat. They last forever.

Over 40 years of steady playing. I only use this Strat and a single pickup SX Custom built GG7 Archtop guitar. I don't ever need anything else. I chose this guitar because it is the best deal anywhere for a brand new American built Stratocaster. It resonates and sustains beautifully. The original body contour feels great, the weight is perfect and the neck is to die for. Perfect radius. Everything you need and nothing you don't need.

First of all, i'm from Holland, so excuse me if there are some "language-errors" written down in my review.
Bought mine last year at the Music Store in Cologne, Germany.
It has the sunburst color and a maple/ rosewood neck. (makes it more suitable for blues and jazz imho.)All the specs are known by now I guess. ( 5 way switch, gig-bag, etc.)

I play in a cover-band (eagles, stones, little river band etc.)so i was looking for a versatile guitar. A humbucker would be fine to get close to the original sound played in some songs, but mostly this strat does it all. (except for metal, witch isn't my style anyway)Stock pups not too bad, (a bit noisy and thin) but I've changed them after a year with a set of Kinman AVN-Blues. Absolute no hum and very powerfull! Makes this guitar even more versatile. I also connected the bridge pickup with the lower tone-controle
to make the sound of the bridge pickup less harsh/ sharp. Before that, I never used this pup. It was just to sharp. Now I can use it very often. The finish of this guitar could be an issue for some people, but I do believe that it creats more sound. I've played this strat acoustic, and it sounds better than a standard American strat.
With stock pups an 8, with the Kinman pups a 10!

Guitar was well set up in the store. But I do have changed the 0.09 string into 0.10 for more sound. This year the pick-up switch is being replaced and I blocked the bridge. It stays better in tune now.
I love the neck of this guitar, you just have to play this thing.
Also the weight of this strat is very comfortable, a 3 hour set is no problem what so ever. (Wonder how it feels with a LP....)

This guitar will withstand anything. (except for the finish, very thin, but it gives you that 'relic' feeling for less money...)
I would use it without a backup, but I don't do gigs without a backup. One can never know...

Never tried them , didn't need to.

I play 14 years, started when i was 27. First for fun and just only at home. For the last few years i'm playing in a band (using a Boss ME-50 and a VOX Valvetronix amp, i can create almost every sound that i'm looking for) ) and it's getting better and better every. I still take lessons every second week and practice 1 or 2 hours a day. It's a great hobby for me.
I payed 588,- euro's for this strat and payed another 420,- euro's for Kinman pups, new switch, pearl plate, schaller locking keys. So I have a strat Highway for about 1000,- euro's. I think that there is NO standard American strat for this price who can compete in sound, looks and is so easy to play like my Highway 1.
If stolen or lost, I would buy it again. (after I killed the mother&*%$ who took my baby from me)

What more can be said about this guitar. You know the shape, solid body (I think Alder), thin semi/transparent colour finish, 3 passive single coils, 5 way selector, Fender stamped tuners that stay in tune, Maple neck, Plain (not fender stamped) neck plate medium frets. Came with a Fender gig bag and a broken zip!

I brought this guitar cheap from the store as it was shop soiled and had slight damage to the body. (the condition really was a discrace for a new guitar) I needed a quality, cheap guitar to take on the road. I tried the Mex Strat but the pickups and neck reminded me of the Squier. What separates the build quality of this US Strat from the Mex model is the neck whick is smooth and well finished.

The body finish is the penalty you pay for the lower price. As other reviewers comment the thin paint finish to the body chips real easily. I was not supprised it came from the shop damaged. I look after my gear but a slight miscalculation with the lead put another nice dent in the body. I read a review that said you could see filler beneath the paint finish. I'm a carpenter and work with wood all day. I can't see any filler on my guitar.

The neck sticker says "Original Contour Body". (If anybody knows what this means please tell me), Fender seem to make a big thing of it. As for "the thin finish letting the tone through", well the guitar does resonate well unplugged but nobody should be fooled the cheaper finish is to bring the cost down. If you don't mind the worn look go for your life.

I have been playing play rock/blues for about 20 years and compare this guitar to my other US Strat with Custom shop pickups. In comparison the sound is nearly as good as my best guitar. The pickups are obviously weaker but have nice a ballsy bottom end and nice highs. The overall volume of the pickups is reasonably good although noisy, but hey its a Strat. I think the old fashioned Fender bridge adds to the sound.

Plugged into a Duncan pickup booster and Marshall Guvnor into my Fender amp I can get dreamy overdriven sounds which do not hide the character of the guitar. Ideal for this type of music. This guitar is well worth (but does not need) a pickup upgrade. A little more sustain and it would have scored a 10.

The guitar was a mess when I brought it hence the lower price. A string change, bridge adjustment later the guitar plays very well. What sets this guitar apart from the Mex and Squier models is the neck which is a dream to play. Frets are well finished and the semi/matt finish is a great feel. The chrome hardware is well finished and I expect is taken from the American standard Strat. One feature I like is the bridge which is the old original Fender stamped type which gives the guitar an authentic look.

A guitar of this value should perform perfectly live and no doubt it will. Time has proven the reiabilty and durability of this guitar.

Never tried them. As I'm in Australia I would not expect much and would have to rely on the store.

I have been playing guitar for 20 years (infl' Blackmore, SRV, Malmsteen)and love the sound of single coil guitars. I plug into a valve Marshall TSL100 or Fender Deluxe, with pickup booster and/or distortion to get overdriven blues/rock. This guitar is ideal. The outstanding features are the very playable neck and the reasonably good tone from the pickups. If stolen I would have buy another.

I own a 2005 Fender Highway 1 strat with 3 single coil pickups. USA made of coruse.
22 Frets
I love the 3 color sunburst stain, it may be a mind game, but it does sound better and wears REALLY quick(i love this part). I replaced the cheap looking white pickgaurd with a tortiseshell and the guitar looks a lot cleanner. I was playing my SRV strat as my main axe, but ended up liking this neck better because it does not get as sticky when playing four hour nights. I like the sound i get out of it now, but tommorow I am getting Fender Custom Shop 54's installed to see how they sound in it. This guitar is starting to age quickly, very quickly, there is already wood showing and i've only had it for a few weeks. I give it a rating of 10, because i like it and will buy another one as a backup insted of my SRV strat.

I play everything. I am running a BBE Optocomp,DOD 250, DOD YJM308, Marshall Jackhammer into a 65 Fender Twin Reverb Reissue. Since it does not have a reverse wound midile pickup you can not do the phase inverse sound and it does have some noise. Its got a good rich sound not to bright, not to dark. It can go from texas blues to van halen to linkin park. I don't dislike the sound, although i will be installing the custom shop 54's tommorow to see how they sound.

The briged was pulled up when i got it of coruse, so i installed all 5 springs and a set of 12-52s, nothing else and it does not fret out, the action is right on, i love it.
Everything was great.

It is indeed a strat, this guitar WILL withstand live playing everyday and droping. The hardware will age of coruse, the finish will not last and will wear if quick(i love this part) The strap buttons are solid. you can depend on it, but always have a backup.

Fender customer service sucks, i hope they see this.

I've been playing for awhile. I own all sorts of stuff, Blue Voodoo haha, i got it REALLY cheap because i was kinda sponsored by crate. I will buy another soon.

http://www.NickReynolds.net/

Only one reason I'm posting here. Yesterday makes the sixth (SIXTH) time I have seen one of these hanging in the store NEW with a LARGE chip out of the paint. Fender is marketing it as a thin finish which "enhances the tone". What it really is, is a cheap good for NOTHING finish which chips the first time it comes into contact with anything remotely firm. Give up on the clever marketing Fender, and put a thin tung oil finish on it if you want to save money. No one wants a NEW guitar that looks like it has survived three decades of road work before you get it home. What a lousy marketing idea. Someone at Fender should be finding a new job.

The same great feautures that make the strat so versatile, Master volume, 2 tone controls. Vintage style tremolo.

This is a great guitar. It really has a vintage feel to it. The pickups sound really great they can have a full rich sound to a small whisper. Great for all styles of music execpt maybe shredding, although I can shred on it you have to work very hard at it.

It was perfectly setup at the guitar center where I bought it. Everything perfect little to no fret buzz. The finish really lets the guitar breath and resonate. The quality of wood is the same as american, it has a nice vintage tinted fretboard rather than those american strats with ugly white ones. Nice slick neck on it.

Had it for years no problems.

Great guitar, sounds great with Keeley modded tubescreamer and dunlop classic wah. I compared this to the standard strat, american strat, and an sg. this was easily better than the other strats and I like the strat sound of the sg. And the Transparent colors are Sweet!!!

Hi, a reviewer said to use Pledge furniture polish to clean the guitar - DON'T!!!!! Get a wax-free polish only!!! It won't built up a waxy film that will reduce resonation.

This is a 2003 strat, apparently "made" in USA. 22 frets, standard strat controls which are: 3 single coil pickups, 5 way switch, two tones for neck and middle, and master volume.
The body is Alder, mine has an all-maple neck.
The finish is a thin Lacquer, Nitro Cellulose, I believe.
Vintage style bridge with six screws and smaller stamped saddles. The tremolo block is not your usual tiny, thin block found on mexican strats. It's one of those real, full blocks, which gives more sustain and tone.
I blocked the trem, so I won't comment on the tremolo or its tuning stability.
The radius is 9.5, standard for a strat, round compared to most other guitars.
Came with standard gig bag, lots of case candy too.

As far as features go, I rate this a six, and would rate ANY strat the same. I just got done installing a new set of pickups (more on that soon) and modified the top tone to be a master tone to control all three pickups. Second, I installed a switch to activate the bridge pickup at any time, giving me all seven pickup combinations.
Third, I installed a treble bleed in the volume control. This helps the guitar sound clean and not muddy when you turn down the volume. People who have been frustrated by this phenomenon will know what I mean.

These three modifications are no-brainers in my opinion, and I do not understand why Fender won't make guitars with these three features standard.

Now that I've ranted on the mods necessary for a Strat to achieve its full potential, I'll cover sound, which comes mainly from pickups. I just got done installing Fender custom shop '54 pickups. I can honestly say that I don't think the change was all that necessary. The stock pickups are quite good, actually. Many people have commented on the middle pickup not being reverse-wound/reverse polarity, but as the CS '54's are not made that way either, I'm not really complaining. Strats are noisy. It's the price you pay for that golden single coil sound.

For those that like a vintage sounding strat, don't bother replacing the pickups. They really are quite nice. Now, if you want something noise-cancelling or a bit "hotter," you'll need to make a change, and this is a good guitar to do it with. These pickups are not Stevie Ray Vaughan's. They are not overwound, nor do they exceed the mid range. For clean, bright tone, this guitar does the job wonderfully.
Of course, just make the mods I described, and you've got yourself a wonderful strat.

I have some good and negative points to make here. My A string was giving me a funny buzzing sound. It turns out this was because of a (don't laugh) loose nut. The slot is too wide for the string, and the string was rattling around inside the nut groove. I haven't replaced the nut--I simply use some tissue paper inside the groove to fill the gap. Works like a charm. So, points off for a poor nut.

Some people love the finish, some hate it.
I love it.
The finish lets the grain of the wood show, which is very pretty. The drawback is, the finish is not as protective as a polyurethane (plastic) finish, so nicks and dents will really mar the finish. That goes with the vintage aspect of this guitar though. You'll have yourself a nice, aged strat before too long of you're not careful--or if you're into that sort of thing--if you beat this strat up for a brief time.
One more positive about the finish: some say it actually lets the body wood breathe and resonate better. I can't say for sure, but I believe this is true. I'm a sustain freak, so any little bit I can get I'll take.
Point given.

The action from the factory was just fine. Made minor adjustments out of the box, but that's part of the deal. No problems.

The neck is lovely. The neck was finished after the frets were installed, so you're going to have some finish flaking off the frets eventually, but this is not a huge deal. Just one of those cost-cutting measures thta has nothing to do with tone, I suppose.
The feel of the neck is wonderful. I have played and owned guitars where the frets were left unouched and would cut my hand. Not so with this guitar. A friend of mine in his 50's who's been playing all his life said it has the feel of a 20-year old guitar. I wouldn't know, since I'm only 26.

Overall, a 9

I've gigged with this guitar on an open-air boat, where it held up fine. The hardware will last, save the nut, which I intend to replace some day. The finish, as I said, is thin and will show wear quite easily. Just something to consider. I think it looks good. I think this guitar will only get better with age.

I've never dealt with Fender people per se, but their website can reveal some interesting things. You can find wiring schematics, though nothing to point you in the direction of the mods (pretty standard ones, too) that I made. Fender's website has some good tips on setting up your own guitar, as well as some tips to consider when thnking about mods or other accessories. These are still important customer support facets, so I think Fender's fine.

Now, for what I'm all about. I'm 26, playing for 6 years. Play lots of Pink Floyd, Mike Oldfield, Zep, blues, etc. I occasionally use a pedalboard with a Boss CE-2 Chorus, Hyper Metal, Compression sustainer, Ibanez delay and Fuzz. Mainly use guitarport though. Awesome tool. My amp of choice is a Fender Bassman with t-75 celestions.

If this guitar was lost/stolen/burned by , I'd probably buy another as long as it had the vintage bridge (better for blocking). I might go with a mexican strat next time and just upgrade the ceramic mexican pickups with '54s and the treble, bridge switch, and master tone mods.

For those thinking about an American strat, you ought to consider getting a cheaper Highway one or mexican standard and just making some inexpensive upgrades that will make it a better axe than any Strat that Fender can offer on the market. If you don't want to make any changes, just want a good solid Fender with great pickups that won't break the bank, this is your guitar.