Fender Highway 1 Strat

you know the features by now.
this is well equipped as most Strats are. alnico III single coils and vintage trem with steel block. and the late 60's headstock which i used to hate but it is super sexy to me now.
nice alder body with a satin nitro finish that shows the sunburst well.
super comfy maple neck and fretboard. big frets but c'mon they are not that huge as some may claim. the neck is one of the best playing necks i have ever felt.
i really like how the pickups can cover sweet bell tones and crunch in my Tiny Terror. a Strat is possibly the best designed guitar ever. and yeah single coils hum, get over it. i would take these over the sterile noiseless pickups Fender offers on other models.

i play a lot of styles from country to metal and this covers the ground well. sure it isn't as fat as a humbucker equipped LP but it can do metal. use amp gain for that. this is far from thin sounding. i prefer a Fender scale for hard music anyway, less flab on the low notes.
i use an Orange Tiny Terror into an Epi valve junior cab, with occasional Rat2 boost.the sound is big bell tone and can get skanky in the 2 and 4 pos and crunchy in the bridge. this guitar is a winner. the sounds i look for are always a selector switch away or achieved with a volume adjustment. no stomping on effects just do it all from the guitar, providing i have the amp cranked to drive.
single coils do hum and i have never had an issue with this. there is a lot of classic music done with humming strats. this is by no means a bad guitar. if you don't like hum don't buy a real single coil equipped Strat, duh.

it was set up well as most Strats. i prefer my trem flat on the body so i tightened the springs abit. this lowered my action but that is easily changed. don't expect a guitar to pleae everyone. some like high action and some like low. i am familiar with Fender's standard setup. this was well setup. better than Gibson does thier guitars.
i was suprised when i removed the rear plate to adjust the springs and seen super clean routing and finish. good job Fender, no runny finish or goop, just super tight workmanship. the fret ends are nicely polished and have no sharp edges. the fret tops are not quite as polished as on the Am Std, but close. everything is tight and in it's place. the neck is awesome.
the finish is starting to polish where my ar rests, i may polish the guitar to a shine eventually.
tuners do a good job. the nut is cut well and the proper height, but slightly binding the g. an easy fix. some people need to learn about their guitars. Strats are the easiest guitars to tweak, all you need is a screwdriver and brains.
it is a vintage trem and not a floyd rose, it isn't going to stay in tune for heavy whammy use but it can be optimized for that with a few tricks. i would have no problems gigging without a back up. i know enough to keep this thing in top shape and i don't break strings. really. my guitar stays in it's case and i change strings regularly. most people break strings because of corrosion. take care of you axe and it will be dependable.

no problems here

don't know, i do my own work. don't really need their help right now. but i will say they set this up as well as they do most of their guitars. i think any claims of Fender being slack in quality control are a bit much.
sure there may be the occasional dog as there will be in any factory. some workers are bound to be lazy. but generally speaking i believe Fender is doing great in their quality control.

i have been playing 25 yrs and have owned a pile of guitars, i returned a Gibson Lp BFG to get this. the BFG was nice but not as sweet a player as this is.
i wish it had a bridge bucker, but i love the single coils so much i am not sure i could remove one just for a bit more crunch.
i will eventually put locking tuners on this.
this guitar is quite possibly the sleeper of the fender lineup. 750.00 for a solid kickass Strat. American made and quality parts, what is not to like. to top it all off it has great tone that covers many styles.

2006 grease bucket. New as all my Fenders. made in USA. Neck is 9.5 radius. Rosewood fretboard. Gig bag.

Very poor sound. Very noisy pickups. Use a Vox 30 watt tube amp. 3 useless single coil pickups.

Terrible set up. Saddle screws stripped. Strings buzzed. Had a tiny chip in the black part of the 3 tone color. Use the trem arm instantly goes out of tune. Fender has poor quality control, you have been warned.

Once you change the pick ups and get rid of the cheap mexican parts should last a long time.

Useless. Fender has poor quality control. All 3 of my fenders bought new had problems and support was useless.

I wish someone would steal it. Lousy resale value, cant give it away.

Black vintage 60's color, 22 frets, large vintage headstock, strong C shape neck rosewood, vintage six point bridge, great hot fender pickups, Made in USA

Great tone!!! bought this guitar 2 months ago. So far I love it, and have come across several things. I play blues, blues rock, classic rock and this guitar is great for playing blues, as it has the perfect tone for it. I am playing it with Fender Twin 40 watts. With the sound I have one problem. On the clean channel it sound is very good to me. this guitar has tons of tones, especially with the amp clean, I'm playing it with..

The guitar was set up perfectly at the factory, This strat came with absolutely no flaws, and is amazing.

The guitar is solid, the strap buttons are solid, and never have they came off unless I loosened it to much by flipping it around. the finish wears off really easily, but I'm doing my best to reserve it, and if it does.

None

I play blues rock and classic rock, this Fender Strat is great for all sounds, and once my pickups get changed I think this guitar will sound great on lead. I chose this one because I preferred the look, and sound, the tone is great ilov this guitar... Everything is great.

I traded one of my guitars in for a natural-creme-color, maple neck HWY 1 and replaced the pickguard with an aftermarket white pearl. Looks absolutely sharp! It is the a 2007 model so the new pickups were used as well as the "grease bucket" tone pots.

I used to own a 64 strat once and exchanged the pickups because they were totally unbalanced due to the staggered magnets they used back then. The HWY 1 hits the happy medium here, it is very well balanced (due to NON staggered alnicos), bites if you want it to - or is Knopfler glassy if you like that. Very round earthy strat like tone! If you are shopping for an original USA strat, this is a good one!

Amazingly, it was factory-adjusted perfectly and in flawless condition overall. The dealer actually had 3 on display and they were all perfectly adjusted. I do not know if Fender will provide this great work forever (this is usually rare) but my compliment to the Fender guys here.

I own it too short to tell. The nirto finish will sure not be as durable as a high gloss, but what the heck, don't we all want a nicely broken-in strat rather sooner than later?

no need for customer support yet but I dealt with Fender in some other issues and it was fine.

I play since 40 years, went through 50 or 60 guitars in my live (lost count to be honest) and I really think that this is a good one if you are looking for a USA strat at a reasonable price.
I am convinced that it will be worth a lot more 20 years from now.

MODEL NAME: Fender Highway One Stratocaster (Upgrade)

MADE: USA

COLOURS: 3-Colour Sunburst, Daphne Blue, Flat Black, Honey Blonde, Wine Transparent (all with Satin Nitrocellulose Lacquer Finish)

BODY: Alder

NECK: Maple, Modern "C" Shape (Satin Polyurethane Finish)

FRETBOARD: Maple / Rosewood - 9.5" Radius (241 mm)

FRETS: 22 Jumbo Frets

PICKUPS: 3 Hot Single-Coil Strat Pickups with Alnico 3 Magnets and Reverse Wound/Reverse Polarity Middle Pickup

CONTROLS: Master Volume. Tone 1 (Neck Pickup), Tone 2 (Bridge Pickup) Greasebucket Tone Circuits, (Rolls off highs without adding bass).

PICKUP SWITCHING: 5-position blade. Bridge / Bridge & Middle / Middle / Middle & Neck / Neck.

BRIDGE: Vintage Style Synchronised Tremolo

MACHINE HEADS: Fender Ping Standard Cast / Sealed Tuning Machines

HARDWARE: Chrome

PICKGUARD: 3-Ply Parchment

SCALE LENGTH: 25.5" (648 mm)

WIDTH AT NUT: 1.6875" (43 mm)

UNIQUE FEATURES: Satin Nitrocellulose Lacquer Body Finish
Parchment Plastic Parts
Large '70s Style Headstock Shape
Large '70s Style Headstock Logo
Original Body Shape
"Original Contour Body" Decal on Headstock
H/S/H Pickup Routing
Reverse Wound / Reverse Polarity Middle Pickup

STRINGS: Fender Super Bullets, Nickel Plated Steel (.009 to .042)

ACCESSORIES: Deluxe Gig Bag

INTRODUCED: July 2006


Basically just your standard Stratocaster design with a few changes, most notably the jumbo frets and the lacquer finish. For me, the taller frets are a great bonus, because the last guitar I owned was a Jackson Dinky MG series which came with jumbo frets as standard; so I'm just naturally more at home with higher frets...but it's all personal preference in the end. Try this one before you buy it, I love these frets, but others may not.

The lacquer finish on the body is again just down to your own preference. Looks-wise, it's just a matte finish instead of a shiny finish. I actually prefer the matte, it's much nicer looking in my opinion. Because it's such a thin finish it lets the wood vibrate more freely, therefore giving amazing sustain and body to your tone, but it also needs more maintenance...if you accidentally hit the guitar off something it's much easier to dent or chip. Just take care of it and you'll be fine.

Another feature which either you'll love or you'll hate will be the large '70s style headstock with the more flamboyant logo design. Again, all down to your own preference; I love it.

In the end I would give this guitar a perfect 10 for features, since it perfectly supports my playing style; but someone else may complain about the lack of a Floyd Rose, tuning locks, gain booster switch or even the guitar modelling capabilities of say the VG strat. So, to keep it impartial I'll happily give the Highway One a high 8 for features.

I can only describe my playing style as a hybrid of progressive, blues, rock, jazz fusion, country and metal... and, more than any of the other guitars I've owned, I have to say the Highway One has an absolutely fantastic tone for any of these styles.

Right after I got the guitar, I immediately restrung it with D'Addario .011 to .049 XLs. I find light strings feel too clumsy and just compromise the overall tone of the instrument, therefore I prefer the sturdy feel and fuller sound that comes with heavier gauge strings.

I play straight into a Marshall VS2000 AVT100, usually with no effects, although occasionally I'll wire up a Cry Baby in between. The amp itself doesn't have that good a clean channel to be honest, but this guitar makes it chime as good as I've ever heard it. When you turn it to overdrive it's just mouth-watering. Every nuance of your playing style comes through, it's just such a responsive guitar. I normally just set the amp to quite a medium to heavy overdrive, so I have enough gain in reserve if I need it, but then I turn the volume control on the guitar itself down until it's just a light crunchy overdrive. ('Volume control' is a misnomer, it's really a gain control) Many guitars lose much of the original tone when you do this, but the Highway One preserves it very well; still such a dynamic sound. Now for heavier styles. Set the amp to an extremely high-gain overdrive and the guitar sounds simply amazing. It has such an incendiary tone especially during solos, it just soars and rips right through the mix while sounding as full as ever. Absolutely airtight wall of sound, still so toneful even at really high gain settings.

Note: If you are used to playing with high output pickups such as EMGs, then you may be thrown at first by how much less gain the single coils give. This is easily remedied by just turning the gain up on your amp though.

Like all Strats, the Highway One has a sharp but very full tone from it's bridge pickup... a glassy subtle treble with more body on the bridge and middle... a very full all round tone on the middle pickup... again a very glassy yet creamy tone from middle and neck pickups... and such a beautifully creamy full airtight sound from it's neck pickup. The tone controls do exactly what they say on the tin, rolling off the highs without adding bass, and no complaints there.

The only thing that stops me from giving the Highway One a 10 for sound quality is the inevitable hum that comes with any guitar wired with single coils. To be honest, it's so quiet you really don't notice it at all, and it's virtually non-existent when the pickup selector's set to positions 2 or 4. Personally I think when you're buying a Stratocaster, the hum of the single coils is as much a part of the classic guitar as any other aspect of it, but then again, opinions may differ.

At the end of the day this guitar will provide you with beautiful tones for any kind of music. You can perfectly replicate the glassy sounds of Rory Gallagher, the creaminess of David Gilmour and Mark Knopfler, and the fullness of Jeff Beck or the many tones of the Eagles. For metal fans, a great sounding Iron Maiden or Megadeth tone is right there; just up the gain. Scoop the mids and with enough gain you can even get this Stratocaster to emit the sounds of Pantera. These are such versatile and beautiful sounding guitars.

To be honest, out of the box, the setup could have been better, but after some tweaking it's almost completely sorted.

It had .009s on when it arrived, and even though I was going to change them to .011s immediately, naturally I plugged my new guitar in right away to test it out. There was quite a bit of fret buzz, but this poor setup didn't bother me too much as I knew I'd need to set it up again after putting heavier strings on it.

I removed the plastic plate on the underside of the guitar (I just keep it off, it's much handier that way) I put the .011s on. I then tightened the springs and adjusted the action, and the fret-buzz was non-existent, apart from when I struck a chord really heavily; but that's only natural to have a little buzzing when the strings are vibrating to the extreme. An absolute veteran once told me he prefers a little fretbuzz even in his normal playing, as he feels it adds to his tone, so it's all personal preference. But I fixed the fretbuzz with minimal effort, so it's not a problem anymore.

The tuning was a problem for the first day or so, but it could have been caused by the heavier strings. For example, I'd be tuning the G string up and sometimes instead of hearing the sound gradually rise in pitch, I'd hear a "ping" from the nut and the pitch would jump up half a semitone. This was initially a tuning nightmare for me, but I've completely fixed it now with the use of Vaseline. Just lubricate the strings at the point where they pass over the nut and they won't ever get stuck. The only tuning problems I could foresee people having is when they do divebombs with the whammy bar (I don't usually incorporate these into my playing so it doesn't affect me) I tried it about twice to see how the tuning would hold up without locks, but the strings all came back up slightly off pitch. However, I'm no guitar tech, and I'm sure that maybe even through something as simple as tightening the springs at the back to create more tension on the tremolo, it might keep more control over the tuning of the strings. I know this solved my Jackson's tuning problems. Another tuning "problem" is just the fact that the bridge acts almost like a Floyd Rose in that you can't just tune the low E to perfect pitch and tune the rest of the strings in turn and still expect the low E to remain exactly how it was. Compensate for increased or decreased tension, it goes with the territory with these guitars, and it's really not a problem.

Beautiful neck, so comfortable to play, smoothest wood finish I've ever felt on any guitar, and I just adore the jumbo frets. Perfect intonation and the maple fretboard looks great too.

Absolutely stunning 3-colour sunburst, matte finish (satin nitrocellulose lacquer) but like I said, take good care of it. It'll chip twice as easily as your other shiny guitars.

Perfect weight, perfectly balanced.

Pickups were adjusted perfectly, haven't tweaked with them at all. They sound fantastic just the way they are.

One problem I had recently was that the jack port was coming a bit loose, but this can happen any guitar at any time. Pair of pliers and it's fixed in ten seconds.

So overall, you might have to tweak with it a little, but this is mandatory with nearly every guitar you buy. You're not going to find any inoperable flaws with the Highway One. You can fix it to your exact playing specifications in no time.

You'll have to take care not to chip the lacquer finish but other than that this guitar's as sturdy and durable as any of them, and I see no reason why it won't last me a lifetime. I just know it's going to be the workhorse of the rest of my guitar career.

I've only owned it two months, but it's a rock solid sturdy instrument and I can't see myself needing to complain to Fender anytime soon.

85% of this guitar was made in America, so you know the quality is there. The fact that it doesn't fall under the "American Series" category just means that you're paying a fraction of the price for a stunningly good instrument. $437 for a USA Stratocaster that's as good as if not better than any other USA Stratocaster I've played. Brilliant value for money.

I've been playing since September 2002. I taught myself on a Yamaha Pacifica 012, then upgraded a year later to an Epiphone Les Paul Standard. I played that for a year and a half and moved onto a Jackson DKMG. The reason I moved from guitar to guitar so much was because no matter how much I loved the guitar, there would always be something about it that wasn't quite up to scratch. But the Fender Highway One Stratocaster is the first guitar I have owned that I completely endorse to anyone and everyone, no matter what their style of playing. Perfect sound, perfect feel, sturdy workmanship and beautiful finish. I can still see this being my main guitar in 30 years' time

I like the features on this guitar, the body finish is great, it can be polished to a nice vintage vibe. I have the honey blonde model with a RW board. It is an "Upgrade" with a '70's headstock and the biggests frets this side of a Jackson Dinky (really the frets are retardedly huge). Nice full block trem, nice satin neck finish. Many people trash these guitars in thier rating on Harmony which is how I managed to get one for $650 brand new.

Th

This is subjective, the pick-ups are hot but not crazy hot. I replaced the pick-ups with a set of Texas specials - which are also a bit hot (vintage medium hot).

The original pick-ups have a lot of mids for a strat and I must say that the neck pick up did Richie Blackmore bang on.

Yes I agree - these guitars come from the factory set up like crap. Having said that a pro set up does wonders, WONDERS. Once it is set up you will love this guitar - it rocks huge. I needed to get everything set up, action, truss rod adjustment, intonation and a complete fret dressing (don't worry you can dress these frets ten times, they are so big).

I use .011 - .049. When I bought the guitar it had .009's on it, the big frets combined with the medium radius (9.5") and small strings are a bad combination.

Somebody told me that one of the cost saving meassures they use is to skimp on the set-up when they exit the factory - I agree.

Once this guitar was set up, I was impressed - it was better than I expected it would be.

The only reason I rated it as a one was because of the factory set-up.

No problems, tough like my other strats.

I really like this strat, I know you are going to say "you're whacked" when you read this next statement but: this guitar is every bit as good as my '98 American Standard, unfortunatly it comes out of the box like a pice of crap - in addition I hate gig bags, I bouth a belly button case for $58 when I bought the guitar. Yes the pick-ups are a little "racer boy" but they are nothing like a hot humbucker.

As a note, in 2006 Fender made some big changes to the Highway 1, including a bridge with narrower string spacing (2 1/16 string spacing - similar to the MIM Standard and American Series Strats), large 70s headstock, and new darker-sounding Alnico 3 pickups. The newer guitars also have jumbo frets.

The finish is on my 2005 Highway 1 is transparent red, the alder grain is noticeable through the finish. The clearcoat is almost non-existent, it's very thin and wasn't polished to a glossy shine like on most other standard production Strats. It can be polished to a semi-gloss shine using polishing cream and lots of elbow grease.

The body shape is an "Original Contour Body", it looks just like the American Vintage Strats and MIM Classic Strats. The horns are correctly shaped. It is made of 4 pieces of Alder. The wood matching was very nicely done. If you look closely at the MIM Standards and some of the earlier American models the body edges aren't rounded as much as the Strats with the "Original Contour Body" decal on the headstock.

Since it's a pre-2006 Highway 1, it's got the 6-screw vintage-style tremelo bridge with the wide 2 7/32 string spacing. It looks like the same bridge Fender puts on the MIM Classic Series Strats. I needed a guitar with wide string spacing since I play fingerstyle some of the time.

It has the Ping, Fender labeled tuners.

Standard 25.5" scale with 22 medium-jumbo frets on a 1-piece maple neck. 9.5" radius fretboard.

Standard Strat setup - Master Volume with 2 tone controls, one for the neck pickup, the other for the middle. The newer 2006 and later Highway 1's use the 2nd tone control for the bridge instead of the middle pickup.

The pickups are the same as the ones used on the MIM Classic series - they use Alnico 5 magnets and are bright sounding.

This is a back-to-basics Stratocaster.

It has the classic Strat tone - bright, clear, twangy, and a little thin-sounding. The pickups don't have as much detail and shimmer as the Custom Shop '54's I have in a Warmoth Strat.

I use it with a newer model '65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue, a PodXT, Lexicon MPX-1 Reverb, Hughes & Kettner Tubeman and Tubeworks Blue Tube pedals. Several analog delay pedals, a Boss AC-3 Acoustic Simulator pedal, and a Boss AD-8 Acoustic pedal.

It is noisier than most other Strats I've used in the past. The middle pickup isn't reverse wound, reverse polarity, so it's not hum-canceling in the 2 and 4 positions like on the post-2006 Highway 1's.

All the pickup positions sound very good if you're looking for a classic Strat sound. Even though it's noisier, I find the 2 and 4 positions sound better compared to Strats with the reverse wound, reverse polarity, middle pickup.

It was set up reasonable well at the factory. The neck is straight with no unusual bumps, the frets are smooth and even across the fretboard, and the neck-to-body fit is tight. Only problems were the rear of the bridge was sitting about 1/4" off the body of the guitar, and the bridge saddles needed adjusting. Plus the saddle's allen screws are way too long.

The clearcoat finish is very thin and scratches easily.

Everything else seems tough like the way most Strats are.

I've never had to contact Fender.

Limited Lifetime warranty.

I've been playing for around 17 years.

I use it with a newer model '65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue, a PodXT, Lexicon MPX-1 Reverb, Hughes & Kettner Tubeman and Tubeworks Blue Tube pedals. Several analog delay pedals, a Boss AC-3 Acoustic Simulator pedal, and a Boss AD-8 Acoustic pedal.

As far as electric guitars - a Warmoth Strat with a mahogany body with quilted maple top and multiple sound chambers routed from the mahogany body. It has Fender Custom Shop '54 pickups and an original Wilkinson VS-100 tremolo bridge. This Warmoth sounds beautiful in the neck position but not so great in the other positions.
I also have an Ibanez small-bodied hollowbody guitar with humbuckers that I don't use too much. I also have a Squier Standard Stratocaster which is a decent guitar for the money. The Squier is quite a bit heavier than the other Strats I own and it has a very thin sound.

As far as acoustics, I have a Taylor 414, Martin OM-16 and an Ibanez. I like the smaller acoustics.

I basically needed a lightweight electric guitar with a tremelo bridge with wide string spacing since I play mostly with my fingers and I'm used to the wide string spacing on the acoustics.

I was also looking at the Korean Fender Lite Ash Stratocaster. It had a nice birdseye maple neck with an ash body along with Seymour Duncan pickups. Problems were that it was pretty heavy and the bridge is similar to the American Series Strats' bridge with it's narrow string spacing. Biggest problem was the neck was not straight and a truss rod adjustment didn't help. Buzzing frets up and down the neck. It did look nice though. The Highway 1 looked very plain next to the Lite Ash Strat.

I'm happy with my purchase, it met all of my requirements and was pretty inexpensive for an American made guitar. I really like the neck, it's one of the best I've ever played and the body is very lightweight and comfortable. The sound is better than average but with a little more hum than usual.

Again, this is a back-to-basics Stratocaster.

I played the upgraded model at my local Fender dealer. Most features have been covered by previous reviewers. For me, the following set this guitar apart from others:

Large headstock

Nitrocellulose finish

Hotter pickups

Larger frets

Those are the differences I noticed between the Highway One and a standard strat.

I should also say that some of the reviews of this guitar seem a little harsh. In all honestly, I didn't care for many of the features, but the qualms I had with this guitar were all rooted in personal preference. I don't care for the larger frets, the cheap looking finish, the loud pickups, or the goofy looking headstock. You, of course, might like some or even all of these features. My point is that even though I don't care for this instrument, the Highway One is still a well built guitar.

It seems a little noisey. More so than the Amercian standard and MIM strats I played. Compared to these other guitars the Highway One pickups are on the overwound side.

I played each guitar through the same amp and started with each guitar dialed into the same settings. The Highway One is much louder and more aggressive. Very suitable for modern, heavy rock.

Again, not my cup of tea, but this sound has it's uses for some.

This guitar seemed well built, although the finish looked a little generic and cheap. I had a serious aversion to the large frets, probably because I'm used to vintage sized frets. If I had to, I'm betting this is something I could get used to, however.

But overall, very solid. When holding this guitar, I could not decern a difference between it and an American Standard.

I can't say. I didn't purchase this guitar. Probably it would hold up quite well.

Again, I'm unsure. Dealer support would likely be the key.

I've owned several Fenders and a few G&Ls over the years. I prefer the stratocaster and it's incarnations. I don't care for the Highway One myself, but I think there's a market out there for a strat with it's features. It's a little more stripped down and harsher than other models.

I think Fender has really improved itself in the quality control department in recent years. I also think it's given consumers a lot of wonderful options. This guitar is just another options that some players will appreciate. Some won't.

I do however agree with another reviewer who said a guitar the price of the Highway One shouldn't have to be modified to be usable. If you're thinking of making multiple modifcations to the Highway One as soon as you purchase it, don't buy it. There's probably another guitar out there for you. If you're going to buy this guitar (or any other) I think you should leave it as is, at least for the time being.

I suppose what I'm saying is that I think this is a guitar meant for a specific audience and to achieve a certain sound. Don't waste your money turning it into a guitar it isn't. More importantly, don't upbraid fender or smear the Highway One because it's not the guitar you'd like it to be.

The Highway One series (???2006 upgrade??? )is the entry level into the ???Made in USA??? Stratocasters, but has some features (or parts, at least) in common with the Made in Mexico ???Standard??? models. There was an overhaul to the features in July, 2006 (mine was manufactured in August/September 2007). Note that the minimum advertised price of US $750 is two-hundred dollars less than the American Series, but the Highway One???s can be had on clearance for far less.

You spot these first off (aside from the ???Highway One??? and the American flag stickers on the pickguard) from the large 70's style headstock and decal. They did not go back to the bullet-trussrod or three-bolt tilt-neck design, however. These look like the CBS-era guitars that were in the shops back when I first started drooling over Fenders. The larger headstock has a certain charm, and is certainly the aesthetic effect is more important than adding mass to the headstock.

The body finish is matte or satin (dull) ???thin-skin nitrocellulose lacquer??? and you can read all the advertising hype about how it is supposed to age gracefully when thrown in the back of a van night after night of playing in smoky bars (do they allow smoking in bars anywhere anymore?). Plus or minus feature depending on my mood, but the hope is that all the vintage-o-philes will make the nitro a sough-after feature as the years go by. The three-piece ???non-veneered??? alder body had very nice grain figure visible with the sunburst finish.

???Parchment??? colored knobs, pickup covers, switch and trem arm tips, and three-ply pickguard are all a touch darker than traditional white, but not ivory like ???aged white.???

The tuning machines are Fender/Ping which look almost identical to the Fender/Schallers (except for a flat head screw instead of Phillips, and a slightly different angle to the base of the knob). The machines are not staggered in height so the headstock has two string trees (American Series Strats since 2000 have staggered machines and only one string tree).

The neck has 22 frets, instantly distinguishing it from Made In Mexico Stratocasters which have only 21. The neck profile is not noticeably different than the American Strats.

The fingerboard radius is 9-1/2", with a 1-11/16" nut width, like all the modern USA Strats.

The neck plate is blank (without the ???Fender??? engraving) and does not have a micro-tilt underneath (not an issue since the neck did not need shimming to get the action very low; just something to note that is on the American Series that is not on the Highway One). The trussrod, which is adjusted from the headstock, appears to be a bi-flex (two-way).

The frets are jumbo (real big, measuring .058" in height instead of something like .039" on medium-jumbo wire on the American Series or MIM) and will take some getting used to, but its a feature of this line that is quite noticeable. Actually the jumbo fret wire it makes it easier to get your fingers underneath the strings for bending notes. On the other hand, when fretting normal notes, if you press too hard it???s almost like a scalloped neck where you can stretch a note out of tune unintentionally.

The vintage style tremolo bridge has stamped saddles and six screws holding it to the body, as opposed to the rectangular block saddles and two-point trem operation of the American Standard bridge (OK I know it???s really a vibrato, but let???s give ole Leo a break on the terminology). The 2006 upgrade has a steel block instead of zinc which is supposed to add sustain. With a little adjustment of the original three springs the bridge works fine with .010 gauge strings.

The string spacing at the bridge is narrower for the ???06 upgrade, which Fender says is to accommodate the larger frets so the strings don???t slip off the edge (curiously, the new string spacing is the same as my ???97 American Standard two-point tremolo bridge).

The pickups are unique to this seri

I like to think that what I play is blues, but then again those tones have evolved over the years. The rosewood fingerboard colors the tone a lot, but an even bigger factor here is the pickups. The overwound Alnico III pickups are meant to be more high-gain friendly while still retaining the high end when played clean. I agree. Overwinding gives more midrange at the expense of highs, and at the same time the weaker Alnico III magnets help to retain high-end sparkle. The overall output is not weak at all, and the guitar is comparable in volume to my Texas-Special equipped Roadhouse Strat. The Highway One is still recognizable as a Strat even when played through the high-gain dual-rectifier patch on a modeling amp (without the brittle sizzle that you can get with single coils in that situation), and still puts out the rockabilly sparkle and snap on more traditional Tweed or Deluxe settings. For the tube-purists out there, I also note the guitar is lovely when played through a class-A thirty-watt EL84 combo with plenty of reverb, clean or dirty. Incidentally the Lindy Fralin Pickups Web site mentions that the ???54 Stratocasters had Alnico III, apparently the Alnico V magnets came later, so these are not far off from the Fender heritage.

The Greasebucket tone controls work nicely, rolling off treble a little sooner than stock tone knobs without getting mushy when turned all the way down (never understood why jazz guys do that...). Both tone knobs have the Greasebucket circuit (two capacitors and a resistor instead of just one capacitor) although Fender advertised it in the context of being added for the bridge pickup. What they???re talking about is the tone controls are connected to the neck and bridge pickups, not the middle pickup. The Eric Johnson signature model is wired the same way. This way you have a tone knob to control bright neck pickup (whereas the vintage layout would not have any tone control on the bridge pickup), and you never have to worry about both tone controls coming on at the same time (as you would in position 4 of a regular setup).

The body happens to be lighter than my ???97 American Standard Strat, which may have a greater factor in livening the tone so I really cannot verify the hype about the thin-skin finish letting the wood ???resonate??? or ???breathe??? (not that there isn???t some truth to this legend, but as a woodworking hobbyist it doesn???t make sense to me from a technical standpoint). At any rate the Highway One body seems to resonate when played un-plugged; you can feel the body vibrate against your ribs.

The matte lacquer finish on the body is nice but not what I dreamed of in a sunburst Strat. You can let it age on its own, where it probably will take on some shiny areas where you handle it more, but I opted to buff it out. There is a touch of orange-peel texture in the finish which is not an issue if you leave it matte, but then again the nitro did take well to being polished. I used dedicated woodworking compounds but I believe some people have had success with auto polishes. The grain of the alder body is very nice, showing through the amber and red parts of the sunburst. The neck finish is a clear satin polyurethane which feels great out of the box.

Construction is just about flawless. The neck is perfectly aligned (better than my ???97 American Standard) with good string spacing and plenty of room so you don???t pull the E strings off the edge. The factory setup was obviously done with attention, even though the truss rod needed to be tightened (which is to be expected on a new guitar).

The factory action tends to get a little high as the neck flexes in shipment and display, so the treble strings were higher off the neck than the base strings on this particular guitar. Also with the action so high, the pickups are a little far away from the strings and this makes it hard to imagine the true sound just by playing them in the store. Never met a guitar that didn???t need a little tweaking to bring out the full potential.

The frets (again, huge) were very nicely finished with a polished bevel and really no file marks to speak of. The action could easily be set as low as 3/64 treble and 4/64 bass after a little work on the trussrod and saddles, but of course out of the box the guitar needed a complete setup (not that it wasn???t playable in the store, its just the nature of the beast). The nut was surprisingly very nicely done, with fairly low slots but without a lot of excess material above the strings/in between the slots.

The rosewood fingerboard was dry and light (almost ashen or chalky in some spots) but this was instantly fixed by an application of boiled linseed oil (my dressing of choice, seems like it does not need renewing as often as the lemon-scented mineral oil that seems to be popular) and buffing with a rag a few hours later before putting the strings back on. Nice dark chocolate colored rosewood with a good feel (except the high frets put your fingers further away so you don???t feel the wood as much). The maple neck is finished in polyurethane apparently with no stain, so it is very light and bland when new. On the other hand, they avoided putting on the fake orange ???vintage??? tint found in some lacquers.

The vintage style trem works very smoothly and fairly reliably as far as coming back to pitch when the spring-claw screws are properly adjusted for your string gauge and action. You can dive-bomb almost until the strings are totally slacked (assuming you???d want to do that), and with the bridge floating the recommended 1/8" off the body you get a little more than a full step pull-up, or at least a more natural flutter when pushing the bar down and letting it float back up. Can???t say it sustains like a hard-tail but it???s very nice indeed.

I, too, did not like the Ping tuners which felt as if they were getting tighter or looser depending on where each post was rotating. In fact the A string tuner felt like a spot was grinding as if one of the gears was not cleanly machined. Replacing them with Fender/Schallers was an improvement.

Detractors who are afraid of what might or will happen to the finish should simply wait and check in with us after they???ve banged the guitar around for awhile (one reviewer criticized the durability and hadn???t even purchased one!). I have seen photos posted on bulletin boards of heavily used Highway One???s that wore or chipped here and there where you would expect an abused instrument to take some knocks after a year or two. All I can say is the nitrocellulose topcoat will show scratches but first the matte finish will show some gloss where your arm rests. I rubbed mine out with woodfinishing polishing compounds and the gloss and color of the finish are beautiful, as is the alder wood grain showing in the three-tone sunburst. With it in a glossy condition, it does show scratches more easily but the color and depth are wonderful.

Fender Customer Relations were very responsive and informative by email when I had a problem getting the correct trem arm and wrenches. They did pass the buck to the store for failing to keep track of the accessory kits when they unpacked the gig bags and hung up the guitars. They did, however, verify he correct part numbers for the trem arm (same as the Made In Mexico Strats), bridge saddle wrench (ditto), and truss rod wrench (same as the other USA models). Another email asking for .pdf???s of the parts lists and wiring diagram was answered within a day - with the information I requested.

I have not had any need for warranty work so cannot comment on support when it really counts.

My black Strat with a maple neck (???97 Roadhouse Strat, American Standard with stock Texas Special pickups) was my go-to guitar until I saw every Strat onstage at the Experience Hendrix show had a rosewood neck (except for Buddy Guy's blonde with a maple neck). Never saw so many Marshall half-stacks cranked up to eleven. That got me thinking a rosewood neck Strat would behave a bit more under high gain situations and the Higway One certainy fits the bill. Great sound, if you get the action and pickup height set properly before making a judgment about the tone. Great vibe. Two points off for the less than perfect tuning machines, which can be fixed in a matter of moments.

This is a review for a 2005 Highway 1 Stratocaster.

As a note, in 2006 Fender made some big changes to the Highway 1, including a bridge with narrower string spacing (2 1/16 string spacing - similar to the MIM Standard and American Series Strats), large 70s headstock, and new darker-sounding Alnico 3 pickups. The newer guitars also have jumbo frets.

The finish is on my 2005 Highway 1 is transparent red, the alder grain is noticeable through the finish. The clearcoat is almost non-existent, it's very thin and wasn't polished to a glossy shine like on most other standard production Strats. It can be polished to a semi-gloss shine using polishing cream and lots of elbow grease.

The body shape is an "Original Contour Body", it looks just like the American Vintage Strats and MIM Classic Strats. The horns are correctly shaped. It is made of 4 pieces of Alder. The wood matching was very nicely done. If you look closely at the MIM Standards and some of the earlier American models the body edges aren't rounded as much as the Strats with the "Original Contour Body" decal on the headstock.

Since it's a pre-2006 Highway 1, it's got the 6-screw vintage-style tremelo bridge with the wide 2 7/32 string spacing. It looks like the same bridge Fender puts on the MIM Classic Series Strats. I needed a guitar with wide string spacing since I play fingerstyle some of the time.

It has the Ping, Fender labeled tuners.

Standard 25.5" scale with 22 medium-jumbo frets on a 1-piece maple neck. 9.5" radius fretboard.

Standard Strat setup - Master Volume with 2 tone controls, one for the neck pickup, the other for the middle. The newer 2006 and later Highway 1's use the 2nd tone control for the bridge instead of the middle pickup.

The pickups are the same as the ones used on the MIM Classic series - they use Alnico 5 magnets and are bright sounding.

This is a back-to-basics Stratocaster.

It has the classic Strat tone - bright, clear, twangy, and a little thin-sounding. The pickups don't have as much detail and shimmer as the Custom Shop '54's I have in a Warmoth Strat.

I use it with a newer model '65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue, a PodXT, Lexicon MPX-1 Reverb, Hughes & Kettner Tubeman and Tubeworks Blue Tube pedals. Several analog delay pedals, a Boss AC-3 Acoustic Simulator pedal, and a Boss AD-8 Acoustic pedal.

It is noisier than most other Strats I've used in the past. The middle pickup isn't reverse wound, reverse polarity, so it's not hum-canceling in the 2 and 4 positions like on the post-2006 Highway 1's.

All the pickup positions sound very good except for the bridge pickup alone. Very thin sounding bridge. Even though it's noisier, I find the 2 and 4 positions sound better compared to Strats with the reverse wound, reverse polarity, middle pickup.

It was set up reasonable well at the factory. The neck is straight with no unusual bumps, the frets are smooth and even across the fretboard, and the neck-to-body fit is extremely tight. Only problems were the rear of the bridge was sitting about 1/4" off the body of the guitar, and the bridge saddles needed adjusting.

The clearcoat finish is very thin and scratches easily.

Everything else seems tough like the way most Strats are.

I've never had to contact Fender.

Limited Lifetime warranty.

I've been playing for around 17 years.

I use it with a newer model '65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue, a PodXT, Lexicon MPX-1 Reverb, Hughes & Kettner Tubeman and Tubeworks Blue Tube pedals. Several analog delay pedals, a Boss AC-3 Acoustic Simulator pedal, and a Boss AD-8 Acoustic pedal.

As far as electric guitars - a Warmoth Strat with a mahogany body with quilted maple top and multiple sound chambers routed from the mahogany body. It has Fender Custom Shop '54 pickups and an original Wilkinson VS-100 tremolo bridge. This Warmoth sounds beautiful in the neck position but not so great in the other positions.
I also have an Ibanez small-bodied hollowbody guitar with humbuckers that I don't use too much. I also have a Squier Standard Stratocaster which is a decent guitar for the money. The Squier is quite a bit heavier than the other Strats I own and it has a very thin sound.

As far as acoustics, I have a Taylor 414, Martin OM-16 and an Ibanez. I like the smaller acoustics.

I basically needed a lightweight electric guitar with a tremelo bridge with wide string spacing since I play mostly with my fingers and I'm used to the wide string spacing on the acoustics.

I was also looking at the Korean Fender Lite Ash Stratocaster. It had a nice birdseye maple neck with an ash body along with Seymour Duncan pickups. Problems were that it was pretty heavy and the bridge is similar to the American Series Strats' bridge with it's narrow string spacing. Biggest problem was the neck was not straight and a truss rod adjustment didn't help. Buzzing frets up and down the neck. It did look nice though. The Highway 1 looked very plain next to the Lite Ash Strat.

I'm happy with my purchase, it met all of my requirements and was pretty inexpensive for an American made guitar. I really like the neck, it's one of the best I've ever played and the body is very lightweight and comfortable. The sound is better than average but I may install a set of Fender Custom Shop Fat 50s or 57/62s just to thicken the tone up a bit. Maybe a Callaham bridge block as well, though it doesn't need it.

Again, this is a back-to-basics Stratocaster.

I have the upgraded 2006 model, 3-tone sunburst, nitro finish. Jumbo frets, and they are JUMBO, 22 frets...etc you know the specs.

The pickups are allright, not your typical standard pickups, a little darker, but they can sound clean if you don't attack too hard. I was running it through my fender blues jr, and the pickups are just too sensitive to my playing at least. Tone is obviously subjective, but I really like a strat with noiseless pickups, I guess that's just my cup of tea...

Oh my, this is where it gets terrible. The guitar's action was actually too low at the store, had some bad buzzing. The pickups weren't adjusted correctly. I thought I'd tune it up myself, but guess what? The allan wrenches for the saddles weren't the correct sizes in the bag, seems the highway one has a different size that's not so standard. The cut on the nut was terrible, the low E wasn't set in correctly and had a small crack that I didn't notice until later on. Also I wanted to put some relief in the neck with the truss rod about 3 months later, and the truss rod is semi-stripped. I never touched it, so either it came from the factory or the store messed it up...

The tuners are absolutely horrible! Worst I've ever seen on a fender. Blocking the trem helped but still, they are terrible, end of story.

This guitar has been frustrating since the day I brought it home. I knew something was wrong, but I couldn't quite figure it out since I was learning about electric guitars at the same time. (I'm an acoustic guy)

I think the Jumbo frets and the terrible tuners are it's weakest points in general. The finish is nice, the pickups are subjective, so they almost got it right. The neck is comfortable, but those frets are like road speed bumps, maybe I just got a huge lemon.

Well I'll have to revisit this question because I'm taking it under warranty this Friday to see how they'll fix the cracked nut, and stripped truss rod. The store I bought it from has a 2 year warranty on top of fender's. Really I hope they just give me in-store credit because I just don't want it anymore and want to wipe my hands clean of this mess of a guitar.

I've already picked up a Fender Deluxe Player's that is soooo much better than the highway one, it's not even funny. When I played the deluxe, I felt right at home with a guitar, it just took 6 months to find out how one's supposed to feel..

It's a strat 2002 teal

I play mostly Rock and blues 50s to today I use Fender solid state,Fender tube,Gibson tube and Marshall with mostly reverb and or tube screamers and wah pedals of different brands and qualitys sounds good to me and the people I play around.I have a American series, this guitar does not sound as loud as the American but make no mistake this is a good sounding insturment the pickups are just not quite as hot as the American seriies.The HIghway has a rosewood neck the American series has maple

I do not know how the guitar was set up from the factory as it was set up at the store I bought it from the thin finish had a couple of flaws in it from being handled at the store,you had to look closley to find,everything else was fine.I like the look of the guitar and like the idea that the finish will check in time.Feels good to the touch.

Its a Fender American made should outlive most coustermers.

Dont know

Been playing sence the mid 70s. If it were stolen I buy an other and would keep looking for this guitar for the rest of my life.I love her been playing her for 3 years now only bought the American series to round out my Strat sound and options. I also have a Gibson SG witch I also love and a Gib Les Paul also a fine insturment the thing is their tools for diferent jobs or platforms for diferent travels this is a good guitar If your looking for a strat and dont have a lot of cash try one strats are vrey versitle for most kinds of music.
I love the finish the sound the feel and the play ability. A hard case from the factory would have been nice, oh well.

2007 model (post-upgrade) USA-made Highway One Stratocaster, daphne blue nitro finish, maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, alder body, three single-coil Alnico pickups, standard bridge, 9.5 radius neck with jumbo frets (and they are NOT kidding about that, they're big!). C-shaped neck with satin finish, a little chunky but not uncomfortable. Standard Strat controls with the exception of the second tone control, which is wired to the bridge pickup. The middle pickup is wide open. The Highway One includes the "Greasebucket" circuit which rolls off highs without beefing up the lows, and it does what it says on the package. Overall the standard Strat setup with a few exceptions.

The number of horrendous reviews for the Highway One is disconcerting. From the way some people talk, you would think that the Highway Ones are only marginally better than buying an Agile Strat copy. I'm here to remedy this and tell you the truth. The Highway One is not a Custom Shop model, but it does not deserve the merciless ragging it gets from so-called Strat enthusiasts.

The Highway One has darker pickups than most other Strats. For my money, I like this. They are not ear-piercingly shrill, and they get a classic Strat sound. I find the stock pickups a lot less noisy than the Stratocasters I've had in the past - significantly less noisy, actually. They're not noiseless, but they are not noisy at all.

Overall I would say the Highway One pickups give a well-rounded sound that covers a lot of Strat bases. They seem a bit biased toward a rock sound, so to speak. There is a bit less of a "twang" than the vintage Strat sound and a bit more midrange. For me, this is good, because I find that Stratocasters - especially in the bridge pickup - can be ear-piercingly shrill. This doesn't happen with the Highway One. If you are looking for a 1950's Strat sound, go elsewhere. But I do want to make it clear that for most players who are not fixated on having their Strat sound exactly like a vintage model, these pickups will do well. They have a medium output and to my ears, good tone - a bit more rounded off than the vintage sound, but still clearly a Stratocaster.

The complaints about lack of warmth and sterility that are in other reviews are simply not true. It is true that if you want the typical pingy, brittle, 1950s vintage Strat sound, these won't get it. If you want fullness, warmth, and a good Strat vibe, the Highway One will get you there.

The action took some tweaking. No guitar comes well set up from the factory, and everyone needs to adjust for their individual tastes. That being said the factory-set action was decent. I lowered it a little and did some setup for the 9-42's I like. I felt the need to bring the pickups up a little bit, but not much.

The body is finished in a non-glossy nitro blue, and if you look at it dead on you can see the wood through the finish. I don't mind this, but again, it's not a very "vintage" looking finish. The blue is less intense than it would be in a thicker finish, but I like it. The guitar is not at all heavy and compares well with my Gibson SG Special Faded, which is a very light guitar. It may be a few ounces heavier but not much. I'm skeptical about the idea that the lighter finish adds to the resonance of the guitar, but I have to admit that overall it seems to feel more resonant and the sound does seem to have a bit more air than on more heavily finished guitars. This is highly subjective, though.

The hardware, nut, etc. is all good solid stuff. The nut could use some lubrication but appears well cut.

The maple on the neck is not stained at all, which gives it a pale appearance. This doesn't bother me, but does freak some people out. I have read reviews of the Highway One where people complained about the rosewood fretboard. Mine did have a dusty feel, but an application of lemon oil cleared that off and revealed a nice dark piece of rosewood that plays well. The edges of the frets were well rounded.

There are some minor issues with the edges of the fretboard, which are rounded but not "rolled off." It's not the cleanest-looking work on very close inspection, but running your hand up and down the fretboard there are no snags and no protruding fret tangs. The fret height seems to be even all the way around.

One of the issues that many people seem to have is with the size of the frets. And they are huge, no joke. If you're used to vintage size frets, or even medium frets, you may find yourself pressing down too hard and sending the note sharp. A light touch goes very far in playing the Highway One. Remember that you're only trying to get the string to reach the top of the fret, not get your finger on the fretboard itself. The large frets do make bending quite easy.

The bridge is your standard 6-screw Strat bridge with a nice steel block underneath. Unfortunately, after many years of trying to use standard Strat trems and following the gurus' advice to the letter, I am still unable to find a regular Strat trem that will return in tune and the Highway One is no exception. This is a reflection on me, and not the guitar. After trying manfully, I gave up and blocked the trem. I guess I'm not cut out to use the Strat tremolo. Your mileage may vary!

The one real problem I had was the Ping tuning keys. I didn't like the way they felt and they didn't seem terribly stable on the G and B strings, so I replaced them with Fender/Schaller locking tuners, which slotted in with no modification at all. After this, and blocking the trem, I had no tuning problems. Again, your mileage may vary; many people find the Ping tuners to be quite adequate.

The sustain on this Highway One is quite good. A Strat will never sustain quite as well as a guitar with a hardtail bridge, but even without the block when I was trying to use the tremolo, I had no problem getting a good sustaining tone.

Overall the guitar has a workmanlike appearance and a workmanlike feel. That's not a put-down. It's not a custom shop job, but it is a clean, basic, well-made Stratocaster with a good sound and a good feel once you get adjusted to the very large frets.

The guitar will certainly withstand live playing. The thin finish will wear off eventually, which is what Fender intended according to their company info on the Highway One. They intend for you to "relic" it yourself. Personally I have never understood the "relic" thing, but if you take care of the guitar the finish should be fine. (Don't put it on a cheap rubber-coated guitar stand, though; that may react with the finish.) The hardware, strap buttons, etc. are solid and reliable.

This is certainly a dependable, solid guitar. I'd use it on a gig without a backup. Everything about the Highway One indicates it's a keeper and something you can play without worrying about.

I have never used Fender's warranty, so I can't comment on this. I've never had anything go so badly wrong with a Fender that I felt the need to send it back. Maybe I've been lucky!

I have been playing for 30 years and I own quite a lot of gear - Gibson SG, 1959 Fender Jazzmaster, Rickenbacker 330, and lots of other stuff. I really am amazed at the negative reviews the Highway One Strat gets, and I don't think they are fair reviews. I have played vintage Fenders. The Highway One is not a vintage-styled Strat. If that's what you're looking for, you would be better off buying one of the MIM 50's, 60s or 70s models, or paying more money for one of the American Standards or Hot Rod Vintage models.

That being said, the Highway One is not just for "modern" players, either. It covers a lot of bases sonically, and it's meant for people who don't have money to throw away but who want something that is American made, and is better than the standard MIM models. The reaction against it by some people is mystifying.

The satin finish on the neck may be throwing people off, perhaps; the more rounded pickup sound, the fact that the neck is not tinted and the body doesn't have a glossy finish may be throwing them off too. But the concentrated hate that gets thrown at the Highway One from some corners is entirely and completely justified. It's not a Custom Shop, and if you can afford one of those get it. But if you are a working player, and you don't have a lot of money, and you want a reliable, straightforward Strat that sounds good and plays well, and sounds like a Strat should, the Highway One is an excellent choice.

I should start by saying that I liked the description and the list of features that the Fender website lists, and that's why I sought out one of these guitars. I have a 1956 time machine Custom Shop strat that I absolutely love, but, to be honest, I get a little nervous anytime it's out of the case. I wantd a guitar I could take to gigs and play without obsessively worrying over a potential dent or scratch.

So I drove over a hundred miles to find a large Fender dealer so I could play a few of these (I also wanted to find a dealer who would sell me the guitar I happened to play in the store; what a concept, huh, Guitar Center?).

I don't know how Fender has marketed the Highway One, but this guitar seems to be a nice melding of modern features and vintage vibe. On the modern side, the Highway One has a reverse wound middle pickup to cancel hum, jumbo frets, and a tone control over the bridge pickup.

On the vintage side, the Highway One has a nitrocellulose lacquer finish and a classic 70's headstock and decal. Of course, maybe Fender hasn't realized that the 70's was the decade when they built a reputation for poor quality control and terrible customer service, so maybe the 70's throwback nature wasn't the best choice. But I digress.

Finally, the most notable feature of all, for better or for worse, is that the Highway One series are made in the USA.

I play blues and classic rock, and occaionally, when I feel like embarrassing myself, jazz.

I play through a Blues Junior at home occasionally, but mostly I use a forty watt Trayner tube amp. In the store, while I played the Highway Ones, I used a Blues Junior.

I made a bad joke about the poor reputation Fender built in the 1970's. I think that reputation is pretty well repaired by now, but if the goal of the Highway One was to bring that reputation back into the spotlight, then, let me say, mission accomplished. Highway One? I call it Highway Junk.

The four Highway Ones I played certainly weren't noisy. In fact, they were terribly thin and brittle sounding. Even when experimenting with the greasebucket tone controls, the pickups sounded extremely sterile. Some of the worst pickups I've ever heard.

I believe these pickups are particular to Highway One models, so it's possible I just have an aversion to them. I do love the single coil sound, however. I love the sound of american standard pickups, and even pickups from a good MIM strat.

I can't speak to the set up from the factory. I went to CA House Music because they do a fine job of setting up their guitars. I suppose it's possible that they forgot to set up every Highway One in the store (but not likely). I think I could have pressed two quarters together and slipped them between the neck to body joint. If you're looking for sustain, that isn't the way to get it.

Also, the nitro finish looked more cheap than vintage to me, something akin to heavy paint on an old barn. I didn't try it, but I had the feeling that if I pressed my palm into the body and made a few circles I would have had an instant relic job on my hands (literally; ba-ta-ding!). So if you're looking for a finish that'll begin chipping the day after you buy it, here you go. Maybe the poor finish is there to make it seem like you play a lot, since, if you're stuck with this guitar, you won't want to play at all. You might even contemplate quitting.

But here's the good news! It stayed in tune better than some of the MIM strats I played (but not most of them).

I can't comment on the reliability or durability since I didn't buy this instrument.

My guess is that it isn't reliable or durable. This guitar sounded cheap and felt even cheaper. Drop it three inches onto carpet and it might very well explode into dust.

Can't comment on the customer support aspect either. With this, Fender might be getting so many calls they're leaving the phones off the hook.

I can say that I had a American standard series years ago and Fender wasn't particularly helpful with a pickup problem I had. The dealer I bought it from eventually took care of it, however. When it comes to Fender, from what I've experienced and heard, dealer support is more likely than manufacturer support.

Overall, every Highway One I played was a piece of junk. I think many guitar players listen with their wallets as much as their ears. Sure these guitars are more expensive than those made in Mexico, but they certainly aren't better instruments. Unfortunately, the selling point I found for this guitar is that it's made in the USA, and that's a shame.

Another reviewer claimed this was a great guitar if you put in the necessary modifications. That's probably true of this guitar, but it's also true for any guitar with a decently playing neck. Call me crazy, but if I spend almost 800 dollars for a guitar, I shouldn't have to make modifications for it to be servicable.

This wasn't a wasted trip, however. I played two Classic Player strats, a 50's and 60's. They were both great and far superior to the Highway Ones and even the American Standard strats I played (not the American Deluxes, though). So at the end of the day I bought a Classic Player 60's strat. It cost fifty dollars more. It isn't made in the USA. But the pickups are the custom shop 69s, and the neck felt much better and smoother. It sustained and stayed in tune. And most importantly, it didn't feel like a piece of junk.

So if you really have to have a USA made strat, save a little more and grab an American Standard or American Deluxe. You'll end up saving a lot of money on upgrades and you'll have a much nicer piece of equipment.

Upgraded 2007 Highway One Stratocaster in 3-tone sunburst finish. Smooth and light satin finish shows the wood grain of the alder body. Vintage Synch Trem (6 screws) with a steel bridge block. 3-ply plain white pickguard. Alnico 3 hot pickups with tone controls wired to the neck and the bridge pickup. Reverse polarity for the middle pickup (no hum in 2 and 4 position) Maple neck and fretboard. Jumbo sized frets. 70's style large headstock and decal. Standard ping tuners. 22 Frets. American made. S/S/S pickup config.

The Alnico 3 pickups gives a very modern sound. It sounds great with high distortion, and it's not as noisy as many other single coils. Very versatile sound sacrifices hotter sounds as in Tex-Mex's. I'm running it through a Boss ME-50 guitar multiple effects processor, and a Marshall MG30DFX. Neck pickup is very clear and bell-like, and bridge pickup is twangy, just like a normal Strat should be. Great guitar for blues, classic rock, moder rock, jazz, pop, etc. Very, very versatile guitar. the lighter finish lets the wood breath which also contributes to the sound.

Minor adjustments were required to get the feel that I wanted. But other than that, it was set up great. The nut is giving troubles though. Strings stick or slip in the nut causes great inconveniences when using the tremolo. I suggest putting some lubricant (graphite) to help smooth it out.

Seems like a very durable guitar. I'm looking forward to the finish wearing off and making this guitar look vintage. The strap buttons are huge, and my frequent playing seems to have no effect in wearing anything off.

I've talked to Fender before, and they've been great in answering questions. They seem friendly.

I've had this guitar for a little over a month. It's been holding up great and it's still sounding great. I've always loved the 70's style decal and headstock and the light satin finish makes this guitar feel weightless. I love the versatility and the durability. I wouldn't necessarily exchange. I would mod it out maybe a bit, but I can settle with what it is now. Of course I wish it had locking tuners and a 2-point American trem with an LSR bridge, but that'd be asking too much for this cheaper in price guitar.

This is the upgrade model with large 70s headstock, steel block trem instead of zinc, jumbo frets, "grease bucket" tone pots, hot pups, mid pup RWRP.

This is totally subjective but I really like the sound. More authoritative and ballsy than my other strats. It sustains forever. The pups are not quite as chimey as traditionalists would like but I prefer darker than brighter. The pups are far more dynamic with more harmonic overtones than my new American Standard strat. It behaves very well during high gain and really driving the tubes. It also sounds really good clean.

OK this was a surprise. Everything on this guitar was excellent with the exception of a popping noise when going to the #2 position and that the trem arm doesn't mount/fit as smoothly as my other strats that have the modern trems. These are annouyances but only minor and easily fixed. These rosewood fretboard is not as dark as the more expensive strats. The shop where I got it must have strung it with 10s which is what I prefer and the action was just right for me. Stays in tune really well. The huge frets are strange to me but I find that I play this guitar the most now.

I am sure the hardware will last. The strap buttons seem to be a lighter metal. The finish well - I convinced myself it is for the acoustical properties of the instrument that wins out in this case because it is not durable although it does look nice.

Haven't had to deal with them.

I have been trying to learn how to play for way too long (35 yrs). For the money this is a good instrument. But I cannot stand the fact that it did not come with a hardshell case. Gig bags should be outlawed. I wish the trem arm mounted smoother - its like the threads are a little galled and its either in there too tight or too loose but it works. The jury is still out on the jumbo frets. If it were lost or stolen? Well I was looking for one when I found this one and I really enjoy this one. I hate ratings because they don't mean a thing. It does annoy me that I have to go to the shop and leave it for the tech to fix the popping in the pup selector when I could be using that time to do something like, maybe, play my guitar?

Well, features on a strat? Alder body, maple neck and a rosewood board. To me thats how a strat should be(maple boards are nice to)

Heres the thing. This is a decent guitar but it needs some work.
- The stock pickups seemed dull and lifeless ie unstratty. I changed those for some John Suhr V60lp:s (best singelcoils on the planet) wich made an enormous improvment.
- The crappy zink bridge-block is somewhat of a tone-killer and i would suggest to anyone to get a callaham steel block (60$) as soon as possible since it breaths new life into most strats.
- this is a personal thing but I really like sperzel locking tuners. To me they sound better than the klusons but alot of guys will tell you the opposite.
After these uppgrades you??ve got yourself a killer strat.

I don??t remember it beeing to bad but I always set my guitars up myself.
I kinda dig the finnish. Alot of guys hate it. The thing is that i??m not sentimental about guitars (unless my first one) and a bit of battery only looks cool if you ask me.

So far so good.

mailed fender once about an amp and they did??nt get back to me and from what i??ve heard it??s basically impossible to get hold of someone at fender.

Once "modded" its GREAT

Highway One (upgrade) model.

As the price indicates, the features on this guitar are somewhere between the standard stratocaster and the american standard stratocaster. They also have some vintage characteristics like a 70's style headstock and decal.

What initially attracted me to the Highway one, was the nitrocellulose lacquer finish, which, supposedly, allows the tonewood of the body to breath and resonate better.

In an effort to help alleviate hum, the middle pickup is reverse wound. Fender also claims all three pick ups are a little hotter than the previous version of the highway one.

Overall, lots of nice features for this guitar. I think fender is clearly trying to make this more than just a stripped-down version of the american stratocaster. It has it's own vibe, and some unique features.

Here's the catch, at least it was for me.

I use a fender blues junior amp, which I really like.

I didn't find the pick ups very noisy at all. Although, I have to admit, I don't have a problem with a little hum from my pick ups. After all, isn't that part of what single coils do?

The problem I had with these pick ups was that they were very lifeless to me. No quack, no glassy tones, no traditional strat tones whatsoever, especially in positions two and four. The pickups sounded terribly thin.

The store I went to had three highway one strats in stock, and I played every one. I had the same issues with every one of them.

On the other hand, I felt that the american strats and even a standard (MIM) I tried had more bite and sounded significantly better than these.

Maybe this particular music stosre does a particularly poor job (or no job at all) setting up their guitars. The neck pocket joints were not tight on any of these. The neck felt unfinished, and the nitro finish, instead of looking vintage, just looked cheap to me. Other strats like the Eric Johnson strat has a nitrocellulose finish, which look great, but these did not, in my opinion.

Maybe part of the problem is quality control on Fender's part, maybe the store, maybe it's me.

Needless to say, I did not buy this guitar. I can say that the sound and build definciences, notwithstanding, I thought this guitar felt cheap and quite fragile.

No idea, but from what I've heard, good luck.

I was extremely dissappointed with this guitar. A few days later I played two G&L tribute series guitars, and they really impressed me. They were three times the guitar for half the price of one of the highway ones.

If you're on a budget, and don't have to have a Fender, I'd look into them. Better finishes, the same pick ups and bridges as the top of the line G&L models, and all for half the price of a highway one!

In the end, I shelled out the extra money (say hello credit card and goodbye happy marriage!) and invested in an American Deluxe strat. For only three hundred dollars more, I feel I got a much better guitar. Better pick ups with traditional strat tones, a beautiful finish and a great feeling neck.

Of course, I don't have the vintage features or the nitro finish. If you must have these features and can't afford to go up to the custom shop level, my advice is to pick up this guitar and be prepared to invest another $300-400 in upgrades and guitar tech fees. You'll need it.

Its a bog standard strat with a great finish, smooth neck, pretty decent s/s/s pick-ups and vintage hardware. Mine is nice and light too.

This is a very clear, clean and rather powerful guitar. It is hard to hide sloppy playing on a good strat. I mainly play rock with some funk and blues edge and I always wander back to Strats for use on stage. I usually use just the neck or bridge pups into a Hartman bc108 fuzz, Fulltone FD2 Mosfet, Boss DD-3 and into either a Silverface Vibrolux Reverb or a Sovtek Mig-50 on a Marshall 2x12.

Everything was setup fairly well from the factory and played beautifully out of the box. I absolutely love the feel and look of the finish and the neck. After a few days of good playing I found 2 frets not leveled correctly that buzzed. I was not that upset and was contemplating not returning it because I just liked it so much when the middle pickup conked out. Between this episode and a Jaguar that had strings not grounded properly has made me wonder if Fender America is getting sloppy. I have a mexican Strat I love and have no problems with, but i have not been impressed by Fender's USA department.

As i mentioned, 2 frets were not leveled correctly and the middle pickup died after only a week. Everything else performs and feels excellent.

Always been good in the past and i will see about this Strat very soon.

This is a beautiful guitar and superb value for what it is, although it seems more like the 60's when you had to sort through a pile of gear to get a winner. These are not as cookie cutter as you would expect and each one had its own personality. Mine just had 2 flaws which should not have made it past quality control to a customer.

It's a Strat. Very familiar features for anyone who knows the Strat: 3 single-coil pickups, Volume/Tone/Tone, Wilkinson trem bridge, standard non-locking tuners and a Tusq (imitation bone) nut. You could call it an American-made Mexi, but it's really closer to a vintage reproduction with some modern touches, as if Fender were still making their standard guitars the same way as in the '60s. The biggest visual change is the satin nitrocellulose lacquer finish which was standard through the classic Strat years. The hardware is kind of a hybrid; the bridge is very Mexi-ish with stamped saddles and tailpiece, with a pretty hefty Wilkinson trem underneath. The neck hardware though is very American; the string trees are molded rather than stamped, and the tuning machines, though not vintage-style, are very good; no slop or binding, and far smoother than a Mexi's. The neck itself is semi-gloss; not a true thin satin finish that feels like bare wood, but not a highly-polished gloss finish like on some Fenders. Pickups are Alnico, but Alnico-3 rather than the true vintage Alnico-5.

One feature that players familiar with Mexi and American strats is that the pickups are true vintage configuration, with a middle pickup that is NOT RW/RP, so neck/mid and mid/bridge are not hum-cancelling as you're probably used to. This is something to be aware of, as I hadn't realized this in the store. This is not difficult to change if you like to tinker, and if you shield the control cavity properly (as I did) noise is drastically reduced. The body cavity is routed for HSS, so you can throw a humbucker in the bridge for a "Fat Strat" look and sound. All in all, a very versatile instrument as Strats tend to be.

The guitar came strung with 9-42s, which were very light for my tastes; I restrung it with 10-46s and the playability improved and the sound got tighter and beefier. The sound is VERY vintage; the nitro finish gives a woodier tone and a lot of body resonance (this thing can almost be played as an acoustic, and I'm not saying that glibly). Perfect for all your '60s idols from Clapton to SRV and everything in between. The bridge is a bit thin; again it's the vintage voicing, where more modern bridge pickups, even "classics", are slightly overwound. Very twangy (heaps of "Strat Quack") and it screams when overdriven. Neck, Neck/Mid, and Mid are all very beefy clean or driven; the mid pickup adds a lot of sparkle to the tone that works excellently either way in any of the middle 3 positions. I actually can't decide if I think it'd be better to have the middle pickup the way it is now or Rw/Rp, which would allow the noiseless combos but remove some of the middle pickup's sparkle. Noise notwithstanding, the sound of this guitar is excellent, and if you don't mind a noise gate, it'll give you everything you want when overdriven.

Here's where the downside of owning a trem-equipped Strat becomes very apparent. I've never had a trem-equipped axe before, and though I "knew" the issues it would give me in tuning, intonation and action, it was still a shock going through it. This guitar is very fiddly, and because the trem both increases the amount of vibration of the string and takes tension off of the neck, fretbuzz is a problem I'm still fighting when I play fingerstyle. The light-gauge strings don't bow the neck at all, so even with the truss rod completely slack I couldn't get even the slightest neck relief. Restringing it with 10s gave it a little relief, but required a slight adjustment of the trem to counterbalance it. Tuning this thing is a nightmare compared to a non-trem guitar; it currently takes me three passes to get the thing in tune after restringing or if one string is way off, because adjusting one string can have a significant change on the tension of the rest due to the trem.

All that said, fit and finish on this guitar is wonderful. No finish flaws in the nitro other than slight shop-wear (I wasn't the first to have played this guitar in the store). And, now that I have the lightly heavier strings, and have adjusted the neck and trem, the action is beautiful. It intonates perfectly (though the saddles are in rather odd positions compared to, say, how an LP's floating bridge might be), and the trem stays in tune when you dive-bomb and do other extreme trem moves. Neither the nut not the string trees bind strings, so other than the trem messing with string tensions, it's easy to tune a string exactly to pitch. The entire guitar is put together magnificently. I'm giving it a 7 for the setup hell, but you minimize this by keeping one string gauge (I'll probably use 10-46s on this for a LOOOONG time) and only ever changing one string at a time. Once it's tuned and the neck, trem and strings have all found their balance of tension, it stays in tune quite well and retunes very easily.

The nitro finish is thinner than poly, so a good knock will probably show through to the wood where poly would just be dented. If you use this guitar hard it will start looking like a vintage axe after a few years, and the finish will probably wear throuh after a few years of steady gigging, but it'll play like the day you bought it through the entire thing, and probably sound better for it. I have actually not replaced the strap buttons with locks yet, as I normally do before anything else; with a decent strap (this one has two layers of leather) the strap does not come off easily. I would still recommend straplocks though. Just as a general rule I bring a backup instrument to gigs, if for no other reason than when you break a string, it's easier to pick up the spare and tune it up than install a new string mid-set. Other than that I'd definitely depend on this axe; it's solidly constucted and should last many many years.

Never dealt with Fender; I do most of my own work on my guitars, and if there's something I can't solve I just take it to a local luthier.

Overall, I'm very pleased with this guitar. I've not been playing guitar very long, maybe a year now, but I've played bass for over 6 years, and so I know what I want in quality, playability, and sound, and this axe has them all. I compared it to Mexi Strats and found that though the Mexi has its own great character, this axe had better tone. Against Americans, I felt that this sounded better for what turned out to be just over half the cost. And of course it's blown ny clone I compared it to completely out of the water. This is THE strat; it's a faithful remake of the class of Strat that countless stars used to get to the top. And it can be had for under $600.

all the features of the highway one strat have been adequately described already.

I've been playing a strat since '74. wanted a good strat to play at gigs so i could leav2 my '72 home, where its safe.
i played blues and southern rock, thru a Marshall half stack. very very happy with this guitar. it isn't any noisier than any other strat with standard single pickups. the stock pickups sounded ok, but i put Fender custom shop Fat 50's pickups in , and like them very much. initially i didn't like the bridge saddles, but i've only broken 3 strings on this guitar in 2 1/2 years of hard playing...
i like the clear finish, i like that it doesn't have locking this and floating that, or active electronics. its a good, plain 'ol strat. it's just snobbery to look at this as anything other then a nice guitar. you don't have to pay 2 or 3 grand for a guitar. some guys do that for bragging rights.

was set up well from the factory, tho i did raise the action a bit, so you have more string to grab hold of
you always tweak it to your personal tastes
as already stated, i prefer this finish over the heavier finishes...
and the medium jumbo frets are what i prefer. thats what i alsways refretted my '72 with

everything is road worthy aboutt his guitar. i really do love it. i do use this on gigs without a back up, because i can yank on the straings all day without them breaking. my other guitar i keep tuned to open tunings for slide. my red highway one strat, with maple neck is my workhorse guitar. the thinner finish does wear thru faster, but come on people, who doesn't like that? a worn beat up looking strat. some guys pay extra for that look... gimme a break.

never needed to

I've been playing for 34 years, i own a 1972 strat , which i've had since '74, this highway 1 strat, a schecter tele, martin 12 string, and takamine acoustic/electric. assorted effects and Marshall amp, and peavey combo amp.
very happy with this guitar. i plan to buy another one, just cuz i like it so much. i love the finish, the feel of the neck, stays in tune, doesn't break strings, i love the fact that it has a standard bridge, no floating fulcrum crap. no locking tuners... just a regular strat. i chose it because it had all these basic features, it was a good guitar for the $$.

Features are fine for a strat. Not sure why they didn't reverse-wind the middle pickup.

This is good sounding guitar. Has a lot of the throaty, spanky, bell-like character a strat should have. Not as nice as the Deluxe with noiseless picups, though.

This rates a little below sound for me. I tried three of these guitars at Guitar Center, and none were smooth playing. The fretwork felt rough, and maybe the setups weren't so great.

I only tried three of these strats, all on the same day, and didn't buy one because when I tried the Deluxe strat I felt there was no comparison. The Deluxe I bought plays and sounds significantly better to me than any of the the Highway 1s I tried out. I guess it should since it costs more, too. But I found myself disagreeing with the salesperson's comment that it was "the same guitar" except for the finish, which made it more affordable. Definitely don't believe that.

Basically a cheap American Stratocaster which represents the entry-level for USA made ones. Mine is a 2002, Cocoa trans nitrocellulose finish severely abused by the preceeding owner, maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, 22 medium jumbo frets, 3 single coil pick-ups, 1 volume and two tone knobs wired the classic Strat way except for the mid p.u. which isn't reverse wound and polarized so that pos. 2&4 are not hum-cancelling (more a vintage choice, quite unusual on modern Strats). Anyway these are the features anyone could expect from a Stratocaster. Comes with a gig bag (certainly not a luxury item, but comfortable and useful anyway). It's all that I need.

The sound is amazing for the buck! The very thin (someone said "poor") laquer finish lets the body's wood (a very well matched 2-pieces alder) resonate even unplugged and this results in a very good sustain and a brilliant tone. The pick-ups are not that holy grail, but they sound good and articulate once you properly set their height. They're authentic single coil and that's what they sound like: bright, a little thin in the bridge pos especially when highly overdriven, but more than adequate for what they're meant to deal with (I mean Blues, Texas Boogie, Southern Rock, Classic Rock).
They are a little bit noisy, as any other single-coil, but this shouldn't be an issue as in Studio for recording you can get rid of it with a good gate and when playing live THAT noise is way lower than the crowd will ever produce ;).
Anyway, if you want your strat to be hum-free, you can swap the PU's and get Kinman's (I have a set of Woodstock 69 Regular on my main Strat and they're fantastic!).
The mid P.U. being not reverse wound and with the same polarity as bridge and neck ones make pos. 2&4 sound more clear than on modern Strats, I dare to say this adds a little vintage flavor to the sound.
I'm completely satisfied with it, though this will of course be my second guitar.
Just one more little remark: you can read 1,000,000+ reviews, but the quality of sound dipends on whose ear is listening; and, most of all, sound is in your fingers and YOU are supposed to make your guitar play!

I bought mine 2nd-hand, and I think the hands that played it were really heavy!!!! Anyway, the thin finish will relic pretty soon even if you take care of your guitar as it was a baby, but I think this can make it even more charming and most of all it's the main thing that make it sound well.
The neck is fine, with a good radius and a fine choice of woods but the frets...AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!! It seems like Marty Feldman himself has fretted the board: frets' height and alignement are as randomic as the teeth in a 90 years old man's mouth!
I had it re-fretted by a luthier and now it's fabulous!

All Fenders are built to last and are not scared about (ab)using (think about Hendrix or SRV!) and, except for the finish, I believe this one will be dependable as any other even much more expensive strat.

Never dealt with them.

I've been playing for 30+ years, a decade across late 80's and 90's as a pro in more Blues and Southern Rock bands than I can remember.
I owned lots gear, many Gibson's (2 SG's, LP's Std and custom, ES 335, 175 and 347 stereo) Fender's (many Strats, various Teles) Yamaha and Ibanez semiacoustics; mainly Marshall amps until 1999, then Engl and now two Fender Blues Jr MIM (wonderful amps!!!). My actual rig is: strat or tele > Marshall BB2 overdrive (occasionally substituted by a TS9) > Fender Blues Jr. I play now to satisfy my passion and gig mainly for charity purposes through Catholic Churches and occasinally in small clubs with other ex-pro's.
This guitar was bought to be my "stage mule" but its character is gonna let it win some more, I guess. All in all, a good Strat at a reasonable price. I suggest, where possible, to buy it used: you won't be disappointed about what you payed for!

Features as described very well already. The tremelo block is also an upgrade from my previous HWY 1.

The new pickups are a big improvement. Advertised to give a more modern sound, but I think they capture the vintage sound better than the previous pickups. No top end harshness at all, nice rich sound when overdriven as well.

Overall, the quality was excellent. The set up was excellent and the intonation was spot on. The fret work was very nice. My only complaint is that the string tees were not mounted where the tee is perpendicular to the nut. Since they have a alignment stud, you can't rotate them. It makes the strings screach when you are tuning, but amazingly enough, the guitar stays in tune extremely well. This very issue caused me to trade my last HWY 1 since the G string would not stay in tune due to the string tee alignemnt.

The finish is extremely thin so expect it to wear pretty fast especially since it is nitro. I normally change the tuners and bridge on these to locking tuners and a Callaham bridge, but it stays in tune so well, I'm going to leave it alone.

I have four strats and have owned many more. This is an excellent value in a strat that sounds great and is fun to play. I think it is much better than the previous HWY 1 offerings. It's a nice alternative to the American Standard and the addition of the jumbo frets with the new pickups actually make it a better buy in my opinion. However, a $700 guitar should come with a decent case, not a gig bag. Come on Fender, not everyone likes the relic look, and a nice hard case will actually make the nitro last longer.

This is the new 2006 upgrade Highway one. Thin nitrocelluose finish, large 70s headstock, JUMBO frets, vintage tremolo, alnico III pickups S/S/S/, alder original contour, rosewood fingerboard. I give it a 10 for having all the features that are important to ME.

This guitar sounds great. I play mostly Blues and Rock. I am using it through a Zvex Nano head with occasional Fuzz and Pickup Booster. Pickups are a little noisy, but not as bad as my American Series was. I think I will actually keep these pickups, something I have never done before. I had Kinmans in my American Series that I traded in for the Highway One, so far I do not miss them. The sounds the guitar makes are pure Fender, which sound great when overdriven. So far I like the Greasebucket Tones Control. There is nothing about the sound that I do not like.

The guitar seemed to be set-up well from the factory, but I put 10s on it as soon as I got home and did my own setup. I added two springs and tightened the claw screws to lock the bridge and of course had to adjust the truss rod to compensate for the heavier strings. No surprise that the intonaions was way off after the new strings. String height was perfect and bridge radius was spot on, no adjustments here. Just a couple flaws from the factory. The rosewood has 2 light gouges at about the 19th fret that appears to have been caused when the guitar was fretted at the factory. These run across the fret but do not hurt anything. No problem. The second flaw is in the finish. Looks like some dust got under the finish in a couple places, but I do not mind at all. Not noticeable unless you really look. I am completely happy with the quality of the build. The frets are well dressed and there is no problematic string buzz to speak of.

This guitar seems more durable to me than my American Series. The hardware is rugged and should stand up well. The finish is very thin, but hey... its NITROCELLUOSE. I don't expect the finish to handle abuse very well and will love every minute of it :)

I have no opinion on customer support.

I have been playing for 25 years. I have owned mostly Strats and this one is my favorite of all time. If it was lost or stolen I would find and punish the thief severely. I love everything about this guitar. My favorite feature is the jumbo frets. Bending strings is effortless. I also really like the Nitro finish. The Highway One (upgrade) is a no-nonsense tone machine. Easy playability and built like a tank.