Fender Lite Ash Strat

This is a first opinion of a Fender Lite Ash strat after a few minutes of trying it.

This is a korean made Straocaster of light ash body, and looks cool! Nice natural finish with black pickguard. There is a set of Seymour Duncan pickups in it of SSS configuration. Standard strat configuration with everything that is usual on a strat, but with one very good thing: the second tone control knob is controlling also the tone of the bridge pickup. The tremolo/bridge is a standard, but modernised, syncronised type standing on two screws.

I don't really know the sound of this guitar due to the short period i could try it. Or may be this was only that old Laney stack that I could try the guitar with, but it sounded a little bit dead to me, compaired to my thoughts aobut a real fender. DO NOT FORGET: I did not have much time to tweak the amp, or the guitar. Tried only the standard tones: neck/middle in between clean, etc. The guitar sounds good, but those really strat-ish bell-like, twangy tones were not there. And again: this can absolutely be becouse of the short time I had to try it, or the amp! I give a 7, but if I had time it would be much higher i think.

The actzion was not the best - I think they made no adjusting on the guitar ain the shop - actrually this is not usual in hungarian musik stores, to adjust the guitar to a decent level. Actually my old, badly assembled squier has a better, much lowwer action. But this strat has a nice neck, very good frets - named medium jumbo or something, but this is nothing with jumbo frets to do I think: these are nice medium frets, good to play on them.
The guitar anyway was flowless! Korean made (as almost everything in Europe), but this is a good instrument! Nothing to worry about! May be the sound was not exactly my taste, but hey, there are Seymour Duncans in it - they must bee good, very good.

I would absolutely depend on this guitar. It is a fender, even if this is made in korea. If I buy a korean fender, after I examined it from bottom, to top, seeing that it was flawless, then I think this is - I can say - just as good as an american strat. Good guitar basicly!

Never dealt with them. But I suppose, there is not much need for that due to it is a Fender!

Nice looking, good assambled guitar I can say after ca. 15 years of playing guitar. One thing is bad with this guitar: I don't own one! I have read much about it on the Internet, and finally saw in a music store, and tried it in a rehersal room with an old Laney stack. I have an old squier with lot of flaws - I would think of having a Lite Ash strat without a doubt. It is a cheap instrument compaired to standard USA strats, and I thin that this is at least as good as the USA made strandard strats, just becouse of the pickups, and the second tone controll on the middle/bridge pickup.

Made in Korea early 2005. Two-piece swamp ash body with a natural finish. Black scratchplate. Birdseye maple neck / board. Seymour Duncan pickups (Alnico pros). Sort of modern C-shape neck (medium fat) with a 9.5" radius. Medium jumbo frets. Abalone dot inlays. Very nice two-point trem with a brass tremblock. I set it up with 0.09 gauge Fender 150s because I likes them da best. Anything you could wish for in a good Strat.

I play a lot of different styles on this going from straight blues, over rootsrock stuff to Deep Purple kind of classic rock. Mostly no FX. Just Strat into FulldriveII into clean channel of a Laney amp.

Mostly no FX, sometimes a little delay but that's it.

Nice.

It's got all the Strat sounds you need, but with a twist. Sounds very full and vibrant. I played it unplugged first and the ash body really resonates well. Plugged in it goes from twangy to sparkly to full and fat, depending on your pickup selection.

It handles distortion fairly well, but in the end that's not what it was made for.

For my purposes it gets a solid 9/10.

Straight out of the box. No set-up needed. Everything correct right down to the pickup height. Came with 0.09s on it and a low action, just the way I like it. The neck is bliss. It feels like an old friend the minute you pick it up.

Finish is nice and the neck is very smooth. Frets were nicely beveled. Hardware is pretty good actually and even the wiring and jacks so far have proven to be quite good. No noise whatsoever.

I do tend to be careful with my stuff, but in the end a Strat is a pretty basic guitar so nothing really horrible could go wrong I suppose... It looks very solid and I'd have no qualms about gigging this one without a backup.

I have no idea about Fender's customer service... If I have a problem, I go back to the shop I bought it from.

Let's face it. "Made in Korea" is not a curse word. They make very decent guitars at very decent prices. Nuff said. This Strat is a well-constructed instrument made up of quality parts and it plays like a dream.

Personally I think this is the best Strat deal on the market today. Just think about it... For the same money you'd spend on a Mexican Standard you get a swamp ash body, a WAY better trem, real Seymour Duncan pickups, a birdseye maple neck,...

I couldn't possibly be happier about a Strat. Kudos Fender!

You know them by now!

The guitar itself has very good sustain and sound(unplugged), especially for this money. The original pickups sound good, if you play clean and blues a lot, It sounds a little different than a normal strat but no in a negative way. I wanted more versatile guitar and a bigger sound and no hum so I put dimarzios in.
I have a protrack in the neck, a chopper in the middle(both can be split in series and parallel) and a fastrack 2 in the bridge.
Now it's a real TONEMONSTER! I've would have rated the guitarsound with a 8 but with the dimarzios in a 10

The guitar was build well although I had the guy from the guitarshop file the nut a little bit. He also shaved the frets a little bit because the first fret was a little too high.I said if he did that, then I would buy the guitar! I also put in a 3th spring at the tremolo. The finish is good especially for this price. When I changed the pickups I also noticed that the guitarbody has space for fullsized humbuckers. I only wish it had sperzel locking tuners, but the original tuners work fine too! The neck is the best thing of this guitar. It's a little like the clapton only a little more
v-shaped and thinner with bigger frets. This neck can be played very fast but still feels solid, and the birdseye maple looks very good. The neck is the main reason I bought this guitar, to me it's one of the best fender necks around!

The whole guitar holds up very well after almost a year of playing.
This could easily be your main guitar. No doubt!

No need too

I've been playing for 15 years or so. I've owned an american strat and a pacifica but the lite ash just kicks their butts. I play through a Marshall artist 4203, 535q wah, ts9 and a boss equalizer and can get almost any sound I want. If stolen I would definitely buy one again. My buddy owns a 1600 euro clapton signature but he is very impressed with the lite ash with the dimarzios in. Proofs that quality does't have to be pricey. I bought the dimarzios on ebay for a total of 120 euro so for 670 euro I have guitar that sounds better than models double its price!

2005
What else can you say?
The head does not read Stratocaster? It just reads FENDER !!
The back of the head reads KOREA

-Beautiful figured Birdseye neck with Birdseye fingerboard
-Abalone dot inlay
-BODY Light Weight Ash
-MACHINE HEADS Cast/Sealed Tuning Machines (non-locking)
-PICKUPS Seymour Duncan? APS-1N, APS-1RWRP, APS-1B, (Neck/Middle/Bridge) (APS=Alnico Pro Staggered)
-CONTROLS Master Volume,
Tone 1. (Neck Pickup),
Tone 2. (Middle/Bridge Pickups)
-BRIDGE 2-Point Synchronized Tremolo
-PICKUP SWITCHING 5-Position Blade:
-HARDWARE Chrome
-PICKGUARD 1-Ply Black
-SCALE LENGTH 25.5? (648 mm)
-WIDTH AT NUT 1.625?
-UNIQUE FEATURES Black Plastic Parts

unplugged or jacked up It is a tone monster!!!!
If you are into that JIMI and STEVIE This is the axe for you!

It needed a little tweaking...But, That is common for all guitars. My set-up may not be the set-up you like.I have had to tweak $3500.00 Les Pauls. So that's not really an issue.But I set the action very low and I mean low and this guitar responded very well!!! No buzzing.

I would drag this guitar to the gates of hell. Its a danm good peice of wood.I allways use a back-up. I have jammed with this guitar entire shows and it is now my go-to guitar!

Duuooooh!!!!!!!!!

I have been doing this sh$t for 30 years. My amp rig is a Marshall JTM-45 with 2 4x12 Marshall jcm 800 cabs.I'll give this guitar a 9 cuz I don't think I would even play a guitar thats a 10. But, this is a tone monster and I get to have sex with it every night!!!!!The neck alone is a good reason to get this axe.

I think we all know the features by now,it was the birds eye maple neck that drew my eyes to it in the music shop,like a long smoldering glance across a crowded bar, bamm!I was intrigued, its ash body reminded me of an old Strat from my youth,fond memories,I approached,Seymour Duncan Pickups? 2 point pivot trem? Abalone inlay?Black scratch plate??mmm very intrigued. I'd been looking to hook up with a Strat again for some years,as a treat,always thinking I'd end up with a Squire and "do her up" but now??? I gently took her down,off the wall and held her...

By then it was all over,it just felt right,the neck firm but soft and silky to the touch,the body generous but moulding to you,the beautiful finish,she resonated in my hands before I even thought of plugging her in,I reluctantly put her back,it was quite a thing,a treat,a whimsy but how could it be? I asked the price,a formality to end the briefest of dreams. "how much?!?" I got her for #440 brand spanking new from my local music store (after half an hours frenzied internal debate,finally realising that for that price I could and should treat myself).I returned forthwith and put her thru an amp and that was that,classic Strat sounds,out of phase,Jimi,Stevie Ray,Jazzy,Funky,bit of country? oh she does it all. I personally still changed a few things,for her as well as for me and she has appreciated it: a JB Seymour Duncan single coil sized humbucker in the bridge position,new tortoise shell scratch plate,planet waves locking machine heads,Graphtech nut and saddles.The result, Strat bliss for half or even a third of the price of a customshop MIA strat or Vintage Strat. If there was one niggle for me it was the original bridge PU,it could cut a man in half at 50 paces,sharp and bright like a Tele,and that's a different beast, I wanted a warm hearted Strat. Now I have one. Cost of upgrades #150,total cost #600.I put her through Fender amps and a big VHT/Mesa Boogie/4 x 12 Cab stereo Rig and she sounds like a gorgeous strat thru whatever she goes thru,seriously,a quality Strat.

When I got her home I found out she was Korean. So,big deal, my main guitar is an Ibanez and she's Korean. In fact lots of guitars are made in Korea,then I thought because of the sparse headstock logo I'd got a blag fender,a phony, an imitation. The guys that upgraded her hadn't seen one like her before,couldn't believe the price.But you know, I didn't care.She played and looked beautifully,sounded sweet and made me happy. A very very well put together guitar,I didn't know about the brass tailpiece till I checked up on this site.Even better.Everyone is different so don't expect everything to be the way you want it,you have to adapt her to you,there's lots of scope for change and improvement.

Will it last? I have no doubt this one is a keeper,I literally can't keep my hands off her. I'm actually on tour with a Zappa tribute act at the moment and though my Ibanez is my main guitar (locking trem,humbuckers,big frets,tiny slim body, its an old old Joe Satriani model and my true love)the Lite ash/maple/Korean beauty is my spare guitar and gets the call on the blusier/lighter numbers.She looks so nice just on stage anyway. In a blues/funk/jazzy gig she'd be first call.Solid quality build should see us both grow old together.

no idea about support,I live in Liverpool so apparently there is no support,but she's been under the knife and I cant see her needing anything but the usual maintenance and attention.I couldn't find the model on their site till a friend showed me and assured me it was a real Fender,it's that good I thought there must be a catch!

A lot of people seem to share my enthusiasm for this hot little cutie, I call her Debbie (after "Does Dallas" and not "Harry",both Blondies though).I've been playing 25 years,20 pro I teach,tour,gig,record etc and I wouldn't want another Fender but this one,If lost/stolen I'd replace and hope I got just as good a guitar,I think this is a relationship that will last.

2005 fender mik lite ash strat specs you have read 100 times so I won't repeat Rate it as a 9 finish is flawless neck is totally tits and after an ajustment for personal tastes. This baby beats my mia standard and my mim strat hands down

I play country, clasic rock, blues and jazz. This guitar does it all with amazing clarity no mater how hard I drive it. Tube or solid state or hybrid amps no matter

It needed a slight adjustment to my taste but that is normal for me ...raise pickups lower action tweek truss rod slightly And You have the perfect beast. duncun pups are the best set up I have heard for a long time. clear and sweet slightly dirty, or balls to the wall they are clear crisp and resonsive, and the fender quack? It's there all the way

This guitar will have no problems giging I gig an avarage of 12 to 14 days a month and it still handels anything i throw at it. Hardware is better then my american standard. I always put strap locks on so I can't comment on strap buttons. I would and do depend on this guitar. Look I'm 49 been playing since I was 12 Had every name guitar you can think of I have always giged with my carvin dc135 as my main ax the mia strat backing that up and my les paul as my 2nd back-up now its the lite ash strat 1st carvin 2nd and the american standard 3rd and the les paul rarly comes out of the case.my mim strat is my beater guitar (pic nics outings just genaral abusive invirements)

Have not delt with fender so I'll make no comment

been playing for 32 years ( yep I'm an old fart)I own the ash mik strat a mim strat and an american stanard strat a carvin dc135 mahogony neck thru mahogony body custom strat style guitar, a usa yamaha pacifica,A 1976 les paul custom,and my 2 acoustics and this korean keeps on impressing me. A+ to fender on all aspects of this thing from clear finish, hardware, wood and electronics the total package is more then i could have ask for

It's been said but, Rock Maple neck laminated burled board. Light Ash 2 pc. body in a natural ( Poly ) finish. Nice looking guitar. American elec. including Seymour Duncan USA single coils. Chrome hardware with 2 pnt vintage style trem. Standard Strat control layout. 3 caps 5 pos. switch. No case just the case candy..Extra trem springs, wrench, inspection sheet and HA directions.

I use this guitar for classic hard rock, Texas and Chicago style blues. ( and you can pull phat tones for the delta style stuff outa those S.D. PUPS ) OK..This is not your fathers Strat. It is capable of the classic Strat quack and all the great stuff Strats are known for. But,,,this one takes it up another notch! With proper use of the volume and tone controls. You can really get this Korean monster to sing almost as warm as a hum bucker. This guitar can sustain. Superior harmonics for single coils and just the right amount of break up that you can control via attack. VERY versatile axe. More than a standard Strat. Love the tones you can coach out of this guitar. I bought a Custom Shop vee neck. Kept this guitar and sold the Custom shop pcs. This guitar played and sounded better. I don?t care what it cost or where it was made. I want a guitar that makes me smile and that allows me to feel what I play. This guitar does that in spades. Don?t be fooled by the price tag. Also the neck..Unique..U with a pretty sharp V in the center. LOVE IT! Feels like no other. I like my action a bit high, around 3/16th? @ 12. This thing just came alive at that string height. No right to ask for this kind of playability for $500.

Well it was playable, at best, when I got it. But not peaked out. She had mild buzzing in the upper register and a slight curve in the neck. Took her to Noll Guitar. A very hot tech shop here in RI. He just dialed her in like ma bell. The rest is history. He said a light truss rod adjustment and she was home. So, from the factory a 6..from Noll Guitar a 10. Only complaint now is the first string is a bit to close to the end of the neck. I play a lot on the lower registry and like room down there. But this is a personnel preference issue.

I play HARD!! But I also take great care of my equipment. With proper care this axe will keep on playing long after I croke. Not a single problem that I can report after 18 months of playing the snot outa her. Strap buttons are oversized. I move when I play. They and the rest of the hardware are as tight and functional as they were day one. Short of pulling a P.T. on her. We are talking energizer bunny here people.

I have emailed Fender on a few occasions. They always answered my ????'s in a timely manor. I have never sent in a guitar for any work though.

I am not associated with, nor do I know anybody at MUSIC123...but I buy everything through them and Jason. Great service and policies. Great guy. Overall..I will never alter or sell this guitar. I am 43 and been playing since my teens. I have owned more guitars than I can remember, including the "great era" Fenders. I wouldn't trade you this Light Ash Korean job for a pristine 62 Strat..Based on sound and playability of course. LOL I am not just throwing these 10 marks around. This guitar has earned them and that is no lie! For $550 and a $50 set up?? I would have never thought I could find sonic bliss so cheap. But you have to keep in mind; I do not care where a guitar is made or whose name is on it. Many others do. I seriously doubt this guitar has a strong resale value. Even if it?s priceless to me.

Korean Made Fender Strat,Seymour Duncan (REAL DUNCANS,NOT THE "DUNCAN DESIGNED" crapola,3 single coil-NOTE TO ALL GOTTA-HAVA-HUMBUCKER in the Bridge position Players out there,TRY THIS BABY OUT AND TRY THE PICK-UP SELECTOR SWITCH IN the REST of the positions,not just all the way down,YOU WILL
find some REAL SWEET SPOTS AND YOU WILL,like it or not-
BE PLEASED with the tone this baby puts out,this is the truth as told to you BY one of you,THIS STRAT KICKS ASS! GO AHEAD PLUG IT IN AND YOU'LL SEE!! Nice feel to the neck BEAUTIFUL,BEAUTIFUL BIRDSEYE WOODGRAIN w/DEEP GLOSS LAQUER Finish,Should hold up to the usual OOPSIES and OH SHIT's.

ONE WORD--AWESOME,...ok Three WORDS, JUST F'ING AWESOME!!from Country Twang to some very MENACING METAL GROWL,Harmonics really come out easily with your pick attack,combined with some HI-GAIN,....KILLER. Cleans up well also ,nice and warm.

Action needed tweaking,but I use Ernie Ball Super Slinky 9-42's,so had to do it anyway,SET-UP/ALIGNED/iNTONATED PERFECTLY,also VERY QUIET no "usual" minor hum from the pick-ups,VERY,VERY NICE.

hasn't been gigged with,or even left my house yet,but looks to be up to the challenges of performing,can't really rate it by those facts,but I'll use my judgement from what I see,and it looks GOOD.

HAVEN'T DEALT with FENDER,NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEMS THAT WERE THEIR FAULT!

I first saw it,but shyed away because of the MADE IN KOREA deal and being "MR.METALHEAD-GOTTA HAVE A HUMBUCKER GUY",after seeing it a few times I CAVED,it was way too PRETTY to leave alone,ONE TIME IN MY HANDS,HAD TO MAKE HER MINE!!I may still go with a DUNCAN CUSTOM in the saddle,...STILL SOUNDS TOO DAMN GOOD TO JUSTIFY IT!! If I lost it Or IT WAS STOLEN, HATE TO THINK ABOUT VIOLENCE,BUT SHE"S MY GIRL AND LIKE PART OF ME,All I can say is a "TEMP. INSANITY" Defense might work,if one or more of the jurors hearing my case was a Guitarist and Had One of their own LITE ASH STRATS!! ANYWAY,GO GET ONE BEFORE THEY'RE GONE,GOOD NEWS GETS AROUND FAST especially for what you're getting QUALITY-WISE for LESS MONEY THEN THEY COULD GET,PICK-UPS ALONE ARE ALMOST A THIRD OF THE PRICE of these babies,THESE ARE MORE THAN WORTH THE MONEY YOU'LL SPEND,WITH NO REGRETS that usually come later,especially on the HIGH-PRICED stuff when you get home with it and find the "QUIRKS,...NO SUCH LUCK HERE,SHE"S A BEAUTY AND I HAVE NO REGRETS!.
THANKS FENDER<KEEP THIS KINDA STUFF COMIN!!!!!

Everything you need for traditional strat rocking out.

At first I thought I would be replacing some parts like pickups, tuners, pots, etc., but that was before I owned it for a month to see that it really is a fine instrument stock, I dont see a need for any change

Here is where it shines. When driven it sounds so much meatier than standard strats but also has that great clarity and charm clean, so its the best of both worlds. I think Fender really nailed it with this guitar. I initially purchased it as a backup to my main guitars on stage, but after a month it made its way into the group of player's guitars and it gets used just as often as my Deluxe Strat and my modded Teles.

Very happy with this guitar. usually after a few months the honeymoon period is over but I still have that chuckle on my face when I pick it up. I have to say I reach for it more often than the other Strats when I'm recording as well and that says alot to me. I want to play it onstage as often as my "best" guitars and reach for it to record more often than all the others. I have recorded our wholw first demo using the Lite Ash on every song. Sometimes main lead, sometimes sweet cleans, often its both

I did have to tweak the truss rod and do a complete setup on this guitar but I do that with every guitar I purchase so no biggie. Like I said I thought I would be replacing parts to make this thing just a little more like my other Strats but how can I change anything when I reach for this more than the others?

Its a solid guitar with quality parts and was constructed as good as most US Strats Ive owned. I did play a few others that had problems so there are issues with quality control but that can be said about any fender guitar

So far so good

Great value and I personally think this is the best value today in terms of bang for the buck....period

These have been covered, so feel free to skip it...
Made in Korea
Body - Ash. I'm not sure if the body is 2 peice or solid ash, I can't realy find the seam lines.
Neck - Birdseye Maple with Abalone inlays, 22 frets, 9.5? Radius
Standard Fender scale, frets, controls
Pickups - REAL Seymour Duncan Pickups APS-1N, APS-1RWRP, APS-1B.

Lots of features for the price, Ash Body, Birdseye Neck and SD Pickups.

The SD pickups give a really nice rich bell tone. Less bright than normal strat pickups. I didn't notice that much normal 60 Cycle hum on the 1/3/5 settings, it was there, but not as much as most other strats.

I can't comment on how well it was setup from factory becuase I bought it used. Overall it was setup well, the finish was nice and even, looks fairly thick and shows off the grain really well.

However, I played a couple new Lite Ash guitars and noticed that on some the frets were really sharp on the edges, and some had a gap between the top of the skunk stripe and the actual back of the neck. As with any guitar and Made in _____ (fill in the blank of oriental country) guitars, you really need to check them out, cuz they vary greatly.

So far it seems solid, its EXTREMLY light though. I could definatly easily see strapping this one for a while with no problem. I always put strap locks on all my guitars, so I can't comment on strap buttons. I definatly think though with any strat, if I plan on using the Whammy a lot I'd throw on some locking tuners. With any Fender product (MIM, MIJ, or MIA) I've never had any problems with reliability and durability.

I've only delt with Fender directly a few times, but every time they've been really helpful.

I've been playing for 10 years, and I've owned my share of guitars in that 10 years. This is the 3rd strat that have come across my collection. I love the seymour duncan pickups ,ash body, and the birdseye neck, and the abalone inlays really set it apart. I don't know if I'd really do anything different, except perhaps better quality control. All in all, if you find a really good one, its gonna be really good. For the price, I don't think anything could beat it.

- Fender Lite Ash Stratocaster, special edition, made in Korea 2005
- 22 frets
- solid top? neck is normally detachable
- normal Fender 1 volume and 2 tone controls, 5-way switch
- S/S/S pickups
- Seymour Duncan Alnico Pro APS-1 mic set!!! APS-1N, APS-1RWRP, APS-1B
- body is ash and the neck is probably maple, nice pearl dots in the fret, neck is blond
- strat body and finish is normal lacquer, this particular guitar is Natural Birdseye Maple
- bridge style is 2-Point Synchronized Tremolo
- tuners are non-locking chrome
- neck scale "normal", feels good

- I have played the most of my guitar hobby time only with single coil type guitars, I play dance music (pop, rock, fox, beat, walz, "humppa" etc) for example in wedding and christmas parties. I think Fender is very flexible and versatile guitar. I play 2nd guitar.
- I have Line6 Flextone III XL (212) combo and Line6 FBV Shortboard. Then I use Ibanez foot pedal effects like TS7, PH7, PC10 and DDL20
- Fender is noisy on 1st, 3rd and 5th pickup settings
- I think the sound is full enough mostly on the single coil settings and the guitar "sings" nicely when bending. Bright sound is often in the bridge (of course)
- Variety comes when mixing the pickup settings and the tone with the amp. I guess there is more variety than in 1 or 2 pickup guitars?
- Mostly I like the sound but I think the tone controls could be little bit more aggressive, because they don?t cut the sound so effectively. Or they cut it only quite far down position, let?s say in 1-3

- I think the bridge was too loose for me (only 2 strings), otherwise in good condition
- pickups were too low
- everything else was quite ok
- I tightened the tremolo arm by turning it one turn more than it felt, now it is more stable
- the guitar was protected and packed so well, that I didn?t find any marks on it and it had plastic cover on the plastic parts and so on

- I think it is very cool looking guitar live and it feels good in hand
- I guess the hardware is as solid and well made as in the more expensive models...
- the lacquer finish looks like it could last long
- I have played on a gig and usually I don?t have any other guitar than this on live...

- No actual comments, I ordered it outside Finland, everything worked well

- I have played electric guitar for 18 years
- maybe I should have asked more about the electronics especially the tone controls before buying
- I love the looks and the feel of the guitar and I think the Seymour Duncan mic set in this kind of guitar is totally good value for the money!
- I don?t like why the Fender couldn?t make the logo/label like real and like in the mexican-fenders, this is probably better or at least the same class than any of them...
- I think it could keep tune better (maybe had a bad set of too different kinds of strings)
- maybe I would by same guitar again if it was stolen or lost (or maybe some hiway series model...)
- I wish it had more responsive tone system or maybe little better tuners or bridge system to keep it better in tune
- I recommend this model to any serious amateur musician who likes Fender brand and I suggest that you?ll add a 3rd string at the back for more stronger feel for the tremolo, tighten the tuners and use maybe fat 9 or regular/fat 10 series strings in this so you?ll have a perfect all-around blues/rock/pop swinging-tool in your hands!!!

2005 MIK Fender Stratocaster, 22 Fret, solid top/body. Standard Strat controls - master volume and two tones with 5-way selector switch. Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro pups in passive S-S-S configuration.
Natural finish Lite Ash body coated in clear polyurethane, with satin finish birds-eye maple neck.
Two-point tremolo with brass block - similar in style (and dimensions) to American standard version, but of slightly lower quality.
Sealed chromed mini-tuners - using screwless mount which has different dimensions to MIM/MIA standard models.
Neck is boat-shaped, with 25.5 scale, coated in polyurethane that has been de-glossed to appear like unfinished wood - a very nice effect. Medium jumbo frets that are dressed and finished better than MIM standards but not up to MIA standards.
No accessories included.

The Seymour Duncan pups are excellent sounding (check out the Seymour Duncan website for comparison). They do sound different to a regular strat - when clean they sound slightly more nasal (with less bass) and percussive than the more regular chimey classic Strat. They do, however distort well, with a very clean and subtle detail.

The guitar, when behaving itself, is nicely accoustic: better than my '97 MIM strat.

It only had two tremolo springs, which reduced bridge stability, slightly - but not a problem. Tremolo springs and bridge action are a personal choice.

Sound, however, is where the problems began to kick in. I had two of these guitars, and while one of them sounded beautiful, the other sounded like a sitar on the two high strings when they were played open. There were two causes for the problem: a nut that had benn fitted badly, and a bridge/tremolo that was mis-aligned and loose due to large cracks in the body where the mounting studs had been inserted... Not good...

If you get a good one it will sound beautiful. If you get a bad one, it won't. Accept nothing less than beautiful!

As mentioned above, I had two guitars. Both were returned due to poor fit and finish.
One of the two guitars had a faulty nut and serious cracks around the brass studs/inserts that form the tremolo mounting - resulting in a misaligned tremolo and a sound that resembled a sitar. The other guitar had perfect alignment, solid bridge and delightful sound: it was a joy to play. However, once I got it home I found that the polyurethane neck finish was bubbling and peeling away from under the frets. I hadn't noticed this in the store - it is only visible in strong light.

A guitar with perfect fit and finish would represent awesome value for money. However, it would appear that there are enough less than perfect guitars to warrant care.

Both guitars were returned with serious flaws.

Never dealt directly with Fender.

Playing since 97. Learned on a '97 MIM Standard Strat and a Gibson '97 Les Paul Studio through a Fender Blues Junior (yep, you guessed it - '97). Bought the lite ash model as an upgrade to the MIM Standard Strat - I wanted the medium jumbo frets, APS pups, an ash body, boat neck and two point bridge: this was my perfect configuration, and much cheaper than building from parts.

I am disappointed by Fender - $600 is too much to pay for defective guitars. While there will be a beautiful model out there for you if you are willing to search for it, I wasn't prepared to put in the effort.

i bought this guitar 2 months ago from a local music shop for ?500. it is a korean made fender and i think it was made in 2004. from a distance, it appears just as a standard fender stratocaster but a closer look reveals that the body is made of lite ash (very helpful, as ash is not naturally easy on the shoulder). The guitar is also loaded with seymour duncan alnico 2 pro pickups which ROCK (more on that later...) the neck is maple and the fretboard is birdseye maple with abalone dot inlays. the neck has a soft shape somewhere between a C and V shape. there are 22 frets which are medium jumbo; great for bending. the electronics are standard strat configuration (s/s/s, 2 tone 1 volume, 5-way selector switch) which is all I could ever need. The bridge is a 2-point synchronised trem which balances well and stays in tune, even after divebombs. Tuners are Gotoh, I think and they stay where you put them and keep in tune well.

I mainly play blues and country, so a fender seemed the perfect choice. I would have gone for a telecaster instead but I couldn't live without the out-of-phase sounds from positions 2 and 4 on the selector switch. I use this through a fender princeton 65 solid state amp and I use a Dunlop crybaby wah, DOD eq pedal, Boss sd-1 super overdrive and a USA big muff. This guitar is just insane and fender should by rights shoot the person who decided the price on it. The pickups on their own cost around 170-180 pounds on their own when bough seperately, and they are the best strat pickups I have ever tried. As I mentioned earlier, they are seymour duncan alnico 2 pros with a reverse-wound middle pickup (a nice touch- this means that when used with the neck or bridge pickups on positions 2 and 4, it works as a humbucker) these are so sweet and have a refined twang to them. I thought that fender Texas specials were the best strat pickups around until i heard these badboys. They have THE throaty strat growl that is so sought after and was defined by the texas specials. These pickups are so much better in that they are more refined but still have that twang to them. the bridge position is great on its own, especially with overdrive. biting but rich and twangy. position 2 lends a darker edge but still keeps the twang: THE country setting. the middle position is one that i wouldn't normally use, but on this guitar it is amazing. think pride and joy, think johnny.b goode think.......KKKKEEEERRRRRAAAAANNNNNGGGGGG!!!!!!!
my favourite has to be position 4. neck and middle. it is not very often when this position on a strat is both warm and biting. but when loaded up with some rockin' overdrive it just tears down the walls. I use this position almost exclusively for blues, but when I need that extra balls I flip to the neck pickup. this is a singing growly SRV setting, down to the last drop and is great played clean as well. The ash body resonates well, and the volume control is responsive. you can get a great hendrix-y tone by puting on a hint of overdrive, setting the guitar to position 4 and rolling the volume off to about 8. the tone controls aren't so responsive, but i never use them anyway.

the guitar was well set up for guage 10 srings (pffftt!)so I had to put the extra trem spring in and re cut the nut as well as adjusting the truss rod to set it up for 12s The finish is flawless. (a brilliant natural finish) and the whole guitar is really well put together. I recently took the guitar apart and discovered that it is actually routed for a H/S/H pickup configuration. good if you like that sort of thing, but I couldn't help feeling that fender were cutting a few corners here production wise. still, the ludicrous price tag more than compensates for this. The pickup selector is good quality. better than the mexican and USA satndard strats, I thought. The controls are a bit lose, they turn very easily and I prefer something which I can 'feel' but all in all this is well made

I have gigged this many a time and it stands up well to abuse, particullarly whammy bar dives and chucking it about a bit. I have not had this guitar lonh enough to say if it is durable or not, but no problems so far. strap buttons are oversized and chunky. they are great and keep the strap where you put it. I have a habit of breaking strings, so I wouldn't use it without a backup but I trust this guitar with my life

never had to deal with fender, but the shop have been helpful

I was considering buying a mexican strat and gradually upgrading it (pickups, hardware etc.) whenever I had spare money. But i remembered one of these in another local music shop a year ago and i was considering going to london to try and find one. I walked into the shop in my local city and it was just hanging there. I put a deposit on it even though I didn't have half the money of what they were selling it for, but luckily I worked for 3 weeks and bought it a month later. Everythiong about this guitar is perfect to me.

email me @ sphilcox @ yellow.esinet.org.uk if u want to share your thoughts

mentioned below...

This is a great guitar for the price. It's sounds and looks different than most of the strats available today which is why it really jumped out at me. It does sound liek a strat but it can do some other impercinations pretty well. The duncans are pretty good, I would like them even more if they had just a little more clarity but they're definelty musical. I personally think that the finishes on korean guitars are too thick and deaden the resonance a little but that's just me. I've played this guitar through a speedster 25 watt deluxe, a speedster class a 40, a univox custom(wired like a jtm) and a peavey classic 30. it sounded great through all of them.

I purchased it locally and it was already set up and ready to play so that was no big issue. I did a couple mods that will offer a few more sounds out of this already versatile guit, first off i replaced the pots, and then re-wired a new push pull in and now i can have the B pu and the N pu on at the same time or all three pu's in parrelel.
I've never had a problem with it, just treat it decent and it'll do fine.

I've had it for about 10 months and had many gigs with it. One i will mention because I played for mike mcready(guitarist from pearl jam) and talked to him afterward, and he autographed the strat and told me he liked it.
But back to the point I've never had a problem with it, just give it a set up 2-4 times a year and treat it well.

never had too ask anything

It's a great guitar for all styles, and for the price too!
I play so many different styles it's hard to say but i'll name just some of my influences: slash, larry coreal, david bowie, the sex pistols, joe walsh, morphine, SRV, jerry cantrell, david gilmour, and so on.
I have used it live and in the studio and it holds up well. It's not the best guitar out there, It's not going to get you famous, but it's a solid, good sounding player and it can take a beating.

Korean made ash bod birdseye maple neck and fretboarb. Seymore duncan pickups and 5 way switching. Neck has a soft V shape, very similar to 50,s model and the American Claypton model. The finish (at least in the natural model I purcased was beautiful, with no run or visable flaws

The Seymores sound great and give the strat a whole new amviance without trading away those things that make a strat a strat. But the Seymores ARE noisy.

The guitar needed to be set up (as all guitars do) but the edges of the nut were VERY sharp. I ended up replacing the nut with a graphite model but the tech at the stor I purchased the guitar at said that a lot of the nuts on these models (they had quit a few and all were sharp) would be replaced so I guess I got to hit them up for this.

I've had experience with Fender and they're useually pretty good.

I'm 48 and I've played a long time. If it were lost or stolen I'd replace it with the same. I own a lot of guitars and this is one of my favotites

It's all been listed before, but here we go...

Made in Korea Stratocaster featuring a (2-piece from what I can tell) ash body, natural finish, black pickguard/knobs, brass 2-point trem with a chrome top, 3 x Seymour Duncan pups, oversized strap buttons, birdseye maple neck/board, mop dot inlays, medium frets and err... A sort of medium fat C-shaped neck that's very comfy.

It's even better looking than in the pictures, trust me.

I play a bit of everything really... From some countrified sounds over blues, swing, jazz, rock and sometimes all blended together.

First half hour or so I played the guitar "unplugged" and as some others have commented... The guitar resonates very well, most likely due to the ash/maple combo. And experience has taught me that good "unplugged" sounds make for great "plugged in" sounds.

In this case they definitely do!

The Duncans in here are a perfect match it seems. They're fairly quiet for single coils and in combination with the brass block trem they give you quite a long sustain.

The sounds are bright in all positions. Bright, but not brittle. They've got a lot of bite and hurray... Each position actually sounds very different from the others.

For jazz: clean neck pickup with the tone rolled back about halfway. Nice... Adds just the right amount of "wool" and cuts back the brightness just enough.

Blues: well, contrary to some other guitars I have I find most positions have good blues sounds on the Lite Ash Strat. Bridge pup: very bright and almost like a Tele really. Bridge/middle: the usual funky sounds but... Better than usual. Middle/neck: swing baby, swing! Neck: SRV to a tee.

Rock: well, this I wasn't expecting... You can actually get very nice higher gain rock sounds. The pickups retain clarity very well. Bridge pup is a bright screamer and allows you to really rock out on power chords. Switch to the neck pup and you can solo to your heart's content. Even tapping sounds great!

Just for reference, my set-up here was Strat into Fulldrive2 into Laney TF200 (clean channel).

Very well. I have another MIK (Epi SG Vintage) which came just as nicely set up. These Koreans really know what they're doing, I tell ya.

Pickup height, neck pocket, action, finish. As always I inspected the finish for flaws, but couldn't find any.

All I had to do was adjust the tuning a little (it was ALMOST in tune even) and I was ready to go.

I haven't had it that long, but I have faith. Looks about as solid as they come. Finish is Fender nice and thick, neck is smooth, frets are dressed properly. Trem feels sturdy enough (and I'm not a wildman on the trem anyhoo).

Of course... Never gig without a backup, yadda-yadda-yadda. But I think she'll last me a lifetime.

The people at the store are very helpful. I've never had to contact Fender directly.

Here's the deal... For this kind of money it is ab-so-lu-te-ly the best Strat you can buy. Think about it... It only costs a fraction more than a MIM Standard, but you get... A better trem, better tuners, birdseye maple neck, Seymour Duncans, ash body,...

If you're looking for a Strat today and you don't even consider this one... You're an idiot. Don't mean to be offensive, but this MIK is just as good and in some respects better than some MIA Strats at a fraction of the cost.

If stolen/lost I would buy another in a heartbeat.

2005 Light Ash Strat

This is your typical strat design. It is super light and has a flawless gloss finished, figured ash. What is not typical about this model is that it's loaded with Seymour Duncan pickups, which sound amazing (more on that later). Build quality is basically flawless. The neck is satin finished and a rather hard V shape. Very comfortable and it plays like butter. Setup was perfect from the factory. The trem is brass (not common for newer fenders). This guitar looks killer!

I'm pretty much a funk rhythm type player (thus the strat), but this guitar can do so much more. The sound is incredible. I sat down for a long time in the store and directly compared it to US Strats, standards, Jimmy Vaughn's, and a few other strat types. I have never heard a strat that sounds so good. Each position on the 5 way selector gives a distinct and useful tone. In the past, I have really only used the B/M and M positions on my strats. On this guitar all positions are very useful. It's hard to explain the sound of a guitar and it's so subjective anyway... but I'll try:

This guitar has a very full, glassy strat tone. The light ash gives it a very pleasant resonance. I would call it more "full" than a typical strat. It's not overly dark or extremely bright, but a little of both. It "shimmers." The neck pickup gives an awesome rhythm sound or full lead sound. The Neck/Middle gives the familiar "quack" of a strat (this is my favorite position). Great for laying down a funk groove. Middle position gives a sharper, yet still full sound. Middle/Bridge gives the "quack" again, but a bit sharper. And in the bridge position, it is not overly thin and trebly like a typical strat. A very useful sound on this guitar. It cuts through without being annoying.

This is the best sounding strat I've ever owned, or heard for that matter. I can't put the thing down!

Very comfortable neck. It was set up perfectly from the factory--that in itself is not at all typical. The finish is totally flawless-perfect. The hardware is good quality, but fairly standard--except the killer SD pickups and brass trem block. Neck joint is tight.

I've nearly always had very reliable guitars and basses from Fender. And believe me, I could set the world record on the number of instruments owned in the past!

I've never had to deal directly with Fender.

This is a great value for an outstanding guitar. Keep in mind though, that you need to try before you buy. For any given guitar, there are great ones and "dogs." I definately did not get a "dog." I'm sure they exist for this model, but I'll tell you, if you get a good Light Ash Strat, you will be WAY beyond satisfied. My other axes are collecting dust since I got this one. It totally smokes my other Strats (some are twice as expensive).

2004 model

What can I say that has not been said? It's a great strat, and I don't mean great for a strat from Korea, I mean a great strat period.

This strat has it all

Nice meaty sound with pickups a little hotter than standard strat pickups, but still in the range of single coils that retain depth and character.

The sound is bright, glassy, and hot all at the same time. Some other reviewers who have already commented pretty much nailed it when they said it has alot of resonance, I noticed that unplugged before I even cranked it through the various tube amps at the store. I must say I am impressed with the sound a whole lot, theres no need to be worried about finding some pickups for this thing - I think the seymour duncan alnico pro II are the perfect match for this guitar.

I cannot find one thing wrong with the model I chose, but there were others in the store with less than perfect finishes. So just like any other strat model you really need to play through many of the same kind and find the best one. Its amazing how 2 identical guitars can feel and sound so different, but I take that as a good thing. You can really hunt around and find the one for you.

The wood was a nice choice, the neck is smooth and a real treat to play on, the frets were finished smoothly and I cannot find any thing wrong with the build and quality of this particular guitar - but like I said, play a few before buying one, that goes for any guitar purchase.

Ive gigged with it for 4 months now and it has held its own. Actually it seems just as solid and stable as my american strats that are always with me so I can have a choice during song, and this is the guitar I seem to reach for the most.

Not only does it feel as solid as my american deluxe, it looks much better and for most all the material I play it even sounds better. I thought this would be my backup guitar, but after a few weeks with it I knew it was going to be my main axe whether on the road or recording.

Dont know

I have to give this guitar a 9, and Ill try and keep it brief as I tell you why.

Forget the fact that this is not an american made instrument - I have 3 of those that I bring to my shows every time I gig, and after a few weeks with it I started to realize how much I liked it better than the others. I was reaching for it more often and it really holds its own under gigging abuse. So for the past 3-4 months Ive used it, I would say 90% of the time Im playing live I have used the lite ash, so I started leaving 2 MIA strats at home and just bringing 1 MIA strat as a backup.....to my lite ash! One of the best purchases I have made in a long time.

I think Im going to go check out the lite ash tele and see if I can find 1 that is as well made as this strat, if so it will be mine no doubt about it

This is an update to my prior review. I just played this thing at gig levels for the first time last night and the resonance is unbelievable. It's fat and warm, but still classic. It seems to sustain forever, even on a completely clean setting. This one's a keeper.

Just noticed that this thing has a solid brass tailpiece with a chrome plated top (which is evident when you change the strings for the first time)! I don't think Fender even makes note of this in the specs, but this is definately an upgrade from AM Standard hardware. This almosts certainly contributes to the never ending sustain on this Strat. I was going to put a brass nut on this, but I'm afraid it wouldn't stop ringing even when I mute the strings! Tuners still look kind of generic but seem smooth and problem free.

As far as I know, this is a Korean made, 2004 model. It has 22 frets and is a solid top, solid body guitar. The Standard strat pickup configuration and controls are present (SSS - 1V, 2T). This Strat comes stock with passive Seymour Duncan pickups. The body is Ash and the neck is maple, with a birds-eye maple fingerboard. This finish is that traditional American thick laquer finish. Standard string-through-body tremolo bridge. I'm not sure about the tuners. No accessories included, but the store threw in a gig bag (and then some). It has some nice inlay on the neck, as well.

I play all styles of music (really! classical -> metal; country -> pop). So that 'Strat' sound has to be in my repetoire. I can get those traditional strat tones, but the duncans are warmer and have more presence and depth than the standard American pickups. The bridge pickup is also hot enough to crank out some serious heavy rock, though it won't pass for metal (no passive single coil I've enountered does). This will probably take over as my main guitar. Although there is no noise cancellation employed in the pickups (that I'm aware of), they aren't as noisy as the stock pickups on my 84 American Standard. I guess they're sheilded and potted well. Sounds incredibly warm. I can achieve those classic Fender tones even through my solid state amp! The high-quality Ash body helps with the warmth.

The finish is gorgeous for an import. The factory setup was decent, but I'll probably fine-tune it at some point. No flaws that I've noticed in the finish or other wise. All the harware is standard American issue, so the quality is good. The tuners look a little iffy, but they haven't caused me any problems to date.

This is definately a blast from the past, as far as strat durability goes! Very solid construction. The finish is very thick and hard. Let's be realisic, I wouldn't use any guitar on a gig without a backup. I've been let down by some of my most reliable guitars over the years. This guitar seems like it would stand up to substantial punishment, but I don't intend to find out!

All my dealings with Musicstop, where I bought the guitar, have been very pleasant. They cherish their customer relationships. I would (and have) payed more for equipment there to get the service I trust.

I did have a problem with the tremolo on my 84 strat shorly after buying it and Musicstop took care of dealing with Fender for me. Both companies worked to resolve the issue quickly.

Excellent guitar. I played a lot of higher priced strats and it outplayed a lot of the American Standard ones and the sound was far superior. This has a chunkier neck than many strats, but no too much so (I've played chunkier necks on strats); I find it quick comfortable and similar to my Yamaha SG. If you need a real strat in this price range, don't get hung up on the fact that this is assembled in Korea; it out plays and out sounds the Hiway 1 strats. This is a quality instrument, all the way around.

Recently made, not sure about the year. Made in Korea
22 frets. Solid Ash body with transparent blonde finish and black single ply pick guard. One volume, 2 tone, 5-way selector switch. S/S/S pickup config. which are Seymour Duncans. All passive electronics. Ash body, birdseye maple neck (not highly figured), birdseye maple fingerboard (highly figured). Point Classice vibrato. Standard cheap-ass tuners. Medium jumbo frets, 25.5" scale. Neck is on the fatter side, but not as bad as the really chunky Fender necks I've come accross...a nice happy medium. Came with a gig bag, an allen wrench for the truss rod (that was the wrong size!--But I don't blame fender for that. The music store I bought it from probably just gave me the wrong accessories.) This guitar might rate higher in this category if I wasn't going to have to replace the tuners and the pickups.

Honestly, I was never a Fender fan. I thought they were over-priced junk. Well, fender is still over-priced, especially for their American versions, but I now realize what all the fuss is about over stratocasters. I'm in love with the resonance and character of tones I can get from this guitar. I'm not happy with the original set-up of the guitar, I'm not happy with the god damned tuners, I'm not happy with the noisy pickups, and I'm not sure if I might have to eventually replace the bridge (with a Wilkenson if necessary), but I AM mighty happy with the tone. I had the privelege of owning a US Masters Artist guitar for 4 years that had a bolt on birdseye maple neck. I love the stuff, so when I saw this beauty hanging on the wall with a similar neck, I had to try it out. The damn things feels so solid when you heft it. Too many times I've picked up strats or strat knock-offs that felt flimsy. This guitar also resonates like there's no tomorrow. I have no idea if I just got lucky, or if this is inherent with good strats, but I'm very happy tonewise. The maple fingerboard allows me to play very dynamically. The Seymour Duncans (staggered pole single coils) are very responsive, but don't react to high gain well. They are extremely noisy. Again, I've been spoiled by other guitars. 2 of my guitars have EMG's and I will soon be adding them to this guitar. They're worth their price for their noise reduction alone. And yes, I am a fan of EMG tone. I know some don't like the way they sound. I drive a lot of effects, and EMG's do a spectacular job of pushing a clear, dynamic signal through with loads of sustain. They're also excellent for direct recording applications (which I exploit). I play speed/death/thrash metal schizophrenically mixed with extremly clean runs, and even some bluesier stuff. A strat was not the logical choice for my playing, I just got their by accident. I picked up a Yamaha RGZ112P fat-strat knock off at a local store and immediately noticed its range of tones and sonic character. When in high gain, it gives a sparkle to chords and maintains more of an acoustic vibe in playing than other types of solid body guitars. Tonewise, I'd put that yamaha up against a lot of other more expensive guitars and come out ahead. I feel it has to do with the routing under the pickguards of strats that gives them their sound and brilliance. For cleans, for blues, nothing beats a good strat. What I didn't expect was that that would be the case for down-tuned thrash and death metal. I'm not kidding. With the right pickups, your strat is now a fire breathing monster. I always wondered why the lead guitarist of Obituary used strats. Now I know his secret.

Bottom line: this is a bit of a fixer-upper because the components are cheap and/or not up to par for my music, so marks off most notably for the SHITTY tuners. They're worse than the ones on my $150 Yamaha!

I wasn't happy with the set-up on this guitar, but it wasn't Fenders fault. The guitar tech employed where I bought the guitar either was a complete moron, or the Iowa winter weather played hell with the action. When I bought it, it was buzzing from the 9th fret up on all strings. I knew it wouldn't be a difficult fix, so I didn't think much of it. Pickups were at a good height, no complaints. Each of the single coils is very noisy on its own. If you within a mile of a flourescent light, you're not going to be happy. I've had experience with other single coils that had the same problem, so it's not such a huge deal, but would it kill Seymour Duncan to take some noise reduction into their designs for this pickup? I suppose people would be worried about losing out on "classic tone"...even though they're all going to run the signal from this guitar into a noise gate that could conceivably negate their tone anyway...heh. All the assembly matters were perfectly in hand. Solid finish, solid neck joint assembly, solid routing (and I checked under the pickguard after getting it home. Fretwork was excellent. Quality of materials was top notch. Electronics however are kinda crappy...seem cheap.

all in all, I'm happy with the base guitar and the execution of the assembly, just not with some of the components.

This guitar should be able to handle most of what you can through at it. Feels very solid. But, I haven't tested that out yet. However, the tuners will make your life miserable live. A few energetic vibratos or bends on any string will yank you out of tune quickly.

I've played for a long damn time, 15 years. I own a couple of other guitars now (an ESP 7 string with EMG 707's and the aformentioned Yamaha strat)..although I've owned quite a few over the years. This guitar was a good buy for me because I could tell it had lots of potential and I really like the way it looks. The tone is excellent, and the versatility that Fender's modular design allows for is a great advantage for a tinkerer like me. I hate the tuners, and dislike the pickups. Finish is brilliant, neck is perfection. I compared this to ESP's, Les Paul knock-offs (can't afford Gibsons and Epiphone guitars suck), BC Rich, US Masters guitars (wonderful, wonderful tone, but I could never get used to the string geometry), Yamaha Pacificas, Peavey guitars, Jackson dinkys, and none of them can match this guitar for versatility and expression. This guitar is great if you're willing to take the money and time to soup it up.

Korean made guitar, birds eye maple neck and fretboard, and a two piece ash body. The three Seymour Duncan PU's are fitted in a black scratchplate, volume, tone, tone knobs - the rest of the hardware in chrome.
The body is thick glossy transparent laquer, the neck is finished in matte laquer.
The tuners seem to be Gotoh, the tremelo is the same as on American standards - the fulcrum type of thing.
The PU's are Singlecoil Alnico II, and the middle PU is reversed poled/reversed wound for the strat in between sounds. Due to the make of the PU's, the sustain is long, the tone brite and clear.

I play mostly bassguitars in a bandsituation, but if I play guitar, I like to play from blues to rock, and then some metal. I either use a Line6 POD2, a 1973 Fender Champ or a Trace Elliot Super Tramp 100. Stompboxes much used with both amplifiers are a Reverend Drivetrain and a Danelectro Wasabi ASX-1 Distortion.

For a singlecoil guitar, this Fender is really quiet, only with real high gain settings it shows it's inherent noisy character. The overal sound is bright and clear, there is lots of variaty, and goes further then most "real american strats" go. Even hardrock/metal things can be played on this one. Funk, pop and blues are so easy done on this guitar, so fluid and refined, it's hard to put down this guitar. The onlu strange thing, but typical, are the tone controls working only on the neck- and middle PU, not on the bridge PU. This is easily fixed with a small mod.

Out of the box, the setup was a bit high, so at home I attached the third tremelo spring, and adjusted the setup. The routing, and pickup placement where perfect in line, and the overall finish is flawless. No laquer drips, littlecracks or what so ever. Only the nut might need some attention, it's a bit rough cutted.

Without a trace of doubt: this is a musical workhorse. I think you can take on tour without any problems. Everything is solid build, and the laquer is well put on. The standard suplied strap buttons are solid too, and I would do a performance without a backup. Yes a string could break, but that's possible on every guitar. So bring in the gigs..........

Never dealt with them, so I could not tell you.

I play music for twenty something year, but mostly as bassplayer. I like to collect and play guitars, so that's why I bought this one too. This is a Strat as Strats should be, the whole guitar oozes quality. In comparison to other Strats it has more features for the buck. (birdseyemaple,Seymour Duncan PU's). Maybe that guitars like this one break the spell of the fairy that only American made guitars are decent. I played a lot of USA strats that where not any better than this one, and also played a lot of them that where worse.
As far as the second hand market goes: an USA made instrument does it better second hand I guess, but that has nothing to do with playability.

Made in Korea 2004
22 frets
s/s/s Seymor Duncan pickups
Birds eye maple neck/birds eye maple fretboard
ash body with clear finish
black singleply pickguard

I gave features a 9 because of the beautiful birds eye maple wood used for the neck and fretboard. It really stands out and is a show piece. The SD pickups come stock which is another added bonus. Other then that it is just your standard strat.

I play classic rock and a bit of harder rock. Unplugged this guitar resonnates very well. The ash body gives the sound a unique character which some may perfer. Plugged into a JCM marshall halfstack and a crate 212 tube amp this guitar is remarkably silent compared to other strats. No noisier than an American strat and definately quieter than a mexican. It sounds very snappy/twangy with the treble being a bit bright for my tastes. A tweak of the tone knob makes it perfect. Like any strat you can dial just about any tone out of it. I actually don't find the SD p/u's extremely impressive, they sound a lot like standard american pickups. They suit my music and I have another thing to brag about.

Excellent finish, on par with American strats. Action was nice and low with zero fret buzz. Everything was properly adjusted right from factory. The only problem is the nut isn't as precisely fit as the american models. It fits the groove cut for it but the edges are a little rough.

rock solid. I personally would not gig with this because it is so beautiful and I don't want to damage it, but thats me.

never had to deal with fender, wouldn't know. Came with 1 yr warentee

I have been playing for 5 years, I play through a Crate 50 watt 212 tube amp. I have an imitation strat, and have played many many strats. This is undisputedly the BEST strat out there for the price. I had a long discussion with the owner of the store and we both agree that a guitar with these features MIA would cost well over 1500. This guitar is beautiful and worth every penny. I was surprised a made in a korea guitar would have such spectacular fit/finish. I do not doubt korean quality control any more. After all Epiphone makes great guitars and they are MIK as well.

2004 Lite Ash Stratocaster. Look at Fender.com for specs. The natural finish looks just like the ones from the 70s. They come in black and antique white now.

Great tone. I play blue/rock. Not a metal guitar, guess it could be if you swaped out the pickups.
The Duncans work really well with the light ash.
The neck pu is very warm and full and a little dark, but I like it.
The bridge is very bright with a lot of bite, will cut through during solos. The middle pu is reverse wound.
I can get Peppers to Clapton on this guitar. Great range.
I really love the tone of this strat.
Sweet, sweet tone. Through a pignose, it sounds just like a couple of those songs on Layla, no joke! I would like to check out some Bareknuckle pickups in this thing.

The action was a bit high when I bought it, but I got it at a GC. I am shure a couple of rug rats banged on it before I got to it.
So I had it set up by my tech, so what, I have with every guitar I own. The birdseye maple neck feels great and is beautiful. Great fret work. Not all of them have as many of the little birdseyes as mine does, look around before you buy. The build of the guitar is awesome, no joke. Better than most of the American deluxes I have played. Great frets, neck, body and hardware. I will probably upgrade the tuners. They did not print Stratocaster on the head stock. Lame!!!

This is a very sturdy guitar. Very large strap buttons, good so it wont pop out of a strap hole while wailing. I do not think you would need back up for this guitar. Thick glossy finish.

I have freinds at Fender and they have always been great to me, so I have never really called customer support. I will tell you that they take a lot of pride in Fender and what they do, so I imagine they would help you out.

Been playing for 17 years off and on. 10 seriously.
If you are looking for a strat, you would have to be brain damaged to not check out this guitar. Seriously, for $600, you get a awesome guitar. And I am very critical of guitars. I wish that it came with a case or at least a gig bag. Love every thing about it.

Look at another review

I am a lead guitarist, and I play everything from clean blues to Kirk-Hammett style distorted lead.

I've been wanting a new guitar for a while and finally had the means to go and get one. Normally when I go to GC I don't even give the Strats they have a second glance, and usually head for the higher-end Jacksons, Ibanez, or Musicman (like Petrucci's signature), looking for a good lead-style guitar.

What drew me to this Strat was the color scheme, the birdseye maple neck, and those two words you always want to see on your pickups: Seymour, and Duncan. I had never seen a Strat like this one before, and the price was very, very friendly to my pre-meditated budget, so my curiosity got the best of me, and I put down Satriani's Ibanez to give this interesting new Strat a try.

I could not put this guitar down! The neck was suprisingly easy to play considering other Strat's I've less-than-successfully tried to rock out hardcore on, the action was great, and the pickups were just oozing with that great, defined, ballsy tone. Even distorted, which is usually where I put my foot down and say "single coils are not for me," this guitar kicked some serious ass and gave me a really great distorted rhythm and lead sound. Any amp I put this thing through it sounded amazing, and I had so much fun with it I ended up playing it until I broke a string, and it was the first time in my life I was actually hoping to hear the words "You break it, you bought it!"

The action on this guitar was great! This is another one of the reason I usually leave the Strats at the store alone, because I can usually just see by looking at those guitars that the action seems uncomfortably high. Playing this guitar felt as doable as playing one of the virtuoso's signature guitars with the fast shredder necks. Only difference was this guitar gave a much cooler tone.

The pickups were adjusted very professionally. They were staggered just right, including the neck pickup being noticably lowered in order to avoid that pickup catching harmonics and pushing the strings out of tune.

The finish was just beautiful, I've always wanted woodgrain.

I've been going to the same old guitar shop guy for 4 years, and seeing as how it wasn't technically an American-made strat, I decided to go ahead and bring it to him to take a look, to make sure the guitar wasn't made of cheap parts that would fall apart in a few years. He was very impressed with the guitar and said it felt, played, and sounded just like the old classic fender strats.

The oversized strap buttons are a definite plus for me, because my strap is cursed and has a bad habit of escaping strap buttons.

I would use this guitar in a gig without a backup if I absolutely had to, but I always like to have a backup, not matter what my main guitar is. You never know what might happen.

I've been playing for 4 years but have practices vigorously and and a pretty good lead guitarist (Got to store finals in Guitarmaggedon). I have an old 97 Crate GXT-212 with pre-amp tubes, and a Fender Ultimate Chorus 2x12. This guitar sounds killer in both amps. If this guitar were stolen or lost, I would definitely try to find another one as close to it as possible.

I love the way this guitar is just so damn beefy and ballsy, its got a really mean streak to it - along with sounding excellent played clean - that other Strats I have ever played just did not have. I still have to get used to the humming noise of the single coils - perhaps get a noise gate or something to deal with that.

My favorite features are the birdseye maple neck/fingerboard, the duncan pickups, and the tremolo.

I compared this guitar to a Jackson SL-1 USA Soloist, an Ibanez Joe Satriani model, a Musicman John Petrucci model, and I chose this guitar because it was able to match the playability of those shred-guitars, yet its awesome tone just blew me and the other guitars away. Of all the things I saw myself possibly walking out of Guitar Center with that day, Strat was definitely not at the top of my list - this guitar really surprised me, and I definitely had no previous bias to buy it!

Things I did wish it had (and this is just me and my stupid over the top fantasies) is 24 frets and locking tuners, but that just wouldnt be a Strat anymore (especially with 24 frets).

This guitar turned me into a single-coil fan!