Fender Prodigy

I purchased my prodigy new, well sort of, it was the demo guitar used for the new amps, I liked it better than the other new guitars in the shop and the price was pretty reasonable so I purchased it. Its black with a black guard and the fretboard is not rosewood but clear.

The sound is the main reason I purchased this guitar, it has a very clean sound and long sustain. I once loaned it to someone for a gig and he didn't want to give it back. It has been used in many recording sessions and its strengths, well for this guitar anyway, is its clean consistent sound across the spectrum.

The action is very good, but I think the overall shape and colour scheme is not that exciting, but I don't really care for that. Love the frets and the comfortable neck size.

So, so. The pots have gone crackly and the selector switch is a bit worn. The plug for the lead has always been dubious. Other than that the paint and wood work have stood up to time and the guitar still holds it tuning well.

Been playing for 20 od years and also play other stringed instruments other than the guitar. Been very happy with this instrument and it currently fulfills all my guitar playing requirements.

Made in 1991/1992. has kalher tremolo. Haf 22frets plays like a dream, also have American vintage strat, and I put them in the same class.Cool red paint job, black pickguard, Humbucker in the bridge, single in the middle and the neck.
I added SD pickups (59 trembucker in the bridge and hot rail in neck) and split switch for the bridge PU. sound nice, but I will put little 59' in neck Pu slot some day. disconnected the tone pot (never use it) and I can't see the problem with the input jack, I'm never that drunk I brake my pickguard, just put the cable behind the strap and every thing will be fine.

with the SD pickups, sound amazing. great tone all the way, have this guitar in D tune,(DGCFAD) and it just sounds great. Play mostly 80's Rock/heavy metal with a little blend of Blues. have Hiwatt amps and some randalls.
This guitar will shred like a MF and witl alot of feel.

Action very nice. Fits like a glove. Finish (well it's not finnish it's american ;) ) PLays very fast, even compare to my jackson guitars. neck feels like it's made for you..

done copule of gigs with it, few recording sessions, and it never let me down.
Note, I got the guitar without eletronics, so everything there is new.

The fender dealers doesent seems to be very bright. the could't order a HSH pickguard for me.

Been playing since 2000. have had many guitars, got this one in 2003, and never even tought of selling it. so there you go.

1991 Made in U.S.A 4 string with active electronics. Precision and Jazz Bass Pickups with Stacked Knobs for Volume, Pickup Control, Bass and Treble makes it a very versitle Bass. Thin Jazz profile Maple neck and a Rosewood Fretboard, the body is very light I assume it is Alder. The body shape is much like a Areodyne Jazz Bass.

This is the Swiss Army Knife in the Bass world. From Mowntown Funk to Thumpin Jazz or Mellow Blues this Bass can get the Sound. The only player I have ever seen with one is the original Gun's and Roses Bassist so I figure he felt it covered straight ahead Rock and Roll. I use it with an Ampeg SVT and a 4-10 Cab the Jazz Pickup is very bright and clear the P pickup is staight on warm and rich P Bass sound with a Kick and when blended the Bass really shines. I am suprised Fender discontinued this model.

I bought the Bass used and it was set up just right. I can't say that it was straight from the factory but the Neck is perfect. The Fretwork is flawless and the Action is perfect on this Bass. I rate it a 9 only because I bought it used and can't speak fo the original condition from the factory.

15 years old and other than changing the Battery and adjusting the truss rod one time it has been a very durable Bass. I play this Bass often and it has held up for the 10 years that I have owned it. I'm confident that I can gig withut a backup but I never do.

I have never had a problem with this Bass but I have dealt with Fender in the past and found them to be very helpful. Not very much information on this Bass to be found on the net. The Bass seems to be a rare piece. You can find some things on the Prodigy Guitar which I understand not to be as nice as the Basses.

I have been playing for 25 years, I own a 1975 P-Bass, 1967 EB-3, Epiphone Jack Cassidy Bass, Tobias Killer B-4, Gibson Thunderbird and a Yamaha 5 String and a Warrior-4. This Bass is as good or better than any of the other Basses that I own. If it were lost or stolen I would have a hard time finding another one but I would search until I did. If you have the chnce to pick one up I would suggest you buy it. I have played alot of Basses over the years and for what I paid it plays better than High End Basses in the $1500 range.

Bought in 1992 when I was looking for a Strat Plus but couldn't find anything I was happy with. It's mettalic blue with a maple neck & strat style trem, which is probably it's worst feature.I seem to recall they did one with a Khaler trem, & I've always regretted not getting that. I've modified it with a couple of switches, one to coil tap the bridge humbucker and one that bypasses the 5 way switch on the neck pickup (thereby allowing neck & bridge together or all three pickups at once!)

Really, this has all the sounds I want from a solid body. Use the neck or neck & middle combinations the most. Use it with a Vox AD15 modelling amp or an old AC30. The single coils can be a little noisy, but I like the tone so much I don't want to change them for vintage noiseless...

As i recall it played fine when i bought it...

It's been dragged around with me from place to place for 14 years and nothing's dropped off! The trem is a pain though as it really goes out of tune if you use it.

never used

Playing 29 years, own various acoustics, basses & electrics: suffice to say I regard this one as MY guitar.I feel immediately comfortable when i play it & it has the character I was looking for & never found with strats. It's interesting how many people say they'd hate to lose it & they'd buy one again etc. I agree.-It's better than the specs suggest.

My Prodigy is a 1991 S/N N1003960.I bought it used last year for $400. I imagine it's a typical American/Mexican combo. It's got 22 frets,rosewood over maple neck, and a white body. Mine has been hotrodded,with a blue sensor lace in the neck position and a Seymour Duncan replacing the humbucker,all 3 white!? The tremalo is a Kahler Spyder with the "pesky" loose whammy bar! It has Fender locking tuners.
I bought a cord with a 90 degree jack and tied it off to the rear strap hook with a black plastic harness (home made). It works great and looks good!

This is a totally under rated guitar! I'm for the most part a rythum guitarist and play some blues, early rock, and alot of funky barr chords and this guitar kicks ass! I use to play it through a digital processor that,unfortunately was'nt mine. With effects pedals, who needs a second tone pot! It will go from smokey soft chick magnet to head banging rude .

I bought it used, as I said, so I don't know about factory set-up but I needed to take it in for a bridge harmonics tune up. The action was already light and easy. I did notice the black mat finish on the brass harware was begining to carrode a little on the tremalo. The finish is still nice, with a few minor scratches on the back.

If you play on stage, I would'nt hesitate to make this a primary guitar in your line up! My guitar shop guy said mine was a nice "mut",and from a Fender dealer that's a compliment! I like that they are not a main stream Stratocaster.

I've delt with a local Fender dealer and he was pleasant and helpful.

I've played acoustical flat tops for years and always wanted a strat. I've played alot of friends electrics though, and alot of brands, and this is probably a more versatile guitar than many. It would make a good choice for studio work. And with the bad rap they are still a bargain if you can find one.

I'm not sure when this was made. Features are about what everyone else has described, humbucker in bridge, single coils in neck and middle positions. I bought this guitar in a pawn shop just to have something to play. I had recently found myself broke and without a band, so I sold my Standard Strat and Twin Reverb, replacing it with this guitar and an old Roland Cube 60. I don't care for the looks much -- too angular, but in terms of function, its perfect.

The bridge pickup shorted out, and I didn't fix it for several years. After a while I started playing out again in a "progressive punk" (for lack of a better term) band, and upgraded to a Gibson The Paul while the Prodigy sat around collecting dust. Recently I finally fixed the pickup, plugged in in through my old Peavey VTM 120 half stack and was blown away! I never realized what a great guitar I had been sitting on. It plays beautifully, the humbucker gives it a fatter tone (the main reason I switched to Gibsons), and this $125 guitar has replaced my $900 guitar as my main instrument. I would prefer separate volume and tone controls for the neck pickup (Again, used to Gibsons), but I can work with it.

Have no idea how the factory set-up was. I bought it with a busted pickguard, replaced it and dialed it in myself. As I said the humbucker died on me, but it was just a loose connection, and once I got around to taking it apart, it only took a few minutes to fix.

This thing has been largely neglected for most of the 7 years I have owned it, but once I cleaned it up it played like a new instrument and feels really solid in your hands, in spite of the light weight. I have played several gigs with it. I always play with a backup, but that's only because I hate changing strings on stage. Otherwise I have complete faith in it.

N/A

Playing for 15 years. Use a Peavey VTM 120 half-stack. I used to have a bunch of effects, but now I just have the Prodigy, the amp overdrive and a volume knob. I still play my Gibson and like it, but it doesn't have the punch of the Prodigy and doesn't play as smoothly. If it were stolen or lost, I would hunt down another. Fortunately they can still be found pretty cheap on eBay, so I probably should talk trash about this guitar so people don't drive up demand.

average features for an electric guitar... whattaya want?

i play loud and hard... and thats why I own 2 Fender Prodigy's, I hunted them down on eBay after using a friends Prodigy a while back. They were both midnight blue with black pickguards, but I had them painted and customized. I gutted one and put in 2 EMG active humbuckers with a 3-way toggle(tele-style). The reason I love these guitars is because they have the locking system, yet I don't have to look like Dimebag while playing one. You can run a ton of gain through them without getting that Strat squeal.

Action is a dream, it's a tad smaller than a strat... a little pointier (at the horns), but it's no BC Rich.

I've used the head of this guitar to smash cymbals on stage (I don't advocate that), but these things stay in tune... Forever.

The hardware is awesome, just make sure you keep those nut locks tight, or you'll lose them while playing... and that "spyder" locking system is out of production... hard to find replacements. the nutlock pieces are cut at slant too, so you can't fit standard ones on, not properly anyhow.

the strap bolts will give way after a while. But you just get a longer bolt and drive that in... some wood glue/lock-tite can't hurt either.

support?

I run these guitars through a Mesa dual rectifier w/Mesa 4X12 cab.
if this was stolen, i would go to ebay and definately buy another.

I only wish the hardware was still in production, to get cleaner/new replacement parts. Some of the fine-tuning pins are getting rusty.

1991 (USA/Mexico) HSS with standard Strat bridge. Only one tone knob and this is a problem for me.

The stock single coils are ceramic and sound very similar to the original pickups I had in my Mexican Strat. I suspect the humbucker is also ceramic. I find ceramic pickups to be quite grunty but a bit dull, as though my amp's speaker has been padded with cotton wool. I'll keep the single coils as they are but I'm looking at replacing the humbucker with an Alnico pickup.

I run my guitars through a few effects like overdrive, phase and chorus (ocassionally an octaver) into a Traynor YCV20 tube combo. The prodigy can certainly rock with the overdrive cranked but I am after a bit more clarity from the humbucker.

In terms of fit and finish, the neck pocket on mine is not the prettiest I've seen; there is a reasonable gap between the neck and pocket. The cavities could also have been cleaned out better after routing.

The neck is very similar to my Mexican Strat but for some reason the Prodigy was much easier to intonate than any of my other guitars.

I bought my Prodigy second hand off Ebay. The previous owner(s) had not "loved" the guitar. Fortunately for me, most of the neglect was superficial and after a full strip down, clean and polish it looks great and plays well too.

As others have mentioned already, the output jack is in a stupid location and my pickguard shows obvious signs of someone having stood on the cable. I am considering my options with the output jack. I would really like an additional tone pot so will either fit a Strat or a Tele style jack (not sure which) and then install another tone pot in place of the current jack.

???

I've been playing since 1981 and own several other Fender guitars. I bought the Prodigy mainly for the humbucker in the bridge position as my other guitars are all single coil.

The feature I like most about this guitar is the weight. It is the lightest solid body I've ever played. I'm in the process of putting a band together and can see the Prodigy being my main gigging guitar due to its versatility and low weight.

My overall rating here is based on "Stock". With a few minor modifications this guitar will stay in my collection for a long time.

Made in may 1991. Black with a black pickguard. Default tremelo bridge. Maple neck with a rosewood top. 22 frets. 2 single coils and 1 humbucker in bridge position. 5 position switch.

Combination of single coils and a humbucker makes the sound of this Fender versatile. Sound of the single coils is not the same as my seventies stratocasters (I have 3 stratocasters from the seventies)but very useful. The humbucker sounds well for solo and rythm.

When I bought this guitar (second hand) the setup was terrible. It took a couple of hours to setup this instrument. Now it's playing like a dream. The neck is one of the best Fender necks I have ever played on. The body is smaller (and light) than a stratocaster. This makes it easy to play the guitar for hours without any problem.

The jack in the pickguard is not a solid construction (be careful with the cable). The frets seems soft and wear out too fast. The rest is OK.

NA

I have been playing for more than 30 years. Own a lot of guitars (Fender, Gibson, Music Man, most of them from the seventies / begin eighties). The Fender Prodigy is a very useful guitar and is not expensive. It is only made for two years. Buy one if you can!

Ive got a White Fender Prodigy. Two single coils and a Humbicker in the bridge. I bought it in 91 or 92(?) for @$300 at a local guitar shop called The Guitar Shop. I ironically bought it from a guy named Billy Seigle or I think at one point he changed his name to Billy Seige fo some reason(?). He now works for Fender as their artist rep or something like that. He works with artists in designing their signature guitars I think. Anyway he is a pretty big-wig over there.

I have had several other guitars since, but I am always impressed with the playability and crafsmanship of this one. Its not my main guitar, but I have gigged a lot with it in the past and it still looks and plays great althought I have worn the frets out some.

I do agree with the jack problem. I also stepped on my cord once and althought I didnt break the pickguard, it bent a lot and still has a bit of warp to it and the jack is crooked. I was just thinking of installing a regular fender jack in the guitar.

I am also considering putting on a new pickguard with three single coils because while the single coils on this guitar sound great, I am not a fan of the humbucker except on a Gibson. I dont really play much heavy stuff anymore, it was good about ten years ago for me, but now I would prefer single coils. I am thinking of this because the guitar plays so well and fells nice in my hands, particularly the neck. It is a lot better than new fenders I was trying out a few days ago. The neck is a little chunky and real smooth.

It is white with a black/white/black pickguard, Looks like a maple neck with the dark wood (rosewood?) fingerboard, Standard tremello and tuners. Virtually no dings even though it has taken a few hits. Its a tough well made guitar. Some of the hardware like the bridge saddles are sort of corroded or appear to be eaten away by sweat or something. It didnt come with a case for the $300 in 92.

Ive never had a problem with it. I think I replaced a pot once. Its been all over the country in different weather- hot, cold, wet, dry, sandy whatever. Ive never had to adjust the neck or anything and its always had very good action.
It doesnt have a perfect, open, ringy strat sound like my main strat. I think this may be because of the heavy finish or the pickups, or a combination of factors, but it still sounds pretty good.

A little muddy sounding compared to a real good strat.

Very good action, fit and finish. Someone took time and made this guitar real smooth and nice. Unlike modern Standard strats or made in Mex strats.

OUtstanding in this one. Everything inthis category: Withstand live playing, hardware, finish, strap buttons, canyou depend on it, use on a gig without a backup?

I would say everything except bridge saddles made of die-cast alloy that is corroding faster than regular pressed steel saddles.

I would always have a backup, but not because of anything wrong with this guitar.

See above