Fender Standard Stratocaster

Model: MIM FENDER Flame Maple Tex-Mex Strat Sunburst

Year: 2004

Purchased From: GuitarTrader.com

Basically, the Tex-Mex Special Edition Standard is an upgraded MIM Fender Standard Strat (decal on back of headstock stays 'Special Edition'), with the following extras:

- Flame-maple top. This is a GENUINE maple-cap, hold it up to the light and you can see down into the woodgrain. The tiger-stripe flame pattern is spectacular.

- Tex-Mex pickups. These are the same pickups that are installed on the JV model.

- Glossy, poly finish maple neck, unlike the usual statin finish. The neck is also tinted with a tan stain, which looks terrific with the rosewood fretboard and brown sunburst finish.

Basic Features:
- Standard Fender Chrome Tuners
- Vintage style bridge and string saddles
- Five position pickup selector
- Free Fender gig-bag was included

Tone:
- Typical Strat. The Tex-Mex pickps are loud, bright, and clear on both clean and distorted settings, with plenty of twang and bark.

In particular, the bottom E-A-D strings ring out sharp and clear on any pickup setting.

Positions 2 and 4 deliver the traditional Strat 'quack' tone. Positions 3 and 5 are clear and bright without being harsh. The bridge pickup delivers sharp, biting twang on clean settings. I think the bridge pickup sounds best with a bit of amp distortion, as clean can be a bit too bright and twangy.

More than likely, the maple-top contributes a bit to the overall bright tone.

Can't say much more other than that it sounds like any good Strat.

Finish/Setup:
- Flawless finish. Not even a smudge on it. Couldn't even tell there was still plastic film on the pickguard.

- Factory setup was very good. Only needed to raise the string height slightly, as it was lower than I normally prefer, but just marginally.

- Intonation is spot-on. Frets are smooth along the edges similar to a Gibson bound-neck. I checked every fret position and could not detect any fretbuzz at all.

- Tuners are tight and solid. Once the strings were broken in, even with excessive string bends it stays in tune.

Playability:
- Typical Strat. Neck is slick, and easy to access all positions. Can't say much more other than that it plays like any good Strat.

Guitar is built rock-solid. The poly-finish is glossy and thick, and should not wear off if properly maintained.

Again, construction and finish is what you'ld expect from a well made Strat, which this one certainly is.

No experience with Fender Customer Support. The guitar came with a user's manual which describes care and setup considerations.

For the included manual, and Fender's online Mr Gearhead product support site, I'd give them at least a 8 for this catagory.

Overall:

A great playing, great sounding, and great looking Fender Strat at a killer price.

Fender hit a grand-slam homerun with this MIM Tex-Mex Standard Strat. If the quality of this particular guitar is any indication of what the Mexican Fender facility is producing, the reputation of the MIM Standard Strat line should go way up. IMO, this guitar would give the higher priced models a run for the money.

Highly recommended.

(Michael Behuniak, May 15,2005)

Made in Mexico standard strat. Alder body 3 single coil pickups. Body is alder and neck is maple. Finish is painted maroon with white pickguard.pretty standard feature set for a strat.

sound is kinda twangy with lite strings, and gets usable with heavier stuff. Neck pickup is pretty beefy, and the bridge pickup is very very twangy. Sound is good on most things, but is slightly too bright and the low end just isnt there. If I hadnt gotten this guitar as a trade I wouldnt have bought it.

finsish is good, no flaws present, paint looks good, and all materials are solid and well put together.

The action on this guitar is the only reason I keep it. I have played probably about 50 guitars in my life, and none have played this good. It almost plays itself. The previous owner was alittle bit too ambitious on getting a low action, so I had to replace the nut that he had filed down, and adjust the truss slightly to get it where it is. But the balance and feel is amazning now that it has been spruced up..

guitar is reliable and durable, ave not had any problems whatsoever.

n/a

I wouldnt buy this guitar today, and the pickups should be replaced, but the action is outstanding.

Standard Strat Features

I bought this guitar to provide the classic strat sound to my music. The pickups are very cheap and weak to say the least. The shielding of the guitar is of poor quality and a joke.

Where to start. Horriffic! The bridge was slanted at a 45 degree angle. Strings had maybe one wrap around the tuners. Action was sky high. Frets were flat in spots with file chatter marks. Fret file marks could also be found on the fretboard. I Could never get the 5th and 6th strings to intonate. 3rd string dead all along the fretboard. No allen wrenches provided (but you got a Fender sticker).

Everything is cheap. You are paying just for the Fender sticker on the headstock. I would not feel comfortable relying on this guitar as my main axe.

Don't know....I returned the guitar before contacting them.

I've been playing for 20 years. I have several custom models I've build. I own Ibanez RG550's, Schecter C-1's, and many acoustics. This guitar would be worth paying $250.00 for and not the $370.00 price tag. It's ashame Fender has to resort to putting out this kind of garbage. If it was stolen or lost I would say good riddens and purchase a real guitar.

Generic bits and pieces that come w/ the standard Tacocaster. Poplar body, black finish, maple neck/finger board. Old school bridge. It is what it is, I didn't buy it for "wide range" of features. The "5" is based on whats out there versus what fender provides w/ this model.

Again, Tacocaster generic single coils that weren't bad if this is your first guitar, in fact if it is, you'll be alright. Now it it sounds fantastic with a little help from seymour duncan by way of adding a ssl-5 in the neck, an ssl-1 in the middle and a lil' 59'er w/ a coil tap in the bridge. I have taken to purchasing cheaper strats as a base platform for project guitars. This guitar is a will be played thru seymour duncan convertables, my boogie, fender hot rod deluxe and various line 6 toys.

Brutal would be a little strong, but if my company put out some of the high end stuff fender is capable of and then put this stuff out with the same name on it, I would be embarrased. Where it to start? The neck or bridge (I'll determine that later this week) was not drilled correctly resulting in a neck that is mounted crocked, yikes. The neck mounting screws were not tight, eeks! What really got my attention was the difference in neck profiles from guitar to guitar. I had the guy at the local shop pull eight of these things out of the back room and they all had different profiles, so I chose the one best suited for me. Once open for rewiring, the guitar was filled with sawdust, if you chose to work on one of these, bring a vacuum. soldering was poor. Frets, yikes, there has to be one person in mexico that can properly dress a fret. Again from guitar to guitar, huge differences. I have several american topend strats to buying more to just to horse around doesn't make sense. I have also had low end fenders that started out as projects that sound fantastic and are using regularly to record after some tweaking. Consider the intent when reading this. Oddly the frets on this feel like tele frets. Compare to the current stock of american standards and they are noticeably smaller, which is fine with me.

It is what it is, it won't blow up. Lack of features also means lack of items to go bad or surprise you. If I was still playing live actively I would carry a back up. Finish on these things is like everything else on them, extremely varied from guitar to guitar. Evidently the C&C machines are the last thing to see the wood prior to patching them toegther, because the milling marks are very evident. basic colors go a long way to covering them up.

Good luck. Fender not having their own support websites speaks volumes about their intent on customer interaction. Their handling of this is also why I have not ordered any high end stuff from them in a number of years. Letting third parties host websites as a resource is weak, very weak.

This was purchased as a project guitar. I would not buy this guitar simply for what it offers stock. I have been playing for 25 years and music has put food on my table at various times in my life. If this is a first guitar, it's a lot better than the entry level stuff that was available 25 years ago. It does work as a base for tweaking and experimenting, so in that regard I got what I paid for. If you want a real strat buy one, save your pennys and buy a solid used american or new american model. I am fortunate to have a number of excellent guitars. The guitar manufacturing industry has changed significantly in the last 20 years and this guitar is a good example of more, cheaper, faster....

Made in 2000, in Mexico. 21 frets. Probably a laminated top, standard strat features, one volume, two tone controls, 5 way selector switch, three single coil pickups made by Fender, passive electronics. Body is probably alder, neck is maple. Mine is white with a maple fretboard, kinda resembles the one used by Hendrix. Strat double cutaway body. Standard Strat tremelo, string through body, standard die cast strat tuners (schaller style), neck is very nice, thin, fast, maple fretboard. Came with a cord.

Well, I'm 51 years old and I'm stuck in the music of my college days. I like Beatles, Stones, Hendrix, Sabbath, Zeppelin, Blue Oyster Cult, America, Dire Straits, elecrtric Blues, like Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughn, things like that. Not much into the newer music, although I think with age, I've started to like country music. The guitar handles all of these styles of music quite well. This isn't a "heavy metal" guitar but it is a damn fine classic rock, blues and country guitar. Anything from a bright twangy sound at the bridge to a mellow bluesy sound at the neck. Good Dire Straits and Hendrix sounds on the in-betweens. The only noise you get is the hum you get from all single coils. This was my first electric guitar, have been playing acoustic for over 40 years, so I bought it with a Marshall MG10CD amp. Since that time, I've gotten a Marshall MG15RCD and a VOX AD15VT. Sounds good on all the amps, but best on the VOX. The MG10CD is a kick ass little amp, but the MG15RCD is a little dissapointing. I don't use any effects, just a little reverb, I do have a boss distortion pedal, but rarely use it. I've found that I like the crunch you get just from cranking the volume up a bit on clean. This is a very versatile guitar, will do anything but metal, and I suppose with effects you could play that too.

Flawless.

Well, I'm not a professional player, just mess around at my office and at home, but I believe it would withstand live playing. Finish is fine, hardware is fine, strap buttons are solid, I've had it 5 years now and it still looks, plays and sounds as good as the day I bought it. I don't gig, but I don't think anyone would gig without a backup.

Never personally dealt with Fender. I've bought all my guitars and amps through guitar trader. They've been great.

I've been playing 40 years. No, I'm not a pro. Back in the 60's my dad gave me an old harmony acoustic guitar, which I still have. Later I bought a Gibson Acoustic Guitar and still have it. I also have the amps I mentioned above along with a Fender Standard Telecaster and an Epiphone Les Paul Studio. I'm a psychiatrist by trade, so all through college, medical school and residency, my focus had to be on school and guitar was and is still just a pass time. I'm decent, but no Hendrix. I bought this guitar and the MG10CD Amp to mess with in my office. I ended up buying others for home. If it were lost or stolen, I'd get another one. I love it.

Made in Mexico.
Poplar body.
Maple neck.
21 standard nickel-silver frets.
Rosewood fretboard.
Die-cast machine heads.
Standard strat pickups.
Arctic White Polyester Finish.
Fender Bullet strings.

This guitar does everything well.
Humbuckers have never satisfied me anyway, they take away
the sparkle that really satisfies my ears.
The guitar has a fuller sound (better mids) than it's Squire counterpart, while retaining that classic chime.
Nothing like the neck/middle pickups together,
through a subtle vibrato with a little reverb
to finish it off!

Finish is excellent.
Paint is flawless.
I picked the Arctic White one because it looks so classy combined with the gold lettering on the knobs.
Fingerprints don't show up that way either!
I looked for how it was finished along the neck and around the frets
as well as the action. I have a Squire strat, and that is one area where that guitar came up short.
Those Mexicans really do make a nice guitar.

Built like you would expect a Standard Strat to be.

Usual Fender warranty.

I got home from Tom Lee, took it out of the box, tuned it up
and started playing.
No suprises, exactly as advertised.
Like an old friend.
That's what I love about it.

2004 made in mexico . this is my third strat i have one plus deluxe and one american series .i am from greece and i was really luky to find this strat in a color i did not expect to see in mexico strat(amber with honey burst).it is in the 10 more beautifull gtrs i have seen in my life .550 euro i bought it but i put a pickguard tortoise shell and 3 fender 57/62 pickups(the original sound)with 300euros and it is .....
21 frets ,maple neck,alder body of course ...,vintage tremolo(no the USA).the next thing i want to do is to replace the tuners with the spare Usa i have when i replaced the american series strat with schaller lock tuners ....this does not mean that the guitar has tuning problems . aaaa and the tremolo arm because i cant change the cnob with aged because it is stuck . i hate the MADE IN MEXICO they put in headstock.the guitar is USA in half.

for blues,rock,jazz it sounds like the original.this sound exactly offers the american vintage series strat(2.200euro).in this price you buy 3 mexico with the same features.

everything is perfect.but the guitar is like a woman .she needs to care her .dont expect that you will play the same time you buy it .you can make 60% better if you let a guitar tech do the care.

i use it everyday in my job as pro musician .no problem at all.

in my town the FENDER dealer is a very good friend something like brother and in the nights we work together . he take care of me .

i play pro 8 years.
i have a yamaha pacifica 621 for metal situations .
marshall amps.
rocktron preamp & midi controler
roland vg-880 virtual guitar system
.........if somone stole this guitar i will put people to kill him!!!
i wish it had 22 frets and the us tremolo

- Jap strat made roughly around 1984
- 21 frets on a rosewood neck
- Red body with the standard spec of 5 way selector switch etc...
- Only downer on the build seems to be that the trem blows and if used heavily can now and again knock a string out of tune a little.

For a vintage strat sound this guitar was perfect and has some really nice tones especially in the neck position. The bridge pickup lacked balls so replaced with a seymour duncan hotrails and now its super versatile for playing. My music style ranges from rock/blues/punk and it suits hese styles fine, I use it with a marshall jcm dsl 50 head with 2 speaker cab and can get a good range of tone from this setup. 9 with extra pickup 8 as standard

I got the guitar second hand from a local guitar shop and it was setup with a nice low action and everything was in good order. A connection with the middle pickup was loose so had to do some soldering... Other than that its been fine since ownership.

Like a brick is all I can say, I have dropped this guitar and knocked it by accident plenty of times and despite this the paintwork and neck are still in great condition. Gibsons have world re-knowned weak necks that break near the nut, u dont see too many fender strats with neck repairs about.

Never dealt with them, most guitar/ amp associated companies seem to be pretty crap so fingers crossed I wont ever need them

I have been playing close to 3 years now and have used some top class guitars within that period. From les paul customs to prs guitars, they do indeed have better quality in areas but cost #1000's of pounds more so for value a jap strat is the best about. My other band member uses a US strat and since the upgraded pickup mine blows his away, my advice is dont get the impression that only the american strats are worth your time.

i bought it at a music store for about 100 scratch and dent. the man who had it before me mustve replaced the tuners, they dont hold a tuneworth nothin. the neck is a rosewood its pretty easy to play on. my dad has a telecaster american series and its just as easy to play on. another thing i dont like is that i had to replace the screws for the pickguard.

it sounds ok with my music style which is classic/hard rock. i bought a roland micro cube with it and that is great too. i really dont play that often to judge the reliability and durability of it. i think its great. the only problem i have with it is the solos. it takes a lot of effort to do some tricks on it.

dont play it enough

never had to call fender

its a good guitar. i think the next guitar i get will be a les paul, or a bc rich. but i will definately buy another fender in the future.

Made in 2004 (probably - bought it early 2005) made in Mexico. Maple neck and board, 21 frets, nice skunk stripe down the back. It was a 25 1/2" scale, it seemed a bit big to me at first as i am used to 24" but i got used to it after a few days, and although you cant stretch as much it does feel better. Usual controls, 2 tones, volume, 5 way selector. I wanted to get a fat strat with humbucker in the bridge, but it was too expensive, so i just got the standard 3 singlecoil version. It says it has a popular wood body or something like that, just a plain white finish, although its more creamy. Its real thick, and on some of the edges it gets a little thinner in the middle, I have never had a strat before, dunno if this is common or not. The bridge seems pretty good, I dunno if there is a special way to string a strat or something but its kinda stuck up at the moment. I used fender bullets though, and though i cant use the tremelo that much because of the position it is stuck in , they seem to stay in tune more or less perfectly. The tuners are nice fender ones which seem well made, though i might upgrade to grover locking ones when i have the money. No accessories, a gig case would have been nice, I already have one, but I wasnt happy taking my nice new expensive strat through london in a plastic bag.

I mainly play clean sounds, although i do play all styles (metal, blues, rock, funk & pop) it sounds great, though there isnt that much difference between the neck and the middle pickups. Also the bridge pickup not haveing a tone control is really annoying, I might try to change that later on. I use a yamaha amp, though now I mainly play guitar through my guitar port, so i can do pretty much anything with it. Not having a humbucker is annoying, but it seemed to add more than #50 to the price and later on a can always get a cheap one put in. The bridge pickup I find is too harsh, even on distortion settings it sounds kinda wrong...(if only it had a tone control). The fender steel plated strings I got with it sound good, but I prefer the nickel wound ones for their warm tone.

I think the shop set this up its pretty good (esp after havign a late 60's guitar with no bridge saddles!) so the intonation is great. But i did play another strat exactly the same in the shop and it had realloy bad set up, buzzing all over the place. Pickups are all adjusted well, everything seems to work well.

It all looks like it will last, I would have prefered a more heavy duty bridge but apart from it being about #200 more expensive i dont want the hassle of changing strings on a Floyd Rose. The finish is real thick and doesnt look like it will come off or get scratched much, strap buttons are solid. I rekon i could depend on it, though i would like to make a few adjustments to the electronics.

N/A

Other gear i own is an Ibanez Soundgear Sr-380 (japenese I think), guitarport, my old Kay guitar and a computer with mixing desk etc. I wish I'd looked into the prices a little more before I bought this, instead of assumign that the lowest price I could find on the internet was the one they were going to ask for in the shop. I like it much more than the pacifica's (yamaha frets seem to be finished really badly, really sharp edges), of course they have a humbucker but, i dont like the jack on the side and the scratchplate is weird so you cant get to the insides so easy. If it were stolen I'd buy another one, but they are real expensive, so i might just save up some more and get a Jaguar or Mustang, pref Jaguar but they are a couple of hundred more pounds expensive. I just wish the fat strat version wasnt so expensive.