Fender Standard Stratocaster

Everybody pretty much knows what comes standard on these Mex Strats, so I won't go into it...I replaced the pu's before even taking it out of the store with Texas Specials...I get a very nice SRV tone with it through a Marshall Bluesbreaker combo. Blocked the trem (never get a non-trem strat, the tone is so much better with the trem cavity) It's a beautiful Hendrix-y white, so I added a tortoise shell pickguard which gives it a nice '70s P-Bass look...rosewood fretboard as well

Has a beautiful sound through a good tube...it would suck if you kept the original shitty pu's though...i like blues tones and this delivers

The guitar was well set up by the tech at the store, because I changed pu's it was setup again...no major body flaws or neck problems

I see no reason why it wouldn't...the standard string breakage problems would be there, but I trust it a lot more than my Les Paul.

NO IDEA

I've been playing about 8 years, I also own a '72 Les Paul, a American Standard Strat, and 4 acoustics of various worth (shitty to Martin) I wouldn't play this guitar through anything but a tube, strats are too thin through solid states...If it were stolen, I would get one exactly like it.

This is a standard Fender Mexi-Strat, manufactured in 1998. Brown Sunburst finish, rosewood fretboard, no whistles or bells as it was purchased. This is a project guitar, which I bought to modify to suit my persoanl tastes. So, the rating is for the stock instrument. Plenty of features for the price, but nothing noteworty.

The stock sound was thin and weak. I purchased this particular guitar because of the fine finish and the qualty of the woodwork. I've replaced the stock pups with a Torres Engineering "Bluescaster" wiring harness and Van Zandt Blue Strat pickups. Now, this thang sangs, boys! Played through a variety of mid-powered (20-40 watt) tube amps, this cheap lil' Strat sounds like something out of the custom shop. My original intention was to make this a back up guitar, but it sounds so damn good that it's my main axe now. Shimmering, chimey highs. Clean, strong, throaty lows. MUCH improved sustain. Who says you've gotta have a set-neck? My rating is for the modified guitar. For my style of Chicago blues and blues-based rock, it fits like a glove.

The entire reason I purchased this particular guitar was the quality of the woodwork, the nice grain, and the beautiful finish. Fender's Mexi-Strats represent what I feel is the best value available in solid body guitars today. They scrimp on the electronics and a little on the hardware to keep the prices low. The woodwork done in Mexico is every bit as good as, if not better than, the woodwork on the American standards. But it's easy enough to modify these things, if you're so inclined. From what I've seen, most of the Ensenada Strats are well made, but you really should take a look at a few before choosing yours. As it came to me, the setup was decent, just a few minor tweaks to string height were needed. One of the first things I did was to block the tremelo (I don't need no stinkin' tremelo!) I also changed the pickguard to a Tortoiseshell. I've already mentioned the mods to the pickups and wiring. Now this thing not only sings like the Tabernacle Choir, but it's as purty as Bridget Fonda in a bikini, boys.

As we all know, Strats are a sturdy breed. Road tested and loved by guitarists all over the world for more than 40 years now. I've owned this one for less than a year, and I have complete confidence that it will hold up well. It's not stock, but the hardware hasn't been tinkered with and has operated flawlessly.

I've never had to deal directly with Fender concerning a guitar. The only contact I've had was to ask for info on a spec sheet for a vintage amp, and they responded well.

In addition to this Strat, I have a Nashville Tele, an Ovation acoustic - electric, and an Americam Standard Jazz bass. I own a variety of tube amps - mostly Fenders. I suppose you could say that I'm somewhat of a Fender gearhead. My overall rating for this particular strat is a reflection on its adaptability. A few fairly easy modifications transformed this thing from a ho-hum into a powerhouse. Is there anything I wish it had? Yep - a neck from a '62 custom shop reissue. But for the price, this baby is a super value.

Made in Mexico in 1998 or 1999. Not known to me for now. It is a Arctic-white poplar body with maple neck and fretboard. 21 medium frets, which is disappointing because even a Squier had 22! The rest are the same old Stratocaster stew. 3 single-coil pickups, floating bridge with 6-point tremolo. Includes manual and 2 allen keys.

Sounds abnormally good for a Mexican-made Strat. Not as noisy as anticipated, especially for the bridge pickup. However, the bridge pickup sounds glassy when used alone. Positions 1,2,4 are the most useful. You can get a Telecaster "twang" at the 4th position. The tone is okay, but they need to be constantly above 5. If lowered under 5 they sound very muddy. It is very vesatile - just what the Strats are made for! It sounds quite warm even with my home practice amp. I've got high hopes for it when I get my new tube combo...
But one big problem... VERY bassy when you use the neck pickup! Don't try the 1st position when gigging! I will definitely turn your crowd off.

Ah this is the part I like... Very good finish and painting... Even though the pickup height and intonation sucked... spent around 1 hour setting them to my preference... The finish is just so nice, man! You can't beat that for a Mexican-made!

I will assume that it can take beating, but I have seen Strats being abused and damaged beyond repair. The good advice is: Even though your gear is built for wear, TAKE GOOD CARE OF THEM! To me my gear is the lifeline of my music career, so I NEVER ABUSE THEM!

Never dealt with Fender, but the guy who sold me the axe is really good. He kicked my bad impression of salespersons!

Good axe for a young and adventurous guitarist like me. I have been a Christian guitarist for a while, and this Strat cannot be beaten man! I have hopes for it, even though I will change the pickups soon. They simply are too unsatisfying... Lace sensors or Seymuer Duncan for me!

'99 made in Mexico Strat. 21 frets, poplar body, rosewood fretboard, brown sunburst finish(an upcharge-I would've bought almost any color in this series, but this was the best of the lot), typical strat features - everything I was looking for in a strat so it gets a 10.

I use this guitar for the classic strat sounds and it delivers these well. I run it either straight into my Fender Custom Vibrolux Reverb or through effects pedals first(TS9Dx and/or Boss Me30). It sounds *great* through my amp - tons of bass, yet it's very bright too. It gets the quack on the in btw positions and really sings on the neck plus it has that kind of woody pluck sound in all positions. The bridge is quite bright though but that's to be expected. The Neck/middle position offers a real bell-like tone that sounds gorgeous with the tremolo and the mid/Bridge position sounds like an old telecaster. Now I compared this particular model with at least a half dozen other standards and this was the best. It played great, it stayed in tune, the neck was tight in the pocket, etc. I also compared it to a 50's mexican made (cost qiute a bit more), about three or four American Standards (2X as much $), a custom shop 54 reissue($1500+), and an American deluxe with Vintage noiseless pickups. I really wanted to make sure that it was the best for the money -- BOY WAS IT! I'm not a stratoholic but I do like the sound a lot and so I wanted to have one to cover that territory(I play a lot of different styles). Now I won't say there was no diffrence btw the high end strats and this one, I just didn't notice a big enough difference to justify the expense given my needs. One other thing- call me crazy, but the single coils on this thing just don't emit much noise - even at performance levels! I guess that's an unexpected perk.

I don't know if I played the guitar as set up at the factory or if the store I got it at had done some set up work. Judging by the some of the other ones I played, it must be this way from the factory. Like I said it was set up like I like it. Since I got it, I've noticed some sort of a ghost note that the g string gives off when unplugged but I haven't noticed it when amplified. It comes set up w/.09's but I'm gonna have .10's put on it and have a guitar tech go over everything to insure proper playing. It does have a bit of tendency to go out of tune and sometimes, when bending a string, you can hear the "clink" of a string slipping on something. But overall, one should expect to have a guitar set up after purchasing a mass produced one, and so I think for the money, it's a great guitar.

Once it's set up right with the tens and I get the few bugs worked out by the tech, I see no reason why this guitar won't last. As far as playing w/o a backup, this is just one of my guitars so I'll most likely have a backup w/me. But I can see this being a main gigging guitar for the strat sounds - just remember: strings break.

I've been playing for twenty plus years and my other main electric is a Heritage 535(handmade in Kalamazoo, MI by former Gibson guys at the old Gibson factory - KILLER GUITAR). If this guitar were stolen or lost, I'd be pretty pissed and then I'd go in search of another because for the money,(and for more!) this guitar can't be beat!!!! If you want a strat go hunt one of these guys down, you won't be disappointed. The quality does vary between them though, so compare and be picky.

I have two of them. One was built in 1994 and the other was made in 1995. Both are made in Mexico and they have three single coil pickups, five-position switches, 21 frets, maple fretboards, and white pickguards. One is painted Arctic White and the other is Lake Placid Blue. I will simply identify each guitar by its colour. Overall, they look convincing enough to be the real thing, but sometimes I feel inclined to call them 'copies' because some purists out there might say a Stratocaster is not a Stratocaster if it isn't made in the good ol' U.S.A. You also get what you pay for, and they aren't quite as well built as an American Standard Strat. But on a more serious note, whenever I play these guitars I often ask myself "Where the hell was this stuff when I started playing guitar?" Twenty-five years ago there was no so thing as beginner or intermediate model Fender Stratocaster.

I must admit, I'm caught in a narrow time warp when it comes to music. I like the heavy rock of the early 1970s, and Les Pauls, Strats, and Marshall stacks make up a good chunk of the sound I hear on all my favourite records. Each guitar is set up for a particular musical mood. I've modified both of them, but even with the stock pickups each guitar has its own distinct character. No two guitars are the same. The blue one is a little heavier and has a bright ringing sustain to it, and I especially like to use it for rhythm playing. The white one has a bit of a flat response, and I find it much better for soloing. As for the modifications, they are nothing major. The blue guitar has American Standard pickups and electronics in it while the white one has the stock pickups in the bass and middle positions and a slightly warmer sounding single coil pickup in the lead position. These guitars are ideal if you want to experiment with different pickups and electronics. I wouldn't pull apart a more expensive instrument just to modify the tone slightly. I don't use any effects other than amp distortion when I play, and I have no complaints about the sound of either guitar.

When I bought the white one I had at least a half dozen Strats to choose from, and I picked this particular guitar because it was the only one that was set up to my liking. The action was just low enough not to cause any significant fret buzz and the bridge was pulled back for non-vibrato use. I never did like vibrato arms on guitars. About the only thing I didn't like about the white guitar was that the neck slot was poorly routed, leaving a bit of a gap on either side of the heel of the neck. The blue guitar is a different story. It played like a pig when I got it, and I can't lower the action too much or the G string will buzz like crazy. I'm not too worried about it because I don't plan on playing like Carlos Santana on this guitar. The finishes on both guitars are beautiful, and for low-end instruments I was quite impressed. Not bad at all.

I'm not sure how well either guitar would hold up in an actual working band situation. The blue one feels like its more solidly built, so I suppose I could use it live. On the other hand, the white one feels a whole lot funkier. As for using either guitar without a backup, yeah I could get away with it. What else would I have for a backup but another Mexican Strat?

I've had nothing wrong with either guitar, so I really couldn't say.

Overall I would say that the Standard Stratocaster is a good buy. For four hundred bucks I can't complain. However, as I mentioned before no two guitars are the same, and the two that I have feel and play differently. The only thing I wish these guitars had were different pickup options somewhat like the American models. Perhaps Fender can introduce a slightly more expensive model with Lace Sensor pickups or something like that. I've owned several guitars over the years and this particular model of guitar is one of the better ones I've played. The only guitar it doesn't beat is a late 1970s Gibson Les Paul Standard that (like an idiot) I traded to my brother fifteen years ago. But I suppose comparing Gibsons and Fenders is like comparing apples and oranges. In closing I thought I would mention that appearance isn't everything when buying a guitar. When I bought the white guitar I had a choice of six different colours, and instead of picking my favourite colour (which happens to be blue)I picked the guitar that felt the most comfortable in my hands. I eventually got the blue one too, but it took some work to get it happening. Let the buyer beware.

1999 Model Made in Mexico. 21 Frets. 3 Stock single coil pickups. 5 way Select Switch. 2 Tone, 1 Volume controls. Tremelo arm. Poplar Body. Maple Neck. Vintage Sunburst Finish. White pickguard. Non-locking tuners. Fender standard hardshell case.

I own 3 other electric guitars with humbuckler pickups, and picked this guitar up because it has a brighter sound wich I prefer at times. There is little noise from this guitar- a slight hum when played at very high volumes. The sound is very bright, and by tweaking the knobs can produce a wide variety of sounds. But the guitar's tone overall seems thin. This is acceptable to me because all my other guitars' tones are fat. I like the guitar's brightness and dislike the lightweightedness. I also own an Ephiphone Fat T-310 (telecaster copy) and it weighs almost twice as much as the Fender Strat. It even weighs more than the original Fender Tele. When I pick up the strat it almost feels like a toy in comparison.

Before I bought this guitar I played it in the store through a Fender Deluxe 112 Plus Amp. The Guitar was set up correctly and had no visible flaws in hardware. A minor production flaw on the strap button's felt being off center. The wood was somewhat grainy so its visual effects were flawed, but did not effect the playability or sound of the guitar. I've had the guitar for a week now and it still has not gone out of tune.

In my opinion the neck of this guitar will probably not last long. It has a flat finish and also seems very lightweight. The finish should hold up well, but I may need to clean it more often than I am used to cleaning guitars. Time will tell just how good this guitar holds up.

I don't like how Fender does not let their distributors publish prices on the web.

I bought this guitar as a backup to what I already own. I do not recommend this guitar for a professional musicians main instrument, but as an inexpensive way to have a backup guitar. I was originally out to get an American Stratocaster but I did not see that the American Stratocaster was twice as good as the Standard-It was twice the price. With the money I saved I bought a Fender Deluxe 112 Plus Amp and a hardshell case.

I believe this guitar was made In '98 in Mexico. This paticular guitar has 21 frets. The controls, and pickups are basic strat controls 1 volume,and 2 tone and 3 single coils. The pickups are stock(at least for now). It has a maple neck and I think it hs a rosewood fretboard. It has non-locking fender tuners. It came with a soft case, a strap, a tuner, and a cable.

I play classic rock and blues, and I'd like to play jazz, and it suits me pretty well though it doesn't have a very good jazz tone but it can gt by. I play it through a Crate GFX-30 with no effects but I plan to get some.I like to play Hendrix,Led Zeppelin,Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Cream so most of the time I'm happy with tone. It's a quite noisy guitar(at least to me) I play mostly on the single coils so the gain can't really go past 4 or 4 1/2 or it gets annoying to me. I don't really like the hum and I'd like to get more of a lower end out of it but I can live with it.

The action seemed good but I messed it up so I'm trying to fix it to where I like it. I've move d the pickup around a bit from as close as possible to in the pickgaurd, but now I have it to just a little higher than how I got it. There are no flaws I did'nt put there(like dings and chips in the body and head). I've had to tighten tuning heads quite a lot but that's all.

This guitar is great as far as durability I think it could handle live playing. Everything looks like it will last except maybe the frets which are kind of worn.

I've been playing this for about 7 months now, I also own an Epiphone Acoustic PR-100. I probably sould have asked if they'd go any lower. I'd buy another in an instant if it were stolen, lost, or broken. I love the sound, the feel, and the range. I hate the hum from those stock single coils, and lack of sheilding. It was the on;y guitar there I wanted but even if there were others this would win. I wish it had sheilding or quieter pickups. I just really love this guitar I'm probably going to get it sheilded, eventually put new pickups in, get the bridge to hold in tune better with dive bombing from the tremolo arm, new tuning head (mot of this is probably just dreaming), and when the time comes I'll get it re-fretted. But in spite of problems I love this guitar. by the way my real rating is 7.25 but tey don't have that. Also I love this guitar.

A '99 Mexican Strat. You probably know the features of a strat. Let me just mention that the finish is sunburst, and it is absolutely gorgeous. The Mars music center had 3 or 4 mexican sunburst strats, and this one had the best finish and sounded the best unplugged. I will talk about this more later. Other than that, it has a pale maple neck w/ maple fretboard. (I highly recommend maple fretboard. It is what distinguishes the strat from all other guitars.) It came with just the whammy bar and warranty. NOT EVEN A GIG BAG! I suggest that you not go to Mars for your equipment. Their salespeople know dick and suck at giving incentives. (I did manage to weasel a cable out of the salesman.) Go to Guitar Center or your local shop instead. The strat by itself for the price should get a 10. But Mars sucks so this category is an 8.

My style is blues, classic rock, and modern rock. I have also been known to venture into jazz, metal, and punk. This guitar is well suited for all of these and more. Unplugged, the sound is incredible. Even if you don't use a whammy bar, get the tremelo equipped strat, because the cavity in the guitar with the springs in it gives the guitar a REVERB like sound. It is incredible, and relatively loud sounding. I picked the guitar that sounded the best unplugged; because electronics can be changed very easily to alter the sound but a good acoustic sound is cannot be replaced. As for the stock pickups, I don't like them very much. The neck and middle are pretty decent but the bridge is terrible. Very shrill and trebly. It could just be my amp (which is a piece of shit) so I'm replacing it. If I still don't like the sound I will replace my p.u.'s, hopefully w/ Texas Specials. Unplugged sound is beautiful, that gets a 10. As of right now, the plugged in sound gets a 5 or 6. We'll see how it shapes up later.

The factory setup was perfect for me as far as action goes. Some might consider it high, but I have been playing acoustic for 4 years and I am used to that kind of action. As for the pickup height, I'm not sure what constitutes a good setup. I do know that the sound of all 3 pu's is balanced tone and volume wise. The finish is very nice, with some of the wood grain showing through. There are some strange marks on the back of the guitar. Although the finish is smooth it appears that there are some dents and dimples in the wood. Could Fender have dented the back of the guitar and covered it with varnish? For this price, I say yes. All the controls are great. The knobs actually turn more smoothly than those on my friend's American Deluxe Strat.

I would easily use this on a gig without a backup, IF I WAS CERTAIN THAT NO STRINGS WOULD BREAK. Since this is a floating bridge, one broken string would throw the whole thing out of tune. So I will always bring my trusty acoustic/electric. (I am hoping to get an ES-335 style guitar for a graduation present. This would eliminate the string breakage problem and also give me a different sound. I have been eyeing the Epiphone Casino very seriously.) As long as tuning is an issue. This thing seems to have a problem staying in tune. While playing leads, a string bend will move the bridge and throw the other strings out of tune. Also extensive whammy bar use will make the strings shift in their vintage-style saddles and plastic nut. Possible fixes- Add 2 more springs to tremelo cavity for added stability. Replace nut with smoother graphite or ball-bearing nut. Replace saddles with more secure string holders.

Its a five year warranty, parts and labor. I don't expect any trouble. Fenders are rock-solid.

As many people have been saying, this guitar is solid bedrock to make a great custom guitar. Don't necessarily listen to all the hype of the elitists. The new guitars coming out of the Mexican factory are of great quality. They are easily upgradeable and they are an inexpensive way to make your dream guitar. Case in point: My friend bought a Mexican Strat $250, used with a nice Fender hard case. He added a new black pearl pickguard with new Seymour Duncan pickups, including a single-spaced humbucker at the bridge. He put in new saddles and blocked the tremelo. Final cost: strat & hardcase $250 plus about $200 in upgrades. That is a custom Mexi-strat with a hardcase and quality easily comparable to an American for about $300 less. The choice is simple.

dont wanna repeat it all.

i play stuff like korn, deftones, sevendust, system of a down, etc.. it works well with this kind of music, can play mellower stuff like smashing pumpkins too (even though they suck).. The pickups are average, a bit noisy... Im putting on Dimarzio's and Duncans in a month or so... playing with the clean channel is very thin until you crank the volume, which sucks if you wanna play at a lower level. i use a crybaby wah and boss flanger bf-2, they both sound great with this guitar... pretty good for $250

the action is pretty good, nice and medium to high. i got it in an awesome finish, wine red i think. nice high quality design, for the price. its a lightweight, comfortable guitar, feels nice when playing.

you could play this guitar live, definitly.. the hardware is very good, long lasting. the finish isn't cheap at all - strats have good finishes. i wouldnt use only one guitar, id take 2 or 3...

its good as a first guitar. its my first, it fits me well. if it were stolen, id probably upgrade to a different strat or ibanez, probably around 500 bucks. this is much better than other guitars in its price range, like the epiphone special 2, and ibanez gax70.. not bad at all for the price, although they coulda gave it some better pickups (what do you expect for $250 anyway?)... seriously good with mod's and crap like that

This guitar is a '95 Mexican made Strat with the basics: maple neck with 21 fret maple fretboard, bolt-on neck, 3 single coil pick ups, 1 volume/2 tone knobs, 5 way switch, etc. The finish is an amazing metallic blue that was flawless even though I bought the guitar used.

I play stuff like Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, etc. and this Strat works pretty well. I play through a Peavey Blazer 158 and a Korg effects processor. The guitar can do some cool stuff with effects or straight through the amp, but the pickups are very noisy especially through lead or distorted channels. I would rate the sound much higher if the noise problem could be solved. I'm thinking about getting 2 Gold Lace Sensors and a Seymour Duncan hot rail to add a little more variety and less noise.

I'm guessing the guitar was pretty much the same as when it left the factory because the plastic pickguard cover was not peeled off. I changed the discolored pickguard so it looks as good as new. Besides this, the guitar was flawless when I bought it. The neck was barely played and the metallic and very kick @$$ blue paint didn't have a scratch. The action was perfect, making this a very easy to play guitar.

I feel this guitar will last forever. Even after dropping the guitar once or twice, the paint did not chip or dent. The guitar stays in tune pretty well. Also, I think the strap buttons will last longer than my strap will. I would depend on this guitar if necessary.

It's been problem-free, so I've never dealt with Fender.

I've been playing for over a year and this is the best of the four guitars that i've owned. I currently have a cheap and suprisingly good Vantage acoustic, but I've previously owned some cheap Westone metal-head guitar and a Peavey Raptor. Both of these electrics can't come close to my Fender. If this guitar were stolen, I would hunt down the culprit and kick the snot out of him. I'd definitely buy this guitar again, preferably in the same cool color. I'd recommend this guitar to anyone who has the money to put in some Lace Sensors.