Fender Standard Stratocaster

mexican strat with maple fretboard, three single coil pickups, maple neck, nice red finish, good standard trem. Poplar body, but you can't tell.I've had it for 8 months.

I play stuff like clapton, and more classic rock. The strat is great for this,and i plan to get a deluxe amp which really rocks. The single coils make quite a bright sound, but if you use the neck/middle pickups together, the sound is quite like a humbucker.however, the pickups can hiss a bit, and i'll probably replace the bridge pickup.As it is, it is still very versitille, and great for my style. It is very near 10, but the hiss just stops it.

Here the guitar was fine. The metallic red finish was flawless, and none of the parts made any unpleasant noises, exept that the low E buzzed for the first week or so. Then it stopped,and everything was fine.The action is perfect,making fast playing easy, but not too close to the fretboard.

I don't play live, but I haven't had any problems with it so far, the finish and hardware seem very sturdy.

I have a warranty, but i don't know how long it is. Everyone says fender customer service is shit, but i haven't dealt with them.

This guitar looks fantastic, and the combination of finish and fender nametag has made my mates very jealous. It's worth buying new pickups, but i havn't got the money.I compared it to a yamaha pacifica 312 and this is much better.I've tried lots of similar guitars since, and this is still the best. The poplar body is quite surprising for this price, as i would have expected alder, but it still sounds great, and there isn't much difference between it and the usa standard.If it was stolen I would buy one again, after crying for weeks.

A 1996 made in Mexico guitar with maple neck and fingerboard with 21 frets. One piece solid poplar in awesome black: very shinny. Has standard 5-way switch with V/T/T and three passive single coil p/u's. Has the standard tremolo with non-locking die-cast tuners.

I went to a local retailer, I live in Puerto Rico with the intention of trying this Mexican standard and compare to the American Standard. When I did, I just fell in love with the Mexican. To be honest the neck felt much better in the Mexican than the American, and the pickups although cosmetically poor (polepieces are not smooth and diameters are not uniform) sounded way, way better than the American Standard Delta tones and were much hotter. They are single coil so each p/u alone is very noisy but with the middle p/u, since it has reversed polarity and winding, it is very quiet. The pots and switch are the same as in the American Standard. I play punk and was looking for a Strat to complete my line-up, I have 2 Jag-Stangs, a Jaguar re-issue, Ventures Jazzmaster, Epi Les Paul, Washburn P2 and Squier Venus and Supersonic. Was looking for the single coil tone and found it in the Mexican Standard. Being used to the humbucker sound I really don't like the bridge p/u, it is thin, and the combination of bridge and middle is not of my favor. Changed the bridge p/u for a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails, and the middle for a Razor stacked p/u. Now it really rocks.

The guitar's set-up was quite good except the tremolo was too high. Over the measurement Fender recommends. The action, with the high trem was pretty good, but the neck was perfect: just the right amount of relief. The pick-ups were a little low. The finish is flawless and the neck's maple wood is just beautiful: no glossy finish only satin. The routing is very well made although there is some sort of hole in the body to the left of the neck pick-up. The meaning of this hole just eludes me. The wood is poplar which is comparable to alder in tone although softer and hence lighter. Very easy to cary this guitar around your neck for hours.

It's a real Fender. My other Fenders have withstood years of abuse. I don't see why this one shouldn't. I never carry only one guitar and always change the strap buttons to Schaller strap-locks.

I've dealt with Fender for other matters and they have been very helpful. I am really rating customer consideration. With the purchase of this guitar I had something happen to me I just have to share. I was planning to purchase the Mexican Standard from Musician's Friend. When I called to order they told me that they could no longer sell Fender products to Puerto Rico or Canada. Seems that some asshole retailers from Canada and Puerto Rico, I live in P.R., complained that M.F. offers great prices and payment options. So I had to buy from the local retailer who are a bunch of fucking thieves and do not carry all the Fender line. Originally I wanted this guitar in Arctic white with the maple neck. The black is beautiful but I really wanted the white. Had to spend 1 1/2 hrs. haggling with the salesman for they were selling it for $390.00 and Musicians Friend sells for $280.00.

I am a Fender man. I own two other guitars which are not Fender but bought them because they were really good values. This Mexican Standard Strat is the best value for a genuine Fender Strat. I did own an American Standard about a year ago. Sold it because the neck was very sensitive to string changes, the bi-flex truss rod sucks, it was too heavy to jump around for two hours, the saddles, changed twice with stock Am. Std. saddles, kept breaking the strings and the much celebrated Delta Tone pickups are shit. I went and compared a very beautiful Inca Silver maple fingerboard Am. Std. with the Mex. Std. When I played the Am.Std. I remembered why I sold the previous and was just mesmerized with the Mexican. I really wanted to buy a Fender Stratocaster which was worth the money, had great tone and flexibility, with expense not being a factor. I found it in the Mex. Std. and at one third the price of the Am Std. If you steal it I'll hunt you down and kick your ass. if I can't find you I'll buy another one.

My standard strat has single coil pickups as well as the same configuration as listed above. It was manufactured in Mexico, has a sunburst finish (very nice), poplar body, rosewood fretboard, and 21 thin frets.

I like to play blues and classic rock, so it naturally suits my playing style since it's a single coil strat. I only have a small Peavy Rage amp, so I really can't do the guitar justice. Although I have played it through a much larger Peavy and it sounded great. I would really love to play it through a Fender Twin. The only effect I use is a Wah peddle. It sounds pretty good combined with my guitar. I tend to use the bridge pickup the most just because I get a muffled sound when using the neck pickup (only due to the quality of my amp, though). You can always find a way to make different sounds with a strat, given the right equipment. Sometimes I switch to the neck,middle pickup combination when I get tired of listening to the humming. Although I could just turn down the volume. Nobody notices the buzzing when they're playing anyway. Overall it has the basic strat sound that probably doesn't very a great deal from most other strats with standard or even American standard pickups.

The factory settings weren't incredibly bad. I like high action on the strings, so I raised them. The factory strings were way too light. A strat only sounds great with great big strings. The neck seems to be firmly mounted and I have had no problems with the tuners, controls, tremolo, or pickups. I do wish the frets were larger, but hey, you get what you pay for. However, when trying to change the strings for the first time, the nut broke in two when removing the low E string. I simply glued it back together and it hasn't ever given me problems again. The finish is beautiful, the wood grain shows through the sunburst finish nicely. I think I would rather have an alder body, but like I said earlier, you get what you pay for.

This guitar would hold up great in a live gig. The hardware will, in all probability, last forever. The finish will not wear down like the older finishes would. I can't tell if it has a thin finish or not. I imagine if I would put it through hell, it might wear down. I did replace the strap buttons with strap locks. I dipped the ends of the screws in some regular Elmer's glue and they have never came loose (Hint). The only reason I would gig with it without a backup is if I happened to break a string, which I probably wouldn't do anyway. Or fear of something going catastrophically wrong, such as the stage set collapsing (Hey, if Stevie Ray were still among us, he would tell you that it can happen). In all seriousness, it's a very dependable guitar.

Never dealt with Fender, but I hear they're really stingy.

Overall, the standard (Mexican) strat is a good buy, compared to retail prices of the American Standards. Leo did a good thing when he invented the telecaster, and an even better thing when he invented the stratocaster, which was way ahead of its time. A smar man, that Leo Fender was. I regret not bargaining with the salesman more, although he did throw in a free case. I think I could have probably gotten a higher quality guitar for around the same price that I paid for this one. If it were stolen, I would choose a different guitar, if I had the money. Only because I would like to have an American made guitar or maybe a vintage reissue (American). I wish I would have did a little more comparative shopping. I believe that you should never pay the list price for a guitar. They're so overpriced, it's ridiculous. The little music stores probably make double the money from the sale of certain guitars. It's a good guitar, but if you have a couple hundred extra dollars and plan on keeping the guitar for a lifetime, use the money and get a higher quality Stratocaster. They are the most comfortable guitars to play.

I love this guitar. It was a Mexican made model, which doesn't bother me a bit. It features 21 frets, Volume and 2 tone controls, S/S/S pickup config, 5-way pickup switch, Passive electrics, Standard Tremolo, Non-Locking Fender tuners and Standard neck. I got it as a Strat Pack, and it came with a Fender Frontman 15R amp, a gig bag, some picks, a tuner, a cable and a strap. It's color is Lake Placid Blue.

I play all kinds of music, but focus on modern rock type, i.e.; Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Foo Fighters (My favorite!), Blink 182, Local-H, etc. etc. I run it through a Fender Frontman 15R amp with no effects, although I want to get some pedals. It has an array of sounds, from bright on the bridge pickup, to full, deep tone with the neck. I usually use the bridge pickup or the bridge/mid pickup combination. It's got great harmonics, and can do all kinds of noises with distortion. I've played a few other guitars, and my Strat is my favorite. I have a Harmony Rocket semi-hollow from about the '60s and had a Acoustic. I love my Strat most.

It was perfect from the factory. Pickups were perfect, tuning was great, intonation was perfect (Although I have to readjust it since I went from .09 high string to .10 high). There wasn't any flaws other than one Pick guard screw was loose and the glue from the pick guard protector didn't come off when I removed it, but otherwise it's perfect.

I think that this guitar could withstand live playing. It's very sturdy, even though it's not Fender's top model. The hardware seems like it'll last for along time, and so does the finish. The strap buttons are solid, and well screwed in. I could definitly say that I could use it at a gig without a backup. It's the only guitar I use nowadays!

I've been playing for about 5 years now, and I have a Harmony Rocket semi-hollow from about the '60s. I also have a Fender Frontman 15R Amplifier.

this one is made in mexico.i think it's made in 1996.it has 21 frets and a maple fretboard.non-locking tuners.2 tone buttons and a volume button.the same as the other ones i guess.

it suits my needs.i play grunge,alternative etc. and this guitar can do them all.i'm using this axe with boss pedals mostly. the neck and mid pickups are good but i changed the bridge pu with a dimarzio paf pro. it's not noisy at all.this axe can do any sound but it also depends who's playing it.

very good.excellent condition.

you could play this guitar without a backup for sure.

this guitar is my first guitar and i like it.the sound is good enough for me.and the price is very cheap for a guitar like this

Mexican made,Pretty basic,5 way pick-up, standard tremolo,21 frets, poplar body, non-locking die-cast tuning keys, 3 single coil pickups

Great sound, can get nice range of sounds through pickups. Haven't really tried any other guitars, but this one measures up to the sound I am looking for.

Came to me in perfect condition. Bought it through Musicians Friend. Got a great deal on it...

If I ever played a gig, I wouldn't need a backup. This guitar Is one tough piece of shit.

Never Needed to deal with the company. I may have a warranty, but it doesn't matter because this thing won't be coming apart anytime soon

If you bought this guitar I would reccomend getting some pedals, but I would recomend that with any guitar. If It got stolen, I would probably Buy another one, and kick the persons ass who stole it from me. I wish it came with better pickups, but that can be fixed. Great guitar for price

1997 Mexican Standard strat. Paid $35 extra for _the_ most beautiful brown sunbursting I've ever seen, even on other Fenders. It has a rosewood fingerboard and I've swapped out the white pu covers and pickguard for a shell pickguard and black pu covers and knobs. Poplar body, 3 Fender SCs, vintage trem bridge. One thing drives me nuts, though: until I changed the pickguard on the thing, I still had bits of plastic sticking out from screws and pots from that idiot plastic cover Fender sticks on the pickguard. It's going to get scratched up anyway..

I play mostly blues and rock and this guitar is perfect. The pickups sound great through my Epi SC-210 amp. I almost always use a combination of the neck and mid pickups and it gives a nice warm, rich tone. The only time I use the bridge/mid pickups is for bottleneck and it does quite nicely for that. All the pickups are plenty hot for me.. the volume never goes past 7 or 8. Any of the pickups selected alone are too noisy to use, so there are really only two usable positions.

The action was set high - I lowered it myself. That's a Musician's Friend problem, though, It's not as low now as some other guitars I've played (my friend's Carvin come to mind) but I can't keep it too too low anyway because bottlenecking would be almost impossible. The pickups were setup just fine, but I lowered the middle one into the body just a bit because it kept getting in the way of my fingers. The rosewood-covered neck plays beautifully. The sunburst finish was perfect. I need to have the trem blocked because I don't use it and it tends to cause problems.

I've knocked this guitar about quite a bit just in the past 6 months and it's taken all the abuse just fine. No problems except a few chips of paint missing. The finish seems a bit thin. That's the only complaint I've got about the Strat. I wouldn't play without a backup, but I'd NEVER play without a backup because of straings breaking, etc. I keep different guitars (something with humbuckers) around for different songa anyway. This is a very solid, very dependable guitar.

Never had to deal with Fender..

I've been playing for a few years now. I own the Strat, an Epi Acoustic, a flying V, a Samick Electric/Acoustic, and an Epiphone SC-210 amp. I'm about to buy a white Standard Tele and a cherry Epiphone Dot. This is my favorite guitar (the V is very nice but just looks too stupid.. it was free:) and I don't think I'll ever get rid of it. If it got stolen I'd buy another one, but this time probably in white. :) I wish Fender sold Strats with pearl block inlays.. I've seen them on custom job Strats and it's just beautiful. Oh well. It's an absolutely wonderful guitar.

Made in Mexico. 21 frets. S/S/S, Volume/Tone/Tone, 5-way switch. Made of different pieces of solid Poplar. Maple neck with rosewood fingerboard. Frets are vintage or medium. Body color is black with white 3-ply pickguard.

I was looking for a cheap strat style guitar for home, rehearsal abuse and as a backup and wanted to check out a Yamaha Pacifica or something in this category. The salesman in the musicstore told me he had a bunch of this Mexican Fenders in stock and gave it to me to check it out. I didn't expect much but to my surprise, this cheapo guitars sounded surprisingly good. I also tried some Pacificas 112, but I liked the neck of the Fenders better. Just for comparison I also tried some US Standard models, but if you belive it or not, I liked the Mexicans better. The PU's sounded even hotter than the ones of the US model. Neck PU was fat and full sounding, in-between positions had sparkle, the bridge PU was bright and agressive.

The guitar was set-up really good. No string buzz, low action. Neck-joint was tight. Neck was straight and the fretwork was flawless. Pickups were adjusted like they should be. I really couldn't find any flaws. OK, the used standard tremolo is not the most expensive, but we're talking $$ 279 here. For this price you normally won't even get a decent neck.

Solid piece of wood. Stays in tune. No problems.

No need

I play since 19 years. I also own a Schecter Strat and a CustomShop Tele. For what I paid, this guitar is great and I would buy it again. This isn't my main guitar, but I played some small gigs with it and I really can't complain about nothing.

Made in 1998 in Mexico. 22 frets. Basic strat setup. It's black and shiny. The next seems very thin, thinner than a normal strat(It's perfect!) No other accessories.

The guitar is extremely versatile! It's sound can go from bassy, bluesy sound with the neck pickup to a perfect Pumpkins/Catherine growl with the bridge/middle pickup combo! I'll admit the bridge pickup alone is a little thin, but it's easy to deal with.

I bought it out of the box, so I was kind of worried I would have to do major work with the action and intonation. It turned out that the guitar was real solid and the only reason I had to change anything was because I use hybrid strings (.009-.046) instead of .009s like the guitar was setup for. The guitar is very easy to work on.

I love everything about this guitar except for the tuners and the tremolo. They're both die cast, so they seem kinda plastic and cheap, so i'm going to replace them with schaller pegs and block the tremolo. Otherwise, i don't see why this guitar couldn't handle live playing.

Never dealed with them. I think it came with a limited lifetime warranty.

I use this guitar with a Peavy Bandit(100 watts) and a Yamaha cabinet. With the fender and a boss DS-1, I can get any sound I want, even very tube-like sounds. For the price this guitar is very hard to beat. PERSONAL NOTE: If you're thinking of buying a Squire, don't do it unless you can find one from the 80s. The new Squire's are pretty cheaply made, and for only 100 dollars more you can get the Fender Standard Strat, which, in my opinion, rawks!!

1998 Fender Standard Strat made in Mexico. The body is made of poplar, a relatively soft wood. I chose the maple fretboard and Arctic White finish. Simple guitar, with 9.5" neck radius (pretty standard for Strats), Standard tuners and bridge, 5-way selector, 21 frets.

My style is strictly blues, and it does the job quite well for a "cheapie" guitar. I run it straight into a Fender Hot Rod De Ville 2x12 and it sounds nice. I occasionally run it through a Danelectro Daddy-O overdrive. Pickup settings have the usual passive single coil hum in settings 1,3, and 5, but that's normal. I'm impressed by the full sound this guitar makes. Typical Strat. I've been playing many years, mostly on an Epiphone Sheraton (with 2 humbuckers), and got the "Strat itch" but was quite reluctant to drop $1,000 on a US-made one. My rating it a "9" is due to the fact that it really does sound good!

The set up and action at the store were fine, but I'm sure 99.9% of all guitarists like to tweak it to their own satisfaction. I can fit my pick (which is medium gauge) into the gap between the body and neck. I checked out 4 US-made Strats and none of their necks were perfect either. What made my mind up about purchasing the guitar was the neck. I feels great and was even better finished that the Clapton signature they had in the store. No kidding. I'm wondering if Fender USA's quality control has slipped a little, because there's NO WAY a US-made Strat is worth more than double this Mexican Strat. Please understand that I've tried MANY. I'm in no way bashing the US-made stuff, but c'mon, Fender should clean up their act.

I've brought this guitar on several gigs mainly as a backup. It's a pretty simple design that shouldn't cause any problems. Remember people, all guitars need regular maintenance. Keeping things in good shape should prevent most simple problems that occur. The finish will probably last forever, and I immediately put in Shaeller strap locks. I wouldn't EVER gig without a backup, just for the fact that strings do break now and then! It gets an "8" in this category due to the fact that it's made of Poplar, thus not as solid as alder or ash.

I've been playing the blues semi-professionally for the past 10 years and have played several different guitars. As mentioned above, my main squeeze is an Epiphone Sheraton and I just needed to fill my Strat craving. I tried several different ones at the store and kept going back to this one due to its great neck. If it were stolen, I'd consider looking around for another. If it were lost, well, I guess I'd be an idiot! How the hell do you lose a guitar? Seriously, I love the color (Arctic White) and neck. As I mentioned I compared it side by side with 4 US-made Strats and in no way did I find that they were worth the extra $600. I'll give it a "10" in this category, just because I feel I got a real Strat sound at a fraction of the cost.