Fender Standard Stratocaster

You know the Strat. Everyone knows the Strat. This is the Strat. Mine is Midnight Wine (a dark burgundy, not quite maroon, not quite purple). The axe comes with a plain white pickguard; I've not seen a guitarist yet who hasn't improved on that with some paint or stickers or by swapping it out. Mine's now white pearl. Maple fretboard, tremelo (doesn't look like the Floyd Rose I'm familiar with, but it isn't a Wilkinson; does the job though) and your standard Strat S/S/S pickup configuration, with volume/tone/tone and a five-way selector. There are endless mods you can do to the wiring; all I did was drop in a set of Duncan SSL-2s with a hotter SSL-5 bridge pickup, then I put a small capacitor on the knife switch to allow tone control on the bridge pickup, then swapped the Volume pot for a push-pull that allows me to turn the neck pickup on no matter where the knife switch is set. I threw on my standard set of Blue Steel medium strings (with an unwound G) and it's done.

I use this axe mostly for classic rock (Gilmour's Pink Floyd sound is based on a Strat, as is Clapton's, I believe Santana's, and many other famous artists of the time). I don't play a lot of rockabilly or "neon armadillo" country rock, but this setup would be great for it. Between this and an Ibanez GAX-70 SG clone that eats up metal riffs and is great on rhythm, I can pretty much cover the spectrum of guitar sounds.

Everyone knows the Strat sound; hot, responsive, in your face. It sings clean or with a little tube overdrive, and screams when you add dirt. It's a little noisy in the mid-only position (as are most Strats; it's because of the reverse polarity). I usually use neck/mid for chord work, and mid-bridge for soloing. If I really need it to wail I'll flip it all the way to that hot bridge pickup. If I really need to mellow it I'll go all the way to neck, but it doesn't happen often. I have to try to get a bad sound out of it. It doesn't get overly nasal and quacky like my Ibanez will (which is interesting, because the "Strat quack" is a fundamental part of a Strat's tone). Despite the many possible settings, adjustments to tone are easily made without a lot of fiddling and fine-tuning.

I really liked the fact that the guitar is shielded, which especially on a Mexi is not something I thought Fender would do. I also noticed this shielding on an MIM Jazz bass I bought recently; there's a mesh laid underneath the finish of the pickup wells (you can't normally make it out due to the finish) that shields the magnets in the back from radio interference picked up by your own body, of all things. The same thing is done to the control cavity here, so when you see a screw drilled into the bottom of the cavity with a wire off it, that's a shield ground. The pickguard is also shielded with a layer of foil to provide a full shell; I had to duplicate this with some spray adhesive and aluminum foil for the new pickguard. This removes 95% of the 60-cycle hum and all the ambient EM noise; except in the middle only position which still buzzes a little, this is a VERY quiet guitar (at least until you start playing it).

I'm giving it a ten for the finished product; with the stock pickups it was an 8 or 9, but there are some bad Strats that wouldn't make a 5.

This is a very well-built machine. There are places where it's obvious corners have been cut. Obviously the pickups, though surprisingly good for a stock MIM, would be the first thing you'd replace. While the tremelo iself works rather well, it makes intonating the guitar very fiddly. You will have to set up the guitar for best results, but it does come pretty well-intonated; it's only when you plug into a tuner that you find intonation issues. The neck had just the barest relief; I like just the barest bit more because then I can actually lower the saddles, but it certainly had no fretbuzz and a pretty low action as set up. Pickups were set properly, but I'm not a big afficionado on pickup height; they're out of the way but still give a hot and highly responsive signal. Opaque finish had no flaws, pickguard that came on it had no flaws or shoddy routing/drilling (but I ditched it anyway).

One thing that is very cheap-looking is the bridge saddles. They're simply stamped pieces of metal. Although the tremelo system limits the amount that the string vibration carries to the body through the bridge anyway, these things just look too flimsy and I'm planning on changing them out for USA-model saddles.

This guitar has the now-standard thick polyurethane finish, as opposed to the vintage-era, thinner nitrocellulose lacquer finish found on Highway 1 instruments. It's very tough; you pretty much have to drop the guitar to get a noticeable ding. The hardware's kinda iffy. I might upgrade the tuning machines, but the bridge if not the saddles are pretty solid. Upgrade the strap buttons; this is plain common sense. I use Dunlop straplocks but any locking mechanism will work better than the current buttons. I would definitely gig with this guitar without a backup in terms of its reliability; the only reason I'd bring another guitar along is if I needed a different sound.

Never dealt with Fender. In the unlikely event that the instrument breaks and it wasn't your fault, it's usually easier to have a competent luthier fix it for a few bucks than to pay to ship it back and wait weeks to get it back, as most warranty programs take.

Any guitar maker can make a bad guitar, and any guitar maker can make a good one. With a Fender MIM, you must look around, and sometimes it takes awhile, to find the instrument that calls to you. I don't really know how I know an instrument is "good" or "bad", other than it feels and sounds "right". You'll plug in a guitar and it'll be fair, passable, good even, but not really knock your socks off. The next one you try, even the same model, or even a cheap knockoff, will just blow your mind. The one you like could cost hundreds of dollars less than the one you didn't (bonus!). The only real way to tell is to sit down and play it. If you put in the time and go home with "your" axe, it will always be a ten. I'm going to give the line of guitars as a while an 8, because most are very good, but if you just pick one off the shelf you probably won't be as happy as if you tried a few different ones.

Made in mexico Fender stratocaster of 2004. Standard features of a stratocaster with rosewood neck and s/S/S configuration. The colour is brown sunburst.

It's a great guitar! it suits all styles from funk to hardrock. I play it through a cube 30 for practicing at home and it sounds wow! It's not noisy at all. I like the brigde pick-up the most because it gives a typical strat-sound, clear, sharp and rock'n'roll!other pickups also give you the sound you like.sometimes i play heavier stuffs with this axe and it sounds very well with high gain!
this guitar really has a strat-sound. I've played on a yamaha pacifica (stratcopy) of my friend , but mine sounds much better.

The guitar was set-up well at the factory, so i didn't have to change a lot. the factorystrings were ok.
And the finish is gorgeous. I've choosen for brown sunburst and it looks so pretty! i love it!

I use this guitar for gigs without back-up.
I've dropped the guitar once when i was playing and it doesn' t even get a scratch!
the strap buttons are very solid. of course you also need a good strap.
I have it now for about 2 years, and it still looks like brand new.

bought it from thomann.de from germany. this company is very reliable and has a good service. My strat has a 3year garanty, which is nice.

I've been playing for 3years now and i' ve just bought a digitech rp300A. Now i can play everything with my strat. Once again this guitar is so versatile and comfortable to play that you can't stop playing;)

I love this guitar! I got it a few months ago and I've put a lot of miles on it. Everything about it is awesome! The finish is beautiful. I got a red body (alder), white pickguard with a solid, one-piece "C" neck/fingerboard that feels like it was made for my hand. I'm no virtuoso, but I can tell you, there is no better solidbody "Strat-type" guitar for this price.
It's got a synchronized tremolo (removable arm) that doesn't seem to affect tuning very much, if at all. Twenty-two frets and awesome action combined with the maple fingerboard make it a dream to play. It'll play faster than my fingers will go! The tuners are awesome and the through-body bridge makes changing strings pretty painless. The pickups are Fender Standard Stratocaster ceramic pickups. The guitar arrived in Nova Scotia - from Arizona - set up to perfection and still in tune!
This guitar is the start-line strat... It's the first great guitar in the strat lineup and it has all the features and tone of an expensive American strat.

It sounds like a Strat - because it IS a Strat. This guitar is exactly what the name Standard Stratocaster implies. It's every bit a Strat, but one that you could modify without worrying about ruining it AND without breaking the bank. There's nothing wrong with the sound of this axe right out of the box. I play it through a Roland Cube 30 - and I can play along to Eric Clapton CDs and it sounds awesome. Jamming with other guys, it holds its own without any problem and I run out of stuff to play long before it runs out of sounds to make.

EVERYTHING about this guitar is a 10! The action, fit and finish are perfection - as any Strat would be.
I did have to pull a bit of waxy residue off a couple of the screws (came off easily in a couple of seconds), but i'm guessing that had to do with the plastic coating on the pickguard.
The finish is amazing - I highly recommend getting a red one - it's more beautiful than I could possibly have imagined from the photo on the website. It was a toss up for me between red and black, because I wanted something solid colour with class, so i flipped a coin! Fender, you have a winner!

This guitar stays in tune in its case for days with hardly any tuning before I play it. The hardware is awesome - the tuners are smooth and hold perfectly. The bridge is built to last - out of stainless steel. The finish, with due care, will last a lifetime. The neck is one piece - fingerboard included (on the maple fingerboard model). I'd gig this guitar in a heartbeat!
I replaced the strap buttons with quick-releases because I hate ALL strap buttons! But, they were solid upon arrival and even the stock ones on my brother's Squier Strat are holding solid.
It came with a soft gig bag that would be OK if you don't bang your axe around a whole lot in transit or storage, but I keep both my guitars in hard cases - a wise investment I think. (AND you can plaster them in stickers if you so choose).

Customer support through Fender is A-1. So is the customer support and service at Musicstop - my favorite music store where I bought the guitar. (Lyndon MacKenzie, you are the man!)

My overall rating is a perfect 10. I am 100% satisfied with this guitar and I doubt if I'll ever outgrow it as a player. I might change pickups after a while, but other than that, it's an awesome guitar at any price.
I love everything about this guitar. Highly recommend it to anyone.

2006 MIM Black Strat 3 Standard single coil PUs, 1 Volume, 2 tone (Neck and Middle) 5 way switch. Middle PU is reversed wound or connected for HUM cancelling when using Switch Position Bridge-Middle (2) or Neck-Middle (4). Wood is alder, Neck is all maple. Also for 2006 a new thicker and heavier Tremolo block is installed, Body cavity paint shielding with some connection points into the body (its there, measured resistance with a ohm-volt meter), larger Frets, and rewiring of the tone cap (it is, I checked against a 2003 Strat Pickguard plate with electronics). the salesman told me it is now wired like an American series Strat. El Cheapo gig bag and price raise included. If this thing included the Deluxe GIG bag as used on Deluxe Fenders it would get a 10

Instead of rating sound,, I'll rate Tone. Buying a guitar means you are buying into the tone the axe makes. No doubt, playing style and technique will determine whether one sounds good and what guitar one buys. My sound is mostly that of Blues with some Rock and Jazz, not a great muscian by any means but I play fairly well,,,,IMHO. Sometimes dabbling in neoclassical shred which to be honest I suck at (though I have played classical Guitar for 2 years).
All that said, this guitar is great for Blues, and Rock, it just has that tone. not as strong as my Gibby LP but lots better that the 2003 Strat with stock PUs (now has Torres blues and a blocked Trem - NICE!), seems hotter than my 2003 with more clarity. Fender has done its homework making this MIM Standard better. Mind you the changes are modest, the same ceramic PUs are being used but with the reworked wiring, larger trem block, larger frets, and shielding. All these changes make the TOne a bit more robust with more sustain, overdriving a Amp seems easier, Pluck and twang are more ponounced when using the bridge PU since there is less noise esp. when playing clean.When using distortion, the neck PU really cuts through and can sound stringent so roll down the Treble control a touch. The Neck PU has a nice Blusey tone that sounds more aggressive but with less sheen than more expensive Strat neck PUs that are on my other guitars. The Middle PU plays a raunchy not quite P90 kinda tone. Compliments the Bridge and Neck PU well. All in All very good Tone though there still is some Hum as expected from single coils. The Hum can be controlled by using better cables and sitting away from the Amp.. I do not intend on replacing the PUs anytime soon though I may install a Torres Volume Kit and wire the Bridge to the Middle tone control for added sounds and tame some of the high end response. I play thru a Crate Bass Amp with the tone controls set on flat......
10 for sounding like a Strat

Setup outta the box was near perfect. This was not so with the other guitars hanging on the rack, or at least the Black ones.. Some had S shaped necks, One had a straight neck but raised frets. So I took a chance and bought one out of the box, the only black one left..... I had to adjust the relief to .010 , was .030...And adjust the 1st string to 1.2mm @ the 17th fret ( other strings - 2-5 were set to this, the 6th string was at 1.75MM). There was some wax caked on from the factory and some finger prints on the body which were easily removed with polishing compound. I have a realativly light touch so there is no fret buzz. I tried some finger picking with no fret buzz so the guitar , for my style , is setup correctly. Frets are well dressed and very smooth, string bends are easy, almost as easy my Gibby LP, which costs more, obvisouly. Inotation is pretty much spot on though some tweaking is needed. 1 ding for the wax and finger marks

Its a Strat, I own several, they are like tanks

Have not dealt with them though the tech at my local GC said Fender is very good at hornoring their warranty. so a 10

I played one of these upgraded Strats a few months before purchasing this one, , at first, I thought it was the more pricey Players Strat with Tex-Mex PUs installed. I was really surprised looking at the price sticker indicating it to be a Standard Strat. Fender got this one right. Plays nice , great tone, and great finish. Should sell lots of these ....factory setup is an issue though.. This guitar is in contrast to a 2006 MIM HSS Strat I purchased used which sounded just TERRIBLE. I bought that guitar CHEAP to upgrade,,new tortise pickguard and Electronics with vintage noiseless PUs, which are quite good but does not sound as good as this Strat. Putting it in perspective, a Strat is not an LP, and visa-versa. So how to really rate this guitar overall?
Like a Gibby LP, the Fender Strat is iconic and Stands by itself. So what makes a good Strat? Rate it against other Guitars that try to emulate it,, IE Ibanez, AXL, Tradition, Samick, and countles others?
I don't know maybe I got lucky with this guitar and it is the stand out of the bunch, but I suspect not though, hopefully, Fender will address some quality control issues. Except for Setup and neck probs on the others I tried, all upgraded Strats should have that Strat feeling and Tone, like mine!

2006 Fender Standard Strat (mex)
21 frets
S/S/S (stock p-ups)
Alder body
Black with white 3 ply pickguard
synchronized trem

Using it with a Marshall 15w amp.
It suits a lot of styles but the pick-ups aren't the best in the world.

Kosmic sound sets up guitars perfectly.
There were no flaws that i could notice, (good action, intonation, pick-up height, etc...)

A very reliable guitar, probably one of the most reliable in its price gap.
BUT
I probably wouldn't smash it around too much.

probably good. Havent needed them yet.

I've been playing guitars for 5 years but electric for only a few months. If it was stolen or lost i would want to try another type of guitar but only so that i can try different sounds.

The guitar I am reviewing is Fender's Standard Stratocaster model. It was made in Ensenada Mexico in 2006 and includes the recent upgrades which include a larger mass tremolo block, medium jumbo frets and a gig bag. Mine is finished in Midnight Wine color with the standard polyester coating and has a rosewood fretboard. Even coated in plastic this is a nice looking guitar. The pickups that it comes with are fender's standard ceramic single coil pickups which I have replaced with a set of Fender Custom Shop Fat50's pickups because the stock pickups sounded like poo to me. The tremolo (vibrato bar) is the vintage style 6 screw variety and it also has the standard Volume/Tone/Tone + 5-way pickup selector control arrangement.

With the pickups that come stock, honestly, it wasn't that great for my playing tastes and styles. I mean, they were OK, but not the same as the Fat50s I replaced them with. With the replacement pickups installed, this is a very good sounding guitar to me. That means that the guitar's sustain and tone characteristics are good with the pickups being the only possible weak spot. This is only my opinion though and the stock pickups are probably just fine for most people. Rated as 7 for stock and 9 for replacement pickups so I'll give it an 8 here to balance out my personal preferences a bit.

Well, if you know anything about this series you know that it can be a bit of a hit or miss proposition finding a keeper. In my case, I wanted a guitar that could be left out in my living room for instant playing duty through a Cyber Champ that could be used by my grandson, bother(s) and student(s) without being paranoid about it getting knocked around a bit. So I bought this guitar online from Sweetwater Sound (great outfit BTW) with the hopes that their quality control practices would weed out a potential loser. I was fortunate that they did because this guitar plays beautifully considering the price I paid for it. My other 4 guitars are Fender American made and have the rolled fingerboard edges which I love the feel of. I do wish this guitar had that feature, but it isn't awful like it is either. None of the greats "back in the day" had rolled fingerboard edges so I guess I can tough it out. The action was set standard at the factory and I only tweaked it a bit for my style. There was no buzzing anywhere on the board, and the frets are all straight and parallel indicating no twisting or warping. I am overall very pleased with this guitar, especially given what I paid for it. Still I would like to see the rolled edges :-)

This guitar is still a Strat, regardless of its' origins and as such will take whatever (reasonable) abuses the gigging musician can throw its' way. The hardware may or may not last the distance I suppose but for me it is fine. Actually, the tuners and tremolo are better than I expected. There are no strap locks nor are there locking tuners/bridges or any of that so many players will probably make changes there as desired. Stock, this is a working man's guitar pretty much just like Leo made them in the 50s/60s.

Lifetime limited warranty included, but I doubt I'll need it. Fender excels in this regard, at least on paper.

I have been playing since 1969, although much of that was strictly acoustic guitar. Still, I remember when Strats, Teles and Fender's classic amp designs were still relatively new and I believe Leo fender's original design and production goals are being honored with this guitar. It is simple, functional and most of all it is affordable. What more is really NEEDED with any guitar? Sure you can buy better guitars if you want to and can afford them, but for a sub $400 price tag, this is as fine a guitar as you could ever expect.

2005 Fender Standard Stratocaster, sunburst finish, alder body, maple fretboard, 21 frets, vintage style 5-screw tremelo. Feature wise, there are tons of options in terms of different sounds from the 3 pickups using the 5-position selector.

I play blues and rock mostly, and this guitar fits those styles perfectly. I play it directly into Fender 65 DRRI (cranked up, of course) and get the best blues tone I can imagine. The guitar isn't noisy with the amp for some reason, but the stock ceramic pickups will buzz quite loudly at home near computers etc.. I replaced the bridge pickup with a Seymour Duncan classic stack and it sounds good, although not as cut-through as the original pickup in a live setting. The sound is balanced, not too bright, not muddy, just nice and full. I can't remember taking this guitar out and not getting compliments on it's tone. The Strat and DRRI are a great team.

The action and set-up (which may have been adjusted by store personnel after the original factory set-up) was the main reason why I bought this guitar. I wanted a strat and I went to the local music store and tried different American strats.. all day. Strangely enough, I was a little disappointed by them, especially in terms of playability. I then grabbed this MIM sunburst strat and it just felt great to play on, very natural with a nice, clean feel to the neck (not glossy). The hotter pickups were great too, more of a rock lead tone that I was used to from my humbucker-equipped guitars.

Now about the the neck. Prior to this I had been mostly playing a guitar with a very flat fingerboard radius (16"). The 9.5" curved fretboard, combined with the non-glossy neck feel and the 'not too thin / not too thick' neck contour on the strat is to die for. My playing has improved substantially since I started with this guitar, and it is due to the neck being so comfortable. This is one of the best necks I've ever played on.

However, there is a problem with it too. That awesome curved fretboard is comfortable, but bends on notes above the 12th fret will cut out at a certain degree of bending as they come into interference with the peaks of the frets. I think this is fixable with the concession of having a higher action. I haven't done this though, and typically for really high bends I will just start on the next fret up and bend less high. A compound radius fretboard would fix this altogether though.

The guitar altogether is very solid, the body weight is medium, not too light so that it would feel insubtantial, and not Les Paul heavy either. The bridge seems to be great quality, although the string tees on the headstock will derail any whammy-bar dive bombs as the strings catch and go out of tune. Again, with adjustments you probably could make it work. I just don't use the tremolo bar enough to investigate.

All around great quality, -1 for the fret interference problem.

As mentioned above, this strat feels very well made. The hardware is good too, nice bridge, tuners stay in tune quite well. The sunburst finish is beautiful, using what looks like a maple veneer with light figuring over the (at least 2 piece) Alder body. The finish is nice and deep looking. I always take it out with no backup. The plastic nut did come loose after enough playing though, which is not a big deal, you can just glue it back into place. Still though, I will deduct a point for that.

Never had to deal with the company.

I've been playing for about 12 years and own a Gibson LP Custom, Kramer Baretta, and a homemade strat-style guitar inspired by George Lynch's M1 'Tiger'. For amps I've got a Fender DRRI and a JCM800 head. Playability wise, this strat is right up there with the Les Paul, and I use it tons more because you don't have to stress as much about it getting stolen. Speaking of which, if (knock on wood) it was stolen I would definitely look for another. This is a great guitar with great tone and playability. After all, it beat out all the American strats I tried at that store.

Standard Features for a MIM Strat. Mine's a 2005.
Your basic workhorse, don't buy it if your looking for anything fancy, the tremolo bridge is pretty much the only useful feature i can see, and that can't even stay in tune.

I move around through almost every genre and the strat is fairly decent for that, it is good at many styles, but excels at none. Sound is a little too bright and sounds average distorted.

I'm just going to say it in a single word. Crap.

The strap buttons are too small, so i swapped them out for some dunlop strap locks. Finish is thick enough to survive a nuclear blast, hardware is average. Used it live but i took my esp truckster as a backup.

Never spoken to Fender, probably never will. I would just buy a new guitar rather than worrying about this one.

This really is a goat of a guitar, i played at least 50 in my quest and this was the best i could find. If i was not a beginner then i would have gone for a nicer guitar, probably a tele.
Using the whammy bar instantly pulls it out of tune, which i think is ridiculous.

I would never buy another one of these until Fender makes significant improvements to their lower priced market guitars.

2006 model, maple neck, chrome red. 21 medium jumbo frets, satin poluerethane finsih (on the neck), radius is 9.75, I think. ALder body, cermaic pick-ups, excellent finsih. Vintage bridge, ( I think (I prefer these), standard tuners, (they are OK, but will wear out). Not many bells and whistles, but plays very well.

Suits my style pretty well. Blues and Classic rock. I run it through a Fender Ultimate Chorus, DSP,,,not bad (poor mans Twin Rewverb). I switched out the pick-ups to fender noiseless, but the cermamic p/ups were pretty good too. Very rich sound. I traded my old MIN ,a 1998 for this, as Fender went to a better neck (a little bid wider, medium jumbo frets and a alder body compared to a poplar. Very close to the American model. Resonates very well, full chords, lead, all sound significantly better than the 1998, and much easier to play due to the "C" shape neck.

Set up was very good, but did replace the pick-ups. Action was lowered a bit. Fit and finsih is excellent. No flaws, certainly a much improved quality.

For live playing, defintely! Should be very dependable.

Who the hell knows, always a bit iffy here. Called Fender asking for white noiseless pup covers, they are clueless. If anyone knows how to get this, please email me how.

I have been playing for about 25 years. Owned a Japanese Strat, (would not suggest to get this, An American Strat (sold this, big mistake)a 1998 MIM Strat, not bad, but the 2006 is much improved. I wish it had better tuners, but the pings are not bad. For the price, well, it is about $500 less than an American, and put in better pick-ups, hard to tell much of a difference. I would replace it with exactly the same, but if I did have the money, the AMerican would be the way to go.For the price tough, this is a sure winner.

All the basic Strat features, maple neck, 3 single Fender pickups, etc.

I own a 2004 model, had it since Christmas 2005. I play mostly 60's style rock and blues, and this guitar is fantastic for that genre. I'm using it through a ENGL T-bird 50 watt combo, a brilliant amp, and the guitar fits the amp perfectly. I'm usually on low gain, and the strat resonds well. But the thing I really love about that strat is that if I'm in a metal or jazzy mood, I can quickly readjust the setting and there you go! A metal or jazz guitar. With damn good tones. Only bad thing is that the pick-up switcher is noisy, which isn't good for gigs. But apart from that, a majestic sound.

There were quite a few things wrong with the guitar when I first bought it, and I had to take it back quite a few times. There was a horrible buzz above the 12th fret, which sucked for soloing, and pick-ups needed something done to them. But apart from that, everything else was ok.

I've played a few gigs with this guitar, and it survived all of them well. I have a Squier HSS Strat as a back-up guitar, and I've never had to use it. The frets are doing suprisingly well, and the finish is still as though I bought it yesterday. I play with a Dunlop strap, so I never really experienced the original strap buttons. But overall, this is a very dependable guitar.

I've never dealt with Fender themselves, but the warranty is 3 years long, and the music store from where I bought takes care of the minor things that need to be done.

I've been playing 3 years, but I've been around music all my life, playing Piano since I was 7, and this guitar is a welcome addition to my instrument family. If I lost it, I would probably go for the American model, which I tried at the time I bought this one, but didn't have sufficient funds. I also tried out high-end Epi Les Pauls, Yamahas, and Ibanezs, and the Strat outperformed all of them. It really is a beautiful instrument, and great value.