Fender Standard Stratocaster

it is a mexican standard model, and it has 6-string and 3 pickups. It has a volume control, and 2 sound controls, witch can take the bass, and the treble ind and out. Lots of features i have to say.

It has a lovely sound, I really enjoy hearing the sound of my Stratocaster, and the sound appeals me a lot.

It is handmade and I coundn't expect more, just lovely.

I've always want to have a backup guitar. You never knows what can happen! But it is very high quelity(?) and im impressed.

I don't know!

nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mexican Standard Stratocaster"Not a Squire". Midnight Wine Finish. 21 frets. Poplar body and maple neck and fretboard. Standard sycronized tremelo. 3 single coil pickups. White Pickguard. This is a 2001 model. A freind of mine owns a shop as soon as he got it in I played it and love the sound of it so I bought it on the spot fresh from the factory.

I play in a church band so I need a guitar that will give me a wide range of tone. I put 10's for stings on it. The middle position is my favortie it is a medium rich tone. The bridge pickup is bright and the neck pickup is milky and rich.

When I got it the action was nothing near good. The factory did a horrible job setting it up. The pickups were adjusted properly but I like the bass side much higher than normal. I had to setup the guitar and intonate it. The bridge should have been placed about 1/8" further back. I had to take the spring of the bass E Saddle to bring is back far enough for proper intonation, this nearly ruined the guitar. The finish was perfect on the body but the neck had a not lacquered spot inbetween the 3rd and 4th fret.

I can play hard for an hour and never have to worry about tuning. I haven't had this long enought to know if the finished will last a long time.

I have been playing for 10 years and have owned about 12 different guitars. This is my first fender and I am hooked. I love the feel and look of this guitar. I think I will hang on to this one for a long time. But I was dissapointed in the bridge placement. I build guitars for a hobby and I know the significance of proper bridge placement and to get a bad one from a veteran guitar company is NOT GOOD.

new mexico model deep wine red color, maple finger board, ceramic not that great pick ups, good tuners ok vintage bridge, skinny frets.

the pick ups have to go they can sound good clean with little life and suprisingly they don't sound to bad overly distorted. They will not do a light crunch sound that good at all. The substain on this guitar is great with tight action and bridge still floating a hair.If you play lead you can be all over the neck on this, Makes you want to bend a lot and real easy for hand vibrato.I give it a seven those pick ups are junk.

they float the bridge way to much but changing strings helped it a lot.I haven't adjusted a thing yet. The frets were well dressed on this one but you have to check them out(this was best one out of five I checked) It seems that there are a bad fret jobs on theese models, It can be fixed but fender should Q.C their guitars better.But I think they are more concerned about quanity than quality. This one I recieved was in great shape tight neck joint nut cut proper for 9s.If this bridge was set up right this would of been a 10. A good tech can help you a lot on this model.And real good finish which was excellent on all the different ones I checked. And I like 21 frets you always have plenty of room on upper registers, you don't feel choked.

haven't put it through the test, but seems pretty solid but you will want to change a couple of parts to your preference. I would gig with it stays in tune quite well and plays lead quite well.Yes a real guitar can be found for 300.00 (ibanez or gibson do not have any thing this close in price or quality).

Its there but takes a while.

for 3 bills its a nice lead guitar it will probally need a pro set up and definetly better pick ups. A par from that if you look careful enough you can find you a good guitar.

Mexican-made in late 2000. Specs are blah, blah, blah . . . read them in every other review. In case you care, mine is a sunburst finish. I'll say up front that I like everything about this guitar, so there. The features are the same as on every Strat copy, which is just what I expected and was looking for.

I play blues, bluesy-rock, and some old-fashioned punk and this guitar suits me to a tee. Yes, I am an SRV and Hendrix freak, so I knew I wanted that Strat sound, and this guitar delivers in spades. The 1,3, and 5 positions buzz, but that happens on all Strats and is to be expected. With my amps (a Peavey 15 practice and a Fender Deluxe 90) and some effects pedals I can get a wide variety of sounds from this guitar. I want to say this guitar rocks, but it does more than that: it jazzes, swings, punks, thrashes, and metals as well.

I have literally finsihed playing and kissed this guitar, telling it how much I love it. Yes, I have played American Standards. And, yes, I have even played some vintage Strats. Is this comparable to a '65 vintage. Hell, no. But I didn't have the $6,000 to lay down for that guitar. I didn't even have the $1,000-$1,200 for a 2000 American Standard. What's a wanna-be blues/rock/punk player to do?

I will say that, having played the new American Standards, I don't think they are worth the extra $700+ over the Mexican Standards. Yes, there is a difference in tone, but I don't believe it's as noticable as everyone professes. On the other hand, I noticed another reviewer suggesting that people either buy an American or just low-ball it with a Squier. To that I say: Were you drunk when you wrote that review? I played a Squier and thought it was going to fall apart in my hands, hard as I had to hit that thing to get a halfway-decent sound from it. This guitar costs $150 more than a Squier but sounds light years ahead of it. Squier's are crap: they're for housewives, little girls, and Promise Keepers playing in their church band.

On the other hand, it is possible that I lucked out. This was not the only Mexi Strat I played. Three others sounded iffy. The first (an all black number) was flat-out awful. The second (red with Texas pickups) was far too tinny even in the fifth position. And the third seemed to flatten out high on the fret board. So my advice is to play a bunch of these before selecting the right one. Do NOT buy one mail order or on ebay (I don't know why anyone would purchase a guitar that way anyhow). Try them out until you find the one right for you.

Bought this brand new and everything was set up fine. However, my local music shop restrings everything and does some tweaking where needed, so it may not have been factory preset.

This is my main guitar and it is very dependable. I would gig with this without backup, although I like different tones so I use several different guitars. Everything on it seems solid.

I have never dealt with a company directly. If I have problems, I go to my local music shop.

I have been playing guitar off and on for ten years, bass for about 13. I have a Danelectro U-2 Reissue and an Epi Les Paul ES-335, but this guitar is my favorite. If I lost this guitar I would shave my head and sit in an ashpile while wailing and gnashing my teeth and cursing the gods for my misfortune. If someone stole it, I would remove their fingers with pruning hedges and then strap on the Strat and play in front of them so they would know the pleasure they would be forever missing. Hell, yes, I would replace this guitar if it ever should leave my side.

On a further note, I bought this guitar because at the time I was too poor to afford an American Standard Strat. Now I have the money to buy whatever guitar I want (including the $6,000 1965 vintage Strat), but I just don't see the point. I got an incredible bargain and am thrilled with the result.

It's yer standard Mexi-Strat, made in '94. You know the drill on the features. Mine's a Sunburst finish w/ a Rosewood fretboard. (Hate maple, ugh!)

It's a Strat, get over it. You know what it is.

I play prog-blues, and it works, for when I need a Strat. It also worked nicely in my small jazz group.

It sounds like a strat. Get over it.

Set up was excellent. It looks like the frets were gone over by a pro before it got to me. Knowing the store where I got it, that is a definite possibility.

It plays like a well set up strat.

C'mon it's 6 years later, I can't remember how good it was back then.

Everything else is great, except the cheap screws have oxidized. Ack.

It's a strat, eg it's a tank. No problems whatsoever.

N/A

This is my strat. I have a love-hate relationship w/ the thing. My main axe is a Godin ST-1 "superstrat", but this is, well. A STRAT! That is both a good and a bad thing. I love it when I want a strat sound/feel. I hate it when it feels like Beck/Clapton/SRV/etc are standing over my shoulder telling me I'm not good enough to play a strat, or doing it "right"

The only thing I have actually changed on it is that I replaced those nasty metal saddles w/ Graphtech. Mmmm.

Otherwise it's a helluva guitar. Maybe someday i'll repalce all teh pickups w/ Mini-HBs, but until then. It's a Strat. Get over it.

Made in Mexico
Single/Single/Single
Braco em Malpe, escala em Rossewood
o capitador faz muito ruido e embola um pouco, e recomendado q troqueos

Serve para qualquer estilo,o som e esselente

acabamento exelente

E a guitarra, perfeita

Standard Mexican Strat.Made in 99. It's got 21 frets, 2 tones, 1 volume, 3 single coils. It's got passive electronic (active kick the holy crap out of passive).The finish is "midnight blue" which translates into purple. It as a bolt on neck (thru is way better) and non-locking tuners. The bridge is Tuneomatic and you can use a vibrato if you want to, but for the sake of all that is good and pure, DON'T!!! It'll pull your guitar out of tune in a second and you'll go through alot of sets of strings. It's only there for comecial and the bridge will begin to fall apart if you do. SO DON'T!

I play rock and a little bit of blues. This guitar is alright for doing blues, but for rock it's pretty weak. I put it through a Boss GT3 (awesome) and that is the only reason I can get the sounds I like. It gives quite a bit of feedback however, and that's the guitar, not the pocessor. As for doing pulls, bends, hammers, etc, it rocks.

The guitar was set up pretty good, after about a month I began to hear a buzzing sound after I would strum, but I took it in and got it fixed for free, they just tightened up the springs. It was bought brand new and had no flaws at the begining. What really pisses me off now is that you can bump the body and the amp amplifies it. That really makes me mad.

I used to play at church and it was really good. This guitar will last throught maybe the 5th circle of hell, but that's about it. The finish chips of if your not careful. Mine has scratches all over it (just cosmetic stuff that I did to it that I didn't like in a year, so I scratched it off with a screw driver, I know, I'm stupid). But like I said, this guitar will stand up well. I didn't have a hole lot of money when I bought it, so was forced to play without a back up, but now I wouldn't.

It got repaired once and then after I learned what to do I got in there and set it up myself, so I didn't deal directly with Fender, but Ted Brown treated me well, but that was the only time they did. If you can, avoid Ted Brown.

I've been playing for a bit over a year. I'll be aquiring a Carvin DC127. Carvins rock. Just to let you guys know, I've never heard a Carvin, but my guitar instructor says they're the best, plus will all of the other reviews on here about Carvins, I can't stand but get one. Even the least expensive ones kick this one's butt. If it were lost or stolen I would only be mad because it's my frist guitar, but I would never buy another one of these. If I ever buy another Fender it'll have to be an American, but I'll probably just stick with Carvin and maybe a Gibson. But Carvins are the only way to go for the money. I said this before, and I'll say it again: DON'T USE A TREMOLO BAR WITH THIS GUITAR.

This is a british racing green standard stratocaster from Squire. It has a maple neck and fingerboard with black dot inlays, 21 frets, white pickguard, plastic nut, 3 shitty single coil pickups, 2 tone, 1 volume and a really shitty "vintage" tremolo. It says it was made in Indonesia in I believe the late 90's, maybe 2000... Anyways, it's kinda heavy and sounds weird and they don't exactly say what kind of wood the body is made of...so my guess is plain old fuckin' plywood. This is probable made right before Squire switched to alder. Nice sealed tuners that stay in tune well when you're not attempting the shitty tremolo(see above). A 5 because it has the same features as a Fender Strat at about half the quality of hardware. Oh yeah, and I love the huge 60's headstock.

Okay, I am a die-hard Metallica fan(sniff, Jason, come back...) but I play a lot of blues and clean stuff for which this guitar is great...When you don't plug it in. I think Squire should have just not installed pickups on this thing at all because once you turn it on with any volume or gain, you get a disgusting sound, and I mean it. The damn thing only cost me $160, so I'm not really mad, I just have to replace these pickups and send 'em back to Indonesia so those guys can apologize for trying to poison my music with shitty electronics. That's the only thing wrong with it. When you play it unplugged, It has its OWN FUCKIN' REVERB!!! it's incredible. crazy plywood...

Like I said before, it's this dark green, and the paint is pretty thick and smooth. There are scratches on the back but hey, it's the back, I don't give a fuck. The best thing this guitar has going for it is its beautiful and surprisingly playable neck.

It seems very solid. The strap buttons are really on there, and strap locks are not necassary. I wouldn't play it live even if I did gig, on account of the crappy electronics(soon replaced). I don't gig but you have to be a freakin' retard to play without a backup. That's a dumb-ass question.

? Are you kidding?

I've been playing what, like, 3 years now? I dunno... And I have a red Ibanez GAX-70(sweet axe) and a Hamer imported standard(mmmmmm...) through an Ibanez Smash Box into a Peavy Express 112 which kinda sucks my nuts, but it sounds great clean and the distortion is...interesting, i guess...I also have a Digitech RP-200, but I only use it for fun and crazy effects. That digital crap sounds horrible. If this guitar was stolen I'd give the guy a tip. "Thanks buddy, but don't come back for my good guitar, Okay?" The bottom line is this is a dirt-ass cheap beautiful guitar in a classic style with crappy pickups, but that can and will be corrected. It's probable good to start out with, I wouldn't know 'cause I got it 4 months ago on a fling just to fuck around with it. So play one, and see for yourself, that's all I can say.

well, its a strat obviously, and has 3 single coil pickups, 5 way selecter, two tone knobs and a volume knob, maple neck, 21 frets i believe, this one has pretty good tuners (but its probably 1 in a million, this is an older one from 96', and a whammy bar.

*****Now I have to say this is heavily modified***** I bought this guitar for super cheap at $109 (what a steal!!!) and the electronics were shot to hell and someone had a made a few small dents in the body and spray painted the whole thing silver (very kewl looking). Its too bad fender doesn't offer silver on "lowerend" models. So anyways I had been looking for a guitar to modify to a double Humbucking guitar.. and along comes this sad strat with broken electronics. So I took it to a professional guitar guy my dad knows and i sat down with him and told him what pickups i wanted and such things. He routed the body and i had him put a seymour duncan JB in the bridge and some dimarzio pickup in the neck (which i don't like that much... too bassy!) and made it a two knobber with a master volume and tone. This puppy now cooks! It seriously rocks hard. Its very full sounding and plays like a dream. The action is killer and the neck is very comfortable. And it stays in tune perfectly! I can drop the whammy bar as far as i can get it and go up and down and have it in perfect tuning. Which I didn't think would be possible. I use it with a Marshall JCM900 4100 tube head with some pedals (boss dm-2, Ibanez TS-9, phase 90, ect), its beautiful. ***I've also played on standard strats all stock and they are not too bad unaltered.

I break strings frequently, but i also play a shitload of hours every day. So its probably just me, cause i also strum very hard and loud.

What a great under-rated guitar. This really is a steal. Not only do the standard strats play and sound great, but they are also easily to mod and low priced. Although when they are all stock they don't sound nearly as good as my 50's strat reissue model or not like my dads 74' strat. But this is a really good guitar, especially for the price!

Year?? who knows, um..mexican made vintage style trem and frets, maple neck, rosewood fretboard, poplar body, 21 frets, has (well...had) 3 single coil pickups, brown sunburst finish, tune-o-matic bridge, 1 vol, 2 tones, 5 way slector

I spend about 90 percent of my time at the birdge. So i upgraded that with a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails. Now my guitar is awesome for rock, which is what i play. It suits all the type of rock i play, awesome with heavy distortion.

This guitar plays awesome, fast and smooth. I could find no flaws on/in this guitar. It has a brown sunburst finish, it looks real cool and its nice-not cheap or anything.

yes, this guitar will definitly withstand live playing, the hardware seems tough as dous everything else. The finish is nice, im sure it will last. The strap buttons are solid, they don't look or feel like they will ever come loose. The whole thing is really sturdy, its tough.

Havn't dealt with them.

For 300 bucks (regular finishes) this is the best guitar possible. I wouldn't spend more money on anything else, not with how nice this plays. With the hot rails at the bridge on this it suits my rock styles awesome, its great.

2-Color Sunburst, 21 frets, rosewood fingerboard, Mexican-made, volume and 2 tone controls, 5-way p/u selector, left-handed. I only give it a seven because I feel Fender should offer more colors and also provide different p/u options for this guitar.

I play classic rock, blues, and a lot of pop-rock type stuff. For the money, it is probably the best guitar out there. I previously owned an Epiphone strat-style (my first guitar) and it couldn't even begin to compare. It sounds really good through most of the settings on my Line 6 amp, and sounded decent throught the Marshall Valvestate halfstack I owned before that. One of the best things I think I've done for the sound of this guitar is purchase a Boss EQ pedal. Tweaking the EQ with this guitar and DEFINITELY improve the sound a great deal. With the EQ the low end sounds pretty darn good, but the highs are a little too twangy at times for my taste. I plan on replacing the pickups with Lace Sensors in the near future. One big downside to this guitar is that the p/u's are quite noisy at loud amp volumes.

The setup on this guitar was pretty good from the start. I've had it adjusted a couple times in the past few years due to the weather conditions in the Northeast. The neck is really nice for a guitar in this price range.

Right now this is the only electric I own, and I've been gigging with it for the past year and haven't once had a problem. I haven't even had a string break during a show. However, I'm now getting more serious and defintely am investing in another strat and a les paul. Also, I put strap locks on because I had an incident while practicing where the the strap came undone and the guitar went crashing to floor. But I must also say it made it through with a tiny scratch.

Never had to deal with Fender

I've had it for about 3 years and definitely owuld buy another as my second guitar. I actually don't think I will ever get rid of t his guitar. Making a few more mods to this guitar could really make a great axe.

2000 or 2001 new mexican built strat. Maple neck w/ black body. 21 fret neck standard pick ups with vol, tone, treb controls. Paid $300.00 new at Mars with an assortment of little stuff thrown in to make the deal happen.

Considering the $300.00 price tag, sound is incredible. What do you get for $300 now days? So, the sounds is amazing compared to the other options available. I play it hard yet only needs spot tuning 1-2 times a week, that in my opinion is the benchmark for a well constructed and solid instrument. The bridge and tuners are almost identical to the American version. I get a slight buzz from the single coil pickups as the gain is increased on the amp. The neck is fast and the body is heavy. Weight ranslates to quality in my opinion, Fender would make it lighter if they wanted to but they chose to NOT do that. Sound quality is excellent and i get wonderful sustain during solo's. So far i like the instrument, have no negative comments to make. I'm a realist, it was $300.00. I tested an American Strat at the same time and decided that saving the $300.00 extra bucks and buy this. No regrets!

Perfect, had no problems. Finish was flawless and the neck smooth and straight. The hardware is high quality. I made a point to compare the tuners and bridge to the equally priced compitition and this guitar surpased anything under $400.00

Have had no problems

N/A

Owned it for 3 months. Plays great, feels great, sounds great. I only wish they had told me about the availability of the Standard Fat Strat version, the humbucker pickup might have given me a little added punch but hey... such is life. If lost, i'd run out an replace it with the FAT version probably. Love: The sound. Hate: The buzz of the single coil pickups, swapping them out i'm sure will fix that. Yes, compared to many. I wanted a strat sound so only looked at similar instruments. This one by far was the best value.

ok it is a fairly good guitar. if your a beginner. everything is basic very basic, the pickups the neck and of coarse the tremolo.

the sound is very bluesy not good at all for playing heavier stuff.

the guitar is kinda heavy but it makes up for the very durable finish.i've dropped it on tile and not a scratch. the action is pretty good but could be better. fender could do better.

playing live it sounds reat and i've never had any problems with the electronics of this guitar. i would definently play it live with out a backup, i have numerous times.i can definently depend on it and the finish hasn't rubbed off since i got it 3 years ago.

wouldnt know

I've been playing about 5 years now and i would definently keep this one among my favorites simply because it plays great and feels good to. If it were stolen i would probaly buy something else because i don't care to much for the sound. my favorite feature is the paint job it's black but it has absolutly no noticable scratches after 3 years of playing on it. the worst thing is its hard to keep tuned.

Apparently made in 2000 down at the Fender plant in Mexico.

Standard Stratocaster, basically. Got your S/S/S pickup configuration, maple fretboard, and the arctic white finish. I love the neck on this guitar...it's so smooth. Having played a really hard rosewood fretboard on my old Epiphone Les Paul Flametop, I'm really enjoying the smoothness and seeming softness of the maple. Really great.

Then again, you have to understand that I'm not dying for all sorts of features. It's got all I could ask for, so I'm giving it a 10.

Well, my music style before getting this guitar was alternate tunings and cover music. Now that's totally changed. I can play anything from soft rock / easy listening to emo-punk / grunge with just a tap on the distortion pedal and maybe a flip of the 5-way. Really awesome tones coming out of this guitar, especially clean. My effects setup is pretty low-end, consisting of a DOD Supra Distortion and a Zoom GFX-707 multieffects & tuner. But it works for me. Oh yeah, and I run it through an Ampeg J-12 all-tube amp.

This is my weak point, because I don't know too much about guitar craft and construction, much less repair. Pickups seem secure, bridge is nice, stays (generally speaking) in tune, very tight neck pocket, and the wood is just tremendous. Finish looks like it could last forever.

Sure, I'd gig with it. Possibly without a backup, but I'm not exactly sure how well a Telecaster works as a backup for songs that were written and recorded with a Stratocaster. ;) I guess we'll just have to find out sometime. The strap buttons are the flared-out kind, which I don't particularly care for, but they're darn secure. Again, finish seems perfect.

Never had to deal with them.

I've been playing for only a year now, but I'd like to think I'm at a pretty intermediate stage right now. I've been playing in bands almost since I got my first guitar, so I've got a little bit of experience in live playing under my belt. That being said, I'm not claiming to be a professional...just a professional in training. :P Anyway, I love this guitar and if it got stolen or lost, I'd snap another back up in a heartbeat (if I could scrounge up the $$). Overall, a great guitar.

Purchased new in 1996, standard Strat 3 single coil setup, no mods.

Gives you the classic Fender sound, especially when paired with a Twin or 1965 Champ! Better sound than you would expect for the money, obviously not as good as one with Lace Sensors, which is what I will be putting in, sometime when I get around to it.

Setup was great right off the rack. I have to reiterate, as others have pointed out, that the Mexican-made Strats are inconsistent from one to another. You need to pick through the rack, maybe at a couple stores, to find a well-assembled instrument. However, if you do, you WILL be rewarded with a quality guitar.

This guitar has been utterly and completely reliable for me. I have played hundreds of gigs with NO backup guitar. I bought expressly for playing in smokey clubs, and it has held up far beyond my expectations.

Never had to deal with Fender, at all, for anything I have bought from them.

I have been playing guitar for 17 years, and own a few other guitars as well as drums and recording equipment. If it were stolen or lost I would likely attempt to find another one assembled as well as this one. I compared it to other Strats I have owned and played, and it holds its own very well. If you are looking for something to gig with, you will get more milage out of buying a Mexi-Strat and putting in a good set of pickups that fit your style than if you were to opt for a higher-end instrument. Highly recommended for the working musician on a budget.

bought brand new in 2000,mexican made(like all standard fender guitars not specified american),21 frets,solid poplar,typical fender electronics,stock fender single coils(although i put a duncan invader in the bridge),maple fretboard, dark bluish purple finish,standard tremolo. Not flashy but still an industry standard and a good guitar if your looking for a clean slate of sorts to customize like i was.

with the style of music i play i use alot of different tones since i play lots of covers(creed,tonic,led zep,radiohead,tom petty,and all sorts of wierd shit). I use a line6 half stack with a marshall 1960a cab with the foot controller so i can get anything i want from it using the bridge humbucker i installed or the 2 single coils in the middle and neck positions which have good fender single coil tone that is consistant with other fenders i have played.I have to admit the key to my tone is the after market humbucker but i bought this guitar with the intentions of retrofitting a pickup so I dont have anything bad to say really.

every thing seemed to be put together right or I wouldnt have bothered with it.I dont remember a whole lot about the action since I sent it to my guitar tech buddy to be sighted in and to have the tremolo the trem blocked up. I also had fender locking tuners and a pearliod pickguard installed. Seems pretty solid.

I've played it live alot, solid guitar,nuf said.

n/a

I bought this guitar because I wanted a solid insrument to customize rather than buying a pricey custom guitar. It does everything I want it to so I,m fairly happy about it.

I got the guitar in 1999 as a christmas present. It was made in mexico, and has 21 frets, i think. It has a volume control and two tone controls and a 5-way selector. It has 3 single coil pickups. I think it has an alder body and it has a rosewood fretboard on a maple neck. The guitar i got is a peice of crap. I have played other standard strats and they sound and work alot better then mine. I bought it from mars though, and they're all a bunch of assholes that'll sell you the shittiest equipment there. The guitar was very nice when i first got it, it played very nice. Later on though, peices of it just started falling off for no reason. I was playing once and the high e string broke and the saddle just flew off and i couldn't find it. i asked mars about it and they yelled at me and said that i had to have unscrewed it, which i didnt. i asked them if i could get a new saddle and they said no and that i had to buy a new bridge. I told them to F$^$@##$ck off and then went across the street to music loft and they gave me a new saddle. Then when i was playing the volume knob fell of during band practice, when i wasn't even touching it. then just today, the f@#$cking nut fell off! I got the crappiest deal on this guitar! I would never recommend anyone to buy anything from mars! my friends that bought their standard strats at other stores have much better sounding guitars than mine.

The sound of it is alright, i like to play punk/emo/ska and i also like to play blues too. it handles all these types of music pretty well. The only problem i have with the sound is that the pickups don't really have alot of tone. The sound is just bland to me. With a danelectro daddy-O pedal though, it sounds really nice.

The guitar was set up like the only spent five minutes on it. the pickups were adjusted fine. The saddles were very poorly fit, which is why one of them fell off. Also, when i play the low e-string on the 3rd fret the bridge makes this weird noise and it's really annoying, it also does this on some of the other strings but i can't remember what frets it was on. the nut is of very poor quality. I am going to take it into the shop, have them put some vintage pickups in fix the bridge and put an LSR roller nut on it.

The hardware does not last, i've only had the guitar for about a year and a half and it is falling apart already. I would only play live with it after i make all of the above changes to it. the finish is pretty good and is really the only thing that has lasted. the strap buttons are alright except the one on the bottom of the guitar keeps coming loose sometimes. I definitely cannot depend on this guitar. I would need at least 2 backups for this peice of crap guitar. Like i said before, the standard strats are not bad guitars but mars just ripped me off for this peice of crap.

I have never dealt with them because the warranty ran out right before i started having all the problems with it.

I have been playing for a year and a half. i don't play very hard so there is no reason that the guitar should have worn out as much as it has. I don't see why anyone would want to steal this guitar but if i ever lost it or someone was stupid enough to steal it then i would never even think of touchin another standard strat because of this bad experience. i do like the standard strats that all my friends have but since i had such a bad experience with this one i would never buy another one. my favorite feature is its ability to play completely different styles of music but i don't like how the pickups don't have enough tone even with the tone knobs all the way up, it still sounds bland. I played a squier double fat strat and a fender deluxe super strat, both of these guitars were alot nicer even the squier, amazingly since i didn't expect much from fender's off brand.

I dont know what year the guitar was made, but pretty sure its a recent model..its a standard black with white pickg strat made in mex. Just the standard thing that everyone knows but it is really great

this guitar is just fine for my style, as it has single coils but suprisingly it doesn't hum as much as i thought it would...it still get a good distortion adjustable for all types of music...would likely fit anyones style almost..it's not even actually that noisy as people say. I use crate practice amp which isn't great at all, but the guitar still sounds great. The bridge pu has a nice bright glassy sound clean, and neck is deeper and richer.

i bought it used...and it was fine just the way i got it. The action was set suprisingly low, lower than my epi les paul, and theres hardly any noticeable fret buzz. The neck is just about the greatest neck. The size and width is just perfect and feel great...realll smoooth..All the hardwares is fine, no loose nothing

I'm quite sure this guitar would hang find as my prime guitar if i were to gig with it. I would actually use this probably over my lespaul if i did gig, cause this is a lot lighter, and stay a lot better in tune. The guitar itself actually does sound better than my epi les paul, as guilty as i do feel saying that. But even though i would still use a back up

dont know

i've been playing about 2yrs. Prior to this guitar ive owned an epi lespaul, a strat copy, and an acoustic. This is a real great guitar considering how much i got it for. I think even new for around 330 i believe u can get it for..it would be well worth it. But i've heard there are some bad ones, so have to choose it well. If this were stole it i would def get another one, preferably used as a guitar played for one day is a used guitar. I really do love the neck, its so smooth, and just the sound and feel overall is great..not to mention the looks, the black is real glossy and pretty.

1996 Mexico Strat. 21 frets Maple neck and fret board. Solid Black color. S/S/S config but changed to a H/S/S config. 5 way switch.
Basic Strat set up.

Very thin at first but put a Humbucker in and it screams.

No problems at all.

Very good for the price.

Never need any

For the $$$$ everybody needs one or three

1997, Standard white Mexican Strat with 3 single coils, 5 way switch, etc...Maple fingerboard. Supposed to be poplar but I'm not sure if its really wood. What ever it is, its soft.

I play just about everything. Electric stuff through a Marshall JCM2000. Originally the singles were fairly noisy but they had that classic strat sound I wanted. However when the volume was up or when I used overdrive the sound broke up badly. Just for a goof, I took the guts out of a broken Lone Star Strat that I happened to have and stuck them into the Standard. What I noticed was that the Mexican hardware and electronics was subtantially inferior to the US stuff. There was no shielding and the ground was never hooked up (maybe thats why the thing was so noisy. I shielded the cavities and drilled a ground screw hole into the body. Thats when I noticed that the body "filling" was really soft. I punched several holes and never found any resistance. I know poplar is soft but this stuff felt like surfboard foam! I installed the Lone Star guts in one piece. It didn't fit perfectly; there is a definate bulge in the pick guard. Well, I plugged the thing in and it was transformed...I don't know if the combo of soft wood and some space under the pick guard turned the thing into a semihollow body, but the humbucker that once was useless on the Lone Star turned into a fat screamer with more sustain than any Strat I've ever heard.

I always modify the action to my own preferences. The original electronics were cheap and not grounded. The rest of the instument is certainly servicable for the price, but the difference between this and a "real" Strat is huge.

Take care you don't step on one of these...You can bang them around quite a bit without major problems. Stays in tune too.

Oringinally probably a 5 on the Harmony Scale but now that it's a Mexican Lone Star, I have to give it a 8 The sound is better than either the Lone Star or the Standard. If only I hadn't broken the Lone Star neck...

Mexican made, 21 frets, 3 standard single coil p/u's, 5 way selector switch, poplar body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard, standard trem and hardware.

As with most Fenders I've played, the single coil p/u's are very bright and a little noisey. I play mostly 70's and 80's hard rock and this thing sings through my Laney Pro Tube head/Marshall cab. Sustain is great for a bolt-on neck. As I said, the p/u's are bright and I can get a searing lead tone when I kick on my Boss SD-1 overdrive. Rhythm tones suffer a little though, as I can't get quite enough low end crunch. Overall it's very versatile though and does a fair job recreating whatever tones I'm looking for. Some of the reviewer's who have rated this low in the sound catagory have been using crappy solid state amps. Get a halfway decent tube amp first folks. Only then will you be able to judge what the guitar can do.

Factory setup was ok but I had to tighten up the trem springs and adjust the p/u height a little. No big deal really. Finish was flawless, as was the fretwork. The neck is very comfortable to play. The only gripe was that the screws were very loose around the jack. Luckily they were not stripped and I was able to tighten them.

This thing seems pretty reliable. The tuning pegs look kinda cheap but it seems to stay in tune alright. Finish on these is very thick and should last forever if not abused. I don't know how much that affects the tone however. As I said, it seems reliable but time will tell.

Never dealt with Fender.

Overall, I would have to rate this guitar high. You are getting a lot for basically the price of a beginner's axe. Show me a better instrument for $300! The sustain is what impresses me the most. Great singing leads and classic tone. You get the 60-cycle hum but so what? Players have been dealing with that for years. I was truly expecting less for the $$$.

Manufactured in 2ooo, in Mexico, Paid $425. Can. aprox. $280. U.S.
22 frets Maple neck w/ rosewood fingerboard.
1 Vol, 2 Tone , 5 position switch.
Bridge pu sounds a bit tinny but these are stock pu's
This is my first electric and I wish I had gone for the Fat Strat
version. {More sound variation}.
Fit and finish is superb.
Super bullets seem to hold tone well.

Good bright sound, a double PU would give a great range.
Using it with a Traynor 30 Watt tube simm. amp.
not a bad combo.
A bit of excess buzz on the 6th string. It hasn't been set up yet though.
Unbelieveable sustain.

Set up is just fair.
Fit and finish is excellent.
Fingerboard,frets,body,finish,& tuners are excellent!
Volume is a bit touchy,and PU selector is a bit noisy.
Wood is nice.

Strap buttons are solid, finish seems perfect {Candy Apple Red},
almost unscratchable.
Hardware and durability seem far superior to what I had expected for this price range.

Limited lifetime warrenty is excellent.
I've not had to deal with support yet as my guitar is only 2 mos. old

I've only been playing a few months.
Wish I knew at time of purchase that a fat strat standard was available for only a few bucks more.
Much better fit & finish than Eppiphone LP I checked out.
If it was stolen I'd cry and go buy a Fat Strat.
Best quality I've seen in an under $700. guitar.
This thing's a tank . Dropped it once, the neck hit the ground first.
It kept it's tune perfectly !

No one really needs another rating for this guitar, but its 05:30 in the am, and I love adding my voice to the pile, so....

Features are a 10 for a strat in general. I love my Gibson LP special, but for versatility, I go to my strat. It loses its feature marks in a cheap nut, some obvious marring near the truss rod, and though ive only used floyd rose style for tremolos, I would never consider using the tremolo live -- it loses tuning way too easily.

Fairly cheaply made strat, and it loses marks here for features.

The sound difference between standard and mexi strats i find fairly marginal. This one is noisy as hell, so I bought a noise gate. I like a little bit of a weaker sound out of the strat ala EVH's passive pickups. I like being able to load up my guitar signal a bit with my compressor and my eq. I have a boogie nomad that can give me nice hot sounds, and I dont find that the mexi strat holds anything back. Very bright, ringing highs. Sometimes a bit indistinct/unclear highs, but still bright. Would give it an 8 or 9, if it wasnt for the pickups being TOTALLY noisy. Such is single coils, but I think these are especially noisy. Maybe its just this particular guitar....

Visible yellowish spots on my maple neck! Nice sunburst, though. Looks like most mexi-strats are kinda thrown together. I bought this one cause other than looking a little crappy on finer points, I thought the action and the neck were awesome. Great low action with no buzz. Can pinch, squeal, ring, pound with the right hand, and left-hand flutter better than my gibson. I guess I like small frets, cause my Gibson has jumbo frets. Some cosmetic flaws that would irritate most, but nice tight neck with great action

Again, I think I got lucky with this one -- other than being cosmeticall flawed up close, this one is a well made strat. I think the reason there may be some variation in review is firstly:

1)of course, most peoples tastes and criticisms vary. One mans trash...

2)Some mexi-strats are garbage, and some are put together well. The guy at musicplex said most mexi's are made with the same parts (except pick ups) from american standards, its just that you lose the assembly quality when you ship it to Mexico. Someone wasnt daydreaming when they made mine. I reccomend if youre looking for a mexi strat, try a few out.

No opinion.

Great value for a 500 dollar guitar -- I refuse to over double my expenditure on a guitar to eliminate a cheap nut, plastic volume knobs, a spotty neck, and upgraded pickups. Its definately nice to have if you can afford it, but I wont reap $600 in benefits in replacing those things -- a crap nut only bugs me when i use tremolo, or tune up.

An excellent sub $600 dollar guitar -- nothing more versatile or better value (at least in the big names...) I know teles are coming back for their brightness (i would loooove a thinline reissue), and gibbys have their crunch and smoooooth, but a strat still seems to do just about everything else. I sure know a lot of strat-bashers, and I really dont understand why. Still the most versatile in feel and sound guitar I have picked up . I play it more than my $2000 Les Paul.

1999 Standard MIM Strat. Midnight Wine Poplar body. Maple neck. Rosewood fretboard. Standard Strat controls. Three single-coil pickups. Vintage tremolo. Came with a couple of Allen wrenchs. I was and am very happy with what I got for my money.

I like to play Blues, Southern Rock, Modern Rock, you name it. I bought a Peavey Audition 110 for starters and soon realized that it wasn't going to be enough so I saved up and got a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. The Peavey still makes a great practice amp. I use mostly Boss effects. Metal Zone distortion, DD-3 Delay, Super Chorus, Compressor and Cry Baby or Vox Wah. I have changed the pickups a couple times and have settled on Fender Custom shop Texas Specials. I also blocked the tremolo with Mahogany. It now sounds and handles extremely well.

I've made very few adjustments to the action except for basic intonation which was the guitars only minor mechanical flaw. the low "E" string saddle had to be adjust ed all the way back. I had to cut a couple of loops out of the spring to have enough travel. I also changed the pickguard to black pearl, changed pickup covers, knobs and rear cover to black. And added an American style string tree, Schaller straplocks and padded leather strap.

It will out last me I'm sure.

None yet.

Just the regular stuff. 1 volume, 2 tone, regular strat stuff. can't complain. guitar is probably no older than 95.

Now this is what I'm not too sure about. I bought it from an older guy at a yardsale for 150! bucks. Dirt Cheap i tell you! and he told me that it has EMG pickups in it, they don't say EMG on it anywhere, but he's no liar.. whatever! it sounds real good to me. better than my Custom Schecter 1984 USA strat! now the neck doesn't feel as good, and the bridge PU isn't as loud, but thats a different story.. this guitar has a real twang to it. I love to dig in on those strings and make the thing play like it should. My Schecter never had this much brightness to it. makes mes schecter sound really muddy. Oh yeah, the Bridge pickup on this thing is quieter than the rest, its not right. oh well good thing i prefer the middle one on this. and my schecter's bridge humbucker really makes up for this flaw.

I'm not sure how much has been changed since this things been in about 3 different hands by now. THe action is a little high, but nothing to complain about. NO FRET BUZZ at all, something i hardly ever see in newer gutiars. Examle: ESP LTD thing, rattled like crazy BRAND NEW. The tuners aren't the best, i might change them, but since i got this thing so cheap i can't complain, the pickguard is some kind of custom Foil looking glass thing, i have no idea what you call it. but it looks real nice. the guitar is BLACK, and has little or No scratches on it.

Everything about this guitar is pretty well made. I mean its no Gretch but it is plenty sturdy to take on stage. Not real heavy, I wouldn't use it without a backup just because tuning really pisses me off and if this went out or something i'd have to have another one to fall back to.

Haven't had to call...

I think i got a real deal on this thing. So cheap, so nice. American would have been nice, but for 150 my dad wouldn't let me pass it up. and i REALLY needed a nother guitar since some damn EVH wannabe put some custom bridge on my schecter and i lost one of the washers so NOW i can't put on the high E string. if that won't piss you off i don't know what will. so now i have to send that thing back to the company.... I'm just lucky i got a nice guitar to replace it for a bit. Even if i didn't have that problem with my other guitar, i'd still probably have bought this one from that guy's yard. It really doesn't seem like a regular Mex strat. i really like it and hope to have it for a long time.

This review is for a new (2000 or 2001) standard stratocaster, made in
Mexico. This is most basic model in the Fender line. It has 21 frets, 3 standard Fender single-coil pickups with a five-way selector, one volume and two tone knobs. Die-cast tuners. Poplar body, maple neck with a maple fretboard, and a standard vintage style tremelo.

I play mostly surf and blues/rock & roll. I play it through a Crate practice amp, sometimes with a Boss DS-1 Distortion pedal. It sounds nice, very little noise. There is not much variety, however. The bridge pickup and neck pickup have different qualities, but the other positions don't really stand out. The bridge position gets a good clean, somewhat bright sound, and the neck position gets a nice warm tone. It gets the job done, but it's nothing special.

Overall, I am impressed with the set-up of this guitar. The bolt-on neck is nice and tight, the action was really nice and low, and everything was put together really well. The tuners could be better, but come on, this is a entry-level guitar. This one has a nice black finish. There is one tiny dent in the finish, but who knows, it could have been caused by someone in the store. Besides, most strats will still look cool even if they get knocked around a bit.

This guitar seems like it will hold up, so long as you don't get extreme with it. Who has money for backups? If I had money for backups, I wouldn't buy guitars that needed backups!

I haven't had to deal with Fender, but it did come with a limited lifetime warranty.

I have been playing for about 7 years, and have owned 5 or six other guitars during that time. This guitar is as sound as any of them. If it were stolen or lost, I might get another one, or I might get something else. It's cool because it's a Fender, but if I had more money, I probably would have bought a more expensive model. Good for the price!

I beleive this guitar was made in mexico around 98 or 99 . It has a 5 way switch, a volume control, and 2 tone controls. this guitar doesnt have alot of the new fancy features that are making their way onto the market, but what do you expect it is a strat, and it has all it should have.

This guitar sounds pretty bad from the factory. the electronics are pretty bad. I did alot of improvemtents on it, like adding a switch to turn the third pickup on, and i shielded the guitar better. that improved the sound alot, but i am pretty sure that i am gonig to replce the pickups with the fender vintage pickups.

This guitar is pretty, its got a sunburst finish, and i put a pearl pickguard on it. im planning on replacing the tuners. Under the pickguard is sloppy, they didnt even paint all of it.

I beleive that this is a solid guitar. I believe that it is reliable enough to gig without a backup. which im planning on doing next month, so i hope that i am right.

n/a, but it is fender, a huge company, so i would expect nothing but problems.

Ive been playing for about 6 years now, and ifeel this is a good base guitar. IF your planning on getting a guitar to customize and make it unique, this is it. Changing everything on a guitar kills its value, so i wouldnt recommend doing it to a american strat, but a mexican strat has no value, so its perfect.

Made in Mexico. Standard features, except they are cheap features. My nut broke when i changed the stock 9s to 10's.

Horrible Sounding...I hated the pickups they had horrible tone. I changed them to some Lace Sensors, and it changed the guitar completely.

You get what you pay for! This thing is cheap, the action sucks. I've since bought a American Deluxe Strat, and it sounds great stock!

Hardware sucks. I replaced the electronic, the pots, and it sounds a lot better.

Good for someone who is starting to play, and doesnt want to spend lots of money on something they might not want to do.

Fender Standard Stratocaster, made around '96 or '97 in Mexico. 21 frets, Polished black body with white pickguard. One volume and 2 tone knobs. A 5-way selector for three single-coil pickups, s/s/s configuration. Maple neck and a rosewood fretboard. Just your standard stratocaster. A completely stock guitar.

Depending on what style of music you like depends greatly on whether you would enjoy this guitar or not. If distortion is your thing, I wouldn't recommend it; while it's pickups are Fender stock, they are pretty noisy. When playing metal riffs the white noise shows its ugly head. With distortion turned off and the gain adjusted to balanced levels, the sound is great, for those of you who like Jazz, blues, or softer sounding guitars. Doesn't sound half-bad with milder distortion if you tune the strings, from low to high, gadgbe.

It came with a raised action, which is a plus for me. Since the guitar I bought was a wall model (customers must have plucked it on and off all day before I bought it) it had seen some use. The strings were medium guage, and they kinda sucked. The low e string was crimped right over the 5th fret, not bad, but enough to notice it as a minus. The wood on the other hand was great, for both the neck and body.

Like most guitars, this can last. I've played it both indoors and out, both cold and hot. It really can take a beating. I'm not suggesting you treat it like crap, but this is a sturdy axe. The finish is thick, and can handle stickers galore, if thats your thing (recommend against it). The strap buttons are on solid, and if this guitar were ever used for a gig, it would definatley hold up.

Never needed it, I don't think you will either unless you get a rare factory defect. I am sure though that a company such as Fender would have a damn good support center.

For beginners who would consider keeping their first guitar, this is a good choice to learn on. If you plan on playing harder rock or metal, I would advise looking elseware, such as a guitar with at least 1 humbucker. There are many copies of the Stratocaster, and I have seen a few that are equal in quality, but around $100 or so cheaper. So unless you want the original Stratocaster, I would honestly invest in a cheaper version like Squire, or a cheaper copy like any other Strat clone in the $110-$160 price range.

This is an update from my last review, anyway i've done a lot to this guitar since then, first i replaced the red FLS with a Seymour Duncan Distortion humbucker (sounds a lot better) second, i replaced the picguard with a tourtise shell pickguard, third i painted it silver. thats about it, it sounds even better than before.

I think it was made in 1999, in Mexico.
The features are covered in some detail in other reviews, so I won't beat the horse. Completely usual Strat layout and features.
This one had the burgundy color and a maple fretboard.
Has everything you need feature-wise if a Strat is what you need.

This is among the worst-sounding guitars that I have played.
I am normally a Gibson player, but over the years have owned 5 different Strats (all American-made) when I needed their particular brand of sound and features. I read many reviews on this guitar and did my research before buying it mail-order. I believed that I was getting 85-90% of an American Strat for the price that all Strats should cost (these things are laughably easy to make, and Fender should be ashamed at what they charge for a U.S. made model in their gigantic bean-counting, widget-making factory).
I was wrong.
This guitar has no usable sounds for any style of music that I play (which is varied). It was purchased to cover the 5-10 songs that I need "actual" Strat sounds for, but it does not even produce a convincing Strat sound, but rather something akin to a "model" of a Strat sound. I can make more convincing Strat single coil sounds with my P-90 equipped Les Paul.

I think a lot of the blame has to go to the poplar body. Not so much because it's poplar, but because the thing was made up of 5 separate pieces glued together. This you would expect on a $150 guitar, but not anything intended for this spot in the market.

Reasonable finish quality for an imported guitar. Horrible, thick paint that robs the body of resonance.
Frets dressed decently, and I was able to set the guitar up for smooth playing with little difficulty, though the hardware is abyssmally bad, and would not last long with heavy use.

It seemed as though it would wear very well indeed (excluding the terrible hardware).
The finish is super-thick, which is nice for wear, but bad for tone.
The neck is very solid, almost overbuilt, and definitely the finest part of the guitar.

I have never had contact with Fender.

I have been playing for over 24 years.
This is the first imported guitar that I have ever purchased, and without doubt the last.
The motivator to buy this was it's price. Fender-style guitars are incredibly easy to build. That's how Leo Fender designed them. That's why 2/3 of the world's guitar production is modeled after them. U.S. made Fenders are simply too expensive for what you get. And now I know that imported Fenders are too expensive also. This is a "beginner" guitar in every sense of the word, and seems overpriced for what you get. I figured that it would cost me approximately $250 - $300 additional to replace the pickups/electronics and hardware on this guitar to make it serviceable, and even then it would have a 5-piece body.

I currently own 3 Gibson Les Pauls, of differing layouts and tonal properties. Gibsons are not inexpensive, but I feel that the level of build quality and complication (set-necks, elaborate inlays, maple-capped bodies, nitrocellulose laquer finishes, binding, etc.), and the sound of them justifies their cost.

I have since returned this Strat to the store where purchased, and used that money and the cash I would have spent upgrading it to buy a used G&L Legacy - a handmade Leo Fender guitar which is better in every way to a U.S. Made Strat, let alone this absurd import.

If Fender is comfortable putting their name on these things, it shows just how far they have fallen into the corporate wasteland. A terrible guitar.

Mexican made 2000 i think.21 frets usual strat spec.
Stunning 3 tone sunburst maple neck. This guitar caught my eye as soon as I walked in the shop.

great sound for anything, very versatile guitar if I could only have one guitar i would have this. from blues to indie and classicial it does them all. great sound I play through a marshall vs8080 and a zoom gfx 707 (rarely) I use this guitar for any rythm songs or acoustic it sounds great in clean or distortion. Great sound.

bad bad setup on the bridge only but I adjusted that as soon as I got home no prob pickups etc were fine. I bought it new so nothing was damaged oor anything.

This guitar will do anything not a problem i gig regularly never a problem.
erm... a string snapped once after profuse playing.
solid guitar.

N/A
shop I bought it from was shit. hated it.

Top guitar I have had other guitrs but none as versatile as this, 100% sure I'd buy another one if it were stolen. I 've played usa and jap strats best value is the mexi strats.
Best guitar for its price.

Made 3000 in Ensenada, Mexico. 21 Frets, Yada Yada Yada. If you don't know, go to Fender.com. Mine is the tobacco burst, which is a solid poplar body with an alder or ash drop top on it (read: veneer). Poplar is an okay tone wood, so no popping of kittens over this one folks.

It is a strat with lousy strat single coils. I love 'em, that is why I play strats. If you want silent, play hummbuckers (I REALLY like the PRS, but it is DIFFERENT <G>). It quacks, it howls, it chimes, is sings, and it cries. The tone is in yer fingers, pal. If you have the hands, this geetar will put out.

I give it a 10 because it sounds like one kind of strat. Try a different model of strat and you will get a slightly different strat sound.

I play blues, jazz, and some funk...

Here is where I have some heartburn. I play 11-49s...D'Addario. I ended up raising the action all the way to stop fret buzz. I am ALSO very heavy handed (melted a pick once, have scarred others), so this is not entirely the guitar's fault. However, my tech told me that I should have the frets levelled and dressed. If I do that, the thing shouuld play very very well. It ain't *bad* now--and putting the stock 9s back in would stop the problem. Also, the nut is way wimpy.

If you have the shop set it up for heavier strings, make sure they do. The place I bought mine didn't re-cut the nut, didn't do the intonation. They slapped a set of 11-49s on and raised the action. I am in the market for an American Standrd and a Rivera amp--goes without saying that I won't buy these two $1000 items from the same place...

Frets were okay for a $350 geetar.

***READ THIS IF YOU ARE A GUITAR SHOP OWNER***

Recently survived a 6.8 earthquake and would survive any bar fight.

I hate my backup, so YES, I gig with no backup (shame on me, but I change a fast string)...

Support? Fender? Who? Never tried, don't have the patience for corporate bullshit. This is also a reflection on the shop where I bought it. I had to do the damn intonation myself. Nut still needs work, but that will have to wait until I can live without it for a week.

If it were stolen, I'd buy an American Standard AND a Mexi as a backup.

THIS IS A VERY PLAYABLE GUITAR. I am a very picky player, so I piss and moan a lot. I would unconditionally recommend this to any strat player.

Wish it had come with a winning lottery ticket, tho <G>...

2000 Mexican bulit strat

This guitar sounds great. I prefer to play blues- and even with the factory pick-ups, you can a great, SRV tone. (Now, if only I could get his technique...sigh) I run it through a Peavy Delta Blues 2x10. (By the way, that is a great, low-cost tube amp.)
In addaition to blues, I play at church, where our music minister throughs everything from jazz to adult contemporary at use, and my little strat handels it all.

Other than the trem/bridge, it is great

so far so good, but to early to tell

haven't needed it yet- knock on wood

If it were stollen, I'd deffinatly buy another. I played viritually every Strat and Strat-knock-off in Lexington before I bouth this one, and I won't say it was the best- but a better model would have cost easilly twiuce as much. In some aspects, I actually prefered the Mexican model to its American cousin. If I changed anything, it would be that bridge- the rest is great.

See tons of reviews below. I love the simplicity.

Old guy playing everything under the sun except mental (note: no flaw in the spelling). My primary amp is a mesa/boogie dc-5. Effects come and go but I generally play straight guitar and amp. Single coil pickups = at least some hum especially with gain.

I'm on the fence with the many unfavorable opinions regarding the pickups. They're not hot but that doesn't have to be a bad thing.
I like them. I get some very appealing tone from them. If I had a weak amp I might change up.

I bought this used from "Alpha Music" here in Va Beach. You buy from them and they set you up for as long as you own the instrument at no charge. So it wasprofessionally set up when I bought it. They did a great job! It plays great.

The sunburst finish is beautiful. I'm not sure that I like the mostly unfinished maple neck. I like the way it plays but when I look at the aging of the neck on my 73 strat, I wonder if this one will hold up.

The plastic was still over the back plate when I bought it. New as used. As hard as I tried, I couldn't find a flaw on it. Poplar body is light and not as warm as the the ash body on my other strat.

Pretty to look at. Easy to play.

I've had it a year and it's probably two years old and haven't had any problems. Long run..... I'll let you know in another two years. Right now I'm pleased.

Fender... can't comment on them. The music store I got it from does a fantastic job of being a musicians friend. I think they have a no gouge policy. They get a 10!

Mark my 35th year playing this month. Other gear, mesa dc-10, musicman rd 150, yamaha 410 and an old harmony with tremolo. A bunch of guitars, 73 mia hardtail, 63 gibson L7-c, 84 mij tele tv reissue, 73 martin d-28 others....

I bought this a year ago for my birthday. I wasn't sure what I wanted but I had thought I might pick up an extra cabinet for my mesa (more furniture to move). I left the store to clear my head and give it some thought. When I returned this strat was hanging. I picked it up and couldn't put it down. I was amazed that it sounded so good and was only $200 so I bought it with intentions of using it as a back up(I never play without a backup). Instead I alternate it with other guitars depending on the sound I'm reaching for. I like strats for their versatility so I play this pretty often.

I was very reluctant at first to make a mim puchase. The last one I played was poorly constructed and painfully toneless. I've gotten older now and could really care less who I should impress or where my stuff comes from or who's name is on it. I didn't include it above but I have a mij 335 copy that lights itself on fire or have sweet as honey jazz tone. I listen for what inspires me. This guitar has taken me to a few inspirational moments. I've put this in the hands of some real critics that I respect and their views mirrored mine.

I can't attest to the longevity of the materials. Time will tell. I just know I love the way it plays, sounds and looks. The value far outweighs the flaws I couldn't find. What a bargain.

This is a Mexican made Standard Fender Stratocaster. It sports 21 frets on a rosewood fretboard.There is everything a USA made model basically has, although I did notice that it is less finely tuned than my Japanese made Foto Flame Stratocaster. The smoothness of the neck is more finished.That can be discounted because I have seen an inconsistency in quality in their line of guitars. This thing has Fender written all over its parts. Everything seems to be up to par throughout the guitar.

It sounds good. Much better than anyone would expect at this price. Clean and very distinct single coil sound in every setting. The highs and brightness isn't as exaggerated as an EMG-SA single coil. My Foto Flame Strat has a set of EMG-SA's and I like the sound of these better.

The only problem I noticed was the frets on the neck. They felt alittle rough. I noticed the same on guitars of different makes and costing twice as much. Everything else was great.

Solid guitar.

I never really liked Fender Strats, until I got one in my hands. They just have a good feel. Everything is there, except the high price tag. Forget about all the buzzwords and names. Use your ears ! ! ! This guitars sounds great. The rough spots can be worked out if you have them, and just play the hell out of this thing! ! !

Made in mexico in '96. Bought it used at DJM. Holds up well and nice to look at. Pickups are good, I think, and the tone controls do a lot as well. Mine has a rosewood fretboard and it plays nice and easily. The tremolo is ok, but nothing great (not a floyd rose) but I dont really use the whammy bar much anyway.

I play lots of stuff-blues stuff, jazz on occasion, but mostly rock like Hendrix, ACDC, Zeppelin, that kind of stuff. The pickups sound pretty good, but I like to play around with my amp settings (Marshall MG30RCD). The noise gets a bit noisier on the bridge pickup and can be on the 3rd and 5th position of the switch, especially when put up with a distortion pedal or amp distortion, but one I am playing I don't hear it so thats ok. Pretty bright sound and can go a number of directions from there using effects. I have a couple kinds of distortion and it performs nicely. Overall, I'd have to say I like this guitar a lot. I might get new pickups, but that's just to go along wiht my style of playing.

I got this guitar used so I really can't say how it was when it was new, but I haven't had any problems so far. Plays just like I want it to.

I could totally rely on this guitar. Held up to a few things and still looks and more importantl plays great. I take pretty good care of my music stuff, of course. Strap falls off occasionaly, but I plan on getting some strap locks. Still looks great and I'd use it in a gig or a show somewhere. Definitely.

Never had problems, never dealt with them.

I have been playing about 2 1/2 years. This is my first electric and if it were stolen or lost I'd get another. Goes well with my Marshall MG30RCD amp and my pedals (Boss Metal Zone, Dunlop Crybaby, Ibanez CF7). I love the way this guitar feels and plays, just like a great guitar sould. I didn't compare it to others; it was the best in my price range at the time. My friend has one like it which is why I got this guitar and I'm glad I did. I'd like to get some noiseless pickups or the new lace sensor pickups, but I might get another guitar (and keep this one OF COURSE). Overall, this is a great guitar for anyone, I think. Haven't had any problems, this is just a great guitar.

WARNING do not waste your money on over priced American Series Strats untl you've tried one of these.
I purchased this Mexican assembled Strat for #300 new (Sunburst model with M/N). A US made version would have cost #769 over 2.5 times the price!
I play mostly what I would call Indie music (Oasis, Stone Roses etc) with a splattering of Beatles and Stones. The fact that the body is made of poplar is an adavntage for me as I prefer its marginally warmer tone. the guitar only has 21 frets, but that is not a problem to me as I'd rather die than sound like EVH that sort of 'widdling' is just not my bag.
I have had to replace the pick ups for some seymores as I like the sound of the Les Paul for my stile of playing.
Why by a strat i hear you ask well because I prefer the feel of the strat as I learnt to play on one.
Features as purchased this guitar would score a nine as the strat is still one of the mist versitile of guitars out there. However as I now have Seymore D's Hot Rails in the bridge & neck which (via a push pull tone Knob) I can switch between single coil & humbucker my modified Strat scores a 10.

With the stock P/U's the sound was a little thin however with the addition of the Hot Rails in neck and middle the tone is amazing far better than a US Big apple (H/H) or lone star (H/S/S) with the added beifit that if I pull on my tone pot were back to single coil mode for that thin sound ala 'Day Tripper' intro riff. So for original sound I'd give it a 7, but in the current format it gets a 10 again.

Like most fenders (I've noticed this less on Gibsons) it needed a pro set up to get the action right. The trem unit can be a bit of a pain when you change the gauge of your strings as you have to take the back plate off and fiddle around with screws and springs tto get he trem to sit right again. For a Strat I'd give mine a 10. However it does go out of tune with excessive use of the Trem unit, so maybe a 9. This is not uncommon on on flod rose models even US built. Finish is superb the only difference on a us model it the sunburst does not go right to the top on the back, not a probelm at all for me (10). The fit is why I bought a strat and not a gibson, i put this gutar on and it just feels right (10).
So overall I'll have to go for another 10.

Its a Fender Strat, prue and simple Mexican or not this things is as solid as you get with a strat. (a Les Paul or telecaster would be more solid but you may need a new shoulder after serval long gigs)

N/a

I;ve spent #300 on the guitar & #200 on the pickups & a pro set up (#500 total) this works out at #269 less than a US model and I wouldn't swap it for one EVER.
The guitar is a very personal thing so what I like you may not, but for me there is no better guitar as it is sounds like and feels like it belongs to me. So if you like the feel of a strat then take my advice by a Mexican and upgrade the pick ups, you wont belive the versitlity is can give you. This guitar can be Jack of all trades and master more of them than you may think.

2000 Fender Standard Stratocaster, 21 Frets, 3 tone sunburst, maple fingerboard. My 1st guitar. I am very satisfied with the features it offers me just what I want.

It gives ya the good old strat tone you would expect. It is sometimes to bright for my taste, but if you mess with the tone settings you can fix that. The stock pickups aren't the best, but they are the worst. I don't think they deserve all the bad reviews they get. But once I advance a little more in playing I will probably swap the stock pickups with some Lace Sensors.

Everything was flawlees right out of the box. The 3 tone Sunburst is just beautiful. It fits me like a glove. I love it!

But, I would reccomend strap locks, the buttons are not to good, other than that it is extremeley durable.

Never talked to them.

Excellent 1st guitar, I would recommend this to begginers and pro's alike be cos you can modify it to suit your need. I don't ever plan on getting rid of this axe. Great guitar for the price as well.

made in 2000, from mexico--21 vintage frets--body is believe it or not, one piece of solid poplar, in a gorgeous sunburst--the grain of the wood is plain, which doesn't bother me at all--bought from Hollowood Music in McKees Rocks, PA--for $299, including a gig bag--the tuners are the same ones on the American Series Standard Strat--very solid--after setting the guitar up to my particular specifications, it stays in tune remarkably well--the tremelo needed a bit of a shot of WD40, and the screws needed to be adjusted on the tremelo to make it nice and slinky----------

I play everything from straight-ahead modern jazz to funk to rhythm and blues, in addition to composing original music--I run it through a Yamaha DG80 1--12 Combo, out to a volume/wah pedal---the pickups are noisy, but I plan on replacing them in the near future--are far as the tonality of the pickups go, they are very vintage sounding, which I think is the correct sound on a strat---the sound of the wood from the body to the neck is very even, not spiked EQ-wise in any place, so the feeling I have is that this guitar will sound right regardless of the pickups I use--the 2 and 4 positions are quiet--perhaps shielding the cavity would decrease the noise in positions 1,3 and 5----

I adjusted the action to fit my playing--which is to say, 9--42 strings, a low action, an absolutely flat neck, as I play rather lightly-------pickups needed to be adjusted down(just a personal thing)--very sensitive to string pull(which is a good thing)----I would highly recommend the Fender Nickel Super Bullets for this guitar--there were no flaws at all---

I play out 4-5 nights a week in the Pittsburgh area, and this is an absolutely gig-worthy guitar--it seems very solid--in fact, I've played Fenders that cost considerably more and simply are not put together as well---I would be highly upset if this guitar was lost or stolen---buying this guitar has taught me an important lesson about eqipment---my favorie players(heroes, if you will)such as Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, etc. played guitars that were not really expensive--which leads me to think that its about the player, not the instrument--and its a good thing that in the last 5 years, one does not have to spend an more than $500 for a really good instrument---this is a much better value, quality, sound and practicality wise, than the more expensive Fenders---------

I've had no need to call them, but having spoken with Fender on other matters, they seem responsible and helpful---

I have been playing for 331/2 years, making my living as a player since 1982---I also own a Peavey Firenza Guitar, a Yamaha DG80 Guitar Amp, 2 Rick Turner nylon strings---------I would put this guitar against literally anything on the market---once again, I feel there is no need to spend mass quantities of money on a Stratocaster---The sunbursts tend to have a more solid feel than the opaque colors--

2000 Model. 3 Color sunburst w/ maple neck. You know all of the features...

The sound is surprisingly good! I've read a lot of the reviews on here and have heard a lot of bad stuff about the sound of these things. When I went to the music store, they didn't have the guitar out. It (only 1 with the color and neck that I wanted) had just arrived in a new shipment. They pulled it out of the multi-layered wrapping and handed it to me. Setup was perfect! I played it and the whole body seemed to ring. When I plugged it in, I wasn't expecting much, but it really was nice!

As above, setup was perfect. I had to lower the action a little, but it came with a little wrench to do it with.

This guitar is rock solid!

Never dealt with, but I assume very helpful.

Even though the pickups sound great, I intend on swapping them with a set of custom shop fat 50's. They aren't that expensive and the sound difference is AMAZING! I also have a Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul. The Strat sounds plays much MUCH different that my Les Paul, but isn't it supposed to? My amp is a 1965 Fender Super Reverb. 2 pedals: Ibanez TS-9 and VOX Wah-Wah. Sometimes, I run through a line 6 POD. If my Strat was lost or stolen, I would go buy another one within the next week or so.

it was made in 2000,in mexico.it has 21 frets.and its a solid body"guit".1 volume 2 tone controls and the 5 way selector.it has the standard singles,but if you take off the pickguard youll notice the bridge position already has a slot for a humbucker cut in it.of course the pickups are just the stock fender coils(which are awesome).the body is poplar the neck is of course maple with maple fret board.just a normal ole "blackie" very shiny though.of course the bridge is a typical strat tremolo bridge.the tuners are the factory ones(which work very well for non-locking).

my god,i love this thing.It not only suits my musical style(ac/dc,clapton kinda stuff)it is my music style.right now i have a marshall stereo chourus 80 watter(awesome amp)i dont have any pedal effects YET.it can be rather noisy AT TIMES.especially when you use the bridge pickup alone,but if you put the selector in between the brige and middle sinles it cancels quite well.the sound can go from grunge to blues(it can even muster a decent metal tone),but the sound is pretty bright most of the time.its a very full sound with awesome sustain and distorion(yes ,single coils).think of it and you can play it pretty good on this thing(i wouldnt go as far as pantera though).overall i love the pickups though

this guitar was set up perfect when i got it.the action was very low and the frets didnt buzz.the pickups were adjusted perfectly.theres really no imperfections ive found.only real complaint is dont buy strings that are bigger than .42 they well break the nut(it happened to me)

well ive never played live,but im pretty friggin sure id be ok.the stap buttons are solid the stap stays on well.the finishis pretty thick ive bumped into a few things with it and nothing happened.its very dependable.i would never gig without a backup though,if you break a string you screwed(then i whip out my electra les paul{also rated}.

never needed em

Ive been playing for a year and a half now.in which ive learned what makes a good guitar.my other gear consists of a crate 15 watt practice amp.and my marshall 80x80 watter and my les paul.if it were stolen id go insane i love this thing to death but id definately buy a new one.i love this thing because it has such nice smoth action it just slides it almost frictionless.my favorite feature is the whammy the thing doesnt even come out of tune when you use it.i did compare it to other guitars such as epiphone lp's(crap)and squiers.i choose this because it jus played well and sounded great.this is the best deal on a guitar ive ever seen. almost everyone sells the thing for around 300 id buy it if it was 450.its great

Bought in mid-2000 as a '99 leftover. Midnight Wine finished body made of either adler or poplar (not sure) and an all-maple neck with the famous Fender "skunk stripe" down the back. It has all your basic Strat details, which I don't feel need gone over. Giving it a 7 because, even though nowadays it's nothing special, it's become an institution.

Strats sound a certain way, with artists ranging from Buddy Guy to Jimi Hendrix to Buddy Holly to Kirk Hammet using them, they've been proven very versatile over the years. Mine's mostly used for rock, and a little blues or whatever else strikes me. The pickups on these Mexican Strats are hotter than the ones on the American Standards and it shows. I also think they're brighter, too. The bridge pickup can be very very bright and sometimes hard on the ears, which has been the biggest complaint with Strats over the years, the brightest pickup having no tone control, which was originally intended because of the lack of brightness in some of the original amplifiers of the '50's.

Playing this one through a '70's Fender Champ and a '70's Music Man 210-65 gets some great sounds, especially in clean territory, but I do have a Boss OD-1, a Pro Co Rat and an American-made Big Muff Pi reissue if I need a change. With my usual setup with a Compressor, my Boss OD-1 and my Music Man, I can get tones very close to Pete Townshend from the Who's last tour, even though I'm thinking of doing some modifications to get the tone closer. There is some noise, but you come to adapt to that when you play through single coil pickups most the time.

If the setup it arrived to me with was the original factory, I'd say it was done farily well, I only had to lower the action and tweak the neck a little. When I switched to heavier strings, I had to add another vibrato spring so it wouldn't be pulled up so high. As with every Fender, they're rock solid. I didn't and still don't have any problems with the bodywork.

Fenders are the sturdiest guitars out there. I don't think it'll fall apart on me. My only problem would be with the guitar's ability to keep tune, I'm kinda heavy hitting, playing with .011s and still keeping the tremolo floating around 1/8" off the body and the tendency to dive bomb a little shows why it has tuning problems. I'm going to try a set of Fender locking tuners and see if it helps.

I delt with Fender once on another guitar (a Squier, no less) and they were very helpful. I do most of my own work on guitars, I can do minor electrical work, setup work, and adjustments in that way, meaning that if anything goes wrong, it's most likely something I can fix, if not, I'll find someone to take it to, which most likely won't be for a long time.

I've been playing for around 6 years, having owned over 30 guitars in those years (seriously). I tried a number of Strats, including a few American ones, and I just liked this one better, it felt better to me. If I was to part with this strat, I'd have to replace it with another. I'd probably save up the cash and go for an Eric Clapton model, if I was to get another. I'm the type of guitarist that likes to have a number of guitars for everything my current stable includes a Tokai Love Rock, '69 Gibson SG Special, '90 Rickenbacker 360 this Strat, and a homemade Tele which I'm still working on. If there's something else I need, I probably have it on another guitar. I think Strats are good to have, no matter your taste in music.

2000 model, poplar body, maple neck, maple fretboard, sunburst finish.
Came with cheap hard shell case. Made in Mexico. They said the neck and body were made in USA, then shipped to Mexico for assembly.
New for 2000 is the one piece body, it is no longer laminated with
a thin sheet of wood.

This is the weak spot of this guitar. The pickups sound very noisy when they are in the #1,#3, and #5 positions. They need more windings to make them sound like a real strat. I have a real strat (USA) with
Tex-Mex pickups and a Seymore Duncan and I really notice a huge difference in sound. These pickups sound flat and dull in all positions. I have several amps (tube & transsitor) and good speakers
(Celestion Vintage) to play through. The pickups lack bass and midrange, but get plenty of treble.

This guitar was set up perfect when I bought it. The action is better on this than on my real strat (don't ask). I raised the lifeless pickups to increase volume and blend in #2 and #4 positions. I couldn't find a single flaw anywhere on this guitar. Everything works perfectly. The finish looks incredible, you can see the wood grain
very pronounced through the light brown part of the sunburst. I wish I
could go higher than 10 here.

I've had Fender guitars for years and never had a problem, but they do collect a lot of dust.

Never had to deal with them in 25 years.

Been playing since the seventies. I have owned Fender, Gibson, Guild, Ovation, Yamaha, Martin and Epiphonie guitars. If it were lost or stolen I would probably buy it again, maybe with the S/S/H configuration for an extra $30. It has no defects, no buzzing and no
intonation, more than I can say for my real strat. It sounds a lot mellower (warmer) with the bass and mid cranked up on the amp. I hate the pickups. Overall it is a fine guitar for the money and is the best looking electric solid body guitar I have ever seen, has incredible action, and it stays in tune! If only they could do something about those pickups......

This is a 1987 model finished in black with a 22 fret neck.It has 2 tone controls, a volume control, and a 5 way selector.All the pickups are single coil, but I can still get a perfect sound out of it, especially when I connect it up to the processor.It is a lovely guitar to play, the neck is really comfortable.

I play a lot of blues so I use a crunch-type distortion & a really clean sound and this guitar can handle it.I use an epiphone studio 10 amp and a Korg AX1G processor.I couldn't get a better sound if I tried. It is really rich and deep

I could take this guitar straight outta the case and play as it was perfectly set up at the factory. It didn't contain any flaws, and I have it for 13 years, so if there were any I would have noticed them by now.

I don't play in a band so I cannot really say, but I would say it is very durable.

N/A

I have been playing for a very long time and never have I came across a guitar like this one. Since I got it 13 years ago, I have never looked back and it has been my no.1 guitar all the way. It would sound brilliant with stacked humbuckers,and I am getting these soon so I might review it again soon.

1994 Fender Standard Stratocaster, made in Mexico, 21 Frets, maple neck, poplar body, 3 single-coil pickups, 5-way selector switch, 1 master volume knob, 2 tone knobs for neck/middle pickups, standard ol' Strat tremolo. Beautiful in its simplicity.

The Stratocaster may very well be the most versatile guitar ever made, and can play a wide range of styles (though I would draw the line at thrash metal -- but the guitars that are good for metal are no good for blues, country, etc., which the Strat can do). It sounds like...well, that classic Stratocaster sound. I play mostly blues-based rock on this guitar through a Tubescreamer, a Big Muff, a Boss Chorus, a Dunlop Wah, and into a Fender amp.

The original stock pickups were fairly noisy if there were other electronics on close to the pickups (i.e., the TV), and sounded a little thin. To fix this, I (1) replaced the stock pickups with Texas Specials (which have a higher output, but less noise -- just better built, I guess) and (2) replaced the .009-gauge strings, with .011-gauge strings. Now it sounds absolutely beautiful, and even with the modifications, it's still a fairly inexpensive guitar.

The factory set-up was passable, but not great. I had the set-up redone by someone who really knew his Strats, and it sounded a lot better.

This guitar has never given me any problems whatsoever. It's no wonder that so many 50-year old Stratocasters are still around and kicking. Of course, gigging without a backup guitar is a pretty foolish thing, because strings will always break.

Never dealt with Fender.

This guitar is a great friend. I've been playing for 6 years or so now. This guitar was my first, and it may very well be my last. A bunch of my friends have gone on to buy "higher-end" guitars like the Wolfgang, the Les Paul, etc., but I haven't been tempted in the least to get a new guitar. When I started playing guitar, I was really into hard rock, and as I've gotten older, I've started playing more blues than anything else, but this instrument has handled both playing styles just fine. I don't know what else I could ask from it.

Made in 1999 or 1998 in Mexico. 21 vintage style frets. solid top. 1 master volume, 1 tone for mid p/u, 1 tone for neck p/u. S/S/S pickup arrangement with 3 Standard Strats Single Coil (Ceramic Magnets), 5-way selector, not sure if its active or passive, poplar body, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, midnight wine-colored finish, Vintage Style tremolo bridge, Fender standard machine heads with no-name tuners, neck scale length of 25.5". Got it in a Fender Strat Pack from a former Musician's Friend outlet. The features are very standard, nothing special, but a good setup.

I play mostly punk-pop stuff (Green Day, Offspring) and various alternative rock tunes. I also have started composing my own songs too. I first played it through my 15W Fender Frontman 15R, but now mostly play it on my new Fender Princeton 65. I also have a Zoom GFX-707. The pickups are adequate and kind of fuzzy; not surprising for any stock ones. When I select only single pickups, it buzzes like hell so I rarely set it there. Besides, combining two pickups gives me a warmer sound with enough crunch to almost sound like a humbucker. There are differences in tone for each p/u: neck has a very warm, heavy bass sound, the mid has a slightly edgyer midrange sound, and the bridge p/u (my favorite) has a delightlful bright neo-surf sound which is great for how i play. However, single coil pickups still don't appeal to me and I feel they have shallow sound compared to humbuckers. Through my Zoom, the effects totally fit the guitar perfectly and the distortion modules were great. The sustain is excellent, though harmonics might need a work. After each string change, the guitar keeps sounding nicer and cleaner. It has a very good sound for a myriad of styles, however the power-hungry people out there might strive for a fat strat. Overall, the sound is great and enjoyable

The action is a little high for this guitar, especially when i press down on the rosewood. that could probably adjusted by lower and tightening my bridge. My pickup heights are the recommended ones by Seymor Duncan in one issue of Guitar One:

Neck: 1/16" on treble side, 1/8" on base
Middle: 1/16" on treble side, 1/8" on base
Bridge: 1/16" on both bass and treble side

A slight annoyance of this guitar is when i try to tune 1/2 down for songs and the strings stretch back to a flatted version of standard tuning. again, this can be adjusted with my bridge and probably some Fender Super Bullet strings. The tuners are shaky, but heck, most guitars might have that problem. The finish is very professionally done, though it does get smudged once in a while. There's is nothing majorly wrong with this guitar.

My band and I have played in front of various crowds. This guitar is really tough and dings are virtually unoticable. The hardware will definitely last you a life-time. Man, the finishing won't let you down and there's been now wear at all. the fretboard might get kinda dirty once in a while, but not too bad. strap buttons stay in well. since this is my only electric now, this will have to be my main axe for performing, but it does the job well. Fender has done a great job at making it solid.

Has a warranty I believe. probably the usual Fender 5 year one. never dealt with the company.

I have been playing for about 2 1/2 years now. another guitar i own is a Yamaha EC-10 clasical guitar. as stated above, i have a Fender Frontman 15R, Fender Princeton 65, and a Zoom GFX-707. If this were stolen, i'd beat the crap of the person who did it and get my guitar. This is my one and only electric and no one messes with my guitars. I love the entire concept of how this is pure Strat to the bone: nice features, nice sound, nice price. Compared to the shitty Squier ones, the Std. Strat kicks ass. I would get another kind of Strat later on (probably the Deluxe Super Strat), but I might just change a whole bunch of the hardware on this one to make it my main axe.

Mexican made Stratocaster. Bought new in Y2K, assume it is of 1999 or Y2K vintage. 21 frets. Standard Strat controls. Gorgeous midnight wine finish, poplar body, maple neck/board. Great looking guitar. The neck says "play me" to my relatively short fingers...it's a lovely feeling neck that fits my hand extremely well. I can play for a long time and not have my hand cramping up and aching. I got a nice Fender gig bag and a couple allen wrenches with mine. I later added two tremolo springs and had the trem tightened down...I don't use it and it stabilized tuning a great deal. A great value and really, a very solid, well built and good looking guitar. Hey, I'll give it a 10 because it's a Strat and has all the Strat features.

I play contemporary Christian (many styles), rock, blues, folk rock, country rock and variations thereof. Fits all I do quite well.

I use a Peavey Classic 50/410, a Boss stereo chorus and Boss Turbo overdrive. Also plug into a Peavey Transtube Studio Pro 112 using Boss stereo chorus and Boss compressor.

The ceramic bar pickups do tend to have a bit of buzz on occasion, but the middle is RWRP, so the #2 and #4 notch positions are dead quiet. Obviously, with high gain settings it tends to buzz more, but I generally don't use lots of gain. For a Strat, with the combination of poplar body and slightly overwound ceramic bar pickups, it's not a really bright sounding Strat. Probably due mostly to the pickups. This thing is a Strat, though it lacks the harmonic detail, breath and chime of really good Strat pickups.

A further word about the pickups, though...while they are in some ways rather average or bland sounding for Strat pickups, I have discovered that these pickups are great for playing slide. They are a little bit hotter than Alnico V pickups, therefore lack a bit of high end and have a bit more midrange. But for slide playing these things sound just fine with a bit of blusesy overdrive, ala Rory Gallagher or Duane Allman. That said, I shall soon replace the pickups with Fender Custom Shop Fat 50's for more of that real Strat glassy stuff.

I don't really dislike anything about this guitar. I may also eventually change the bridge saddles, but the tuners hold tune very well. I absolutely love the way the finish looks different colors from different angles. This guitar would look great with a white pearoloid pickguard, which I may also do sometime in the future.

So soundwise, I'll give this thing a really solid 8, thinking it will be a really solid 9 with new pickups.

Set-up was okay when I played the guitar in the store. I initially had 10's on it, but had the neck adjusted and put 9's back on. This is easily one of the best playing guitars I've ever owned...that's why I bought it. Really nice playing guitar.

Pickups were adjusted perhaps a bit too close to the strings...I dropped them down a bit to improve sustain.

No major flaws on the guitar. All parts perform well. The neck and body joint is solid without slop or gaps. The nut seems well cut. I am still considering installing Graph tech saddles, but just as a preference, not because the existing ones are a problem. Everything works well the way it should. I did install strap locks - personal preference, not due to problems. Gotta say 9...it's almost perfect.

I have used this axe w/o backup for about 8 months now...it's durable and very solid. I take care of it and play with a pretty light touch, so I'm not up there abusing the instrument. Again, I must say how much I LOVE the finish on this guitar...it looks especially great under stage lights, a luscious deep red with black edges. At other times in less bright light, the finish can appear to be a maroon matte color. It's really a beautiful color. I'm surprised Fender doesn't offer it on some of their other higher end guitars.

As mentioned earlier, I replaced the strap buttons with strap locks...just because I like strap locks. This thing is as solid as they come. A big ole 10 for this category.

I don't deal with Fender on a corporate level, but my local dealer (small mom & pop store) is great. They are real nice folks who offer good gear (Fender) at good prices. So my rating is for the nice folks locally.

Playing seriously for about 28 years (yikes!) Have a Strat copy which I have set up to play slide (JB Jr pickup & custom wiring). Peavey Classic amp & a Peavey solid state for practice. If lost or stolen, heck, I'd run out and buy another. Or maybe a Deluxe Super Strat, honey blonde w/ maple board.

I love how this guitar plays and how great the finish looks. I love the fact it is a Strat. Nearly all my favorite players play a Strat. I did compare Standard Strats to the afore-mentioned Deluxe Super Strat and Peavey strat type guitars. Chose this because of its playability and good looks. Plus it sounded decent, will sound even better with the Fat 50's. I will also install a couple of custom pots from Torres Engineering - a push/pull tone pot and a blender pot to mix in the bridge pickup for 7 sound combinations. Great overall value. I didn't play an American Strat or any of the other various models. This one fit the budget and my hand the best.

Tons of features? No, but it has what a Strat is supposed to have. Great guitar for $299.99 and a lefty at that....trying buying a left handed Gibson Les Paul...you'll wait months, pay thousands and other than the wood being prettier, it won't play any better. And besides..since when is a Strat supposed to sound like a Les Paul? I bought this from a catalog, Musicians Friend. It came pretty well set up and without any problems at all..maybe I was lucky. But I had it set up at a local guitar shop.

Doesn't have that EXACT strat sound, but it will when I replace the pick-ups and don't most of us experiment with pick-ups? Even on an American Strat or a Les Paul? So that's no big deal, when I get the right sound I'll know it. I play Hendrix, Clapton, SRV for my own enjoyment and the annoyance of my neighbors.

Nothing really wrong, had it set up at the German Village Music Shop in Columbus, Ohio and let me tell you, if you live near Columbus..go see this guy, he can work magic. No finish flaws, beautiful paint called midnight wine with maple neck/fretboard. Great looking guitar. Frets are smooth on the edges. Plays great after the set up.

The guitar body and neck seem solid as a rock...oh, sorry, this isn't a Chevy. Anyway, the pickups will be changed, the pick up selector will probably wear out at some point along with the volume/tone controls at which time they will be replaced with higher quality. The guitar actually does stay in tune so until that becomes a problem the tuners will remain. But hey, I know guys who have paid $2,500.00 for Les Paul and immediately changed the tuners...so for the price this is no big deal.

Never dealt with them, haven't had to, no problems, so I'll give 'em the benefit of the doubt.

This is a good guitar. When I'm finished it will be a great guitar. And for the price? $299.99? It's great. Much better than some Strat copy which would cost nearly the same price.

sweet guitar, nothing feels like it. neck made in usa then shipped to
mexico where the guitar is assembled. this thing sings stock but i have modified mine to make it more versitile i changed the bridge and middle pickups to lace sensors and the neck to a duncan so it can be used for heavier music i play punk, some metal, rock, and a little blues it suits me just fine, if you replace some pickups you can use it for metal and heavier stuff 21 frets, 5 selector, 2 tone, and one volume, s/s/s pickup configuraction my finish is in black (cool but get polish or something finger prints show easy) strat body style
non-locking tuners, thin neck, standard tremelo, vintage fender bridge
enough features for me it has a life time warranty

it suits my music style which is mentioned above
i am using a traynor ysr-1 mesa boogie triple rectifier and a crate gx 140c i have four peavy cabs and 2 tube works power amps for effects i use a boss ds-2 boss ds-1 boss mt-2 4 boss ge7 a korg tuner
a digitech rp-100 (with expression pedal connected) a morley wah a dunlop cry baby wah a vox wah a ibanez ts-9 a ibanez fuzz a dod corrosion (one of the only good dod pedals) and some other shit but does it matter. stock it can get nosiy but with my mods it isnt noisy at all. it is kinda bright stock i have it so it can get a variety though. this guitar is very versititle no dislikes

the guitar was setup ok but not really so i have to do it
everything is great flawless finish

its a fender solid body!!!!!!!! it also has a lifetime warranty

never had to deal with them they do have a great site with lots of info so ill give them a 10

best guitar in the price range i have a fender american deluxe strat a standard tele a couple of these (all in black) gibson les paul flame top and a gothic les paul believe it or not this is my favorite one!!!!!!! nothing else like it

not to many features 5 selector switch 3 knobs(2 tones and a volume)cool paint job though bluish purple with a perloid pickguard (which i bought)and im planning on getting lace sensor pickups for which will beef it up little.

its really a great guitar for rock which i play except it has a sort of bright tone which i dont really like. i play through a peavy tko 65
and have a boss ds-1 distortion,jimi hendrix wah,dulop high gain volume,dod flashback fuzz,and a zoom 505II which it sounds good through

every thing was set up pretty good except for the pickups and the harmonics other than that it was perfect

this guitar is great for when i play at gigs every thing seems to last just fine except for the pickups which i hope to get new ones

never had to deal with them so i dont have a clue

its a great guitar for a beginner and even a good guitar player and i think that it will last many years

This is a Mexican made standard strat with 21 frets, standard strat pickups and controls. The body is black with a maple neck. The one I picked out actually looks like the neck is made from curly maple.

I'm not sure on the date it was made, but I bought it in 1999.

Its nothing too fancy, but if you're into music rather than gear, than this is a great bargin, and a good looking guitar.

I play rock/pop/alternative, mostly songs that I write and record myself. I'm currently playing it through a Crate GFX30, and I like the sound. I also plug it directly into my computer via an Audio-Buddy pre-amp for recording. I play with the selector between the bridge and middle pickup, and on the bridge for leads. I like the tone turned all the way up also.

I really like the sounds that this guitar makes. I played all of the various models, and for the money, this one sounded the best.

I used to own a 70's american made strat about 20 years ago, and I think that this guitar sounds just as good, if not better than that one did.

While shopping for this guitar, I played several different guitars of the same model and they all played differently! I chose this particular one because it stayed in tune better than the others, plus the neck looked like it was made from curly maple. Its a really nice looking guitar.

The action is perfect for my playing style, I didn't do anything to it. This guitar plays so much better than the origianl 70 strat that I used to own.

I could find no flaws with the finish or operation of the electronics. I would have to give it a 10 in this category.

I've only had this guitar for a year, and I use it mostly for my home studio and recording. The 70's strat I used own was very durable. I played in a "frat house" band, and it saw much abuse!

The finish is really durable, and I always use a guitar stand. I've seen way too many guitars slide over sitting on their amps, and necks get out of wack!

I use a locking strap, and I've had no problems with the strap buttons.

Their web site seems very informative, though I've never had to call them. If I ever have any problems, I would probably take it to a local shop anyway.

I've been playing guitar for about 20 years, and the only electrics I've ever owned have been fender strats. I also have an old Yamaha acoustic that takes a beating and keeps on ticking.

I really like the look and feel of this guitar. It gets really clean sounds in my opinion. The noisy pickups are pretty normal for strats, but I like the tone of the in-between positions anyway.

If it were stolen or lost I would definately replace it. If I had the money, I might buy an American made strat, soley for the purpose of collecting it. They seem to go up in value over the years.

I would be very leary of buying one of these mail order. I had to try out several different strats at the music shop until I found one that would stay in tune and felt right to me.

For the price though, it can't be beat. I thinks it a great value.

Mexican Strat made in 1990. Maple neck & fretboard, light weight Poplar body, Arctic white finish, SSS PU's with ceramic bar magnets glued on the bottom, standard trem bridge with cast bridge saddles. (Yuck!) 21 medium frets, silver Fender logo.

The rest of the features are listed by other people here.

I play Christian music in a worship band. This guitar is great for jazz, blues, classic rock, funk, soul, country, R&B, folk, etc.

Stock pickups sounded muddy and lacked character. After saving up $, I installed a Blue Lace Sensor at the neck, Gold LS in the middle and a Red LS in the bridge position. Now I'm happy with the guitar. Changed the tone cap to a .01 mfd, 50V ceramic disk to accomodate the new pickups.

The Blue is great for fat solo's & the Red bridge rips thru leads, using a TS5 Tube Screamer or Boss DS-1 or both together! WOAH!

I replaced the cast bridge saddles with vintage nickel saddles from Stewart MacDonald.

Tone was still kinda lifeless. I found that the shielded wire to the output jack measured .001 mfd! Replaced the wire with a twisted pair of solid 22 gage wire and VIOLA! Great tone!

Rating is for original configuration.

The 9 1/2" radius neck works well for slide.

This rating is for pre-modifications.

The fret ends were sharp, action high. A pro setup made things right. This is normal for any guitar. Finish was very good.

The controls wore out within 1 year and I replaced the dime sized potentiometers with the larger, quarter size units. No problems here since then.

THEN the freakin selector switch went noisy & I replaced it. (Remember, this thing is now 10 years old.)

Finish was good but in the looks department, this thing looked plain vanilla. A MightyMite tortoise shell pickguard now graces the white body & lace sensors. VERY PRETTY!

I have used this guitar live for 10 years. It has been used indoors, outdoors and in venues of 3 to 2,5000 people. It has never failed live and never broken a string. You head that right; I HAVE NEVER BROKEN A STRING ON THIS GUITAR. I use Fender 150 nickel wound 10-46 strings.

I use it without a backup and I play 38, 2 day weekends a year.

Original no-name cast tuners still work great.

I have tuned this guitar on Sunday, put it away for a week, and it's still in tune the next Sunday! It is my most solid guitar, out of 7.

Never needed Fender for this axe.

I tried every other strat in the store before I picked up this plain vanilla white/maple strat. When I touched it, it was... *MAGIC* It spoke to me. It was so light weight & comfortable.

Now that I own 2 other nicer strats, this Mexi-strat's neck feels a little chunky, in comparison.

It does not sound good thru my Fender Deluxe Reverb or Pro Junior but, it shines with my Fender M-80 combo.

If it were stolen, I would forgive the theif and replace it with a Squier ProTone. Same price, better guitar - while they last!

Lastly, I have spent way too much money on this guitar. I would not do this if I could do it again.

'97 Crimson Red Metallic Fender Standard Mexican Stratocaster; 21 Frets; 1 Volume, 2 Tone, 5 Way Selector; Pickups S/S/S; Rosewood Neck; Standard Tremolo Bridge; Came as part of a Fender Strat Pack...nothing too weird, wacky, or insane, just a solid, idiot-proof design

I love the bridge pickup on this thing...it gets an 8 because the pickups hum (just like any other single-coil pickup would) and because I don't like the neck or middle pickups that much. Those two really don't count very much though, I've considered replacing them but have decided not to bother, it would be a waste of money because I would end up using that screamin' bridge pickup anyway. As for the hum, any type of noise gate or noise reduction will help to clear that (I use a Boss NS-2 or the ZNR on my Zoom GFX-707).

I've never found a Fender that had even a remotely good setup right out of the box, take it to a shop and get it set up immediately!!!...once it's set up right, it plays like a dream. It's got one heck of a fast neck. There was a bit of glue on the fingerboard of the guitar, but no other flaws.

I've had to fix a couple of stripped screws on the pickguard and I have to tighten the strap button on the horn every once in a while. Apart from that, anything that has happened to it has been as a result of my own stupidity and some extreme circumstances...I broke the post on the volume pot, but that was because I was being an idiot and was screwing around with it...it still worked like it should without a problem, I just couldn't put the knob back on (I have a new pot on order). I put a scratch into the finish when I tried to play 2 guitars at once (don't ask...), and I cut into the finish with a sharp edge on the other guitar...that's the only scratch I've ever put into it, anything else it's ever encountered (Swiss Army Knives, broken glass, etc.) hasn't even been able to leave a mark in it. I've smashed the headstock into several walls and even taken out a flourescent lightbulb with it, and it hasn't even left so much as a dent in it. Final summation: This thing will take a lot of abuse, It'll even survive someone as dangerous as me with little damage. I've depended on it for all my gigs and recordings without a backup guitar so far, and it's never let me down.

I've never had to deal with Fender, but since it's such a universally recognized design it's easy to get it repaired or find replacement components when necessary.

Although mine has a couple of (easily fixable) flaws, it's vastly superior to a most other guitars. If you're thinking about buying a Squier, spend the extra cash and get a Standard, it's light years beyond the Squier version and well worth the extra money. It's the guitar I compare everything else to, and it's not often that I find one that beats it. If I had to choose between it or some $2500 Les Paul, I'd gladly take my trusty Strat any day.

i've got a sunburst mexican strat.and i guess it would be a '99 because i bought brand new in '99.it's got a stock humbucker in the bridge, and two single coils that are decent enough, but i'm considering upgrading to fender vintage noiseless. its got a solid maple neck, and i'm not sure about the body?, standard fender tuners, 3 ply pick guard,the finish is semi-transparent(by this i mean that you can see the lines in the wood, but not that good but that might just be the wood). not many accesories with it, i got some allan wrenches for the saddles and they put new fender bullets on for me but thats about it.

well, i play lots of different kinds of music because i'm in a band that does covers and originals. i play it through a boss metalzone, into a boss acoustic simulator into a danelectro hashbrowns flanger(piece of shit!)into '96 fender deluxe 112. it's a pretty good guitar with the humbucker there isn't too much noise but the pickups could be better(which is why i want to upgrade pickups)
i find that it can get really bad sounding with lots of treble. overall a good guitar for me.

the action is good.(nice bending, sliding etc.)the pickups were adjusted good. one thing is that it has 3 springs holding the bridge
with room for 5. and my bridge sticks up a good inch to two inches and
i don't know if that is because i don't have 5 springs in there so i just put a tremolo block in the back where the bridge is. also my switches(volume and tone seem kind of loose, don't know why?)

very reliable. this guitar is very sturdy and well built. but my strap
buttons would unscrew themselves after a certain amount of time standing up, so i just put some carpenters glue in the hole and they havent moved a bit. definetely use withiut a backup.hardware is very nice definetely seems it will last.

never had to deal wioth fender, hopr i don't have to

i've been playing for 4 years, agood guitar for me. if stolen, i would
buy another fender. i love the feel of it, one thing i like is that the pickup selector isn't in the direct path of where your hand is ie.gibson(don't get me wrong, gidsons are beautiful guitars but that is a definite flaw, at least to me it is). i wish it had locking tuners. but can't complain. a definite upgrade from my squier affinity series tele.

My guitar is a 2000 Fender Standard Stratocaster, mad in beautiful Mexico...actually, I hate Mexico...but this is a wicked guitar. 21 frets. 2-way selector. I'm using the factory built pick-ups, but for some reason, they are having none of the problems everyone else is saying. The body on mine is oddly Alder...I don't know how, but it is a MIM...It is a beautiful purple/blue colour...I can't really tell which...Everything else is standard...

I am happy with the sound it produces...I would say it is the most amazing sound for it's price range...and more amazing than some that are higher...I can't say I have used it a whole lot...seeing as how I have had it for less than a week.

When I got the guitar, the strings were tarnished, so I had to replace them first thing...The pick-ups are actually guite good for being from the factory...No visible flaws...perfect paint job...the frets are all smooth on the edges...everything is wonderful.

I dropped it once and I got no scratch...and there were no other problems. The Fender Name lives up...

I deeply trust Fender, and I have not dealt with tech support.

This was quite an excellent choice...I have been playing for a couple years, and this sure outlives all of those Squires and knock-offs...It beats many of the American Series Guitars I have used...Long Live Fender Standard Strat.

'95 Standard Strat made in Mexico. This is actually a 6 month follow-up to my last post when i had little time on the guitar. Has 21 frets. Not sure what the body is made of, but i hear most of them are poplar. Has 1 volume and 2 tone controls with 5-way selector switch. Has 3 single coil pickups. Passive electronics. Maple neck with rosewood fretboard. standard bride with tremolo. standard tuners with thin neck and large frets.

I play mostly rock and alternative, with a little metal in there. Ok, let me emphasize how much the stock pickups SUCK!!! No definition at all. They dont even give a good "strat" sound because they arent clean enough to do that. Now, i realize that this is a beginner/intermediate guitar, and often you get what you pay for, but these are just pathetic. I replaced them with the same setup as the strat ultra with the red lace in the bridge, silver in the middle, and blue in the neck. With this setup, the guitar becomes very versatile, and nearly noiseless. Fortunetly I got a near brand new guitar for $100 less then a new one would be, and i could justify the pickup swap for a lower line guitar.

Like i said, i bought the guitar used, and it was setup decently, but i had to fine tune it a bit. Set the intonation, adjust the action, tighten down the bridge so that it didnt go out of tune from a crappy tremolo, etc. Plays pretty well after i got it tuned up a bit, was built well with a seemingly durable setup.

It's built like a tank, and appears to be able to withstand years of solid playing. Would like to get some locking strap buttons since ive had my strap come off twice, and once i dropped the guitar. It took the fall well, though, coming away without a ding.

Havent dealt with Fender, and i dont think Ill have to in the near future.

I really like the guitar as a beginner, but its not suitable if youre into heavy music. It just doesnt cut it for that type of music. However, i really like the strat sound, and would like to upgrade to a vintage strat someday for a classic Hendrix of Clapton tone. Im also looking at a Les Paul for a different sound, but money is always an issue. For a beginner guitar, i dont think you can go wrong if you know what type of sound you are looking for. People say this guitar sucks just because they cant play metal with it. THATS NOT WHAT ITS DESIGNED FOR!!!! Deal with it! Good guitar for the money, and yet it leaves some to be desired if you have a good musical ear also.

This is a candy apple red 1995 Strat with a rosewood fretboard. Three single coils, with the stock pickups switched out for Fender Fat 50's. No other mods. Just a run of the mill strat that looks, plays and sounds great. Strats don't have lots of fancy features. Just the stuff you need for blues and classic rock - it's perfect.

I have another Strat, an American Standard. This Ensanada MIM model has some minor differences in the hardware. But the woodwork and quality of construction is top notch. Makes me wonder why I paid so much for the MIA model. Anyway, on to the sound. Incredible! This is the best sounding Strat I've ever played. I don't know what the particular combination is that makes this one so special, but here it is. Maybe it's the Fat 50's pups along with particularly good wood in this one. But WOW! It just plain sings. I play through a Fender Blues Deville 2x12 amp, mostly. For blues and 60's - 70's rock, it's perfect. It gets sustian like a Gibson, highs like a stingin' Strat, and plenty of beefy bottom.

I got this used from a guy who knows his guitars, but he's a country player, so he didn't use it very much. But he knew how to set up a guitar. Nice medium low action. Just the way I like it. And he took very good care of it. Looks like brand new.

Fender solid bodys are just about the toughest instruments you can get. Drop it, kick it, slam it around, and it just won't die. Of course I don't treat this baby like that. But it's nice to know that an occasional bump won't do it harm.

What's that? I've never needed it. All the Fender gear I've owned has always worked.

As you can probably tell from all I've written, I love this guitar. I have another Strat, a 50's RI Tele, and a Les Paul Studio. I play blues and blues based rock n' roll in a four piece band: drums, bass, 2 guitars. The other guitarist and I switch back and forth between rhythm and lead work. This has become my main gigging axe, because it sounds so darned good that I can't leave it at home.

paid $200 for it in a used guitar shop-its a 1995, made in Mexico...21 frets instead of stock 22 for an american. basic three single coil with 3 way like all the rest. I really prefer the vintage frets on this strat to the jumbo frets they put on the american strats, i think they feel better and play better. The tremelo sounds very nice though i prefer to block it off to a hardtail as eric clapton does, and i lost my whammy bar anyway. The tuners are larger than the americans, which i like, but i resent the string tree.

The sound is what i love...I would venture to say my particular strat sounds better than any ive ever played(it kills any other guitar in this price range). ive had lots of friends who hated strats play mine and they all fight over who gets to buy this when im done...though i dont think ill ever sell it. It has the noise you would expect from a strat but its not noticable unless you really look for it. From my experience i can get a killer heavy distortion sound, a twangy, meaty blues sound, and a beutiful clean lead sound from this one guitar..and ive used it for everything in between.

I bought the guitar used from a high end custom shop, and though this was the cheapest axe for sale, it was very well set up by the pros there. I did have to set up everything to my personal style, but that is taken into account. One problem i had is that the top straplock pulled out and the screw has stripped the wood, so ill need to use a thicker screw...i take off one point for this...but this is not something ive ever encountered before. also i hate the string tree so that takes another point.

ITS A STRAT!!!!!!!!DONT WORRY ABOUT IT!

N/A...i do my own repairs

This guitar is the best for its value, and for me, i would never buy any strat other than a standard. I read an article lately on the factory where these guitars are made in mexico, and it was more highly acclaimed than the american shop, for the mexican workmanship and the pride in their guitars. I would trust them ten times more than some lazy american...if it were stolen, i would probably replace it with a standard ash strat. The feel and the sound of this guitar just amazes me compared to its price.

Made in Mexico. 22 frets rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays. It has the standard stratocaster setup. Black with white pickguard.

It suits everything one uses a guitar for. Jazz, rock, whatever your style is it plays it. I use a Marshall valvestate 15 watter. It buzzes when I put the selector switch in the 1 3 5 positions. It has that vintage strat tone. I like the headstock design on strats. If I had a tele, I would definitely change the neck with a strat neck because I like the headstock a lot.

Low action. Very well setup. Everything was perfect when I got it.

It's a very reliable guitar but I won't gig without a backup because shit happens. With proper care it should last forever.

Never dealt with them.

Been playing for two and a half years and this is one of my better guitars. I own a Gibson the Hawk and a Epiphone SG Special. I wish I bought one with a maple neck though. If it were lost or stolen I would cry a lot and then buy one with a maple neck. A guitar player, in my opinion, is never complete without a strat.

2000 MiM Std Strat. Any Questions? This one is black with maple neck and fretboard. Man, $249 new, not a second. Beat that.

Sounds very good, I'm glad I went with this for my first guitar rather than a Squier, Affinity, or some other knock off. Very Good sound - just like a Strat!

This puppy came out of the box set-up very nicely (according to my friends who have much more Guitar experience than I. The action is low, the frets don't buzz the strings. The fit and finish are flawless, the only hassle was taking the pickguard screws out to get rid of the protective plastic. Not really any problems at all

This guitar is built like a tank. Say no more

The lifetime warranty (for original owner) should cover me for a while. I have had no customer support issues - but I do like the warranty, so I'll disk out a score for that.

I feel like I got the best deal available for a first guitar, only paying $249 for a new Fender (not Squier) Strat, with a lifetime warranty and fantastic out of the box. No reason to buy a lesser guitar, unless you like to kick yourself.

This is an update regarding an early model MIM trans-blonde Strat body I purchased off ebay. I initially thought it was a solid ash body, but it turns out it has a 1/64" ash veneer on top (which Fender also used on the U.S. models until recently).

Underneath the ash it looks like a 2 piece poplar body? Considering the new MIM strats are made of 6 or 8 piece bodies, I got lucky. I'm using an early model Gibson ES 300 thin strat style neck with jumbo frets and the headstock is angled back, so you don't need string trees. I've also added 3 CTS 250K pots, CRL 5 Way Switch, a .047 uf 400 vdc quality cap for my tone pot (all of which are U.S. made).

I've also shielded the cavities, hand wound some pickups with 42 AWG, and added an anti shock unit, that is, the ground coming off the pot to trem is soldered to a parallel 150K 1/2 watt resistor to a .022 uf 600 vdc orange drop cap which is soldered to the trem claw. Nice and safe! Anybody can learn to hand wire their own pickups, and you can wind them to the tonal response of your guitar, SO DON'T WASTE MONEY BUYING HIGH DOLLAR PICKUPS! I'm also using different saddles and this is the first strat I've customized that stays in tune and has perfect intonation. My 2nd tone pot also controls the bridge pickup!!!!!

Despite the 1/64" ash veneer, with the body unplugged it has rich and full sound. The Gibson neck is maple with flames going from the 21st fret right up to the 3rd? I contoured and configured the neck so it fits into the strat body perfectly. Meet Blondy. She looks and sounds terrific. Why? Because I'm using high quality components. You can do the same.

Ooh la la, what can I say, it sounds great. No cheap electrical components and pickups in Blondy - no way Jose. 60 cycle hum is marginal, but hey, it's a single coil. Fat bottom but with nice highs and each note is articulated. Usually you either end up with more midrange in order to get that fat bottom, but not in this case. Pickups are showing 7.2K, 7.2K, and 7.6K ohms /bridge. Lovely for blues, jazz or rock. I can definately get the classic Hendrix and Clapton sounds with Blondy.

The Gibson ES 300 neck is an early model thin maple neck with jumbo frets...no flatting out on bends. Low action and no fret buzzes, so what more could I ask for. Poplar is actually a nice sounding tonewood, if the electronics and pickups are happening. Alder is too bright for my personal taste, and would opt for swamp ash. As far as these MIM 6 to 8 piece bodies are concerned - no thanks. The finish on Blondy is polyurathane (which is tougher than lacquer) and unless your into high end acoustic solid spruce tops, I don't hear any diferrence.

This blondy bombshell is built to last - I don't bang stuff out. If someone offered me a 1969 strat, I wouldn't trade. This is a better guitar, because of the neck, action, saddles, electronics, pickups, and an excellent sounding 2 piece poplar body, despite the ash veneer.

Bean counters couldn't care less. Just another corporation.

Been playing and mixing records for years. Most of these big companies are only interested in cutting cost, like the 1/64" veneer which was also used on the U.S. models, which Fender is no longer doing. They also rave about the Dyna-Touch Amps. Kind of funny, I owned a Fender Performer which used used a 12AX7 in the 2nd channel. Still have the receipt for it. Fender indirectly knock amps that used Marshall Valvestate technology with a 12AX7 tube; yet these bean counters copied it in their Performer amps, which are now discontinued. For you young musicians, learn some basic electronics, learn how to wind your own pickups, don't buy into hype, and don't listen to these bean counters. Anything they can do YOU CAN DO BETTER!

Nothing special just 5-way switch, 3 singles coil pu's, but there is a fantastic paint job

It sounds great except all the damn humming. If you put a MT-2 on it like me and turn all the bass down, it hums bad, but there is great sustain and tone.

Nothing to say here just that it was perfectly set up

The paint job has lasted me about 12 1/2 months. It doesnt scratch bad at all. The pu's are as good as they were when i 1st got them (not saying they were awesome to begin with).

This guitar is for a beginner in my opinion but with some adjustments you can make it a damn good guittar but instead i just bought a new California Strat.

This is a guitar that is in its own class. The American strat dont feel like the standards, the Cali strats dont feel like them, NO guitar feels like them, they are the easiest guitar to play. It has a very skinny and small neck that is very good for starters. The only problem is now I have to get used to playing my Cali strat

This Strat was made in Mexico. The year is 1998. It's basicly the same thing as a standard american strat (Same meck,and body,but different pickups Lace Sencers) it is the best guitar for the money.

It is the strat sound. I'm using a Peavey Classic 30 with it. I use every effect you can emagine with it. I love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The set-up from the factory was good exept the intoneation was way off.

Everything on it is awesome.

I Love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mine is a '98. Bought it new, less than a year ago. Arctic white, made in Ensenada, Mexico. Rosewood fretboard. Fat C neck, which I slimmed down to exactly fit my neck hand. Perfect now. A custom neck to the max. Standard tremelo, which works fine. Good tuners, no problem. 3 single coil pickups.

This particular guitar has voodoo. I was shopping, from Squier strats to American Standard strats. The shop owner put this one in my hands. I listened to the sound coming out of the amp. Captivated. Killer. Love this one. Wouldn't trade it for a $1,000.00 strat. That's just the way it is. The rings and spring/metal/wood sounds are great. When the mood and magic are just right, me and this guitar are supernatural. What do I play? Lots of musics.

The tech at the small shop I bought it at did a great setup job. He did the frets up just right. The frets are low, and the action is low and fast, and smooth. I adjusted the pickups to taste. The guitar is built exceptionally well, easily the equal of the best American Strats I looked at. The finish is Thick. The action is a 10, thanks to a great guitar in the first place, and a good tech.

Are you kidding? It is a solid body Fender, in the manner of the best of the tradition. Backup? A backup is either for:
1. a kid
or
2. a very high dollar pro show.

Backup? Yeah, just try walking down Bourbon Street with two guitars.

Back up. Geeesshh.

Hah! Don't even go there. I would advise that all buying a Fender make sure it is a goer at the shop, and make sure the shop will back it up for at least 30 days. Fender customer support? They make a great guitar. They lost their way in the customer support area. Maybe they'll find their way back.

Been playing longer than I will say. Amazing guitar. Couldn't replace it exactly. Fenders are my favorites. Not all strats are created equal. I've seen some 2000 standard strats with sharp fret edges and lighter wood. '98 must have been a good year, because those I've seen have been good. I got a King. A magic wand. I have other guitars, but none do this.

Made in Mex. Basic strat features. Nice looking guitar for the price. Not the best tremelo and tuners but for the price it's not to shabby. Upgrading it with some aftermarket stuff can make this guitar a mean machine.

This guitar sound great when played clean. Run some distortion thru it though and it is unbearable. It produces an annoying hum when played loud with distortion. But don't let that steer you away from this guitar, because it is still great for the price. All you have to do is replace the pickups. I replaced the bridge with a Seymour Duncan Little 59' and the neck with a Di marzio H3 and now this sucker wails. It's amazing what good pickups can do for a guitar. It's just like fake a pair of fake tits- it can turn something with potential into something unbelieveable. I play this baby thru a Mesa Boogie SOB amp with a Boss OD-1 overdrive pedal,Dunlop Jimi Hendrix wah pedal,and a Boss DD-3 delay pedal. This guitar now has more output and crunch than my Gibson Les Paul(I wouldn't say it's better but it sounds just as good). I play metal, punk, blues, classic rock, just about anything can be played on this guitar, lots of tone variation.I give this category an 8 in it's stock setup but if you put in some hot pickups I give it a 10.

The action was set high from the factory but with the twist of an allen wrench that can be solved. The pickups were also setup very nice. All controls were intact.The neck is solid and straight as an arrow. Frets look good too. What can you say Mexicans are hard workers! They should teach some of the Koreans at the Epiphone factory how to set up a guitar.

This is a solid axe. It is a guitar you can definitely count on, I mean cmon' it's a Strat these things have been around forever. I would be confident enough to gig it with out a backup.

Never dealt with Fender.

I've been playing for about 2 years. I also have a Gibson 74' Les paul Goldtop and I must say after the pickup switch this guitar can hang with the best of them. My only complaint is that the tremelo system kinda sucks. I'm gonna get some locking tuners for it and hopefully this will solve this problem. If you don't use a whammy then you could probably just remove it and it would stay in tune.Overall I think that this is one of the best buys out there and I would definitely recommend getting one.

made july of 1999. Olimpic white with maple fretboard. Plain strat setup. Everyone knows the stats

Loud pickups. Good beginners electric. Playing through a crate GFX 65. Not too bad, but not what I want from a strat

Neck pocket wasn't too tight, over all no complaints.

dont know, only had it for a couple of months, seemed sturdy enough.

only delt with them when i called to claim my prize for the fender bullet give away, (I won a pair of sunglasses.) They were real cool on the phone, so I suppose they're cool.

been playing a couple of years, sold it cause looking for something top of the line.

good value.

It is a brand new Fender Standard Stratocaste made in Mexico with 21 frets, poplar body, maple neck with rosewood fretboard. 5 way selector, 3 Single coil, black color.

It suits for most of my playing except for Jazz and Metal. But is great for blues and pop. I'm using these axe with a Line 6 POD 2 and a Marshall G10MKII. It is noisy, as any single coil guitar is. The sound is pretty good, but not excellent.
I like it, 'cause it's a real Fender, but it's somewhat basic.

The factory set-up was really bad. The action was too high, and it seems like nobody took a look to the set-up at all. Since I bought it brand new this is a low point for Fender.
The finish is pretty good.

I don't think this guitar may be very reliable. The machinery doesn't look really good. I would use a back up on a gig.

I've being playing for 13 years. I also have a Les Paul Custom, a Digitech RP14D and a Peavey Audition 110.
I think the value is fantastic. I'm not amazed with this guitar, but it is a good axe, and it's a real Fender. It's much better than any cheap Squier or something like that, but it's a $300USD instrument, so you can't be too hard. I'd like some better pickups. If you are looking for a GREAT sound, then buy an American Series Stratocaster. If you want the real thing, but without paying $1,000 or more, then you must consider buying this guitar. Just remember this is not the Greatest Guitar on Earth. It's just a decent guitar.

21 fret, rosewood, white.
5-way selector, ect. standard everything

Beautiful, after two days with the pickups I tossed 'em and purchased
a Pro Series EMG DG20 setup, which is infinitly better than any fender pickup.

Everything is fantastic, no flaws whatso ever, I mean, I read over each and every review, thinking if I should get a strat, I knew what to expect. Don't think of the standard as a piece of shit, this thing can sing stock, its absolutely fantastic

100% great

No talking to them yet...

Been playing one year, I run it through a fender amp, which I hope to shortly have a hiwatt Dave Gilmour signature head...but I run a boss CS-2, Rat2, and tuner, nothing bad about this guitar, if lost i'd die I love this thing. For all you people lookin at this review, thinking about purchasing a standard strat, if you want a killer blues sounding, fine piece of craftmenship get this axe.

1999 MIM Strat. Beautiful midnight wine finish, maple neck & fingerboard...a great looking guitar.

Have had this guitar for 6 months now, use it exclusively for all my electric playing. Mine came with a nice Fender gig bag and a couple wrenches. (Not wenches...)

Very solidly built and everything works as it should.

I play a variety of contemporary Christian - praise&worship (all styles), and originals, which style wise encompasses rock, blues, folk-rock, country and various configurations of the above.

Peavey Classic 50/410, sometimes use Peavey Transtube Studio Pro.
Effects include Boss Compressor, Boss Super Chorus and Boss Turbo Overdrive.

Not terribly noisy for single coils. I gotta say, I like these ceramic magnet pickups with the poplar body. Not quite a shimmery as some strats perhaps, but definitely Stratly tones. Depending on the amp's setting, I can get pretty bright or a more full, rich sound. I prefer rich&full to bright/jangly.

Ever listen to Rory Gallagher's live version of Muddy Waters tune
The Garbage Man?" In the middle/bridge notch position with the middle pickup's tone control rolled down, I can nail that tone. And I use it a lot because I can play pretty aggressive leads and lacerate any tympanic membranes. I love the tone I get from this guitar with the Peavey Classic amp...I get favorable comments frequently and am truly very, very happy with this guitar. Like I said, not as jangly as perhaps an ash body strat with Alnico 5's, but a very slightly fuller, richer tone that I'm very, very happy with.

Absolutely no dislikes...went from using 009's to 10's...went back to 9's and am very happy with the ease of playability. I love strats and am really happy with this one.

I had to do a bit of neck tweaking after going from 9's to 10's and back to 9's. I added two more tremolo springs and had the trem adjusted flush with the body...much more stable. I don't use the trem.

The pickups are adjusted just fine...good balance in all positions. i tend to use the neck pickup for my lead pickup (don't like the shrill skull-splitting highs these things can achieve).

No flaws other than a minor sanding mark noticeable on the back of the headstock...it's totally a visual thing, can't feel it with my finger.

All parts fit and work well. Absolutely no complaints. I did change the strap pegs and installed Strap Locks.

The midnight wine color is gorgeous....the guitar seems to change color depending on the angle you view it from...really cool.

The neck seems custom made for my hand...absolutely perfect. For a budget priced guitar, my hat is off to the Fender folks. They build 'em right. I played literally DOZENS of MIM strats...only found 2 or 3 I didn't like.

This thing gets played several times a week (once per weekend to 3 times per weekend). Absolutely dependable. I do depend on it. I do gig without backup (I don't jump around and get all wild or anything - I'm a consummate "sideman"). As previously noted, I replaced the strap buttons with Dunlop Strap Locks.

Didn't deal with Fender. My local dealer is great. I don't expect any problems but if I had some, I'm sure I would be taken care of in a most gracious manner. They have been just super folks to buy from.

Been playing 30 years or so (Geez, I feel old). Own a Strat copy, hte aforementioned Boss pedals, Peavey amps.

I love everything about this guitar. If it were lost or stolen I'd get the Deluxe Super Strat - ash body, honey blond finish, maple board.

I just want to say that if you only have about 300 for an electric guitar, check one of these out. Unless you play heavy metal or need a jazz box, the MIM Strat is absolutely one of the best values going in guitars. Period.

It's a 2000 Mexican Standard strat with a sunburst finish, maple neck/fretboard, and a poplar body. It's got 21 medium frets, vintage style tremolo and tuners and all the other standard strat gear. I shit-canned the stock Mexican pickups in favor of Texas Specials before i even took the thing home so I can't comment on the tonal quality of the originals. It also came with a gig bag. The "perfect guitar" is nonexistent, so no "10" in this category. Other than that, I think this is quite a versatile axe.

I've only been playing for a little over a year, but I'm an aspiring blues/classic rock musician. My favorite artists are SRV (of course), Buddy Guy, Clapton, Hendrix, etc. so the strat was the obvious choice, and since my budget is TIGHT, i had to "settle" for the mexican version. However, I'm not disappointed at all with this guitar. My only complaint in the sound department was the stock Mexican pickups--they just didn't sound right to me in the store so I invested in some Texas Specials after fooling around with a Roadhouse Strat, and now this baby hums! I ESPECIALLY dig the neck position. The bridge pickup is a little trebly for my taste but it works great for that Joe Walsh "Funk #49" sound. Of course, there's the hum inherent with all single coil pickups, but the middle pickup is reverse-wound so the 2nd and 4th positions are noiseless. I play through a Crate Blue Voodoo 6212 (2x12, 60 watts) and this is MORE than suffice for me, and i don't doubt that it will cut the mustard when i eventually start gigging as well. Like i said earlier, my budget is TIGHT so no nifty little stomp-boxes and other assorted doo-hickeys, save for a Crybaby wah and a sans-amp that someone gave to me. Gotta love free gear! Anyway, the point is, I dig the tone of this guitar with the Texas Specials--i think it compares to many American Strats.

The factory set-up just didn't do it for me. I adjusted the tremolo so that it lays back against the body. This still didn't allow for staying in tune so I eventually had to tighten up the tension on the springs. I may spring for some locking tuners some day as well. The tremolo is my biggest complaint--it would throw my axe out of tune just by looking at it funny till i had it properly adjusted. However, my tuners seem to get the job done for the time being, and my pickup selector isn't really noisy. The sunburst finish was top-notch and the neck seems to fit fairly decently onto the body. I could fit one business card in on the bass side and couldn't even get one in on the treble side. I'm no subject matter expert, but the neck feels great to me and that's what's important isn't it? Experienced guitar playing buddies of mine all agree that my neck is tits so kudos to Fender, Mexico for that one. The action is another example of what works for me as an individual player: no problems here, except of course for that darned fret buzz on the low E!!! Oh well, ya can't have it all.

I'm not currently in a band so I haven't had the opportunity to gig with this guitar yet, but strats have a reputation of being rock solid, so I'll go with that. I also give my guitar lots of TLC. If the finish wears off, I won't be broken-hearted. I like the look of beat up sunburst strats anyway (i.e. SRV's #1--love that axe!!!) I suppose locking strap buttons are a smart investment. As far as gigging with a backup goes, well that makes sense, doesn't it? I just can't afford another guitar so this one'll be it for me--at least for the time being.

I bought it new so I guess there's a warranty. Haven't needed to get any work done on it, but if the need arose, the store i bought it from stands behind their products.

This is my third electric...started with an Aria Pro something-or-other, bought a Peavey Wolfgang, and ended up selling it so I could get a strat. I'm VERY pleased with this guitar--it has that "strat sound" that i LOVE....a jack of all trades, master of blues. I think it looks cool, sounds cool, and it's easy for me to play. Would I recommend this guitar to beginners or players on a budget? ABSOLUTELY!!! Just spend a little extra cash and get some good pickups, then you'll have a strat that'll rate among most American-made axes. If lost or stolen, I'd buy another one without hesitation. I think the one i got is a gem, so I'd definitely shop around and play a bunch of different ones till I found "that one." I'm sold on strats.

A pretty damn good guitar if I do say so myself. Ive only had it a few months. Im not sure what year it is (early '90s) its a mex. standard strat. it sounds great on bridge position and neck position
I havent done much experimenting with the others.

Good sound, I play it through a squier champ amp (BAD AMP), a cry baby wah wah, a DOD supra distortion, and a danelectro tremelo.
sounds great with all, but kinda hard to play! I play grunge , classic
rock and funk so it is a very versatile guitar.

I just bought the guitar used, it had just been re-painted, Perfect condition And a great deal!

I would use it at a gig If I was using a large good amp to back up any mis haps.

I think fender is a damn good company and thats all ive got to say!

A pretty damn good guitar if I do say so myself. Ive only had it a few months. Im not sure what year it is (early '90s) its a mex. standard strat. it sounds great on bridge position and neck position
I havent done much experimenting with the others.

Good sound, I play it through a squier champ amp (BAD AMP), a cry baby wah wah, a DOD supra distortion, and a danelectro tremelo.
sounds great with all, but kinda hard to play! I play grunge , classic
rock and funk so it is a very versatile guitar.

I just bought the guitar used, it had just been re-painted, Perfect condition And a great deal!

I would use it at a gig If I was using a large good amp to back up any mis haps.

I think fender is a damn good company and thats all ive got to say!

Mine's a standard white finished stratocaster made in Mexico in 2000. I've got a maple fret board with mid-sized fret. One of the coolest things on this guitar is the fact that the fret board is not one of those cheezey glued on ones, it's all one part. The rest is all standard strat stuff.

This guitar sounds real good. I play lots of kinds of music, every thing from punk rock to B.B. King style blues. The pick ups arn't the best I have ever heard, but for sure arn't the worst. When I bought this guitar I was comparing it to an Ibanez RG with single locking trem, a tele, and a few Dano's. I thought this one was the best for sure. Some day I'm planing on getting some Fender 57/62's or some Lace Censors (Blue's or Gold's) and a different color pickguard.

Everything's cool here. No problems.

Everything's cool. I think it will stand up to everything and anything. I think I'll get some strap-locks soon, though. When I start giging I'll use it with out a back up. I'm a tuning nut so I know how well it stays in tune. It stays in tune even after extreme trem use.

I origanaly bought this guitar to carry around in a gig bag and beat up, but, now I'm not so sure if I want to do that. Like I sayed I'm going to get some new pick up's some day, that would be nice. If you need a good guitar even, if you don't have a price limit I suggest this guitar. Sounds great. Feels great. Pritty much is great.

This Strat is very simple, but thats how it is suppost to be. Mine is a new 2000 modle. It is white on white with a maple fret board. The fact that the neck and fret board are not glud together add sustain. The frets are small, I like that because it makes it easy to slide. It's made in Mexico. You know the rest.

I play a lot of types of music, but mainly punk, ska, and blues. I use a little solid state Marshall (also cool). I beive that this is a very verstilal guitar. Even though it comes with three single coyal pick ups if you but the selector in positions 2 and 4 you can make a humbucker sound. I used to play a Gibson Les Paul Custom and I always heard that strats buzz too much-that is so not true in any position.

I havn't had this guitar too long so I can't be sure yet but so far it is great. It stays in tune prity well, but not perfectly.

When I get a new band together I will for sure use it live. I know a few guys who have this as there only live guitar and just love it.

It came with a warranty, but I can't remember how long it lasts.

I love this guitar. If it were stolen I'd be PISSED. I don't know what I would do (probably buy another one very fast). I'd call the cops for sure. If you need a not-too-pricy, real cool guitar for anything get one!

21 Frets, maple fret board. Not sure what type of tuners-they work well whatever they are. 5 way switch, 1 volume, 2 tone ...

The single coils can be noisy, all single coils can. I replaced the bridge pickup with a Dimarzio fast track 2- it rocks. Left the other pickups stock and get a good natural balance between them. I play rock/metal/alt. music, I normally use this as a backup, but lately I've been using it for half the time at gigs. It sounds really good through a marshall amp. I like it!

I use 10-46 guage strings, medium action. The intonation is perfect, no buzzes, and the fret work is excellent (better than some mega-buck strat copies, and some american made strats). I had to replace the volume pot (no big deal) because it was scratchy-beyond the help of any cleaner. The plastic cap came off the 5-way switch and for some reason the after market caps don't fit the switch-oh well- time for some duct tape.

I bought this used in 1991, I've been using this as my backup, and for the songs that need a strat since then with no problems whatsoever. The white color has yellowed slightley-but I think that gives it character.

For the money, this is one of the best values in guitar playing. I have been looking at some new top of the line american strats and a lot of times they can't compare to mine. I will eventually get one, but I'll keep this guitar forever. I've only replaced the bridge pickup with a rail type humbucker, soldered in a new volume pot and have played the hell out of this thing with good sound reliably for almost 10 years. What more could you ask for?

This is one of the early Mex strats. The body is transluscent blond and shows the the Ash wood grain. On inspecting the body cavities closely, it appears to be a solid piece and with no signs of an Ash veneer being glued on. Not a Poplar body. The neck was the first thing to go, as I never liked strat necks and had an early model (Epi by Gibson) strat neck in flamed maple that rises from the 21st fret right to the 3rd fret. Bolted right on. Slimmer neck with headstock angled back and jumbo frets. The second thing to go was the single coils with glued on magnets. I hand wind my own pickups and I don't feel that alnico II or V rods (polar pieces) were intended to be hot wound like the Texas Specials or Delta Tone system, as overwinding bring out harsher upper mids. So I am using Anisotropic Ferrite rods (polar pieces) which have a stronger magnetic pull and are brighter sounding than alnico magnets. Thus, they can be overwound to produce hotter output resulting in reducing the signal to noise ratio, and by overwinding the coils reducing the brightness. Moreover, because of the stronger magnetic pull the pickups can be recessed accordingly, providing more agressive right hand technique and easier finger style approach, since the single coils are lower. So why did everyone start overwinding single coils with Alnico magnets? To produce a coil that could would deliver metal or hard rock sounds. However, when you glue ceramic magnets to metal pole pieces, you are in turn transfering the magnetic field. But in the world of Physics, the shortest distant between two points is a straight line, which is why I am using ceramic magnet pole pieces...Patent Applied For...so don't even think about it. Go buy some Duncan or Dimarzio's without ceramic rods. Because the maple neck is brighter than the original rosewood Fender neck, I increased the windings to balance the highs. This is the first strat that I've played that is quiet, can approach metal and hard rock sounds, plus still has that magical vintage sound. So I hate to say it, I like it, even though it's a Fender Mex Strat that has been modified. It's all about pickups and tonewoods baby. So why did I do this? Because in the studio we use high end condensor mics that require phantom power, put out a hotter signal, which in turn lowers the signal to noise ratio. Nothing gets a 10 from a studio engineer's perspective.

What can I say, this modified Mex Strat kicks out some serious sound even though it's a Fender strat. I have to admit I've been playing it more that my SG and LP. Too bad Fender designed a 5 way switch that can be accidentally knocked into another position, because it is in the WAY! I love this guitar, it will smoke any American strat, including a few of the vintage ones, because of the noise, plus Fender necks which are awful to play.

I use 10 to 46 gauge strings. The Jumbo frets (power steering) make it easy to bend! Pickups are adjusted low, out of the way. I got lucky on the body since it was one of the early ones, and may have even been a prototype. Toni Coli who is a wood worker told me it is solid light Ash, and I know the Mex strats used a veneer and now use Poplar (a porous wood that requires a filler before finishing). Lovely one piece solid wood - not a flaw. Thank you Mexico!

I will definately use this in the recording studio plus gig with it.

Don't know don't care.

Playing, recording and mixing a LONG TIME. For me to play a Fender strat means it has to be great. Wish it had a set neck, 5 way switch out of the way, plus some other mods...but?

Same feature as any other mexican strat. Poplar body and Maple fretboard. sunburst with a white pickguard.

I play alot of pink floyd and things from that era, it hits those high notes with near perfection.The low E tends to buzz a little bit.
When i play fast the sound just flows out of the guitar, Just buitiful sound.

i Bought it from a friend of a friend who never used it. it had and still to this day 3 years later no dinks,dents or scratches. It came nearly perfectly tuned also. Sometimes the tremolo arm makes noise if it is a little loose.

I Have performed live with it before. i've play some pink floyd without a backup guitar i could'nt believe it lasted that hour.
i had a gibson before this and two strings snaped in the duration of one song.
This is one tough cookie

never had one problem but brocken strings :)

overall this is one helluva guitar i love my strat and for $225 i think i gyped my friend considering its perfect condition.
if it was stolen i would find the bastard and beat the hell out of him
with my axe.

this guitar was made in 1995 in mexico. It has 21 frets and a solid ash body w/2 tone and 1 volume. Its got s/s/s pick-up configuration and 5-way switch. The neck is maple with a maple fingerboard, strat style body with a standard trem. Vintage style tuners. Finish is black with a single ply white pick guard. I bought it used w/strap locks and a gig bag. Also the bridge pick-up was replaced with a DiMarzio Hot Rails Humbucker.

My musical style is punk, metal and some blues. This guitar, like I said before had the bridge pick-up replaced with a DiMarzio Hot Rails and this is the best configuration I've ever played. With just a minimal amount of flipping the switch you can get a great blues tone, rock, punk, or lead tone. Its a little noisy on the neck and middle single coils (typical) but quiet as a mouse on the bridge. So far i have no dislikes. This guitar has the most variety i have ever seen. I run it through a dod flanger, boss distortion, and a crybaby 535Q wahwah into a Crate GFX212.

I bought this guitar used and its 5 years old. Nice and broken in, necks straight as an arrow, low action. The only thing wrong was the selector knob was missing, no biggie.

This guitar will most definantly with stand live playing. Its over 5 years old right now and looks brand new! I would never gig with out a back-up but i guess if it came down to it i would.

I've been playing for about 5 years now. I also own an LTD M-155, Epiphone Explorer, Washburn D-10, and a guitar i built myself(I call it "frankenstien").

The Standard strat(mexico) every one knows the specs on it 3 single coils ect.
its black and white and looks nice love the maple neck pick ups can bet a bit noisy but has never been a problem ....this is my 2nd guitar my 1rst was a strat copy so needless to say im in love with strats .... id say my strat is about as good as it gets

i play mostly blues and rock have been playing in a hendrix cover band for 3 months now ......after about 4 months of owning it i replaced the pick ups with fender lace pick ups (gold) and it made a big difference it took a bit of tweeking on the bridge but once i got that set up it there was no problem there ....great guitar for blues ...dosent work to well for the hendrix but its a blues machine

wasnt happy with the strings that came on it it came with super bullets .009 and it sounded week so i put blue steals .010 on helped it alot .....the neck could fit tighter it pops every now and then and i dont know if it was my specific guitar but changeing strings is a pain the slot in the tremo plate dosent match up with the block.and it proves to be a problem .......

its a solid guitar....the hardware is ok im not happy with the sadles on it at all ....i all ways gig with a back up guitar .....never had to use it yet .....the strap buttons i didnt much care for i put dunlop locking strap buttons and thats nice and makes changing guitars a snap .......guitar plays great

never delt with fender with guitars but my amp took a fall and they took ok care of it but its starting to go right back to how it was ..
i dont think highly of fenders customers suport

over all its a great guitar and it dosent take your dinner away for the week ....its got a good price on it and for this my 2nd guitar its all i need now ....

It's a 2000, made in Mexico, black strat. Everybody knows the details. I guess I don't know them all, but keep looking down the page and you'll find 'em. I didn't want to get a black guitar, but there wasn't much selection, and I wanted a strat, so I took what I could get. As far as features go, this guitar has everything one would expect in this category of instrument (fairly inexpensive, but not bottom-of-the-barrel.) For the price, it's very well equipped.

I can't pass judgment yet on the sound of this strat. I just got it a couple days ago, and I don't have an amp yet. I've been playing through my brother's bass amp, and it sounds okay, but I think I need to go and get a guitar amp before I reach a verdict. I do love the strat sound. Even on the bass amp, it sounds quite good. There's something very appealing aobut the sound of an electric guitar, particularly the strat.

No obvious flaws as far as I can tell. I am pretty new to electric guitars, but it all looks fine to me. It feels very nice.

Just got it, so I don't really know. It feels vrey sturdy to me. I've banged against the ceiling a couple of times, and no marks were made on the guitar. I'd use it without a backup simply because at the moment it's my only electric and I can't afford another guitar.

Never dealt with Fender.

This is my first electric guitar, and therefore it is special to me. I've played classical for a while, but it's time to explore rock and blues. I wish I had tried to get the salesman to throw is a case. I need a case. I did a bit of research before buying my guitar, and I decided the strat was right for me, because it satisfied my two main need: It's relatively cheap, and it's well built. I love the look and the way it feels in my hands. Time to get me a nice amp and some pedals. I'd definitely replace it with another strat. I might save up for an American model, but this guitar is really all I need at the moment. Way to go Fender, this is a fabulous guitar.

Made in Mexico, 1994. Red. It's a Strat, y'know what the specs are!

I play a lot of different styles of music. Old school punk, Zeppelin, Faith No More...Deftones, Pantera, etc. Y'know, when I got this guitar 6 years ago, I thought it sounded cool. I mean, everyone and their brother has one. Still, it sounds good clean and only okay when distorted through the bridge pickup. Over the years, I feel the sound has either deteriorated or my ears are looking for something else. Sounds good clean, but a little too trebly and harsh for most of the heavier stuff that I play. I'm gonna get a Duncan JB or '59 in there.

When I got it, I thought it was fine and I didn't really care or know about action, finish and all that stuff. But that was a long time ago, and when I brought it home, I noticed some dried glue around one of the frets. And taking off the backplate, the paintjob was pretty shoddy.

Shit, if I could give this category a 20, i would! This is why this guitar means so much to me and has for the past several years. Strats and Teles are the toughest guitars in the world, yeah, even Mexican ones. Mine is totally screwed up: there are several LARGE chips and cracks in the paint and wood, not to mention numerous dents, so it doesn't look so hot. But, this guitar has yet to fail me once. I remember 5 years ago at a rehearsal that I was leaning forward to tweak some knobs on my amp. When I got up, the strap button stripped right out and the guitar fell face first on the concrete, a fairly sizeable chunk breaking off of it. It's also been thrown great distances and I've even broke a cheap amp with it! It's just been through Hell for me and it just seems to like pain. It doesn't even get out of tune that much. I'd take it to all my gigs, but I'd bring another Strat and switch with this one.

never had to

I might be a little biased when I reviewed this, but I think this is good for a $300 guitar. I guess what I don't really like is the sound, but that can be changed. My guitar, thru Hell and highwater just has always been there for me and it means a helluva lot to me and has a lot of character. Right now, it's just the way I like it. It's beat to shit, rarely gets outta tune, and is very personal to me. It's been written on, stickered up, and has personal photos all around it. I also have a Gibson Les Paul Custom, and many other guitars, and when this baby gets it's new pickups, I doubt I'll ever put it down. Good value, especially if you change the pickups to whatever you like. Won't let you down. The Mexican ones are better made now than they were.

1999 or 2000 Mexican Standard Strat, 21 frets, basic Stratocaster features (3 single-coils, 5 way selector, etc....), Poplar body...Brown Sunburst finish

Great Sound for the price. I play alternative rock stuff from 3eb, Goo Goo Dolls, Bush, Nirvana, Blink 182, etc. and sometimes Metallica in a pinch through a 15-watt Marshall MG-15 ss amp. Most Alt. rock sounds pretty decent. Suits everytihng up to hard rock. Metal players...get an Ibanez or Jackson..the strat just doesnt cut it. I mainly use the bridge pickup for distored playing because the middle & neck positions are WAAAAY too muddy for distorted play. The highlight of this guitar is definitely the bridge pickup...i can nail many songs right on the dot using the bridge pickup.

Great workmanship. No scratches or any flaws whatsoever. The strap locks are getting a little loose these days and the low E buzzes sometimes, so im knockin off 2 pts. to an otherwise perfect setup.

This axe can handle abuse. Ive banged it into walls, desks, tables, chairs (ok so im a little clumsy) and not one visible sign is present. Truly remarkable. Solid enough for live playing, and very dependable.

Havent dealt with Fender....Dont think i'll need to for a while.

Overall this axe is AN EXREMELY GOOD VALUE FOR THE PRICE. My only gripes are the somewhat limited pickups and the fret buzz. But other than that this guitar is truly awesome. If it was lost, Id probably go buy one of the Fender Deluxe Guitars (Super Strat, Powerhouse, 72' Tele Custom)

1995 Mexican Standard Strat. 21 frets, poplar body. Volume, and 2 tone controls with 3 stock single coil pickups(i plan on upgrading). Rosewood neck and Candy apple red metallic body. Standard bridge tuners.

I think that only one of the pickups really suits my style and taste, and the bridge and middle will have to be replaced. The Bridge PU is a piece of junk giving a really twangy, no output kind of sound. When the neck and middle PU's are combined, the sounds is fairly decent. I use a Fender Automatic GT amp and the pickups sound fairly decent with quite a bit of distorion. The single coils are fairly loud, so whats new, but not terrible. I can usually get quite a bit of bass out of the neck PU for a warm sound, but the other two lack quite a bit. I wish the stcok pu's were a bit higher quality with less noise, however, for the money, i wont complain too much

I bought the guitar used, though it was hardly played. I had to adjust the neck for quicker action, though i cant seem to get it good enough without buzzing on the frets. i needed to raise the PU's to get enough sound out of them. Fit and finish otherwise was very good b/c i dont think the previous owner did anything to it at all! I wish that the strings didnt come totally out of tune whenever i used the tremelo, but tightening the heck outta the springs underneath the back plate should settle it down a bit

This thing is built pretty darn well. I dont forsee anything breaking on it in the near future since i handle my insturments with care. Paint seems thick and looks darn good right now. I had to glue both of the tone dials back on, b/c they were stripped, but that was no big deal with a little bit of super glue.

Havent dealt with Fender.

Ive been playing for about 9 months and i really enjoy this as my first electric. Im sure i will be upgrading the pickups in search of the sound that i want. I just love being able to play so at this point it is working out very well. As far as the price goes, i cant complain. For $200, i will take this guitar and work on it a bit, and then have exactly the sound i want for maybe a third of the price. Great deal for the money!!!

Made in Mexico, year unknown (anywhere between 1998 and 2000 I reckon), it features a poplar body sporting a Sunburst finish, a one piece maple neck with the skunk stripe at the back and a rosewood fingerboard, 21 nickel silver frets, die-cast machine heads with the Fender logo, standard "Made in Mexico" Strat single coil (passive) pickups with the middle one Reverse wound/ reverse polarity - nice touch!

The guitar is G-Vox ready, which means (from what I've gathered) that the stock bridge is "ready" for the G-Vox MIDI interface. Otherwise, it's a standard Strat bridge.

This is the guitar that suits that "other side of my personality" so to speak: I'm mainly a Les Paul man, but I'm also a big Pink Floyd fan, and, well, many other bands/acts I like use Strats ... A Paul and a Strat, I'm happy!

The tone is classic Strat: bright and twangy with that trademark "quack" in the "in between" positions ...which are the 2 settings I use the most due to the noisy 60-cycle hum inherent to all single coil units, but give those Mexican made pickups credit: they are loud!

I'll have to treat it like I do my Epi Les Paul Studio: set the amp like I like it, turn the guitar's volume down all the way and bring it up until it has that clean sound I like. I enjoy this setting since all I need to do is bring the guitar's volume up for leads and I roll it back down for rythm ... works equally well for Strats & Les Pauls!

I might eventually go for Lace sensors to get rid of the hum completely (for the sakes of keeping it genuine Fender) ... but I wouldn't turn down Duncans or DiMarzios either. Hum cancelling pickups would give me more sounds to work with! That's the only reason I'm knocking a point on sound, as far as conventional Single Coil pickups go, the stock one are pretty darned hot!

The factory setup was great except for a few minor details (more on this later) none of which were really "factory related". The action was set higher than I like but still very playable - that seems to be a constant with both Fenders & Squires I've tried in store. I guess having it slightly higher allows the strings to ring longer.

The pickups were adjusted just right: far enough from the strings to minimize string pull. The pickups still sounded very loud! No complaints there!

The neck pocket fit is spotless, as is the finish. The bridge tension is setup just the way I like it: not too loose but loose enough to allow some "floating". The standard tremolo unit stays reasonably well in tune, I'll know better once the strings have been properly stretched.

The minor details I found:

first off, the guitar was strung "backwards": tension was increased by turning the keys clockwise (towards the body) and loosened counter-clockwise (away from the body) ... a silly oversight I agree, it did give me the chuckles!

I restrung the guitar in a more "conventional" way and took advantage of the string removal to give the guitar a hand polish - second "minor detail": there were many finger prints & dust all over the body, but that's due to people trying it out in the store.

I also rubbed a dab of lemon oil on the fingerboard since it looked a bit dry, "minor detail" number 3 ... but again, those details were not due to poor factory setup, so I give top score on this point!

It's a Fender! I recall an interview in which Peter Townshend said that in his guitar-smashing days, Fenders were the ones that stood up to the most punishment! Since I neither have the money or the inclination to torture my guitars in that way this will last a long, long time. Would I use it on a gig without a backup ... "never say never" as they say, but I haven't gigged in 12 years.

But yes, I would use it without a backup.

It comes with Fender's warranty (5 years?) as well as a store warranty. I've never dealt with Fender, but the quality factor is there, and the staff at L&M is friendly and helpful. I can't really comment on Fender's Customer suport though.

I've been playing semi seriously for quite a while, and before that, I've gigged semi-professionally (age 16 to 20 - man, I'm not getting any younger!).

Only these days can I finally afford the gear I've always wanted: a good amp - Fender Blues Junior, great guitars - Epiphone Les Paul Studio (a honey of a guitar), home made double cutaway Les Paul and the Standard Strat. I also own various pedals.

If it were stolen, I'd beat the living s***t out of the robber - seriously! I guess I'd collect the insurance premium and replace all of the missing gear, Les Paul and Strat included! They're different parts of my sound, complimenting one another.

The only tiny mod I performed was to replace the string tree with one with roller guides to reduce string friction and help keep the guitar in tune when I use the tremolo.

I might eventually replace the plastic nut with a graphite one (or the roller nut to keep it genuine Fender), and I might replace the pickups with noise cancelling ones, Lace sensors (to keep it genuine Fender!) or suitable replacements from Seymour Duncan or DiMarzio ... I'm not sure what that would do to the warranty though!

All in all, it's a wonderful guitar: looks good, sounds good, it's light in weight and G-Vox ready (if you want to use the axe as a MIDI controller). Top marks!

It's a 1996 Fender Mexican made strat. its the usual 3ply white/black/white pickguard on black polish. Its got 21 medium frets, rosewood fingerboard on maple neck. It as the regular volume, tone, tone, 5 way selector switch control layout. its got the normal 3 single coil ceramic pickups, normal electronics. Body is made of Poplar, and the neck is stated above. Finish on mine is black, i have the Fender standard tremolo stright from the factory, Standard factory tuners, non-locking. The neck is nothing special, the Standard Fender guitar neck w/ Rosewood fretboard. It came in a brown cardboard box which kinda pissed me off so i bought a hardcase for it which has proved to be indispensible.

I play Mostly classic rock like Led Zep, Hendrix, and others of that era... it works, thats about it. i would like it better if it had better action, but if the action IS lowered, the frets buzz like no other. The guitar stays in tune pretty well since I've lost the whammy bar and tightened the hell out of the springs under the plate on the back of the guitar (THIS IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) I use it with a Fender Deluxe 112 plus 100 watt and it works pretty well once you boost the volume and let the pickups breathe. its noisy but what do you expect from single coils. if you use the in-between positions, it works pretty quietly. If you want a guitar that can be soloed on relly well, this might not be the guitar for you, its better suited to rhythm and some blues excursion, but tapping and meticulous soloing is not very efficient on it. You can get from a tinny bright twang on the bridge pickup all the way to a low rumble on the neck pickup, but i also modified the pickups and raised the actual pickups as closse to the strings as i could get before they touched when using the upper register, so mine is significantly louder than most ive heard. I dont like the semi-slow neck on the guitar, but its really well suited to blues with its naturally throaty moan. The thing wails when you get it going though.

It came pretty well set up, if you like to hold carrots between your strings and your fretboard... i have tried all kinds of stuff to get some lower actions on this thing, but have just given up at about half the height it came and twice the height i would lke to have it. the pickups were adjusted fine, how much can you really adjust three single coils? there are no flaws with the construction; it all works very well and is a solid guitar. make sure the tone and volume knobs are tightened every once in a while, they tend to come loose even if oyu never use them. This also goes for the input jack, it unscrews quite a bit

this thing is a tank, and as long as you dont use the tremolo and have the thing either blocked in the back or have it tightened to no return itll deliver great endurance. I gig with it and it withstands even the hairiest situations (People hanging on the neck and trying to rip the guitar from you, falling over on the stand because morons are screwing with it) Once youve got the thing set up and dont use tremolo and do the prescribed blocking/tightening, itll last forever. The strap buttons are crap. They look like they might work, but no, they dont. Get yourself a good pair of straplocks and youll be fine. A testament to the guitar however though is whe i didnt have straplocks yet and i was giggning with it and my strap fell right frigging off it, the guitar fell from around waist level right into a hard concrete floor. I picked it back up and it was just dandy. I didnt even have to retune. it really is a tank once its set.

Never ad to use them, im no wussy.
i tihnk the warranty is five year limited.

Ive been playing for about 4 years and i tought myself on this thing. it was a great learner guitar, but once you get to a certain point, its time to move on to bigger and better things, im not saying this guitar isnt a good guitar, but it isnt exactly an SG or a Les Paul. This is my only guitar right now except for a couple accoustics but they dont count. It was really the right guitar for me when i bought it, but since then i grown out of it. If it were lost I think i might buy an American Standard but Probably a Gibson SG. I love the guitar because I learned on it and its been a really solid guitar for 4 years and has no scratches et cetera on it. I also like the rueful clean tone you can get it to produce. I hate the action on the thing, i wish it were about an 8th of inch lower to the fretboard at the 12th, and wouldnt produce the swarm-of-bees buzz at the second when it is lowered. The only thing i wish it had were factory straplocks and a faster neck. Its really a great guitar, if oyure looking to learn to be really good, get this guitar to learn on. its like butter.

Mexican Standard Stratocaster, Made in 1993 (I think) based on a label inside the guitar. Maple Fingerboard, Red color. Familiar normal strat features

I play heavy metal and some blues, and lots of wierd original lead stuff. I'm using this with a line 6 POD 2.0 (great!). I can't say that much about the way this guitar originally sounded, as I replaced all the electronics (pots, switches, pickups) very soon after I got it. It had the normal strat thin single coil sound. I put a dimarzio HS-3 and a seymour duncan stacked humbucker (unsure which model, got it used) and it really sounds fantastic. I won't go into the sounds it will make with this config, as they don't have a lot in common with the sound the guitar made stock when I got it.

Since strats are one of the most modif-able guitars out there, I think you could get one of these to sound good for many different styles of music.

I got this guitar used, and it was in horrible shape. The maple fingerboard had lost chunks of finish and was dirty, the finish was scratched up, all the hardware was rusted (including the pickups). It looked like someone left it out in the rain for a couple of weeks, then ran over it with a lawnmower or something.

It's a testimony to how good a guitar fender makes (yes even the mexican ones) that with some buffing on the finish, and cleaning on the neck that this guitar looks, if not new, then in pretty good shape! I'm amazed how think the finish on this guitar is, after some car wax, etc - it cleaned up nicely.

Make no mistake, the mexican fenders are very solid guitars. This guitar was working fine in the condition I bought it in, if very ugly.

I think that strats in general are one of the toughest guitars out there. This guitar has the original tuners on it, which although a bit rusted, work fine for me. Every bit of metal on this guitar was rusted when I got it, but obviously it had been through way more abuse than would be normal for a guitar to endure.

As I said above, the finish on this guitar is great - very thick, which you can see inside the pickup cavities. The strap buttons were rusted off this when I bought it, but they would be worth replacing with straplocks or similar even on a new guitar.

Considering that you wouldn't get a similar amount of exposure to liquid as this guitar apparently had during it's tramatic earlier life (unless you used it as an anchor or something), I wouldn't really expect it to rust too much.

I feel that I could depend on this guitar as much as any other. If it failed in any way, it would be due to my lack of skill soldiering pickups, switches, etc. I can't really think of a tougher guitar, maybe a strat with no tremelo...

Well, not going to deal with them on this guitar...never dealt with them at all actually.

I have been playing for 17 years. I have a fender Big Apple Strat, a Japanese P-Bass, and some other crappy guitars. I played all sorts of Strats lately, and this was an impulse buy because it was so cheap, and looked like a good guitar for a "project". With a little work, it became a pretty good guitar (especially for the money invested).

I have owned way, way too many guitars in the past (flying V, explorers, Les Pauls, Ibanez, etc.). I used to totally hate anything made by fender, but now I'm a convert. The strat has a lot going for it, and it may be just me, but I feel that it is a lot less "fragile" that a gibson LP or SG. The fact that the neck is bolt on is really a plus to me, as it could be easily replaced if broken. Also, this instrument, and strats in general aren't that heavy compared to other guitars.

I think that particular guitar, while not being as good as it's american counterpart is a very good guitar, and the Mexican Standard Strats are a good value overall. I think with new pickups they sound as good as most of the American guitars. I think you would have to be fairly picky to find a lot of fault with the way these guitars sound with good replacement pickups. I don't even think they loose that much sustain from the bolt on neck when compared to glue on or neck through body guitars.

I don't know if they offer the Mexican strat in a "hardtail" version with no tremelo, but if they did, I would prefer that guitar (my American Strat is tremolo free). I think that they could offer a model that comes with seymour duncans from the factory and that would be a plus as well, as the original pickups aren't that great.

If this guitar were lost or stolen, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another Mexican Strat, I would look for another used one most likely, or I might get a telecaster or a toranado.

This is a 1996 model with the 50th anniversary sticker on the peghead, made in mexico, it has 21 frets (Don't all the lower priced strats), one volume and two tones, five way selector, s-coil/s-coil/s-coil(angled), beautiful curly maple neck, poplar body, gloss black finish, strat standard tremelo, schaller tuners, 25.5 inch scale, and no included accessories.

This is the class guitar at my school and it shows why it pays to buy a real mccoy Fender Stratocaster. The first amp I used this thing on was a Peavey Delta Blues and it sounds like glass on the clean channel(Like a good Stratocaster should), and down right raunchy on the dirty channel, great for classic rock. On another amplifier, a Peavey Bravo, shove up the Supersaturation dial and the guitar gives you instant Metallica. I will admit that I have played many of these Fender Standard Stratocasters (A Candy apple red one with an american standard tremelo, about 200 black ones, a few assorted ones in local music shops, a sunburst model strung lefty, and my favorite Midnight Blue colored ones), and they are very consistant in bad-ass-ness, no matter what amp, I have played them on A Peavey Delta Blues, Peavey Backstage 30, Peavey Audition 30, Peaey classic 30, Peavey Bravo, Peavey Classic Chorus, Peavey blah blah blah, and the list of amps runs from Carvin to Peavey. These guitars don't suck, If one of these guitars sucks soundwise, your amplifier sucks.

One of the best setup guitars out there, even the whammy bar stays in tune perfectly after the strings stretch out. I belive it's wrong to give Fender all the bad rap on their tremelos because they will work properly or however you want, even those much ill-fated Mustang/Maverick/Jag-Stang tremelos are badass. All you need to do is leave the guitar setup as the store did or set it up yourself and you can't go wrong with a Fender with a vibrato, it should be all the licenced and unlicenced copies that should get the bad rap.

If this guitar has withstood 2 years of rowdy, unruly teenagers without a scratch or a dent, I am sure this guitar will live forever. This guitar can be trusted without a backup (Without me and the teacher, It would have few if any back-ups).

Only an ameture or a moron professional would need customer service for this guitar, It's just like all 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Stratocasters worldwide.

This is the schools guitar, so, if somebody took it, I would find them, Kick their ass, then hang them on the flagpole as subject to public humiliation, and become a hero of the high school music classes (I can see it now, Strat-o-man).

1999 mexican standard strat, black with rosewood fretboard. hardshell case is worth the money if you travel at all or have kids.

Although the as-paid-for sound was quite good, i have made a few modifications, but more on that in a second. i have read many reviews hammering a guitars playability and overall sound quality, why did they buy the guitar in the first place. i played about a dozen of the standards before i found the right one, and it sounds sweet and balanced. i have made a few upgrades to enhance the sound. first i added a spacer under the vintage string guide (you can get them as a package from a good shop) this helps the tuning and tremolo. i also blocked the tremolo ala clapton with a piece of square stock poplar (5/8th inch from lowes)this enhances sustain and i dont use the wanker bar anyway. althought the stock pickups werent that bad i sprung for the 50's fat strat pickups. this guitar sounds heavenly, and i still paid less than the mexican vintage reissues and sound better.
i use this guitar primarily for blues (ussually clean unlike the SRV wannabees)it is very expressive, smooth, and has the perfect amount of quack. it can also play a mean gritty blues note if needed as well with no problem. for those out there who want metal, divebombing, or alternarock buy a guitar with humbuckers and a floyd rose, this isnt your axe. the rating is with the mods, stock = 7.5

great for a $300 guitar, although everything looks great the fret slots are cut deep and filled, this is ok because i will replace the frets with jumbos after they wear out and they will need some extra space. i had to enlarge the low e nut slot when i added thicker gauge strings, a little time and sandpaper, no problem. i "aged" my plastic knobs and switch tip myself (boil in weak coffee) for some vintage flair. i wish the guitar came with vintage tuners but the stock arent bad, i will probably upgrade to sperzels in the future. i bought the guitar from elderly instruments, the set up, as always, was perfect. do yourself a favor and buy from a good shop, even if you have to travel a bit, its worth it in the end.

this guitar was built to withstand armegeddon. i have a small child and have no fear. very dependable and travels well. hey its a strat.

hope i never have to find out. although i did have to wait 2 months for fender to ship my pickups to the shop.

i have been playing for a long time and have owned a 64' SG junior, epi les paul, jap strat and have played all sorts of guitars. this one is great. if an american standard is a lexus, this is a corrola, its not flashy but will get you to the same place in comfort and should last a long time. a teriffic working mans guitar. last words of advice: to save yourself from writing a "disappointment" review play as many guitars as you can before you buy so you know it will fit you and your style (sorry mail order guys).

My guitar is a 1999 model made in Mexico, 21 frets, 1 volume, 2 tones, 5 way selector switch for 3 single coil pickups. Not sure of the wood type... I got it in the suburst model which cost me a bit more. Came with a case, but not hardshell. Basically what you would expect for the price.

The sound is pretty good. I play many kinds of music, ranging from blues to rock to metal. Its best role is easily blues. It is a blues machine! Unfortunately, in the pickups factory position, they were set too low. I could barely hear anything played on the high E string, and that made leads impossible for the most part. After getting that adjusted it plays very well.

I play through a Fender Frontman amp, usually with the amps overdrive, sometimes with a Crybaby Wah and Digitech RP3 processor. It sounds pretty good with effects, especially for clean songs.

I'm replacing the single coils with two humbuckers very soon to get more of a rich sound out of it. The pickups that come with it are fine for the most part, but dont sound good for playing in front of people. The harmonics dont pick up too well, which is kind of a bummer. This is my first guitar, though, and it definitely satisfied me for just learning songs and practicing with friends and things like that.

The guitar in its factory positions played like crap. The tremolo bar made the thing go out of tune anytime I touched it. I had it taken out, and there was a temporary block thing put in there. For 3 months it wouldn't stay in tune for more than an hour. I've finally made it so that the tremolo bar has no trace left on the guitar, and it stays in tune very well.

As said in the sound review, the pickups were crap until heightened. After that, everything was fine. The neck plays very well, but I had to get used to it. I love the way it plays now. I can get any sound I need out of it, the agility of this guitar is so amazing!

The finish is excellent, I haven't found any marks on it yet!

This guitar has excellent durability. I have played the hell out of it for almost a year, and it shows no signs of age. It still has the pristine condition of a brand new guitar after all this time. Now that everything has been adjusted, it is very reliable and can be played live. I wouldn't recommend playing live with the tremolo bar, unless you plan on tuning in the middle of your songs.

I haven't had problems with the strap buttons. Everything on the guitar seems like it is built to last.

N/A

I have been playing for almost a year. All I have to say is THANK GOD I didn't learn on an acoustic guitar. Any electric guitar makes the learning process much more smooth, and this one does the job beautifully. On its own, the guitar is good for screwing around at home and practicing. After a few modifications, it is a great, solid guitar for doing anything you would want. I definitely would recommend this as a first or second guitar. After that, you should look for a more "top-of-the-line" Strat to play live with and in recordings.

1999, made in Mexico, black, 3 single-coil pickups, 22 frets, tremolo, strat body, rosewood neck, volume control, 2 tone controls, 5-way pickup selector.

Sounds pretty much ok, except the pickups buzz, especially when you're only using one of them. (but then again, what else would you expect from single-coil picups?)

The tremolo was incredibley bad. Using it just a slight bit made all the strings fall flat, and sometimes it would get pulled up by the strings, and would make the guitar imposible to tune, and I would have to open it up and tighten a screw inside the guitar (bleh).

This guitar is so-so. not great, not bad. If I lost this guitar, I would probably buy a Pacifica or an Ibanez RX series instead.

This model is a 1996 Mexican made Stratocasrer, it has 21 jumbo frets, The usual three single-coil pickups with the bridge pickup at an angle, one volume, and two tone controls that I don't use. I'm not sure of the model for the pickups, but they're not bad for a Mexican Standard. The bridge is the usual strat bridge which goes out of tune all the time. I don't like the bolt on neck's interference in playing the higher frets. An "all-access" neck would fix that. The finish is Traditional Brown Sunburst. I'm not sure of the brand for the tuners, they don't lock. The construction is bolt on and the scale is 25 1/2 inches. It came with a nice hardshell case with the Fender logo on it. Not bad features for a Mexican guitar, which is said to be lower standard, I'm not real sure.

This is not the guitar for the kind of music I play (metal, alternative, hard rock) but this strat produces nice tones for blues and jazz. I run the guitar through an Ibanez tone-lock tubescreamer directly into a Fender Reverb amp. With out the tubescreamer the guitar produces wonderful clean tones. Very good for Clapton or SRV tunes. The guitar goes downhill from there: when distorted the pickups tend to buzz and the sound is sometimes drowned out by the buzzing. I like the feel of this guitar, it is very light and the neck is comfortable. The standard strat tremolo system ALLWAYS goes out of tune whithin a week's time of not tuning. So I took the whammy bar off, that seems to have helped. This guitar is great for blues and jazzy pieces, but if your like me (a young metal head) you'd be better off with an Ibanez RG or an ESP M-I or M-II.

The action on this guitar is a little high for leads but any lower would cause fret buzzing :(. The guitar was actually kind of in tune.. that came as a surprise. The pickups were fine and the finish looked wonderful. In direct light fingerprints are visable so you have to polish it every so often. Fender did a good job on this one, it's a beautiful guitar the only problem is the higher frets don't seem to sustain as long as the lower ones. I also don't see the point in tone knobs which no one I know uses.

This guitar seems very durable, I'm careful not to chip any paint off all my guitars. The hardware will last and the finish is bright to this day. The only two worries about playing live with this guitar is the strap buttons and the tremolo. Almost everytime I play this guitar standing up one side of the strap comes off :(. The tremolo always comes out of tune- I think I already said that five times. As for going to a gig with a backup, no I wouldn't; I never do that! This guitar will last.

I've never dealt with Fender.

I own a digitec multi effects pedal and a crybaby wah that I hook my Gibson Les Paul standard through. This guitar is great except I wish I would have bought the Floyd Rose tremolo version though. If it were stolen I would buy and American Standard Stratocaster fitted with a Floyd Rose or an ESP LTD M-350. I've read the reviews and it seems more my style. More $$$ but better quality. I love the light feeling, but I hate the tremolo and the neck joint. Too bad about that joint it really gets in the way standing up. Compared to the Les Paul this is a feather and the Gibson is a brick! I love this guitars weight. I also wish it had at least 22 frets and a lower action. This is not a hard rock/metal guitar. If it fits your style (blues and jazz or soft rock) you'll love this guitar for the price!

Mexican made (probably 1999, maybe early 2000). Standard strat features. Mine is midnight wine w/ maple board. I love the color of hthis guitar. Sometimes it looks maroon-colored. Under stage lights it is beautiful deep red and the edges look black...very nice.

The stock pickups are ceramic bar single coils and according to Fender's FAQ info, are a bit hotter in output than Am. Standard pickups w/ AlNiCo 5 magnets. I actually like these pickups.

Mine came with a nice Fender gig bag, but I'll soon get a hard case for it. Everything works fine...have had it about 4 months.

I play contemporary Christian music, praise/worship (many styles), R&B, blues, some rock, some country and some folk-rock. I use Boss pedals: compressor, chorus and turbo overdrive on occasion. I plug into a Peavey Classic 50/410 (12AX7's into EL-84's).

The guitar has standard single coil noise, but really it's not too bad. When the band is playing, not noticeable at all. Mid pickup is RWRP, so notch positions are quiet.

With this setup, I get exactly what I want...stratocaster tone. I have also played it thru a Peavey Transtube solid state 1 x 12 amp and I am very satisfied with the tone I'm getting. Depending on the amp setting I can be really bright and cutting, or more smooth and full. Personally I don't like to be skull-piercing bright, but I love the way the tone sits in the mix with band playing (usually acoustic guitar, keys, bass, drums). This thing sounds great thru the Peavey 4x10 amp...which I really, really like.

I particularly like the feel of the neck on this guitar. It's like my hand came "home." I'm quite satisfied though may eventually replace pickups with Fender Fat 50's. What I wanted was single coil Strat tone...and that's what I get.

Set-up was sorta okay. I took the 9's off and put on 10's, had the neck tweaked and installed two more springs on the tremolo block to snug it down a bit. Everything fits and works well. The finish is particularly pleasing to the eye, as is the color.

Again, I have to say that I am pleased with the pickups. Lots of guys routinely bash the stock Fender pickups. I suppose there might be some reason but I like mine. I've been playing 30 years and have owned 3 other American made strats. This one plays better than any of the other 3 and sounds just as good, except for the original 62 I had. But that one was difficult to play...I'll give this category a dolid 9 because everything does what it is supposed to...a testament to Leo's brilliant design. Not perfect, but solid and dependable.

This guitar is built to withstand lots of playing. Over the past year or so I played LOTS of MIM strats and was impressed by the overall quality. Okay, it's not a PRS...but it's not $2200, either. This is my #1...my Hohner strat copy is now tuned down for slide playing. I did replace the strap buttons with Dunlop strap locks, mostly because my favorite old leather strap tends to let go, not because of anything on the guitar being a problem.

I do use this on gigs without backup. Did the same with my Hohner for 6 years...no problems expected.

I haven't dealt with Fender directly, but the local dealer is great. he changed strings and tweaked the neck at no charge when I told him I wanted 10's instead of 9's. Limited lifetime warranty...can't argue with that. I like Fender overall...they have really improved the manufacturing in the Ensanada factory the past few years.

I feel if I had a problem my local Fender dealer would be very helpful.

Been playing 30 years. Have the Hohner strat copy, 2 Peavey amps, assorted Boss pedals, Takamine acoustic. If lost or stolen, I'd probably opt to get the Deluxe Super Strat - ash body.

I love the color of the finish, the feel of the neck, the bite of the stock pickups, the fact that it was a darn good value, and the fact it produces the tone I want. I hate nothing about it. I knew what I was getting and this is what I wanted.

I've noticed other reviews that absolutely trashed the Mexican strats. Some of these reviewers probably had the wrong guitar for the style of music they play. A Strat won't serve you well if you intend to play high gain metal...just as a hammer won't do the trick if you're trying to saw a board. However, drop in some Duncan JB junior pickups and you can rock with anybody. Also it seems like it's a matter of routine to say things like "the stock pickups suck." I like these pickups with my particular setup. I still may replace them, but not because they are bad in any way. I just personally feel a strat pickup with AlNiCo 5 magnets has a bit more of that "strat thang" than ceramic bar magnets.

There was one reviewer who really was disgusted with the feel of the neck. Question - why did you buy the guitar? It takes me about 3 minutes to determine if I like a neck or not...basically some negative reviews I feel can be attributed to "operator error." Wrong expectations, preconceived notions, whatever. I'm very satisfied with this guitar and think it's an excellent value.
Overall I'm very satisfied

I believe my guitar was manufactured in 1999 in Mexico. It has a poplar body, maple neck with 22-fret rosewood fingerboard with a 25 1/2" scale, and the typical three single-coil pickups, 5-way selector swithch, and one volume, two tone control layout. The tuners are die-cast and seem to work very well. The tremolo is the standard single point type used on Strats since 1954 and works just the way it's supposed to. As a matter of fact, the action and sensitivity of the tremolo on thgis particular guitar is exceptional. As a rule I don't care for Stratocaster tremolos, but this one is terrific.

My guitar is finished in Midnight blue. I love the color because it looks purple when next to anything blue, and blue when close to anything purple, very unique. Also, the finish quality is exceptional. I have been playing for over forty years and I think this hype of being able to hear tonal variations of different woods and different types of finishes on solid body guitars is a bunch of bunk. When playing through an amplifier, the only thing you hear are the pickups. I imagine the hype was started by guitar manufacturers to justify the inflated costs of their instruments. I don't buy it!

Everything else about the guitar is standard Stratocaster. I did get the molded shaped hardshell case with mine that is of very nice quality.

It has all the features a Strat can have so I have to give it a 10.

I am basically a jazz player, but I occasonally like the sound of a Stratocaster on certain tunes. This guitar sounds just as good as any American built Stratocaster I have ever played and has the same broad band of tonal colorings from jangly treble to smooth dark lows with everything else in between.

One thing I particularly like about this guitar is the satin tung oil finish on the neck. Even though this guitar is brand new, the neck has a nicely broken in feel that I find very accomodating.

When I went into Guitar Center the day I bought my Strat, I realy had no intention of buying a guitar that day. I was just going in to look around and pick up some strings. I just happened to walk over to watch the salesmen set up a display of Fender products in the center of the store when one of the salesmen unboxed this guitar. it caught my eye and I asked the salesman if he minded if I tried it out. He handed it to me and I plugged it into a Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue amp and began to fiddle around with it. What amazed me was that it was perfectly in tune coming right out of the box and the setup appeared to be perfect. The action and intonation were right on the money and the pickups were perfectly balanced. I have never purchased a guitar, even big dollar ones, that didn't need major adjustments by me to get them playing the way I like, but this little blue Strat was dead on. I find this a real tribute to the workers in Fender's Mexican facility. Bravo boys and girls, job well done!

As I said earlier, the finish is gorgeous and to date I have not found one flaw or imperfection. I am quite pleased with my purchase.

I have no doubt that this guitar will be around long after I am gone. Everything about it exudes quality and workmanship.

Although, a Stratocaster does not fill all of my musical needs when performing, if I somehow found myself at a gig with only this guitar, I would not worry the least bit about not having a backup instrument. I can see no reason why I could not depend on it. I have used it on about half a dozen gigs since I purchased it and I am totally satisfied with it.

I have had no reason to contact Fender on this particular guitar, but I have dealt with them in the past on other guitars and they have always been extremely accomdating and helpful. I can't see any reason why it would be any different should a problem develope with this instrument. The warranty is a limited lifetime to the original owner. How much more can one expect?

I have been playing for 43 years and as I said earlier, I play primarily jazz. For most of my playing, I prefer using one of my big body archtops like my 1947 Epiphone Emperor, or my Monteleone Radio City. I have a nice collection of guitars including a mid-60's Epiphone Sorrento, a Japanese reissue Fender Jaguar, plus numerous others.

Would I replace this guitar if it were lost or stolen? If I could find another one that plays as nicely and I don't see why that wouldn't be possible, I would in a heartbeat. It is one heck of a nice guitar.

I think at $373.00 out the door including hardshell case, it is one of the best buys I ever made. If you haven't played one of the Mexican built Stratocasters yet, put all this American built is best crap out of your head, go into your local Fender dealer with an open mind, and prepare to be impressed. I was!

Hecho en Mexico, 1999. Bunch-o-piece (five? Seven? who knows?) poplar body, standard strat layout from all those years ago. If you like strats you think the features are perfect.
Midnight wine finsh, maple board.

I play blues. And I play it on Stratocasters. I bought this guitar basically as a back-up to my other strats.
This guitar just plain sounds terrible for medium-gain blues. It's got no soul, no zing, no nuthin' that makes a strat so great. I changed EVERYTHING on this guitar trying to make it sound better, to no avail. It's true: a bad piece of wood will always sound bad, regardless of the pickups. And I got the most resonant one I could find in any store.

Played through a Marshall JTM-30 with boss blues driver and boss compressor.

I could not find any good sounds with this guitar in any situation, clean, crunch, high-gain, etc.

Decently put together. The price-point shows, but you expect that. Not a substitute for an American Standard, but certainly half as good for half the price. The necks and frets especilly could use some more attention.

Built like a tank, will last forever

Fender is great. I normally love every product they make, and have always had a good experience dealing with them.

Been playing for 22 years and owned just about everything. I currently have a Fender American Standard Strat, A Fender '62 reissue strat, and my main guitar: a G&L Legacy (the finest strat-style guitar money can buy!).
If it was gone, I'd thank the guy that took it and give him $50 to not try to return it. The worst piece of garbage Fender ever made. No wonder Leo never looked back. A waste of almost $300.00. I truly wish Fender would concentrate more on their U.S. stuff and find a way to produce an entry-level guitar for less money instead of sullying their good name on this Mexican fodder. This thing is barely worthy of being called a Squier, and that's what it should be. Only guitars made in the U.S.A. should bear the Fender name. I feel deceived.

Mine's a 1994, red, with rosewood fretboard. Modifications I've made include DiMarzio Class of 55's in the neck and middle, and a "hot" Fender American Standard in the bridge position; pot and switch replacements (I use the controls a LOT) and graphite bridge saddles.

This guitar IS my sound. I play it through a Pro Jr. (at home) and a 50 watt Sovtek head (gigs). Nothing else would do; I've practiced with my Les Paul and it just can't cut the mustard. The Stratocaster is THE guitar to own, and this one is a perfect specimen. The stock pickups were below-par, but drop in a couple of DiMarzios, and BING --instant classic.

Body finish beautiful. Neck kind of second-rate. The finish is cracked off (it came that way) in several places along the side of the fretboard. The nut is cheap and plastic, and is worn down (after 6 years of hard playing) and needs replacing. I play with high action, which is a good thing, because you can't get too low. All that said, I'd rather play this guitar than any other. I plan to replace the neck with a Warmoth, maple fretboard, to make it a bit brighter, and perhaps for more even action.

I cannot imagine a more reliable piece of musical equipment.

I'll never need it. I can build a Strat from pieces (it's real easy, of course).

I've been playing guitar for 12 years, and like I said before, this thing is my Number One, and will be unless I find a better Strat (I doubt I will). With upscale pickups installed, this is as good a Strat as any.

MADE 1999 IN MEXICO THIS GUITAR HAS 22 FRETS. THIS IS A SOLID TOP GUITAR. IT HAS ONE MASTER VOLUME, A MID TONE AND NECK TONE SWITCH. IT IS ALSO EQUIPED WITH 5-WAY PICKUP SELECTOR. THE PICKUP CONFIGURATION IS S/S/S. THE PICKUPS ARE FENDER STANDARD SINGLE COIL PICKUPS. THE ELECTONICS ARE PASSIVE. THE GUITAR BODY IS SOLID POPLAR. IT IS FINISHED IN WHITE ENAMEL. BODY STYLE IS STANDARD STRAT CUTAWAY. BRIDGE STYLE IS FENDER'S STANDARD TREMELO SYSTEM. THE TUNERS ARE FENDER STANDARD DIE CAST. THE NECK IS ONE PIECE MAPLE. A GIG BAG WAS OFFERED FREE BUT I UP GRADED TO A STANDARD FENDER STRAT HARD SHELL CASE FOR AND EXTRA $69.00/US.

I PLAY A VARIETY OF STYLES FROM THRASH METAL TO BLUE TO COUNTRY TO GOSPEL AND THIS GUITAR DOES IT ALL. I USE A FENDER PRINSTON CHORUS AMP AND A DIGITECH RP-7 EFFECTS PRE AMP PEDEL. INITIALY IT WAS VERY NOISY WITH ONLY ONE SINGLE COIL PICKUP SELECTED AND IT SOUNDED VERY CHEAP, HOWEVER, AFTER I INSULATED THE ELECTICAL COMPONENTS CAVITY WITH COPPER FOIL AND LINED THE BACK OF THE PICK GUARD COMPLETELY WITH COPPER FOIL, IT WAS LIKE A DIFFERENT GUITAR. IT SUSTAINED BETTER AND I GOT A RICH FULL SOUND, EVEN WITH NO EFFECTS. IT WILL PLAY WITH ANY EFFECT AND SOUND GREAT NOW. THAT PROCESS COSTED ME ABOUT $12.00/US TO DO MYSELF.

THE GUITAR WAS VERY BUZZY WHEN I FIRST BOUGHT IT. I KNOW THAT FENDER SAYS THEY SET THEM UP BUT MINE DID NOT SEEM TO BE SET-UP AT ALL. AFTER REFERRING TO DAN EARLWINE'S BOOK ON GUITAR REPAIR I SET IT UP MYSELF AND IT PLAYED GREAT, WITH ONLY VERY LITTLE BUZZING. THE HOLES FOR THE PICK GUARD, TREMELO CAVITY COVER AND CORD JACK WHERE TOTALY OUT OF WACK. I THINK THE GUYS IN MEXICO DANK TOO MUCH TAQUILA BEFORE THEY DRILLED THEM. IN SOME CASES THERE WERE TWO OR THREE ATTEMPTS TO DRILL THE SAME HOLE, LEAVING MULTIPLE HOLES NEXT TO EACH OTHER. I FILLED THE HOLES WITH JB WELD WHICH IS HIDDEN UNDER THE PLATES OR PICK GUARD, WHICH EVER THE CASE MAY BE, AND RE-DRILLED SOME OF THE HOLES, SO THAT THE PIECES WOULD HOLD IN PLACE. NOW THEY ARE ROCK SOLID. THE REST OF THE GUITAR, INCLUDING ALL OTHER HARDWARE, WAS FINISHED PERFECTLY.

I'VE PLAYED THIS GUITAR LIVE AND IT STAYS IN TUNE VERY WELL EVEN WITHOUT LOCKING TUNERS. OF COURSE, I USE SOME TRICKS IN WINDING MY STRING THAT I LEARNED FROM DAN EARLWINE'S BOOK ON GUITAR REPAIR. AFTER ABOUT A YEAR OF PLAY THE GUITAR IS HOLDING UP VERY WELL EXECPT FOR THE TUNING KEYS WHICK I MAY NEED TO TIGHTEN. THE BUTTONS AND SWITCHES A SOLID. THIS GUITAR VERY DEPENDABLE AND I HAVE USED IT WITHOUT BACKUP ON MANY GIGS.

I'VE NEVER DEALT WITH THE COMPANY.

I'VE BEEN PLAYING FOR 19 YEARS. CURRENTLY I OWE NO OTHER GUITARS. IF THIS GUITAR WAS LOST OR STOLEN IT THINK I WOULD PROBABLY REPLACE IT WITH AN AMERICAN MADE STRAT THIS TIME, BECAUSE I BELIEVE THE WORKMANSHIP WOULD BE BETTER. I REALLY LOVE THE ALL AROUND PLAYABLITY OF THE GUITAR. I DON'T LIKE WHERE THE 5-WAY PICKUP SELECTOR IS POSITIONED, BECAUSE I OCCASIONALY BUMP IT WHEN I'M STRUMMING AND IT SWITCHES PICKUPS. I ALSO COMPARED THIS TO A FENDER AMERICAN STRAT THAT A FRIEND OF MINE OWES AND YOU CAN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE NOW THAT I'VE MADE ALL MY ADJUSTMENTS.

Y2K Mexican Strat, Midnight Blue, Rosewood fingerboad, the rest is well known. The shop did provide some nice accessories for free, but there isn't much included by default.

As mentioned almost universally in all other reviews, settings 1,3,5 are noisy - playing with the tone controls can make them marginally less noisy. Sound is great, classic strat, perhaps kind of soft. The models I tried with maple fingerboard could be perceived to have a brighter sound.

Workmanship quality is good, the factory setup wasn't. I tried out 7 strats in the shop before buying the blue one. It wasn't my first choice of colour, but it eventually grew on me. Only later I noticed that the bridge is offset to the left and that makes the whole guitar look kind of lopsided. It's fixable though - I'll fiddle with that next time I change strings. Some frets have unfilled holes underneath them. All maple-necked models I saw had stains on the fingerboard underneath the laquer finish - very uncool. The 6th string was set way too low by the factory - in fact all strings needed minor readjusting. The paintjob is quite amazing. The only problem with it was that it took hours to remove the protective plastic. The tuners are IMO not bad, but I will consider replacing the bridge - the chrome finish looks tacky and I'm probably never going to use the tremolo anyway. The included literature was only relevant to the american strat and therefore -- useless.

The hardware definitely seems very solid and dependable.

The dealer promised nearly unlimited service and warranty - hopefully that won't be needed.

I've been playing for over 15 years, but admitedly mostly classical/acoustic. I spent months shopping for an electric (this is my second one) and was surprised to see how much junk there is out there. The Mex Fender was the best value for money, with some Yamaha models coming afterward. Caveat Emptor - if I qualify at all to give advice - look at many guitars, buying mail-order is a bad idea.

I bought my Mexican Standard Stratocaster about 4 years ago after having given up music several years before. I always thought I was a Les Paul personality. I paid three hundred and some odd dollars for it and now realize that I purchased a gem of a guitar! On appearance it's just your typical Red strat with a rosewood neck,3 single coil pickups,5 way switch,old style tremolo and tuners. I did opt to purchase a hardshell case for about ninety dollars as well. As far as rating it for features..what you see is what you get here, so there's no mystery! It's a tone machine that,In my humble opinion can match any given strat made anywhere on any day!

At 1st I was in love with playing clean through my Fender Ultimate Chorus.I now have a Marshall VS265R as well and run both amps in sterio through a Boss Me-8 multiple effects processor.The Strat sounds great with this set-up...whether playing clean,distorted,whatever! The result is pure tone heaven. I normally play through the bridge or the middle and bridge position and have become far better a player than I would have thought possible a few years ago.I guess what I love the most about this strat is that you can play it without amplification and still hear that now famous sound....the chord voicing and pure tone of this wonderful instrument through the wood and neck vibration alone! It has such good accoustics that it just sings like excaliber. Plug it in and it will quack and pluck the way only a Fender can.It will jingle, jangle, and even do jazz voicings. It will also deliver anything from Nirvana,Oasis,Smashing Pumpkins to country or Clapton...Not bad for one guitar well under $400!

The guitar was set up with 9's on it but I now use 10's. The action was fine....but I have since taken to having the action set a little higher for better intonation and chord voicing. The pickups are just dandy! I did change the neck postion pickup to a Seymour Duncan JB jr. (humbucker in a single coil size)because I had rarely used that pickup and wondered if it was me or the pickup...Now the neck pickup sounds like butter!...even more so in the 2nd(neck middle postion)very very smoothe.The only flaws that are apparent are a glue spot somewheres around the 16 fret and the pickup selector is a little noisy.What really impresses me is that this guitar pretty much stays in tune period. I use the whammy bar....it stays in tune.....it's in the case for several weeks...it's in tune....weather changes...you guessed it....it's still in tune..Maybe I got a rare one...you tell me? I had always thought of Strats as plain jane guitars...Now I realize why they have remained relatively unchanged for so long and so often copied but never duplicated.

This guitar will pretty much always be my front line instrument. It's like a Ford truck in my opinion. I may someday modify it modestly but it's really not necessary at this point.The finish is showing a little dulling where my arm rests but that is natural. I could gig without a backup but I have one anyway.Overall this guitar is totally dependable.

N/A

I have been playing better than 10 years plus. I also have a Dean Cadillac Select Elite which cost quite a bit more and can't come close to my Strat in the tonal department.I bought this guitar without even picking it up and playing it and have not been disappointed in any way shape or form. On the contrary, I have been nothing but extremely satisfied by the value and pure enjoyment I get from picking it up and playing.It all comes down to sound and for me this is the sound that guitars are made of. It's straight forward, basic, and purely resonates a tone that is magic to my ears. This particular guitar could even hold it's ground against an accoustic ..unplugged!!!Well let's be real....Almost...

Mine was a '96 model, classic white with maple fretboard. The poplar body was surprisingly warm and bright, more so than many other strats I've tired at highter prices. Unplugged, it still had a great sound, a good deal of which I presume can be attributed to resonance of the tremolo cavity. The neck had a very nice feature--the fretboard was cut from the same peice as the neck and then glued back into place, so that it wa sfdifficult to distinguish where it had been cut to place the truss rod. This is something that is generally not found on too many guitars from other companies, and I was impressed they included it in their bottom-end model. The stock tuners and tremolo were crap...even though I didn't use the trem, by the end of the first year it was bending well off the body. The neck was also not as tight as it should have been where it met the body. Stock pickups were decent, even if low output, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

The sound is where this baby shone. The poplar body with maple board was heavenly for warm, stingy, bright blues tones. The body was very resonant, and delivered a very warm tone when unplugged, and complex harmonics. Equiped with Duncan Antiquities or Van Zandts, this would have been my prime recording guitar if I hadn't decided to sell it instead in my terrible shortsightedness.

The fit of the neck wasn't star by any measure. The action was very nice, and there was never any fret buzz to speak of, except when exposed to abrupt temperature/humidity change. Finish was a standard factory job, probably done with a machine--no flaws that I noticed. Pickups came from the factory with the poles on the G-string set too high...this is a common problem in lower-end guitars, but not difficult to fix. The neck had a gloss finish, which never bothered me, as I don't play fast, and sometimes I even miss. Pickups were noisy, even for single coils in 1-3-5 positions, and quiet due to the reverse winding of the mid pickup in combination positions. The tremolo and tuners were the pits, and should be replaced immediately. Low rating on pickup settup, high rating of straight-from-the-box playability.

Terrible with stock hardware, great with even cheaper replacements. Right from the box, the guitar goes out of tune easily, and the tremolo with not only not return to zero after a whammy, but will eventually pull away from the guitar's body...there was no knife-edge to speak of. This is where they save money on the Mexican models. Holds up pretty well, and takes a terrible beating and still works well, but the TREM AND TUNERS MUST BE REPLACED!

This is an excellent guitar with just a few replacements (replace or fix tremolo, and put on some Sprezel tuners). The tone is the warmest I've come across in a strat unplugged, and with the stock pickups changed to Antiquities or something comparable, the tone would be amazing there, too. DOn't expect amazing sustain, due to looser fit of the neck, but if you play jazz or blues--something where sustain isn't a big asset--then this packs an ideal amount. Body resonance adds warmth, while loose fit limits sustain. I would be very willing to buy another of these guitars, if I could only find one in white again, to fix up and use as my main axe. If anyone has one in classic white and good condition, please let me know!