Fender Standard Stratocaster

Chrome Red (Candy Apple) Maple neck. Finish was perfect.

This is the third Mexi Standard I've owned, the first two was stolen. And I also have a Deluxe Players Strat. The pickups in this new one were as hot as any I've seen on a Mexi or American. The sound blew me away and I really didn't expect it. I got this orginally for looks, but It will quickly become a main gigging axe.

Best out of the box action for a Mexi I've every played from Fender. Set up was low and mean. Modern C neck is thin and fast.

So far so good. Never gig without one or two backups no matter what the main axe is.

Never used it.

35+ years, I have other Starats, Les Paul, 335, Peavey amps and Fender amps. I've had two stolen and replaced with the same.

Candy Apple Red finish, maple neck and maple fingerboard w/t medium frets, standard fender tremolo, standard tuners, MIM Pickups S/S/S. This was bought new in 1994, used for a about a year and has been unused until this year. This was my first brand new guitar and thought that this was a great choice at the time. Big fan of David Gilmour and wanted a guitar like the one he uses in concert.

I bought this guitar because David Gilmour played a similar guitar during the last years of Pink Floyd.

This guitar required extensive work to get it to play and sound well. See the rest of my review.

Currently I use it with a gdec to work on my playing skills, a Line 6 POD xT and Pocket POD when giging.

This guitars electronics were the poorest example of guitar building I have ever seen. Leo Fender would never have signed off on the MIM istruments if he saw this guitar. Basically, if the wiring under the pickguard required a building code inspection, it would have failed miserably. Bare (yes BARE) wire was used through out the circuits. Poor quality pots. Lots of 60 cycle hum when playing at clubs.

The nut was poorly done but didnt know any better when I first bought it. Just plastic with notches. Tremelo started making alot of spring noise when diving after a few months.

Suprisingly, the body finish was great and the neck had great feel and frets.

I made this guitar my personal project as this was a guitar I bought new and wanted to make the most of it. I read the Guitar Player Repair book, deceided what I wanted to do and what the budget would be, and here's what I did.

1) Installed new TUSQ nut ($9.95)- Very easy to install. Nut was pre-slotted. The nut slot is curved and all I needed to do is remove center foot on the bottom of the nut and some light fitting to get the fit correct. Great improvement in tone and asthetics.

2) Replaced pickups with Fender American Standard Pickups, all new Fender 5 way switch, Fender volume and tone pots, and insulated hook-up wire. ($111.50) - Got a deal on the P/U's and electronics at my local music store. Soldered it up myself.

3) Replaced Pickguard, knobs, switch tip, tremolo tip with mint-green parts from AllParts. ($28.00) I did this for two reasons. One, I kept the orginal pickguard with electronics intact in order to take pictures and send to Fender. Second, I wanted a clean canvas for my new pickups and like the mint green look with the red finish.

BTW..Fender never responded.

4) New tremolo springs ($5.00)- This took care of the spring noise

5) Setup ($0.00) - I used everything learned from the repair book. I had just about every tool needed except the feeler gauges. I got a set from a pawn shop for $3.00. Toughest part was matching string hight to curve of neck. Made template for this myself.

I dont think there is a lemon law for guitars...but their should be one.

I just wanted a shiney brand new guitar and wound up dissapointed.

I should have known more about buying a new instrument. My bad and I only paid $399.

Had to invest time and money to make this a playable guitar for practice and playing live. Played my first gig after all these changes and could not be happier. Setup took the longest to do and required time and trial and error. Learned alot about setup and I'm glad I had the opportunity.

The sound with the new pickups are fantastic for blues and rock and roll. Learing to play "Comfortably Numb" and these p/u's nail that sound.

Note my rating is based after all the work I put into the instrument.

I realize not everyone would want to put this much time and money in guitar. Since the neck and body were good, and with replacement parts available, I took the plunge.

This a resuscitated guitar that is now a joy to play.

Bought it 1999. To all of you guys who wrote that a Mexican Strat sound and feel better than an American one - let???s trade immediately - my Mexican for your American. Shipping is on me!

To better understand this review wherever you see ???vintage??? translate it to ???crappy??? - that is a direct translation from Fender???s dictionary. In advertising hype Fender rules. And back to the features from the top down with individual ratings for each one in brackets:

Tuners (6) ??? work smoothly and keep the tuning well, but after a year the string posts became loose and wiggly. When I change strings I get the feeling they will come out of the base. It seems the posts are probably riveted to the gear and that has loosened. Tightening the button screws regulates the tuning action only, but does not fix the problem.

Nut (3) ??? Pure ???vintage??? ??? the cyclovac nut broke after a year and a half. Replaced it with a DIY brass one.

Neck (8) ??? Probably the best component. Fender says all necks are milled in California???s Corona factory, including the ones for the Mex strats. The woodwork is of very high quality. The truss rod works well. All adjustments I made to it worked as expected. Shape - a modern narrow ???C???. Too thin for my taste, but never the less comfortable and with a smooth finish and pleasant feel.

Fret board (5) ??? rosewood, no finish. Precise woodwork, but I personally do not like the feel of it.

Fret work (-10) ??? a complete disgrace. Probably the most disappointing aspect of the whole guitar, except for the ???vintage??? bridge. The frets are made of hard, wear resistant material, which is good. The fret wire is too narrow and too badly shaped (dressed). The neck itself might have been made in USA, but frets are probably installed in Mexico. Instead of levelling the frets by pressing/hammering them into position they just sanded off the excess heights. By doing so the fret profiles changed from rounded to trapeze. This cheap fix may have helped reduce the manufacturing costs, but if you try sliding up and down the neck your fingers will get stuck at each fret ??? definitely a ???vintage??? feature. I use 0.08s and it is impossible to set the action low enough without significant buzzing. Heavier gages might work better but I like the 0.08.

Bridge (2) ??? ???vintage??? all the way. The crappiest thing I???ve ever seen. The ???stainless steel vintage??? sections with the Fender logo on them rusted after only about year and a half. The height adjustment screws, due to the ???vintage??? construction, stick out and really dig into your hand when you try to play palm-muted chords. The tremolo springs are anything but springy. They kind of remind me of the ones used on my old camping bed - really hard, no elasticity, no range, cheap surface treatment. This bridge is completely unusable for any tremolo work. I got fed up retuning every time I touch the tremolo, so I blocked mine.

Pickups (4) ??? just replace ALL of them with whatever else you???ve got. You can tell they are cheap by just looking at the pole pieces. The top surfaces of the pole pieces are left as they were from the machining process, no polishing not even smoothing out the defects from the process, just covered with a cheap galvanised coating, which did not prevent them from rusting after less than three years. Absolutely no shielding of any kind, neither to the cavities nor to the pickups. All internal connections are done with unshielded cables. Although the pickups at different positions and their combinations do sound different they are thin, and faceless. It is very hard to get a descent sound out of them.

Controls (8) ??? All pots work really fine. After 8 years! they are do not show signs of wear. I guess it is because CTS do not manufacture different models for the Mexican and USA strats. The schematics of the wiring however is another sad ???vintage??? story. I could never understand the utterly useless, muffled a

Come on guys! To give this guitar a 9 or a 10!! How can this guitar possibly be anything more than a 4 ??? 5. Do you mean to tell me that this one can in any way compete with lets say a PRS, which got a 9-10! Get a life! The only reasons I can think of for such ridiculous scores are:
1. You are on Fender???s payroll;
2. You have never owned or tried a better one;
3. You are deaf!

By the way have you noticed that nearly all reviews for all sorts of gear at the end produce nearly the same average feedback score of around 8!!!!! It is not realistic for all kinds of gear to get the same rating!! Check out other reviews on HC! My guess is that soon you will see quite a few reviews after this one (from questionable sources), praising the Mex Strat in order to bring the score back to 8.

Now to the sound: I use gage 8 strings ??? DR or GHS. I have tried this guitar through a variety of combinations of amps and effects. Amps: Fender Bandmaster (all tube), DIY Marshall (all tube head), Fender Champ 25, Laney Hardcore amp. Effects: Boss GT-5, Roland GP-8, Boss ME-30, DS-1, MT-2, Line 6 POD, V-AMP2, countless DIY boxes and recently the good old Digitech RP-7.

I originally bought it just to try out my newly built DIY tube head. Therefore I went for the ???best of the cheapest???. But very soon I was getting really frustrated with it and I realised that I was thought the same old lesson again and again ???You get what you pay for???. Consequently I bought an American Standard Strat and this one is collecting dust now hoping that one day my son may take up guitar and I will give it to him as a present to learn on it.

The tone simply sucks. The neck pickup is too shrill, to thin with excessive highs. Your ears will bleed if you listen to it for longer periods of time. The middle one is just too flat and faceless. You would not notice if it went missing. Somewhere on the net I read someone praising it as being the best pickup they ever tested. This is just B.S. The sound is just unimpressive. The neck pickup to me is the best sounding of all three. There is too much bottom end, which needs some EQ-ing, but it still manages to create a sound remotely reminiscent of that of Ritchie Blackmore, who is famous for using the neck pickup. The combinations are wired in anti-phase, so they act as split humbuckers in positions 2 and 4. The sound however looses a lot of it brightness and definition in those positions.

In all fairness I have to say that playing the guitar clean through a good tube amp with a bit of delay and reverb does not sound too bad. But through overdrive and distortion effects it is horrible. From all the effects above I only managed to get somewhat descent (far from great) overdriven/distorted sound from the RP-7.

All said above, except I would emphasise again that the finish is pretty descent.

What durability it is rusted all over. As far as reliability goes you can gig without a backup, but have one just in case you break a string.

Once only I e-mailed them for a technical support. Got an answer within a day.

I first started playing more than 30 years ago and have been playing on and off. I am not a pro player, but building amps, guitars and effects is my hobby, so I do know a thing or two about guitar construction and sound. You can probably use the guitar for any style. It is versatile and usable to a point. I would not miss it if it were stolen. I might even pay the thief for getting me rid of it. I do not object as much to the sound that comes out of if as to its feel and action - the fret board, the fret work and the bridge. While the sound can be corrected to an extent electronically or by changing the pickups there is nothing you can do to improve the cheap quality and feel of the mechanical construction. If you look close at all metal parts you will inevitably notice the cheap ???vintage??? construction and coating. The wood work deserves much more credit, but it is seriously offset by the fretwork. If only the fretwork was better this guitar could have been a much more useful instrument.

It is neither the best nor the worst guitar I have tried, built or owned. It is just a mediocre 5. You could probably get a better value for the money from another brand, but this one is not such a bad choice within its price range.

Mine is a 2006 MIM sunburst finish,rosewood fretboard.I have kept it the way it is,except changing the pickguard to a White Pearloid one,which looks really sweet on this guitar.I'm glad that Fender did all these upgrades,because it really improved the MIM strat,and I would put mine up a American made one any day of the week.

It's a Fender,it sounds great!I use a Digitech RP 150 through a 1997 USA made,Peavey studio pro 112.Sometimes though,I like to play it straight thru the amp without any effects.

This is where I only give it aa 9.Mine was probably sitting on the store shelf for who knows how long(I bought mine in March 2007).When I got home,I had to tighten up the tuners,check the intonation and lower the action and do a complete set up.

I have been gigging with this guitar since March 2007,and it is my number one axe.I have used it without a backup and have not encountered any problems with it.This is the best guitar that I have ever had,and I have over 35 years of playing under my belt.

Fender is always great to deal with.They have a great customer support team that will assist you in any way.

I would definately buy another one of these.They are a great bargain for the money and sound great.Hats off to Fender for upgrading the standard and keeping it affordable.

Mine is a 2006,which has the sunburst finish and rosewood fretboard.The upgrades on this guitar have really improved it to the point where I would put this up an American made one,any day of the week.The jumbo frets make string bending a breeze,while the shielded compartment finally gets rid of that annoying hum that used to be in the older models.Finally,the increased trem block allows for more sustain and much better tone.I don't see the need for any modifications on this at all.It's a keeper just the way it is.

I like to play a mix of 80's hair metal and classic rock,I say to thos who don't think this guitar isn't suited to Metal,I say learn how to play!The tones that I get from this are just amazing.Great sounding guitar.Probably the best that I've ever had,in over 30 years of playing.

The only thing I had to do was,set the intonation properly,and adjust the springs in the back and adjust the bridge saddles,so as to prevent tuning problems.I never use a trem,so tightening the springs is no big deal for me.Plus,I also had to tighten up the hardware a bit.I don't know if that's Fender's fault,or due to the fact that this guitar was sitting on a shelf for almost a year.I bought this brand new in March 2007.

All in all,this is a quality guitar that I can use live and depend on.I don't have to worry about it breaking down on me,after all,if you take proper care of your instrument,there's no reason why it can't last a lifetime.I have used this on many gigs since I got it,without using any type of back-up at all.It's a Fender,it was made to last.

Never had to complain or deal with Fender for anything at all.

I've been playing for over 30 years,and I use this with a Peavey Studio Pro 112,and a Digitech RP150.That is all I need.I would definately buy another one if given the chance.I would like to have a Artic White one with the rosewood fretboard.

Has all the features of a U.S.A. American Standard Stratocaster. One BIG plus is the Grease Bucket Tone circuits & the bridge is wired for tone. The pickups are nice...not as Crisp as i'd like but just fine I ASSURE YOU. The neck feels good, I like the large frets.

This guitar really shines here...the more you roll off the tone the better the guitar sounds...simply marvelous! You can't beat the Grease Bucket Tone Circuits!!! The middle pickup is wired hot and is a real thumper! The Bridge Pickup is fat and BARKY with Tone control This Guitar's Tone is great...no need to go and spend another $200 plus for some pickups...besides most tone issues are the fault of the player, not the guitar!

The smooth Nitro Satin finish is beautiful!This guitar SHINES!

Built like a tank! I'd gig with it anywhere anyday! Nice and light too!

Fender's fantastic!

This is by far the best value Fender offers in a Strat guitar HANDS DOWN! It stomps the competetion too!

2006 MIM standard (upgraded)...3 ceramic single coil standard strat pick-ups, 21 fret (medium jumbo), 5 way switch, alder body, maple neck/fretboard, white.

Sounds like a strat although a little dark compared to other strats I've owned or borrowed...decent output...good tonal range and more sustain than other strats I've owned (maybe because of the denser tremolo block on the 2006 model). I still find it quite noisy even with the improved shielding...depends alot on whats' around you and how close you are to the amp. Depending on your amp and effects its' good for just about any music except maybe really heavy, grundgy stuff.
I may eventually change the pick-ups...maybe...eventually...not like its' a must do type thing, the stock pick-ups are quite alright.

I don't know if I just got lucky or if the quality control has gone up but there was absolutely NOTHING wrong with this guitar when I bought it. I have not had to adjust the touch, intonation...nothing...no dents, scratches, dead spots, buzzing...nothing...I've owned many guitars and this is the first one that I didn't have to do anything to. Maybe the guy putting it together was having a really good day.

I think if I dropped it down the stairs it might go out of tune. The only reason I bring a backup is for different sound or if I pop a string.

Never needed it.

I've waited a year before rating this guitar...like I said earlier, I don't know if I just got lucky with this one but I just love it. I've had a 2003 MIM, 2 American and a Japanese Squier and this is the one I think I'll hang on to forever.
Oh..one more thing...there seems to be very little finishing on the neck which at first seems kind of cheap. But after you play it for awhile you start noticing that you don't stick to it and can move your hand very quickly even when it is very warm.
I'm not giving it a perfect rating because the pick-ups could be a little better and I sometimes would really like the 22 frets.

This is a 2002 Mexican strat. I bought it second hand. It has an unusual metallic green finish, i've only ever seen telecasters this colour anywhere else. As you'd expect, it has the typical strat 6-saddle tremolo bridge with the thru-body tailpiece. It has fender tuners, And a bolt on maple neck with a rosewood fretboard, the usual fender scale length (couldn't remember the exact measurements if my life depended on it), 21 frets. It's a traditional SSS strat, with a 5 way pickup select, a master volume and tone controls for the neck and middle pickup. I think they are stock pickups, but i got it second hand so i wouldn't know. The body is Alder like all MIM strats.

This guitar suits just about everything i do, and i do a lot of different styles. It is great for funk, rock, blues etc. but might not be so great for heavier styles. I'm using a Vox Valvetronix amp with it, sounds great on the lower to medium gain settings but you get a lot of noise once you push the gain a bit more. Mainly this happens when you are using any of the pickups on their own, it cancels the noise a little if you use 2 pickups. Since this is the rosewood fretboard model, it's got a bright, twangy sound, but also some nice warmth underneath. Even the neck pickup is quite wirey, just a bit smoother. You can get a wide range of sounds, on the bridge pickup you get a sharp, snappy sound, and it gets smoother as you move towards the neck pickup. With the bridge/middle or middle/neck pickups in unison, you get a thin reedy sound that i love to mess with. even though it's one of the cheaper fenders, it sounds wonderful.

I can't really comment on the factory setup as it was 4 years old when i bought it second hand. At the moment though i'm getting a few fret-buzz problems which have occured since i changed the strings, even though i'm using the same gauge, i think the action is set too low though. The pickups are well adjusted though, they are close enough to the strings without causing them to stick or reducing sustain. There are no problems with it other than the action being too low and the tremolo being a bit squeaky, but that squeak isn't picked up by an amp so it's not a serious problem.

This guitar is already nearly 6 years old and it's still in excellent condition, i think its been gigged with a few times and no damage, so it certainly can withstand live playing. The hardware is of a high standard, it's all fenders own tuners, saddles etc. and the finish is going to last a long time, it's lasted 6 years and no scratches or chips have been taken out of it yet. The strap buttons are solid and hold the strap well. I can depend on this guitar definitely, and i'd use it in a gig without a backup and not be worried.

Not dealt with them myself, although i have heard bad things about fender's customer support.

I've been playing 10-11 years i think, and this is the only true "big name" brand guitar i own other than a Rickenbacker bass I inherited. It's a strat, i didn't need to ask anything before buying it, i knew exactly what i was getting. If it were stolen or lost, i'd probably get very depressed about it, it's not every day i get the opportunity to buy a real fender, but i'd certainly try to save up for another strat, if not a mustang. I love the comfortable body shape, the versatility and the solid, good quality feel of the guitar, there's nothing i dislike other than the excessively low action the previous owner left it with. I was so eager to get my hands on this guitar, i put a ??100 deposit on it whilst unsure whether i was going to be able to afford to pay the rest of the cost, luckily it worked out alright in the end.

Body Style: "Classic" strat body
Bridge: fender stamped vintage
Tuners: standard fender
Neck: one thing i love about strats is the neck, perfect c shaped neck can fit the whole of my hand around it very comfortable.

made in Mexico, 2005 model i think. 21 frets, 3 single coil pickups. alder body maple neck 3 colour sunburst finish.

The attention to detail on this guitar is satisfactory. not the prettiest strat ive ever seen but does the job just fine. it feels more or less like a usa standard

pickups: replaced originals with lace sensor hot gold, with the extra hot bridge, without these babies the features would be a 6 or 7

the sound of this guitar is amazing for the price!! i have another strat, a USA deluxe model and it actually isnt far behind if not on par with the tone that guitar delivers. I think though that is mainly down to the pickups i have installed on this baby. the lace sensors in my eyes are one of the best strat replacement pickups i have ever owned or played it has simply beautiful tones in clean and overdriven and has almost a compressed sound to it.

Standard though this guitar is nothing really that special, sounds good sill but lacks clarity and definition. I use a vox valvetronix and a few select effects, i have a ts9 and that gives the whole rig a breathtaking bluesy feel, cant beat it. for variety this guitar is also very good, the bridge pickup with all the tone rolled of and the distortion set high can give a humbucker-esque type feel and can manage the heavier rock with ease even metal!!

there isnt much noise coming from the actual guitar itself as the pickups are noiseless

the action from factory wasn't brilliant in fact i had to sit down and readjust the whole thing myself, the pickups where fine there are several small flaws in the actual neck of the guitar but these are purely cosmetic and don't affect the playability in any way

this guitar could b easily used by a professional and would withstand a great beating. its solid as a rock like most strats are and i can totally depend on it

i would never gig without a back up though as that is just asking for trouble

never had to use them with any fender product!!

ive been playing for roughly 4 years i own 4 other guitars and 3 other amps, this is my second choice guitar but only to a model that cost me ??900, that said i think its a pretty fabulous guitar.

i recently played a few US standards and have found that with the adjustments made it actually leaves them for dust!! don't think that just because something is American it will be much better than anything else, cause its just not true!! Korean models are not far behind and i have played several Japanese squires and i will buy one as soon as i manage to find one on ebay. or rather when i have enough cash!!

It's a 2006 Standard Strat with a vintage trem, standard Fender tuners, a medium C shape maple neck, maple fretboard (slight tint), alder body, has the standard 5 way switch, tone for middle and bridge, and master volume. Pickups are just standard ceramic magnet single coils. I'm pretty sure it's a nitrocellulose lacquer finish and it's in electron blue. Depending on the lighting, it might look black or purple. And the radius is 9 1/2" and it's got a full 25.5" scale.

If you're looking into a Strat, you know what they have. Sort of hard to give a rating on that. It's got what you need. Came with a pretty decent gig bag too.

I own two other guitars and this Fender is meant for a way different style. I bought the Strat to cover classic rock like ZZ Top, Kiss, Aerosmith, just your basic classic rock, nothing too hard. And I also use it for classical, jazz type music, and there are a ton of others. I got it for it's clean sound too, because my Peavey is meant for hard rock and I haven't played my Washburn yet.

Anyway, my effects chain is a GV-2 -> Small Stone -> Crybaby Classic -> Vox Pathfinder 15R. It's a little noisy even though it's been shielded, but I'll get to why later. Obviously what's around you is a factor as well as where you are on the switch. Now, it's been a while since I've played an MIM, back before the upgrades and I can tell you this has a bit of a hotter sound to it. It's not a lot, but you'll hear it. But even still, that nice sparkle is still alive in there. Using your switching to it's full potential, you can do a lot with it. Whether or not the sound is full depends on your chain and settings. With mine, it's about as full as you can get a Strat to go. High end isn't too harsh on your ears. The GV-2 pedal enables me to use it for classic rock, and if I want to go heavier, I can readjust it for 80's metal and sound pretty good. But the pickups are a bit more modern sounding. It's not to say you can't do older music though. They're good for pretty much everything except heavy metal. What you put the guitar through is a huge part of how it sounds, don't forget that.

Overall, I love the sound. I play mainly 80's metal, but I've always loved the Strat sound. There is just something about it that I've always been drawn to. And it expands my playing out because I can do so much with it.

I needed to tighten up the truss rod, but then again I put 11's on, so that was why. The action was what most people would consider high, but I like high action on my guitars because I don't catch strings under my nails and I've just grown used to it. I had to raise up the pickups to get them closer. The screws were a little hard to turn. But that really didn't bother anything. There were no real problems with the guitar. But I'll go into detail about the little ones. On the top, there is a spot where the finish is a bit rough. It's visible if the light hits it just right. And the ground wire in the back had come off the metal. That's why it was so noisy. You can shield all you want, if that's not there, it will be noisy. But I just used some electrical tape for now until I can find the right solder.

Other than those, which are minor at best, everything else was fine. Frets looked good and weren't sticking out, tuners work good, nut is well cut, finish is smooth except for the one spot, so there were no real big problems at all.

Every Strat I've borrowed was a tank and this thing is too. I'm not going to jump around with it or anything like that. Everything on the guitar looks solid and I'm sure it will last. I might change out the tuners for Schaller locking ones, but the Ping tuners will hold tune pretty well. Finish is great, doesn't seem too thick, but it resists scratching well. Bridge and saddles seem pretty good, they don't seem like they're going to wear out anytime soon. Selector switch is smooth.

I know I can depend on this because I've used Strats plenty and I've never had a problem. I know people who have had their Strats for years with no problems. Occaisionally, I'll hear about something going wrong, but that's the way of life. Things break.

Never had to deal with Fender. It comes with a warranty, but if you read it, you'll wonder why it's even there. It's sort of funny.

I've been playing a good while now. I don't remember when I started, but it's hard to remember when I haven't been. I'm not a pro by any means. I've borrowed a few Strats in the past and I did my homework on this, so I knew what I was getting, so it was no surprise. If I ever lost it or someone stole it, I'd get another one as soon as I could. The range of sounds you can pull from this (depends what you do with it)is definately one of the biggest things about it I like. Everything on the guitar has a use for something. I didn't compare the Strat to any other guitars. What other guitars are like a Strat? The only things I wish were different on my Strat are: I wish it had Schaller strap locks and I wish the saddles were stainless steel instead of case hardened stamped steel.

A Strat is sort of in a category by itself. You can do a lot with one depending on what you choose to do. It's a great guitar. I thought it was the coolest things ever when I got it and actually had a Fender. It's been one of those guitars I've always wanted, so I'm very happy I saved up and bought one. But in the end, this is my opinion. Go out and try one and hear if it's for you.

2005 Standard MIM Stratocaster. Polyester finish on alder body, polyurethane satin on maple "C" profile neck. 9.5-inch radius maple fingerboard. Vintage-style sychronized tremolo. Fender/Ping standard-style sealed cast tuners. Three single-coil ceramic pickups. 5-way switch. Does not have medium jumbo frets or the larger tremolo block like the 2006 and up models.

This guitar is used with a Fender Blues Junior. Very thin and bright sound almost to the point of being harsh. While I expect that to a certain degree with a budget Strat the tones on this particular guitar aren't very wide-ranging.

The first example had a small drop of excess glue on the fingerboard next to a fret. When I brought it back the sales guy picked the glue off pulling some of the neck finish up with the glue. Exchanged that Strat for another immediately.

The second example (which I kept) has a horribly cut nut - while functional, the slots have a "V" shape instead of a "U" shape which means the string is only making contact on two small points of the nut. One slot doesn't even go straight down towards the neck - it's cut at an angle. The pickguard had a small piece of excess foil shielding sticking out up by the neck (note that the only shielding on this 2005 model is supposed to be down by the switch). A couple of the tuner nuts were slightly loose.

Setup from the factory isn't all that critical to me - what's more important is that there are no major flaws that prevent you from setting the guitar up easily. This Strat did not require much tweaking as far as basic setup and nothing got in the way.

While it doesn't look like anyone was sweating the details when this was built the basic construction is solid. Finish is quite good.

Never dealt with Fender.

This guitar was originally bought for my wife to learn electric guitar on (she already is very proficient on violin). It's fine for that purpose - it's solid and has no playibility flaws. I ended up inheriting it and couldn't resist tweaking it to get rid of what to my ears was the less than inspiring tone.

I switched out the pickups for Fender Custom Shop Fat 50s, swapped the thin cast zinc alloy tremolo block out for a Callaham full-size steel block (the 2006 MIM larger blocks are not steel but still zinc alloy), and replaced the stock Fender saddles with Callahams. Switched the .009-.042 nickel-plated strings for .010-.046 nickel wounds. The guitar now has a full and resonant vintage tone. The thinness is completely gone and the tone is much more detailed harmonically.

What you've got is a good basic Strat with no major flaws that is great for a first or second guitar. It's built well enough that with some extra parts and tweaking you can get some very nice tone but it isn't so expensive that if you screw up modifying it you're out a ton of cash. Just be careful when you try it out at the store and look it over for less than steller workmanship on the finer points.

This model has a unusual finish (sliver-green)and red hot tone, it does blues-jazz-rock and more or less everything else.

I am using it in conjunction with a park G10R, boss sd-1, danelectro grilled cheese and a danelectro BLT. it souds great! you can get bluesy solos with the grilled cheese, funky riffs with the BLT and super fat tone with the Sd-1.

This guitar is in great condition, i bought it second hand from johny roadhouse in manchester. All it needed was new strings.

Ive only had it for about eight months but nothing bad has happend yet.

If never had any reason to call them.

he best guitar ive ever had...its really versitile. it doent really do metal though, a bridge humucker would be nice

The classic strat. What more can i say. It is the usual, five way pickup selector, three standard pickups and tremelo. Ypu all the know the deal!! It has a truly beautiful maple neck which is much nicer than any mexica i have played before.

It has the classic strat sound and is perfect for the kind of music i play: blues,classic rock and some more phycadellic stuff. However the pickups are very noisy when you crank up the overdrive, but then i guess you dont really want to do that on a strat.

I got it for christmas and i think the shop set it up. It was all beautifully set up. I had the action lowered a tad and there is a bit of buzz but not a lot. I had an ok fiish but a tad shiny for my liking and easily scratched.

I'm sure it will withstand a live gig but it does go out of tune if u over do it with the tremelo, which i do when i play hendrix esc stuff, that would be a problem for me.

Never had to deal with them, im sure i never will.

Well it is a truely awesome guitar and much bettter than any mexican i've eva played. I'd recomend it to anyone, ill change the pickups and something about the the tuning but apart from that this is one hell of a guitar.

Mine is a 2000 Standard (MIM) Strat in midnight blue. I've had it for 7 years and I still love it..mine has been slightly modified with a tortoise shell pickguard and a different tone knob configuration but otherwise it's stock.

Has the typical Strat tone...not as nice as the '98 strat plus I bought new and then had to sell (I know, I'm stupid) but it's close.

Mine is modified so that the rear tone knob is a master tone for all three pickups and the center tone knob is sort of a faux mid cut/boost. A friend of mine did this mod for me and I think it opens up the tonal possibilites of the guitar.

After 7 years, Ive decided that I'm sick of the stock pickups. The neck pickup seems incredibly muddy and bassy and this is where I play the guitar the most. I have ordered a set of aftermarket vintage style alnico pickups and am hoping they tighten the sound up some. I always try to get that Sevie Ray 'swamp tone' from my strats and the standard strat has that but I think the new pickups will help it

I always modify my setup from the factory so I don't really take that into account. I can say that the guitar sets up well and I've got the action set very low with no buzz. The guitar holds it's settings and tune well and I've had no problems.

I always set my strat tremolos up to 'float'...and I use the trem a lot for jazzy style instrumentals, indie rock, and freaky hendrix style blues. I have no problem with it staying in tune.

My rosewood neck has a great grain and black stripes to it which i really like.

I play the strat through a fender blues JR and various effects including a tube screamer, boss overdrive, delay, tremolo, morley wah, and the occasional phaser.

Have had no problems in 7 years...only one ding. I play and record mostly in a home studio but it's bombproof...it's a strat

not used

Don't fall for the hype surrounding the "American Standard" strats. Most of the parts for the mexi strat are made in the same factory as the US strats and then just shipped over the border for assembly. Upgrade the pickups and the tuners ( and the saddles if you're so inclined) and you pretty much have the American version at half the price.

I actually played Mexi and American versions side by side when I bought this...I chose the Mexi because I didn't see $500 difference between the two. Someday I will get my Strat Plus with the Lace Sensors, LSR roller nut, and Sperzel tuners back and let me tell you...THAT strat was worth the extra $700.

This is an add-in to my earlier review. After looking through some of the reviews I noticed that some people were unhappy with the tremelo because the strings catch in the nut and string trees.

There's a simple trick you can use to help combat strings sticking in the nut. It also makes the guitar easier to tune as strings won't catch and "pop" sharp or flat suddenly as you try to fine-tune the string. Go to your local convenience or drugstore and pick up a tube of Chap-Stick, just the pink stuff in the black tube with the twist-up base. It's the perfect lubricant. One at a time, detune each string until you can just pull it out of the nut and/or tree far enough to reach with the chapstick. Then, simply rub the string with it up and down for about a half-inch at the points where it runs through the nut and tree. Don't get too much on the string (rub up and down and don't twist the tube), and try not to get any on the fretboard (It really won't hurt the fretboard, but it could build up gunk over time). Put the string back in place and tune it up. The Chap-Stick makes the strings slide smoothly through the nut, both when you tune and when you bend/whammy, and it also prevents wear on the nut from wound strings, which can be considerable if you use all-stainless strings like I do. The Chap-Stick is also waxy and thick enough to stay where it's put, so it'll last for the life of the strings. Obviously you'll have to do this again each string change, but a tube of chapstick is less than a buck and will be enough for dozens if not hundreds of string changes (you'll probably lose it, or melt it in the washer or a hot car, before you use it up)

I was originally clued into this as a bassist's trick, since the larger-gauge windings are rougher on the nut, and at least on a Fender Jazz the string tree tears the hell out of the nylon wrapping at the top of the string (something guitar players don't have to worry about, but wound strings will eventually grind the nut down). Trust me on this, your strings will tune, bend, and detune much more smoothly.

Finally, make sure you break-in the string. Again, it's more important for bass strings, but steel does stretch under tension, and a brand-new, properly-tuned string will start going flat rather quickly; there is a limit to how much a string will stretch, but you'll get more useful life out of the string if you break it in as soon as possible before you wear it out. When installing my strings, I first tune each one as I install it as if it were the next string up: E gets tuned to A, A to D, and so on. Just a little extra stretching of the string helps keep it in tune. Bassists also "snap" new strings, where you fret the twelfth fret, pull the string taut, and pop it hard against the board as if you were in a thrash-funk band. You could easily break any gauge of guitar string that way, but the idea holds.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

probably good. Havent needed them yet.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Never had to deal with the company.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

For live playing, defintely! Should be very dependable.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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