Fender Standard Stratocaster

It is a Strat with very Strat like features, mine is a maple neck (the only way to go if you ask me), hey for the money you can't go wrong, this is just a great players guitar for the working guitar player, you can bang it, spill beer on it, knock it over and you know what, who cares....Now if your a metal head or something like that, the cool Fender sound is not what your looking for, but for everything else from classic rock to jazz, country to blues it is the guitar of choice for me.

It's you basic strat and sounds just like a strat, mine still has the stock pick-ups and they sound just fine I may change them but right now really don't see a reason to, I play mine through a Marshall amp and you know what, it sounds just like a Strat through a Marshall amp, the only effect I use sometime is a cry baby.

I bought mine used from a hippie guy and it was nasty, dirty, beat up, covered with strange art work when I got it (why would you color all over the pick guard with magic marker????) I disassembled the entire guitar and cleaned and polished every part (by the way WD40 cleaned the strange stuff off the pick guard really nice) and put her back together, gave her a good set up, dressed the frets now I have a real nice strat that plays and looks great. Mine is a maple neck & the body is that deep blue almost purple color

Man, it's a strat there is no more realiable guitar and if you break something they are easy to work on. I play lead guitar in a local blues band here in Detroit City and this guitar just begs to go to the bar and have beer spilled on her. Would I use it on a gig without a back up, would anyone, If your a pro, you have back-ups, acually on stage now I have the strat & the tele and move back and forth between them. This my second mexican strat for the $$$ you just can't go wrong.

Bought it used, do my own guitar work.

OK, I'm 42, been playing since I was a kid, have been in wedding bands, jazz bands, top 40 bands, classic rock bands, blues bands etc. for a long time. Now I am kind of old school my main rig right now is the strat we are talking about a old tele I had for years and a Epiphone Emperior (jazz box), I plug them through a cry baby into a old 50 watt Marshall 2-12 combo who could ask for more. If my stratr was stolen I would have to get another strat

Made in Mexico 1998. 21 frets. Black with white pickguard. Maple neck.

It came with a HSC, 15' ProCo cable and a Zoom 606 pedal. Hard to pass up the deal for $150. I get the feeling that this guy bought a guitar and pedal but never got into learning and playing the guitar and got bugged. The guitar did not show much use.

The original owner had made some adjustments that didn't suit me so I blocked the trem and lowered the action by one full turn on each saddle. Adjusted the P/U's to my taste and intonated the guitar.

Has Vol., 2 Tone knobs and 5 way switch. 3 single coils. Typical standard strat.

I play all styles and the guitar is adequate for most. I play mostly rhythm and the 2 and 4 positions on the 5 way switch seem to satisfy my requirements.

Where it DOES shine for me is the neck p/u with the bass rolled up to max and through a distortion pedal. Clapton's "Woman Tone" type sound is really nice.

Playing clean I find that the neck and neck/middle p/u positons (1&2) are a bit muddy.

I use a number of different F/X units and amps Boss, Carvin, Peavey, Danelectro. I actually like the sound of this guitar with no F/X, just plugged straight into the amp ( Peavey Bandit) with a little reverb.

I might consider swapping out the P/U's for American Strat type P/U's sometime down the road. I think they would sound cleaner. I can live with the original ones for now and they DO have the Strat tone.

The guitar seems pretty solid and the frets are medium jumbo with no problems. they are rounded and seated well and I don't feel any sharp ends on the edge of the neck.

There were a few wear marks on the maple neck but I think this adds character. The body was perfect and not a scratch on it.

I switched the strings to 10's and it caused the bridge to rise up. I decided to block the trem cavity for stability in tuning and it works well. I like using tremolo but have several guitars with Wilkenson and Kahler trems so the trade off was was no big deal.

This is a decent workhorse guitar and I would certainly use it for playing a gig. Besides, there are just some clubs and bars where I don't feel comfortable bringing an expensive guitar to use.

Plus.... it's a Strat!!! It looks cool!!!

No need for support as I prefer to work on the guitars myself. It ain't brain surgery to set up a guitar and the web has all the spec's for all the instruments. Basic hand tools will get you through most adjustments.

Been playing for 36 years and own all Carvin basses and guitars (except for this strat) If it were lost I would buy another.

I have had this guitar for 4 days and am liking it more each time I play it. In truth it is not the quality of my Carvins but it is a good guitar and fun to play. If you set it up to your specs it will serve you well.

My guitar was made in 1994-1995, in Japan.
21 Frets, Basewood body, Maple neck with Rosewood fretboard, normal fender stratocaster electronics, no clue as for the pickups (haven't checked), SSS passive configuration, Vintage Fender Tremolo bridge, and locking tuners (no brand on them).
The finish in Aged Cherry burst, semi-transpert, and i have no clue as for what the top wood is. It have a lot of color differents in strips, and very light flame. Not a light wood like maple, and not a dark one.
Bought it with a used cheap Fender hardshell case.

Just nothing but the standard strat with 21 frets, decluding the basewood body and vintage bridge.

I play rock \ funk \ pop \ blues and pretty much anything, and its suits me great. Great bass respond for a fender, and less crunch comparing to todays american strats.
I play it with a horrible BC Rich 10W amp. raising funds for a new amp.
The guitar is a bit noisy. Yet, its non-noisless singles, but nothing outstanding.
Great clean, with a balanced bass and mid, and not that much treble.
Although you can't make it crunch as hell in funk like todays strats, it serves you way better in blues and rock.

The clean nocks me off my sit everytime I play it. The distortion is decent.

Don't have a normal amp yet, so can't really tell about the distortion.

I bought mine for a shop who had it second handed. The set up was pretty good at all means, but I like overdoing it to get the best of any of my guitar.
The top wasn't bookmatched all that well.
No flaws found, considering its cost. some paint dings, not all that clean routs, but hey, its a no-cost guitar!

I'm not the gigging player, but yet, I would take it as my first guitar out of the 7 I own currently.
Everything looks fine, but you always need a backup guitar. Its not a monster Ibanez that will last forever during shows, but it isn't bad at all.

Never dealt with, hopping will never do.

I've been playing for 3 years, and I own 1 classical guitar and 6 electrics.
Found this guitar when I went to buy picks. Didn't had the need for a guitar, but couldn't resist it.
I would buy this guitar anytime again, its a great product for the money.

2004 made in Mexico. 21 frets, beautiful maple fretboard, c-shaped maple neck makes it real easy and smooth to play. 5-way pickup selector, 2 tone controls (one for neck pickup, one for middle pickup), 1 volume control for all pickups. All single coil pickups. Vintage tremelo style bridge; not that same as the American strat bridge and I actually like this bridge better because the saddles are easier to palm mute on.

I replaced the strap buttons with dunlop locking buttons. I wish I would've bought schaller ones but these work.

Sounds gorgeous both clean and dirty on all my amps and almost every amp i've tried(marshall MG10CD, guitar research 60 HS). If you are playing around a lot of electronics like computers, flourescent lightbulbs, TVs, ect, you will get a lot of buzz on the single coil settings. The middle pickup sounds great, it's my favorite one and I don't think i'd ever change it out. The bridge pickup was a little too harsh for my tastes so I replaced it with a GFS lil' killer and wired it to a 500K tone pot and now it sounds great! I plan on replacing the neck pickup because it sounds too dull for me. I pulled the bridge all the way back and the sustain increases like crazy! The tone that this guitar makes cannot be beaten!

Everything was well done at the factory. I had to adjust the action a bit, and now theres virtually no fret buzz. I've heard that mexican strats are hit-or-miss and sometimes frets are put on crooked or the neck isnt dressed right...but mine was perfect. Best feeling neck I've ever felt.

I've played dozens of gigs with it, without backup, and I have no reason to ever believe that it will ever fail on me. My friend has knocked it over a few times and I've bumped it into stuff and it still sounds fine.

If I lost this guitar I would buy it back in a snap, its my prized axe...although I might get the fat strat version with a humbucker in the bridge instead, that way I wouldnt have to replace the bridge pickup again. I like it better than the american standard definitely. My favorite feature is the tone. Unbeatable, unmatchable.

Black Made-in-Mexico Standard ("updated") Strat. Bought new, date stamped under pickguard January 20th 2006, so I guess that indicates it's age. Alder body, maple neck, rosewood board.

Features are traditional Strat - 1 volume, 2 tones (neck and middle only), vintage tremolo, 3 "Standard Stratocaster" pickups.

It's difficult to score for "features". Minus side - no coil-taps, no tone on bridge pickup, no locking trem. On the other hand thousands of people have made great music with the Strat and I can't think of any basic "feature" (as opposed to improvements that don't alter its' basic character - the Strat is the most versatile guitar ever) I'd want add to it, so I'll give it an 8

I currently need a clean sound through to pseudo-synth textures. For blues/blues-rock gigs I want a straightforward tone and use a basic setup of guitar-Twin Reverb(or Cyber Champ for gigs where I can't crank the Twin). At the other extreme: a bunch of filters and overdrives and modulation fx dating from the 1970s to now, into a Cyber Champ(several good usable amp tones plus a ducking delay, tremolo and reasonable flanger in one box) - mic - PA. For recording either mic a speaker or NI Guitar Rig.

I chose this guitar out of about a dozen Strats - MIM and American Series, primarily because it has a good, woody unamplified tone and excellent sustain. The amplified sound was less important in decision making (you can always change pickups, which I now have, but the wood fixes the most important part of the tone). None of the four American series I tried could match the MIM on this. One MIM was louder, but also very bright indeed. All 12 Strats sounded different.

The stock pickups have ceramic magnets, with the middle wound in reverse to give hum cancelling in positions 2 and 4. These pickups are amongst the ugliest I can remember seeing, with the pole pieces very proud of the covers. When working on the guitar I discovered that the stock pickups are wax potted, and sprung by Fender's usual rubber tubes (unlike a 1999ish MIM Jazz Bass I've worked on where foam rubber stuck to the bottom of the pickups was acting as the spring). The p/us are decently made with no obvious flaws.

I assumed that a cheap guitar meant I'd need to screen it. On opening it up I found the pickguard screened by foil and a volume-pot to ground wire screwed into the cavity (these look like they're just screwed into the paintwork - Fender put a layer of screening paint on under the finish so you can't see it. Experiments with a multimeter indicate it's there alright). Well done Fender.

On to the sound. It sounds like a Strat (it is a Strat...). It's very sensitive to the amplifier used. Through the Cyber Champ it's bright and a touch clangy, but not too bad at all, especially through clean and crunchy settings. Through the Twin high volume gets a bit painful and hum rears its head a bit too much for comfort. Through a Class A Laney LC15 it's hum city (though the pickups don't cause the buzz - they're simply responding to EMF emitted by the amps. If you have this problem playing near your computer don't blame the guitar, switch the monitor off or get a TFT). The pickups are a bit inclined to squeal if too close to the amp, although the "infinite sustain" trick is dead easy, and a heavy pick hitting the strings is clearly audible as a click. I've played (and owned) vintage Fender that was worse.

On the plus side the tone is generally pretty good once you get the amp set up right (and the Cyber Champ works well on its' stock settings), with good depth and definition. It's very much a modern sound, slightly agressive and cutting, but still quite flexible and the neck pickup can be made to sing. If you expect to sound like you're playing your Grandad's guitar you won't. If you want a modern-sounding single-coil sound it's OK. Just don't get too close to a loud amp. Through British-style amps (which tend to be treble heavy) it's too bright for me. Pickup output is fairly high for a Strat single coil - as loud as my Duncan 54 Tele Bridge and very close to P100s.

I've now changed the pickups and pots for a Fender Vintage Noiseless set (I'll post a few comments about them in the pickups reviews) which have tamed the treble down a bit, and have more of a "traditional" Strat sound. Apart from saying goodbye to the hum and a noticable drop in output(and treble)the main difference is a kind of "filling out". The Noisless are better pickups, but the MIM is a far cheaper guitar than any US Fender and often plays as well or better, with a stock sound that's very acceptable for the price, especially if you've yet to find your own voice, and a pickup swap is easy. Mine has a body routed to accept a bridge humbucker by the way.

Incidentally, those of you who want the bridge pickup wired into the middle pickup's tone control (and are willing to lose many classic Strat sounds in the process), take a look at www.fender.com. Look at the wiring diagram for any basic Strat with that control setup (e.g. the Lone Star). See how it's done? You link two switch terminals and there you go.

I'd best mention I've been setting up my own guitars and other peoples for over 30 years now, so I'm familiar with the principles involved in getting a guitar to work well.

Finish. Body is black. Very black, a good paint job. All routing tidily done, parts accurately fitted. The neck is light maple with a nice wavy grain. The neck and head lacquer looks to be clear and is applied as a very thin satin coat. It almost looks and feels like there's no finish. Personally I like the feel this gives to a neck, others may not. Neck is a C profile (but I've yet to find two exactly the same, which is a good thing), 9 1/2" fingerboard radius.

The pots are 250K, and the wiring is tidy. The cable is a bit cheap-looking, but does the job perfectly well. All soldering done properly and neatly. No treble-bleed capacitor on the volume pot, but these pickups don't need one.

Tuners are nothing special but do the job.

I'll give this a genuine 8 - my two Gibsons would score higher on the finishing touches, but no better on the action and playability).

Frets are smaller than many modern profiles, seated well, with no file marks, loose ends, mis-shaped crowns or ends sticking out of the side of the board to lacerate fingers. The nut is cut a bit unevenly, with the B string a little lower than the others, but not enough to cause fret buzzing or be noticable when playing. I'm replacing the nut with a GraphTech one to aid the trem but the stock one sounds OK and plays OK. The nuts differed on all 12 Strats I tried, and two or three were all over the place (on US guitars as well as MIM).

This neck is one of the best I have ever played (and I don't say that lightly). You may hate it, but I love it. Fast runs up the board and position changing are really easy and I can bend a string further than on any other guitar I've owned.

The "factory" setup was OK, but the pickup heights, tremelo and intonation needed adjusting (note - Fender *do* set up instruments before despatch, but as the manual says, they regard the final setup pre-purchase as the job of the retailer, in case anything's moved out of spec. Many retailers don't bother with this, so don't blame Fender if the shop can't be bothered or don't even know how to set up a guitar). I've lowered the action a lot with no problems (changing to Fender 150 10-46 strings helped with this and the sound) and the bridge intonates well.

The trem is a right **** but so are all trems of this type. Remember, when Leo Fender invented his "Synchronised Tremelo" "light guage" strings usually meant a 12thou+ top E and a wound third. In the 1950s/60s/70s Fender trems were the best there was. They were designed to give a gentle Hank Marvin warbling effect, and they do it very well. Dive bombing till the strings go slack was unheard of. This particular trem, after extensive tweaking of the springs, will comfortably and predicatably give about a large semitone upbend (depending where you are on the neck) and a third downbend, and returns to pitch plus or minus about 5 cents most of the time and never so far out that I have to stop mid song to retune. I'm happy with that, it's all I need. Fender supply the guitar with three trem springs in the cavity.

One hint. The trem arm wobbles in its thread unless you tighten it up hard, when it ends up poking up your sleeve - neither makes it any easier to use. What it needs is a small spring in the bottom of the hole the arm screws into (like the American series has). Try one from a ballpoint pen.

Reliability? I've a 1994 Mexican Telecaster (came with a 5 way switch, TBX and a neck h/bucker) and that's still going (needed both pots and the switch replacing after about 8 years sweaty use and that's all). I've a 1974 Tele - that still works. I had a dreadful 1974 Strat, but MIM Fender now better the CBS/Fender period hands down. Fenders are simple, with very little to go wrong and easy to fix if it does (that was part of Leo Fender's design intention).

Durability? I've only seen one Fender get its head broken off (it got trapped in a luggage lift, out of it's case. Body in lift, head out of lift. Lift goes upwards, neck meets ceiling, lift doesn't stop....).

I routinely gig with this guitar. I'm paranoid about breakdowns so carry a variety of spares - and it's rare for me to only carry one guitar (I play slide as well so I need a guitar for that, if nothing else). It's always a good idea to carry spare pots, switch and jack socket if nothing else.

Dealing with Fender by email, no problems. For local support in the UK we rely on Fender's approved dealers, who vary vastly in quality. We also have to contend with the importer, but that's another story.

A bit of background. Been playing electric guitar since my 13th birthday (in 1974 in case you're wondering). Never stopped since. Been gigging around the UK for a very long time; pubs, clubs, town halls, that kind of thing. The field I work in won't make anyone rich, and is live performance orientated rather than huge CD sales, which is OK with me. I've had long-term relationships with a CMI Les Paul copy, Gibson SG, 135 and 125, a couple of Teles, a couple of Strats (one, made in 1974 in the US, that I got cheap second hand in 1982, was total crap - I had to file down paint lumps in the neck pocket plus plug and re-drill the screw holes - the original owner had hardly ever played it. And it wasn't a particularly poor quality example from that period - why guitars that many people avoided when they were new now fetch collector's prices is beyond me.

I've also been setting up and reparing electric guitars for about 20-odd years, so I've played, tweaked and examined a lot of instruments.

Amps - Marshalls (early 1970s Superleads and more modern), Fender (valve and solid state), Laney (modern valve), HH, Pignose...

If it were stolen I'd claim on the insurance and go and try a few more Strats.

Finally - lots of negative comments about MIM Strats (and other guitars) seem to come from people who bought them sight-unseen via mail order. Never EVER buy a guitar you haven't tried unless there's no alternative at all. They all vary, they are all different despite mass production (thankfully) and one persons meat etc....

And always remember - there's more bullshit talked about guitars than anything other than hi-fi and politics, and the law of diminishing returns sets in early. If a guitar is right for you that's all that matters.

Rating is based on bang per buck rather than comparison with esoteric Custom Shop stuff.

standard 21 frets, 3 not bad singlecoils, trem which i have set like it is a hardtail, very nice neck and body, mine is arctic white which looks just the best. fender tuners. tonnes of versitality. suits basically every style (well of course not death metal!!).

sounds great how ever it would of been nice to have noiseless pickups. clean through a valve amp, is at least to say, orgasmic. very versitile. can play all styles especially rock and blues. my style is funk/rock/metal and i wouldnt think twice about changing guitar to get the sound it makes. lacks a bit of beef in realy heavy amp settings but i suppose we can all get over that..

firstly went it arived i set the trem flat to the body, i feel you get more tunnibg stability and sustain like this. i then fiddled about with the nut and set the action lower and it now plays the same as a strat worth #2000 in a shop i recently tried- no joke! very nice finish. nothing really more to say. plays like a dream now.

played many gigs, never faulted me, havent snapped a string on it for nearly 2 years and still counting. used without a backup every gig iv played since ive had it.

never needed

man i like this guitar

Made in 2004 in Mexico, 5 way switch with 1 volume and 2 tone knobs, 3 single coils. Mine is an alder body with an all maple neck, the "midnight wine" paint scheme looks sweet with the all maple neck, much better than the mahogany freboard in my opinion. It has your basic strat trem system, which is a great thing even though I don't use it much. I give it a 9, it would be nice to have those noiseless pickups but a dang good sound for the money.

Excellent sound. I play all kinds of music, classic rock, alternative, hard rock, a little punk here and there, and praise band at my church every week. I always use Dean Markley Blue Steel strings on it, which give it an amazing sound, and I have used many amps with it, mostly Fender solid states and Marshall Valvestates, but I've also played it through Marshall TSL's and a Hot Rod Deluxe 4x10. On any clean channel it sounds amazing, sparkling highs and defined lows. It also does distortion great - classic rock, alternative, punk, and any light to mid distortion I can get away with at church. Of course it's at its best with a crunchy blues sound, especially on the Hot Rod, truly the best bluesy sound I've ever gotten out of any guitar. It can't exactly crank the metal and hard rock like something with humbuckers, but it does pretty well - no one will laugh at you. The 5-way switch provides a lot of variety in the sounds it can produce, it does hum just a little on a couple settings but not too bad. Great sounding guitar, especially with the right strings and amp.

It was new, so of course after about a year I had to have a set up done on it, but nothing major. The finish is great all around. The neck is awesome, I have an all maple neck and it felt worn in and comfortable from day one, and in my opinion it feels much cleaner and faster playing than a mahogany fretboard - but that's probably just a personal preference. I prefer the way this guitar plays over any expensive LP or SG, or pretty much any other guitar, it's so smooth and fast.

I've had this guitar for 2 years, I use it every Sunday at church, and play a lot during the week, and have never ever had a problem with it (except a set up, but that was just regular maintenance). No broken strings, no loose wires, nothing. The hardware is solid, and the finish will stand up to pretty much anything. The strap buttons were great but I got locking pegs because this guitar is my baby. I would definitely gig this thing without a backup, but isn't it awesome to have a bunch of guitars to play anyway?

Fender sucks. Don't get me wrong, they make awesome guitars, but you'd be best off parting with them after buying the thing. I had a Fender acoustic replaced because of a neck defect, and it took almost 4 months to get a replacement. I called them to see what was taking so long and they they seemed annoyed that I wanted to know why I hadn't received a replacement in 3 months.

I've been playing for 5 or so years, and I would say strats are the best overall guitars you can get. I use mine with a Zoom 606 effects pedal and a Rocktron Zombie Distortion pedal. The best thing about the strat is the way it plays - way smoother and more comfortable than a Gibson. I wish SG's played like a Strat, that's what holds me back about getting a SG is that they just don't feel as good. Granted, mine doesn't have all the fancy features of the American Series strats, etc, but I love it. If someone stole it, I would get another without hesitation. Here's what I want you to do: if you're stuck between buying a standard strat and any other kind of guitar, forget the other one and buy the strat. You won't regret it, there's a reason the strat is an American legend.

a 1993 model... maple neck, upgraded trem block, woodstock kinman pickups...maple neck, tortoise shell pickguard on a black body, .022 sprague orange drop caps, the old ones made outside of boston, ma...
sounds great unplugged, unbelievable plugged into an amp. don't be afraid of the polyester coating on these. warmoth seals all their critically acclaimed bodies in polyester before they get the nitrocellulose coating. these guitars are great, if you plan to upgrade them.

can you say wow? i prefer it to my american strat.

when buying a mim strat, shop around. they let the so-so ones and not so so-so ones through the filter and that has always been an issue. i got lucky, but i doubt if someone would have upgraded it, if it were a lemon.

i gig with this with a vengeance. no problems, always have backup, but i don't worry about it too much.

smoking, quiet little strat with all the tone and output you would need and none of the issues associated with a strat. i would never buy one new, and i waited until i found a good one that had been upgraded, deluxe. shop around, though. there are some lemons and issues with the neck and frets on some mim strats.

Mexican made Fender Stratocaster. Im assuming this is the standard version. Made in 1996, 5 way switch, volume, 2x tone... the whole shabang. Fender 'f' style tuners. Pretty much your average Fender Stratocaster. Came with gigbag.

Im using this through my marshall valvestate 8080, or my pearl solid state amp (practise). Guitar tends to get a bit noisy at some settings, but its a single coil guitar so thats pretty much what you always get. Guitar suits my style (alternative/rock). I can easily get that sweet The Cure tone with a flanger, or a Smashing Pumpkins Gish era crunch. Giving it a 8, pretty good...

Guitar was set up pretty good. I got it 2nd hand, so this aint the factory settings. Cant really find any flaws, looks solid.

Ive been using this guitar a few times during practise now, and it stays in tune very well. I`ll definately gig with it one day.

Never dealt with them.

Ive been playing for allmost a decade now. Ive owned strats, prs style guitars and les pauls. Im a stratman, i just really like their feel and sound. This mexican made fender does the trick well. At some settings it sounds a bit muddy distorted, but either you like that or you hate it. Clean sound is outstanding. Im giving this a 8, good value for the money, especially for those among us who cant afford a expensive custom shop fender (including myself).

I bought this guitar 7 years ago--it's a '98. It's the brown sunburst and rosewood neck, poplar body, vintage frets. Since owning it I put in Fender Fat 50s pickups (alnico) to replace the ceramic ones, although, truth be told, the ceramic ones sound good too, as I've been able to tell from playing a few in the shop. I also wired the bridge pickup in with the middle pup's tone control. Added a string tree and grap-tech saddles. Even stock though, this guitar has 100% strat features and can make good music if you can. Has the features you expect from a strat for the most part. Although the 2006 models have been upgraded to alder bodies, medium jumbo frets, and heavier trem block which supposedly is more stable and gives better sustain(but mine has always been stable and I have good sustain/resonance); They even include a gig bag now. They cost about $80.00 more than what I paid for mine 7 years ago, so with inflation and the upgrades, I say they're an even better deal than they used to be--I'm definitely considering buying another with a maple fret board--the only thing I'd have to change is wiring the bridge pup to a tone control and maybe adding a string tree.

I have run this through several amps over the years, both tube and solid state. JC-120, Blues Cube, Reverend Hellhound, Epiphone Valve Standard, Crate Palomino, Trace Elliott Custom Shop 4x10 Bonneville, Fender Custom Vibrolux, Hiwatt Bulldog 40 etc,etc..Really sounds great with all of them. I run the guitar through the following FX--Dunlop 535Q wah, Arion Tubulator OD (GREAT), Marshall Guvnor 2, Dano EQ, Dunlop Jr. volume pedal out to Boss EQ, Voodoo Labs Trem, Arion Delay (Great) Boss CE-5 Chorus. Works great with all of these too.
When I picked up this guitar I chose the one that had the best sound and feel unplugged--that's what I always do, electronics can always be changed later-this was the best of about 8 or so standards I tried around town and even beat out some of the much more expensive American Deluxes in this regard. Anyway, the Fat 50s pups strike a nice balance between brilliant,'glassy'and warm. It takes overdrive and distortion well and since I've wired the bridge pup to the tone control, I can use all the selections and cover a Huge range of sounds, which I need to do since I primarily play every weekend in a praise and worship band which covers every style from easy listening to border-line 'pop' metal--if you have the right pedals you can do it. On my own time, I play blues and rock primarily. Stock, I'll give it an 8, but with mods, a 10.

I can't remember how it was from the factory, other than I knew it felt and sounded the best of what I had played unplugged. I had it set up with 10s right away and since then, I,ve learned to do setups myself primarily on this guitar. I can get it right where I want it--neck almost flat, comfortable action, good resonance with no string buzz with the bridge floating just right for my tastes (I like to do Chris Isaak's guitarist type trem work--mostly for vibrato, although I have done some dive bomb heavy metal type wanking and it springs right back in tune). I like the tuners--their tension is adjustable, they're enclosed--they stay in tune quite well.

Well, the vintage frets are nickle and so have developed some pretty good grooving over the first 7 or 8 frets, but I don't have intonation or buzz problems yet nor dead spots, so I'm not complaining. This thing has been knocked over several times--on its back, on its face and, until this last time, never needed anything more than a retuning and a little bit of a spring adjustment in the bridge. Well the last time, I knocked the bloody thing out of my guitar stand face first and the guitar hit the stage toward the headstock end. In fact, I think it hit hardest at the nut. Anyway it ended up that the neck and headstock were fine (which probably wouldn't have been the case with my Gibson) but the a, d, and g strings were out of tune with the rest of the guitar exactly by a half step--almost like the first fret was a zero fret for those strings. My guitar tech changed the plastic nut to a bone one and that fixed it. He figured that the plastic may have been compressed or something during the fall, changing its radius. Anyway, everything else has lasted and she still plays and functions a.o.k. NEVER gig without a backup, especially with a floating bridge strat--you break a string and the whole tuning goes wacked.

I also have a Les Paul Classic with Duncan Antiquities which I love and really is a better quality guitar--but it cost $1250.00 too. I also own a Big Baby Taylor Acoustic. The main thing I like about the strat is that it is a solid performing workhorse which you don't have to baby (but you really shouldn't knock it off its stand either). It covers a lot of sonic territory--you can play almost any genre on this and use it with almost any amp--it'll still sound good. Even though I love her, my Les Paul is more finicky with what you hook it up to--I think it must be the difference btw (good) single coils and humbuckers.
Heck, for the price they're asking now with all the upgrades, I rate this guitar a solid ten--A fantastic value.

if people tell you that you can't replace the pickups, they are dead wrong. this is just a bad urban myth. the pickups are the same shape and size as any pickup you would replace them with. this guitar was completely rebuilt by me. this frankenstein rebuild included new pickups (gfs I28, premium overwound alinco's), new volume and tone potentiometers, new sprague orange drop capacitor, brand new wiring and a new switch. buy one of these and hotrod it, and you can laugh at people who pay over $1000 for the same tone and less output.

stock sounded okay, but i wanted the warmth of real alnico pickups and the high output needed to drive the amp and pedals i prefer to use. stock, the mim's pickups rate about 6.0k-6.5k output. this is a little hotter than the american standard, but not what i need for my style. now, i am running 9.0, 9.2 & 9.4k neck, mid and bridge. i have to dial it down to 5 to stop overdriving my amp. perfect for myself.

when i bought this guitar, it had been spending the last 10 years in a gigbag in some closet. i am lefthanded and the guitar isn't. so, i had to completely set it up and it now works beautifully. there was a big ding on the side of the guitar that i covered with black nail polish.

come on, this is a real strat with real fender parts. it isn't an SX, or some other cheaply made, horrible sounding guitar.

warranty? it was in a closet for ten years and it's used.

i bought this guitar super cheap ($75.00) by running an ad on craigslist and running into someone who offered it to me at this price. of course, i jumped on it when i got the offer. i would have been an @sshole, if i offered $75, but i am not an idiot. i don't know this would happen every day, but it is worth a try. for about $150, i bought what was a very good starter guitar and turned it into a great guitar. again, the pickups in the mim fender strats are the same size and shape as any other fender strat pickup and it is just an urban myth that fender routes the bodies so you can't upgrade them. these are great guitars. buy one and you won't be sorry.

1999 Mexican Standard Strat, 21 frets, maple neck/fretboard.

I play mainly blues, and I must say that this guitar can hack it. I don't know what it is, but my guitar sounds exceptional on almost every amp. The bridge pickup is a little too twangy for me though.

The action is great, the pickups needed to be raised a wee bit, and as far as I could tell there were no superficial flaws. Outside of that, everything works great.

One of the saddles on the bridge looks like its about to fall off, but besides that, it's an amazingly solid guitar. I can't remember how many times I've dropped it, and so far I have one slight ding.

Never needed customer support.

I'd still go with an American Strat. On the flip side, my guitar plays as well as any American Strat, and it costs about $500 less. I have played other Mexican Strats that have been subpar, and I do believe that I just happened to get a really good one. I do not intend on buying another electric guitar for a while. I've bought two more acoustics and a resonator, and still haven't had or wanted to replace my strat.

-95' MIM fat strat special
-21 frets
-Volume knob, Tone knob, and a humbucker switch in the position of the normal second tone knob.
-H/S/S
-Maple neck, Alder body
-Black body, black pickguard with white lining.
-Gorgeous (Her name is Black Beauty)

I can get the signature fender stratocaster blues twang, and the fat gibson distortion in the same guitar. The strat special implies that instead of a second tone knob, I have a humbucker switch which changes the bridge humbucker to either a single coil or to be used as a humbucker pickup. I use a Marshall Valvestate amp to mimic more expensive tube amps, but with three channels, I can get gnarly distortion as well. I also use a boss gt-6 multi-effects pedal to get signature amp sounds and loads of effect combos.

The standard strat pick-ups sound perfect, although was thinking about trying some texas specials for the neck and middle positions to get a more vintage blues sound. The standard humbucker in the bridge position isn't quite hot enough for metal, but sounds just fine for rock...it is a strat.

Dropped it a few times chipping off some of the black finish, but she maintained her sound and playability. Built Fender tough.

The Fender is super versatile, and not to mention it's damn good looking. One can't go wrong. Save yourself $400 and get a mexi-strat...then if you like, use the money you saved to get upgrades (pickups, harware, etc.) I just wish mine had some vintage gold hardware to accent the black body.

My Stratocaster was made in mexico.2000, it has the usual number of frets and a normal amount on controls.The colour was white but has gone cream due to its age. It has a really nice maple Neck/Fretboard.

This guitar sounds absolutly amazing. I have played a Gibson Les Paul SG Standard, and the Strat (in my opinion) sounds sooo much better. This guitar sound so good and would suit most types of music.

Its Great??

This guitar seems sturdy when playing so i guess its very reliable.

Such an amazing guitar, you should buy it if you are looking for a fantastic sounding guitar without the use of any effects. Brilliant and much better value for sound than an SG.

My strat is a 2003 model made in Mexico. It has 20 frets. A solid top. there are two tone knobs and one volume just like any other strat with a 5 - way switch. I have a three single coil pickups. They are speed bullet pickups. I have a standard strat bridge with Graph Tech String Saver saddles.

It suits the blues and rock that i play. I am more of a heavy metal but i sometimes play a little blues. I use a danelectro compressor, fab tone, and chorus with a dunlop wah. There is a little noise but not enoght to really recognize. Amazing tone like no other. I can use many distorted sound and recieve plenty of feedback. I like the the whole body style.

In my opinion the factory setup this guitar very poorly. I had to raise the pickups at least a quarter of an inch. The bridge was fine but i dont like how the saddles are 1mm to small. The guitar was fine with everything else.

This strat can withstand any type of playing. I put my own cutom touch to it so it will last. The finish seems to be staying. I am going to buy strap locks because the buttons i have now allow the strap to slip off and i dont like that. This guitar is durable and i like it. I always bring a backup on a gig but i would trust to take just that one.

The company has been very nice and thay arent looking to rip me off like the other companies were. I have never tried to get it repaired. I have a lifetime warranty on my strat.

I have been playing for 6 years and i am 16. I own an Ibanez GAX 70, and an Alvarez acoustic. For pedals, i own a danelectro chorus, fab tone and compressor, and i also have a dunlop wah pedal. I own two amps. A KMD and a 50 watt Gorilla. I also own a 25 foot fender cable with little fender pedal cables and a couple radioshack 15 foot cables. I would prolly go into a little mental state of my own if i ever lost it or had my strat stolen. I love how it makes a sound like no other guitar. But i hate the weight. But i guess in all heavy guitars you will find the weight. I like the body style. I wish i had marshall stack amps and i wish i had an american made strat.

2002 model, made in Mexico. 21 frets, the body is alder or poplar..something like that. 2 tone and 1 volume knob. O.K. tuners, brindge, pick-ups, etc.

This was my first electric guitar and when I first got it I thought "Oh, what a great guitar!" But the longer that I had it the more and more dissatisfied I was with it. It was too "middle of the road". Not exceptional in any way....BUT that is the great thing about these little guys. You can add so much to them you can make them what you want. I bought a set of the Texas Special Pick-ups. Huge sound difference. Put on new tuners and saddles were upgraded. The next thing that I know, other than the body and neck (which were fine to begin with), I am playing a completely different guitar than I had in the first place. Make no mistake about it...this is an entry level guitar, and it is suited perfectly for that. Because it isn't great sonically it forces you to dick around with the tone and volume knobs and experiment with your amp and playing technique with your fretting hand. You damn sure can't rely on this thing to play itself for you and sound good. I recently purchased a Gibson '61 Reissue SG and after playing this Strat for awhile it makes you sound a lot better than you really are. But as good as that SG is I will continue to play my Strat because it is a good guitar. Between the pickups and other mods that were made to the guitar it is pretty much an old style Texas Special Strat. Don't think that this is a bad guitar because it's not. I would never get rid of this thing. Sounds great with only about $250 invested in it after the original purchase price. And the sound that $250 got me actually sounded more like $1000.

everything was what you would expect. I wasn't jumping up and down happy with the setup but I wasn't kicking myself either. Easy playing guitar. The finish on these things is tough as a damn billy goat. Unfortunatly that comes at a price and that is a somewhat "plastic" appearance which from about day 3 of having that guitar always kinda bugged me. Neck is pretty snug in the body cavity. You can't fold a piece of paper in half and get it to slide between the neck and body. Like I said "pretty snug". And another thing that I have noticed that just irks the piss out of me is that the maple headstocks on about 3/4 of these guitars looks like they have been bleached. AGHH! I think from spending so much time playing in smoke filled garages and rooms mine has actually tinted itself and looks almost like it has been stained. But just notice that if your buying one. It's purely cosmetic but to me it just screams "I am one step above a Squier!". And if any of you actually buy a Squier then you get what you deserve. Just spend the extra money.

aside from the input jack wearing out from being played so much there has been no problems at all with this thing. I have played it in temperatures from 10 degrees in Idaho (yes garage playing sucks in the Northwest during the winter) where it was so cold you couldn't even tell if you were touching the fretboard to 110 in Texas where it was so hot you were sweating so much that you couldn't brace your hand on the guitar because of slippage and havent had the least bit of next tweak or fretboard twist at all.

never had to deal with them. I have heard good and bad from friends.

Like I said before I am so glad that I got this guitar because I have grown to learn how to "shape" my tone because of the capability that this guitar offers. Without it I would just be another one of those guys that NEEDS a $1500 guitar to sound good. And let me tell you from a guy who has a high end guitar, I would put my little Strat up against a helluva lot of guys who think they are the $%^& becuase they bought "a name". If you learn to play and understand what makes things sound like what they sound like you'll be okay. And I feel that this guitar is great for developing that. Don't think that buying a $400 dollar Standard Strat means that you can't sound good. Simply not true. It may not be as easy to find a tone that suits you but if you keep playing around with the tone knobs and your amp, you;ll find what you're looking for. THEN you go buy a high end guitar and watch people say "Damn, that guy can strait play his ass off!" And another thing,...and I think that every musician does this......don't read all these reviews and base your decision on what other people said. You don't know if the guy's review your reading even knows what he is talking about. He could suck or not know what good tone is and here you are reading everything that he has to say and basing a decision on an idiots opinion. Anyways, if this thing were stolen I would probably get another but it wouldn't be the same. This one kinda has senitimental value in that I learned so much with it. I matured musically with this thing. When my son starts playing he will, like it or not, have a Standard Strat as his first electric guitar. That's how much I recommend this thing.

Brand new updated Fender Stratocaster MIM. Undated with noiseless pick ups (actually are quiet) and jumbo frets. Chrome red with maple finderboard. Typical Stratocaster.

Surprise. The PU's sound very good in all positions. Sounds like a strat. Quiet as well. IN fact the PU's are quite nice. Good clean side and with some distortion you can get that blues sound with out going overboard.

The guitar needed to be set up. I had the tremelo blocked off and the action reset and it was good to go. The finish and construction had no flaws at all. I looked it over with a microscope and just could not find anything wrong.

Too soon to say but I bought a MIM Telecaster last year and I've had no trouble with that. Solid guitar.

none with fender. However the store where I do business with takes very good care of their customers....

Excellent guitar. They're not all the same. Try a bunch before you buy. A good one is worth it's weight in (whatever it is you value).

2005 model, purchased new, made in Mexico, 21 frets, typical strat equipment, etc ...

The thing actually sounds okay (typical generic strat sound) but I'll probably get one of those pre-wired pick guard assemblies with Lace Sensors in it eventually. I bought this guiatr because I didn't want to bastardize one of my Les Pauls with a Roland GK-3 pickup. These pickups mount very well on strats and the strat being a servicable instrument makes using a guitar synth practical. A lot of folks use the crappiest guiatr they can find for synth, I dunno why.

I bought this guitar new from an excellent shop in Manhattan. Of course, like a lot of new guitars it needed a setup. The owner wouldn't let the guitar out the door without a killer setup, and he mounted the GK-3 pickup on it for me and did a killer job of it. The finish is fine (typical sunburst like on a zillion other strats). I lowered the middle pickup all the way down as far as it would go cuz it gets in my way otherwise.

I haven't had this guiatr long enough to know how rugged it is.

I have been playing for nearly 30 years. I own 2 Les Pauls, an ES-335, a Lucille, several amps, and a Vox ToneLab. If the thing was lost ro stolen, I'd probably replace it with a Roland-Ready strat.

Just a plain and simple standard stratocaster the way it's meant to be with all the features you'd expect from a strat, nothing more, nothing less: 21 frets, alder body, 3 single coils, maple neck & fretboard, vintage frets, 1x volume 2x tone, midnight wine finish

made in mexico/2005

This strat suits almost every style of music except metal, gothic etc. of course ;-) it delivers a nice vintage sound (bright with bite, screaming as a strat should be in the bridge position, sweet and warm in the neck position) , played trough a fender tweed amp it compares even with much higher priced guitars;
as i realised this guitar reacts in a very dynamic and intense way to the style it's played! i like the sound very much and it fits my needs (playing hendrix, vines, the strokes, franz ferdinand, chili peppers) perfectly.

A hint from my experience: i tried every standard strat in the shop and some classic models too and i must say that there was a big difference between all the standard strats, generally they all sounded alright (i'd give them a 7-8), some (especially the ones with darker colors such as black and midnight wine) had an outstanding sound. I ended up deciding between a black and a midnight wine colored (both seemed fantastic to me), i even compared them to some classic models because i thought that the ones with alnico v magnet must sound better but those standard ones i picked (featuring ceramic magnets) made the game with ease!

So if you plan on buying a standard strat compare them carefully to find the best quality choice!!!

the guitar was set up in a good way but i changed the string gauge from 0.09 to 0.10-0.46 and lowerd the strings and also the tremolo bridge to suit my needs.

A hint from a guy from the local fender company: heavier string gauges increase the sound of the stratocaster dramatically. the higher tension makes the strat work even better. i tried this on my standard strat and must say: this is DEFINITELY right!!!!!

the standard strat is definitely built to last! the quality is just fine!

didn't need some

I'm playing for more than 20 years and i've had quite a few guitars (lots of ibanez rg series, john petrucci model during my hard rock days) and compared to my older strat and those ibanez i was quite surprised by its quality so i'll give it a very good 9!

Unsure of the year, but Mexican made....for those who didn't know, Mexican has an MN in the front of the serial number. 21 Frets, mine is a cream white, 5 pickup selector. I replaced the pickups in it with Seymour Dunxan Antiquities, beautful sounding guitar now. Stock pickups were fine, but the Seymour Texas Hots are the stuff, particularly if you are into the Henry Garza/SRV/Eric Johnson sound, but hey pickups are another review. I never had the tuning issues, but since I am not one to do a lot of pitch bending with the Tremolo bar, adjusted it to be flush with the body. Never had a tuning problem, and if the nut is imperfect as another reviewer has stated, I've not noticed and am not noticing it now. A workhorse strat, if you want a collectible, but something else. I did have a problem with the bridge wearing down (by that point, and I bought this used, I had already been gigging steady with it two years) to the point where burrs where breaking strings on me left and right , That was the only problem I've had with it.

Using it with a Hot Rod Deluxe amp. Nice combo. WIth the texas hots I'd give it at least a 9. As stock, an 8, but my frame of reference for being a ten would be an all stock '57.

Excellent, lowered the bridge this being my preference.

Does great live. The bridge still moves slighty when breaking a string, making changing a string with the tremolo a pain in the neck. Have had this issue with every guitar I've owned with a floating tremolo. Again getting it as slat as possible against the body seems t have solved that problem, mostly but not completely.

Never called them.

Been playing about thirty years. Have owned American Made strats in the past, if there is a difference it is minute. I have heard the pickups are different ten what they put in the American Strats. I have also heard that they bore some of the Mexicans out differently so you can't upgrade the pickups, and that this was intentionally done to make the American more appealing. However, I upgraded my pickups without having to have it rebored. The Lowdown - the only problem I have had was with the string breakge that I had mentioned, the tremolo issue when breakig a string (although as I said, I have the same proble with all tremolos), and if you want to get picky, the SD Antiquiies sound so much better then the stock, although played those out plenty - up until the last year. In My opinion, given the price you can get for these, the ABOSLUTE most bang for the buck workhorse guitar out there. Love it still after 5 years of owning it (and did I say I bought it used?).

2000, made in Mexico Standard Strat, blue agave with a maple fretboard. Nothing fancy. Haven't changed a thing. No complaints.

Sounds like a strat. I play classic rock and blues from the late 60's through mid 70's. Good for that kinda music. Not a metal guitar, so metal heads should look elsewhere but I don't do metal, so don't have a problem with that. Run it through a Hartke G60 Piggyback rig, Marshall MG30DFX and Marshall MG10CD. Standard strat tones from twang to blues/jazz depending on which position your pickups selector is in. Not bad on the noise. I love the guitar.

No flaws. I just set it up to my preference.

People play live with strats night after night. No problems. Dependable. Never gig without a backup.

Been playing for 40 of my 45 years. Also have a MIM Tele, made in Korea Epiphone Les Paul and SAGA Strat, Tele and HT-10 kits that I have assembled. I use Martin and Takamine electrics. This is a great guitar for the bucks.

2005 model I believe, just got it a few weeks ago. Standard features, 21 fret, 5-way selector, all single coil. Stock pickups, electronics, bought new off showroom floor. Gloss black alder body, maple neck, vintage bridge with tremolo, same tuners as USA strat. No case included. Would have considered a 10 with a case. It's getting harder all the time to get a case with your guitar!

I play Blues and Rock, attempt Jazz (right!) Just play what sounds good to my ears, and this guitar will get you there. It simply amazes me how good this guitar sounds. At the store I plugged into a Fender Deluxe Reverb in order to get the best possible clean tone. Right away I could tell the strength of this guitar. It just blew me away. The sales guy told me that sometimes they will give the pickups a couple of extra turns of wire. They must have done something, because I played an American strat right next to it, and there was no comparison. The Standard MIM Strat was much more powerful, almost the same difference as a humbucker, I'm not kidding! I switched back and forth between the guitars, tried another MIM strat that was not nearly as good as this one. What else impresses me now, after putting it through the paces, is for the first time, I can get usable tones from ALL of the 5 pickup selections. They all sound noticeably different, and can come in handy for a wide variety of musical styles, Rock, Blues, Funk, Jazz...it's all there. Also the trem bridge is a blast to use, and I've owned several USA Strats in the past that were never this much fun. Outstanding value.

Actually, I haven't even changed the strings yet. It came with bullets on it, and they sound so good, I'm going to leave them on for awhile longer. The nut looks just as good as the American strat. Everything looks solid. All knobs, switch, look the same as USA strat. The trem bridge is the vintage type, but I think it works easier than the modern version! It really is fun to use. I used to make all my strats hard-tail, but I'm definitely going to leave this AS IS.

I think it will definitely withstand live playing, if I ever get the chance. I play mainly at home or with friends and family. This is an instrument to be proud of. I really like that it resembles Clapton's "Blackie". I could definitely depend on it. I have two other guitars, so I have back-up. All hardware seems solid and dependable.

Haven't had to deal with them yet.

I've been playing for over 30 years, and have owned several USA strats, Teles, Gibson Les Pauls, a few imports, Fender and Marshall amps. All pro stuff, so I recognize quality when I see it. I used to not want a Standard MIM Strat, but I've evidently found a great one. I can't speak for them all, but do yourself a favor, and check one out, you never know what you might find. Anyhow, I love everything about this guitar...the sound, looks, price..you really can't beat it. Yes, I WOULD DEFINITELY BUY ANOTHER ONE. I play mostly as a hobbyist, but this could be used professionally. Give one a try, GREAT BUY!

This guitar is made totally from scavenged fender telecaster parts. The body is a USA Traditional Telecaster Body. It has 21 frets, it's a solid top, it has one volume and one tone knob and a 3 way selector switch. It has two stacked humbucker, Fender Vintage Noiseless Pickups which are passive. Body is made of ash, neck is maple. The finish on this guitar is my first attempt at painting a guitar. It didn't turn out too good. I thought it had character though, so I kept it that way and renamed it an "uglycaster". It's a single cutaway, has a top loader bridge and I put a Les Paul Stop Tailpiece on it. It has Fender Schaller Locking Tuners, neck is C shaped, medium frets, maple fretboard. Accessories? You gotta be shittin right? I ordered the pickups and got everything else from parts and yard sales. I do have a gig bag for it. Now look, I ain't gonna brag on myself, so I'm just gonna rate this as a 6. I mean what the fuck features does a telecaster have anyway?

This guitar sounds fuckin awesome. With the Fender Vintage Noiseless Pickups, which are stacked humbuckers, you can go from twangy country to pure heavy metal. I play blues, blues rock, classic rock, country, grunge rock, hard rock and metal. Whatever I'm in the mood for and I put this together hoping to be able to satisfy any mood I'm in with a single guitar. I'm running this through a Marshall DSL 401 and a Fender Super Reverb. I am not an effect man, just use a footswitch to change channels and an Ibanez Tube Screamer. Nice, beefy bright twang on the bridge, not thin like a regular tele and nice bluesy and jazzy sound on the neck. Output is excellent and the thing is quiet as a churchmouse. Very versatile for a tele and if I must say so myself, the finish might look like shit, but this guitar rocks.

Can't really give a rating here. As far as setup, since this guitar was so hybrid, it took a while to get it right on the intonation, neck, pickup height and action. Once I got it in the groove it's great. Flaws? Shit man, this was pieces of guitars. It was nothing but a flaw. I collected this cuz I wanted to make my own guitar. I have about $200 total in this thing.

The guitar withstands live playing everynite. Hardware is first class, you should see this fuckin thing. It was an ugly dinged and scratched up white when I got it. I set out to make it look great. Sanded it down, took all the old paint off, and decided to paint it "mahagony". Well, I fucked up and the paint dripped everywhere. It has streaks all over it. I stuck a white pickguard on it after I put the electics in and was gonna tear it apart and start all over and my wife says "Hon, I think it has character". Well shit, after looking at it, I realized, as always she was right. Hell, I decided to go for the gusto. I taped up the pickups, bridge and hardware and got me a bunch of different color paint and a brush and started splatterin paint like a mo fo. Then, I put about 10 coats of clear varnish over all that after it dried, so that it would be smooth. Now, it has all those streaks and differnt colored paints under the varnish and it does indeed have character. It became the "uglycaster". I liked my work so much, I went out and found a bunch of strat parts and call it the shitocaster. It is a rockin mo fo too. Strap buttons have strap locks and I depend on this guitar more than any other guitar I have owned. I always take two guitars to gig with.

N/A

Been playin 40 years. Gotta lot of shit. Hey dudes, build your own guitar. Then it will truly be yours. Nothing makes people chins drop like seeing you walk on stage with a guitar that looks like a dawg with the mange to find out that the guitar is one rockin ass kickin axe.

Strat Mexico 2001.
Everything great,but i wish there was a case for it.

I play everything from blues and jazz to heavy metal.
And its great, i sounds good in every style. After i changeg my bridge pickup ( to SD hot rails) it sounds just great.

Everything is fine!

Everything is good, but im not sure about the strap buttons..

Im playing over 5 years, and this guitar is just made for me. If i' had a chance to buy it again i wont be thinking,but just BUY it . It is really a greta guitar.

Mine is a 2003 (Standard?) Mexican Special Edition Strat. As far as I know, the only difference between it and the standard Mexicans is that it has a BEAUTIFUL flame maple top in tobacco/honey/cherry/etc sunburst. 21 Medium-jumbo Frets, standard controls, Maple neck and fretboard, I assume an alder body. Standard bridge. Mine came with aftermarket Schaller tuners. These features work for me and have been working for people for 50 years so I give it a 8. Personally I could go for one tone knob, and a better bridge.

I play mostly rock/blues/metal/funk/reggaer and some other stuff. I use it with a great Mid-90's Peavey Classic Chorus 212 (see review). The electronics are pretty quiet, but there tends to be a bit of ground noise when I'm not touching the metal parts of the guitar. The sound is pretty bright. Personally I like this but could go for some more low end. The lower strings have a tiny bit more volume than the upper ones. The pickup selector has pretty versitile sounds in my opinion. I like the neck pickup alone because of the slight lack of lows but the bridge pickup has a good crunchy metal tone and the middle pickup has some nice twang in it.

I bought it used so I'm not sure how the factory set up was. I lowered the strings and straightened the neck out a bit and I love the action now. The afformentioned disparity between string volume could have been a result of a tilted pickup; I did some adjustment and don't really notice it anymore but that could have been just because I got used to it. The bridge is a little weak. I'm not sure how the tremelo is because mine didn't come with a bar. If the string saddles were a bit deeper and tighter I think the sustain would be improved and when the guitar is tuned down some of the strings buzz a tiny bit at the bridge. The nut could also have been carved a little better - the low E is pretty close to the edge of the fretboard and slips over it a little too easily. This is a result of who carved the nut though, not the design of the guitar. I give this guitar an 7 because it's absolutely gorgeous. the flame maple top is not bookmatched but it's beautiful as is the burst. Like many other fenders I've played, the neck finish is too weak and easily chips at the ends of the frets. Mine came with a repaired chip in the headstock finish as well.

I've had the guitar for about two months now. I'm not sure how long it will last but it is a fender and I think it will be alright. The biggest problem in terms of its durability is the neck finish chipping but in my experience this hasn't really mattered as time goes on with older Fender guitars. All the hardware seems pretty durable and tight. I would use it in a gig without a backup if I wasn't afraid of strings breaking.

Never dealt with them.

I've been playing guitar for about 3 years and bass for more than 5. As I understand it, these standard mexican fenders are sort of hit-or-miss. I would say I got a pretty good one. I like it alot. I would probably look at other strats if mine were stolen but I don't know if I'd buy a mexican. It sounds great and compares nicely for what is is with my friends American Deluxe. I wish it had a better nut (again this is just a result of who made it) and a little more low end, but overall it's a nice guitar and I think I'll hold on to it for a while. Great for a more inexperienced player or one (like me- a bass player) who doesn't need a top of the line instrument.