Fender Standard Stratocaster

1994-95 Mexi Strat. 3 single pickups. 5-way selector switch. Blah blah blah.

I play Bluesy chunks, funky cleans, and punk rock dirtys. Other than a tuner and wah, I use NO FX. Actually, I use a delay and phaser now and then when I want to get a wierd, saturated "progressive" sound aka R-Head or P-Floyd. I use a Rivera KHR half stack. I replaced the bridge pickup with a lil 59 and it sounds great. Maybe I got lucky, but this guitar has been my favorite guitar for ten years. I recently purchased an American Fat Strat Texas Special, and I have been trading pickups so that it sounds more like my Mexi (just the humbucker, the singles are perfect on the Tex). I love this guitar. It sounds very spongy and warm. Like my wife, it is tough as hell and responds well to abuse.

Anyone who buys a new guitar and doesn't have to screw with it until it is absolutely perfect is a goddamn tool. It was set up very neutral like a good guitar should be. The action, tuning, and everything else was good-not great, but good. It had no flaws, and looked beautiful from day 1.

A Tank. Not one of those nazi-loving french tanks (does France have tanks?). This is 100 percent USA...and Mexico. It's tough. The hardware might need some replacement soon, but it has never failed me. Bar fights, beer showers, car wrecks. It still lives.

I am pro-warranty. I am not some anti-warranty hippie. Some call me a warranty-monger.

Muslim activists want all of us dead. Arm yourself.

my strat was made in 1999, and i have owned it since christmas of that year... it was my first guitar. It has all the basic stratocaster features. I have the midnight blue finish with rosewood fretboard... all my friends think it looks purple, but it's just a dark shade of blue, it looks real nice. I switched the tuners for the ones off my american strat, no real reason... i just thought that maybe they would be better, but it didn't improve anything.

this axe has got a great bright sound. It is not too noisy for a guitar with single coil pickups. When i started playing i only played punk, and it didn't really fit that sound too well... the single coils just didn't get a heavy enough sound... but now i play alot of different kinds of music, this guitar can handle just about anything i throw at it, blues, jazz, great sound for playing lead solos.

This is where this guitar really shines in my oppinion. When i first got this guitar, i was really stupid and i didn't appreciate it for all it's true value and great sound. When i went through my nirvana phase i threw it around alot... it took many slams to the neck, the any the body, it hit the side of my bed really hard one time and only had a minor ding in the body, and the neck has absolutely no dents or dings, and is still straight as an arrow!!! I also covered this guitar with stickers, i am now in the process of removing them, and after some goo gone to remove the sticker residue and a good polishing, it looks as good as it was new. The only problem with the finish that i have is that right above the pickguard, the shininess has faded cause i rest my hand there and i never polished it... but i think it looks kind of cool and "worn in". The action was great on this guitar right from the box. since this was my first guitar i didn't really know what i was doing, and i put heavier strings on it than the nut was cut for, so now the nut on the low e string broke off, i am going to be replacing it this summer.

As i stated in the above, this guitar can be put through anything. This guitar has been through hell and back, and came out with hardly a scratch! The finish will definitely last as long as you take care of it and polish it. the strap buttons are pretty good... but if your gonna be playing live i would look into some dunlop straplocks to secure it, i would recommend this with any guitar however. I would definitely use it without a backup, and i think this guitar wil be with my until the day i die.

i have never dealt with them, I have owned many fender guitars and have never once had to contact them, they make really solid instruments, but if i did have to call them for whatever reason, i'm sure they would be able and willing to help me.

I have been playing guitar for about 4 and a half years now, and i currently own this guitar, an american standard strat which i put a seymour duncan distortion humbucker in, a tom delonge stratocaster, a Gibson SG standard, and a WD music telecaster (also an awesome company that i would recommend!), alvarez acoustic, and ernie ball musicman stingray bass. this guitar is everything i wanted it to be. It looks great, sounds great, plays great, and is reliable as hell. If it were stolen or lost, i probably would not buy another one, because no other guitar will be able to replace the sentimental value of this axe! and i also own so many other guitars now, that i wouldn't really need to buy another one. If it were stolen however, i would hunt down the guy that did it, and make him wish he was never born!

MIM 2001. 3 single coils. 5 way switch.1 Vol, 2Tone. Maple Neck (21 frets) with rosewood fingerboard. Alder body finished in a kind of metallic blue.Vintage tremolo. Non locking tuners.

I play mine through a bunch of stomp boxes (VisualSound JH1, Danelectro Wah, Boss TR2, CE3, DD3), plugged into a Marshall VS100r.I instantly fell in love with the sound of the neck PU and the mixed "bridge-mid" position, but let's be frank: after 2 days, although the stock pickups are of decent quality I was fed up with the hum in position 1/3/5. I replaced these with a set of EMG Select. These cheap things cancel the hum, and provided you also change the pots (500k instead of 250k), you can retain some of the brightness the Strat is famous for. Their output is quite low (but so was the stock pickup's) and they're less twangy than say a set of Custom'54, but for the price the Select deliver a decent sound. I recently joined a cover band (70's, 80's,90's rock classics) this guitar really proved versatile. If your thing is High Gain metal, consider a PU change (Hot Rails, or "real" humbuckers since the body is routed for larger pickups)...or another guitar.

Set up quite ok. Although the frets would benefit a professional set up. The neck pickup was misaligned (or is it the bridge or the neck?): B and E strings did not run above the pickup's poles, resulting in an unbalanced string to string response. Once again, the EMG Select sorted this out thanks to their dual blade design. Nearly any guitar with a tremolo in this price range will have problems with tuning stability. A few tweaks will help you sort this out:
1.sand the nut slots with 800grit sandpaper and add a touch of vaseline.
2.tighten the tremolo springs (or add 2 springs) so the unit rests flat on the body.
Unless you're a dive bombing freak, this will greatly improve tuning stability (it did on mine)

This guitar looks and feels reliable.Spare parts for Stratocasters are available from quite a lot of suppliers, so (basic)repair should not be a problem.If you're a soldering iron freak, don't forget to visit websites like http://www.guitarnuts.com, and discover that this guitar seems to have been designed for customising purposes as much as for playing.

MIM Standard Stratocaster 2002

The basics; maple neck, maple fingerbord, non-lockin ping tuners, bone knut, one butterfly string retainer, 21 vintage-style (small) frets, 3 single coil pick-ups with the bridge pickup at an angle, 3 ply pickguard, 5 way switch, S/S/H routing, one master volume knob, tone knob for Neck pickup, tone knob for middle pickup, vintage style saddle and bridge, arctic white in color (a cremy off-white).

Absolutly stunning color and fingerbord combination!

The stock pickups have been bashed as being bad in the worst sense. It's not bad, it's just different. I can get a bright, clean sound to a growl. Although it's not bell-like, it does have it's uses. It's one of the hottest single coil pickups i have ever heard. I have no problem emulating the sound of a Gibson with this. It has a "modern" sound, but it's perfectly capable of doing a vintage sound.

It is extreamly versitile in it's abilites. I've found that i can do anything from Blues, to country, to rock, to death metal, after playing around with the tone and volume knobs on both the amp, guitar and whatever pedal i may be using. I personally love the sound i get for blues and blues rock. It has a nice hot sound that gets me closer to a Albert King like tone.

in the neck position, it gets a hot sound that's perfect for a driving rythm part or blues. I use the neck pickup the most, using it to solo as well as play rythm. middle/neck combo is made for the blues with tones of "quack". It is the closest to a humbuckler in sound, i use this second most. the middle pickup is usable, but i find no real use for it. The middle/bridge combo has a very nice sound (has the "quack"). i use this for jazz or acustic-like things. I also find myself playing rythm here the most. the bridge is the brightest sounding position, perfect for a solo that cuts through the rest of a band.

Me, i play alot of blues, blues-rock, and jazz.

Ah, the most difficult part for me to judge...

OK, the set-up of the guitar was atrocious and the stock strings were rubberbands at .09s. For about 30 bucks, i got a setup and switched the strings to .10s. The best thing about a Strat is that everything can be changed.

craftmanship wise, this is one of the best i have ever seen, regardless of price. The neck pocket is tight. I had to tug at the neck to get it to come out of the neck socket once i unsrewed the screws. no wiring problems to mention or flaws in finish (when first bought).

In one word, my strat is a Tank. Heavy tremelo use (doing my best Hendrix impression) dosent mess up the tuning. I lubericate the contact points of the string with graphite. No matter howmany thimes, it dropped, dented, scratched, the internal electronics are fine. Most of the time i gig only with this guitar. Ultra versitile, ultra sturdy, and very reliable.

The Standard Stratocaster has been faulted for being crappy insturments, but this is due to the bad quality control (like the 7CBS stratocasters). Once in a while, you find a diamond in a rough. I found that diamond. I've been playing two years. Im in a band that gigs about twice a month and i found the strat to be perfect for my needs and my style.

94 Mexican Strat. 21 Frets, rosewood fingerboard. Pick-ups were replaced which has drastically improved this guitar.

I play blues, funk, rock, and occasionally some country and jazz. This guitar is a great lead guitar once you get rid of the shit pickups. I put in Seymour Duncan JB Jr. humbuckers on the bridge/neck and a Duncan Quarter Pounder single coil in the middle and wow did this change the characteristic of the guitar. Instead of having a thin, overly trebly sound, I now have a strat sound that is like a more modern, slightly more humbucker-like sounding SRV tone. I seriously suggest also putting on pretty heavy strings to give a strat more balls. Either way, my guitar still sounds like a strat, except it has more balls than your standard one (even american strats), but more presence, clarity, and definition than a standard Gibson tone. Obviously it doesn't have as much bass as a Gibson, but it's close enough. I would give a mexican strat a 5 w/o pickup mods, and a 5 or 6, but with these pickups and thick nickel strings it deserves a 8.5. You can basically make a mexican strat sound as good, if not better than a US one, but you can still tell the feel and quality of the woods/construction is a little worse. Still I have people asking me what the hell I did with my guitar tone. Also, Don't even think about using a strat with a solid-state amp, unless you want diarrhea coming out of the speakers.

Pretty good. Had to add springs to the tremolo for heavier strings. Screw on fat E string for intonation keeps slipping so that sucks.

The wiring has some short in it when I switch pickups. The volume knob sometimes has inconsistent power at lower settings....but this guitar seems to sound better with age and can take a beating (like dropping it, dinging it, etc.)

I defintaely don't need another strat, unless I become a millionaire. This guitar is great for blues, rock, country, and even jazz because I thickened it up a bit.

Bought new in 1999. Absolutely the worst crap I have ever seen. Korean made guitars make this look like a total joke. The trem springs creak, the tuners are garbage. The pickups squeal, and the volume pot took a crap on me after owning it for a month, and even with the trem blocked it wouldn't stay in tune long enough to finish a song. I had to replace everything. Once I did, I was quite satisfied with the guitar, as the neck and body are just fine. Fender should be ashamed to call this a "standard". Standard piece of shit is closer to the truth.

I play in one of the areas Top 40 bands. Mostly clubs and weddings. 70's, 80's, and 90's. Whatever is popular on the radio. I use the strat on the 70's stuff like Doobies, Deep Purple, Credence, and Lynard Skynard. I have other guitars to cover other styles.
Once I replaced the pickups with 2 SH-1's and an SH2, I was quite pleased with the sound. The bridge was full, yet still retained some quackiness in the middle position. The neck was lovely for those "end of the world" lead tones. Probably one of the nicer sounding guitars I've owned. 5 because I had to invest $180.00 in pickups alone to make it useable.

Neck and body were great. Frets were dressed nicely. No buzzing even after I lowered the action substantially. The factory set-up sucked. The bridge was garbage, and had to be replaced with a Wilkensen tremelo. The paint job was decent, although a visible line magically appeared in the body on the back were the two halfs are joined about a year after owning it. Neck and body, 8 Every thing else 4, hence my score of 6.

Wouldn't gig with it without making SERIOUS mods first. Here's what I had to do to mine. Replaced pickups as noted above. Replaced tuners with locking Sperzels. Replaced bridge with a Wilkensen trem. Replaced all switches and pots. Added a tremesetter. For the money I spent on this I could have had an American made Strat Plus. After making the above mentioned changes it was a JOY to play, and a great sounding guitar.

Fenders support is great! I called to get some specs on setting up the neck and the support rep I got was friendly and helpful. Gave me some excellent advice. No wait on hold either!

Been playing since 1981. All styles. Owned many, many guitars in my life. I purchased this guitar knowing I was going to replace all of the hardware. I was bored at the time and wanted to build a "project" guitar based on a strat body and neck. With that said, I feel sorry for those who purchase one thinking it's going to be a playable axe out of the box.
Fender should be ashamed to manufacture such shit. I know the Mexican factory is capable of much more. It's Fender management who calls all the shots and decides what hardware to put on what guitar. No wonder Leo left and started his own company. This guitar is A JOKE with the factory harware on it. FENDER, ARE YOU LISTENING??? Change your ways, or the Korean guitar manufacturers will put your ass right out of business!

2000 mexican strat, the usual stock stuff, 21 maple frets, high-gloss midnight wine finish. 3 single coil standard p-ups, passive electronics. String-thru body. Blah blah, the basic start.
It came with a gig-bag, strap, and a crappy cord.

I play metal, hard punk, and rock. So mostly all I do is hard or heavier music, and it suits me just fine.
I play it through a Roland cube 30, and the distortion is perfect for me, but it can be hard to get that slightly distorted acoustic sound.
The p-up selector is always in either the bridge or neck position, and I don't get much background noise, other than the usual fuzz from single coils.
Basically the only thing I don't like about it is the lack of a humbucker.

When I bought the guitar, it had decent action, but I play with .52 gauge strings, so I was getting lots of buzz on my E and A strings. But I just got the nut raised and everything was fine.
The p-ups where fine as far as stock stuff goes, and everything was fine and dandy.
I've owned it for about 2 years, and I havn't found anything wrong with it yet.

Will it live up to playing live? Hell yes.
I've played a few times live, nothing big, just basements and stuff, and it's just fine. There're scratches and stuff on it, but that's just from me either picking to hard, or it scraping my belt buckle.. something like that.
I'd use it backup guitarless anyday.

N/A

I've been playing for about 4 years, and I don't have alot of other gear, I just don't need it.
I've got the Roland cube 30, and Ibanez smash box distortion, and my mexistrat.
There isn't alot I don't like about this guitar, aside from the p-ups, and the bridge, just cause I'd like a hard-tail.

Mine is a 2002 MIM Standard Strat, Sage Green Metallic finish with 21 fret maple neck and 3 single coil pickups.
I beleive it's made of poplar.
It has all the stock stuff.

I play it through a Fender Princeton 65 or a Crate GT80, sometimes with a Digitech Genesis 1 processer or an Ibanez Tube Screamer a Dan Wah and a Boss Compressor/Sustainer.
I play mostly blues, rock, funk and fusion (Remeber fusion?)
It is capable of getting almost any type of sound I want from it. Only it tends to be buzzy for some reason, when played unplugged. And when I try yo dig in around the 14th fret and make it scream, it kind of chokes and moans instead.
I've tried to love this guitar, but something about it just rubs me the wrong way. I don't exactly hate it. I just don't love it.

The guitar looks beautiful. The edges of the frets are a bit rough, but not as bad as some. They won't take your fingers off or anything.
Everything seems to be decent quality. It stays in tune. There's just that buzzy sound. I've tried adjusting the saddle hight and truss rod. I tried checking all the screws. I just can't get rid of it. It's driving me crazy!I can't give it a perfect grade because of that. But it does look great.

I've played it quite a bit since I got it. It's never given me a problem other than the buzzy sound that bugs my butt.
I think it would hold up well. It seems very solid.
No one should ever show up for a gig without a backup, no matter what they play. But this guitar seems as reliable as anything else I've ever had.

I've been playing for about 36 years. Aside from the stuff I've already mentioned, I have a Standard Telecaster, aLes Paul Custom, a Guild S300-D, a Kent Les Paul Copy, Hamer Echotone, Takamine Sante Fe, Martin, a Kramer Focus,an Ibanez,several project guitars and a mess o pedals and stuff I can't remember off the top of my head.
I played another guitar just like this one at the store and it was awesome. I couldn't buy it at the time. And when I went back the next day it was gone. I really liked the Sage Green Metallic finish, so I ordered one. It isn't nearly as nice as the one I playd in the first place. I still like the finish. But That damn buzzing drives me mad! You could do much worse than buying one of these. Just don't make the same mistake I did. Play the one you think you want and buy the one you played. These are not consistant enough to expect the next one you pick up to be as nice as the last one.
I'm not crazy about the one I have, but I've played some Standard Strats that were a lot nicer.

1999 Mexistrat. 2 tone sunburst. I replaced the original p-ups w/ 50's Fat Strat p-ups and had the Tech connect the Bridge and the middle to the bottom tone control, the neck is by itself. I also changed the saddles to graphtechs and had an extra string-tree installed. Other than that, it's stock.

The stock sound wasn't bad, but this is better(i.e. post-mod). This gets all the traditional strat ssounds (plus a few). If you like a strat, you'll like this.

The set up was pretty decent from the factory, but I changed the .009's to .010's and tweaked the neck, bridge, action etc. The neck was/is tight in the pocket with no gaps. Everything was ship-shape.

I've used this puppy every weekend since the summer of '99. It's been dropped, tripped over and knocked out of the stand a few times (I had a klutz of a rhythm guitarist, he knocked my amp over too), forgotten overnight in my van in sub-zero temperatures (like last night--oops!)and you can"t even tell!!! I did have to readjust the spring tension on the bridge after it fell once b/c somehow it suddenly became flush with the body. The frets are small and soft and to tell the truth, it looks like it could use a refret, the pockets run so deep in some places. If I ever decide to get that done, I'll probably have bigger frets installed. That's just normal wear and tear though, overall this thing's been a beast.

I've been playing on and off for thirty years (-- Oh my God!!!--) This guitar has been a great value and to tell the truth, I've played them stock at the stores since I modded mine, and while I do like the Fat 50's better, the stocks really do sound good. So, even though they're going for more $$ now, they still represent a GREAT value...I just wish they had 22 frets.

Standard Mexican dealie... 3 single coils, standard trem, 21 frets... you get the picture. Simple and to the point. Just the way i like it. I love the feel of the neck, i've tried Les Pauls, Ibanez's, ESP's and i still love fender necks best.

Yeah it buzzes in the 1-3-5 positions but i like that. Maybe cuz i'm nuts and i listened to too much hendrix as a kid. Excellent Strat tone clean and crisp. Works well with distortion, again too much hendrix as a kid, if you don't like all that single coil noise than you can always upgrade. I plan on boosting the pickups to Texas Specials but these do the job for Van Halen, Hendrix, SRV, Floyd, and even some of the heavier stuff. I tune to Eb and run it through a Boss Flanger, Dunlop Wah, and a DOD Fuzz box and i get a load of funky sounds. Before i bought it i tried it through a Marshall TSL and ooooohhh yeah that was awesome. No complaints here.

Set up fine right from the factory. I like how the bridge was set up to move up and down so i can raise the notes as well. Feels great strapped on. The Sage Green Metallic Finish looks beautiful. Intonation perfect.

I've only had it for a few weeks so i really can't tell you about gigging with it.

havn't needed to use it

I've been playing seriously for two and a half years and i've only had shit equipment, so maybe that's why i love this thing so much. I really have no complaint about it. It's certainly not a Les Paul or an American Strat, but it's still a bitching guitar. You can make a lot of great sounds with it. Leo designed a great guitar, and i'm glad to own one.

Typical Heche in Mexico Strat, made in 2002. 21 frets down the neck controled by 5 way switch sharped in with two tone knobs and some volume. Staggered single coiled stock sounds great for the price. Installing custom shop fat 50's in it pretty soon. Finish is a light green metallic satin on an alder body. All stock today other than aftermarket pearloid pickup 11 hole that i had to drill new holes into the body, cooler design though!

I've been playing blues the better part of my career. I would have never considered buying this guitar. Since i got it i have since bought another one. They're fun to play with, and easy to modify to your own needs. And if you keep it stock they still sound pretty dang tough for a 300 dollar (new) guitar. Sounds better than an epiphone les paul custom that they're selling for 570 new! I play mostly directly through my pa, when i need something more than clean i use a digital prosessor manufatored by digitech. Bridge stock pickups are perfect of rhythem.. hands down. When i became lead vocalist all i played was this strat. As for leads, i'll pick something else up.. main reason i'm changing the pickups. but come on... ebay you can get a good one for under 300.... if all i wanted to spend on a guitar was 300... i could deal with the neck pickup.

Factory set up.... who knows, as soon as i got i i took it apart and re-assembled it the way i like it. i kinda tinkered with it right before..... action was good in my opinion... the actual way the guitar was built.. i'd send my parts to those guys in mexico too.. they did a great job on making her pretty dang durable... its not a 10 pound les paul.. but for 7 pounds she can take a hit!

Finish.... it would last a normal player forever... some people... couple years you'll get some wear spots like anything u have. It'll play live... i dont ever play it in studio or practice... i might tune it of stage anymore. I'd use it on a gig without a backup.... but your an idiot to ever do that lol....

why would u ever call customer service... they could never fix it like i could. no customer service is that good. never have called

I'm 23 years old... i play 5-6 hours a day, i play chicago and texas blues. I was playing guitar in my baby pictures. i personally think they should put the mtex-mex pickups in her stock and just charge about 35 more. for any beginner or intermediate player this thing is GOLD! For semi-pro, fun to doodle with and its nice to have an axe that you dont have to care much about because its durable and cheap. Pro's... lol... if your that good the record companies buy the guitar for you.. you wouldn even be looking here right now cause u'd be playing your free prs custom shop dragon III

3 single coils blah blah blah, if you don't know the features, don't even bother to read this.

Well lets say that i hate fenders...i'll get that point out right away. I've tried many many kinds of fenders over the years and they just don't work with my music. I play alot of stuff like punk, jazz, metal, classic rock, and my own style. At live performances, it buzzes like crazy, feedbacks like crazy, and it doesn't have a nice warm tone like a les paul has. And people whine about how heavey they are. I like it..it makes me feel secure. and the les paul in my ears sound really nice clean and distorted. the strat however has a lot of intonation problems, fret buzz, that can't be fixed and having it stay in tuned with locking tuners is absolutly horrible. Playing distortion is a big no no..feedback, buzzzzzzzzzzz hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm buzzzzzzzzz CRACK!!! SQUUEEEEL!!!!!no way i'm going to use this guitar for distortion. This guitar, however sounds great playing clean country riffs. I have to admit that, but other than that, i don't like it.

um i upgraded to 10's because the strings are way too bright, and they buzz, so i raised the action a bit and it didn't help. I've done all i could to help this guitar and i have no luck.

it took me two times to smash this guitar. very tough.

who cares

Fenders don't fit my music style. I have owned a fender cyber delux, which i sold because it doesn't work well in live situations, and i owned a fat strat, an american strat, and a standard strat. I can't stand any of them. Fenders aren't for me... So now i have a Gibson Les Paul and a Marshall JCM 800 that absolutly put that guitar to shame. Yeah i smashed it. its the last fender i will ever own in my life

Standard MIM strat features. Alder body, Rosewood neck, Midnight Wine color. This guitar is really very nice. Zero complaints.

All stock parts - this guitar sounds great. I had it professionally setup and it came back sounding and playing fantastic. I am going to replace the stock pickups with some Texas Specials just to give it more punch.

Factory setup was ok. The fit and finnish are wonderful. It's a beautiful guitar.

So far this guitar has not failed once. Everything is rock solid. For a MIM guitar you really can't beat it.

Never used it. Never had to.

This guitar is an outstanding value. For a small amount of money I came away with a beautiful guitar that sounds great. I may upgrade the pickups but other than that - it's great.

1998, Mexican made Fender Standard Stratocaster, bought used - ebay with Mighty Mite Alnico Pickups, CTS Pots, American Tuners. 21 Frets, Black body, White pickguard and pickups, rosewood fretboard. Stock (bleck) bridge. Came with gig bag.

Use it with a Legend R&R 50 1x12 combo, crybaby, dod flanger. Not noisy in the 2 and 4 positions, a little noisy in the 1, 3 and 5 positions. Vintage srv meets blackmore sound, turned up it drives my amp well into growl and feedback and harmonics territory. I have been using this for everything from gnr to benatar to ac/dc -- our entire set.. it sounds great.

Excellent. no neck flaws, body flaws, etc. all is good here. I have had american, japanese and mexican strats before.. and I have seen issues, on all of them.. this axe seems to be a well made one.

It's a strat. It will last. I am already depending on it in a live setting. I know how to fix them, modify them, repair them, so if it breaks, it isnt an issue, I would never send a guitar back to the factory anyway. too much time away from home.

never dealt with them, never will

Complete bottom line: I had to set up the neck -- torque the truss, shim the heel and pecker with the saddles.. but after all that, the neck is straight, the action is good, and the baby screams. She is especially nice with the mightymite alnico pickups and after using her live this past weekend, she is my new baby -- replacing my epiphone les paul (which I love too).. but hey, the epi may be good for backup and detuned songs -- the strat is good for everything. Only giving an 8 because it has had upgrades.... and I believe they were necessary to make the guitar as good as it is now.

I have a 2001 Fender MIM Strat. Standard all the way. Not sure if the body is poplar or alder. Some websites that sell them new say they are alder and some say poplar. All single coil pickups, all stock. My Strat is sage green metallic in color with a maple neck. Truely one of the most beautiful Strats I've ever seen. I put a pearloid pickguard on it and it looks awesome! Nice tuners and standard mexi-made tremelo. I think the machineheads are made by Ping and they say "Fender" on each one. Mine came with a custom fit case.

You can get all types of sounds for all types of music. I play through an Ampeg SJ 12R 50 watt tube amp. I go through a Metal Zone for distortion. The pickups are pretty quiet. It has a bright and clean sound, as most Fenders do. If I want deep and heavy, I just grab my Les Paul.

Not sure of factory setup, I bought it used. But it was set up very well when I got it. Absolutely no flaws! Good quality!

This guitar would stand up to a live show, and it does. Sturdy hardware. Finish is great. I replaced the strat buttons with a Schaller StrapLock system. Very dependable. Great backup guitar.

I have been playing for 18 years. I own a Gibson Les Paul Studio, an Alverez RD20S acoustic, an Ampeg SJ 12R, a Jordan 10 practice amp, a Boss Metal Zone, and a Vox wah pedal. I have owned many guitars in the past 18 years. Nothing can replace a Fender-the look and feel. I bought an Ibanez and an LTD thinking they would be close to a Fender as far as feel and sound--boy was I wrong! If it were lost or stolen I would replace it for sure. The only thing I wish it had was the graphite tremelo like the Americans do.

It's a midnight wine cheap Mexican strat. 21 frets, etc...the standard strat stuff is good if you're a beginner, but if you want to keep playing it after a while, ya gotta do some stuff to it, but nothing too major. I give it a 5 from the factory, and a 9 for what it is now, so how about an 8 overall.

I play all kinds of music. I'm in school right now, and I have a Rock performance class and a Jazz performance class, so I need all the versatility I can get. I love playing blues, country, rock, metal, and some jazz. I'm running a Marshal JCM 2000 stack, a Boss MT-2, a Cry-Baby, and an Ibanez Smash Box (for rhythm). Now, with stock single coils, it sounds like crap, unless you know how to adjust your settings just right. even when you get it just right, you still cant do much with it. I swapped all of my pickups out. I used to have an EMG 85, and that was it. I got tired of that setup, b/c I had only one pickup running, and needed more variety of tones, so I bought a Pearly Gates for the bridge, and 2 Texas specials for the middle and neck. I would have to say that this is about the best pickup combonation i have ever heard, as far as the number of different tones I can get out of em'. The clean tones are amazing, and if I wanna get dirty, it gets REAL dirty...the Pearly Gates is a very good, versatile pickup. I give it a 10.

This is the one thing I'm not too keen about, is the fact that I cant have my action super low. Of course, part of my problem is that my frets are dying away, so I get a good bit of fret buzz at times, but It's not a mile-high action...its low enough. The body is in great condition...I try to keep it clean as much as I can. I give it a 7

This guitar, believe it or not, despite it's cheapness, WILL withstand live gigs. I have used it for about 6 years on gigs now, and apart from broken strings every now and then, I have had no problems. They are really reliable guitars if you take care of them, and play them right. I play the hell outta my axe, and it still plays great. I dont think I've ever had the strap fall off while i was playing, which is a very small, but nice thing. I have used it for about 6 years without a backup, so yea, i would use it without a backup, however I have been looking for another guitar, so I can get a better feel.

Never have dealt with them, b/c its been such a good axe. I'm sure they would be very helpful.

I've been playing about 8 years now, this really has been my first guitar, although I have 2 old crappy acoustics that I learned on that my dad gave me. If it were stolen, I would be shit outta luck, b/c its my only guitar right now, and I need it for school. I would probably cry, b/c its such a beautiful guitar, and I love it. I kinda wish it had a floyd rose, more frets, fatter frets, and the heel is annoying, b/c it makes it kinda hard to get to the higher notes when soloing. But hey, its held up to the abuse i've thrown at it for about 7 years now, so I can't complain.

this is an update to my other stratocaster review. I now have '57 RI pups in my strat, and it sounds great. The stock pickups were lifeless, toneless, bland pieces of junk. These '57s, though not heavenly, certainly do a better job than the stock ones did. They have a mellower tone and a softer reaction to picking dynamics. My distortion is also more controllable and the guitar doesn't feed back as much. The '57s are spring loaded, so whenever I want to dive for a different tone, I just tighten or loosen the screws in my pickups, and wallah, brand new tone. These pickups aren't the best you're going to get, but they're certainly an upgrade to what I had in my strat beforehand. I think my problem with an amazing tone is the amp. I need a good, high class all-tube amp. My Behringer is an excellent amp, but it just doesn't have the tubes in there to drive my tones over the limit.

For those who are anxious to swap the pickups but are cautious about how well they would react to high levels of distortion (like I was cautious of), they do just fine. I use a british drive on my GM110, kick on an SD-1 for extra drive, and these pups have no problems with singing sustain. I also use a DOD Classic Fuzz, and it sounds ALOT better with these than it did with the stocks. MUCH better tone and resonance...that's a plus.

Clean tones are no task for these. The bridge position quacks like a duck, the 4 position is flat and midrangey, the middle position (my favorite) is a perfect combination of all five positions. The two position adds bass, and the neck position is great for powerchords and heavy bass work.

These Alcino magnets do hum; but not too badly. My amp is the main source of the hum I get. These pickups suit me just fine for about anything I'm ready to give it.

Hope I helped! Any questions, just ask.

we all know what this has. i just figured i'd add my two cents. im not sure where else to put this item so i figure i'll talk about it here. the nut was messed up quite bad when i got it. the slot for the high e was too big im guessing cause there was a badass buzz coming from it. it was also affecting intonation. meh. the tuners did nothing but exacerbate this problem. crap hardware= :(

i play everything. not well, but i try. the guitar is surprisingly unbright for a strat. but i play through a crap marshall valvestate thats great clean but no good distorted. im not sure if thats the amp or guitars fault though. unplugged its great. loud and bright and all that good stuff. noisy as any strat i suppose. its good for my level of playing and stuff though i guess.

all this stuff was great. the neck was perfect feeling for my hand. the finish was great. the action set just right. except the wuss strings. string it up with .12's and its snappy as hell. but i can't say enough good about the neck.

good enough for all this stuff i guess.

i guess it was good for the price. im getting a g&l s-500 or asat soon havent made up my mind but this guitar has been good enough to me while ive had it. i guess its that synergy or whatever where the total outcome is greater than the sum of the parts. hence the 8 instead of 7. or something.

Standard strat features. 1 volume 2 tone, 3 single coils, you know it all.

This thing's sound kicks butt, and if anyone on these reviews tells you that you cant play metal with it, then they obviously just dont have a good distortion pedal (I use Boss MT-2) But anyways, its got that wonderful strat sound that fender is made famous for. The most useful pickup positions are 2 and 4. If you get a really good tube amp then nothing beats the sound of a Strat. Using the middle or neck position pickup this guitar has the best clean sound you can think of. But in the bridge position its got that humbucker highs that sound awesome, even thought its not a humbucker.

The action when I bought it was quite high but I lowered it and now it plays like an american strat. The pickups were set up just how I like them at the factory. And if anybody tells you that mexican strats dont play good, have them play one for themselves.

I've gigged with this guitar many times. And it holds up fine.

The hardware seems pretty solid and seems like it will last.

The finish on this guitar is just really cool and really hard to scratch (its quite thick).

I changed the strap buttons to dunlop straplocks, but the old strap buttons were solid but they came loose a lot and you always have to tighten them about once a week so change them

I don't do gigs without backups incase I break a string but if I knew I wasn't gunna break a string, I would definitely use it without a backup.

Never had to deal with them so I dont know.

I have been playing for 4 years now. and I own 3 other guitars.

If it were stolen i would defenitely buy another.

I just love strats in general and this is a great strat for someone whos not that rich and wants something to keep with them for life and in about 30 years call it there semi-vintage axe.

I have a 2001 Arctic White standard Mexican strat. It has been really reliable guitar with great range and beautiful sound. I have been more than happy with it. Of course you get what you pay for, it really is standard in all the ways, but I think it's worth every penny and even more. The sound is really great, and you get that crazy Fender twang and vibe without paying extra for US-made guitar. The pickups are quite noisy as single-coils usually are, but you they're of course replaceable if that's what you want. I've been satisfied with the pickups and haven't changed any of them. Even if you'd come up with the idea of changing pickups, I still would recommend to buy this guitar. It's value for the money is extremely good. And I've played quite a lot, more than 10 years now. This Strat isn't my only guitar, but I still play it and like it a lot. It has Schaller tuners, maple neck with rosewood fingerboard and floating through body-tremolo. I't stays surprisingly good in tune even when using the tremolo arm. There is still one problem with the tremolo. There are only 3 tremolo springs instead of 5 installed in the US models. So i've been thinking of adding the missing 2 springs in order to relief some of the pressure caused by the string pull. Besides this I haven't caught up any kind of ideas of upgrading this thing. When I bought it, I got deluxe gig bag with it, a great looking genuine leather white moto strap (which I managed to add to the deal instead of the basic strap), a cable, a guitar stand and a pack of extra strings. The guitar itself had been equipped with Fender Super Bullets, .010 - .046's. I also got few different sizes of Allen tools for adjusting the bridge and the truss rod.

The Fender Twang. That's the thing. It's THE weapon of choice for many styles of music. R'n'r and blues - you can't miss when you pick this thing and play. But it doesn't limit it in any ways, you can play anything with this thing. The sound can be rich and warm, it can be bright or deep and dirty. And all this is just a few pickup-selector switches and tone-knob turns away. Variety is big. There are things that it's not capable - I guess trash-metal players don't find it that good, but for the rest of us - play it and you'll see.

The factory set-up was good. The action was quite all right, although I've been adjusting it later on. The finish looks great, I've been always into the arctic white colour, and it looks good as ever. The neck is great and the frets are comfortable and properly fitted. The Schaller tuning machinery is accurate and can easily be adjusted.

I think this guitar is extremely reliable. Like every guitar, it has to be maintained and cared properly. When you have that thing going, this guitar is not going to let you down. The neck joint, hardware, electronics, finish, everything is a mark of good craftsmanship and is definetely long-lasting and takes a hell of a beating without any sings of failing you down. I've installed Schaller strap locks in my guitar for safety reasons when rocking hard.. I would use it on a gig without any kind of backup, that's for sure. I trust this thing like I trust my brother.

The place I bought this was F-Musiikki in Helsinki, Finland. The customer service was absolutetly great. I had been playing this guitar in that shop occasionally for about year and a half, and now when I was going there planning to finally buy one, the only one with the arctic white colour had just been purchased by another customer. I got a bit anxious, because I was sure that was really the only one. I started talking to the salesman, he was really nice and went to search for another one from the warehouse. He took his time and I was absolutely certain there would'nt be any, until he finally came back with this beautiful, untouchable arctic white Stratocaster. He adjusted it accurately, fine-tuned it and this thing was ready for me. I of course played it a little to check it was good, and then I told the man what else did I need and we made a deal that satisfied us both. The customer service was great. The guitar itself had one year warranty, plus the Fender 'limited lifetime warranty', whatever that means (propably it means just that one year :). But it hasn't been repaired in any ways.

Wonderful value for money. The best choice in it's price class, that's for sure. Try it and make your own opinions. But remember - never buy any guitar without playing it first. And properly, not just few notes. Guitars are all individuals. They are different. The results of guitar-making may vary incredibly much. You need to be sure what you are paying for. So play it. That's the only way. If you have any questions about this guitar or anything else considering guitars and playing them, feel free to ask me. I'm fairly experienced and happy if I can help.

1996 Mexican standard. Standard in everything.Poplar body, maple neck with rosewood fretboard, 21 thin frets etc. No-name standard pickups, through-body tremolo. I had to buy a gig bag to carry it home to St.Petersburg where were no official Fender dealers at that time so Fender was sold only in one shop for $650, would you believe. So I travelled to Moscow where the ATTrade shop was present, the official dealer of Fender and Ibanez. It cost me $450 with the bag while the guitar itself was 450 and the bag was $20 or$30, I don't remember. The choice was 3 strats(I went for a tele but they didn't have it at all.)Two of the three were red, cherry or something, I thought it to be a porno colour for a guitar and bought a Lake Placid Blue one.Never regretted it.Girls like it, really.

It sounded like a fir -tree cut by Santa when it was new. It was in 1996, so the wood was fresh and the notes were far from distinction. Now it's been 6 years and it sounds. But it took time for my Fender to become a Fender. Noise? Standard.First, third and fifth positions give that strato-noise. But that is mainly the problem of recording sessions which can be solved by turning your arse around the studio room or by choosing humness 2 or 4 position. The bridge pup gives that tele-like "blaaam" sound. 2 and 4 positions are very suitable for perfoming the delicate new wave sound which I play. It's perfect with my JH-1 wah pedal by Dunlop. Like bride and broom, sorry, groom. I also use my old 20x20 Zoom soap-box and it's OK for gigs. When recording I use the clean sound and then we put the FX on. Use Amplitube FX, my opinion.The only thing that bothers me (if anything can bother me) is that the guitar gives it all only at full volume. When the knob is turned down a little the sound loses some frequences.

The action could be better, I must say. I had to make little cuts in the string saddles to fit the strings. Then it took some time to optimize the bridge itself to make the perfect tune. I put two extra springs and kneed the bridge to the floor. I don't use much of tremolo so(although it's still possible with the same effort) it's OK. I then screwed the tuners to death so they became more stay-in-tune. Pardon me my French, I am Russian as you might have noticed. Customizing was not finished at that stage. I changed the knobs(used old ones from my Rockwood by Hohner strat copy, they are obviously better in turning and look more elegant than Fender ones).Finish is real. I spent hours sitting and worshipping the guitar. Back in 1996 Fender meant everything for a young Russian guitar player. I was a real rock star:) Yes, this guitar was made to buy it.

It's like oxford shoe that SEARS was making long ago called Die Hard. The guitar fell from the belt three or seven times when I was too drunk or stoned to play it and it bears only slight mathces on the finish. I've been constantly playing it since '96 until now, doing gigs sometimes two a day. Nothing. The strap buttons lack confidence. I would change them for stronger ones, but I am very lazy. Having some vintage Czech guitars you would never even think of, I use only my Fender during gigs. My Zooom effects are tuned to it. I once tried to play an old semi-acoustic 60's Musima(a brilliant guitar mr. B.B.King won't ever have)with my proccessor. The feedback was so horrrible that my girlfriend that came to our gig left me. Bitch, I never loved her anyway.

You must be joking!

There are few material things I will give to my son when he grows up. Four pairs of vintage LEvi's and a Fender.

The Basics:

21 frets, S/S/S, Trem, Adler body, Maple neck/fingerboard, mine's arctic white (a cream colored white; I thought artic was pure white, but i assume that that's olympic white).

I also got a gig-bag with my guitar.

It sounds like a strat. It has the nice high twang in the bridge pickups, the hot beefy sound in the neck pickups and the 2-4 positions give a hum cancelling effect. The sound is perferect for what i play: blues, blues/rock, jazz, alternitve, some tinkerings with classical intergrated with rock. I love the sound of the pickups. i believe i got lucky and got some special set because these pickups do not sound like crap. Maybe it's just the way i set the pickup height for. but it's great.

Hmm... This is a tough section. The set up it came with from the factory just sucks frankly. I changed the .09s it came with to .10s. .09s to me feel like rubberbands. i got the thing set up at the local music store. No matter what i do however, i get buzzing on the low e string. it's strange. I've gotten used to it and have intergrated it into my playing, but it reallly irked me at first. I had the play around with the truss rod and the bridge to get the buzzing to a acceptable level.

this is my main guitar. It's my work horse. It's been beat up a good bit since i got it but it still works with the occational set up. No cracks, scratches, warped peices of wood or anything like it. It's a tank. it never went all sh*t on me on any gig. I keep a Esteve Classial behind me for the more softer peices i do (maybe a classical peice i throw in during intermissions while the rest of the band rests), mic-ed up of course.

Never dealt with them, hope i never do.

Great guitar for blues and rock. recommend it to beginners. as soon as you buy it get it set up and replace the rubber bands they call strings to .10s. The strat is the perfect guitar.

Made in 2003 In Mexico, I think it's close enough to an American for the price. It comes with all the standard features, 22 frets, 1 volume, 2 tone, 5 way selector, S/S/S u get the idea. I had all 3 stock pickups but i got a dimarzio Super Distortion for the bridge, that thing rocks! I think it's Active. Its an Alder body and Maple neck with the Flamed Maple fretboard, very light weight. I got it with the Black finish cause I think it looked attractive . Just a simple Tune-O-Matic bridge with Non Locking Tuners. i got it with the Case which i got for free. Just talk to the guys, they will go very low.

This Strat is made for any music style, you can play anything and it sounds great, it is noisy though because of the single coil. I think it's a real bright sound, especially when compared to the Telecaster. I love the sound especially on the combination of the first to pickups, it's very "twangy"

Everything was set up great, There's no errors in it at all. I cant say anything else but, good job Fender

This guitar takes a lot of punishment, when i get mad i get a temper and I will sometimes hit my guitar lol, it's still fine, Iv'e only had it for 6 months but the hardware is still stayin up. The finish will last, i banged mine a couple times so the finish is a little faded in 2 places but you can't notice it unless you're trying to look for it and you already know that it's there. Its very dependable, I wouldn't even think about bringing a backup.

I haven't had to deal with it so No Opinion for this one.

I've only been playing for a year but I know my stuff pretty well. It's hard for me to choose between this and my gibson SG but I think the strat is much more comfortable and it doesn't way as much. It's a great guitar, if you're just startin and you want more than a squire but cant spend a lot, I think this guitar is good for you, It's great for anybody, It plays great for all types of music, especially blues.

I have a 1993 MIM Fender Stratocaster. 21 frets, maple fretboard, 2-tone sunburst finish, alder body, skunk stripe, all your usual bells and whistles. I've had mine for about three months now, and it's suited me pretty good. The user before me had swapped out the tuners with some Kluson Tuners (VERY nice tuners, btw), and a genuine 50s strat backplate.

I have been playing guitar for about 15 months now, and I own a Yamaha FG412-S, an Austin AU341S, a Fender Stratocaster (this one), and I use my dad's Ventura SG Copy. I run this through my effects chain : Arion SAD-3 Stereo Analog Delay > Boss SD-1 > Boss CE-5 > Danelectro Corned Beef Reverb > Electro Harmonix Small Stone > Morley PWV Pro Series Wah/Volume > Arion HU30 Auto Chromatic Tuner, and into one of two amps : Behringer GM110 or Kustom 250. I use the Behringer almost 90% of the time, because of it's versatility.

I play modern hard/alternative rock, with a touch of space rock. My main influences are The Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, U2, Tom Petty, etc. I use this strat as my main axe, and it suits me great for what I use it for.

The stock pups are a little weak in my opinion, but they do their job. I have a set of '57 Reissue Strat pickups in my dresser drawer that are aching to be put in my strat, but I'm not electronically inclined, and I need to learn how to solder properly.

The tone isn't something that would make you tremble at the knees, but it will get you by until you realize what you're missing out on. I'm sure once I put those '57s into my strat, it will be a tone machine.

Everything came stock except the tuners and the backplate, and it seems pretty sturdy. At first when I showed my mom the picture of the stratocaster I was going to buy, she said she didn't like the sunburst finish. When it came in the mail, I showed it to her and she quickly changed her opinion. The 2-tone sunburst has a fair bit of wood grain that shows...it's really beautiful.

I've dinged up the finish once or twice, but with the abuse that I give my gear I'm surprised at it's toughness. The other parts are really sturdy as well, they haven't let me down.

I would definately use this on a gig. I would more than likely carry a backup anyways, because I like to switch guitars every now and then, so I'd be prepared just in case. I think this stratocaster will outlast me. It's been going strong for 10 years or so, and she looks prepared for any battle I could give her.

No Opinion.

In my opinion, the Standard Fender Strat is one of the best deals on the market today. It has dependability, playability, tone, and good looks for a fraction of what you pay for other instruments of the same nature. The American Series Stratocasters are so high priced, about $500 more than the mexican. why? Because they are made with better finishes and better parts that could easily be replaced on a mexican strat for alot less. Here's a tip : If you buy a Standard Stratocaster, replace the tuners, swap the pickups, and adjust the bridge, you'll have a guitar that's twice as good as it's American counterpart for only a fraction of the cost.

Overall, I love my strat. Some handywork is required to make this guitar an ultimate weapon, but it's worth it in the end.

Traded a MIM Tele for it - got $300 for my Tele, and paid a difference of $115 to get the Strat. Used 2000 Mexican made Standard Stratocaster. The serial # says '99, but I took the neck off and it's dated February 2000. Four piece Alder body, basic black - like Claptons, one piece maple neck. All the standard features seen on a Strat.

The PUP's aren't as bright as the ones in my Highway 1 Strat, I was really suprised. They are kinda dull sounding, but louder. In positions 2 and 4 it seems to cancel hum, so that's cool. I think I'll change the PUP's later.

It is used. No chips in the body, but a few marks. The neck has quite a few marks up near the base of the headstock where it would hang from a guitar hanger, but they don't bother me. By the twelth fret there is a large dent that seems to have been filled with epoxy, but it IS used, so what am I to expect? Setup needed to be adjusted, obviously, the neck was a little shifty, but I tightened the bolts and fixed it. There seems to be too much relief. I put a shim in the truss-rod nut hole but it didn't help, though it IS used. I like the finish on the neck. It's the gloss-ish polyurathane that wears better on the sharp edges of the fingerboard and chips better, like my other MIM Strat did. It will look cool in 5 years.

I don't gig at all. The ployester on the body will last 2000 years, but the finish on the neck won't, but that's why I chose it.

I didn't deal with Fender, but the store gave me two free sets of string when I got the guitar, so that was cool.

I love it. It reminds me of my old Traditional Strat, which was my first Strat. I like the finish on the neck. I've been playing since 1996. I have a 2000 Northwood MJ-60HM, a 2002 Highway 1 Strat, 1997 Traditional Strat, 2003 Pro Junior and a 1964 Standel Studio X. If it were stolen I would probably go looking for another used one from 2000, when they switched to Alder bodies, but they still had the gloss-ish finish on the neck.

This is the 331 or so review of a Fender Strat; so I'm not adding anything new, by any means. Please allow me to explain: I've reviewed other Electric Guitars on this site; mostly, they were middle of the road or cheap end ones. I found this Fender Strat, Made in Mexico, at one of the local pawn shops here. Every now and then, I make some discovery to my liking with a guitar, and buy it. So, I talk the guy down to $130.00, tax and all, out the door. The Strat is beat up, to say the least. It's got a pearloid pickguard, stock pups (3 singles), some chips on the front of the body, and the previous owner tried to cover it with (get this)flat interior latex paint!!! The body is a either a ash or alder, light wt. Arctic White at one point; it's aging and yellowing, which is actually cool, IMO. Rosewood frtbd, maple neck. The neck reminds me of those Musicman or Peavey EVH guitars where there's no lacquer on it. Feels smooth, yet not polished. Get it? Burn marks, like the previous owner sanded it down with a belt sander, the sander got hot, and put burn marks on the back of the neck. Straight as an arrow, nonetheless. Truss rod I slightly tweaked, but nothing major. Good frets. This poor previous owner, I got 3 sets of Ernie Ball heavy gauge strings and various heavy strings (11-48, 12-50, etc..)gig bag, strap. Std. trem bridge, which I'll block. Stays in tune better than most non locking ones, but still. Read on...

So, when I brought it home, needless to say, had to do some adjusting. After thinking 'bout it, I took it all apart, and simply sanded down the front. Took off all the latex paint (aaahhh!), and then it was just the white/yellowing paint. Maybe it's an off white or yellow, Fender paint job. Dunno. The lacquer in front was gone. Then, I thought, "Stevie Ray played his Strat down to the nub; all that strumming chipped away the paint". It'd look cool if I kept the front intact, with the paint and no lacquer. So, that's what I got. It resonates well; almost an acoustic quality to it, when played unplugged. I bought from MusicYo.com last year their Pickup pkg; those Quad Rail pickguard and all pkg. For chump change, $59.99 or so. Those sound great; ppl reviewed them here @ H.C., and so I endorse them as well. I own a Austin Strat Copy, and had the Quad Rails in that one. I swapped it to the Fender, and WOW!!! I reviewed the Austin here too, mentioning the Quads. But now, in the Fender, awesome!!! For the $130 I paid for this Fender, I modded it for cheap, and it came out well. A cheap alternative to the Seymour and Dimarzio pups are those Select by EMG's or the Kramer pkg from MusicYo.com. Check 'em out. I cleaned up the Strat as well; the bridge needed it. Put it all back together, and voila! Made my mods and it turned out well. I like the Strat, never was a Gibson player. Maybe I could handle the SG from time to time, but that's it. A Strat just feels right to me. The Quad rails on the Fender make it sound great!!! Not noisy, actually rich sounds. Pearloid pickguard, Bridge Humbucker, middle and neck singles. A coil tap for the Bridge. 2 tones and 1 volume. 5 way selector switch. I play rock, covers from the last 30 years or so, some blues, country, jazz, originals, etc. I think my modded Fender can handle it now. Pleased as can be with it now...

I'm willing to bet that the neck/action was probably was set up great at the factory; but when the previous owner got ahold of it, ack!!! He also left some music written on notebook paper, and instructions on medical treatment for diabetes. Sad, that part, maybe he was sick. One thing 'bout this guitar, after resetting the bridge/saddles, and putting new strings on, all I had to do was slightly turn the truss rod. Neck was basically staight, no bowing or anything. Says alot 'bout Fender quality. Frets were straight, no overlapping, smooth. Pups were fine, lowered them slightly. The Nut I had to file a little; when the guy put on heavier gauge strings, he neglected to widen the nut slots. Easy as pie, and I might have elimanated some string buzz in the process.

Yes, I'd say it was as reliable/sturdy as can be expected. The Hardware will go due to age; many replacement parts out there. Will gig w/ it. I like my mods and all; that's how I like my guitars to be. Off the shelf ones are kinda boring to me. Have to do my "Frankenstein to it"!!! LOL!!!

Don't need it; but Fender is a legend, needless to say, and don't doubt their ability to assist, when needed. No warranty; bought it as is.

I've reviewed lots of gear here: amps, many guitars, basses, pedals, etc..I dig this site for the fact that it helps in my deciding on a purchase of most music gear. I knew what I was buying in this beat up Fender Strat; I just modded it to my taste, and it came out well. Thanks again for letting me share.

Bought it either late '01, or early '02 brand new, Hecho en Mexico. 21 frets, I think, 2 tones and a volume, 3 single coils - you know, standard stuff, straight stock. Maple neck. Everything a meat and potatoes strat guy needs.

I play rock at home, alt/punk/seattle/pixies/pumpkins-ish, and praise and worship at church with a rock flavor (because of me; everyone else is either tejano, contemporary, or jazz). At church, I use a big, nasty, old amp ran through the PA (don't know the amp brand, but it's old and country). For extra special services (youth, college age) and at home I use a plain old Boss distortion. At home, I have a lot of bills and a practice amp with maybe an 8". It's fine for my bedroom and my daydreams. I have a Tascam mkIII 4track, still fine tuning sound for that too.
As for the guitar's sound, when the switch is in the middle, of course it hums, but that's really my favorite setting due to the warmth I get. I use the next one down (not sure which pickups are being activated, but some of you probably know that) for some clean rhythm stuff, or if the hum gets too annoying, and the bottom (really high tone) switch every great once in awhile if I'm feeling punky or ska-y. It is very high though, and needs some tweeking to keep it from tingling your ears off. The top switch position, the really bassy one, is good for if I'm doing some power chord emo type rock, but I usually don't. The other setting is too bassy, but not thick enough, so I don't really use it. My "G" string (on the guitar) has a rattle to it when played open. It's exremely obnoxious, and I've been too busy to get it taken care of. One time, I put a clothespin on it (above the neck on the headstock) and it shut it up and sounded fine, but who wants to do that? Overall, feels nice and clean, and it's the nicest guitar I've ever known (refer to above "bills" statement).

The action is high, but I only noticed that when someone pointed it out to me. And the pick guard was all scratched up, and kind of dingy, but then I realized I hadn't taken the plastic off (duh). Looks great. It's this funky Saturn motors not quite blue color, which is questionable, but it was the last one there. Really nice looking, if you like the color (it's growing on me). I don't use the trem, but it makes this loud, springy noise (like an old gate shutting) when I mess with it.

Live playing is fine, for my level (don't play any arenas, most people so far is like 350), the hardware does seem pretty solid, finish looks fine as long as I don't let it fall off the guitar stand, strap buttons solid, it has been dependable, and for the types of gigs I do, it's fine on it's own.

Never had to deal with them.

Ive' been playing a little over 10 years. This guitar will be great once I shut that G string up and get my action touched up a little. A better amp and some kind of noise gate will probably help (I hope) with the sound. The tone is nothing that can't be tweeked. I'm looking to branch out tonally, but I think the strat will go as far as one guitar in my budget can take me.

Mexican made, arctic white finish, ash body, s/s/s pickup configuration, 5-way selector, standard hardware, maple neck.

I don't think you can find a better all-around guitar for the money. Sure you have to put up with the 60 cycle hum but so what, it's a Strat right? I mainly fool around with classic rock and older metal and plugged this into an old tube Laney half-stack. The stock pickups are a little hotter than I imagined and very bright. With the Laney's bass boost knob, I was able to dial in a pretty fair crunch with the bridge p/u. The neck p/u is where this thing shines though. Very nice tone for such a cheap instrument. Very bluesy with a lot of sustain. I ran through everything from the Beatles to Black Sabbath and was not disappointed at all. Not a great instrument in the grand scheme of things but I give it an 8 due to the good quality at such a low price.

Factory set-up was horrible. The action was set very high and had to be adjusted right off the bat. No big deal though. Screws around the jack plate and pickguard were loose also. They weren't stripped and tightened right down. Finish is very nice with no visible scratches or flaws and the fretwork is nicely done. Bridge saddles look a little cheesy but that can be rectified as well. Maple neck is smooth and plays effortlessly. Overall good quality.

Has held up well so far. The finish is thick and durable. I have some questions on the durablity of the bridge but I may replace that anyway.

Had a P-Bass a few years ago with a faulty truss rod and the Fender dealer I bought it from had a new neck installed under the warranty very quickly, so I can vouch for the fact Fender honors their warranties. No problems here.

Been playing for 15 years and own a lot of equipment. This isn't a top of the line instrument by any means but it is an incredible value for the money. I also own a Deluxe Super Strat. The tone on this one doesn't quite measure up but it's darn close. You can't go wrong with Fender products IMO.

Recent manufacture of the MIM Standard Strat in sunburst. All the things that make a Strat one of the greatest instruments of all time are right there where they are supposed to be. Read on............

Sounds like a Strat. Not vintage like say a 50's, 60's or 70's Strat reissue. No! These pickups are alot hotter than a vintage pickup. I'm not too sure why, but it's a good thing in itself. If it was played with a Strat or sounds good being played with a Strat then this thing can do it. Single coils are noisy. Get over it. If you wanted hum canceling pickups then don't go here. I'd have to say, single coils put out a sound like no other and sometimes you gotta put down your shred machine and lighten up a little. Clean or dirty, this does the job.

Of course the action and adjustments were off, but I can take care of that and I did. After all was said and done it came out well and plays like a Strat should play. There are only 2 flaws that are nothing major. There is a shallow scratch in the finish at the top of the body which isn't very visible. The top cutaway at the neck pockect has a finish crack as well. Whatever you do........don't yank up or down on the neck to allign the strings. Loosen your bolts and gradualy tug the neck to either side in order to allign it. I've seen alot of people do this and it causes the neck pockets to have finish cracks. Cosmetics are nothing realy. As long as it plays who cares. Ask Dimebag Darrell. He finished a song with one his MLs that he had cracked the headstock off on. Cosmetic flaws mean charector. Funny thing about the body. It's alder for sure, but it has alot of figuring in it. It looks beutiful. I found this one and couldn't live without it.

It'll last. I've had plenty of these and I know for sure they can take a beating.

It doesn't matter how far away I get from Strats I always end up with one. I guess I'll keep this one. I always piss and moan when I'm without one. If you have money for a USA Strat go ahead and buy one. If you want 3 Strats that do the same thing for less save the money you would use on a USA Strat and buy 3 of these. After 20 years of playing I can assure you, MIM Strats are hard to beat and get the job done.

This is a MIM Standard Strat, 21 Vintage Style Frets (meaning they are thin), 3 single coils, 2 tones, 1 volume, Vintage style bridge, 3 ply pick guard, maple neck & finger board, Poplar body. I bought new early in the year 2002 from a local shop for $350. So I'm guessing it is a 2001 model. Fender switched to Alder bodies now, so it was made before that time. It's the Sage Green Metallic color, I think it is a great looking paint job, the metallic flakes set it off nicely. Good color for a vintage looking rig. Most people at first think it's a much more expensive Strat. Nothing to fancy on the features, it a Standard Strat, a nice vintage everything. All the features a beginner could ask for.

This is my 1st electric guitar and I'm still learning the basics. I play it though a Tech21 amp which sounds nice. I bought the guitar not knowing if I was going to "stick with it" or if this was another one of my passing phases. Well a year later I'm still playing and I love it. With that said, I decided to upgrade the pickups - which most people seem to do after awhile. I know how to solder alittle but I was nervous doing the work myself. After I took the pickguard off I noticed I had nothing to worry about because the factory job was nothing special. The stock shielding is dreadful at best, just a small patch over the control pots. So I added some copper foil to the back. I put a CS Texas Special in the nech and CS Fat 50's in the middle and bridge. It sounds great. Nice guitar just a little thin on the electronics. It's a $350 guitars what do you expect? Do you realize how little money that is???? Some reviewers are like, "My Gibson Les Paul sounds way better dude" it's like no sh*t pal, the guitar also costed $1000 more! For the price this guitar is hard to beat. I think the factory set up and quality is very good out of Mexico. Better than China or Korea anyways. Sounds quality is good stock and very good after pickup upgrades. I also changed the string to .10's (comes with .09's)

Everything was set up good, pickups were set up good, neck was good. Very happy with it. No flaws to speak of.

This is a solid guitar, hardware is descent, finish is nice, strap buttons are good. I can definately depend on it. I was on a cruise ship where they had a Raggae band playing live every day. They sounded great. I went to see what kinda guitar they were using and was shocked to see it was a Squier Strat! With the Standard Strat being a big step up from that I'm sure it can handle live playing very easily.

Never used it

2002 MIM
21 frets
S/S/S
adler body, maple neck... the whole nine yards.
It's a basic strat.

Well everyone complains about the hum at the 1-3-5 positions, well deal with it. It's natural for a single coil to hum like that. It's almost a trademark of the strat.

The guitar fits me perfectly. I bash out the blues, from the delta blues of muddy to blues rock of Hendrix and SRV. I play rock n roll, perfect for that. I play punk or ska if i am bored, and it can work for that. I also jam it out in jazz. It works for that. It's the most versitle guitar ever made. The sound is everything i ever dreamed a strat would be.

Nothing wrong with the guitar when i bought it. The maple neck and the adler body works well. the Arctic white finish is not completly white, a bit more cream colored like a manilla folder. Just the way i wanted it. It is as perfect as i could have asked for it to be.

THE STRATOCASTER IS A TANK. No matter what i do to it, it willnot and cannot break. It's very reliable (taht it if you dont use the tremelo bar).

No problems with it ever.

It's the best guitar ever created. It it the most versitile and a living classic. It is worth every penny.

bought in winter of 2000, mexican made
alder body i believe, standard strat controls and standard pickups except for the bridge (i swapped it out for a seymour duncan little 59) midnight wine with rosewood board and had had a scruggs drop d tuner installed

thick but not muddy. not to thin like squier strats. good solid body and neck, open cords shimmer when not plugged in and every note come through clear.

amazing action and set up, pickups were set alright but every guitar should be set up after buyign it, stays in tune quite well but the strap buttons are weak and have been torn out a few times (i also get very physical onstage)

been dropped, stepped on, sweat all over every night, road worn and covered in blood and smashed into drum kits. still plays great and still stands up to everything.

most solid guitar i've ever owned.

never dealt with fender, never really had to.

with the new mod's it works perfect, it's an excellent building block to add to and is cheap enough to be a project guitar, solid and sounds great. buy one now, in fact, buy two.

This review is for a 2002 Mexican strat - arctic white, rosewood fingerboard, standard spec. I've had it over 7 months now so hopefully I can be fairly objective.

The satin finished neck is very nice, it doesn't gumf up with sweat like a gloss finished neck would. The only feature I feel the standard strat lacks is the ability to adjust the tone on the bridge pickup.

It's quite easy to get all the familiar strat sounds out of this guitar. I'm going through a POD XT, and with the wide choice of amp tones on offer it's possible to assimilate the likes of Clapton, Dave Gilmour, Mark Knophler, Hendrix, Steve Ray Vaughan, etc.

I previously owned a Squier Strat and had only ever played Strat copies prior to owning this beastie. So, I only have my past experience with copies and the strat sounds I have heard on record to compare this guitar's sound with. Compared with my Squier, the sound is less harsh (esp in the bridge position), has more depth and sounds smoother when overdriven. Compared to *some* of the sounds I've heard on record, this guitar is slightly 'nasal' and has less top end sparkle. However, that could also be attributed to amp choice, the recording, or x other factors. The main thing is, I can plug it into my amp and it sounds like a strat. That's what I bought it for, so I'm happy. I've heard that replacing the pickups on Mexican strats can yield a great improvement in sound, so perhaps I'll give that a try some time.

I think it's worthwhile noting that, when playing in isolation, you will usually stuggle to achieve an exact replication of a given sound with just one guitar and one amp (or amp simulator). However, by the time the guitar is part of the mix, getting close to the sound you're after is usually good enough for your audience. This guitar is perfectly capable of 'getting close'. Of course, you may not be at all interested in covering other artists' material, in which case the important thing is that you like the sound. That of course is very subjective.

Everything seems bolted together well. You can't beat a strat for sheer sturdiness.

The first thing I did with this guitar was to swap the factory strings for 10s. I tightened the 2 internal trem screws to bring the bridge flush against the body (just a personal thing - I don't use the whammy bar). I've set the action as low as I could without getting choking on string bends. It's lower than it was on my Squier, but not quite as low as you could achieve on a Gibson-like guitar with a flatter fingerboard. Perfectly comfortable though.

The fretwork is all very tidy, no nasty fret ends protruding from the fingerboard edges. Certainly tidier than on my Squier.

Paintwork is OK. White is a good colour for hiding flaws. The paint appears to have been applied slightly unevenly around the edges of the cutaway horns, but it's not bad enough to bother me. The scratchplate doesn't sit exactly flush on the upper bout, but this is fairly common on strats - regardless of price.

The pickup selector switch has a nice soft action as opposed to the unrefined clunky feel of those that are often found on strat copies.

Played around 30 gigs with this guitar and no major problems to date (could I be tempting fate?).

I'm very impressed with the way this guitar stays in tune. I did have to apply some pencil lead to the nut to eliminate snagging with the E & B strings, but everything works smoothly now.

One slight niggle - every so often I have to raise the low E saddle. The saddle seems to 'sink' over a period of playing, presumably due to me resting my hand on the bridge during muting. My Squire had the same problem. Not a big deal, but annoying nonetheless.

Never used them.

Been playing for around 17 years with varying levels of diligence (I started when I was 10). I really ought to be much better than I am. I still enjoy it though which I suppose is the main thing.

I also own an Epiphone SG for humbucker sounds.

I would certainly buy another one of these guitars based on my experience to date. I might also check out the American series guitars. However, the price difference between the Mexican and American models would have to be justified for me to spend the extra cash.

Overall, a fine guitar for the money. Suitable for guitarists of all abilities.

More than brilliant quality guitar for for the price. Its got enough gadgets for me and does the job perfectly. Mine is mexican, 21 frets, Sunburst, rosewood fingerboard, 3 pickkups, 5 way selector switch, 2 tone knobs, one volume knob, bolt on neck, and has a standard tremolo bridge.
Cant fault the features of this guitar, the workmanship of all the gadgets is noticably well thought of. the standard strat isnt suplied with a case tho, it comes with a gig bag and allen keys and stuff for adjusting your action and intonation.

Has that awesome 'Strat' sound (especially on the bridge pickup)
This guitar is perfect as a guitar for covering most types of styles, but if u play it (especially on the middle or neck pickups) you can tell that this guitar wants to spill some Blues. I have it hooked up to a Marshall MG30DFX, Fab combination and spills out some expensive sounding notes!
I play METALLICA, Chilli Peppers, Nirvana and Guns and Roses, this guitar handles them fine but Shines especially if you hammer some Chilli pepper, Pink Floyd, Nirvana kind of tunes on it. Now for Distortion, STICK THE SWITCH ON THE BRIDGE PICKUP! if you like power chords that Roar with loads of Girth.
This guitar can easily S**t out a Thundering E5.
I wouldent say that the strat distortion will tear your ears off as good as a metal suited guitar tho, But this guitar does the job for heavy stuff. If u have the distortion on on the neck pickup tho, And u like Blues, You will never put this guitar down again!

This guitar was very well put together, The thing that stands out for me is the finish, Its like a F*****g Mirror! The fit is very well done too, the electrics seem solid on my strat, can sometimes have a slight buzz tho on a single selected pickup. Every thing has a quality feel, Smooth turning tone and volume knobs, secure and quality feeling pickup switch selecting, very durable tremolo bridge and very secure and tight machine heads.
One thing that fails tho is the tremolo arm grip, The turning motion on the arm does not get get stiffer as you screw it in the bridge, which is an annoyance when i want to grab it quickly during a fast solo, ive gotta reach down and try and grab it while its swingin about, so i tend not to use the tremolo arm often. Im sure that this is a rare fault as every other strat ive played dosent have this fault. But for craftmanship, This guitar rules!

This guitar is extremly durable, you could drop it 1000 times and it still wouldent give up. The finish is thick and tough, Ive never actually scratched it. This guitar would easily cope with live playing and is so reliable, id play without a backup.
This guitar is very dependable, Very rugged and very tough.
A Hard B*****d i must say.

Never dealt with them, Never had a problem.
These guitars are that tough, im wondering if there is customer suppport!
The guitar does come with a warranty, cant remember how long though.

Ive been playing for about 2 years now, I also own a Lorenzo flame series acoustic guitar. I got this guitar beacause of how good my mates Strat was, his is a Californian Fat Strat. Before i bought this guitar i compared it to getting a Gibson les Paul and an Epiphon Les paul But i couldnet ignore the Strat, I nearly went the further #300 and bought an American Strat but theres not anything about the American Strat worth spending the extra money on. There is a slight differene in the sound as it has different Pickups, and it has a slightly better sunburst Finish and denser(Darker) coloured Fretboard and Neck, thats about the only difference on the noticable factors. If this guitar was lost or stolen, i would definately get another one. I have This guitar roaring through a Marshall MG30DFX Amp, They get on so well together they probably F**k each other when im not looking. The next guitar i want will be one of the Kirk Hammet ESP models For some Neighbor Killin, Ear Tearin, Wall Shakin HEAVY METAL Riffs and SCREAMIN, ORGASMIC SOLOS!!!
I love my Stratocaster, I love its Sound, I love its looks And i love its Quality, If it was a Girl, Id F**k Her! I love My Strat!!!!

Standard made in Mexico Strat. Very nice sunburst finish. Nice feeling neck and frets.

I am pleasanly suprised with this axe. I quit playing strats many years ago because everyone in Pittsburgh was jumping on the SRV bandwagon. Recently I re-aquired Dire Straight's communique CD (I had it on vinyl back in the day) and it reminded how much I love that clean strat sound. I play with my thumb and fingers. I've also been checking out the new Scot Henderson CD, and he is amazing on a Strat. So anyway, I bought this Strat at Guitar Center and am pleasantly suprised, and in love all over again.

Set up nice with 0.009" - 0.042 gauge Fender Bullets. I will probably change to 010" gauge.

I wonder about the saddles. Will eventually upgrade to graphtechs, but so far - so good.

I've been playing a long time. I do R & B, soul, blues, reggae, and occasional roots rock. I am presently using a Reverend Hellhound 112 which sounds fabulous with this guitar. This Strat is fabulous for clean soul music and reggae. I really like how it sounds through a wah. My other guitar is a high end Hamer USA Artist Custom. I have to say that for some things this cheap Mexican Strat is cooler.

Made in Mexico.

21 frets.

1 volume and 2 tone.

3 single coil pickups.

Alder body and Maple neck.

Standard strat through body tremelo.

Maple fingerboard.

Gig bag included.

I play punk and blues and this guitar covers those punk strat sounds like alot of punk bands use. And its a strat, no duhh its a strat, its a blues machine.

I use a Pignose g40v tube amp and don't use any effects with this guitar. But it sounds wonderful.

The single coils are a little noisy, but not unbearable.

The bridge pickup has a really bright sound good for distortion but too bright for my clean taste. The mid and neck pickup are great for clean or that bassy distortion.

This guitar can make a wide variety of sounds. Its got that bluesy sounds on the mid and neck pickup but on the bridge its wonderful for distortion. But for you heavy metal people, this is not the guitar for you.

I love all the sounds. No dislikes.

The action was just how I like it when I bought it.

The pickups were adjusted fine for what I like.

I don't know if it will gig well, But will find out wednesday.

The hardware seems very strong and durable.

The finish seems pretty darn thick so I doubt it will scratch easily.

The strap buttons feel pretty solid to me.

I defenitely can depend on this guitar, its rock solid.

I would gig without a backup.

Never had any problems.

I have been playing 3 years and also own an Ovation Celebrity Deluxe c257, Dean Tonic FS, Yamaha FJ-junior, Pignose G40v tube amp, Rocktron r20, Boss HM-3, and a Danelectro hash browns flange pedal.

If this guitar was stolen I would go buy another one as soon as it was stolen.

I love the beatiful sound and looks. And I dont hate anything.

I compared this guitar to about 20 others, and this was the best sounding and playing in the price range. This guitar plays and sounds a lot better than some of the more expensive ones too.

I do wish the pickups were noiseless but oh well.

I reccomend this guitar to any strat lover without much money.

I'm guessing it's a 2003 MIM model since i bought it in march of 03. 21 frets, vintage frets, beautiful 3 tone sunburst, all the strat features that i know and love are avaliable in this guitar. maple neck, rosewood fingerboard.

The sound on this guitar is superb. Everything that i could ask for in a strat. from that signature quack to the hard neck picking sounds such that eric clapton uses. It covers a variety of sounds, from SRV to EC its great. I use a crate GX30 with it, and run it through a crybaby and then through a metal zone or a boss od 3 which suites this guitar much better than the metal zone, such that the strat is not a metal guitar. It is not particulary noisey i mean with the single coil u are going to get that hum from the pickups. the pickups have very rich and full sounds, and come off being very balanced. I use the neck pu the most and the harmonics seem to just jump off the strings. Its a strat it has the most variety of any guitar on the market. I went to the store and tried maybe 5 other mexico models, a american, and the jeff beck model. This guitar took the cake, it sounded as good or better than all the models i've listed.

i'd give it a 6 for factory set up it wasn't set up that well, the action and neck were all off and it was constantly out of tune, so i took it back and got it set up and its been beautiful ever since. I had the bridge blocked so its basically hard tail now and had the action adjusted to medium since i play hard. they also added 2 extra springs, it actually stays in tune better than a hard tail i think. i have 10s on it also, those sound great. It buzzes alittle bit, but i did alot of reasearch on why guitars buzz and what i could do to stop it, and strats are just going to be a pain in the ass when it comes to buzzing, the best thing to do is get it adjusted just right so that there is very little buzz. other than that this guitar is set up great.

i've only had it a few months but its a strat and they don't really die or go broke unless you f**k with them.

never dealt with customer support

i've been playing for about 6 years now. i own a epi explorer as well, i would definitely buy this guitar again if it were stolen its a great value for the money, its almost exactly like the American model and sounds better in my opinion. Thanks to NAFTA we have ourselves a nice deal on a great geetar. i love everything about it, its got all the characteristics of a great strat. the overall feel and the quickness of the neck is probably my favorite feature.

Alright kids, I'm addressing my Flame-o-Caster, which is an all-black Standard Stratocaster, with flames (Fender used a red dye to color the "flame" hues on the wood. Its been clearcoated.
Its a limited edition, and it was a fluke that it arrived at the guitar shop. I've nevr seen anything else like it, so i don't know very much about the guitar, other than what i figured out.
I'm guessing it was made around 2002-2003 in Mexico. its got 22 frets and its got that beautiful black flames top on it. (its not flamed maple, its the fire, flame, get it? Like if James Hetfield had a strat, he would have this one)
The flames run along the bottom of the guitar, on the headstock, and on the back. It's wicked.
Pickups are stock, pretty noisy, but they're decent. You'll live on stocks, unless you wanna go for Duncan Juniors.
I'm guessing here, but the guitar is probabaly alder, if not ash. (Well, through the flame, you can see a nice grain so, it could be ash...)
Tuners are probably the Pings, and on this particular model, their nice and very tght and dependable.
Nice vintage tremolo, though its a screw in, and I thought it would be a pop in, but its nice.
And i just got the guitar when i bought it.
its a very nice, beautiful axe.

The single coils don't have much depth to the sound, the bass on them is not that great. I was kinda disappointed, but they Are single coils. Pretty good, but their noisy. As much as that old 80's Charvel I used to have...
I play punk and hairmetal, and for heavier sound, this guitar isn't that great. You'll need hums for that. But for punk bands who use Strats, this guitars pretty much nails it.
I'm using it with my little 10 watt Marshall. (My punk rig people, those two and my beaten Yamaha Rg-420 D6 stickered like Chris Shifflets old Les Paul)
The pu's are noisy like stated above, on high settings. They feedback pretty loud too.
They're pretty powerful on the bright side, not too muc for lowness and darkness.
I just wish the singles had more tone and more depth, but they'll prolly get switched later to duncan single-spaced hums and maybe a single Alnico 2 pro.

Good action, well set-up. It was set to EB already, which was nice of them. The only problem was the fretwire, the first two frets aren't placed dep enough, so theres a tiny bit of space under them, but its really not problem. This thing is beast. I inspected it for a long while, especially after my cracked Charvel ordeal. Everything's nice, especially the tremolo, it doesn't put it out of tune. And I know, I normally tear up those Floyds and Kahlers.

I haven't gigged this yet, but its awesome. The hardware to the finish seems fit to last. the buttons are great, since I jump around and do Van Halen stunts! I can definitely depend on this, and if my band won't need the humhucker girth, I'll def. go without the RG.
This thing is my babe', and I'm sure it'll hold!

Na, never dealt with Fender. I hear stories from horrible to best, so... I neevr got a warranty actually, but the music store I dealt with was pretty cool about eevryhing, so...

Oh well, I hate the guys that say they've been playing for 50 years and crap like that, so I'll stay away from it. I've played eevrything from McCarty's to old 80s shred-monsters, to guitars who hate me(my Yamaha, but we have mutual understanding!), and this one is a great one. I would perhaps get a different neck (kinda fat for leads), but I can't replace the paint job on it! If it were lost or stolen, sigh, then someone must hate me outt here, and I have no idea where to even begin to look for another.
I love the finish, the dependability, its awesome.
I hate the way people disregard you because you play a Mexican Strat, those jerks...
And the pickups need some replacements one day. but all in all, this is awesome. I wish it had better pickups, a warranty, the Made in Mexico sign gone, and I wish I was owned the only one! But it is awesome, and I'll prolly always have it. Maybe put in a few mods or 7, but this guitar is #1! it Was a fantastic value. I feel bad for the kids who had to look at this, have no money and then buy a "normal" Strat! Not really, I laugh at all of you...(Kidding)

Stock pickups almost always suck, and these are no exception. The hardware sucks too, and if you replace the stock bridge, tuners and pickups, you'll be happier. Mexican or not I expected more from them, kinda shabby if you asked me... shame on you Fender! You'd never catch Gibson short changing. Even the bottom of the line gibsons are super quality and great craftsmanship. This guitar just lacks craftsmanship. I pick this guitar up, and it screams "production line", as opposed to one of my les pauls that feels special. This ain't a bad guitar, just not a great one. If you changed the stock tuners, bridge and pickups, it'll be a good guitar, but still not great. Like I said, it just doesn't feel special.

sounds like a strat. I put a duncan jb in the bridge position and the improvement was noticeable. The stock bridge pickup is to trebly and the tones controls aren't responsive enough.

I didn't like the way it was set up. Seemed amateurish.

this guitar sometimes feels like it'll fall apart? I guess I'm just used to the thickness of the les paul?

This is an ok guitar, maybe good, but NOT great. I don't hate it. I actually own two, and the older one sounds better and feels more quality? Anyway, I actually play this guitar a lot. It's always out of the case and lying around, mainly because I don't care if anything happens to it. Like I said, it's not a bad guitar. I'll actually go so far as to say that it may be the best in it's price zone. Maybe I'm being too critical? You do get what you pay for, remember that. That's why the american made strats are better.

Oh no, not another Stratocaster review. This one's a 2001 White, with the maple fretboard. The funny thing is, the Standards are suppose to be "Artic White", but mine looks like the "Olympic White", as seen on the more expensive models. The difference is, Artic White matches the pickguard, while Olympic White is more of a creme color. I think this is a Sam Ash exclusive. The funny thing is, the tag said Artic White. I think the employees at the local Sam Ash store are clueless...
Another point worth mentioning is that Fender went to Alder Bodies exclusively during the 2001 production year. As I bought mine in August '02, it is most likely Alder. I don't think this is a big deal, however, as most people think Poplar is a perfectly good tone wood. The fretwire is smallish, not like the Jumbo type so prevelant. Although the fretboard is about average width, the neck is very deep. I think fat necks give you more leverage; something you appreciate when you get older.

To me, it sounds alot like my '75 Hardtail. I think they're heavy on the Lows and Mids, and light on the highs, more ideal for lead guitar than rythmn IMHO. It's a simple as this; This sounds like a strat. If you like that sound, it sounds good. If you like Les Pauls, then why would you buy a strat. In other words, these pickups are very usable, but I'm sure there are better out there for $$$$.
BTW, I play through a SF Super Reverb that I bought new in '75, and practice with a Frontman 15R.

Setup was absolutely perfect. In fact, I was at the store checking out Amplifiers, and just picked this up because I 'd rather not handle expensive guitars that I don't intend to consider buying. It played so perfectly, with a nice fat neck. The action was perfect, very low, but you can still bend. I came back the next day and bought the guitar, not the amp. Well cut nut, and pickups adjusted well. I've heard that the Ensenada factory is state of the art, and this guitar would certainly not disprove that.

Seems to have better hardware than the various asian knockoffs. I love the tremelo. The guitar doesn't go out of tune, although the machines kind of seem cheap. How many tuning problems are actually caused by the machine turning? None....
I like the four bolt neck. The three bolt neck on my '75 always seemed like a weak point.

I really have never had to put this to the test.

I think that there are some guitars that stand apart. The Les Paul, Gibson 335, Telecaster, Epi Emperor, Stratocaster, and a few more really should not be compared to other guitars, rather they are Icons. BTW, these go for $150 to $250 on Ebay, and that is an outstanding value.

A very versatile instrument. I've seen them used for rock, country, blues... you name it. Nothing fancy about a Mexican Strat but it works. I bought it used at Guitar Center (it looked new) for $200.00 because my money was burning a hole in my wallet. I have top of the line music equipment including Mesa rack gear, various tube amps, Guild electrics, Martin acoustics... and just bought the strat on a whim. I gig regularly and play for a 3000+ member church.

If you can't make a Mexican Strat sound good, you best get rid of your $20.00 amp or head out for some music lessons. I was not at all surprised by the single coil noise. It is especially bad on the 1/3/5 settings (2 and four offer some hum cancelling). I was suprised by how versatile the sounds were. I liked this guitar so much that I sold it (for $200) and went out I paid the big bucks for an American model. I give it a ten not because it sounds better than my high-end equipment (it doesn't) but because it sounds soooo good for $200 bucks.

Better fit and finish than my American Strat(so I had the factory finish removed from my American and had a custom job put on it). This guitar is so prevelant and cheap, you could use it in Who fashion and bash it through your speakers at the end of your set. Really, this is a great little inexpensive guitar. It would not be at all difficult for a good musician to make this thing sound and look good.

I owned it only for four months. I had no problems in that period.

I wouldn't expect tremendous support on a $200 dollar guitar. Most folk who keep playing these things for any length of time so augment them that the factory probably would not touch it. fender does have all sorts of internet groups and the like (although the point appears to be to get you to buy more products).

A Mexican Strat is a decent instrument (I liked it enough to upgrade).

the features are all basically listed below, but it is a 1996 mexican made standard strat. maple neck, fingerboard, trem. bridge, all that stuff. I don't like the tuners. they are hard to turn, well, I just don't like 'em.the tremelo bride positively stinks. It goes completely out of tune, whether you use the tremelo, or not. another huge hassle is that I like to switch from dropped d tuning to standard, and what the bridge likes to do, is when I tune one string, all the other strings go sharp or flat, causing me to have to tune it relatively 6 times over again to get it so it sounds anywhere close to being right. I semi fixed this by taking the back cover plate off, and screwing those three screws tighter. Now I only have to tune about four times!(If you didn't catch on, that was sarcasm) oh, yeah, I knew to expect some hum from single coil pickups, but not hum that was louder than the playing itself. It also made this nice little rythmatic feedback. At one point in time, oh, wait, I still do, I have to keep something pulling up on the guitar cord, so that I could actually get a signal out of the guitar. I don't know, maybe the newer strats are better, but this one stinks. Oh yeah, uh, one last thing, buzzy notes and bad intonation, every where. this guitar was lucky to get a 5 for features. Though alot of this probably should go in another category, anyway, on to sound.

I play mainly rock. I like to fool around a little with overly effected, modulated sounds sometimes. The strat, after seeing hendrix, stevie ray vaughn, and countless other rock/blues players use the ever so famous stratocaster, one would think that it is a very good sounding and nice guitar. WRONG. Though this guitar sounds halfway good for the clean channel, distortion, right. Well then again it may just be that I've never heard the sound of it without a whole bunch of noise making me angry and frustrated and therefore just putting the guitar back in its place so I don't slam it on something and put its nice, sensative tremelo brige outta tune. the sound is not cool. Well maybe its just because this is a mexican made strat we're talking about here.

Hey, I think this one may be the highest rating I'll give the guitar. One of the few things I can't really complain about that much, is how sturdy the finish is. since 1996, There is only one small chip on the finish. the pickups were adgusted well. Um, alot of the stuff was adjusted nice, but after I bought it, it slowly got worse. now it is awful, And I have tried to fix it. I took it to the pawn shop once to see If I could get anything for it. And they offered me $100.00 for it. I regret not taking that offer so much. With a hundred bucks, I could have been that much closer to getting a nice guitar. OOPS, sorry fender.

um, lets see, yeah the guitar would withstand live playing, its a solid body. the hardware as said earlier is terrible. As far as using this on a gig, I would not use this on a gig, period. Note: I did say I wouldn't use it on a gig. I would possibly let it sit there and let people say, ooh a fender stratocaster. would I pick it up to play even once, no. I would not embarass myself to that degree. although I must say, I have never had any sort of problems with the strap buttons. One thing though, if I push forward on the neck at all, it detunes. not a very solid neck joint

never dealt with, but imagine they're not that great

Please do yourself a humongo favor and do not buy this guitar. buy a nice guitar. The cheapest model of samick available, brand new for 119 dollars is better than this thing.

1999 Mexican Standard Stratocaster with Alder body; standard stock PU's; four-bolt, one-piece maple neck and fretboard with 9 1/2" radius; Midnight Wine color. Has stock sting-through tremelo bridge, but I've put a sustain block in it since I never use the trem. It came with the standard tuning machines(which weren't that great hence the 8 rating), but I changed them out for the Sperzel locking tuners. If I remember correctly, the nut measures 1 11/16".

With the sustain block and the locking tuners this guitar has some damn good sustain. Eventually I will swap out the trem bridge for a hard tail, since Fender doesn't make a Standard with this option(that I know of, anyway). Fender has always been known for that Strat tone and this guitar is no exception, even with the stock PU's.

Speaking of the pickups, I really don't have any problem with them except for the bridge PU. It's a bit too bright for me, but then again I'm not a fan of "uber-twang". I play a wide variety of styles from blues, jazz, funk, rock, punk and "experimental" and this guitar can cover just about all of it, sans Jazz.

I really like the flatter fretboard radius since I prefer bending strings over the tremelo. Plus it just feels faster. I bought the guitar new, so I've had it a few years now and the grain is finally starting to open up a little more providing a warmer tone. I just put some Elixir strings on it and so far they seem to accent the tone nicely. I plan on changing out the PU's eventually, maybe Lace. I'll definately keep this guitar around for a long time.

The guitar came relatively well set-up from the factory. I had to raise the action quite a bit, but that was only because I play a lot of slide and have learned to adapt to high action. I'm not very familiar with setting up pickup height, but they seem to be fine considering I also put slightly thicker strings than what it came with. Intonation is pretty easy to hit with this guitar, too.

The finish is what I would expect from a Fender Strat... beautiful color!

Hey, it's a Strat... it's like my old '67 Ford Galaxy. I've knocked this thing into door jams, my amp, me... and it hardly goes out of tune. This could be helped by the tuners and sustain block, but even the finish is virtually flawless.

N/A

Overall, this thing is the jack of all trades for sound. It's a damn good bang-for-the-buck! If I had it to do all over again, I'd try really hard to find a hardtail. If it were stolen, I'd find the mutha and kick his ass with it! If it were lost, I'd kick my own ass for losing it... then I'd go by another one because it's just a rock solid investment. The *only* thing I don't care for is that the tremelo spring housing was not sealed in laquer and needs to be to avoid humidity damage over time. Other than that, it's solid.

Just a basic 3 single coil Standard made in Mexico. It's light blue with a rosewood f board, aged plastic parts and a pearl white pickguard ( I added after ). The tuning keys are Fender but they are great. I showed it to a friend of mine who has been playing longer than I've been alive and the first thing he said was, " wow you must have paid $1,000. for that." So the features don't look or feel cheap at all.

Now here's where so many people disagree. A lot of people buy these guitars and change the pickups to stacked or hum-canceling single coils...what's the point of that? I happen to love the sound that this brings, even with the hum. It may be too brittle, brite or too thin for some people but as for me, I love the old tone. I play this through a Fender Blues Jr. and it sounds great. I may change the pickups one day but I will take my time. I've read here of people who changed out the pickups only to find out that the originals sounded better.

It was set up ok and it doesn't really matter anyway for if you don't know how to set up your own guitar, well that's just sad. Everything is in place perfectly, I see no flaws. The only thing I don't like is the cheap control pots, they turn very easy and scratchy if you know what I mean. This really doesn't do anything to hurt the sound but it feels cheap. When I replaced the pickguard (for looks) I noticed that the wiring was actually better than I thought it would be. I am getting it rewired however, with a master volume, master tone and a blender control. Oh ya I changed the little string guide on the headstock to a nicer one.

This seems to be a pretty sturdy guitar. The finish looks like it will chip and scratch easily but who really cares, it'd probably look better all dinged up anyway.

Don't know but I hear they're cool.

I've been playin' for atleast 100 or so years and I'm 27...so that's a long time. Nah I'm teasin' but I did start when I was 12. Anyway I know you could care less. Well here's the great thing about Fender- They make every possible replacement part for strats so if there's something you don't like just change it. Like a car or something, you can totally customize it. I own an Ibanez RG550 and, other than pickups, getting parts for it is Hell. No one even knows this fender was made in Mexico. I do love it and at this price I will probably buy a couple more...well maybe one more.

Standard Mexi-Strat features; we all know the dope on this.

Killer. This is what every boy hopes for in a Strat; chime, sustain, clarity, and personality. I have been playing for 30+ years professionaly on and off, so when I say this axe is "primo" you can take it to the bank. I know Strats. I have 3, (now 4), and this one ranks with the best of them. I am amazed at this guitar's ability to compete with my American models considering it cost half as much. I put this Mexican on par with my favorites. It's voice is more clear than any of my guitars and is especially effective in a band environment. It has that beautiful unique quality of cutting through any mix without having to load up on the volume. This is something I have always had a problem with when using my Les Pauls and my other humbucker giutars. Humbucker guitars are great distorted, but don't really cut the mustard when played clean. To me, single coils are great in both arenas, clean or distorted (as long as you don't overdo the gain distortion-wise). One of the best things about this guitar and good Strats in general is that they retain thier lively colorful personality no matter what style or amp/effects you use. That cannot in my opinion can be said for humbucker guitars. Strats, in my humble opinion (to quote a phrase), are so much more versitile than say, Les Pauls. A good Strat can emulate a decent humbucker sound by simply dialing down the tone or volume. By the way, dialing down the volume on a Strat rolls off the high spectrum, while turning down the tone rolls off the highs and upper mids. Take note, these two controls are very useful, and available right at your fingertips! And what's awsome is that the character of your Strat is retained no matter how what you do with the tone or volume controls. It still sounds great. This can't be said for a humbucker, which almost always turns to mud when you roll down the controls. As for the pickups in this guitar, I can't complain; they sound great and like I would expect in a Strat. Here's a little known secret: a pickup, even the most expensive ones only cost the manufactuer about 5 bucks apiece at most. What you pay for is name recognition. The pickups in these guitars are as good as any out there. The only difference between these pickups and the ones Seymour Duncan puts out for Strats is that these are tuned specifially for a regular Strat sound, whereas the Duncans are tuned for the after-market whims of snobs. Take it from me a seasoned old fart, the best pickups for your Strat are the ones that came with the guitar.

Perfect, and as good as the best American Strat. Sure, I've tweaked the action some, but the neck pocket fit, flawless finish (sage metallic green), and satin stick-free neck left me totally satisfied. On the subject of finish, who gives a rats ass if this it poly and not laquer? The guitar sounds beautiful and immensly resonant with poly. Do I give a shit if it's poly? No, I am glad. The poly can actually be cleaned with normal everyday polish, whereas the laquer has to be cared for most delicately. My Les Pauls are a total pain in the ass to clean. They are easy to scratch, and the scratches don't come out. While I'm in this category, I'll say something on the touchy subject about quality of materials and origin of country. Guitar snobs love to harp on the American vs Everyone else way of building guitars. That is such a joke! As if Americans are the only ones who know how to put together a plank of wood and pickups! Pa-leese! This is not rocket science. The Mexicans and Asians are just as good as we are at copying vintage tone. Check it out for yourself, go down to your local music store and compare. I gaurantee you will find toneful guitars both American and foreign. Don't fall for that American only bullshit.

The key is to try out a bunch of them. And don't be embaressed to ask a more experienced friend for help. It takes years of experience to identify good guitar tone. There are both dogs and gems out there, your mission is to find a gem.

Here's a hint on identifying true sustain, which is probably the most important thing a guitar can have: if you strike a note (say the low E string), and the note swells in volume before it dies, you have sustain. Preferably the note should last for at least 20 seconds. If you don't get that, don't buy the guitar. You'll be fighting it for tone, and it will wear you out.

It's a Strat.

Dunno.

I think you can gather from the other categories my opinion of this guitar. I would just like to add that you MUST try out many guitars to find one that speaks to you. American guitars are not the be-all. There are plenty of dogs to go around from ANY maker. I am confident that if you look, you can find an excellent Mexi-caster which will rival in both tone and looks the best of the output from the American Fender Custom Shop. No shit.

I bought mine new in 1997. It's got a beautiful brownish, yellowish, sunburst finish, flawliss, 21 frets, older style smaller frets, good for my smaller hands. The edges are nicely filed, hardly a rough spot anywhere on the rosewood fretboard. The neck is slim and easy for me to get my hand around on. Boy, they did a nice job on this one. The thing stays in tune real well also, just needs a little tweeking to get it perfect. I got mine with a nice deluxe heavy padded gig bag that does the job well. It's a Strat, KINDA based on the first ones made in the mid to late 50's I guess. The pickups are H O T, hotter than my American Tele for sure. Whoa, what nice tones from this guitar and my Ampeg SS70C amp. I guess mine was made on Monday or would it be Friday?

I've had guitar playing buddies jam with it and they were impressed with the hot sounds from it. I usually use the neck pickup or a combination of neck and middle and it's wonderful. It's typical Strat in many ways. If you learn how work the tone knobs well and experiment with your amp settings you can dial in just about anything you want. My amp is solid state, but I can get a nice warm jazz tone with my guitar and amp if you set it just right. I play some blues, old time rock and a bit of country and this guitar can do it all.

Before I walked out of the store with this guitar, it was checked completly, The action was set just right, as were the pickups. The fit is perfect. Can't even get a piece of paper in the groove where neck meets body. Tight, real tight. It's got a beautiful sunburst finish. Can't ask for more. I guess the body wood is Poplar. It weighs just over 8 lbs, but Strats are well balanced guitars and comfortable to play standing up or sitting. Tuning pegs are good quality. I've never had any problems with switches or any other thing with this guitar. MIM is a real bargain for the quality guitar you can get.

I've taken this guitar on the road once, for a Idaho/Montana concert. Actually, a friend played it more than me, and he loved it so much, he used mine almost exclusively in the two night concert series. The hardware may not be the best, but it's good quality, and so far in 6 years, I've never had any problems with this guitar. I plan to put on the locking strap buttons someday, but for now what I've got is doing it's job. I can depend on it. I get it out of the bag, tune it up if needed, plug it in, and away I go. I am sure I could trust this guitar without a backup.

If I ever have trouble with this guitar, I'll take it to my guitar tech at my local guitar store. I still have that warranty paper/slip for it, but so far I've not had a problem with this guitar. It always works perfect. I've heard good and bad about calling Fender support for help.

I've been playing off and on since 1965. This is the 5th Fender guitar I've owned. I have an American Series Tele and a Guild D25. All three are quality guitars with no flaws. For a relatively inexpensive true Fender electric guitar, the Standard Strat meets my needs and the needs of a lot of other players as well. This guitar looks, sounds and feels wonderful. It's easy to play with a nice smooth fretboard, and the neck is kind of a modern oval, just right for my smaller hands.

Typical Stratocaster configuration. 2003 Brown Sunburst. Alder body. Maple neck and rosewood fretboard. Great Strat features so it gets a 10.

Very big surprise. Played on it for over an hour and was shocked. The stock pickups could one day be considered 2003 classics. A reissue would be in order. Very rich sounding and full of harmonics. Very out of the ordinary, but then again............I was playing it through a Fender Cyber Twin. I played it on the Concert Stack setting and it rocked. I played until I started to buy it. I had to stop myself. I didn't want to, but I have decided to go back and put it on layaway, ( I'm waiting to see where my finances are going ). Bitchin sound, great tone and no need to change the pickups out.

The guitar was definately worked on at the shop. Very low action and very easy playability. Everything was new so no telling how this one would hold up, but I've 4 Mexican made Strats and they hold up very well. This one should be no exception.

Never seen or heard of a bad Strat.

I played a few other Strats at the shop. A MIM 60's reissue Strat, MIM Standard Strat with a maple neck, MIM 50's reissue Strat and a nasty looking green MIM Standard Strat. This one is the best out of all of them. I really wanted a 60's reissue, but sound, tone and feel outweigh the asthetic features. It's basically the same damn guitar less the ultra vintage look. I am going to get it this Friday. Period.

Just a good old Stratocaster, a design that lasted almost 50 years. Mine is a 2002, Made in Mexico 2-color Sunburst, Alder body, maple neck and Rosewood fingerboard. The rest is Standard Strat stuff: Vintage trem, Sealed tuners, 5-way selector, volume and 2 tone controls, and 3 ceramic Fender single coil pups. Just a Strat, nothing more or less, just the way it should be. Simplicity has it's advantages. Although many people have opinions that "MIM" means subpar against the made in the USA guitars, this is very far from the truth. The quality of this Stratocaster, made in Baja California, Mexico is as well made as any axe made by any company period, not just American Fenders. I was very impressed by the quality here, and the finish of the guitar as well. Top notch stuff.

It sounds like a Strat, and this means like no other guitar. All the tones that you've heard on so many songs for 50 years are here. I play it through a Fender Blues Jr., along with a Boss BD-2 Blues Driver pedal. The pups, even though ceramic, offer up a very nice combo of familiar Strat sounds, but as usual positions 2 & 4 give you that sweet Strat feel that you just can't find anywhere else. Overdriving my BD-2 slightly, you can find those awesome tones from Clapton to SRV, and it's so luscious that you just don't want to put the guitar down. The ceramic pups are higher output than the alnico Fender ones that are offered on their higher end models. The neck and middle are pure Strat: jangly, sweet and tight. The bridge alone to me doesn't have enough punch, but still it's ok. That being said, I'm planning to swap out the stock pups for a set of Bill Lawrence 280s, which are noiseless and just have an incredible sound, and really give the guitar a sound that rivals Custom shop and American Deluxe Strats, at a fraction of the cost. I would also recommened to swap the strings to at the very least .10s, or even better .11s. The heavier guage strings really give the guitar new life, and with the new Lawrence pups will really make this axe something special.

As i mentioned above, I was very impressed with this axe from the start. The quality coming from the Mexican plant is top rate, and fit and finish was excellent. There are absolutley no flaws whatsoever. Everything from top to bottom was just right, from the tuners, to the pups and controls. The maple neck was fast and comfortable, as is the Rosewood fingerboard which had a very nice darker hue that rivalled American neck. Everything was was flush, no fret wire sticking out. The neck and body joints very perfectly aligned, and the body's 2-color Sunburst finish is absolutley gorgeous. The strings were perfectly aligned over the pups. Action was good out of the box, but i lowered just a bit, and also swapped the strings for .11s which make a world of differnce in tone. I also had the trem flush against the body, and put 5 springs into the trem block. I don't use the trem that much, since i prefer to bend alot. The extra springs add alot to the sustain of the guitar, and also aid in tuning. I can bend and bend, and this thing does NOT go out of tune!! Pretty amazing actually, and better than alot of hardtails i've played.

A Strat is a Strat. Built like a brick house, and meant to last. I don't foresee any problems, and with a little care and attention this guitar should last for many many years.

I called Fender customer support before buying this axe, just wondering about the body woods. I had heard that they had switched to Alder from Poplar, and just wanted confirmation. The people there were friendly, and answered my question quickly. And yes, they are Alder bodies.

I've been playing on and off for 25 years, and have owned and played mainly Gibson SG and LPs, and have owned a few Ibanez and Yamaha axes, along with a Godin. Never had a Strat, and decided it was time. Very impressed with the quality of this guitar, from top to bottom it's first rate. With a few little mods (swapping strings, and pups), at a very reasonable cost, this guitar rivals those costing 2 & 3 times more in sound, feel and quality. It's a Strat, so what's not to love. I'd buy another at a drop of a hat.

95 MIM, Maple board and black poplar body. Standard Strat, every one knows the drill

I play blues, and blues/rock. The Strat suits it perfect. Pickups have the usual single-coil hum. I use a SRV as my main Strat, and also use a Lonestar Fender to back it up. I was looking for a Maple fret-board strat with original sounding chimey p/us. [like the 57-62 re-issues. My SRV and Lonestar cover the hot mid-range. The Texas grind! This Maple board nails Hendrix with the melodic, bell like tones. The low end also has a nice clang to it. I went out heading for a US Highway with maple board. Or possible a used Amer. Stand. I played this MIM next to a Highway, I though the MIM sounded much better, especially in the bridge position. The neck on the MIM is flawless. No sharp fret ends [All the US-Highways WERE sharp,] The frets are leveled perfect, nice low action no buzzing. The guitar was seriously played by the previous owner. There is already wear starting in the pentonic positions. Nice look feel and vibe. Well I guess you could find a really good MIM Strat if you look. Mine is proof.

Really Really Good. My SRVand Lonestar don't have as good of action as my MIM. I bought it used so the body finish has some dings. But the way its painted is idendical to the US strats aside from the US Highway [laquer]. My beef is the Tuning Machines, in 95 they were using vin. style. [Now fender is using sealed as with there US Strats]. Its not that iits going out of tune easily. They just seem cheezy. The saddles are also a discontinued brand. Fender is back to vin. style. They haven't created a problem yet. But from other low line Fender's I've owned, I know they are suspect.

Its a Strat......You'll be hard pressed to find a more durable guitar.

N/A Used,

I haven't played a lot of these, so I don't know if they are inconsistant. This particular MIM has very, very good action, and sounds better than the US Series with the Delta=Tone P/u's. I've owned a few of those and always had to upgrade to P/U's This one I don't have to touch. A used MIM that don't need any tone-changes. I'm very happy with it. Only thing I've done to it is change the nine's over to 10.s and add a sping to the Trem. Also changed the String Tree over to US Stand. style. Very nice guitar!

Not sure what year it was made,Was made in Mex.22 vintage style frets I believe.Solid alder/poplar guitar(check fenders website).1 volume two tone controls.Three single coil pickups.satin midnight wine finish(looks really cool).Vintage fender synchronized bridge.basic fender tuners.25.5 inch scale length, 9.5 fingerboard radius.I didnt buy this guitar I just tried one out at steves music in Toronto.I must say that this guitar was actually a great guitar for $514 cdn.Those mexican standard strats are really great guitars.Especially for the price.The one I tried had a ONE peice maple neck(I hate to see 2-peice maple necks).With headstock truss rod adjustment.Im giving features a 7 cause I noticed that almost every review on HC is way to high,and cause it could have better features but I guess it wouldnt be so cheap ya know?.

I tried this guitar through a Cyber twin which sounded great.This guitar has pretty good tone for the price.I was doing squeals and all that metal shit on this cheap little guitar.Good sound Ill say that much.

The action on this guitar was REALLY LOW with no fretting out,it had .09's on it so that could be why.I personally dont like satin finishes on the neck/fingerboard of guitars,but the satin midnight wine finish was awsome(it looks great).I didnt see any flaws with this guitar but only played it for like 45 mins.Pickups were set at a good height.

Its a strat so Im guessing it is reliable and durable as most strats are.

??????

If I was looking to buy a guitar right now I would probobly try to get that guitar cause I really liked it.With a set of 10-46 strings and a good setup,some lace sensors this would be a great guitar.Im sure I t would be great even without the lace sensors but I dont like 60 cycle hum(which every strat has,some people dont mind it though).