Fender VG Stratocaster

Heh heh, first off, you should've warned us to have our puke bags ready when reading these reviews; for letting "Guitar Builder" say more about himself, than this guitar. Really dude, you are on NO discernible soapbox ('cept anal). Get some meds & a life...


Purchased a VG Sunburst with Maple Fretboard last week & am very impressed overall with everything about it, with the exception of a few small things.

The most glaring (literally) issue is that debacle of a fiber optic intense blue light some mental giant @ Roland no doubt chose to use for the battery life indicator. That thing must suck more juice than the active electronics themselves... Whoa!

Speaking of which, I've only gotten to last 3-4 hours MAX with fairly new Duracell rechargables, & NOT the 8-10 hours advertised. Would've loved an AC adapter for playing at home.

I'll have to research & make one; shouldn't be too difficult.

I do like all of it's different sounds. I've read all the reviews here & I honestly don't agree with those complaining about the choice of pickups. They're quite nice, & very quiet.

I tried it with several various Fender blues amps at the store & was very pleased with every result.

I ordered the Diaz modified Fender 64 Vibroverb reissue especially for this guitar, & if my hunch is correct, they will be an absolute dream team.

Everything here was spot on; no complaints, although I do miss the heavier glossy neck/fretboard finish Fender used to use. As they age, the patina from those finishes add brilliance to their antique tones.

I don't believe any 1k plus guitar should leave their factory w/o strap locks.

The finish seems rather thin, but this is incidental to me (until it ages at least 10 yrs)

Would I use it on a gig w/o a backup? Ya sure, if string breakage wasn't a potential issue with guitars.

Here's where Fender & Gibson drastically part ways. If you purchase any top of the line Gibson, it's warrantied for life. Any time you send it back to Gibson, they go over the whole thing for free. New gold plating, new finish where needed, etc. They baby you, the owner, & their own baby they made. Unbeatable.

Fender = 1 or 2 yr warranty. What's that?

All in all though, these are just the ramblings of an old man, & these points are quite incidental. Now, I just play the thing (fav P. Townsend quote).

Been pickin' 40+ yrs. I never have enjoyed owning a bunch of guitars, because when I have, I've always just zeroed in on one of them, & kept another at hand in case a string broke. There's just too much difference in playability between (even) great guitars for me to comfortably adjust to successfully (says more about me than the guitars, I know...)

My past two favs were the first active Les Paul (Artist) & a custom PRS (who btw, very successfully created both Fender & Humbucking sounds w/o active electronics - but admittedly are no comparison to the features on this guitar).

The Strat is my favorite guitar, & has been for around 10 yrs now. Nothing compares to the overall Fender sounds, playability & body style of a Strat.

Thank you Fender & Roland!

Every now and then a new guitar comes along that grabs my attention and gives me G.A.S. This past year I have purchased three nice guitars: 1) Fender American Deluxe V-Neck Strat, 2) Fender Highway One Tele, and 3) a Black VG Strat with maple fingerboard. Needless to say I have spent a small fortune but it has been a good year. Ironically, the VG cost me more than the V-Neck and Tele combined. I've had the VG now for two or three months and I feel like I have come to understand its strengths and weaknesses. Overall the VG is a great guitar compared to many others on the market but it isn't cheap and it isn't perfect either. Hopefully this review will convey that accurately.

OK....the VG is truly a mixed bag of outstanding features and mediocre tones:

The stock pups are nice. Nice single coil tones and output albeit with the inherent single coil buzz. Compared to my V-Neck's Samarium Cobalt Noiseless pups the VG's pups are average. The Samariums are probably the most versatile and good sounding noiseless single coil pups I've ever played. It is a shame that Fender couldn't have stuck them on the VG, especially considering the price tag. But the stock pups aren't bad, just not as awesome as the Samariums.

The modeled Ash Strat tones are more akin to the Samariums although they are slightly quieter volume-wise than the VG's regular pups. Not a big deal though. Obviously no hum or buzz. And they do sound excellent on every setting and they interact well with the volume and tone controls.

The Tele settings sound excellent as well. More volume and beef than the Ash Strat settings and definitely a little more throaty. I find I use the Tele settings a lot. Excellent clean, dirt, and high gain tones. Very versatile and toneful. Great taper on the volume and tone knobs with the Tele settings.

The Humbucker settings sound good although I haven't decided if they sound like ceramics, Alnico II's, Alnico V's, etc.. They compress nicely on high gain tones without going mushy or undefined. But I wouldn't put them in the same league as Gibson BurstBuckers or Classic 57's. They seem to have good tone but in a generic sort of way which is what Fender was going for anyway I think. Not bad but not boutique sounding either (not that Gibson's are boutique but I do love Classic 57's and BB's). Again, nice roll-off and interaction with the control knobs. Not bad but not stellar. Not sure that non-players would hear the difference but the difference is in the feel when playing. Still, for a jack-of-all-trades guitar they sound great.

The Acoustic settings are mediocre IMHO. Not sure if I'd ever use them. Definitely not for recording. Live use would be OK if going through an acoustic amp or a modeling amp that was using an acoustic setting, but honestly even that sounds like crap in most situations. The tone knob's "reverb amount" control is lame if you ask me. We're not talking about a good reverb sound or even a good "room" sound. Just kind of hokey and I would have rather had a normal tone knob control to mess with on the acoustic settings. Also, the acoustic settings are considerably quieter volume-wise than all of the other electric settings. This makes the acoustic settings even more difficult to use in a live situation if you ask me. Out of all the acoustic settings I probably like the dobro sounding one the best, but again it isn't great.

As per the alternate tunings, I like all of them except for the B-Tuning. The B-Tuning has annoying artifacts and phase issues if you try to play pinch harmonics, especially when using the Humbucker mode. I find that the Tele mode actually sounds the meanest when using the B-Tuning. Other than the B-tuning's artifacts, everything else tracks well and I don't notice any lag or latency which is surprising to me. The only time it feels like it is struggling to keep up is when playing really fast lead scales (650+ notes per minute), especially if you use a lot of pinch harmonics and squeals. But overall it is hard to hear that lag as a listener. Again it is more in the feel. I will say that it does handle chords of any kind without any issues whatsoever which helps make up for the speed and harmonics thing.

Past that the tones themselves (minus the acoustic stuff) are excellent and work well with all types of amp tones and they don't feel or sound digital or modeled or whatever. I'd give it a higher score than an 8 if it weren't for those acoustic tones.

Here's another area where this is a mixed bag. The reason I bought a VG with a maple fingerboard is because I tried a rosewood model first and the fingerboard felt mediocre and rough. So I ordered a maple and hoped for the best. All in all it is a good neck but not as nice as the V-Neck on my American Deluxe. I thought I would like the satin finish on the VG's neck but I like the tinted gloss finish on the V-neck much better. Again, the neck isn't bad but the frets didn't receive as much TLC as the V-neck. The V-Neck is simply amazing and very glassy and smooth on the fret job. The VG is more akin to what you'd find on the Highway One models. Not bad but not stellar. Same goes for the nut job. Until I put on Elixirs and some nut sauce, the strings were getting snagged in the nut. In my mind this is ridiculous considering the price tag of the VG. I'd say that you are paying a hefty sum for the Roland modeling electronics that is put on a Highway One level of instrument. Also, the tremolo is a threaded arm style. I hate threaded trem arms. I've ordered a replacement trem for the VG and plan on putting the much nicer/smoother American Deluxe trem with the pop-in arm. Also, the V-Neck has staggered locking tuning machines whereas the VG has standard staggered tuners. I plan on installing a set of locking tuners soon once I get the trem replaced. Also, no straplocks like the Deluxe? Dang. Again, considering the price tag I would have preferred more hardware bells and whistles like the Deluxe series.

Seems to be put together well. I haven't removed the Roland electronics cover since that will void the warranty. One major caveat is that this guitar eats batteries pretty quick. I only got four hours out of the factory batteries. I now have two sets of recharge-ables on hand at all times in case the blue light starts blinking. Also, if this guitar does decide to bite the dust, I'm betting that I'll be forced to send it back to Fender since the Roland portion of things will surely be beyond the scope of the average repair shop. Heck, Fender may at that point send it on to Roland. Wouldn't go without a back-up to a gig or recording session. Anything that requires batteries can only be trusted so far.

My only interaction with Fender has been the regional sales rep that comes to the local dealership every now and then. I happened to be in the store when he was first showing off the VG a few months back before it was available. He is a great guy and always seems interested in what players think about Fender's product line. He has always been nice to me and very professional. Based on my dealings with him I'd say Fender has it together.

Having nitpicked this guitar to death about its shortcomings I will say that this guitar still shines brightly compared to much of what is out on the market. It just seems darn expensive. It definitely isn't as amazing as my V-neck Deluxe but it definitely cost more. To me that is a major factor. Still, in spite of its faults I did buy it and I do enjoy playing it. I think I'll enjoy it even more once I hot rod it with a new trem and locking tuners (and maybe a set of Samariums?). I wish the neck was a tinted gloss but that is merely a preference thing (some people hate gloss finished on the neck). I think this guitar has a great deal of potential as an awesome standalone guitar (sans the modeling) with a few mods and tweaks, which is why I took the plunge in the first place. I bought the V-neck first and so my standard of what I expected was pretty high to begin with, otherwise I may never have known what I was missing between an American Deluxe and a Standard. If you want a jack-of-all-trades guitar and you don't mind a few minor issues then the VG is a great guitar. If you are expecting a Deluxe level of craftsmanship and components then you'd be better off buying a Deluxe or else be willing to swap out some parts and spend some more money hot rodding. But if you have money to spare and want one guitar to cover a lot more tonal ground (minus the issue with the pinch harmonics when using the B-tuning) then the VG may be what you are looking for. Just be sure to buy some extra batteries......

This is an honest, overall review for this VG strat. I bought in Sept. of 07. I am an Australian living in South Korea so it was very easy to find. It's the brown sunburst model with the maple neck {as it was the only version available at that time.]

The rest of the guitar descriptions has been mentioned many times in prevous reviews.

I must say I was impressed with the overall sound of all the various tones. I especially liked the Humbucker as well as the standard Strat. tone; I have not used the tele. too much and the 12 string not at all .. the tones were nice and round and sounded like a real humbucker and strat. in a live situation. Does the audience really give a s--t what type of model/make guitar your playing? As long as he band sounds nice, it's all good ! So in a nutshell, I would say it is a good sounding guitar well worth the features in a live situation.

No problems - came out of the shop well set up - I havn't messed with it yet; and no need to.

Too early to tell; so far so good.

No need for customer support from Fender as yet.

Well done Fender; there are only two things I would like to see change on this model.

1. The tunning feature - who uses DADGAD tuning anymore -I thought that went out of style in the 80's with Windham Hill and crystal healing. I would much rather see open E and A for slide instead of the DADGAD or dropped D tunings. I liked the open G why didn't you just add in the E and A ? As far as that low tunning, I can't see teenage metal-head bangers playing a strat. !

Also, I felt the price was too high; bring the price down about
$ 500.00 and it will be better value for money for the avg.income earner.

Feel free to contaact me at the email address below if you want further reviews. re: this strat. model. I know about the process of buying such an expensive guitar, it took me several months to decide as well and reading these reviews really helped so I am trying to do the same for other potential buyers.

2007 American made alder body in 3 color sunburst with maple neck, two-point floating bridge with tremolo,non-locking tuners, slim neck with American Series rounded edges, 22 fantastic medium jumbo frets, 3 American Series single coil alnico pickups with Roland VG circuitry that simulates a variety of Fender guitar models and tunings powered by 4 AA batteries. Loads of features. You have a great sounding American Series stratocaster and 37 different modeled sounds from the VG circuitry. Tone knob even acts as a reverb control for the 5 acoustic models. Hard to find fault with the range and breadth of features it offers.

I am a blues and jazz player who tends toward a more T-Bone, Duke Robillard thing. There's some latent Hendrix in my system and I like to let it loose every now and then. I'm also into a lot of country blues and love that ragged Fat Possum cotton patch sound of Junior Kimbrough.

I play through a stock 1964 Fender Princeton and use a Keeley Katana clean boost which also offers a little grit and tons of sustain. If you run any guitar through a solid amp. particularly a vintage tube amp, you'll end up enjoying what you hear. There's so much variety here and I find myself using so many of the different possibilities available.

This is a fantastic creative tool. If you're not into open tunings you will soon be with this instrument. If you've never tried that baritone sound, you'll soon be incorporating it into your music. This isn't a toy or a waste of your time, neither does it provide exact tonal replicas of noiseless strats, teles, humbucker Fenders, acoustics, 12 strings, etc. In many cases it has a sound unique to itself but very pleasing, particularly when paired with a great amp.

The only sounds I've found limiting and unusable are two of the acoustic tones. I love the dobro / resonator tone but the dreadnaughts lack a great deal and aren't even interesting to me on their own terms. I find it easy to dial in that classic T-Bone sound and I have a tremendous amount of fun with the modeled tele. The noiseless virtual strat tones sound great through my amp and pedal. In addition to the modeling you can still shape your sound with the tone knob and the fact that you can access a whammy for tele and humbucker tones as well as acoustic sounds...just cannot be beat.

Don't go into this looking for something to replace all your other guitars- although it can and it has done so for me- just go into it looking for an incredibly versatile axe that will give you so much more than and 5 position switch could ever give you. You'll never have this much fun playing a stratocaster or any guitar. Since you need no special cable, there's virtually no reason to worry about this guitar becoming obsolete. As long as they're making AA batteries you'll be fine. And the choice I made to pair it up with a vintage amp has paid great dividends.

I purchased this from a gentleman who gigs with a fantastic local tribute band and he treated it like a museum piece and had it set up perfectly. One flaw that I have to correct is that the backplate does not line up with the bridge for string replacement and some adjustments have to be made. I have no way of knowing if it came this way straight from Fender. American made quality in terms of polished frets, edges, etc.

I've been playing live with it for about a month now and...it's a strat! This thing is going to outlive me! I'm not using any kind of a backup. One of the great features of this guitar is that if your batteries give out and you have no replacements, you can simply play this as a regular old strat. It seems that Fender designed this with the everyday player in mind, both to have access to a range of instruments and a fail-safe.

I've been playing more years that I care to remember -some 30 plus- and am currently playing with an experienced jazz and worship group in a setting that includes a horn section, singers, drums, congas, keyboard/organ, and two bassists. We move through modal jazz, jazz blues, straight ahead jazz, gospel, and some reggae. I'm not some pretensious gold album player and playing guitar is not a career for me, more of a passion. I can play and I've played some fantastic instruments, including a few '50s strats in my time. I know a little bit about what I'm talking about but I'm not some a-hole who thinks that he knows everything there is to know about the instrument.

The VG Stratocaster provides me with the kind of variety that I need to stand out in different settings, and the ability to go from standard jazz voicings to uptown or urban or country blues, funk, reggae,...you name it. I love this thing!! I don't want to give everything a "10" but I'm being true to how I feel about this instrument and the versatility and range of sounds its brought into my playing.

The only thing I wish the VG Stratocaster had was an open E tuning or a lowered half step tuning which seem to me to be more useful to the everyday guitarist.

Finish on mine is black, which I live because so is my Les Paul Black Beauty and my Peavey Wolfgang Archtop. Won't go into all the features cause you can get them at Fender's website, but I am very impressed with all of them.

I just bought this guitar last night from a keyboard player that wanted to play guitar but never did, he bought it brand new 3 months ago for $1,699.99. I could not put it down, i have been pplaying it all day. I bought it for $1,000 and I must say that it is the best money I ever spent on a guitar. I own a 99 gibson les paul custom, a custom made carvin ds-135M, a peavey wolfgang, and a 89 charvel strat. I use to have a mexican strat but it was a real piece of junk so I was hesitant to buy another strat. But this one sounds amazing for me, I am hooked on this guitar now.

It was set up with .011's but I just changed to .009's because my left hand has a plate and screws in it and ever since the surgery I have needeed .009's. The action is just fine now, I really like how the guitar feels and it looks cool.

Just got it so nothing for here yet.

Same

I play in an 80's rock cover band and have a wide range of tones and guitars. Now life is so much easier.

It took me weeks to find just the right one: Sunburst tobacco colored body, rosewood fretboard, vg circuitry, but the waiting just made it all the more exciting when it finally arrived. The features are all explained very well in previous posts, but the features create the incredible versatility of this guitar. So definately a 10.

The Rolan pickup creates the possibility of strat, tele, humbucker, accoustic, twelve string, drop tuning, and on and on. The sound this guitar makes is just so much fun. Not only do you have a lot of choices of which tone to create, but the tones, I think, are excellent. Yes, I'm sure you can tell the difference between a real tele and this VG Strat by doing a side-by-side, A/B comparison, but that's not the test, is it? Can the audience tell the difference (or do they even care)? No. And does the versatility make the guitar fun to play? Yes. Isn't that the bottom line?

Fit and finish were and still are great. The action was too low, causing some buzzing, but that's why you the guitar set up before you take possession. The action is perfect now. And its a Fender Strat, so no worries about this category. The only reason I give it a "9" is because of the buzzing.

No problems yet, but I've had it for only 3 months.

Haven't had the need to contact them.

I've been playing since I was 10 years old, started out classical, owning several nylon string classicals. When I was about 25 I bought my first Gibson accoustic, and played that exclusively for, oh I dunno, 20 years! This VG Strat is my first electric, and I ask myself every day, "why didn't I get one of these sooner?" If I lost this I would have another within a few days. The biggest thing for me is the fun factor, because more than anything else, that means I can't wait to get home to play it at night. So I'm practicing regularly again. Anything that hightens your interest in playing is a good, good thing. I'm glad I spent weeks and weeks researching and playing guitars before settling on this one. Because its so versatile, I don't know that I'll ever need another guitar. Thanks, Fender.

Had the VG strat for a couple of months now. Sunburst with maple fingerboard. This is a very versatile guitar that I am pretty happy with. It came with a strap, cleaning cloth, picks, and cheap lead, in the Fender plastic moulded case. I originally thought about upgrading to a better case but decided not to bother, and managed to get the guitar back from Nashville to Perth, Australia, without any problems.

In terms of features you can't get much better than this guitar. Pure USA strat sound/function with all the extra guitar sims and alternate tunings, yet without needing any other equipment aside from your amp and a regular guitar lead. No special cords or break-out box required. And if your batteries run out (which they probably will) you always have the regular 3 single coil American strat sound to fall back on.

In general the sounds are pretty spot on. No guitar sim is ever going to be perfect, but this is pretty close, especially when playing in a band. I play lead guitar in our church worship band and for this style of music this guitar is perfect, since we are often jumping around a lot stylistically. The original strat sound is exactly what you'd expect - nice and bright tone. The modelled strat is good, noise free which is sweet, but lacks a bit of bite compared to the real thing. Tele and humbucking sounds also sound pretty close to the real thing and are very useful. I've used the HB sound a lot, but like others I wish they'd gone a bit closer to a fatter Les Paul sound instead of a Humbucking strat. The acoustic sounds are a mixed bag - there's a couple I doubt I would ever use live, but there's also a couple that are probably the best acoustic sims I have ever heard. I've used an acoustic simulator pedal and software sims before and have always found them to have a huge issue with noise and hiss - I would never use them live. These sims are quiet and spot on. In a live mix the average listener would find themselves wondering where the acoustic player is. I feel very comfortable using this as an alternative if we have no acoustic player or if we want a couple of acoustics for a particular song - saves me having to switch guitars.

Tunings : Drop-D is very useful - Ive found this very handy for some of the heavier songs. Enables me to retune in an instant, and the tracking is perfect. Sounds nice in concert with the HB strat model. Open G is good - sounds cool with the tele. DAGDAD and baritone I haven't really used a whole lot yet, but I can confirm again that the tuning is pretty spot on - use a tuner to check them out. 12 string is nice, added to the good acoustic models - best for arpeggios or soft strumming.

No complaints here. Plays beautifully straight out of the box. Depending on your taste, you may want to fit some heavier gauge strings

A great guitar for live playing - very versatile and reliable. Just be careful with the AA batteries. I find I'm going through a set a week. Rechargeables are definietly a worthwhile investment.

I'm sure as a strat it will stand the test of time, but as others have noted, we'll just have to see how the VG circuitry holds up.

I replaced the strap buttons with strap-locks - would have been better if these were fitted as standard, considering the price.

Never needed to contact Fender support, and never known anyone who has had to.

As I've said before I am very happy with this guitar. I've been playing since around 1990. My main guitar prior this this was an Epiphone Les Paul Custom. I also have a few other electrics and acoustics.

I had already decided to buy a Fender stratocaster when I heard about the VG, so the VG features are just a huge bonus on the guitar I was aready planning to get. I picked it up in Nashville on a trip to the USA recently for $US1699 which was a huge saving on the $4000+ RRP here in Australia. If it were stolen or lost I would definitely consider buying another one - plus it would give me an excuse to go back to nashville again ;)

A solid 10! Features are the name of the game with this guitar. There is obviously a degree of compromise with modeled sound but for the average Joe player doing a weekend gig this guitar is a God-send. For one thing, you can carry fewer guitars to a gig and secondly, you can switch during a song with the twist of a knob. I think that's the best feature IMO, the ability to play a (modeled) acoustic intro, then switch to any variety of electric sounds for the body of a song or the guitar solo.

As an earlier reviewer mentioned, this is a "Swiss Army Knife" of a guitar. A great tool kit for those of us without roadies.

This guitar does one thing VERY well and there areseveral other things it does OK at. It is GREAT at being a Strat, and that's a good thing. It does models of many other sounds and none of these are perfect but most of them are up to the task of the typical weekend gig.

I found the 12 string tuning surprisingly good and it can be combined with any of the modeled sounds so you can have an "acoustic" "12-string" or any of a number of electric guitar modeled sounds.

The humbucker model seemed a bit lacking likewise the acoustic sound model. Overall, I found all of the sounds usable but (predictably) the Strat & Tele models were the best.

Most new Fenders I've played have been solid, competent instruments with reasonable QC, fit and finish. There are, of course, individual exceptions. Play before you buy or buy online from a seller that offers a good return policy and you should be fine.

One thing I do not do is bash manufacturers for minor setup issues. Most manufacturers have a basline setup specification that is applied at the factory. Then they put the guitar in a box, ship it for hundreds or even thousands of miles in an unheated truck. I've taken new Fenders out of a box that were still in tune and I've taken other new Fenders out of the box that were unplayable. Setting up a Strat is a 30 - 60 minute proposition (provided that the frets are OK) so I don't see this as a big problem. I couple of truss rod adjustments, a bridge/intonation adjustment and you should be on your way.

American Strats are durable instruments by nature. The jury is still out on the VG circuitry but I have a lot of confidence in Roland's ability to manufacture reliable electronic equipment. Overall, I'm certain that this will prove to be durable and reliable to a fault. Nonetheless, I ALWAYS carry a second guitar when playing in public.

No experience with the VG but my overall impression of Fender's warranty service in poor. My local service center is great, but when they call Fender it all comes apart. I love ya Fender, but your warranty service needs to improve.

I'm an olde pro myself. I was playing the Battle Hymm of the Republic behind Lincoln when he gave the Gettysburg address. The first recording I ever made was on Edison's first machine. I don't play on Gold albums, that's for putz's. I do record at least three platinum albums a month however.

Not only was I raised in a viloin maker's shop, but I have also sequenced and memorized the DNA of every species of tonewood on earth and I KNOW A LOT about instruments. My dad actually beat up "Guitar Builder's" dad, and then he won the Revolutionary war single-handedly. Don't be fooled by cheap imitations that record gold albums, I'm the real thing baby and I say this Strat ROCKS!!!!!

Remeber boys and girls, don't drink and post. :-)

I took me a while to find the right combination: Tobacco sunburst body, rosewood fretboard, VC circuitry, but once I located one, and after waiting a few weeks for delivery, I've played it every day every since. "Features" is what this guitar is all about. I don't think I'll need another electric guitar. Ever.

The sound is just so versatile, from two (count 'em), two different Strat sounds, to Tele, to Humbucker, to acoustic, to twelve string. I also own a Line 6 Spider modeling amp. With these two items, I can duplicate just about any tone that I want. That was my goal when researching what to buy. Versatility, baby.

Fit and finish is awsome. Hey, its a Fender. The Action wasn't quite right (too low, lots of buzzing), but nothing a standard set up couldn't cure.

So far, its been rock solid. Understandable, since I've only had for 2 months.

I have not needed support.

I started out playing classical guitar at 10 years old, then I bought a Gibson accoustic when I was 25, and now at 45 I've bought my first electric. ('Bout time, huh?) I can't believe I didn't do this sooner, because I'm having the time of my life playing this thing. Wind Cries Mary, Lenny, LaGrange, Gimme Three Steps, Sunshine of My Love. All these great sounds are now available to me (where I didn't waste my time trying to learn them on an accoustic). At my pace, I won't need to buy another guitar until I'm 60. ;) But seriously, I don't think I'll NEED another guitar because this one is so damn versatile. Thanks, Fender.

An American Series Stratocaster with staggered alnico pickups and an amazing Roland pickup that provides emulation of a Fender Deluxe Strat with noiseless pups, telecaster, humbucker euipped strat - 2 humbuckers, 5 acoustic models from dreadnaught to dobro resonator, a 12 string guitar that can be used with strat or tele or humbucker modes, a baritone guitar, several altered tunings including dadgad and open g that can also be used in strat tele or humbucker or acoustic modes. All this and I'm probably leaving something out. 22 frets. Maple neck. Three color sunburst alder body. Roland electronics powered by 4 AA batteries. Normal alnico pickup strat still works when batteries die out. Nice slim neck with rounded edges as found on American Series models. A little heavier than your standard strat because of the roland electronics housed in the body. I got a nice tweed hardcase with plenty case candy.

There are so many sounds that can be generated by this instrument that it's hard to give the features anything less than a 10 but it does lack the open G tuning of Duane Allman as well as tuning down a half step, which might have been cool and could have fit on the dial or possibly replaced stuff like dropped D. No offense to the dropped D lovers!

I am a blues and jazz guy and I play a range of styles within thoswe two genres. Everything from bop to cool to modal to some limited fusion and rock oriented jazz. The versatility of this instrument allows me to craft new voices for each style. For blues I play everything from a down home fingerstyle to Chicago blues to T Bone and uptown blues. Again, the ability to shift between modes and tunings is invaluable. For straight ahead jazz the humbucker mode give me the mid range and low end body that a strat does not. Rolling back the tone knob really gets me there and I love this sound as much as I've loved the sound of any number of more traditional jazz guitars I've played. It's not the exact sound but is instead its own sound that in the end is excellent. For fingerstyle Lightnin Hopkins blues I go acoustic, sometimems dobro, and really get there. Three of the five acoustic sounds are really fantastic. For other blues I find myself ranging between tele, strat, and humbucker modes. Let's face it, this axe allows you to fully express yourself. The modes and tunings are so close to the real deal that the only people that I don't recommend t his guitar to are the tried and true vintage geeks.

But hear this vintage geeks...I am playing this through a 1964 Fender Princeton. The pairing of this guitar with a great vintage amp really dials in serious mojo. That's what may be unique about my review and perhaps most helpful. Don't just plug this into any old amp. The Hot Rod series will cut a lot of the dimensions of your sound. A serious blackface amp just makes this thing sing. As you know -and you don't have to play on gold records to know this- your amp is at least as imprpotant as your guitar and in most cases is even more important. With a great amp this guitar is an incredible value and anincredible winner.

Bought it used but the previous owner was a serious musician who knew how to take care of his instruments. No flaws. The 3 color sunburst is immaculate!

The guitar can well sand live playing. The 8 to 10 hours on nimh batteries is more than enough time. You do want to hold her close and baby her because of the electronics. Otherwise it seems as solid as youor average venerable strat.

I'm playing this through an all original 1964 Fender Princeton amp. The VG drips tone through this baby. Try this guitar through a great amp before you buy and you'll see what I mean. the reverb on the acoustic models just sounds so full of depth. Not for vintage snobs, but even vintage snobs playing it through a great vintage amp will find their hearts melted by this tone.

This is no toy. You'll find a real solid strat, a solid nosieless strat, a great tele, a fiine humbucker axe, a 12 strng, a baritone, 5 acoustics, and altered tunings all right there with the turn of a dial. This guitar is just incredible. You'll never have so much fun playing guitar. And the reaction you'll get from bandmates and audience members who know a little something about guitar is wonderful.

Forget about the naysayers. What you have hera is akin to having a wealth of stompboxes housed in your guitar. Haven't you ever thought of that?

I've been playing for more years that i want to admit and am fairly fluent in jazz and blues styles. The VG is incredible and produces incredibly credible sounds. Great sustain on modeled strat, tele, humbucker modes. Great depth and fullness for acoustics. The altered tunings will get you into altered tunings quick and provide tremendous flexbility. PLus you get to add a whammy bar to all of that!!!

If you like sound and you like to make noise, this is your guitar!! There's soooo much guitar here it's hard to describe and capture in words. Go try