Fender VG Stratocaster

American made modeling guitar that has been covered very well by many here. I have owned mine now for 6 months and have really grown to enjoy it. I have always played LPs or similar so I nneded to get used to the guitar. Mine is sunburst with rosewood fretboard.
Great neck and feel. Mine came out of the box set up just right, no finish flaws or issues.
I play in a cover band and this guitar is just right. Instead of hauling several guitars I just need this one. I do bring a backup, but more for peace of mind, never needed it yet.

I used LPs before and was never a Fender guy. So the humbucker setting took some getting used to. I liked the Tele and Strat right away. And bought this so I can also play acoustic or 12 string or...
One thing I have done is to change out the bridge pickup. I installed a Seymour Duncan 1/4 lb. Now if/when the batteries go dead (and it can happen fast if not watching) the normal strat has some bite to it. I'd guess a hotter set of pickups all around would be good, maybe the Tex Mex Fender makes.
I run mine through a solid state Crate GS150 combo with a JBL k120. The amp sound is huge and clean. Very defined. I use a Vox Valvetronix SE board. And that's it. The combo of the Vox board and the big clean defined amp gives me all the tonal variety I need in a cover band. Many players don't think much about what speakers they are using, but should. After adding the JBL, the whole rig came alive. I have other guitarists coming up asking what amp I'm using, etc. because it sounds so good.
The only change would be for more battery life (somehow) and the hotter set of pickups.

Mine had no problems. Everything was as it should be. Maybe later on, after Fender decided to stop production, did the later guitars have issues. Mine did not.

I do carry a backup (a PRS imported Tremonti with Duncan Antiquities, can't leave the humbuckers completely!) but haven't had to use it yet.
One comment said about the sticker causing the pickguard to peel? That is just the protective film Fender applied to the guard and the sticker pulls the edge. If you look closely you can see the film and peel it off if needed.
I would like to get mine "road worn". If Fender would allow sending it back to be aged. I like that vintage worn look.

Haven't needed warranty work. No idea.

I've been playing since 1966 (Freshman in HS) and off and on while the family/kids grew up. Got back into regular playing again about 8 years ago. My band gigs once a month average, and all local watering holes. Nothing fancy. I do have an electric 12, the PRS, a Guild d35 from '68, a '66 SG Special, and a '61 ES345. I don't carry any of those (except the PRS) to gigs anymore.
I had read the reviews beforehand so I was aware of the battery life issues, but that doesn't bother me as much.
I'd say you have to look at the whole picture on these and then make a decision. You do get a whole lot of features in one guitar. I wasn't looking for a perfect replacement for the others, since no one guitar can do everything just right, but this is close enough for me (and the people at the clubs we play at!).

Very nice hard case . will stop the guitar getting damaged on way to gigs , though not much room in compartment for anything bar strap.

If you play in a covers band and need a huge range of tones , then this is the Strat for you. worth it's weight in gold for the tuning's alone , which are totally amazing.

Came out of the factory in first class set up condition.

It's an immense guitar ,the modelled sounds are good ,the tunings are amazing. Get a decent set of rechrgeable's (2700ma) They'll last a full gig and beyond no problem.
Like any other Strat you break strings , so you choose whether you need a back up or not.

You can't register this guitar online in the UK with Fender.

Been playing 20 odd years and have owned many guitars . This guitar works really well for me live, and has the nicest neck i've ever seen on any Strat. If it were stolen , i would find the person that stole it and make sue he never stole another guitar again.
There's not anything to hate about this guitar , (though my drummer will tell you the blue led is too bright !)
I can't reccomend it highly enough.Its a Standard USA model with an awful lot of very useful extra's.

I bought a VG back in February and wanted to wait a bit before I did a review here. In a nutshell, this is what I have found:

The features I like the most about the VG Strat are the feel of the neck, the ease at which I can change tunings, the fact that the guitar - even with a trem and with the std springs - stays in tune.

The features of this guitar that I dont like and really get in the way are the batteries/battery case, the blue laser beam LED, the case, and the finish on the guitar. I have a black & white pickguard model with a maple neck and there are glue joint flaws that you can see on the front and back of the body of this guitar. Also - the pickup sticker glue has eaten into the pickguard which I guess gives the VG an instant relic appearance.

The std pickups are American Std issues - the bridge is fine but the neck is a bit lackluster to me. On the VG pickup, I like most of the settings as modeled effects and the strat and tele settings record well in most of the keys except baritone. The 12 string setting tracks nicely as a doubling lead setting - and works well with the strat and with some of the acoustic settings. THree of the acoustic settings are fine - the other two are worthless - too boomy and muddy. Overall, I like the fact that the models are relatively noisefree except the humbucker - which needs to be dialed back volume wise. I also dont like the fact that you cant change models with creating a break in the signal - the signal goes live-dead-live when you rotate the model knob or the pickup selector for the acoustic models.

Action with the 09's is buttery - nicest part of the guitar.

Paint prep is shoddy - you can see glue joints and a lack of sanding on the front of the body.

Intonation is great - much better than the setups I got out of the box on my Gibsons. And this guitar, as opposed to the Gibsons - stays in tune.

Reliability - as long as you want to play it as an american strat, its bomb proof.

But in VG modeling land, this thing currently sucks wind. With Duracell 2750Ma rechargeables I only get 1.5 hrs per 4 batteries. With EverReady Lithium batteries,. I get about 4 hrs - which is great, but at $9.00 per 4/ it gets expensive and I feel like my guitar is building up a battery dependant addiction.

Fender needs to ship this with an extra battery case and coupons for the major battery manufacturers. They should explore a charger that will accept the battery holder as well, as its a hassle to keep the rechargeables together and charged before a gig.

I bought the guitar because it offered me the ability to take fewer guitars to a gig. It does do that, but now I have to worry about AA battery sourcing as well.

I have received a healthy amount of pushback from the Fender dealer in terms of getting the pickguard replaced due to the sticker glue eating through the finish on the guitar.

I would replace this if lost - its a great guitar with a few improvements needed:
1. Ship this with extra battery case
2. Reduce output of the blue laser beam LCD - it blinds people and I wonder how much power it consumes which adds to the battery longevity issue.
3. Allow the alt tunings to be updated. Who the heck suggested DADGAD? Drop D - great. Open G - awesome. 12 String - not a tuning but understand why they did it that way - great. Baritone and DADGAD? Gag. They need Eb and Open E to make this usable. I hope Fender or someone else will offer patches for this guitar.
4. Get a real case - please. My black plastic POS has to be squeezed to be closed, which makes me think its putting pressure on the neck. The latches suck and have sharp edges. This is a 1700 dollar guitar - what about a tweed or black tolex rectangle case? At least you could put your strap in the case - in this one, there is no room to.

I have owned this guitar just over a month and have got rid of the "new guitar" rush. Initially I was opposed to modelling guitars and it was only after playing one "up close and personal" that I decided to buy. That and the fact Fender discontinued it and the price collapsed!
The guitar has been described in great detail on these pages so I don't intend to repeat what has been said. Mine is a sunburst model with a rosewood fingerboard. It has one volume, one tone and two other controls for the electrickery. As my original Strat was purchased new in 1983 and only has one tone control I have had absolutely no problem adapting to this one.
I'm not sure I like the little blue light but it does flash if the battery is low and the guitar does function as a standard American Strat without batteries (with one tone control!)
The guitar has loads of features so I can't give it less than a "10"

I play all styles of music and of course a Strat is comfortable with most. The band I play in is a country rock band so I was playing a Fender Strat and Telecaster already. I also gigged with a Danelectro 12 string and a Takamine electro acoustic. This guitar, in one fell swoop has meant that I don't need to take anything else to a gig. I take an AER acoustic amp as well as my Fender Blues junior. I do take my 1983 Strat with me as a back up (in case a string breaks or other calamity!)but I don't really need to.
Initially I was concerned that the standard sound was a little less pleasant than my current strat but that was just prejudice. Certainly gigging the new one sounds absolutely fine.

The modelled strat sound is a bit weak I think. However, I am told that you get less "interference" from those dodgy lights and electronic games that populate the pubs I ususually play in. I haven't had the chance to find out yet.

The telecaster tone is pretty good I think. Certainly for live work. I demonstrate it to people by switching to open G and playing some Keith Richards riffs like "Start me up" which sound great on the guitar.

I am unconvinced by the humbucker but at least you get a beefier tone should you want it. No match for a Les Paul of course but I don't think it claims to be! I haven't used it live at all.

The acoustic tone is wonderful. I have an "A&B" box that directs the signal from electric to acoustc amp and it works really well. Confusing for some audience members but a conversation point afterwards. I am sure you could record with this option but I do prefer the response of a real acoustic. However it does save humping an acoustic guitar around to gigs. I am not really sure about the resonator or if there is a "nylon" sound there. There are however two convincing acoustic tones there.

I like having drop D so easily available and also open G. The action is a little too low for slide but we have a pedal steel player in the band!! DADGAD I would never use.........can't get my head around it but baritone in a country band is really feasible.

The 12 string setting, in my case I prefer it with a telecaster setting, is exactly what I was looking for with an on stage electric 12 string sound. That was the deal clincher for me. It isn't identifiable like a Ricky or Dano but it is good enough.

I am not sure if the guitar is less noisy on modelled mode than not. Must check up!!

It was poorly set up when I bought it. But there are plenty of tools and a reasonable manual to help get it right. I got mine done professionally though! (coward)

It is really well made and my only gripe is getting the polythene off the controls...........I can't.

I think the Mode and Tuning controls feel very flimsy and I will be interested to see how they stand up to longer use.

I have no doubt this guitar will handle long term live gigging. I have a slight concern about the robustness of the mode and tuning controls but everything else is Fender standard which is the bench mark!

I think it is dependable and could be used without back up. I only use a back up in case of broken strings. (I play with 10's)

Never needed it so can't comment

I have been playing since the late 1960's. I have about 20 guitars, electric and acoustic, all of them coverted by others! I bought it as a gigging guitar so that at gigs I wasn't fretting about where to put all the guitar cases! Also the space taken when transporting them and the "chew" of changing guitars betwen numbers.

It isn't a "dream machine". It does an awful lot of things very very well and as a gigging musician I love it. I particularly like the default position of it being a really good, standard strat if the electrics fail although I have no reason, other than battery life, to believe they will!. If I wasn't gigging I wouldn't have bought it. If it was lost I would want another as long as I keep gigging.

The manual is very good.

This is the most feature laiden guitar of all time, but it based on a really good American Strat. The features are well documented in other evals. I think though, for a guitar of this price, at least the original price, it should have been equipped with locking tuners, LSR roller nut, and better natural pickups.

The VG Strat is a misunderstood guitar in the sense that it models guitars. When you apply the model for the guitar, you get many of the inherent qualities that are with that guitar being modeled. For example, when you model an acoustic, you need to treat the signal like it is an acoustic guitar. I'll set the stage for the rest of the eval (and be a little out of sequence here, sorry HC), this is my effects chain:

VG Strat -> compression-> wah -> modulation effects -> Boss Amp Factory -> EQ -> Delay -> reverb -> pair of KC350 keyboard amps

I can get seriously fantastic tone out of the rig.

The acoustic models are creapy they are so good. (with only compression and some reverb going straight to house/keyboard amps). You could seriously walk into a venue and plug the VG Strat directly into a house system, set the guitar to acoustic and get great tone. no effects no amps. Your audience could get confused as to the tone vs. what they are seeing (this is funny but could be bad)

The Tele model lacks a little bite, but is a pretty good Tele. It is not a serious lack of tele tone, just dulled a little...like a Tele with older strings.

The Strat model is good.

The Humbucker model is also good. Very good as a matter of fact. But is not a LES PAUL model, it is a model what could be called a super strat.

The alternate tunings all are good too. Some of them (12 string humbucker) is a bit creative, but useable.

This is an American Strat...top notch all the way. Mine came off a showroom floor during close out (more on that later). The neck is amazing in feel!!! The body of Strats is just simply the most comfortable guitar to hold sitting or standing.

That said, the tape that covered the pickguard left a nasty residue all over the whith pickguard that I had to clean off. I've bought new Fenders before and have yet to see why they make the pickguard tape extend under the knobs. What a pain.

Fender and Roland make great gear and I anticipate very little problems.

I do not anticpate ever needing it.

I write this review just after GM announced that it is closing Pontiac, but keeping Buick open. In my neighborhood, there alot of Pontiacs, but maybe one Buick. Brain Dead corporate decision.

Fender just announced the MD (Manufacturer Discontinue) of the VG Strat. ANOTHER Brain Dead corporate decision. There could be some areas of improvement to address with the VG Strat (price points for one, battery life for another), but it deserves a longer run than this.

I watched the VG Strat as soon as it was out, tried it out EVERY TIME I saw one. It was a great guitar but it was too expensive. At closeout, it came down to a decent, not great, but decent price of $999. I grabbed while I could. I did not get the color I wanted but I got the maple neck so that was what mattered to me.

I'm hanging onto mine...its a keeper...

US made VG Strat, black with Maple Neck, American Strat with integrated -Easy to Use- Guitar Synthesizer, features like described,
modern Tremolo System, the frets a medium sized, no Jumbos, but all in all a nicely playable Neck. Case, strap, cable, humidifier...all there ...

The Analog Section : a good sounding Stratocaster Guitar,
bright Sounds, not too loud, good Middle positions, nice Twang at Treble Position, good Strat Power with Distortion.

I used a Fender 1980 Vibrolux Silverface, with MXR Dyna Comp, Ernie Ball Volume Pedal, Mesa Boogie Preamp, Boss DD6.

The Digital Section : the Strat sounds in all positions close to a Strat, the Tele does not have the Punch of the Telecasters that I know and the Humbucker helps when you crank it up,
but : the Acoustic Settings are not usable when you play it through a Guitar Amp.
If you play an Ovation or a Dobro through a Fender or Marshall, it doesnt make much sense either....
So.. it s nice to have the 12 string, and the different Acoustic Models, specially in a TOP 40 Situation. Playing alone, it is ok, but within the Band Sound, it doesn t come through.

The Tunings : I really dig the G Open Tuning. It s a great Feature to have it so fast at hand. Great for STONES Songs and Slide...
I would wish to have an OPEN D and OPEN E Tuning too, instead of the DADGAD, DROP D and the BARITONE ( Latency too long)

Factory Setup very nice,
I had to make some Easy Adjustments according to my personal Playing Style. Tuning pretty OK. Everything works out of the Case. Flawless...

Had it for 4 Days, practised with it and played it LIVE on 2 Gigs,
playing all Kinds of ****, TOP 40, Oldies, Rock Classics.
It is a step in right direction, I prefer the Analog Sound and the Dynamic of an Electric Guitar.
The Tuning Section is improvable, the Acoustic Sounds are cool as a Gimmick, but On Stage I need a Real Guitar.
Anyway, I m just speaking for myself, there may be Performers that that welcome the VG Strat as the Tool of the Decade.

This is a wonderful Strat. I have owned well over 20 guitars and have been playing for over 30 years. I have owned 4 previous Fenders, and this one beats them all! The finish is perfect and the strings stay in perfect tune. Intonation was a tad off but that is easy to fix. Neck is fast and smooth. I have the maple neck.

Despite what others may say, the acoustic sounds are excellent for recording. The 12 string is fair and the reso is almost fair. As for the strat/tele/les paul sounds, they are all spot on! This guitar really sings with the alternate tunings as well. The natural strat sound is not as wonderful as my other strat, but it is close enough for me.

Like I said, the intonation was a bit off but easily fixed. The set up was fantastic and the finish is perfect! This is my favorite guitar to look at, show off, and to play.

This is an American Made Guitar!!!! Enough said

No need yet so I have no opinion yet

After over 30 years of playing, I have finally found a guitar that is as flexible a guitar that I will ever need. The Roland VG pick up is wonderful and the sounds this guitar can make are incredible. Had I paid the normal retail price of $1700, I would give it a 7 on the value scale, but I only paid $870 brand new from Musicians Friend so I give it a 10. If it were stolen, I would get another so long as I can work the pricing out again!

Mine is a 2007 model. Everyones gone thru the features already so I won't bother. You know what they are. Most features I`ve seen onboard a guitar.

In `N` mode, its your good old american strat. The strat mode sounds nice, slightly different than the real sound of the guitar, and the tele gets pretty damn close (Used to own an `05 american). The humbucker mode is a great feature to have and it sounds pretty good however its not very well balanced with the other modes (this means a slight eq adjustment at times). Now the I`m glad they tried acoustic modes, but the resonator mode IMO is god awful. The dreadnoughts are ok but hey, this is the best acoustic sim. ive ever heard. The tunings are quite something else. My only complaint about the tunings, is that at times, in the 12 string mode, if you do not hit the a string hard enough it will produce a flat, bad sounding note though it quickly recovers, and sometimes in the baritone (actually more often than not) the real note of the string will bleed through, i found this to be quite annoying but I`m not a fan of baritones so it doesnt bother me too much. I play every style of music except country folk and flamenco. Thats why I got this guitar and it does the job very well. for that it get a solid 9 despite the few drawbacks it does have.

American stratocaster, what more can I say. Just wished fender would make alternative pickguards other than the white one it comes with, but making a new one shouldnt be a problem, but I`ll explain my experience with fender later.

Once again, fender, what more can I say. Their warranties certanly arent reliable, but their product is, for that i give it a 9

I asked fender about changing the pickguard, they were somewhat helpful. I asked if there was a way to change the pickguard without voiding the warranty on the roland electronics. They said no and that they do not make replacement pickguard for the VG strat. OK. So I also asked for a to scale diagram of the pickguard so that I could have one made. The sent me a Fender logo pic... Fast response, but then again its the quality of it that matters. Like i mentioned earlier, fenders products are great their warranties, crap. Same goes here. But i appreciate a quick response so I will give a GENEROUS 6

Basically, Im very satisfied with the guitar itself, not its manufacturer, plain and simple. If it were stolen, i qould cry cuz i`d have to lug multiple guitars to gigs, but then i`d get over it and steal it back :). I knew I wanted one from the first time I tried one in a music store. I was sold.

I've been a professional guitarist for over 30 years and have owned well over 100 guitars. The Vg strat is a good idea with one major flaw. The good thing is it is a nice feeling strat that stays in tune well. It has a set of average Fender strat modern single coils that work OK. The main selling feature is that it has Roland VG guitar modeling built onboard the guitar giving you access to strat, tele, Les Paul, and a variety of acoustic sounds that can all be transposed to either drop D tuning, DADGAD, Baritone or 12 string tuning with the switch of a couple of knobs. Pretty cool huh? The problem is that all of the sounds on this guitar are very MICROPHONIC. this means when you touch the pickgaurd or the body of the guitar with anything (your pick or your fingers) you will hear a loud clicking or knocking sound. More importantly the guitar will SQUEAL FEEDBACK WEN PLAYED AT AN AVERAGE GIG VOLUME WITH SOME DRIVE OR DISTORTION. This is not the good kind of feedback it is the kind that happens when the song is over and your VG Strat keeps skeetching and squealing notes that were not even in the song you just played until you turn the guitar volume off.

The normal Strat sounds are nothing to write home about. The VG sounds are very useful if you do work that requires a large variety of sounds. I have used it on the TV talk show that I play on, Don Francisco Presenta, and have used it on some shows where I played in a pit orchestra, and it is very effective in that setting. These are situations that do not require me to play at a very high volume and I could be called on to play in a very wide variety of styles and sounds. The VG will take me where I need to be whether I need to play pop, jazz. rock, country, or whatever. I have even used the acoustic settings to emulate the sound of some ethnic instruments such as the cuban Tres, the greek bazouki or the mexican Bajo Sexo by using the 12 string settings. Great stuff, but it squeals feedback if you play a lead at a normal club gig volume. Such a shame!

It plays great and stays in tune, thats all I care about.

If you have on get rechargeable Energizer AA batteries, they will get you through a 5 hour long gig if you start with a fresh charge. Charging the batteries is a pain in the *** though, I will admit. It never broke.

When I called Fenders artist relations the guy said "microphonic feedback, what is that?" That is kind of pathetic.

Great Idea, but till the feedback issue is solved you should not buy one of these guitars. I'm very surprised no other reviews have addressed this issue. To me it is the deal breaker for a person considering buying one of these guitars, and is really the only flaw in this guitars design.

Tele Sound, and Humbucker is incredible.

modeled strat very good.............standard strat sound average

why they put a 12 string sound on this confuses me.

Finish is great, but the finish on the rosewood neck is not good.


This guitar is amazing, but I am going to have the neck replaced. The actions is great.

I will give it a ten because of the sounds you get....awesome guitar

Bought on a whim' from a guy on e-bay who imported it and then did'nt want it. Blizzard-pearl finish ltd.(much nicer than standard) all the listed prev. features,nice case. Will change the cheapo-trem before useing for a GFS-solid block replacement one (they rock).Also locking heads at some point. Black-marks to F' for not fitting T-O-Range bits as standard at the sale price.

Sound is not bad, will improve with new bits, don't rate the acoustic sim's or the H/b's a patch on my Variax custom.At least you can customise these on the p.c. unlike the Vg. It is quite light and nice to play.I may re-wire it and fit a kill-switch for the batt. circuit,also put in a dc-socket to power it from a transformer to save changing batt's.Even though I have yet to play on a gold-disc (silver only so far)I can do my own guitar building.And my dad could not even spell violin let alone make one.

Apart from the mentioned cheapy bits, the guitar is a Honey'.Well built
and very pretty.

It will last until I tire of it, then will go.

no idea.

Got it new and cheap so a welcome addition to my collection, It's a strat nuff said

It obvious it has heaps of features! that why it sells.mine was made in 2006 according to the neck, and i got it in April 2007 , i had mine pre ordered so was one of the first one to get it, mine is the black -rosewood fretboard model .its basically feels like a std us strat +all the extras...

I am pretty much a newcomer to guitar but i have had say 50 strats,20 les pauls,heaps of rickenbackers ettc and this guitar just sounds sweet on my mesa boogie mark 1c reissue or my subway rocked or even my pro junior!i do like all the modes the humbucker mode lacks credibility to me.and in the Acoustic mode the five ways switch changes the acoustic sound as opposed to pick up position in other tuning modes.

my black VG had a bump on the bottom from the factory,the rosewood fretboard shrunk and left a step mark on both sides, the action is perfect!on the 3 colour sunburst the back is BLACK not the same colour as the front.!the black is simple , unlike new strats the fretboard isnt polished,the neck finish isnt that great and i also like it tinted.

basically there isnt any reason why it shouldnt last as a normal strat, but i have opened the back for good measure and there is an electronic unit that looks like a hard drive with wires coming out of it everywhere.if the electronic were to fail i bet you it would be super cheap and easy to fix??????Battery life sux hard.The hardware is somewhat different then on the new 2008 strats.the saddles differ and the original moulded case just really wasnt good enough , the new case are really nice and offer more room.The little spring under the whammy bar was lost on its first outing!!

I bought mine in the usa and brought it back to Australia so no warranty whatsoever here!here they sell for 4000 and i paid 1500.00
I did send an email to Fender who replied promptly to let me know that warranty did not cover the fretboard shrinkage as it made of organic matter.perhaps driying fretboard a little more or matching wood with same humidity contents would help?? the service person also told me that it was an easy fix..perhaps in America but in australia home of the dodgy who can you trust??

i have been playing for 2 years it al started when a friend asked me to Sell a guitar on ebay for him then my interest grew and i bought lots of them to try em out and resell them. currently i have 1 blizzard pearl strat,one les paul std 60 neck,1 gibson reverse vee,1 jaguar bass a vg strat black rosewood a rickenbacker 650 c,a ricky 4003 jetglo etc etc.....one of my friend is a pro player and tells me to sell my VG as they are starting to drop in price -I wont cause its easy and i love it.

I had it for about 7 months and we all know the features although I didn't know about the different acoustic models. Pretty cool. It has a ton of features but not too many to be hard to use

I can understand the people who don't like for 2 reasons: Most of them are audiophiles and 2- the amp and volume make a huge difference. For example, I didn't think much of the modeled Strat but I was always playing at home at low volumes. One day I decided to test it out and cranked it with my DOD distortion and was very impressed. The Humbucker was even more awesome with great sustain. The 12 string will fool anyone at a club as will the regular acoustic. With a little experimenting with [pick up selection, tone and the different modes) you can get some incredible sound. I daresay, this guitar will give you some sweet tones that you could never get with another guitar if you spend a little time playing with it. I had to give it a 9 to be perfectly honest because nothing can sound like an acoustic guitar or a tele unless it's actually one of those. But if you can't afford 3 or 4 guitars this is the only "one guitar" set up to own.

Had to have it professionally set up. Action is great. One small issue I have is placement of the volume knob. For some reason I tend to hit it and lower the volume without realizing it. That may just be me. The volume pot is a little noisy but once I clean it or have the solder touched up it will be fine. I did notice if I rest my hand on the bridge I can get it out of tune. It raises the tuning by about 1/10 of a cent. Other than that it a Strat. How can you go wrong?

It's a Strat. Volume pot issue is prolly cuz it was a floor demo at G.C. Buy some strap locks but other than that I would trust it to be my only piece at a gig. Consider getting an extra battery pack, and rechargeable batteries, for a quick battery change at a gig. The blue light blinks well in advance of the batteries going dead so you should never have them die during a song. Even if they do it still plays as an American Strat. Ebay has tons of USB chargers for around $20 and you can get 12 2700mAh batteries for $10. That's all you need to always have fresh batteries at a very low cost.

Great. I have emailed them a few times and ALWAYS got a personal response and they emailed me stuff right away (Manual was missing when I bought it) The one time I called, the guy spent 20 minutes talking with me about different stuff. Great support!!!

Are all of the sounds 100% perfect? No. Did you really expect they could be? Fender does not put out crap products and takes a lot of pride in their expensive guitars. I believe the Fender and Roland guys did everything they could to get everything as close as possible. If you HAVE to have 100% telecaster sound then you have to buy a Tele. If you need 90% tele sound this has it and the same for every other sound. Eb would have been nice and I have no idea what to do with baritone but this is an awesome unit. Anyone who complains that it doesn't sound EXACTLY like a humbucker is missing the point of this guitar (and prolly doesn't like strats anyway). If you want a fun, versatile guitar that will have people asking you how you played a song like that without switching guitars this is the one. For most guitarists this will be their favorite guitar and they will find it indispensable when they gig. GC has a 60 day return policy so, buy it, play with it for a while, and 9 out of 10 people will have it for the rest of their lives. I Can not see playing clubs and other small gigs without it.

OK, the VG Stratocaster, y'all know what it's got and have a pretty good idea of how it performs if you've read the other reviews.

Ive had mine since early February and have spent may hours playing it and exploring the sounds and capabilities this thing has.

This is my opinion on what the VG Stratocaster is like

It's a plain bog standard American Stratocaster with a rather clever piece of electronic gadgetry on board. This takes the form of the Roland pickup mounted between the bridge and the bridge pickup.

In all there are four knobs on the VG. Volume and Tone that control, well, the volume and tone on all the Strats' single coil p'ups, of course there the 5 way selector switch too. Then there's the two little knobs called Mode (M) and Tuning (T). Mode gives you all the modelled Fender guitar sounds. Tuning gives you the various tuning options there.

There have been some reviews here expressing serious issues with the power the VG electronics suck from batteries. Let me just say that if you are seriously looking at getting one of these then I would advise that you look at the user manual from from fender.com and give it a read.

The manual tells you what batteries are reccommended (4 rechargable AA 2600-or 2700mAh Ni-MH for up to 10.5 hrs of battery life) I bought 8 2700's for mine and they do give you about that amount of time. Yes you may need to buy a charger and yes you may need a set of at least 8 batteries but it is worth it and these things arent that expensive.

Sound is ok - The VG's p'ups are american standard p'ups in an american standard strat. They aint that different to my 10 yr old US Strat.

I thought that the modelled guitar sound from the Roland pickup were a bit laclustre.

Turn the little Mode knob to S (Strat) and you have a modelled Strat, well in fact to my ear you don't.

Turn the Mode knob to T (Telecaster) and you get something like a Telecaster but not quite like the Telecaster I already have.

Then you go can go into H (Humbucker) that's ok but a little muddy in sound, But I reckon that could be because I have my amps to cater for SC P'ups.

Then we arrive at A (Acoustic). well, all I can say is I dont use it a lot. The tone knob though, does something interesting here as it acts as a reverb control but only when it's switched to Acoustic Mode. The 5 way selector switch switches through 5 acoustic models from the resonator and four other acoustics which have not been specified by Fender in the manual...........?? Why?

The T (tuning) knob is handy, although it does have a couple of hopelessly useless tuning options and I agree with some of the other reviews here that have asked why no open E, A and D? Open G and dropped D are handy but I dont really know about the "DADGAD" and Baritone settings and so far have not found any cause to use them.

The 12 String setting is handy but then again it's a modelled 12 string effect and will never ever be perfect as will none of the other modelled effects

I had a look at the manual after the initial dissapointment but then I read what Fender had to say for themselves in that they say these modelled sounds are a compromise due to the enormous amount of variants out there and so many specific guitars would be impossible to replicate and put into one.

I think that what Fender have done here is not replicate their history of guitar sounds and squeezed them into a little piece of electronic wizardry but instead they have captured the essence of what Fender guitars are and the essence of their sound. This kind of made me understand how they approached this VG idea and it made sense to me, whether it does to you or not I can't say but please bear that in mind when looking at one of these.

I play this through a Korg PX4 or a POD X3 Live and a Marshall MG15MSII Microstack. I havent taken it gigging as I dont do gigs anymore but the guitar sounds just like it should through this set up. My 10yr old Strat sounds not a lot different through the same set up.

I actually bought mine unseen and untested, thankfully I have no issues with it. It's a rather fetching three tone sunburst and is doen immaculately as is the finish on the neck. It's smooth and the hand glides up and down it like a dream! the frets though are a little rough on the edges and I dont think that it has been set up particularly well. Probably might be the factory set up still but I will have it set up properly in the coming future. It plays well enough for me and so Im happy with it.

I think that this thing would be pretty good live, especially when you can switch between the tunings and stuff. That is until the batteries drain. You defintely need to carry a back up. Having said that this is basically a Strat and should take a lot of punishment. But my concern would be that in a gigging enviornment how long would the electronics last????

Never had to get them out of bed!

So, Ive been playing for almost 30 years. Im still not nearly as good as I should be but I know a good guitar when I see one.

I have an American Standard Strat (1997) - A Fender Classic Player Baja Telecaster and two Strat copies. A Marshall MG15MSII Microstack, Korg PX4 Pandora and a Line 6 POd X3 Live

I can see how the VG would come in handy for some who play live and in the studio too. For me it is a piece of kit that I thought would just be nice to have so I bought one (Lucky me!) I could have had a PRS instead but I went for the VG. But now I have the VG I would miss it if it wasn't here anymore

I think that Fender has done a very difiicult thing quite well and the VG should be used as a foundation for building something much better. A stepping stone for improvement and more features. I think that there will always be a novelty value to this guitar and the die hard strat fan will probably look upon it as such.

Obviously the Roland Unit is the main addition to the Strat. And it does make the guitar the best around. I tried Line 6 (I own the PODxt as well) variax...hated it, almost put me off forever to use modulated guitar sounds. Own an expensive Roland Keyboard (over GBP 2000)with all kind of guitar sounds, too fake...so I was more than impressed with the VG.

The guitar plays great, I love the sound (Normal) compared to my Japan and Mexican Strat, this is ten times better. I'm very happy with the modulated humbuckers (Humb), as finally AC/DC sounds as it should be (without too much hassle on the POD). Also the difference between Normal/Modulated Strat is sufficient to have an entire different sound arsenal. The telecastor is also great. Didn't experiment with the acoustic part, as I own a great accoustic guitar, that's unbeatable...even by the VG.

I normally set-up the guitars myself, but the VG I got was already near perfect, when I have the time I will fine tune it further to my likings. The manual doesn't describe the acoustic guitars that are supposed to be modulated...so -2 points here.

Any Fender is reliable...American, Mexican or Japanese...doesn't matter. Sofar my experience goes!

Never needed them

Best electric guitar in my possession. Eh...maybe not entirely true, the Gibson Marauder is a beast and outstanding guitar as well. Ok, shared 1st place.

Bought new in December 2007. You probably already know the features and the reason you're here is to find an opinion or two to help you decide if you want one of these. That's what I did. The difference here is that this is not opinion but the facts. Single coil pickups are noisy(fact). Before I picked up the Vg I had Lace Sensors installed knowing that even if the modeled sounds were unuseable I would still have a usable strat. This is a sunburst that is lightweight with the typical strat appointments. Molded hard case included.

In it's "normal" mode the Lace pickups(blue-silver-red) provide their sound which is warmer than traditional single coils with NO NOISE. I play weekend gigs, mostly 60's 70's rock. Various solid state amps. Regarding the modeled sounds, I find myself going to the Tele middle setting frequently, that is one sound you cannot get on the traditional strat no matter how it's wired. Switching to the humbucker sound provides a typical fatter sound especially the bridge pickup setting. I use the acoustic sounds minimally including the 12 string which is passable. I do not use any dropped tunings.

Everything was as it should be. Again, I had different pickups installed b4 I picked it up and the local dealer did a good job.
This is one of the prettier finishes if that matters.

I did put on straplocks as I do on all guitars. The hardware appears to be typical Fender and I have never had any issues with hardware, pickups etc. on any of the previous Fenders I've owned over the last 25 years. This guitar has been used on gigs for 2 months now and stays in tune although I do not use the whammy bar.
Based on what I've read here, I am the exception to the rule and typically do not take a backup unless it's a "big" job. I have enough junk to carry as it is. And if you don't break strings, there's no need.

I emailed Fender with a question about the VG and received a prompt response. Over the years, they've always answered my questions in a timely fashion. Having a local dealer is an advantage for adjustments or other issues.

I've been playing weekend gigs for 35 years and have always wanted one guitar that would provide all the top sounds. Contrary to other opinions here, it is not necessary to have an actual Les Paul(I do) or a Telecaster(I do) for the "feel". There is no more comfortable guitar to play than a Strat and if it can mimic most of the sounds you want, great. While the batteries do not last 10-14 hours, do what they recommend and buy the NiMH rechargeables. If you have the money and want one, buy it. 70% chance I'd buy one again. Lastly, while the modeled guitars don't exactly sound like the originals; it's close.....

So many features - all of which have already been listed. I like that Fender put thesse on a good ol' American Strat. That's a good start and an excellent, versitle platform for the varioius models. I could nit-pick that there is no oped E or no open D, but I only have to select DADGAD and drop the G down i step to F# and - viola, openD! Not all the models are exact (the resonator does not sound exactly like a real Dobro), but they are all close enough to get great enjoyment. Now will someone tell me what to to with Baratone?

The normal Strat sound and Tele sounds are what you'd expect - great! - and on the same guitar! As I said, the rest are close enough. You'll have knoledgeable listeners wondering how you brought so many guitars with you and all look alike! Hint, crank up your amp and back down the volume knob on the guitar to get the full modeling effects.

I bought a slightly used Sunburst on ebay for $1,350, it looks brand new and I think a Sunburst Strat is a lovely thing! Cloise your eyes and just think "guitar" - bet it's a Strat! Everything fits just fine, no flaws.

Except for battery life, I forsee no problems. I made to 60 years old (could have won a lot of money on that bet) and I expect it will see me out.

I've owned several Fenders in my life and never had to contact them!

I have been playing for 45 years and love this new technology. Wouldn't hesitate to get another if this were stolen. I'm too old to track down the bastard and hang him from the B string!

It's all been said before and I haven't found any new ones. It has a neck tilt thingy on the plate at the back of the bolt on kneck which I don't plan on using anytime soon and no one else has mentioned. It was a bit lighter than I anticipated but not as light as my balsa wood BC Rich I bought in Bali. It's not as heavy as my Tokai either so its better for long gigs.

I agree with most of what has been said about the tunings. E flat would be neat. I use drop D a lot more now and open G certainly. In the past I just couldn't be bothered or I'd leave an old guitar in one of those tunings. I just wish someone would tell me what to do with the B baritone tuning though. (Learn Dave Matthews songs?). You can get some weird sounds with this if you crank up the distortion and the guy in the store didi some neat stuff with it.

I like it - a lot. I'm not a pro and I'm probably not (yet) even a gifted amateur but I know what I like. It has the variety and sweetness of tones that I like. OK some of the combinations are a bit iffy. For example - the neck pick up with the modelled acoustic. However, I started to revive some old bluesmen stuff I hadn't played for years and I was impressed with my output. I'd never even heard a resonator guitar before so I've added that to my bag of tricks.

The humbucker seems extra loud during bedroom practice but might kick some ass in a band situation. It certainly grabs folks attention when I switch from the acoustic intro of "Feel Like Making Love" to the heavy bit and the solo for example.

I'm sure a lot has to do with the amp you play through. I play through a Line6 so I've got so many variables in the mix already. Anyway I've no complaints and if you're doing a lot of covers you'd be hard pressed not to find a sound you need.

Seems fine. Setup was good. Intonation was accurate

Seems OK. I can certainly depend on it. Battery life is an issue as some of the other blokes say, but I have several sets of NiMH re-chargeables and a spare set always ready so I've never experienced sudden death during a gig. Even if there is a problem there is always the normal strat tone to fall back on

Hoep I never need to.

I bought it in Savannah, Georgia and hauled it half way round the world on 3 flights to the Middle East. It has been through several time zones and climate changes and it arrived fresher than I did. Basically I love it. I'd always wanted a Strat as I usually play a Tokai Love Rock (which I also love BTW. If I want ballsy I play the latter if I want nice to almost-but-not-quite raunchy I play the strat. I'm an old dog who likes to learn lots of new tricks so I am very content with my gear at the mo.

Everyone knows it's features.

Saw the demo vid, played one at the music store, liked it well enough to buy, but after a week I returned it. For me, it???s just a novelty guitar for sitting around @ home playing. There is a tiny bit of absolute silence when switching between active settings; cannot tolerate this. A slight electric pop sound also occurs. The active strat sound sux (imo). Sounds like the tone knob turned down, or rather like a slightly compressed (fake) sound. Switching back & forth between non-active strat & active strat while sustaining any cord reveals this. Since one of the active guitar modes are required to use the multi-tuning/12 string mode knob, it???s downhill from there if you want a real strat sound too

The Tele sound is much more accurate than the humbucking, which only slightly leans towards a humbucker. Roland should???ve taken notes on how PRS effectively does Fender/Gibson sounds w/o a battery. Also, the non-active strat sound from the pickups aren???t as ???strat sounding??? as other regular strats I???ve played.

40 yrs experience with many electric guitars & much equipment.

The neck is ok, but feels inferior to other American strats, & with less sustain too. My feeling is that Fender???s most expensive factory strat should not be inferior (neck, bridge, nut, tuners,pickups) in any way to their less expensive strats. It appears they shaved off some quality to help compensate for the Roland cost, & it shows. It???s not a bad neck, mind you, just not as good as say the American Standard or Deluxe models.

They advertise battery life to be 8-10 hours, but from the store they lasted only 3-4, as with Duracell rechargables too. So no, I???m not about to wear out the input jack unplugging it every time I put it down (just imagine over the years how many times you???d be doing this than w/o the battery), let alone the hassle. And the fiber optic strength blue light battery indicator is just plain hokey.

Nope, yesterday I brought home an American Deluxe Ash Strat, & it far exceeds the VG in every ???non-active??? way; Many differences too (Locking tuners, better neck, better sustain, push in tremolo bar,better pickups, & strap locks), so for me the VG Strat stands for Very Gone Strat, which it has done???

You have read the general set up by other reviews. Mine was the tobacco sunburst finsih with the maple neck.

There are some major issues with the battery life of this guitar.

Buyer beware !

Plese continue this review by reading the "Reliability/Durability" section. I feel this is very important matter for any potential VG Strat. buyer.

Generally a nice sound out of all the effets and the Strat. pickups. No complaints with the overall sound of each of the Roland effects.

However,I feel that the dropped D tuning could be eliminated as that can be done on stage in seconds, as well as the "dadgad" tuning. This was of no use.

I suggest the following options for the next generation of this guitar: {open, G, D, A, E and C} This would be a much better choice for the general guitar user in a "bar band" situation - mainly for slide use, cover tunes and originals.

No problems, playable right out of the box. Well done Fender.

Now, this is where the problems start.

Battery life is very short ! Once the guitar cable is plugged into the guitar the battery is being used This is a majaor issue.

Fender must develop a way to turn off the battery power while still pugged in with the guitar cable; this feature will allow you to use the standard strat pickups while still being plugged into the amp.

I played out "live" with brand new top of the line Duracell batteries on several ocassions and the bateries went low/dead after only a couple of hours of normal use.

This issue was enough to return the guitar.

Buyers beware ! Bring many spare batteries and be prepared to switch them between sets each night.

Do not use cheaper batteries - they will only last an hour or so - you must use the top of the line batteries to get any kind of use out of this guitar.

I have written Fender with my personal issues re: this Strat. I will be interested to see whether or not they take my advice into consideration in the future models of the guitar.

The VG strat was a good guitar, but with the above issues, it was enough for me to return it.

I rarely complain about instruments but this "battery life" issue and the lack of open tunning choices was enough to return the guitar.

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

Bolt-on neck, sunburst, maple, three stock USA pickups, Roland p/up, volume, tone, tunings and modelling controls. Comes with case and case candy.

Played as a vanilla Strat without the Roland gubbins, this is standard US Stratocaster fare with the usual variety of sounds from the three pickups. Using the modelling gives you a second Strat, a tele, a 2 humbucker guitar and 5 different acoustic sounds. There are also various tunings and a 12 string emulator - 37 different combinations in all.

This is ideal for a player in a covers band (like me) that has to have at least three guitars to cover the repertoire. As I also play keyboards and harmonica, this is a lot less gear to carry. I am a minimalist when it comes to amps, so I can't comment on how this copes with effects, but using an overdriven amp with a very small amount of reverb, I can get every sound I need, from clean acoustic to real ballsy overdrive. I control my sound using fingers, pick and the guitar's volume and tone control.

Ignore the idiots who say it isn't a 100% accurate reproduction of their favourite guitars, this is all very subjective, the kit does exactly what it says on the tin, the rest is down to something called musicianship.

Mine was imported from the USA from a reputable dealer who set it up and sent it via a quality carrier. Everything was perfect straight out of the box. The action was nice and low, pickups were properly adjusted and intonation spot on. It was nearly in tune as well! No complaints there! No flaws in the finish and the neck is one of the nicest I've had. Whoever put this together at the factory was looking for promotion, it's as good as a Custom Shop.

All electrics work properly. The only thing I needed was some rechargable batteries, as battery life is only expected to be 6-10 hours, although I've played far more than that and there's still plenty of life in 'em.

Whatever quality control issues Fender have had seem to be resolved, I've had three guitars from them in the last few years, a Deluxe 50th Anniversary, a Standard Strat that I've used as a testbed for a lot of modifications, and this one. No problems with any of them!

Good guitar live. Straplocks are a good investment, as well as adjusting the strap to keep it away from belt buckles. Finish will last years! I'm tempted to use it without backup.

Warranty provided, don't expect to have to use it.

Played on and off now for 30 years in covers, jazz and blues bands - and switched from a Gibson Marauder to a Strat in the early 90s. I also have an Ovation electric acoustic and a Yamaha AEX1500. I'm a strong believer in getting quality gear, keeping and looking after it. Unfortunately taking the Yamaha to some gigs can be risky, so I've tended to use Strats as the main guitar.

Amp-wise, after trying all sorts, I now use a Vox DA5 for practice and live work (you can plug it in the PA) The VG Strat works very well with this, and I hope to get a lot of use from it. Gear-wise, I'd say I'm sorted!

If lost or stolen would definately get another one!

I ordered (and have since returned) the VG Strat following some well-aimed publicity both sides of the Atlantic. The guitar sells for around $2500 in UK which is considerably more than the average in US.
Run out of Rosewood fingerboard models very quickly. Not many maple editions available either. Managed to get a Sunburst rosewood fingerboard model. Guitar came complete with scratches and damaged case.

Standard Strat sound OK, the rest very mediocre. Telecaster,Humbucking and acoustic very unrealistic. Would not try to fool anyone I was playing anything other that a Strat with a few gizmos attached.

Standard body, lightweight. Action not as good as I hoped

Not sure yet. Have to wait and see

Not had the opportunity to find out

I am disappointed that for $2500 this should come on to the market. This does not represent my idea of value for money. Should retail at around $1000. Do not think that this will be of any value other than to the back-room amateur who likes to experiment with a few different sounds. Cannot see any serious gigging done with this.

I have the tobacco burst version of the VG Strat. As a Stratocaster I agree most other people on this review. It is a good American Stratocaster. You can quite easily forget that the VG system is part of this axe. This is a typical American Stratocaster with all of the trimings. The pickups are nothing special but I believe they were chosen by Fender to blend in with the VG components. More on this below.

Sound ~ a very subjective topic. I have a Japanese Telecaster, a Faded V, and a Reverend Warhawk. All very nice sounding instruments.
When I first plugged this guitar in by bandmates eyes bugged out of thier heads. They couldn't believe how good this axe sounded. The axe is very balanced. It isn't agressive it is exacly as I excpected it would be. Is that bad? The regular stock pickups are good in a word.
I was really amazed that where a single coil would pick up RF, the VG Swamp Ash mode had NO noise at all and the VG circuit gave me sustain like I have NEVER had before in any instrument. None of the VG sounds are EXACTLY what I hoped they would be but after months of contemplation, they are what they are, very good approximations of the real thing. They are an average of all of that type of guitar. I think Fender has no worries about selling a second or third guitar. Telecaster mode sounds like a Telecaster but it doesn't have the specific charactoristics of my other Telecaster. Keep in mind this is a Swiss Army Axe, a very capable and flexible axe that your audience will not be able to discerne from the original. This guitar doesn't come with a wood emulator, it is a sound emulator. I love the humbucker mode and I can't live without the acoustic guitar mode. The 12 String is nice but if the real deal is around I much prefer it.

The guitar is very well built. It is a work of pride. The action was very good. There are no flaws at all. I don't really like the tuning pegs but they work. I have always purchased better tuners for my guitars. I am going to purchase the Fender Sperzels with the string locking mechanism. The tremolo works fine but I don't depend on it because it throws the tuning out a bit.

This guitars existence owes itself to the needs of the live player so it better darned well be a good gig axe and it is. I gig overseas and bought this so that I could ship all of my other guitars home and now that it has proven itself, I will. I am not getting the warm fuzzy feeling with the finish it is thinner than I had hoped for and there is no way I would gig with out strap locks. They should be standard fixtures on all guitars.

I hope I never have to find this out.

I have been playing for thirty years. I have a Roland GR 700/707, BC Rich Deceiver, Reverend Warhawk, Chapman Stick Grand, Chapman Stick Polycarbonate, Yamaha Fat Strat, Jap Telecaster with p90, Xaviere Hollowbody, Godin Semi 12 String, Simon Patrick Acoustic, Variax 700 Bass and a Faded V. If it were lost or stolen there would be an empty hole in my life. I have strayed clear of Fenders until I tried the Japanese Telecaster which was excellent, and then I thought I might want to try the Strat because of its versatility and I honestly think if you buy one guitar, you will save yourself a lot of money. Of course guitarists suffer from G.A.S. (Guitar Aquisition Syndrome).

Black USA standard Strat w/ maple neck. VG Pickup, 1 Volume, 1 Tone control, 3 Alnico Pickups, Tuning knob and a Model knob.

Good fit and finish but I am not sure it's as good as my 18 year old American standard......which I will be retiring! (More on that later).

Ok this guitar is good actually really good. I got it yesterday and I haven't put it down yet. My band mates were stunned by it's abilities. Sounds good on the VG settings.

Strat sound: nothing wrong with that @ all... sounds like my 18 yr old American standard.

Modeled strat: V good, slightly different sound which I like.

Modeled Tele: Again v. good not as good as my tele with bareknuckle piledrivers fitted but still mustn't grumble. I instantly got the tele sound on Take It Easy by The Eagles. Good Keef sound in open G tuning, nice and honking.

Modeled Humbucker: Corking, nice and full, great for playing Heavy Rock N Roll like ACDC. I like the in between pickup setting as I managed to get a nice BBKing tone.

Modeled Acoustic. Not fantastic but not bad either. Good for gigging but not recording although I have yet to try. What I like though is the sound with 12 string setting enabled. Ideally played this setting thru my mixer and studio monitors as my Fender super 60 valve amp muddies the sound a little

I played as mentioned the guitar thru my super 60 amp. I use my Fender Hotrod Deville 2x12 for gigging.

No problems at all although I'll be changing the factory 9s for a set of 10s with heavy bottoms.

My 18 yr old USA strat is still going strong so I doubt I'll have any probs with this one.

Never needed it so don't know.

I play in a covers band that does virtually every style of popular music from the 50's onwards. I've been playing guitar for 20yrs plus and have four guitars at every gig to give the necessary sounds and tunings. I now only need the VG Strat and my only problem is what to do with the other guitars as the VG strat has made them redundant.

If it were lost or stolen. I would buy another. It's a great tool for gigging and it'll get its debut next Saturday.

What I really like is that it's very easy to get great sounds quickly.

I have wondered what the VG stands for. I think Very Good.

VG American Strat, 3 tone color sunburst with rosewood fingerboard, american standard tremelo. This is an american made strat with Roland VG circuitry which models various different Fenders: Swamp Ash Strat, Tele, Humbucking Strat, various Fender acoustics which are not described. With the VG modeling, there is also a tuning function which will put you standard, drop D, DADGAD, baritone, and twelve string. The VG runs off of 4 AA batteries which will yield 6-10 hours of playing time. However, it is also an american strat, so you can play it straight as such and bypass the VG circuitry.

If played normally without the VG enabled, it sounds exactly like an American Strat with stock pickups (which are noisy). With the VG enabled, it's digital so there is no noise. The VG has a slightly lower volume than the stock pickups, but that shouldn't matter much as you'll most likely be playing through the VG most of the time. This guitar can make almost any sound out there, so it's a great value. Having a GK-3 pickup, I was wary of the tracking issues, but I shouldn't have been. There are absolutely NO TRACKING ISSUES, and the sounds coming out of the VG circuitry are simply amazing. I have a Variax 600 and the VG strat blows it away. With the tuner function, you can have a strat 12 string, a tele 12 string, or an acoustic twelve string. Put the guitar in the humbucking mode and then select baritone, and you'll be in down tuned bliss. The only bad thing is there is a slight hiccup in the sound when switching VG sounds and tunings.

The guitar, like any guitar, has to be set up once you get it. This is just a fact of life, especially when you take shipping into account. I bought this guitar factory fresh from Musicians Friend online. To my eyes, I couldn't find any flaws, as everything was produced nicely. This is a wonderful playing guitar, and it looks wonderful as well. The tremelo is floating, and while I'm not so sure I like that on a strat, it will stay in tune if you tune string it properly. It came with .009s, which were promptly replaced with .010 fender super bullets. I set the guitar up myself. The neck feels great, especially if you have large hands like myself. the frets are medium jumbo and they feel great. You can play fast on this neck.

I've had the guitar for a few months, with no problems. It seems as if it will last a lifetime, if cared for properly. If I gigged, I would probably just take this guitar with me as it can pretty much make any sound you want, unless you want some molten metal in which case you'll need a backup (I have a custom Carvin I use for this purpose with their M22 bridge pickup). I have banged the guitar quite a bit, and there are no nicks plus the circuitry seems solid.

I haven't had to deal with the company, but I did buy an extra 2 year warrenty on the electronics from Musician's Friend. At this price, it is a solid investment. I have about 7 electrics, and over time I've learned how to set up guitars pretty well, so I haven't had to contact the company for anything.

I've been playing guitar for well over 20 years, and I own a bundle of studio stuff. I don't play through "live amps," so I use modeled amps from Line 6 (Pod LIVE and Gearbox plugin) as well as NI's guitar rig 2. I learned on Fenders, and have been trying to get an american made one for many years. I decided on this guitar because of the versitality of it. You can really play anything on this guitar, however I don't think I would want to play really heavy stuff on it. I also don't really like the fact that on the modeled humbucker sounds, you only get 3 sounds (normal 3 way switching sounds, with 2 sounds doubled for the 5 way switch). I would have loved to have seen position 2 and 4 modeling out of phase sounds. I also don't care for the slight hiccup in the sound when you switch sounds on the VG side. Otherwise, with this guitar you will have in your arsenal just about any sound ever made on any record. I would like to add that the previous review from a "gold" record player must be bogus. This guitar is a solid value, and there ARE NO TRACKING ISSUES.

Black with Maple fretboard VG (U.S. built American Series)Stratocaster with all the classic Fender features, accessories and case.

It's basically an upgrade from a standard American Series Strat to a kick-*** strat with modeling capabilities - it offers an amazing simple set of controls for a wealth of tones!

Easy to operate modeling - produces 16 different sounds from four models - add the five magnetic pick-up tones and you've got 37 sound options!

The tuning feature is fantastic, i.e. you're able to instantaneously switch to dropped-D without multiple adjustments to your tuners. The digital and magnetic-pickup sounds are also surprisingly well balanced and rich - classic, classic Strat sound - the models sound amazingly natural.

Another really nice feature is if at any time you want to get out of the digital realm on the VG (or for some chance your batteries run-out) with a quick turn of the knob your playing Fender's flagship American Series Stratocaster.

What can I say, this VG Strat came with that Classic superb Fender finish - Beautifully finished and smooth neck.

My VG Strat also came perfectly setup straight from the factory; I mean... action, intonation, saddle-height, the whole works!

Fender's reliability/durability has been time tested and is second to none in my book - I'm hoping the same is true with the VG Roland component.

Never had to deal with support with any of my Fenders - There's your testimony to reliability and durability.

I haven't played on GOLD albums, but I can say I haven't had this much fun in years - I just couldn't put this Strat down! With its stellar modeling capabilities, I think it's worth the upgrade price over a Standard American Series Strat - that's just my shared opinion for what its worth.

I also agree with the last reviewer ..."I guess if you're on Gold albums you can afford to be picky but it is a great guitar if you love Strats and want a little versatility??? I think it???s a great guitar but it???s not for everyone. "

With all due respect, I've got but one word for the (presumably) "Gold Album pro player" - DECAF! :)

Black body, maple fretboard, comes with case, strap, cable and the VG system.

If you can't get your sound out of this, give it up.

Everything was in top shape.

Strap buttons got immediately replaced with locking ones. Bring batteries, but be aware that thenormal strat part still functions without them.

This is a Fender/Roland product. I expect very little customer support from either company.

I'm getting rid of my other guitars -- this one covers both of them -- Taylor T5 and Eric Johnson Strat.

American series Strat features; satin finish neck, black gloss alder body, rosewood finger board, Fender tuners, standard strap buttons (what happened to the Schaller strap locks?) 3 single coil pickups, Roland VG active pickup, standard Fender molded case.

In standard mode, it sounds great; just like my American Standard strat, and suprisingly quiet, very little hum when plugged into the '65 Deluxe Reverb amp I demo'ed it with. The virtual Strat, Tele, and humbucking sounds were very good, but slightly lower in volume than the real pickups. The 12 string tracked pretty well, but had a slight digital warble if you strum too fast. The accoustic sound would be ok for gigging, but not for recording. I didn't mess much with the alternate tunings.

The one I tried was set up very well, great, low action with no buzz, and I love a Strat neck! This one was great too. Everything else seemed top notch, like it should.

I am pretty sure this guitar would withstand live playing. Again, you might have to adjust the volume levels a little when you switch settings. I don't know how long the batteries would last, but you supposedly still have a normal strat if all else fails. The strap buttons were tight, but cheap, not the Schaller strap locks the American Series normally came with.
I think you could use this without a backup, but I always have a backup in case of broken strings, etc.

I have never dealt with Fender customer support

I think overall Fender and Roland have come up with a pretty impressive , but over-priced guitar. I think it should be more in the $1,100.00 range than $1,700.00. It should also come with an upgraded case; the standard molded isn't big enough to even leave a strap attached, and others have complained that they don't line up well when closing. I doubt if I will buy a new one, I have seen them used already at $1,300, and I think when the novelty wears off, they will be even less. In the meantime, I will gig with my normal Strat, Tele, and Rick 12 string and save the $$

Sunburst with rosewood fingetboard
All the standard hardware on a VG

Had to be ajusted but they all do.

Never had called Fender but I might if the electronics wig out.

Started playing in 1980. I have 10 Strats, all different from an 82, 91, 96, (2) solid walnut, 12 string, 40th, 50th, Malsteen blah, blah, blah.
I have a few Ovations and a Washburn rosewood eagle plus whatever.

I like this guitar a lot but I wish they had used a higher end model especially for the price. The biggest thing for me is now I can sell my 12 string Strat since I rarely play it. Mint condition Japanese 12 string, sunburst just like the VG that is replacing it.

I guess if you're on Gold albums you can afford to be picky but it is a great guitar if you love Strats and want a little versatility. Honestly the best sounding and playing Strat I have is a solid walnut Strat I had put together for me from parts I acquired. The only Fender part on it is the tuners.

I think it???s a great guitar but it???s not for everyone.

Read the Quote from one of the reviews here:

"I am a Pro player, studio musician, have played on gold albums before you were born. I grew up in a violin shop and know more about building instruments than anyone I have ever met, except my father. Fender guitar have the most versatile design which allows for customization. But it is obvious from the huge after-market for replacement parts, bodies, necks etc. that Fender's quality control is shite. Smart guys won't invest in the VG strat until a few hundred stupid rich guys buy some and complain. Maybe then, only maybe, will Fender get its act somewhat together. By the way, this overpriced garbage comes with stock strat pickups! What a rip! To sell two hunks of CNC shaped lumber with noisy stock pickups is typical for a profiteering leviathon like Fender. Tell your friends!"

Pro player? Not a chance. Just some snot nosed kid who doesn't like Fender. Most people already know this, but always throw out the the reviews that go on nad on about how the product is the second coming. Also, throw out the reviews like the one written by Mr. Gold Record. There are plenty of intelligent reviews that are worth paying attention to.

For what it is, it is a fine piece of machinery. Others tell about the features. But they are there, and they do work. There is no lag or other issues.

Comments; Some people who have played on Gold albums don't realize it is the responsibility of the retailer to set up the instrument. Any instrument arriving from the factory is going to need work, especially if it is shipped. It took me 10 minutes with a screwdriver and an allen wrench to set mine up into fine shape. A skill people who play on gold albums must not have.

One complaint is the humbucking mode is really lud compared to the others - I assume like the real thing, however.

No unusual issue snoted. required some tweaks, like all do. No fit or finish issues noted. Typical high american made Fender quality.

Strats last, we'll see about the Roland side!

Hey! I have actually spokend to Fender on the phone! For real! I don't even play on gold albums, and they talk to me! Little old me!

This strat is basicallly a base model american strat with the Roland pickup and computer stuff inside. For $1700 in most stores, I would expect the guitar to be based on one of the $1200 deluxe models + the computer stuff, not just the standard american. When I first saw the advertisement for this guitar I was shocked at the price.

The alternate tunings are really nice and work well. However, I can't believe that they didn't include tuning down a half step. Next to drop D, I would use this one the most. I would almost rather scraping the drop D since it only requires changing one string. So many songs require guitarists to tune down a half step. For tuning up, all you need is a good capo. Yes, there are ones that don't make your guitar go out of tune and sharp.

As far as the guitar models go, why didn't they model a les paul for the humbucker model, instead of a humbucker strat? Because they are fender and god forbid they pay homage to another company. If you had a Les setting, you would be able to cover the most common guitar sounds. They did the same thing with the cyber-twin, paying homage to mostly their amps. However, when vox created their modeling line of amps and tonelab, they modeled other's amps as much as they did their own, and said positive things about them in their manual. It can be done. Fender always feels that they have to pretend they are in a class by themselves or else people won't buy their products.

While I appreciate its simplicity, it would be nice if you had a special plug that you could plug into a computer and download different tunings or guitar models. (The sort of thing you can do with line 6. The guitar could still function as a simple plug and play with the standard jack, but give those with the desire to customize a bit the ability to. For the price, I would expect this sort of flexibility.

Basically, while this guitar is extremely flexible compared to a normal guitar, I rated it low based on what it is trying to be: Coming years after line 6's guitars who wasn't even a guitar maker prior to variax, I would have expected more from a company with over 50 years of guitar building experience as one of the largest guitar makers of all time.

Also, it would be nice if you could power the guitar with an ac adaptor or so. At home, I would like to be able to practice without thinking about battery life and then save the batteries, even recharable ones for when I am on stage. They might have even considered having a plug where you could charge the batteries while they are inside the guitar, like a cell phone. You could be charging your guitar up while it sits on its stand before a show.

The regular pickups sound like an American strat. No compromise their if you like the sound of the American standard Strat. the sound of the models was convincing and they sound good. I don't have time to A/B the real vs. the modeled, but I will say I liked the sounds that I heard. I'm not nuts about the acousitic sounds. However, I have never played an acoustic model that I have loved. A listener might not be able to tell the difference listening to it recorded. But if you plug in an acoustic model into an electric guitar amp what do you expect to get? The same crappy sound you'd get plugging a real acoustic into an electric guitar amp. Like most acoustic modeling via footpedal or modeling guitar, the sounds are more realistic when appegiating with a pick or fingers than strumming chords.

It's action, fit and finish were fine and what I would expect.

Seems like this guitar would hold up well. With all electronic things, I worry that this guitar's electronics would hold up long-term

Never tried to get it repaired. What's a warranty? I throw those things in the trash. God forbid it actually broke, I probably counldn't find the warranty, assuming that it is still covered. Not to mention the hoops you need to jump through to use a warranty.

I've owned a lot of guitars, amps, and gear. I like this guitar a lot. I do think it is overpriced and lacks many useable features like I mentioned above. My above suggestions could be done for not too much more building costs. If cost was an issue, may I daresay they could make this model in Mexico? The mexi strats are a pretty good bang for the buck. I would also mention that they would be a lot better if they were made with the same parts as the American models. A mexi strat is crapier mostly because it is made with lower quality wood, pickups, and its parts all around. You could build a guitar in Mexico with the same materials as the american and it would be very close to the American.

Basically it's a brand new American Standard Strat in glossy black with a parchment scratchplate holding 3 single coils plus a built in Roland GK pickup (a la Roland Ready Strat), 1 vol, 1 master tone and 2 new controls. T stands for tuning and M stands for mode/model.
Modelled guitars are "real" Strat (ie the magnetic single coils), modelled Strat (huh?), Tele, Humbucker and Acoustic.
Tunings are normal, drop D, open G, D modal (DADGAD), baritone (B to B) and 12 string.
It has a rosewood board, medium jumbo frets, 2 point US tremolo etc etc blah blah blah. All electrics are on board. No need for special cables or pedals.

I play in a covers band and I'd fancied a Variax for a while but was put off by the poor build quality, clubby necks and the piezos' inability to adequately handle palm muting. So instead I bought one of these.
The standard single coils are the usual Strat types and sound OK. The first guitar model is er a Strat. Slightly different sound to the "real" thing, less dynamic but passable. The Tele model is next and sounds like a Tele but again isn't quite dynamic enough. The Humbucker mode is much darker and thicker and I had difficulty getting it to cut through on stage. The Acoustic mode is typical modelled sound, it's OK for those sensitive live moments but ain't gonna fool anyone into thinking there's a big empty box of wood anywhere.
The tunings are huge fun and arguably much more successful. No changing guitars, messing with machine heads etc. Just turn the dial and you're there. Drop D only affects the sixth string as you would expect. Open G puts you into Keef mode. I love DADGAD and use it all the time when I play acoustic but I know it isn't to everyone's liking. The baritone setting drops everything down into the basement and really shakes the walls. Modelled 12 strings always have problems and it still ain't right here. You can hear a slight pitch shift gargle from the G string. Ah well.
Score wise it only gets 9 because it isn't quite there. I usually use a Lone Star Strat and I was expecting something similar and not to have to change too many settings on my amp but the modelled settings are somewhat short on dynamic sparkle. Maybe it's my jaded ears.

Everything is as it should be - I'm pretty sure Fender haven't sent a duff guitar out of the door of the USA plant in the past 25 years or so (except for strap buttons - see below).
Nice slim C shape neck and flattish radius makes for easy string bends with my preferred medium low action.
A little time needs to be spent to ensure the magnetic pickups are the same volume as the modelled sounds, although the humbucker is way louder that the acoustic. Not unexpected but Fender do say that everything has been designed so you should never need to touch your amp settings from one model to the next. Yeah right.

Strats are mostly rock solid guitars and can cope with a load of abuse without complaint.
I can't see this being any different although the T control doesn't have the same positive "click" that the M control has. Why?
Usual complaint regarding strap buttons. Every Strat these days seems to want to spit them out if you move even slightly on stage. Also this one came without the "locking compatible" strap buttons. When did that happen?
I swapped the standard tuners for locking ones as I always do. Another ??50 spent. It's high time Fender shipped out all Strats with them or at least any guitar that retails in the UK for nearly ??1500.
The battery cover is a clip and hinge then remove type and I reckon it'll be easily lost if you have to change batteries on a dimly lit stage. Make sure they're fully charged!
I would also point out that it's not easy to see the little T & M controls on stage. If you have a look at Greg Koch demoing this guitar on YouTube you'll see him angling the guitar and squinting down. So it ain't just me. Shame my fingers don't work like his though.
On a positive note, if the batteries fail the guitar still works in "normal" mode using the single coils. Ha! Take that Variax!

Never ever had to deal with Fender which I suppose is a tribute to their construction standards.

I really really love Strats. I've been playing for nearly 35 years and have chopped and changed guitars (Les Pauls, SGs, Teles) but always come back to the Strat. It just feels the most comfortable. However I sometimes miss the Les Paul humbucker type roar. The Lone Stars I use through my Vox get part the way there but when I saw this I thought the answer to my dreams had arrived and just had to have one.
The conclusion? It's nearly there. It'll take me a while to sort out my amp and pedal settings so my sound doesn't get lost (my band contains another guitarist as well as a keyboard player so it's not always easy to find room, both sonically and er physically). But once that's sorted I reckon I'll have a keeper.

Nice 3 color sunburst finish, satin finish on neck. This is an American Series Strat, with the standard features of that model, plus a Roland system that gives a number of modeled sounds and tunings. I like the fact that Fender didn't try to pack too many features into it. In addition to the regular Strat pickups, the Roland features modeled Strat, Tele, Humbucking, and acoustic sounds. Are they perfect? No, but for the working musician who's looking for a multitude of sounds without carrying several guitars, it's pretty damn good. You also get several open tunings, plus baritone amd 12 string guitar. It's almost worth it for the 12 string setting alone. This one tracks well, I have noticed no glitches. My only complaint is that Fender should have included an open E tuning, along with the drop D, Open G, and DADGAD.
There is little difference in appearance from a regular Strat. It has 4 knobs instead of 3, but the 3rd and 4th are smaller than the others. There is a blue LED to indicate the battery strength is good, it's a bit annoying. It's getting a 9 for the lack of E tuning.

Through my Hot Rod Deluxe, it sounds good in all modes. I compared the magnetic pickups against my Eric Johnson Strat, and while it doesn't sound as good, it doesn't get blown away, either.
Here's an example of how it works; say you pick the Tele mode, put the 5 way switch in bridge position, you get Tele bridge. Same goes for the middle and neck positions. And all alternate tunings work in all positions of each modeled sound. You can play with a 12 string sound in 16 sounds, including 5 acoustics. See, in addition to the 5 selections using the magnetic pups, you have 5 Strat, 3 Tele, 3 Humbucking, and 5 acoustic sounds. And if the battery dies, well, you still have a fully functionong Strat!

The set up was not great, the action was extremely low. If it's too low for me, it's really low! Intonation was pretty good. No flaaaws found. The sunburst is nicely done, and the grain in the slder is nice.

No way of telling if the Roland system will hold up, I'll just have to wait and see. Other than that, it's a Fender, they are normally pretty durable. I'd gig without a backup.

Been playing since Fred Flintstone was in high school. I currently own 3 Strats and 2 Reverends. If it were stolen, would I replace it? I don't know, honestly. Right now I am enjoying it, but I am not convinced I'll want it forever. Mainly it's a gigging guitar, to allow me to get alternate sounds without lugging a bunch of guitars. It may lose it fun factor after a while, we'll see.

Black painted body
White pickguard
Maple neck
Stock strat pickups? Why?
Cheap lumber with fancy digital dingus.
Typical Fender hardware, junk in need of adjustment.

We tried this 2X4 out through different amps in the store. (marshal, Twin, and mackie PA) Several accomplished players including myself came to the same conclusions.
The VG cosm sounds and automatic transposing worked quite well, but not as well as they should have. The GK-2A pickup MUST be adjusted in order to track well! That's not Roland's fault. The sales reps or their minions should be able to do that easily. But a modeled sound is still just that, modeled, not real, fake, digital.

The guitar was not set up properly which is a testimony to Fender's lack of concern or ability in that area. The GK-2A pickup must be adjusted for it to track optimally. This one wasn't even close. If I worked for Fender, that would be a huge embarrasment. The Trem arm was a mile high, the intonation was off and overall playablility was severely compromised. Even a newbie tech could have set the guitar up in his car on the way to the store better than this one was adjusted.

It's a Fender... Sure it will last with a little TLC. But who knows about the Roland pickup and little knobs, gizmos and electronic dingus that makes this gimmicky guitar twang?

Getting information or repair from Roland is like trying to find an honest politician. They flat-out don't answer E-mails, or have incompetent slow-talking So-Cal surfer dudes answer the phones. Fender is just too damn big. They pretend like they're responsive, but really don't give a S**t. Good luck pal!

I am a Pro player, studio musician, have played on gold albums before you were born. I grew up in a violin shop and know more about building instruments than anyone I have ever met, except my father. Fender guitar have the most versatile design which allows for customization. But it is obvious from the huge after-market for replacement parts, bodies, necks etc. that Fender's quality control is shite. Smart guys won't invest in the VG strat until a few hundred stupid rich guys buy some and complain. Maybe then, only maybe, will Fender get its act somewhat together. By the way, this overpriced garbage comes with stock strat pickups! What a rip! To sell two hunks of CNC shaped lumber with noisy stock pickups is typical for a profiteering leviathon like Fender. Tell your friends!