Fender Yngwie Malmsteen Signature Stratocaster

I have TWO!!! I bought my first one brand new in 1998. It's a USA made model with a maple fretboard and cream finish. My second one is also a 1998, but with a rosewood fretboard and cream finish also. When I play these guitars at gigs, people think I'm playong a actual late 60's Strat!(the late 60's large headstock, decal, and mint green parts make it look like a true vintage guitar than some of the Fender re-issues!).
I'm really glad that Fender came out with this "new" version of the YJM Strat because this is as close to as what he plays, and it's simply just a beautiful instrument to look at, especially with these vintage looking parts.

Even though Yngwie is definitely one of my favorite guitar players, I really don't play like he does(not too many people can!) besides, that's his unique style. I'd say my playing style is more like Ritchie Blackmore's during the Rainbow-era. I get my sound thru a vintage Ibanez TS-808 Tube Screamer(which I also always carry a spare of), and a older Marshall half stack. These DiMarzio pickups are amazing. 100%, pure fat Strat tone without the hum! The tone I get is Deep Purple's "Made In Japan" album. I think this is THE way how a Start should sound!

I had a slight problem with my first one that I bought new... the neck was slightly misaligned, so the high E string actually went off the fretboard when it was played! This was a simple fix though; a 5-minute fix to set the neck back in the neck pocket of the body and tightening the screws back in. My second one which I bought used has been wonderful since day one. There's a little bit more gap in the neck pockets on both guitars than I'd rather see though... Pretty nice components are used on these guitars, top quality parts. My rosewood fingerboard model actually has an "flamey" maple neck!

As Yngwie himself says, this guitar is a "workhorse". This guitar was made to be played- NOT DISPLAYED! Both of mine are still in fairly good shape, but the more dings and sctratches they acquire, the cooler they look! I'm never worried about these guitars during a gig; after all, I always do bring both of them! My only fear is popping a string when I play really hard!

Never dealt with Fender. I know these guitars have a lifetime warranty, but if anything ever goes wrong, I'd rather do the work by myself!

I'm 25 years old, been playing guitar for 15 years. I own about 20 Fender Strats, but I play these YJM Strats about 95% of the time! I really can't think of anything that I don't like about these guitars...these are perfect instruments! The tone, playability, looks, etc., I don't think there's any other guitar in the world tht can top these YJM Strats! If one of mine were lost or stolen, I still have another one, but I don't think I could live with just one so, I definitely would go out on a search for another one. I know that there are a lot of people reluctant to buy these guitars because they think they might not feel confortable playing a scalloped fingerboard. They're kinda hard to find at your local music stores to try out too...
but once you play one for about 30 minutes, YOU WILL BE HOOKED!!!!!!!!!

1988 USA, 21 frets, maple, Hendrix Cream. Typical Dimarzio setup. early style headstock, dimarzio tuners, white pickguard.

Sound is tight and easy to control. Harmonics chirp with every note. Able to really dig into fretboard.Loves clean or death.

Bought used, but set up myself and it plays awesome!! The action is high but it is like butter. With no real concern for keeping this guitar mint, it handles dents and bangs well. Very rugged. easy to keep in tune.Finish is perfect.

This guitar can handle anything, and for hours and hours.I have gigged with nothing more than a pick, and I am always confident that this guitar will not fail me.

I have a USA Vintage 57 reissue, and the Yngwie Strat, and they are both Hendrix cream color. I love both of them equally. I am an Yngwie fan( at least his older work), but htis guitar is much more than Yngwie's name, it is an awesome gitar, and it is always up for the challenge of abuse. If you have "collected" an Yngwie strat, let it get played, because they need it....

This is a 2000 model which is made in the United States. It is has an alder body with a 3-way switch, one volume, and two tone control pots. The bridge pickup is a Dimarzio YJM and the other two are the Dimarzio HS3 model. I chose the maple neck. The neck is scalloped with 21 frets. The frets are Jim Dunlop 6000's and are very wide. The wide frets work very well with the scalloped neck. The guitar comes with a tweed case, strap, and cable. The case is very nice.

The sound of this guitar is very distinct. It is very crisp, but does not have the hissing sound that tend to plague standard stratocastor pickups. The YJM and HS3 pickups are very quiet. It doesn't have a thick sound, but an EQ can fatten it up a bit. I enjoy the clean and crisp sound that this guitar offers.

The action was set a little too high for me, but that is a very quick fix. The finish is emaculate. In my opinion, the pickups were properly adjusted.

I haven't had this guitar for very long, but have owned two stratocastors in the past. One was used for live playing quite extensively and I didn't have any problems with them at all. If I had to guess, this will be as durable as my others.

I have never had to deal with them and that's good.

I have been playing for 18 years and this is definitely one of the best guitars that I own. I also own a Peavey Wolfgang and when comparing it to the Yngwie Malmsteen model, they are two completely different animals. It really depends on the individual's taste when deciding what guitar best suits their needs. In my opinion, it is really hard to beat the scalloped neck on this guitar. That is the reason why I puchased this guitar, and it was worth it. It takes a while to get used too. The scalloped neck allows for easy string bending. It also helps you to play with a relaxed hand because if the strings are pressed to hard, the note or notes will go out of tune.

It was made in the USA. The guitar has got 21 frets.
Di Marzio HS-3 Pickups and a standard Fender Pickup.
The electronic is passiv (without batterie).
The neck is maple.
Body style is simply a strat.
Vintage style tremolo.

This guitar suits my music style, the sound is very clean. You can hear each note, also if you play with distortion.
Style: Deep Purple, Malmsteen, Whitesnake....
What I love isl, that the pickups aren't noisy! This is what I was looking for. I also play a Godin St-1. But with this model I'm very pleased. The sound is full, a lot of bass an middel. The output is low, so I've bought a preamp: DOD 250. Also Yngwie uses this one.
You can play every style with this guitar.
I love it!

The Guitar was very well set-up at the factory! Everything was o.k.!
The pichups were adjusted like the pickups of Yngwie.
It's a solid guitar.

Di marzio pickups aren't noisy, only the Fender pickup-but that's normal.

The guitar will last a lifetime and more! It will win a lot of wars on stage. You can't kill it!

Company in Switzerland wasn't very helpful and friendly.

I'm playing guitar since 1990. I own a Shinrock amp, a Marshall box, a ZOOM 9030, a DOD 250, a Godin ST-1, a Perez Guitar with cutaway.

I would buy it again. I love that there is no noise on the Pickups!

I answer questions of people also in german, I live in Switzerland...

Since 1990 I have been playing a 1989 Yngwie Malmsteen model Signature Stratocaster. I bought the guitar new in 1990 from Rainbow Music in New York via mail order. Mine is the U.S.A. built version of the guitar and features a 4 piece, ( not normal for fender )you read right!! 4 piece solid body comprised of alder wood and painted in a candy apple color that has a very dark maroon look to it. The tremolo is an American Standard non locking type which pivots on 2 large studs instead of the 6 wood screws that a vintage style tremolo would have. The neck is the best part of this guitar. It features 21 medium frets over a 25.5 scale length with a fairly fat feel, a thin satin finish over for the most part straight grained maple wood, Dimarzio non locking vintage style tuners as stock equipment, and my favorite possible guitar neck innovation of all time, SCALLOPES.
The guitar has the standard for a normal strat 3 pickup 3 knob passive electronics and pickup configuration with 5 way pickup selector. The middle pickup is a American Standard single coil, the pickups in the front and rear look exactly like any standard single coils, but are in fact Dimarzio HS3 verticle stacked humbuckers. Case and strap were also included in the purchase price of $925.

For the high energy rock music that I play this guitar is perfect. I play the guitar through a Zoom 3030 effects processor and 2 Boss MG 10 practice amplifiers for practice jams. When I record I use a Soldano Hot Rod 50 Tube Amplifier running through a Marshall 4-12 Lead Stereo Cabinet and a Boss DS-1 distortion pedal.
The guitar has no hum and is for the most part silent regarding noise when I use the front or back pickup positions, the tone having a very sweet harmonic click to the notes that is not too bass heavy but still very full and buttery with a bright but not screechy top end, this making soloing with an overdrive tone a true delight. The clean sounds the guitar can produce are much like any other stratocaster, and the guitar can produce all the sounds needed for jazz, blues, country etc... with ease. I have no dislikes regarding the sound of this guitar, and its completely stock too !

The overall consruction of this guitar is very good, with all aspects of the neck shape, finish, tuner fit, scallopes carving, and fretwire fit and finish to be Grade A outstanding. The bodys upper and lower bouts, or cutaway horns, are kind of thick, which I find unattractive, but are carved and shaped very smooth and consistent, as is the rest of the body. I believe the finish on the body is too thick, cutting down on resonanse properties, possibley by design to reduce over resonant induced muddyness on some notes. I can not argue with the tonal results, first rate, period.
The wood on the body is of good quality, with the routes for the hardware to be straight and true. The neck fit into the body pocket is very tight, with only a very slight gap at the back of the neck pocket on the top of the body, tighter than most strats I have seen, but not perfect. The strings align over the neck almost perfect, with the tuners, nut, string trees, pickgaurd, tremolo and strap buttons alighnment and fit and function first rate. Even the dots on the neck are straight, as is the steel neck clamp on the back. The action as I received the instrument had been adjusted by the store, so I do not know how it came from the factory. Rainbow did a decent setup on my guitar, with the action set to a medium height, and the intonation being fine. All hardware on this guitar is first rate.

With its strong high quality woods, beefy, well fitting tight construction and top flight hardware, this pup is a hoss deluxe, capable of taking anything you throw at it, or throw it at. Just ask Yngwie.

It has never needed any repairs of any kind, so I have never had to deal with them.

Yes, I would buy it again if I could find one, they are sometimes hard to locate. This guitar has a magical vibe that belies its (just a stratocater with a scalloped neck) configuration. The scalloped neck is my favorite aspect of the guitar giving a ( walking on a tight rope feeling ) to lead playing, especialy bending, I love it. I have been playing for 19 years and I have had several, including 11 stratocasters, of every type of good guitar made, and this one is my overall favorite. Hard to put it into words why.

21 Scalloped frets. After having this guitar, I believe that if you don't play scalloped, you don't play guitar. If someone says that is harder to play, they've never played one, or maybe they have arthritis, or maybe they're just fucking stupid. Bending is so much better than on a normal neck, after playing this for a week, then playing a normal neck, I was just like, "what the fuck!? i never noticed how hard it is to bend on this piece of shit normal neck!"
HS-3 in the bridge, which can "crunch" nicely but make sure you switch to either of the YJM Dimarzio Single coils for your solos, or it will sound too thin(this is based on my experience with by old stereo and my old Roland Gp-8, probably much better with a Marshall and a Tube screamer. I have to stress again that if you're having doubts about the scalloped neck, don't, i was worried about that two, and ive only been playing for 8 months, and it's not hard at all.

The clean is very nice sounding, and i hate fucking clean. The distortion is very thick with the HS-3 and the YJM in the neck position easily immitates Malmsteen's tone on the concerto suite. If you're worried about it coming out of tune, it won't. If you stretch the strings by lifting and pulling them off of the fretboard at the twelvth fret, over and over, it will eventually not come out of tune, no matter how many steps you divebomb.

well it kinda sucked when i used the tremelo and the fucking bridge broke and all the strings hit me in the face, but i settled out of court and got a new one.j/k

Like I said i've been playing for only eight months, but my prodigious technique has never sounded as good. I've played the 2500 dollar Les Paul Cusoms, the Peter Frampton Les Paul, I've played the Joe Satriani Ibanez, the Ibanez Jem, the Dimebag Darrell guitar, but this Strat sticks it's ass in all those guitar's faces and makes them suck it. Just remember who it's named after, Malmsteen wouldn't be so good if it hadn't been for is choice in guitar. It's a no brainer.
If this were stolen, I'd shoot myself in the fucking head, cause I couldn't afford another one. I've already grown very much attached to this one already. Play scalloped neck whatever guitar you choose, but this guitar's awesome, you should choose this one.

This is a 2000 American made model. I ordered it with the Candy Apple Red finish with a maple neck. I was unsure about the Candy Apple Red with the mint green pickguard but it really looks good. The backplate however, was white which didn't make much sense. This model has the vintage bridge instead of the two-point pivot on the older models. The frets are Dunlop 6000 which are HUGE and are perfect for the scalloped neck which is by far the best part about the guitar. Tuning keys are Schaller F-tuners and work very well. Brass nut. The guitar came with a tweed case, strap, and one of the new Fender cords.

The guitar sounds great with the DiMarzio JYM and HS-3 pickups. The bridge pickup is a little bright, but that may be due to the brass nut. I run the guitar through a ART SGX-2000 Express and a Peavey Ultra. The guitar is very quiet. The pickup selecter is a 3-way which is fine with me, but alot of players like the out-of-phase 2 & 4 positions and would probobly prefer the 5-way switch. (a 5-way switch should have been included with this guitar. Some of the other models are shipped with a 5-way switch kit)

I had to have the guitar set up when it arrived due to the climate difference between Tennessee and California. It also had 9's on it which I changed to 10's. The pickups (especially the middle) do not sit exactly straight in the pickguard which annoys me a bit. The paint job is excellent but the color isn't the same as some of the other Candy Apple Red Strats I have seen. The color is very cool though with the green guard. My biggest complaint about the guitar is the tremelo arm would not go into the block. I had to have the block tapped and get a new tremelo bar (which the local dealer provided to me at no cost...Thanks Sam Ash Nashville!)before I could get it to work correctly.

This guitar is just like any other Strat I have had. It will stand up to repeated abuse and usually only requires minor adjustments.

I have done extensive research on this particular model and have received several emails from people at Fender. They are very helpful and knowledgeable and always provided me with the information I needed. I was able to contact them through the Fender Discussion page available on their website. The guitar has a lifetime warranty. I did have my own luthier tap the block (as I mentioned above) only because he is the only one I trust.

I have been playing about 12 years and have owned several strats. I currently have a Jimmie Vaughn Signature Strat and a Jackson Fusion HH. I would have to replace this guitar immediately if it were ever stolen. It is by far the best looking Stratocaster I have ever seen. The best feature on the guitar is the scalloped neck. It is the most unusual and unique modification on a guitar. The more you play it, the more you like it.

This baby is a year 2K was made in USA model. Body wood is Alder and Neck is Maple with maple with a 21 fret scalloped fingerboard. Bridge is fender vintage. There are one volume and two tone knobs. It has 3 pickups (DiMarzio HS-3 pickups in neck and bridge, and with the Fender American Standard pickup in the mid position). Vintage style Kluson tuning machines and brass nut, and an American Standard tremolo. Accessories was tweed case, strap, cable and polishing cloth.

I'm into into a various styles of music such as Hendrix, Blues and lately Neo Classical Yngwie. I only had this guitar for less than a week and I haven't experimented with it enough to know all about what forms of music this guitar suits the best but from what I heard so far I love it. It has a rich full sound and the pickups are quite. I use it with a Johnson JT-50 amp with this combination this babe can wail and I am totally satified with in tonal range.

When it arrived from the factory it was in great condition. I was please with the action however I immediately changed the strings to Erny Ball 8 guage. The guitar's fit and finish is outstanding. The neck is incredible. It takes a little getting used to the scalloped fret board because when you press down on a string there is no wood to support you and even light guage strings can feel kind of hard at first but after you are use to it your playing can become mure accurate especially string bending and sweeps

I can't say much about durability but it seems to be well so well constructed that I don't even worry about it at this point.

I've been playing guitar a little over 2 years but before that I played bass for about 12 years. I also own a Jimi Hendrix Signature model strat which I also love a mexican made strat and Japenese made strat style Fernades. If it YJM Strat was stolen or lost I would have no choice but to buy another one or go through life completely heartbroken. I love the scalloped fretboard and the sound and action and vibe. This has to be my all time favorite guitar.

This is a stock USA made Yngwie Malmsteen Signature Stratocaster with the red/burgundy finish. It's the 21-fret (vintage style) maple scalloped fretboard and neck, alder body, and the DiMarzio HS-3 pickups in neck and bridge, and with the Fender American Standard pickup in the mid position. Vintage style Kluson tuning machines and brass nut, and an American Standard tremolo. This was purchased used for $850.00 from Jeff's Guitars in San Diego, and it came with a tweed case and all stock accessories.

I've rated this only a six because it's not a very versatile guitar and it lacks quite a few features you would expect for a guitar in this price range. HOWEVER, I still believe this is a great guitar, and worth the price for the neck alone (if you're into scalloping). The scallop job is beautiful.

This is a beefy, single coil type of sound. I can't get any good "in between" 2 and 4th position sounds, probably because of the Dimarzio HS-3s. Yngwie tends to use ONLY the bridge or neck pickup, so this guitar is configured that way. As such, it's pretty limited in terms of tone. I've since modified my guitar and replaced the bridge pickup with a Lawrence L-500.

If you listen to any of the Yngwie albums, you can hear his tone, and this guitar does a fantastic job getting that tone. It's a very meaty, creamy single coil tone. Well defined, punchy, and crisp, with a good bottom and top end. I don't care for it on rhythm tracks, but for leads it sounds great.

The guitar, purchased used, had its frets practically level. Otherwise, the guitar's fit and finish is outstanding. The neck is incredible.

This is a great guitar if you're into shred. Stock, it is very limited both in terms of tone and features. If you want to sound just like Yngwie, this is the way to go. If you need a more general purpose range of tones and capabilities, expect to spend a few hundred more bucks getting some obvious upgrades like locking tuning machines (I put in Fender Schallers) and a more versatile pickup arrangement.

The guitar, stock, is incredible, but it's not very versatile. I've played it primarily through Line 6 equipment (POD, POD Pro, and Spider), and it sounds great through that gear. I think it's a good base guitar for modifications. I thought that only having 21 frets would be limiting, but I haven't noticed that at all. It's basically just a very well built strat with a superbly scalloped fretboard.

This is the latest model of the Fender Yngwie Malmsteen Signature Strat, it was made in 1998 and is from the American factory. The number of frets are 21. It is a solid body guitar with the body wood being Alder and the neck being Maple. It has the usual strat controls, 1 volume and 2 tone; the bridge/middle pickup tone pot is a new delta tone pot which means that when it is on 10, then the actual tone pot is not interfering with the signal, the result is a slightly more crisper high end. The pickup configuration is again standard Strat fare except the pickups are: Bridge - DiMarzio HS-3, Mid and Neck - DiMarzio YJM, this are stacked humbuckers which cancel out the 60 cycle hum of single coils but retain their sound. These are all passive pickups. However these pickups are not coil tappable denying you access to classic Strat positions 2 and 5 on a 5 way switch, this has a 3 way switch. The standard Fender tremolo is of a very high standard and works smoothly and efficiently. The tuners are Kluson 'F' keys and are very stable. The nut is brass which is one of Yngwie main modifications and adds a bit more presence to open notes. The maple neck is guite thick [considerably more so than a US Std Strat] and the fingerboard is scalloped, the headstock is a replica of the late 1960's large Fender heads and looks great. The guitar came with a tweed fender case with allen keys for trussrod and bridge saddles. The frets are huge - Dunlop 6000's which are the biggest you can get and number 21.

This particular guitar suits my playing style for what I use it for - Neo Classical metal ala Yngwie / James Byrd and classic rock ala Deep Purple/Rainbow. I use it conjunction with a Peavey 5150 2x12 Combo, a Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive, Dunlop CryBaby Wah and a MXR phase 90. This guitar is very quite, the DiMarzio's do their job perfectly. The sound is quite bright, which is good for most things I play but at times it lacks a little oompphh. The sound is pretty full. The guitar mainly does the stock Strat sound well, and with heavy distortion and the neck pickup bent high notes really wail. My least favourite feature of the guitar is probably the low output of the pickups, but other times this is a good thing [cleaning up with the volume knob]. Their isn't really a lot I dislike about it. The scalloped neck is superb and this is a mod I had done to all my guitars [before buying this model]. The feel of the neck is superb. It is a little lacking for full on Metal, but for that I'd use a Humbucker equipped guitar anyway.

The guitar received a set-up by the shop after they received it from Fender, after travelling over 3000 miles it would probably need one. The action is quite high, but that's how I like it [more tone]. The pickups where adjusted fine with what seems like perfect string height/balance; I lowered the middle pickup almost flush with the pickguard since I never use it and it gets in the way of my picking. All the routing is exceptionally clean [much more so than US Std Strat]. The only flaw is the amount of lacquer over the fret sides, obviously the guitar neck was lacquered after the frets where fitted, some fine wire wool got rid of this is 5 mins, the tops of the frets where superb and silky smooth. The scratch plate screws have rusted 9 months after getting the guitar but this is down to sweat and moisture from gigs. The tremolo and other hardware is absolutely fine.

This guitar will definitely withstand live playing and DOES. I gig 2 to 3 times a week and nothing has given up on me yet. I think the hardware will definitely last [its Fender afterall]. There is a couple of small dents in the body but this it to be expected after pretty much constant use, the finish seems pretty strong. The strapbuttons where of the schaller strap lock variety, but I changed them for a DiMarzio straplock simply because that's is my favourite [and also I think one of the toughest]. I can depend on this guitar, but I do gig with back up in case of string breakage [you'd be a fool not to!!].

I have never dealt with Fender over this guitar, and hope never to, besides the shop where I got it from are great anyway. Their is a limited lifetime warranty.

I have been playing for 10 years now. I have owned Washburns, Epiphones and tried most other guitars extensively, I own 2 other Strats, a US Std Strat c.1996 and a Japanese Fender 1972 Re-issue, the YJM is definitely the cream of the crop. If this guitar was lost or stolen I would probably buy it again, but I would check out a Ernie Ball MusicMan Axis or a Peavey Wolfgang to see how they compare, as the Us Std with the same pickups sounds near identical, so I might look at something else for a different colour. I compared this guitar to several Ibanez's - JPM1 and Jem 555 and Gibsons Les Paul Custom, but this guitar did it for me. The only thing I wish it had where slightly more powerful pickups and a 1970's style headstock with a bullet trussrod as this is what Yngwie actually uses and it also looks the best IMHO. This guitar will NOT make you sound like Yngwie Malmsteen, I bought it as I felt it brought out MY voice the best, it also is a breeze to play with hammer on and pull offs being ever so easy and sound powerful, this is basically a GREAT Strat.