« Strong low end with crisp highs »

This guitar is one of the Ash variants that Fender offers in an HSS format. The guitar features an ash body with a maple neck, your choice of a maple or rosewood fretboard, 22 frets, dot inlays, HSS configuration, locking tuners, special neck heel, two point tremolo system, one volume, two tones and a five way switch.

UTILIZATION

This guitar has some issues with the fretwork, but the nut was cut correctly. They were sticking out of the sides, so they had to be filed down. The frets also needed a good level and recrown. Fretwork is the #1 killer on these guitars, so be sure to pay attention to that. If there's some oxidation on them, don't worry about that. It'll come off with some steel wool without much of an issue. The bridges on these are pretty nice. They stay in tune and sound pretty good.

SOUNDS

This guitar had Fender Lace Sensor pickups in it. I can't remember if it came like this stock, but that's what this one had. I think it was similar to what the Jeff Beck guitar had. The bridge was interesting. It worked decently for rhythm tones and lead tones, but I found it wasn't for me. It just had something about it that I wasn't digging. Maybe it was the ash. The neck and middle pickups worked out nicely for cleans and leads. They were hot enough to do some legato work, but they remained clear enough for clean tones.

OVERALL OPINION

This one had Lace Sensors in it configured in the way Jeff Beck ran his guitar. Because of that, I don't think it sounded quite as good as it might have. Aside from the frets that needed some work, the guitar was a solid player. Be sure you like ash, however. It can be a love/hate wood because of the high end.