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Hatsubai « MIM 50's Strat »
Published on 04/25/11 at 15:06The Fender Classic Player 50's Stratocaster is a product released to help rejuvenate and bring quality to the Made in Mexico line of guitars. The guitar is similar to the old school '50s strats in that it has an alder body, maple neck, 21 medium jumbo frets, vintage tremolo, a 9.5'' radius, SSS configuration with a 5 way switch, one volume and two tone pots.
UTILIZATION
The guitar is similar to the regular Mexican line of guitars, but the one I played seems to have both better pickups and better fit + finish. The body is pretty much the standard '50s strat body that has been used for awhile in their line up, but the neck is a softer V shaped neck. Since it's a V neck, it won't be for everyone, but I find the soft edged V shape to be very comfortable to where it shouldn't be a big issue. The 9.5'' radius is standard on these guitars, and while I'm not a fan of the smaller radius, it works for a lot of people. I really wish it had 22 frets, but considering it's meant to be a '50s strat, it's forgivable. The fretwork on the one I played seems to be better than the normal MIM line. Not sure if that's due to luck or what.
SOUNDS
The guitar sounds quite nice, and I could easily live with the stock pickups in this. The singles have that signature hum going on, but they also have all the great qualities that most people look for in singles. They're vowely, quack nicely, have some decent power and work great in both clean and mid gain tones.
OVERALL OPINION
If you're looking for a nice quality MIM strat without breaking the bank, you should really look into checking this guitar out. They go pretty cheap on the used market, and it can rival some of the MIA strats out there. Like all Fenders, you should really play one before you actually buy, but I don't think you'll be too disappointed with this guitar as long as you're not one of those people who absolutely needs the Fender custom shop quality guitar.
UTILIZATION
The guitar is similar to the regular Mexican line of guitars, but the one I played seems to have both better pickups and better fit + finish. The body is pretty much the standard '50s strat body that has been used for awhile in their line up, but the neck is a softer V shaped neck. Since it's a V neck, it won't be for everyone, but I find the soft edged V shape to be very comfortable to where it shouldn't be a big issue. The 9.5'' radius is standard on these guitars, and while I'm not a fan of the smaller radius, it works for a lot of people. I really wish it had 22 frets, but considering it's meant to be a '50s strat, it's forgivable. The fretwork on the one I played seems to be better than the normal MIM line. Not sure if that's due to luck or what.
SOUNDS
The guitar sounds quite nice, and I could easily live with the stock pickups in this. The singles have that signature hum going on, but they also have all the great qualities that most people look for in singles. They're vowely, quack nicely, have some decent power and work great in both clean and mid gain tones.
OVERALL OPINION
If you're looking for a nice quality MIM strat without breaking the bank, you should really look into checking this guitar out. They go pretty cheap on the used market, and it can rival some of the MIA strats out there. Like all Fenders, you should really play one before you actually buy, but I don't think you'll be too disappointed with this guitar as long as you're not one of those people who absolutely needs the Fender custom shop quality guitar.