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Hatsubai « Maple version of the 60 Anniv. »
Published on 08/16/11 at 15:18To celebrate Fender's 60th anniversary, they released this commemorative stratocaster. It's really not that much different from any other standard series strat, so it kinda makes me wonder what the point of it was. The guitar features an alder body, a one piece maple neck with a skunk stripe, 21 frets, dot inlays, two point tremolo, three single coil pickups, one volume, two tones and a five way switch.
UTILIZATION
The guitar is pretty much what you'd expect for being made in Mexico. The fretwork is generally pretty solid, although there are a few dogs out there. I'd put it roughly on par with the American series today, although the American ones tend to be a bit more consistent. The ends were nice and beveled, so I didn't have any issues with cutting my hand up while moving up and down the fretboard. The neck joint had a slight gap in it, but I've seen worse. The nut was cut correctly, so no issues there.
SOUNDS
The guitar had tex-mex pickups in these, and I'm not the biggest fan. To be fair, they're decent pickups for a guitar that costs around this much, but I was hoping to get some better ones for their 60th anniversary strat. The bridge is a bit noisy and bright. It can do gain levels up to rock, but after that, it starts to really lose clarity and bottom end. The in between positions are great for clean and funk lines. The neck pickup is pretty cool for clean tones, although I find myself struggling on it when it comes to playing leads.
OVERALL OPINION
The guitar is pretty decent, but it's really not that different from any other strat out there. You can save money by buying a cheaper standard on eBay or craigslist. That's the way I would go. If you do buy one of these, spend some extra money upgrading the pickups. You'll get much more out of the guitar this way.
UTILIZATION
The guitar is pretty much what you'd expect for being made in Mexico. The fretwork is generally pretty solid, although there are a few dogs out there. I'd put it roughly on par with the American series today, although the American ones tend to be a bit more consistent. The ends were nice and beveled, so I didn't have any issues with cutting my hand up while moving up and down the fretboard. The neck joint had a slight gap in it, but I've seen worse. The nut was cut correctly, so no issues there.
SOUNDS
The guitar had tex-mex pickups in these, and I'm not the biggest fan. To be fair, they're decent pickups for a guitar that costs around this much, but I was hoping to get some better ones for their 60th anniversary strat. The bridge is a bit noisy and bright. It can do gain levels up to rock, but after that, it starts to really lose clarity and bottom end. The in between positions are great for clean and funk lines. The neck pickup is pretty cool for clean tones, although I find myself struggling on it when it comes to playing leads.
OVERALL OPINION
The guitar is pretty decent, but it's really not that different from any other strat out there. You can save money by buying a cheaper standard on eBay or craigslist. That's the way I would go. If you do buy one of these, spend some extra money upgrading the pickups. You'll get much more out of the guitar this way.