All user reviews for the Fender Yngwie Malmsteen Stratocaster

Mine dates back to 2001, so the specs are different from the last revision currently available in store:
- Dimarzio pickups original (small logo)
- Large Head "CBS" but without the "bullet trussrod"
- Key priori to a little less than the current version scaloppée
- Best selection of maple handle (today's version has a handle without streaks and very light color, almost white)

Otherwise, the specs are available at Fender.

PS: vintage white color is superb. The brass nut is class.

UTILIZATION

The handle is what makes the particularity of this model. Expect a short week to get used to. Ie to play a G chord major or A minor without sounding too sharp because you press too much on the frets and start "bender" strings.

Apparently, this type of key prefer light strings and action a little less flush than your usual strings. Apart from this, the BIG advantage of this guitar is to give you unprecedented control over vibrato and bends and at any fret.
Those who think they can play faster will be disappointed, frankly, I prefer the ergonomics of my Ibanez Prestige. However, with work, we develop an AIR that will touch depending on your talent to compete with Yngwie Master.

This guitar can play anything other than raids ranges and it proves to be a strat of choice for everything bluesy.

SOUNDS

The DiMarzio have a relatively low output level for a humbucker. We understand better why the friend Yngwie plays with a ton of gain and good noise gate. That being said, this approach DiMarzio pickups sound surprisingly simple coils. This is BETTER than the SCN that fit my 2005 Deluxe V neck.
Therefore, this guitar was much more versatile than the signature inscribed on her head might suggest: rock, hard rock, metal, blues, ALL can be played as long as you make the adjustments that will be well on your amp ( necessarily with a 100W Marshall head donf, it will sound like a viking but with a Fender tube, it is possible to have beautiful grains).

When I got mine, the middle pickup was blocked (not a special brass screws). I do not know if it is original, I have added a spring to be able to adjust the microphone.
The swicth (original) is a 3-position. I left but it sounds silly to deny positions 2 and 4. I do not know how it would sound with dimarzios, I will have the opportunity to test.

OVERALL OPINION

I got this guitar in a trade (with another strat). It belonged to a pro musician and had served together. Suddenly, there was a lot of work to clean and restore.
This is not the strat that I play the most (I have a dozen) and it is a complicated story between her and me. Visually, I love it, I take great pleasure in playing but not being a virtuoso, I'm rarely in areas where his illustrious signatory excels. So, I am torn between selling it or keep it. In any case, this is a guitar that leaves no one indifferent and maintains a certain commercial value (this is not the case with all models of Fender signatures).
If you can afford to have, go for it but know that it will go beyond the traditional test shop (you will not impress if you have never done scalopée key). So, it is mainly a guitar that I recommend buying used. At worst if you do not hang, you can sell it at a price that you purchased.

Special Order for 'bout $1200.



The scalloped neck allows for fast/easy playability especially above the 12th fret. A light touch means less time/effort causing the string/fret to sound - thus faster playability. These Dimarzio pickups rock! Solos are melodic/smooth sounding - not tinny.



The scalloped neck can cause out of tune notes if you press to hard. The pickup harmonics could be better, but the tone is smooth and warm (I've gotten some harmonics back by using a wha pedal to transition from enhanced highs/harmonics, to deep crunchy lows). If it had a locking Floyd trem it would be utter perfection.



I've got the candy-apple red model with antique parts and a maple neck - it's beautiful!



The BEST guitar I have ever seen, heard, or , played. This thing sings! A MUST HAVE for any soloist!



This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

This axe is made in the USA. It has 3 single coil DiMarrzio pickups; the switch is surprisingly 3way (not 5). 1 volume, 2 tone controls, 22 frets, and the standard Strat style whammy bar. Every fret is scalloped, which is a different feel from "normal" fretboards. The nut is brass and exudes a cool chimey resonance to the tone.

UTILIZATION

Access to the top notes are easy enough- not as sleek as shred axes, but plenty good enough and worlds better than a Gibson Les paul. It is super easy to get a ton of great tones out of this instrument, more on this in the next section. Unlike some cheaper guitars that are headstock heavy, this design is ergo-dynamic and well-balanced- fits like a glove. I grew up on Ibanez guitars and have recently moved to mostly Gibsons;positioning my right hand felt a bit awkward. Strats volume control seems to be in a spot where my right hand likes to lay, so that took some adjustment. I hear many others on forums say similar things- some even rewire and move the knob elsewhere to solve the issue. I managed to change my approach when using this axe, and that can be a good thing in some ways. Another factor is the feel of the bridge; it seems to be more abrasive on the right hand palm mute that smoother Gibson Ibanez guitars. Players who play modern metal with lots of palm mutes may take heed- but chances are there will be more traditional players who play this axe, so it may not effect them.

SOUNDS

I have a Randall MTS system with lots of modules including dozens of professionally modified modules emulating Cobra, Marshall, Rectifier, MesaMark, Orange, JTM, Blackface, Deluxe, XTC, Diezel, 5150, Engl, and many more…My favorite tones were those from the Fender; those clean and dirty tones really sounded awesome with this guitar.

I bought this guitar straight from a website without trying it, thinking I could get all those classic Strat tones PLUS go into some Metal. I'm actually a bit disappointed at the Metal tones; I can't really jive with the Marshall mid to hi gain sounds. My buddy has one and loves it for that style, but for me itseemed like a square peg in a round hole. Hi gain= LP for me and Strats just don't do it for me. Strange though, when I record with it, it sounds great- but playing it I feel out of place. YMMV

I use a Dunlop wah and have tried MXR overdrive as well as the Yngwie DOD overdrive. The Yngwie DOD sounded great with it as it really complimented the tone, providing a cool dirty-ness that I enjoyed.

OVERALL OPINION

I love the single note tone on this instrument- it just sings and exudes quality TONE. A few times I thought there must be reverb on my amp, but no, no reverb, no delay, no fx- the axe is just delivering a angelic glow around the note that is very unique and intoxicating. Perhaps it is a combination of the low output pickups, brass nut, great wood, scalloped fretboard- I don't know- but the notes sing especially well on the neck pickup. Beautiful.
The bridge pickup is sensational for clean to dirty tones. I love my Blackface and Tweed modules on this setting- it delivers a great os Lonely Boys/SRV tone that sounds like Money.

i generally stay away bridge pickup- it comes off a bit harsh when you play aggressively...according to my tech, I play like King Kong, so no go on the bridge. This axe demands a gentle touch, the scallops and the entire build just really work well with a gentle approach, so that is a bit of a challenge for me. People who can adapt LOVE the vibrato on this guitar. Single string passages sound great as do sweeping arpeggios.

The tone knob at 10 clicks in and creates a true bypass- making the signal chain more pure. this works great for me on the middle pickup, but for the bridge I often have to dial it back due to my heavy handed style.

This guitar is unforgiving and will expose your weaknesses- it is dead accurate and precise, so good chops are needed here. my slop technique works better on LPs, so this axe has somehow IMPROVED my playing.

I love many things about this axe, but due to my aggressive hands, slop technique, and love for metal, I would opt for a nonscallopped Strat that had a humbucker in the bridge. This axe does have a specific sound that is unparalleled- it really has great strengths. Put this in the definitely try before you buy, it is unique and may or may not be your magic Strat.

Every guitar player knows who Yngwie Malmsteen is. He is one of the most popular neoclassical shredders of all time. He is known for his vintage white stratocaster which is he is rarely seen without. This has been a signature model from Fender for a few years now. I am testing a newer and an older model to compare the Dimarzio Yngwie pickups with the new Seymour Duncan Yngwie pickups. The guitars are identical apart from the pickups so I will just do a single guitar review. What you get is a typical 70s style strat with the Yngwie mods. The body is made from alder and the neck is maple with a maple fretboard. The neck has 21 SUPER jumbo frets with a 9.5 inch radius. The fretboard is heavily scalloped. Up top you get the big 70s headstock with the bullet truss rod. The pickups will either be a set of the old Dimarzio Yngwie pickups or the new Seymour Duncan Fury pickups. Since the guitar currently comes with Duncans thats what ill talk about in this review. The pickup selector is a 3 way blade. The controls are a master volume and two no load tone units.

UTILIZATION

You need to have a certain style to play this guitar properly. Overall it is a hard guitar to play if you are not use to it. The neck has a unique feel. You need a very light touch to play this guitar and sound good. I am use to playing with heavy strings so this guitar is another world for me. With the huge frets and scalloping the strings bend without any effort. It is very easy to push a note or a chord out of tune without thinking about it. With these super low output Yngwie pickups it is hard to play clearly as well. You need to be pinpoint accurate with your playing to sound like you know what you are doing. This is a guitar that takes some time to get use to.

SOUNDS

The Seymour Duncan Fury pickups in this guitar sound very similar to the old Yngwie Dimarzio signature pickups. Apparently Yngwie went through 20 sets of Seymour Duncan pickups before he found the one he wanted. They should have just gave him the set that sounded the most like his old Dimarzios and saved time. These are stacked single coils just like the older models but unlike most stacked noise cancelling single coils they are super low output. Usually people getting aftermarket single coils want more heat on them but not Yngwie. I am not the biggest strat single coil fan but these pickups are pretty vintage by even those standards. The bridge and the middle pickup sound pretty thin by themselves. The inbetween positions sound the best on this guitar. When playing with gain you will find yourself picking harder because these pickups are so low output but when you play harder you start sounding out of tune because of the scalloped fretboard. Playing this guitar is a balancing act between getting a good sound and sounding in tune. For slower lead stuff the scalloped fretboard is great. You can get a super vibrato with it because there is no resistance from the wood because its not there.

OVERALL OPINION

Only get this guitar if you know what you are doing. This guitar will not make you play like Yngwie, in fact it will probably make you worse. You have to really have good skills if you want to sound like you know what you are doing on this guitar. If you are a good player and have the skills by all means get this guitar. If you are just looking for a nice strat there are plenty of nicer strats that are much easier to play that this guitar.

Start 2003 United States, cream, mache escallop, Di Marzio pickups ... only snag a selector 3 positions .. but hey .. ca is changed

UTILIZATION

Malsmteen fan, I always wanted to test the scratch, a possibility that I was offered in 2008 .. Since then, I cracked ... Previously, I had a Jackson Custom Shop and SL both in terms of look as sound, it was very typical "metal" (too at least for me). This layer is more polyvalente.On can go from blues to rock and of course the Hard without too much trouble.
The main feature of this guitar is its neck. Everyone thinks it can play faster, but in fact it makes no difference. on the other hand, in terms of expressiveness, it's great!! The fact of not having wood under the strings gives you control over the left hand vibrato HALLUCINATIONS! It's simple, I can not do without it, as soon as I touch another skyscraper, the handle of it I miss.
Level Sound: the pickups are not very high output, if you want to send the rod, an amp that is better défouraille behind. (For my part ENGL Powerball)

SOUNDS

My style: the heavy, blues rock, full of things ... For this, it is perfect .. This gives a nice clear sound and good sound in distos (EMG is not anyway). For my part, coupled with my ENGL amp, it makes an alliance of thunder!

OVERALL OPINION

I use it since 2009 and I fell in love! Even if I play some Malmsteen is a pleasure for fingers!!
Having played on the Ibanez (RG 270), LAG (THE BEAST), JACKSON (CUSTOM US SL), even though Jackson was a beautiful instrument, I am more comfortable on the Start in terms of playing comfort and in terms of sound. (In + it costs 2 times my dear)

US-made
Vintage vibrato
The handle recess scaloppé, 21 jumbo frets, mapple
Start setting a standard dial tone but with a midpoint
Micro DiMarzio HS3, not a lot of output level, but a softer sound, more than coated fender

UTILIZATION

The handle is the crux of this guitar:
we like it or not!
The adjustment takes a few hours and there it is: awesome or why I bought it!
For sound, ergonomics is a strat vintage of very good quality with sound to match. Yep we have a basic sound very clean but for those of typical acute-strats so for "Malmsteen" should boost the guitar amp on as in classical or in modeling.
Note that the handle is U-shaped, rather thick but its shape gives it a fit and comfort that we do not suspect. The minus is the 21 boxes. 22 it's still more convenient ...
Attention keys are not used to dug play faster, but we held a rope on the bends that does not exist on other guitar

SOUNDS

If we can master the handle, you can do it all: it's a Start! And a very good strat

OVERALL OPINION

I have 12 years
I tried and bought many guitars. Many did not stay but it like some other part of my set and will stay there.
The special key is carved: I love, for the negative model 22, see 24 boxes ...
Value / price: price is justified by its quality! We feel we have an instrument built to last, with excellent sound, need I say more?
I often planned to acquire a second ...

Fender manufactures in the United States.
The model I possde dates from 1998 and is composed of 2 DiMarzio HS3 (two superimposed coils) + a single branded fender (center position).
The neck is maple with a rosewood key reports. 22 boxes.
The spcificit of this guitar is its neck scallop (keys hollow of the beginning till the end).
The mechanical oil bath. The head is a large head. Vintage vibrato.
Finish and the guitar violin is of course best ...

UTILIZATION

Well ... For ergonomics, weight, everything .... that is a Fender Stratocaster ... Matter of taste ... I love it. I will dwell more on the neck scallop.
Unlike some ides reues, we do not play faster or slower. Some say it can take notes more easily. (Not particularly either).
I think we can not say if it's better or worse than a standard round. It's really a matter of touch that is DIFFERENT from other guitars. In fact, only the strings hold your fingers so your fingers do not hang the handle (since for them, nor hast not ).

SOUNDS

For his ... this guitar is really made for the blues / heavy / Rock ...
mics can give a very clear and precise sound saturation. C is the sound made by a fender with a less pronounced treble and without background noise.
Scallop handle on it also changes the sound by making the sound brighter and increasing the sustain of the instrument.

OVERALL OPINION

I put 1O everywhere because it is what I like ...
Level quality violin ... Electronic ... c is of excellent quality.
As for the cons, the handle, that is a matter of got but what is certain is that when I bought the store ... whether customers, vendors ... She did not leave the indiffrent and when I finally did buy, the more unhappy sellers who c'tait s'clataient well above ...

Fender decided to merge with in yngwie malmsteen with his own signature Stratocaster guitar. This is basically a remake of the original guitar at MalmSteen bought when he was just a kid. It's an unusual guitar even though it looks like a standard Fender Stratocaster. It has the old Fender headstock which is a little bit bigger than what you normally see on today's Fender Stratocaster headstock. The pick ups are his signature pick up as which are his own brand fender style voice to his liking. This guitar also features a scalloped fretboard. What that means is the frets are not flat or even slightly curved but rather they are scooped like a U-shaped between each fret. This is a different feeling guitar than a normal guitar that you have played any guitar shop. Because of the scallop frets, it takes a little bit time to get your fingers used to pressing it without necessarily touching the fretboard. It is strange to think when you play this guitar your fingers don't actually touch the fretboard and the reason he did this is because he's such a speed metal type player that he needed to run up and down the fretboard as fast as he could without having to do anything else.

UTILIZATION

Neck Shape: Modern "C" Shape
Number of Frets: 21
Fret Size: Super-Jumbo Frets
Position Inlays: Pearl Dot Inlays
Fretboard Radius: 9.5" (24.1 cm)
Fretboard: Scalloped Rosewood or Maple
Neck Material: Maple
Neck Finish: Nitrocellulose Lacquer
Nut Width: 1.650” (42 mm)
Scale Length: 25.5" (64.8 cm)
Headstock: Artist Signature on Headstock
Neck Plate: Vintage Style 4 Bolt
Truss Rod Nut: 1/8" American Series Nut
Electronics
Pickup Configuration: S/S/S
Bridge Pickup: Seymour Duncan STK-S10B YJM Fury Pickup (Bridge)
Middle Pickup: Seymour Duncan STK-S10N YJM Fury Pickup (Middle)
Neck Pickup: Seymour Duncan STK-S10N YJM Fury Pickup (Neck)
Pickup Switching: 3-Position Blade: Position 1. Bridge Pickup, Position 2. Middle Pickup, Position 3. Neck Pickup
Controls: Master Volume, Tone 1. No-Load Tone Control (Neck Pickup), Tone 2. No-Load Tone Control (Bridge and Middle Pickups)
Hardware
Hardware: Chrome
Bridge: American Vintage Synchronized Tremolo
Tuning Machines: Vintage "F" Style Tuning Machines
String Nut: Brass String Nut
Switch Tip: Aged White Plastic Knobs
Tremolo Arm/Handle: American Vintage Tremolo Arm

SOUNDS

The tone of this guitar is very Fender Stratocaster voiced. The pickups are much better than the standard pickup you would find on most Fender guitars. I've never been a fan of the fender standard pickups in all of their brand-new guitars. Every Fender that I've ever owned, I've always had to switch out the pickups. This one comes stock with the ones that he supposedly uses and they do have a pretty good tone but the overall single coil buzz is still there. That is part of his tone anyway so it's not that big a deal but it's kind of annoying if you are used to humbucker pickup.

One cool thing about this guitar is the vintage white look. my favorite colors on any guitar is a faded white color that actually turns creme overtime. The pickup themselves are kind of an off-white, the pick guard is white, but volume and tone control knobs are cream color as well as the tops of selector and the tremolo bar. The guitar itself is in a bad priced guitar for a signature guitar and if you are at fan of MalmSteen then this is probably the guitar that you're wanting to get.

OVERALL OPINION

These guitars are a pretty cool guitar if you're a big fan of his music and or his entire catalog. You can find these guitars new at just about $1700. For signature guitar that's not a bad price because the regular Fender Stratocaster's run around $1000-$1100. So it's just a few extra hundred dollars for a signature guitar, so that's a pretty good deal. I would recommend this guitar to any malmsteen fan and if you're not a fan then I would suggest getting a regular Fender Stratocaster in a white cream color.

The Fender Yngwie J. Malmsteen Signature Stratocaster was designed for the legendary shred maestro, who was long been known for his penchant for cream coloured CBS era Stratocasters featuring a scalloped fretboard and hot rodded pickups. It was built in Corona California USA in the famed Fender plant alongside many other signature model guitars. It features an alder body, a maple neck with scalloped fretboard and 21 jumbo frets, vintage style Fender tuners and vibrato bridge, 3 stacked humbucker DiMarzios (two YJMs in the neck and middle and an HS-3 at the bridge). Since 2010 they have instead between equipped with the new Seymour Duncan YJM Fury pickup set, though I have not tried one of them to compare to the DiMarzio loaded model. Here's the full set of specs:

Alder body
Maple neck (updated in 2008 with bigger, deeper scallops)
Scalloped fretboard
Brass nut
2 DiMarzio YJM pickups
DiMarzio HS-3
Malmsteen-specified neck shape
Late '60s large headstock
Mint-green pickguard
Schaller vintage F machine heads
Medium-jumbo frets
Synchronized tremolo
Aged plastic parts

UTILIZATION

The design of the YJM Strat is fairly ergonomic compared to a normal Strat... I could imagine the maestro requested a light guitar as he throws his around quite a bit! It's not quite as contoured as some other Strats, but that's probably due in part to the fact that CBS Fenders (which this guitar was modeled after) weren't nearly as contoured as their pre-CBS brethren. The upper fret access is good, though getting the hang of the scalloped fretboard takes time, so you are slowed down until you get the hang of playing on it... it requires a much lighter touch than normal.

Getting a good tone out of the guitar really isn't difficult as it was basically designed for one setting... neoclassical shred mode! It's not a versatile guitar to my ears and pretty much every time I play one of these, I pick it up and play Yngwie licks n' tricks. I can imagine most other players/owners of this guitar do the same so I guess.

SOUNDS

In the spirit of Yngwie, I tended to plug this guitar into higher octane British voiced amps such as Marshalls and Mesa Boogies. As stated prior, it's not a guitar I would deem versatile. The clean tones are decent, but lack a lot of that clear Strat bell like tone that I'm such a fan of. It really only works for an eighties sort of processed clean tone with lots of effects such as chorus and delay aiding to the sound.

However, the drive tones are another story. It has that classic YJM tone in spades. All the early songs sound great on this guitar, and the DiMarzio pickups retain their clarity and thickness even at higher volume and gain levels. It is a bit more difficult to play lead lines on this ax, but once I adjusted, I was set to travel to Black Star, which is Far Beyond the Sun! Oh yeah! It doesn't really do much else of note, but for any Yngwie fan... they know how good his early tone is, and yes this guitar will achieve it through the right amp.

OVERALL OPINION

All in all I think the Yngwie Strat is a great guitar for someone who is looking for something on which to claim the throne to the neoclassical kingdom. If you're looking for a deeply scalloped fretboard guitar, this is one of your only options. At about $1,800 new it isn't a cheap guitar and the general lack of versatility might be a turn off to many folks, but it's definitely worth it if you want to join the maestro on his quest to Unleash the Fury!