All user reviews for the Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster [2003-2010]

United States ...

UTILIZATION

The neck is a joy. Used to my electro-acoustic Seagull is the day and night. I do not realize for lack of basis for comparison, but now replay on my Seagull was an effort. Quickly you get used to happiness!
Access to acute is easy, even for bars. No problem for the latest freight.
The shape, weight, balance, everything is fine with me. I feel comfortable playing seated or standing.
Apart from that it is better to change the strings gum mounted by default, it's easy to get a good sound. Anyway, I have no concern on that side. But it's so subjective "good sound".

SOUNDS

I play rock, pop / rock and this guitar is perfect.

If you want, go listen on my site ( http://www.grebz.fr/musique_grebz.php ) : all the songs are played at the Start (+ other guitars, but mainly the Start).

I play at home either connect to my excellent Tonelab SE ( https://simulateur-ampli-guitare.vox.audiofanzine.com/produits/avis/index%2Cidproduit%2C37156%2Cmao%2Ctonelab_se.html ) (with headphones on my stereo, or even better on monitor speakers, this sound is superbly defined), or through amp simulators like Guitar Rig 2 and it sounds great. Note that I have no electric guitar amp at home. In rehearsal studio is on the Marshall. It sounds great, just set the amp and effects at their convenience.
The switch changes the tone of the bass to treble, which adapts the sound to his tastes and hardware that you use the Start.

OVERALL OPINION

I have since spring 2007. I love the comfort of the handle, easy to position his hands, fingers, weight, neither too heavy nor too light, the proper balancing of the instrument, its looks (I bought silver in color chrome ).
Only minor negative point: the strings provided are really too soft.

I paid 1250 euros this guitar to the stock of Playback, but I hesitate to order it in Germany, where it is found around 1100 euros. In France, it is often the official price of 1550 euros, but all trades ... In any case, even if not given the pleasure of play is huge, so I judge the value justified.
I would do probably this choice unless my abilities allow me to hit even higher in the ranges. But in this price range, I rush!

Fender has made some killer guitars! Most of the time they use three single coils in most of their Strat guitars. This is a deluxe American made Fender Strat that has a sweet looking aqua blue color that just gleams with beauty. You have three single coils pickups as usual and then a volume control knob as well as two tone controls knobs. This is the most frequented design that the Strats have seen.

UTILIZATION

Neck Shape: Modern "C" Shape
Number of Frets: 22
Fret Size: Medium Jumbo
Position Inlays: White Pearloid Dot Position Inlays
Fingerboard Radius: 9.5"-14" Compound Radius (24.1 cm-35.56 cm)
Fretboard: Rosewood or Maple
Neck Material: Maple
Neck Finish: Satin Urethane
Nut Width: 1.685" (42.8 mm)
Scale Length: 25.5" (64.8 cm)
Neck Plate: 4-Bolt Neck Plate with Micro-Tilt™
Truss Rod Nut: 1/8" American Series Nut
Electronics
Pickup Configuration: S/S/S
Bridge Pickup: Noiseless™ N3 Strat® Bridge Pickup
Middle Pickup: Noiseless™ N3 Strat® Middle Pickup
Neck Pickup: Noiseless™ N3 Strat® Neck Pickup
Pickup Switching: 5-Position Blade: Position 1. Bridge Pickup, Position 2. Bridge and Middle Pickup, Position 3. Middle Pickup, Position 4. Middle and Neck Pickup, Position 5. Neck Pickup
Special Electronics: S-1™ Switch
Controls: Master Volume (with S-1™ Switch), Tone 1. (Neck Pickup), Tone 2. No-Load Tone Control (Middle and Bridge Pickups)
Hardware
Hardware Finish: Chrome
Bridge: Deluxe 2-Point Synchronized Tremolo with Pop in Arm
Tuning Machines: Deluxe Staggered Cast/Sealed Locking Tuning Machines
String Nut: Synthetic Bone
Switch Tips: Aged White Switch Tip
Tremolo Arm Handle: Pop-In Deluxe Tremolo Arm
Auxiliary Switching: S-1 Switch On: Pos. 1. Bridge/Mid/Neck Pickups, 2-Bridge/Mid, 3-Mid/Neck, 4-Bridge/Neck Out-Of-Phase/In Series w/ Tone Cap, 5-Bridge/Mid In Series/Out-Of-Phase/In Parallel with Neck Pickup

SOUNDS

This guitars has a fantastic look to it. The vintage cream white paint coat on the body is just gorgeous. The color looks and feels like it just a has a load of soul inside of it. The only thing that I don't like in these guitars are the pickups. I really don't care for the noiseless pickups in their guitars either. So I would just replace these even though they are a step up from the other pickups in the standard series. I am not a fan of the Fender made pickups and I would replace them all with Seymour Duncans. I am a big fan of SD pickups and since they are not too expensive and certainly cheaper than boutique pickups then I would go with them.

This guitar works well with any amp that you stick behind it. This guitar will also work for any style of music except most of the drop tuning stuff. You won't be able to get a deep thick fat metal tone from this guitar. Any of you are into that kind of music you already know that. Other than that it will suit most players just fine. It is a players guitar so it is meant to be rocked out and played hard.

OVERALL OPINION

These guitars have several paint jobs to choose from and this one being the most colorful and bright. This is a great sounding guitar for anyone who needs a solid built American med Fender Srat. I would recommend this guitar to anyone who wants a better improved feel over the standard series. At new you can find these guitars for right at around $1699. Not a bad price for a great high quality guitar.

Fender is a great American classic guitar. The Fender Stratocaster is easily the most recognized guitar and one for the most versatile guitars in the world. They have been building guitars for more than half a century. Fender has a reputation of soul and quality when it comes to there equipment. They have a great deal of respect by the brightest and the best in the business. These guitars have been played by almost every musician in the world at one time or another. They have been played by beginners learning guitar players to the best professionals in the world.

UTILIZATION

Body: Select Alder

Neck: Maple, Modern 'C' Shape, (Satin Polyurethane Finish)

Machine Heads: Fender/Schaller Deluxe Staggered Cast/Sealed Locking Tuning Machines

Fingerboard: Maple, 9.5 in. Radius (241 mm)

No. of Frets: 22 Medium Jumbo Frets

Pickups: 3 Samarium Cobalt Noiseless Strat Pickups (Neck/Middle/Bridge)

Controls: Master Volume (with S-1 Switch), Tone 1. (Neck Pickup), Tone 2. No-Load Tone Control (Middle and Bridge Pickups)

Bridge: Fender Deluxe 2-Point Synchronized Tremolo with Pop in Arm

Pickup Switching: 5-Position Blade and 2-Position Push/Push S-1:
S-1 Switch Up:
Position 1. Bridge Pickup
Position 2. Bridge and Middle Pickup in Parallel
Position 3. Middle Pickup
Position 4. Middle and Neck Pickup in Parallel
Position 5. Neck Pickup

S-1 Switch Down:
Position 1. Bridge Pickup in Series with Middle Pickup
Position 2. Bridge Pickup in Parallel with Special Capacitor and in Series with Middle Pickup
Position 3. Middle Pickup in Series with Special Capacitor (No Tone Control)
Position 4. Neck Pickup in Parallel with Special Capacitor and in Series with Middle Pickup
Position 5. Neck Pickup in Series with Middle Pickup

Hardware: Chrome

Strings: Fender Super Bullet 3250L, Nickel Plated Steel, (.009 to .042)

Case: Standard Molded Case

Pickguard: 3-Ply Mint Green on 3-color Sunburst,
4-Ply Brown Shell on Amber,
4-Ply Aged White Pearloid on Candy Tangerine,
4-Ply Black Shell on Chrome Silver,
1-Ply Beveled Gold Vinyl on Montego Black

SOUNDS

My two favorite wood combos are the Alder with Maple and the Alder with Maple and Ebony fret board. This fortunately has the first which is the best wood combination out there. The butterscotch paint job is an unusual one as I see this on Telecaster more than i do with Strats. Either way it is a good look with the black pick guard and black control knobs and pickups.

The tone from this guitar is very good. This guitar is one fine classic instrument. It can get a solid clean tone for some single coil action. This is an extremely versatile guitar with the 5 way selector and humbucking and single coil operation. You will still need to replace all of these pickups in this guitar as they are garbage. I suggest using Seymour Duncans as I have found good use of those pickups in all my guitars. They aren't boutique but they sound just as good in my opinion.


OVERALL OPINION

You get a wealth of versatility with this pickup setup. The added humbucker is a plus to this guitar and adds a great amount of depth tot he versatility. You can pick these guitars up new for right at around $850, which is even less than the three single hums. This is a great price for an American made Fender Stratocatser guitar.

This is the new go-to strat that Fender is pushing at the moment. It has quite a few features that older strats didn't have, but it's questionable how useful those features are. This guitar has an alder body with a one piece maple neck, 22 frets, two point tremolo, three single coil configuration, one volume, two tones and a five way switch.

UTILIZATION

The finish on the neck is very nice. It's a very thin finish, and the edges are rolled to help give that broken in feeling. This makes it very comfortable to play on when compared to a normal production strat. The nut on this was properly cut, and I didn't experience any tuning issues on this. The neck joint was super tight, and it was very resonant overall. The guitar also had a nice lightweight piece of alder on it. The frets were pretty good, although I've seen better from Fender.

SOUNDS

The first thing I should mention is the S1 switch. The S1 switch is basically throwing a capacitor on the pickups and fattening them up. I find it to be muddy more than anything else, so I think you're better off not using it at all. The pickups in this were the SCN pickups, and they were great for that higher gain thing. They're not the most dynamic pickups in the world, so keep that in mind. Some people dislike the extra power, but I enjoyed it. They're also super quiet, which is a huge plus considering how noisy these things can get.

OVERALL OPINION

I really like the SCN pickups that are in this. I find that the guitar itself is fairly neutral sounding overall, and the SCNs, while not the most dynamic pickups in the world, do a great job at the higher gain strat sound. The S1 switch is a bit useless, but if you ignore that, the guitar itself is pretty good.

The Fender American Deluxe is made in the Fender USA plant as a slightly high end alternative to the venerable American Standard. It was released in response to the custom builders like Suhr, Tom Anderson and many others who were releasing super high quality and decked out "super strats" that featured many different things like noiseless pickups, locking tuners, contoured heels and lighter weight bodies. Fender's American Deluxe Strat takes that boutique slate and runs with it... and the end result is a guitar that feels like a custom shop wonder, but it was made right in Corona baby! Here's the full list of specs:

Model Name:American Deluxe Stratocaster
Model Number:011-9000-(Color #) and 011-9002-(Color #)
Series:American Deluxe Series
Colors700) 3-Color Sunburst,
(720) Amber,
(723) Olympic Pearl,
(759) Tungsten,
(770) Sunset Metallic,
(Urethane Finish)
Body:Select Alder
Neck:Maple, Modern C Shape,
(Satin Urethane Finish)
Fingerboard:Rosewood (P/N 011-9000) or Maple (P/N 011-9002), 9.5 to 14 Compound Radius (241 mm to 355.6 mm)
No. of Frets:22 Medium Jumbo Frets
Pickups:3 New Noiseless N3 Strat Pickups (Neck/Middle/Bridge)
Controls:Master Volume (with S-1 Switch),
Tone 1. (Neck Pickup),
Tone 2. No-Load Tone Control (Middle and Bridge Pickups)
Pickup Switching:5-Position Blade and 2-Position Push/Push S-1:
S-1 Switch Up (Off):
Position 1. Bridge Pickup
Position 2. Bridge and Middle Pickup in Parallel
Position 3. Middle Pickup
Position 4. Middle and Neck Pickup in Parallel
Position 5. Neck Pickup

S-1 Switch Down (On):
Position 1. Bridge, Middle and Neck Pickups in Series
Position 2. Bridge and Middle Pickup in Series
Position 3. Middle and Neck Pickup in Series
Position 4. Bridge and Neck Pickup Out-Of-Phase, and in Series with Special Tone Capacitor
Position 5. Bridge and Middle Pickup in Series and Out-Of-Phase, and in Parallel with Neck Pickup
Bridge:Fender Deluxe 2-Point Synchronized Tremolo with Pop in Arm
Machine Heads:Fender Deluxe Staggered Cast/Sealed Locking Tuning Machines
Hardware:Chrome
Pickguard:3-Ply Mint Green on (700), (770),
4-Ply Brown Shell on (720, 723),
4-Ply Black on (759)
Scale Length:25.5 (648 mm)
Width at Nut:1.6875 (43 mm)
Unique Features:Copper Infused High Mass 100% Metal Bridge Block,
3 Tall, 3 Short Staggered Locking Tuning Machines,
S-1 Switching,
Aged Plastic Parts,
White Pearloid (Rosewood Fingerboard) or Black Pearloid (Maple Fingerboard) Dot Position Inlays,
Highly Detailed Fret and Nut Work,
4-Bolt Neck Attachment with Micro-Tilt Adjustment,
Bi-Flex Truss Rod System,
Parchment Knobs and Pickup Covers,
Rolled Fretboard Edges
Strings:Fender USA, Nickel Plated Steel,
Gauges: (.009, .011, .016, .024w, .032, .042)
Accessories:Fender/SKB Case, Cable, Strap, Polishing Cloth
Case:High-Tech, Molded Rectangular SKB Case

UTILIZATION

The American Deluxe Strat takes a lot of my personal pet peeves about the typical Strat, and does away with them altogther. Yay! Such improvements on the design included a contoured neck heel with redesigned neck bolt system for improved upper fret access, noiseless pickups with the unique S-1 switching system for a variety of different hum-free sounds, locking tuners, and a general penchant for lighter wood for the bodies. To me this takes the Strat perfectly into the modern age, and turns it from a guitar that I'd play once in a while to a guitar that I'd play all the time. Truly excellent.

The sounds of this guitar (and there are a myriad of them) are plentiful and all wonderful. It does everything from typical Strat type single coil tones to some thicker Gibson esque flavours, even dipping into some skimpy parallel single coil quack. Cool, right?

SOUNDS

I've tried the American Deluxe Strat through a variety of different amplifiers, mainly from Fender, Marshall and Mesa Boogie. The clean tones produced by this guitar are simply stellar. The crispness and general lush character of the Strat is not lost with the Fender pickups used here. The one trade off is that there is a bit more compression applied than with standard pickups... but you can't win 'em all. The guitar goes from jazz to blues to country to reggae to surf without any qualms... whatever style you throw at it, it'll do and smile right back at you.

The overdrive tones are just... excellent. The guitar goes from the nicest of broken up bluesier vibes to a downright obscene high gain rock roar, all without flinching once. The noiseless system really helps with gain, and using the S-1 switch allows for some really rad Gibson character to come through as well. It's really versatile and sits well in a band mix with humbucker loaded guitars quite well too. Just an all around killer ax, without question.

OVERALL OPINION

The Fender American Deluxe Strat is a wicked working man's guitar. There's really no faults with it, and for $1,500 new it's a bargain (and they can be had for as low as $800 used.) About the only thing I would consider over one for a great "super strat" would be a Suhr or perhaps Tom Anderson, just because I could pick my own specific specs. However, for a stock off the rack production line Strat, the American Deluxe is probably the best of the bunch.

This is the most popular USA model guitar that Fender currently offers at the moment. The guitar features an alder body with a maple neck, your choice of a maple or rosewood fretboard, 22 frets, dot inlays, SSS configuration with a special S1 switching system, locking tuners, special neck heel, two point tremolo system, one volume, two tones and a five way switch.

UTILIZATION

The guitar is loaded with features. That said, some aren't all they're hyped up to be. The micro tilt neck is great. You can set the angle that you need, but it should really be set from the factory. You shouldn't have to mess with it, and I'm not sure why they made it like they did. I can only assume it's because of lower tolerances. The fretwork can be a bit iffy on these guitars, so be sure to pay attention that. Also, the nuts can be improperly cut at times. If you notice tuning stability issues, that could be it. The locking tuners were easily the coolest feature. They make restringing soooooo much easier.

SOUNDS

The S1 feature on this guitar is a joke. I know that Fender keeps trying to hype this thing, but they simply don't sound good once you enable the switch. It becomes too fat and muddy. If you get in there and replace the capacitor with a smaller one, you might be able to get a better sound, but I never cared enough to. Without using the switch, the SCN pickups sound really good. The pickups are very powerful, and they can do everything from classic rock to heavy metal without a problem. They might lack some of that signature single coil shimmer, but they make up for it in terms of being modern and powerful.

OVERALL OPINION

S1 switch aside, this guitar is a really good and solid guitar. It has lots of cool features at a good price. I recommend buying one used, but be sure to pay attention to things such as fretwork and the nut. They're generally minor problems that any competent luthier can fix. The biggest killer would be a neck joint gap, but they don't happen too often, thankfully.

This is one of the higher quality USA made guitars that Fender has to offer. The guitar features an alder body with a maple neck, your choice of a maple or rosewood fretboard, 22 frets, dot inlays, SSS configuration, locking tuners, special neck heel, two point tremolo system, one volume, two tones and a five way switch.

UTILIZATION

These guitars are generally put together fairly well. The edges are nice and beveled. However, the main problem that I see is that the frets aren't crowned properly. If you look at them, you might see that they're a bit flat. It's because they didn't spend enough time crowning them, and it can affect action. Also, be sure to make sure the nut isn't binding or creating any odd vibrations. Mine needed to be reshaped because it wasn't cut properly. Every time I strummed an open G, the string would vibrate inside the nut causing a buzz. After some filing, I was able to fix it.

SOUNDS

I like the way the pickups in these sound. This one has SCN pickups in it. The bridge is extremely fat and powerful. You can do everything from classic rock to heavy metal with this thing. However, the clean tone and blues tones are kinda dull sounding because it's so high output. It lacks that character that some blues guitarists look for, in my opinion. The neck sounds amazing. It's high output, so legato and all kinds of shred techniques are very easy. Clean tones sound great in positions 2 to 4. I'm a metal player, so I think the SCNs are real killer. Some may disagree as they don't sound like true singles.

OVERALL OPINION

These are some of my favorite strats to play in the store. You can get them for under a grand, they generally sound good and are put together fairly well. Just be sure to watch out for fret and nut issues that may occur. The neck joints are generally tight on these, but be sure to check them to make sure as I've seen some with gaps.

- Made in the USA

- Alder body

- Maple neck and fretboard

- 22 frets

- SCN noiseless pickups

- Deluxe chrome inlays

- locking tuners

- Tapered heel

- Compound radius fretboard

- S-1 switching


UTILIZATION

This strat is pretty much packed with features that make for easy and comfortable use.

The contoured heel provides much better access to higher frets, making the deluxe far more easy to use than any other fender. The locking tuners are a great addition; superb tuning stability without the hassle of a locking tremelo. SCN pickups are pretty much dead quiet but don't sound as sterile as other noiseless single coils. S-1 switching doubles your tonal options and is a lot easier to use than a secondary tone switch. The neck is very comfortable, and its pretty much impossible to fret out. This one uses the new fender bridge that makes intonation and setup a breeze.

I recommend the maple neck and V-neck, but that really comes down to players choice.

SOUNDS

The deluxe sounds magnificent. Great classic stat sounds. A little bit of natural reverb from the block and springs. Between the 3 pickups and S1 switching you can get pretty much any sound out of this guitar. The SCN pickups makes for noiseless playing, and still have a lot of character about them. Warm and mellow for the most part. Really depends what amp you are running it through, I've had superb success with vintage fender amps, in particular Twins, Bassmans, Princetons, Super Reverbs..Also some newer stuff like the Super-Sonic.
Suited for pretty much any style of music, though I would get an HSS pickup configuration if you're into heavier music.

OVERALL OPINION

This is the ultimate players Strat. Packed with usable features, reasonably priced, yet plays, looks, and sounds great. Short of the custom shop, this is the very best Strat you can buy, and I found it to be miles ahead of the American Standards.

Highly recommended.

Guitar Made in Corona California (left after the store ..)
Good body construction with both ends centered in alder, natural finish, nice effect.
C-profile maple neck with pearl style benchmarks and rosewood fingerboard, 22 frets, radius 9.5
Vibrato two anchors and mechanical locking Sperzel that hold very well agree.
This guitar is from 2006 it has the switch S1 set up by Fender since 2004. Two tone and volume pots

Micro are Fender SCN (very good microphones)


UTILIZATION

The neck is thin and very pleasant to play with good access to a super sharp ... The required agreement is very good mechanics Spertzel really work and allow all sorts of bends and vibrato use (thank you Spertzel)
Access potentiometers at stake is the natural position switch 5 is also well placed and easy to use ...
The weight of the guitar is reasonable about 3.5 kilos

SOUNDS

Plugged into a VOX AC 30 CC1, sounds are very "Fenderiens" but not for the purists of the brand ...!!!
It's a wide opportunity to scratch sound levels, but with the foil stratum characteristics in clear (not as a one piece maple neck ...) as well as in its bluesy crunch but without great personality .. . a guitar goes everywhere (no, not the dwarf ... pfff ...) ... very versatile, but not really engaging ...
Has less sustain than the tremolo model 21 boxes vintage 6-point mounting (I even downright plated vibrato to the body to sustain the win ...)
A downside to the switch (which supposedly acts as a double coils intermediate position on the selector 5 positions) ... there, I do not know if Fender wanted to play the Gibson ... well, we've failed! some may find it useful because it sounds not too bad despite all, but it's not the humbucker ...!

OVERALL OPINION

I bought used in 2008 for 1000 euros ... It was like new, hardly ever used and I use it regularly, but we still speak of a Fender Stratocaster USA .... 2006 ... So I'll let my pride aside (it's still the my guitar .... Tsss) and try to be as objective as possible and then I think we are far from the roots with this model ....
Do not expect to have the sound of a 54 or a 62 ....
On the other hand, I think Fender makes fun of some customers recently: My vibrato is placed slightly askew! This poses a problem for setting the compensation and of course, nothing can be done ...... Frankly, for a guitar of this range is pitiful ... I also have a problem with the neck pickup which loses 80% of its power at times ... no break in the circuit, the problem comes from the microphone itself ...!!!
Should not be too toy with the screw handle also ... Fragile
But that's all ... Start! When I see that dismantle the handles and pulls larigot find it odd that their guitar no longer holds the agreement ... that's with 4 thread messed up ...
For all these reasons I would put 4 of 10 because it is very average all this ...
Fender plays and with his reputation, can also be seen on the Jackson U.S. since the takeover by Fender, that manufacturing is weak. (Although happy owners of pre-Fender Jackson USA ... like me ... hey hey hey)
If I REFERRED choice? ... not without some doubt, it sounds good, it's not the problem, she has no personality and I have a lot of fuck with, but I think the year of manufacture has much to do ... Even if I use it very often (I have no fear of damaging the one ...) I think replacing it with a Start of custom shop, where they still know how to make real Stratocaster guitar, not for supermarket ...

Start U.S.
22 fettres
the rest is a stratum, which is all
only other diffrence with the Strat standard microphones SNA

UTILIZATION

mapple Channel V profile with "magical" for my small fingers
Ergonomics: it stratum, there's nothing to say is not for nothing that this guitar is the copy in the world nickel

SOUNDS

full of music styles, except on trash and stuff can be too extreme.


OVERALL OPINION

I play strat long, this one is just below the level of a custom shop.
His only default: simple three microphones (strata, what), lack of PCHE to send the pure.