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Hatsubai « Quality MIA Strat »
Published on 03/19/11 at 06:03The Fender American Deluxe Ash Strat is pretty much the same as all the other deluxe series guitars. This particular one has an ash body which gives it some awesome bottom end and a sparkling top end. The pickups are Fender's SCN which was developed in conjunction with Bill Lawrence. It features the standard 2 point trem, sculpted neck joint, 9.5'' radius and pretty much everything you'd find on a standard MIA guitar.
UTILIZATION
Fender did a pretty good job with the MIA series. However, there's nothing that really sets it apart from the other strats that Fender offers. Sure, this has an ash body and SCN pickups, but aside from that, there's nothing really new going on. I guess you could mention the rolled fretboard edges, but other manufacturers have been doing that before and don't even list it as a feature. The biggest flaw on mine was the frets weren't fully crowned. They were a bit flat, but at least they were level.
SOUNDS
I really loved the sound of this guitar. It absolutely screams with the SCN pickups. These are probably some of my favorite single coils. However, if you're expecting an authentic single coil tone, I don't recommend them. If you don't mind the more modern sound, I highly recommend you check them out. The bridge is very powerful, and the neck sounds wonderful. They're also crazy quiet to boot. These models came with a push button on the volume pot that enables a capacitor to thicken things up, but it usually just makes everything sound muddy.
OVERALL OPINION
With most Fenders, I recommend playing a few before actually buying one. Even the MIA ones can be a bit hit or miss. That said, this is a great guitar, and those that hate ash might even be convinced it's a good tone wood with this guitar. If Fender would have added a compound radius neck, this guitar could have been wonderful. Thankfully, they recently started doing just that, but their price point is taking them into Suhr territory. If they don't fix their price, their relevance in today's world might start to fade.
UTILIZATION
Fender did a pretty good job with the MIA series. However, there's nothing that really sets it apart from the other strats that Fender offers. Sure, this has an ash body and SCN pickups, but aside from that, there's nothing really new going on. I guess you could mention the rolled fretboard edges, but other manufacturers have been doing that before and don't even list it as a feature. The biggest flaw on mine was the frets weren't fully crowned. They were a bit flat, but at least they were level.
SOUNDS
I really loved the sound of this guitar. It absolutely screams with the SCN pickups. These are probably some of my favorite single coils. However, if you're expecting an authentic single coil tone, I don't recommend them. If you don't mind the more modern sound, I highly recommend you check them out. The bridge is very powerful, and the neck sounds wonderful. They're also crazy quiet to boot. These models came with a push button on the volume pot that enables a capacitor to thicken things up, but it usually just makes everything sound muddy.
OVERALL OPINION
With most Fenders, I recommend playing a few before actually buying one. Even the MIA ones can be a bit hit or miss. That said, this is a great guitar, and those that hate ash might even be convinced it's a good tone wood with this guitar. If Fender would have added a compound radius neck, this guitar could have been wonderful. Thankfully, they recently started doing just that, but their price point is taking them into Suhr territory. If they don't fix their price, their relevance in today's world might start to fade.