Fender American Special Floyd Rose Classic Stratocaster HSS

Fender has made some killer guitars! Most of the time they use three single coils in most of their Strat guitars. Here they have replace the bridge pickup with a humbucker. This gives the guitar even more versatility and tonal options. I like guitars that have a single and a humbucker because then you can really switch things up. If you own an Anderson guitar then you usually have a switch to break up the humbucker but keeping it simple this way is a very great use of options.

UTILIZATION

Body
Body Material: Alder
Body Shape: Stratocaster
Neck
Neck Shape: Modern "C" Shape
Number of Frets: 22
Fret Size: Jumbo Frets
Position Inlays: White Dot Position Inlays
Fingerboard Radius: 9.5" (24.1 cm)
Fretboard: Rosewood
Neck Material: Maple
Neck Finish: Satin Urethane
Nut Width: 1.6875" (43 mm)
Scale Length: 25.5" (64.8 cm)
Headstock: Large '70s Style
Neck Plate: Standard 4 Bolt
Truss Rod Nut: 1/8" American Series Nut
Electronics
Pickup Configuration: H/S/S
Bridge Pickup: Atomic Humbucking Pickup
Middle Pickup: Texas Special Single-Coil Middle Pickup
Neck Pickup: Texas Special Single-Coil 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: Greasebucket Tone Circuit (rolls off high without adding bass)
Controls: Master Volume, Tone 1. (Neck Pickup) Greasebucket Tone Circuit, (Rolls Off Highs without Adding Bass) Tone 2. (Bridge Pickup), Greasebucket Tone Circuit
Hardware
Hardware Finish: Chrome
Bridge: Vintage Style Synchronized Tremolo
Tuning Machines: Standard Cast/Sealed Tuning Machines
String Nut: Synthetic Bone
Switch Tips: Black Switch Tip
Tremolo Arm Handle: Vintage Style Tremolo Arm

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 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 now been discontinued with this paint job. You cans till pick up different colors but this vintage white is harder to find. Too bad because this is my favorite color. I would recommend this guitar to anyone who can find a good deal on it. I;m not sure what the going rate is but they shouldn't be that bad. Some flame tops can vary from guitar to guitar so only buy if you have see it in person and judge the flame quality.

These were pretty much the Fat Strats of the previous years. It has an alder body with a maple neck, a maple fretboard with 22 frets, black dot inlays, vintage six screw tremolo system (not sure why the stock picture is showing an American Classic Floyd Rose Strat) , HSS configuration, standard neck joint, one volume, two tones and a five way switch.

UTILIZATION

This guitar had a few issues when I went to test it out. First of all, it was a used guitar, so keep that in mind. The guitar had some fret wear, and the frets needed to be leveled and recrowned. Given how much wear there was, this could mean that it might need a refret depending on who is playing it. The edges weren't bad, however. The neck joint had a bit of a gap in it, but it was only slight. It shouldn't affect anything too much. The bridge on this had some wear, and I would have replaced a few parts that were pitting, personally.

SOUNDS

This guitar had a JB and some Classic Stacks installed in it, so I'll be going by those. The JB in the bridge is one of my favorite pickups for pure versatility in Strats. It can be a bit bright at times, but it really depends on how the actual guitar sounds. The bass is a touch vintage, but it allows it to do anything from blues to death metal with the right setup. The Classic Stacks are pretty cool pickups in that they're powerful enough to do leads but clean enough to have some very nice cleans when needed. They don't kill the amp with output, but they're also not so low that it's impossible to solo on them.

OVERALL OPINION

If you've ever played a fat strat, you've basically played this guitar. It's very similar in almost every way. The guitar itself sounds good, but be sure to check it for potential fret issues, nut issues and neck joint issues. Aside from that, these guitars can be great players and had at great prices.