All user reviews for the Fender American Standard Stratocaster [1986-2000]

I bought mine in 1995 in California. After testing, comfort, class and pleasurable sound of legend, but I still had a small financial margin so I did make three small changes: replacing standard microphones by US Texas Special and graphite saddles and Installation a TBX on the last tone knob. I installed my original pickups on a silver Japanese Squier series.

UTILIZATION

maple neck, bending impeccable once settled. Tip: to adjust the handle once a year. When the balance between the handle, pulling the strings and the bridge is found, then it is no more than a total happiness. The versatility of electronics allows for almost all ranges of sound.

SOUNDS

My first amp was a Jazz Chorus 120: a killer as we will not go into saturation, but a clear and mellow sound, very mastered. Then I switched to a Fender Blues Deluxe strat and has become even more beautiful, it was the fireworks.
I have long turned to the positions 1,2 and 4 of the selector, but my Dr. Strat of vendor (Reims) found me a perfect balance last year, and now, as in love, I love all positions ! 1 solid and crunchy rhythm, 2 and 4 for the Funk, 3 and 5 for the lead.

OVERALL OPINION

I use my strat US since 1995 and I think if I had the money today, I probably still would pay a. These guitars will definitely improve with time, and it sounds even better now than when I bought it. her two small SOFC, its maple neck begins to fade between the 3rd and 15th box only add to its majesty.
In my rare moments very inspired, sometimes when the sound escapes I feel a strange sort of pleasure and a little ashamed, and I brush the toe of the talent of Clapton, Gilmour, Ry Cooder.
I bought all the impertinence of youth, it is now worthy, majestic, beaming. She is my Excalibur.

Channel mapple neck, 1986 Series or 1988 white, micro lace original sensor
a beautiful Fender following the 1970s or the level was rather low!

UTILIZATION

Perfect round end, a typical strat
micro fabulous, extraordinary knighted by E J Beck and Clapton, not its parasite, very quiet and stable over time my strat 30 years!

SOUNDS

a great choice and perfect for blues rock 1970!

OVERALL OPINION

I use it for 30 years, the house where I live or recorded: solid, perfect. The guitar I dreamed: Fender made the

I sold my strat bought in 1973 that the ert I never regretted:
for me one of the best series strat for 30 years!
if you see one: take:
and micro lace sensor are amazing!
you understand: I love this guitar!

Manufacturing USA.
Easel vibrato Fender American Standard. Channel incredibly thin and flat, the fastest I've seen on a Strat, with superb quality varnish.
3 knobs settings: a tone, a tone with TBX and, of course, a volume.
3 single coil Fender American Standard.
Alder body.
Mine was black with rosewood fingerboard.

UTILIZATION

The handle of the Strat was a boulevard! I have never seen a round shallow as on a Strat. The ease of play was perfect.
Like all Strat, shape, weight, giving a total playing comfort
The finish was not suffering from any defect if it was mimime.
This guitar sounds great and offered much I appreciated the presence of the second tone, the sytem TBX. It played like a normal tone to 5 and offered a nice shine and highlighting the midrange and treble registers. It was by no means a boost as I have read. It was completely passive and interacted on the middle and bridge pickups.
Get a great sound required only one thing: at least know a chord!

SOUNDS

Really great Strat, I concervée for 15 years and never got separated because my American Series Strat was even better, which is saying something, and I returned to my first love: the Les Paul. I still hesitated to sell.
Played on any amp, the good old American Standard always gave the best of herself, the epitome of his Fender.
All mic positions had nice sounds. The "Hum" in "micro alone" position was not too far, less than my American Texas Special.

OVERALL OPINION

This guitar made me return to the game after a long stop. I had gotten together with a Fender amplifiers ROC PRO 100, which I also have fond memories. I sold the first time a friend in the 99 months after buying it! While with the Texas Special and American Deluxe at the time, I regretted.
An excellent guitar that gave me the taste and my passion is reborn.

I've been playing for about a year and have only owned one electric guitar so far and two acoustics. I play rock music and some blues. Playing guitar is awesome, and I try to do so as long as possble every day. I recently joined a band (not for sure a band yet, only two guitarists and one bassist) and the guitars include a squier, which is mine, and a silvertone sfb1. I'd say the silvertone might be a little better than the squier, but i've barely played the silvertone.

I bought the squier off of ebay for 150 bucks. This was a good price for what I got. I bought it since it was red and because it was a strat. I used to like strats a lot, but now i'm leaning towards les pauls.

I like the fact that in a year i've only broken one string on it, and that was out of frustration. I was trying to pick along with thundserstruck but ended up bending the string like crazy, which snapped the string. The tremello is great. I can put the toggle switch up all the way and make it sound like a les paul, or put it down and have it sound like a distorted metallica guitar. The original pickups sound awesome, and it stays in tune a long time.

The thing I don't like about it is the frets. You can't put the strings as close as you'd like to them without buzzing out, and it's not totally surfaced. I think it has a rosewood fretboard, which i wouldn't recommend to guitar buyers. Buy something a little more sturdy. And make sure you spend good money on good guitar strings. I replaced the B string and the one I bought sucks.

It has double cutaway and a white pickguard mounted to the guitar. The sound is great. It also has two tone knobs and one volume. Beside these is a four way toggle switch. The frets aren't too good though, which knocks it down in quality.

Buy this guitar if you like strats, but if you don't i'd recommend the washburn wi14 for beginners. They both cost about the same, so there you go. If you want to go fast with your fingers the washburn would be the way to go.

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

Bought this guitar with a Squier SP-10 amp.
It included a strap, lead, plectrum, tuner and tuition material. Cost me £150.

The guitar itself isn't bad for the price and is perfect for a beginner.

Tone knobs don't do too much to the sound. The amp is hurrendous! Turn it on to distortion and you get a growl when you pluck more than one string at a time. It plays sweet chold o' mine quite welll though.

The knobs on the guitar feel like they're gonna fall off. The amp is very poorly constructed.

A great guitar for beginners but after a couple of months when you're sure you wanna carry on with guitar-GET A NEW AMP! The guitar will last you a last you a little longer.

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

I didn't buy it. I'm just borrowing it indefinitely. But it costs $349.

It's a great all-around guitar. It plays anything you want from low-pitch rock to high Van Halen solos. It screams through with roughness when you want it to and smooths things out when you want it to. It has a 5-way switcher that helps with this feature. The neck is great. It slides like greased lightning, and has 21 frets.

Only that it doesn't quite have a deep, dark sound some metal heads want, because it only has single-coil pickups.

It has double-cutaway body, bolt-on neck, the works.

Over-all, this is a fantastic guitar. I would highly recommend it to any rocker out there, especially if you're into punk or even up to P.O.D. Just not death metal.

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

I got this as part of a kit for my fourteenth birthday. I got the Strat, picks, tuner (which sucks), and a 10-watt Fender amp all for $200 (haven't heard much of a better deal, though). Keep in mind this was my first guitar

it has a nice finish and the headboard is nicely shaped. it came in perfect condition and looked like heaven.

It needs tuned after 15 minutes of playing. the frets fuzz from time to time, and the tuner heads constantly buzz when i play (this is after 10 months of owning the guitar). The pickup switch is placed so that i keep hitting it as i play (yes, I'm a noob). From fret to fret this guitar doesn't hold a solid tune. It scratches easily and the amp cord doesn't connect well.

Everything was put together well, but things begin to buzz over time

This thing is meant to get you on your feet, but won't get your feet off the ground. It's holding me back, I'm looking at a les paul. The amp that came with this set also sucked.

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

I ordered this guitar from sweetwater music online (very good company, free shipping on all) and i paid $199.

great cherry sunburst, comfortable strat shape, looks good, sounds ok and is good for a beginner

neck is rough in some places, goes out of tune when tremolo bar is used. pickups are not the best but ok.

overall good, solid construction but not well finishes(neck that is), feels like it was just stamped out of a machine, not really fine tuned.

great guitar for a beginner. it is worth what you pay for it. but here is my case i have been playing for about 8 months i had an ibanez broke it, bought this squier 1 month ago, it is ok but i feel that i am already to a point where i need a better guitar so now i have a fender standard mexican strat in the mail and i am going to have to sell this squier to pay for some of it. big hassle. i would just skip the first step and save a little more money and get the mexican or american strat, but finally if you can't afford to do that buy this one good overall beginner guitat.

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

I got my Squire at a huge 1999 end of the year sale at Musicians Outlet in Palm Desert, California. I paid $170.00 and got the black Squire, 2 sets of Jim Dunlop picks, a Peavey Blazer 158 amp, strings, strap, stand, 15ft cable, Seiko digital automatic/manual tuner, and a mini cigarette box amp. And I thought,"how could this get any better?"

This is my first guitar... but i've played others. And I don't feel that everyone should be so negative about this guitar. It has great sound with a high end amp, and I have never had anything break or become loose ever since I bought it in 1999. I have never had any problems tunning... oh no 1 minute out of my busy day. And people say it has its "Limits" but my uncle can play any Santana song of your choice on my guitar, and it still sounds live in concert.

One thing I will say I don't like... is the fact that it seems to hypnotize people to walk over, pick it up off my stand, and accidentally drop it.

But even though my guitar has come in contact with dumb people it still doesnt have any dents, dimples, divots, or dings. It is a very sturdy long-lasting guitar. Perfect for those clumsy beginers.

It is a great value even if it isn't on sale. And the only "Limits" you will ever encounter are your own. Also never forget to: Play because you love it, not because you can.

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

I bought this guitar in Winnipeg, Manitoba at St. Johns Music for about $320 Canadian. I bought it to start of my guitar playing.

Great sound, precise tunning pegs, great pick ups, great bridge/saddle, beautiful head, 21 frets, a volume control, and two tuning controls. All the great things you need for a great guitar.

Nothing that i can think of...

Great quality... havnt found anything bad yet...

This guitar is just a great guitar for its price and is a great guitar for amateurs and even pros.

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

I bought it years ago from someone for $175, but it was with a Crate 30 watt amp too! I needed a junky guitar to smash on stage, so I looked for a junky guitar, and what did I find for cheap, a Squier!

Wow, don't buy it, maybe buy it if you are a begginer, but beware, it is total crap. Everything just starts to go wrong when you buy one, terrible pickups and everything. You can't even try to fix it up, it is jus junk, just buy a regular Fender Strat and you'll be happy. The only thing I like about Squiers are 1. smashing them or 2. using the tremolo so much that all of the strings break and the tremolo itself almost comes off. They are great to fool around with if you don't want to mess up your other guitars. Squier guitars don't bounce good either, they just make a big dent and chip alittle bit.

I hate the whole Squier guitar, it's just junk! Also, the stupid neck bends way too easily. They are just good for breakin on stage or at home, everyone likes breakin stuff, why not break total junk, a Squier?!

Wow, don't even get me started on a Squier guitars "quality"!

Don't even look at any other reviews, a Squier guitar is crap, totally! Maybe only good for a begginer, but even a begginer should start on somethin alittle bit better than a Squier. The only thing a Squier guitar is good for is breakin on stage or at home, or just goin insane with the tremolo and f'n up the whole guitar! I give it a 1 because they are fun to break!

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

I bought the guitar and a Marshall 30 watt digital effects amp at a local music store (not a huge discounter)- around $200 for the guitar and $250 for the amp.

The Squire Strat is basic- a good beginner's guitar (my level). Despite other reviews here of Squire guitars, it plays well enough (and better than others I've tried) for what its designed to be. Don't expect it to be an $1,800 US made Strat, you're expecting the wrong thing. But, if you don't know whether you're ready to sink even $500 into a guitar, then you're quite well off with the Squire. It will teach you the basics of single coil sound and Strat feel, the fat frets notwithstanding. (leave the 10-guage strings at home- they're not for the Squire unless maybe you really are a Guitar God. Otherwise, the fretting will sound out of tune most of the time because there is too much bend in the string just to get it fretted. Also lock the bridge and lose the whammy bar- that will also help keep it in tune. You can add it back later if you want, but there is a lot you can do without it)

It's modifiable. When you're ready to spend some money, you can move up to a mid-level guitar or modify the Squire (which I intend to do). Since the basic difference between the Squires and the US strats is the quality of the electronics and hardware, change the electronics and hardware. You'll learn more about the instrument than you thought imaginable, and you'll end up with an amazing guitar. Good pickups, Alembic Strat Blaster, new pots/controls (maybe one with a midrange booster), new bridge construction and tuners- maybe a new neck, all for what you'd spend on a new guitar, but you end up with a custom built guitar that you would have coveted anyway.

The fat frets, but that's a matter of changing the strings for a heavier guage. The Squire Strat got me started, and I can experiment with it without tearing up an expensive guitar. I was less impressed with the Marhall, and traded up for a larger Fender. This wasn't a matter of the quality of the Marshall, but of the sound that I want (and it isn't solid state, no matter who makes the amp). As for one reviewer's comment on the lack of sustain- any single coil instrument needs more volume (and power in the amp) to drive it. A 15 watter is a basic learner's amp- nothing wrong there. Through the Fender Princeton I'm using, with the gain on and using the guitar to control volume, I get plenty of sustain. I also get plenty of sustain from the 40 watt Fender Deluxe (tubes again) at the local music store.

Basic, proletarian axe. No, it's not an Eric Clapton Signature Model, but it isn't supposed to be. For what it's supposed to be- good industrial strength beginner level instrument- it's great. And, as I said above, it's all modifiable (and you get to learn something in the process)

For the money, a more than decent guitar (Mom & Dad, keep that in mind when Junior discovers all your old Hendrix or Stevie Ray CDs and begs for a Strat). A few simple modifications (lock the bridge, take of the whammy, 11 guage or higher srings) and you're on your way. And yes, you really can hear differences in the pickup configurations. It will get you to the next level, and if you're that serious about playing you can trade up or customize.

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

I purchased this guitar second hand off a mate, who was wanting to get rid of it to make some extra cash, for £125.

As a beginner i found it so easy to play, and now as a quite a good player stll find it to be a great guitar. I've played many different guitars from Gibsons to "proper" fenders and i still like my squier the most. The action - fantastic, the sound - fairly good (through a decent amp) and they are reliable as anything. Two words "Great buy".

nothing really... the only downfall may be the sound but you can fix it by putting it through a good amp.

it has 22 fret maple neck, tremelo, 3 single pick ups, two tone knobs and a volume knob! Jet black body with white scratch plate.

This is a great buy for beginners, they are also great for gigging or even just as a reliable back-up. All i can say is why fork out £300-400 on a strat when you can get virtually the same thing for half the price. Some people think that if its cheap then it must be pretty rubbish, but how misguided some people are...

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

i paid about 150$ at a little music shop and i didnt know what i was getting myself into of course

i have absolutely nothing i like about it besides that it looks like a fender stratocater.

absolutely everything sucks on this thing the pickups have crappy sound and the third pickup never even worked, also the volume nob basicly is like an on off button, it starts its sound at 1 and dosnt change untill 10, also the tone nobs dont even do anything, this thing has so much humm to it it drowns out the guitars sound, not that its worth hearing anyway

CRAP,PAINT CHIPS,PICKUPS SUCK,ABSOLUTELY THE WORST GUITAR EVER!!!WORST GUITAR EVER!!!WORST GUITAR EVER!!!WORST GUITAR EVER!!!WORST GUITAR EVER!!!WORST GUITAR EVER!!!WORST GUITAR EVER!!!WORST GUITAR EVER!!!WORST GUITAR EVER!!!WORST GUITAR EVER!!!WORST GUITAR EVER!!!WORST GUITAR EVER!!!WORST GUITAR EVER!!!WORST GUITAR EVER!!!WORST GUITAR EVER!!!WORST GUITAR EVER!!!WORST GUITAR EVER!!!WORST GUITAR EVER!!!


i made the mistake of buying this peice of crap because i didnt know anything about it, but now i realize that realy got hosed, i would say it was worth about 40$ MAX. dont buy it unless you plan on customizing the hell out of it

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

I bought this guitar as my first and I've been playin for about 1.5 years w/ it now. It was only 120 dollars (American). I bought it on the store owners own personal recomendation for a sweet, cheap guitar that will last a long time, and man was he right!

I like the way it sounds, it sounds exactly like a Fender strat and it is lighter and less than half the price! Its got a glossy fretboard that makes for very easy finger slides and pretty good pickups, although I did decide to put a humbucker in it, the others are still good. It doesnt have to be tuned very often and its just an all around great guitar.

There's relly nothing that I dont like about it, it's great.

very durable, nice solid body, great coated maple fretboard and nice pick-ups.

SAMICK RULES!

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

i picked this baby up ages ago after christmas 1996 from a great UK gitar store and was a sweet £199 about 250$ i think!

ever since the day i started plaing the guitar, my strat has been the most loyal to me compared to some of the other rip offs from people like peavy. i would definitely recommend this to the beginner. it's not too expensive and easy to use. the neck isn't too thick which benefits those with smaller fingers. and a good set of fender strings will last you all year round. it's compatible with most effects and can take a lot of pounding for the price, but dont TRY and break it! or you will.

red isn't my colour! it requires a lot of maintenance i.e. change of strings! and i have found that the pickups always seem to come loose every now and then. there is a limited amount of colours available. black red and woodgrain i blieve.

again! the maintenance is a bummer! but if you are a dedicated guitarist, you wouldn't mind sitting down and repairing the pickups and strings!

but whatever you do dont buy the box set that includes the amp and cables. my cables broke and you can get a better amp than that! but for MAJOR beginners the books and video will come in handy!

the begginer's best buy! not too expensive and is a great introduction. at the price of £199 you won't need to be afraid of tampering with the pickups and readjusting the strings as you need to learn how to repair before moving onto a more expensive guitar.

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

I got this guitar as a gift for my 21st birthday so I don't know how much it cost, but I do know it was bought new. So you could probobly guess how much it might have cost...there's enough of these things to compare it to. Its a 1999 model.

Not much. Maybe the color is alright though. It does hold it's tune well and intonation is not bad.

Where to start. The pickup selector is put in a horrible place (not convenient), the pickups sound wimpy and generic (I hate the fact that almost everything played sounds like a Stevie Ray Vaughn lick). The neck feels weak (like I could break it off just by pulling back on the neck while playing). There is no way this thing would last in a live gig. The volume and tone knobs are hard to reach while playing and offer very little tone difference when turned. I guess overall the guitar has no real character of its own. (I've played other Strats and I find the same thing).


Its made decently enough but so are alot of guitar in this price range.

The Strat is probobly one of the most over-rated guitars ever built. For the price it offers nothing special. Very one dimensional, no individuality. I can't wait to sell it. Spend your cash on something that suits your character, not on this just because of the name.

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

i bought the guitar at andertons in guildford about a year ago. i thought it would be a good priced, quality strat copy. i was wrong! it was £200 quid in a pack with the 10 watt amp and loads of other stuff. its all cheap rubbish.

er....well i guess it was an introduction to guitar for me. LOL oh yer and soon i'm gonna flog it for as much as possible to finance a little trip to fendersville via a REAL strat. ha ha! and i guess if u can play well on this THING then once you grow tired of riffing the wreck you can upgrade and you'll play real well on ya new guitar. MAN i hate squier lol.

like all cheap guitars,the tone seems to lack any depth. there is a very low output from the pickups which sounds absolutely nothing like a classic real strat with bluesy, rocky, gnarly, good tone.

its made in china and it shows. if the tone kills it then the construction nails the coffin shut. the wood these things are made out of - unless its like, fake wood, mdf or something - would be better off on the trees. after a few months of very undemanding use (i looked after it all well) the lead broke, the strap snapped and the bag strap broke. useless!!!!

if you're in the mafia and you need to get rid of 200 quid before the cops get ya, then buy this guitar. otherwise, dont even think about it. better off with an ibanez gio or whatever they're called - ANYTHING but this. the squier strat belongs in my room 101 along with boybands and osama bin laden.

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

Some years ago I was looking for a reliable and cheap guitar, since my budget was really low at the moment and i wanted to learn to play guitar at any cost, I choose the old Squire Strat. It looked good, sounded good and I had enough money to buy it. I paid 165€ for it, plus a little amp (nothing too fancy really). I ran home as quickly as I could, afterall, it's not everyday you buy an electric guitar...

Everything really! Since I was pretty much a guitar "virgin", at the time I couldn't say if the sound was good or bad: but at least it sounded right. The cheap Amp didn't help in anything, but it still sounded as it should. The sound doesn't amaze but it doesn't disappoint either really, and I can't complain since I got an extremely good product for the little amount of money I paid. It was extremely confortable, opposed to my accoustic, and i never had any trouble reaching the frets with my small fingers. The neck was extremely smooth (unlike many reviews state)and the body was also solid. I also like the guitar design, it looks and feels like the "classic" electric guitar we grew to love and worship in our younger days, looking at our heroes playing. The finishes are good, even though the guitar material isn't as high quality as it could be.

Nothing, probably besides the cheap material it is made of and the sound. It can easily get scratched even if you have a great care handling it. The sound isn't my main problem, mind you, but when compared to my friends Epiphones or Les Pauls it just fades. It still satisfies me, and it serves the purpose well. Aside these two minor problems, i don't think i can rant about anything more. Some things could have been better, as you may imagine...but we must remember this is a budget guitar.

As I mentioned already above, it can get easily damaged. But the production and construction was flawless, at least with my unit. Every screw was well tide, and every piece was were it should be. I bought it without a single scratch, and we must remember it came from a Japanese factory, probably by plane, and things like damaged parts are a common occurence. However, besides that and the fact the materials aren't the best around, I have nothing left to say.

Mind you it's nowhere as good as, let's say, the cheapest Gibson manufactured guitar, but it still offers an average quality guitar for a low price. Optimal if you're thiking in start playing. So resuming, I'm glad I bought one Squier Strat as my first guitar, and if I could buy another one I would do it without much thinking. I'm rating this guitar following the fact that it is a budget guitar made for beginners. And the best one around, as far as i can tell... So if you're thinking in buying one, just go ahead, you probably won't be disappointed.

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

Well, you see I bought this guitar from a music store called Giovvani's for around 300 dollars. I wanted a good beginer guitar that i could basically learn how to play an electric.

Let's see, I liked the way the guitar was put together, pretty durable (having dropped it a few times with nothing more than a scratch). The tone of the guitar was perfect, and I really liked the neck. It wasn't too fast or hard to move your hand around.

I didn't like the the tone controls...they really didn't have any sort of effect on the sound....Also, the neck was a bolt on, which i didn't like either. It didn't stay in tune very well, but like I said, I only bought it to learn.

The constuction was very good, not sloppy or poorly finished. VERY durable, because once my strap fell off while I was playing Fat Lip by Sum 41 onto the concrete floor and the only damage was, well, nothing!

If you want to learn how to play electric, BUY THIS GUITAR! It is easy to learn on and fun. But i strongly recomend that this guitar is not to be used for gigs or any of the sort. So, overall this is a great guitar to learn on, but once you get better i suggest a Gibson or a Fender. Peace.

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