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Hatsubai « Very solid »
Published on 08/12/11 at 14:43Fender has been a bit more consistent with the American line lately than they have back in the early 2000s. They seem to be getting their act together a bit and making better guitars. The guitar features an alder body, a maple neck with a maple fretboard (one piece with a skunk stripe), 22 frets, dot inlays, two point tremolo, three single coil pickups, one volume, two tones and a five way switch.
UTILIZATION
The guitar was put together fairly nicely. The biggest issue I had with this is that the frets should have been leveled a bit more. There were a few dead spots in the higher frets once you start lowering the action, and the radius on this guitar isn't doing those who like low action any favors. The nut was cut properly so no issues there. Getting up to the higher frets is the same as any other strat in that it's a bit of a struggle at times, but it's not too terrible. There are definitely worse out there. The guitar comes equipped with the (in my opinion) much nicer two point tremolo which is super smooth and stays in tune nicely.
SOUNDS
The singles in this were pretty good, but they're still standard Fender singles. The single in the bridge is a bit bright, and it doesn't have a ton of power. It works great for some of those old school funk rhythms when mixed with the middle position, but the single itself can be a bit bright alone. A quick touch of the tone knob fixes that. The middle + neck position is strat tone heaven. This is where you get that really cool clean tone and sweet funky/blues tone. The neck position works alright for those lead tones, but I find it to be a bit one dimensional and slightly underpowered for my tastes.
OVERALL OPINION
The guitar is very solid, and you get a lot for your money if you're buying these used. Be sure to try a few of these out before buying them if you can. They're fairly consistent, but a few have their issues. To me, the biggest thing is that this needs a pickup change, even though the stock pickups themselves aren't that terrible.
UTILIZATION
The guitar was put together fairly nicely. The biggest issue I had with this is that the frets should have been leveled a bit more. There were a few dead spots in the higher frets once you start lowering the action, and the radius on this guitar isn't doing those who like low action any favors. The nut was cut properly so no issues there. Getting up to the higher frets is the same as any other strat in that it's a bit of a struggle at times, but it's not too terrible. There are definitely worse out there. The guitar comes equipped with the (in my opinion) much nicer two point tremolo which is super smooth and stays in tune nicely.
SOUNDS
The singles in this were pretty good, but they're still standard Fender singles. The single in the bridge is a bit bright, and it doesn't have a ton of power. It works great for some of those old school funk rhythms when mixed with the middle position, but the single itself can be a bit bright alone. A quick touch of the tone knob fixes that. The middle + neck position is strat tone heaven. This is where you get that really cool clean tone and sweet funky/blues tone. The neck position works alright for those lead tones, but I find it to be a bit one dimensional and slightly underpowered for my tastes.
OVERALL OPINION
The guitar is very solid, and you get a lot for your money if you're buying these used. Be sure to try a few of these out before buying them if you can. They're fairly consistent, but a few have their issues. To me, the biggest thing is that this needs a pickup change, even though the stock pickups themselves aren't that terrible.