![Fender American Stratocaster Hardtail [2000-2006]](https://img.audiofanzine.com/img/product/normal/3/6/36912.jpg?fm=pjpg&w=300&h=218&fit=max&s=abf04a74c839579eb14d34c46bc39993)
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Hatsubai « Loses some versatility »
Published on 06/30/11 at 12:41The Fender American Stratocaster hard tail version is a guitar for those who never use the standard Fender tremolo. It has an alder body with a maple neck, a maple fretboard with 22 frets, black dot inlays, a hard tail bridge, SSS configuration, standard neck joint, one volume, two tones and a five way switch.
UTILIZATION
The fretwork on this model wasn't average. The frets were crowned, but they were a touch flat. The fred ends were sticking out slightly and could potentially cut your hands up while moving up and down the neck. The neck joint on this had a slight gap, but that is somewhat standard affair for these Fenders lately. I have to say that I'm really not a fan of the hard tail bridge. Strats don't sound like Strats without the tremolo system, and you're losing a big portion of what a Strat originally was by converting it to hard tail like this. Another thing I'm not a huge fan of is the radius on the guitar, but nearly every Fender out there has the same radius, so I could write that about any of them.
SOUNDS
This guitar had some aftermarket pickups swapped into it. However had this before was probably a fan of Yngwie as it had HS3 and YJM pickups installed in it. I was never a huge fan of these pickups because they're super low output and almost reduce any gain naturally found in any amp. The cleans on these are awful, and even those who love these pickups generally agree on that. They just sound super bland. The gain tones can get some cool tones going, but they don't sound like normal singles, and I always find myself fighting the guitar when I play something with these pickups installed.
OVERALL OPINION
I never could get into the whole hard tail Strat thing. They sound different, and they usually feel different. Some people really like them, but I'm a big believer in not changing a formula that made a company successful. That said, there are some people out there who like them, so I can't rate it down too much.
UTILIZATION
The fretwork on this model wasn't average. The frets were crowned, but they were a touch flat. The fred ends were sticking out slightly and could potentially cut your hands up while moving up and down the neck. The neck joint on this had a slight gap, but that is somewhat standard affair for these Fenders lately. I have to say that I'm really not a fan of the hard tail bridge. Strats don't sound like Strats without the tremolo system, and you're losing a big portion of what a Strat originally was by converting it to hard tail like this. Another thing I'm not a huge fan of is the radius on the guitar, but nearly every Fender out there has the same radius, so I could write that about any of them.
SOUNDS
This guitar had some aftermarket pickups swapped into it. However had this before was probably a fan of Yngwie as it had HS3 and YJM pickups installed in it. I was never a huge fan of these pickups because they're super low output and almost reduce any gain naturally found in any amp. The cleans on these are awful, and even those who love these pickups generally agree on that. They just sound super bland. The gain tones can get some cool tones going, but they don't sound like normal singles, and I always find myself fighting the guitar when I play something with these pickups installed.
OVERALL OPINION
I never could get into the whole hard tail Strat thing. They sound different, and they usually feel different. Some people really like them, but I'm a big believer in not changing a formula that made a company successful. That said, there are some people out there who like them, so I can't rate it down too much.