![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 « Hard tail SSS strat »
Published on 10/24/11 at 14:17For anybody who has ever wanted to have a hard tail Fender, this is one of the guitars that they made for you. No longer is there the classic six point or even the two point modern non-locking tremolo on this. Instead, you have your basic hard tail bridge, and to be honest, I think it changes the tone of the strat in a significant way...and not for the better. The guitar features an alder body, a one piece maple neck, 22 frets, dot inlays, a hard tail bridge, three single coils, one volume, two tones and a five way switch.
UTILIZATION
The fretwork on this model was decent, but it could have been better. The frets themselves were slightly flat, and I wish Fender would have taken a bit more time to crown these properly. The ends weren't sharp, so that was a welcome addition. The nut on this could have used some more work, but it wasn't binding, so there's no huge deal there. The bridge on this is actually what I have the biggest beef about. I'm honestly not a huge fan of the way this actual bridge feels compared to other hard tails out there. I also think something is taken away from the standard strat sound when you use a hard tail bridge instead of just using 5 springs and keeping a normal tremolo route.
SOUNDS
The guitar had some standard American singles in them, and they were average. They weren't the best sounding singles in the world, but they also weren't the worst. The bridge was fairly bright, medium output and had some good bite. It could do blues decently, hard rock without too much of a problem and metal was pretty much impossible thanks to the loose low end and ratty high end. The middle pickup I never use, but it split quite nicely with either the bridge or neck pickup. I was able to get great funk and clean tones in these positions. The neck was medium output, and it got a pretty cool lead tone. The one thing that I really dislike is how the overall guitar sounded. I shouldn't say dislike because it still sounded good, but it didn't exactly sound like the normal strat I'm used to hearing.
OVERALL OPINION
The guitar itself is decent, but be sure to pay attention to things like fretwork, how well the nut is cut and overall construction. These guitars can sometimes have big neck gaps. I'm not a fan of the way these guitars sound, but if you're into the hard tail sound, this'll be worth looking into.
UTILIZATION
The fretwork on this model was decent, but it could have been better. The frets themselves were slightly flat, and I wish Fender would have taken a bit more time to crown these properly. The ends weren't sharp, so that was a welcome addition. The nut on this could have used some more work, but it wasn't binding, so there's no huge deal there. The bridge on this is actually what I have the biggest beef about. I'm honestly not a huge fan of the way this actual bridge feels compared to other hard tails out there. I also think something is taken away from the standard strat sound when you use a hard tail bridge instead of just using 5 springs and keeping a normal tremolo route.
SOUNDS
The guitar had some standard American singles in them, and they were average. They weren't the best sounding singles in the world, but they also weren't the worst. The bridge was fairly bright, medium output and had some good bite. It could do blues decently, hard rock without too much of a problem and metal was pretty much impossible thanks to the loose low end and ratty high end. The middle pickup I never use, but it split quite nicely with either the bridge or neck pickup. I was able to get great funk and clean tones in these positions. The neck was medium output, and it got a pretty cool lead tone. The one thing that I really dislike is how the overall guitar sounded. I shouldn't say dislike because it still sounded good, but it didn't exactly sound like the normal strat I'm used to hearing.
OVERALL OPINION
The guitar itself is decent, but be sure to pay attention to things like fretwork, how well the nut is cut and overall construction. These guitars can sometimes have big neck gaps. I'm not a fan of the way these guitars sound, but if you're into the hard tail sound, this'll be worth looking into.